Chapter 4

 

   Mrs Mullins was wound like clockwork when Kaiden reached the bedsit. He had never seen the landlady so edgy. Things were as bad as he expected then, he thought grimly. He could sense that she wanted a quiet word with, him away from Laqueta, but the girl came first. His priority was to administer the tonic and get her rested first. They entered her tiny attic bedroom together. Laqueta was stretched out full length on the small bed, writhing in pain. She looked round and smiled weakly, relief outweighing pain for a split second

  "You’re back," she whispered, her voice cracked and husky. She looked pale, grey almost, and she was burning up. He was shocked by her condition, he had expected things to be bad but that didn’t make it any easier. As the pain rose to a crescendo she twisted away from him and he could see angry red blotches running down her spine. The skin in the centre of them was cracked and broken. Looking closer he could see little white bumps starting to push their way through. The Change was underway, the mutations had begun. Those spikes would grow to maturity now, no doubt about that. Hopefully, though, he had returned in time to prevent anything much worse. Quickly Kaiden removed the phial of tonic from his bag and tipped a dose onto a spoon. He held it up to her face "Here, take this." She swallowed it, coughing and grimacing at the bitter taste, while he poured a second spoonful. The tonic was not nice tasting and he pitied her. Mrs Mullins was ready with the usual sweet plum to help remove the bitter aftertaste. Kaiden spent a few minutes at her side, running a cold cloth over her forehead and stroking her lank, damp hair. After a while, the tonic began to take effect and, with the pain eased, she fell into an exhausted sleep. Kaiden exchanged a glance with Mrs Mullins and they both crept out of the room. 

 

 Down in the kitchen, over a mug of herbal tea, the pair regarded each other in silence. Finally Mrs Mullins opened her mouth to say something but Kaiden cut her off.

   "I know, Arleine, I know," he sighed. "It has started"

   "The truth will have to be told. She suspects, you know"

   "Of course she does, the girl is not stupid. Leave her be for now, she needs rest. Tomorrow will be soon enough."

   "You need rest too."

   "No time for that. There are… things to think about."

She started to protest but one look at his face told her that his mind would not be changed. "Very well," she relented. "Just be sure not to overwork yourself."

He laughed, "and what about you? You do not look the picture of health yourself. I will keep an eye on Laqueta today."

 "There are many chores to be done. I cannot afford time out."

 "It seems we are both equally stubborn," he smiled. "Be sure to heed your own advice."

    The following morning Laqueta was already looking a little better. She was still in much pain but the fever was significantly reduced and her colouring had improved slightly. Kaiden sat on the rickety wooden chair by her bed and regarded her for a moment.

   "Do you remember anything from before you came to live here?"

The question caught her off guard. She frowned slightly, "I… No," she shook her head "Nothing."

    "I didn’t really expect you to. You were barely more than a baby when you came to me." He paused to administer the morning dose of tonic. "These episodes you endure are not a normal occurrence for girls your age. It is true to say that they are not normal for any human." She opened her mouth to ask the obvious question but he held up a hand to forestall her. "Please. I will try to answer your questions eventually, that is a promise. Let me talk first. This will not be easy to hear I know," again he paused.

"Your ancestors came into the city as immigrants from foreign lands. They were unaware of the toxins that infect the main waterways and so they did not know to stay clear. As I understand it, they settled near Apothekary Distryct and drank from the canal in the area. The polluted water caused them to Change. They became badly mutated and were driven out of the city. They managed to survive and built a community in the forest just outside the city walls. That was where you were born; you were part of an outcast society. It came about that your tribe was discovered and your village was burned down. Your parents escaped with you and stole into the city, where I happened across them. I do not know what became of them; they vanished overnight, leaving you behind with me. The tonic I make you take was a recipe they left with me, all these years it has done more than help with the pain. It has suppressed the mutations which have been passed down from your ancestors. You are now at the age of Change, however, and some mutations cannot be suppressed. Some are starting to show but not too many, I think. The tonic has done well over the years, were it not for that you would not look at all human."

