Chapter Twenty-One
Astra followed Rem down the corridor that led to the west wing, aware of an uncomfortable nervousness that had settled in the pit of her stomach.
Why was Rem being so kind and understanding?
No one knew better than her the hatred that the Una had for the Tula, and Rem had been brought up to despise their very name. Yet here he was, extending an olive branch, and she couldn’t quite decide if there was some unseen motive behind his apparent acceptance.
He was so young, the same age as Penn. It was hard to think of him as manipulative, to think that he might be making overtures of friendship in the hope that they would be able to give him information.
Surely he was too young and couldn’t be that worldly wise?
For a second she relaxed until, unbid, the recollection of the man who had commanded Rem to take her home filled her mind.
He had commanded.
Not asked.
Not suggested.
Commanded.
His voice had been filled with the authority of one who knew that he would be obeyed, and Rem had obeyed.
Why?
Astra shivered. She had thought at the time that he must have been grandson to the Elder Headman, but now she had a more disquieting thought.
Rem had only been a baby when she had been taken, and their parents, and older brothers killed. He would have needed caring for and instruction in his role as a Headman.
Who but one of her sisters’ husbands would have taken on such a responsibility?
Therefore Rem would look up to him, and would take his advice on the treatment of his wayward sister and her Tula foster-family. Rem might not have thought to use them, but Astra was very certain the man from the Justice Chambers had.
She shivered again.
Using Rem to gain information was a very efficient and cunning idea.
It was also scheming and unethical.
She felt sick.
Councillor Ladron would have used an innocent dupe like her brother to further his ends in that way. She had hoped and prayed that only person with such perverse and hateful cunning had been born to make trouble on earth, but it seemed that it was not so.
She thought back, trying to bring the man’s face to mind. He had been a little over average height; black hair with a firmly tamed wave. His eyes were so dark they had seemed black too, set beneath double lids. His Asian heritage was obvious, his baring quietly confident. He wore power with the indifference of one who had never been powerless.
Controlled, and used to having his own way...
Dangerous.
Yes. He was very, very dangerous.
He was a problem.
A problem that she had to overcome. She had no doubt that he had no friendly feelings for her or her foster-family. She had felt his distaste for her in his heavy stare. The words that he had spoken had been innocent enough, but their delivery had left her in no doubt of the insult he wanted to convey.
Whoever he was, he was confident of his power over her and her family. However he was in for a rude awakening if he though she would humbly submit to him.
She had lived with the terror that Councillor Ladron had evoked, with his threats, and with the knowledge that she and her loved ones were completely in his power.
Yet she had survived.
She had even on occasion succeeded in besting him. There had been times when she could mislead him.
Lies were hardest to spot when they contained an element of truth, and she had ruthlessly exploited his ignorance whenever she could.
Whoever this man was, he would never be able to scare her as Councillor Ladron had done. She had plenty of experience in getting the better of someone without attracting their ire.
Years of facing Councillor Ladron’s taunts, of walking a dangerous tightrope where her words and actions would have been heavily punished if they had contained any trace of defiance, had taught her how to survive under the hardest conditions.
For a moment she remembered the weight of his eyes on her, and shivered. He couldn’t be worse than Ladron… could he?
------
Leda watched as Ben helped himself to another portion of eggs. He looked better today. Leda smiled a little over her choice of words. He looked like… what was that ghastly expression he had used? Ah yes: he looked like death warmed over!
It was a strangely accurate description.
However, he obviously felt better, if three slices of scrambled egg on toast and two portions of kedgeree were any indication.
Leda frowned, restlessly pushing the food around her plate.
She wondered what Astra was doing. One of the women serving breakfast had told them that she would eat with her brother in the family room. The servants meaning had not been lost on Leda. Astra was family; they were not.
“It’s just breakfast, Leda.”
Leda started at the sound of Ben’s voice and shook her head.
“No Ben, it's not ‘just breakfast’ any more than it was ‘just a law’ that Astra wasn’t allowed to eat with the Tula.” Leda pushed the egg around her plate listlessly. “It’s to tell us that we are considered inferior, just as Astra was considered inferior by our people.”
Ben picked up a slice of toast, and began to butter it. Leda watched as he added a thick layer of jam, and cut it in half.
“Leda: it’s just breakfast,” he reiterated, moving her plate from in front of her and replacing it with the toast.
“I don’t cook for just anyone, so you'd better eat that.”
Leda looked down at the toast in silence.
“What if they take her away from us, Ben?”
Ben didn’t answer, and Leda looked up to find that he was considering her question thoughtfully. She oddly pleased that he was taking her seriously. She didn’t want glib words, or to be treated like a child.
She wanted the truth in all its ugly glory.
Eventually Ben sighed.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it; you can’t change anything by worrying.”
He was right, she knew that, but the anxious knot in the pit of her stomach remained. She was surprised to feel Petta take her hand in hers, squeezing it slightly and giving her an encouraging smile. She was the elder sister; she should be comforting Petta, not the other way round.