Laqueta looked frightened. "Are you saying I’m not human?"

  "That is not at all what I am saying. You are human in every real sense. You have been born with some…different genes due to your ancestors’ mutations but you are still human. Never forget that!"

  "But I am Changing?"

  "Yes, you will have subtle differences. Feel your spine," she reached round to the sore spots on her back and gingerly ran a hand down them.  "You have a set of spikes growing out there."

   "What will happen to me?" She looked on the verge of tears and he wished he could take it all away.

   "That depends on you. If you wish to remain here it will be possible to conceal your…differences. If you do not wish to hide who you are it is still possible to remain inside the city. Things are not as bad here now as they were for your ancestors, and you are much less affected then they. But you will have to move away from Old Town."

   "Don’t send me away! I don’t want to leave here. Please." The tears were streaming down her face now.

   "I will not send you away against your will. If you wish to stay you know you are always welcome. It may be difficult here however. You will forever be unable to reveal your true self. It can be… difficult to hide so much." He suddenly seemed sad. "Trust me. This is a part of who you are and you must learn to live with it in your own way."

   "So does… am…uh…am I…" she stopped and took a deep, shaky breath. "Am I the only one…of my k..kind? Are there no others left?"

   "As far as I understand it you are the sole surviving member of the tribe. Mrs Mullins and I were unable to discover what happened to your parents after they abandoned you but we think they must have died." There was a short silence between them broken only with the occasional sob from Laqueta. She composed herself fairly quickly, though, and her gaze turned suspicious.

   "You knew all this all this time? How could you keep it from me?"

   "There was good reason." Kaiden was becoming irritated now. No good could come of this conversation while she was in such a rage. She was not in a mood to listen to explanations and he was beginning to feel that he was wasting his breath trying.

   "I had a right to know!" She was shouting now, the stabbing pains in her body replaced by a red hot fury such as she had never encountered before. "My whole life, everything I know, has been a lie. You’ve betrayed me Kaikai." The name she had called him by as a baby sounded bitter, tipped with venom now and her blue eyes pierced with loathing.

"It was for the best. I need you to calm yourself. All can, and will, be explained, but not with you in this state. You need to be rational or there is no point. It is no good for the Change either, you must not over-exert yourself, you know that."

"How can I believe a word you say now?"  

"Letta…" Unable to speak properly as a baby Laqueta’s early attempts at saying her own name had become a running joke. Kaiden reverted now to this old nickname in an attempt to break through her anger. His voice had a warning tone to it that, in normal circumstances she would have heeded, but she was lost now in the deep, dark red mist of fury that nothing was able to penetrate.

She glared at him for a long moment and then spoke slowly and forcefully.   "DON’T… CALL…. ME… THAT. LEAVE NOW."

Kaiden knew that there was no way to get through to her while she remained in this state. He sighed and nodded, "As you wish. I will return later for your tonic dose. Perhaps we can talk then." He backed out of the tiny room and closed the door.

 

Despite all appearances Kaiden was not a people person. It was true that he had a particular way with them, a charm that made him easy to get along with and enabled him to persuade others to his way of thinking. He did not, however, enjoy the company of others. He found most of the species in this city, humans in particular, to be greedy, selfish and self-absorbed. He did not approve of their way of life, taking and using all natural resources on offer with no regard for the delicate balance of life. They took without giving and most would willingly trample others to get where they needed in life. He had long ago lost patience with them. Kaiden had sympathy for Laqueta; he of all people knew what she was going through as his own family history had not made life easy. Circumstances, however, had forced him to get over it and move on with life and was in no mood to molly coddle her. Her best chance for a decent life was to learn to live with her condition as soon as possible and that was something she would have to do by herself. He had no time for her self-pity.

 

 When Kaiden had time to think it over later he realised that he should have seen it coming. Had he not been so preoccupied, he would have kept a closer eye on Laqueta that day. By the time he returned to her room to administer the evening dose of tonic, however, she had gone. The tiny window was open with the rough, crumbling shutters flapping loosely in the evening breeze and the room had been stripped of her few possessions. He ran to the window to search the street, though he knew before he did so that it would be futile. The girl would be long out of sight of the little bedsit by now. As his eyes raked the crowds bustling through the cobbled road below he noticed the shadows lengthening as the sun began to sink dozily out of sight. It was vital to find Laqueta before dark; she must not miss her tonic dose for the evening. A loud stomping noise behind Kaiden told him that Mrs Mullins had entered the room. He whirled around to face the stunned landlady with a stern expression.

  "Wait here," he commanded.  "If she returns be sure to give her this dose." He poured a little of the tonic into the empty mug beside the bed and secured the phial in his tunic. Pausing only to snatch up his large cloak, slung over the stair post in the corridor, he hauled his lithe frame out of the open window and launched himself up onto the rooftops.

   As Kaiden found himself racing silently across the skyline he replayed events in his head. Of course the correct way to approach the situation, he realised now, would have been with the aid of Mrs Mullins. The giant, stern landlady was a woman very set in her ways. She had specific ideas and rules about how to run one’s life and it was not wise to cross those ideas. She was, outwardly, an unlikely mother figure but emitted a primitive, bumbling motherly glow nevertheless. She excelled where he fell short and may have been able to calm the girl down. Mrs Mullins had an endless supply of patience when it came to youngsters. She was the obvious answer and Kaiden cursed his own folly in failing to approach the situation properly. This was the worst possible time for Laqueta to engage in teenage rebellion and, if she wasn’t found in the next hour or so, it may cost her dearly. It was his fault of course, but that wouldn’t help him right now. Dwelling on his shortcomings would not solve the immediate problem. The city was far too large to blindly search in the time available and Kaiden was desperately thinking over every place they’d been together. His only hope of finding her quickly enough was to guess her most likely location and head straight there. Laqueta had led a fairly sheltered life until now and there weren’t many places in the city that she knew. He had rarely taken her outside the Old Town district so Kaiden was tempted to stay and search the immediate area. No sooner had he made that decision then a thought struck him. At this moment the girl wanted nothing to do with him or the city. Their last words had been spoken in anger and she had fled the only home she had ever known. She had just discovered, however, that for the early months of her life, there had been another home. In her present state, a poisonous hatred toward her guardian and a desire to feel close to her real parents, the forest would be the obvious retreat. If Kaiden was a betting man, he would have put money on it.

 The shadows were deepening fairly rapidly now and there was no way he could make the distance on foot. There was nothing for it but to make use of his wings. No city transport would be quick enough and he couldn’t waste time preparing Saquin. The idea of flying openly in this area went against his every instinct but this was an emergency, there was no time for caution. He picked up speed over the rooftops, stretched his wings to the oncoming night and took to the skies.

 The city flowed beneath Kaiden as he soared gracefully toward the forest edge. He caught brief glimpses of startled faces flashing past; a few indignant shouts even came his way but they fell on empty air. He was deaf to the city and to Old Town’s prejudices right now. Leave them to their narrow minded games, he thought, he’d deal with them later. He flew on and before long the dark shadow of the forest loomed up ahead, marking the city boundary. The canopy of trees, thick and heavy, blocked out any remaining light for the day. It was the kind of place that inspired ghostly stories; there were rumours of vicious creatures of the night and an air of evil surrounding the forest. Most citizens therefore only ever went as far as the outskirts, keeping the city well in sight. The deeper reaches of the woodland area, where Laqueta’s tribe had set up home, had been penetrated by very few. As he approached the boundary Kaiden descended sharply, diving low to get under the massive canopy that coated the forest. He manoeuvred his way swiftly through, curving a path around and between the trees. It felt like a slalom race at times and there were several tight moments but he had cat-like reflexes and a sharp eye and almost enjoyed the challenge. He was keeping a look out for the girl all the way; she had never entered the forest before and was likely to get easily lost. The towering trees swallowed unsuspecting visitors, if you didn’t respect the awesome power of nature and proceed with caution you would be lost forever, mere prey for the woodland to feed off.