The door opened and Astra’s brother stepped into the room, followed by Astra herself. For a moment surprise held them all still. Then Petta rushed into Astra’s arms, hugging her as if that hadn’t seen her just last night. It was a telling reaction, Leda thought. It proved that they had all considered it likely that they might not see Astra again.
“Are you alright?” asked Petta worriedly.
“Did you sleep well?” broke in Penn.
“What have you been doing?” demanded Balak.
Astra smiled serenely, kissing the top of Petta’s head.
“I’m fine. I slept well, thank you, and I have been speaking with Rem.” She reached out to ruffle Penn's hair affectionately, and they all turned to stare at Rem uncertainly.
Rem Uel Ne Singh shifted in discomfort, defiance simmering just below the surface of his polite expression. Eventually her father stepped forwards, and bowed with his hand over his heart.
“My name is Uri Va Dic Toban; please allow me to thank you for accepting us in to your home.”
“Your presence is a necessary embarrassment, but as you have cared for Aya so kindly, I am in your debt,” returned Rem stiffly.
Her father looked a little taken back by the boy’s reply. He smiled, looking toward his foster daughter, and warmth filled his eyes.
“It was our pleasure to guard – Aya – for a time.”
Uri’s soft reply seemed to sooth Rem Uel Ne Singh’s ruffled feathers. He struggled for a moment, before manfully squaring his shoulders.
“I wonder if I might join you for the breaking of the fast?”
Her father smiled and gestured to a seat between Penn and Ba
lak.
“It would be an honour, Rem.”
Astra’s brother frowned, but inclined his head politely.
“I may call you Uri?”
“Of course.” Her father smiled again, and gestured to his sons.
“This is Balak and Penn…”
Balak bowed and Penn jerked his head indifferently in acknowledgement of the introduction. Uri frowned at the less than friendly action and moved on.
“And this is Ceadron and Benji.”
Ben almost extended a hand before seeming to remember that no Tula man would shake hands. His hand hovered uncertainly in mid air for a moment before he grinned and waved. Leda frowned; she would have to remind him to be more careful in the future.
“You don’t resemble the rest of your family, Benji,” observed Rem.
The room stilled guiltily.
“With that rash how could he look like anyone?” asked Penn scornfully.
“Penn!”
Uri frowned at his son and then turned to Rem with a smile.
“Benji takes after his mother.”
“I see. Forgive the observation, I spoke thoughtlessly.”
Astra’s brother looked uncomfortable and his tone was stiff. He cast Penn a look of distaste.
An awkward silence developed, filling the room with a cloud of unspoken resentment. Ben buttered another piece of toast and looked at her expectantly. Leda stared back blankly. What did he want her to do?
Ben rolled his eyes and shook his head mockingly at her. There was frustration as well as amusement in his eyes, and before she knew what he had in mind he turned to Astra’s brother and engaged him in conversation.
“Astra told us you were only a baby when she was taken, Rem, and that both of your parents were lost in the attack. Who has looked after you for all this time?”
Under the table Leda kicked him, but Ben’s only response was to move his limbs out of her reach. What was he thinking of? She had told him a thousand times or more that he was to keep quiet; the last thing they need was for him to draw attention to himself.
Rem Uel Ne Sen shifted uncomfortably under Ben’s expectant gaze and flushed a little.
“My sister’s husband raised me, along with his father. They have been very kind to me despite the embarrassment I have been to them.”
“Embarrassment?” asked Ben.
Leda ground her teeth and imagined how satisfying it would be to strangle Ben while he slept.
“Through his connection to me, Benji.” Astra’s voice was soft and she regarded her younger brother steadily for some moments.
Ben asked how it had been decided which of his brothers-in-law would raise him, and Leda winced. A Tula would never use such a phrase. The correct term was Brother by Right or the Una term Brother of Bond.
Astra’s brother didn’t seem to notice the slip. He probably knew very little of Tula terminology, and had no wish to become better educated.
“Aya is Kai’s responsibility, therefore it was decided that I was also.”
The room became deathly quiet at Rem’s words and Leda saw Astra freeze.
Who was Kai, she wondered.
“And why was it Kai’s responsibility over your other brother in law?” inquired Ben.
Leda winced again at the unfamiliar phrase and waited for Rem’s answer.
“As Kai's Bonded wife, Aya was obviously his responsibility.”
Ceadron choked into his cup and Petta dropped her fork. The utensil fell onto her plate, smashing it. The assembled group turned to Astra. She had paled, but her voice when she spoke was calm.
“You mistake, Brother.”
“There are no mistakes when it comes to the Bonding. What is there to misunderstand?”
“I was never Bonded.”
“For a certainty you were, Sister.”
Leda met her sister’s eyes and saw a strange mix of emotion in them. She was defiant, but there was also disbelief, scorn, and even terror.
“I think, Brother, I would remember had I taken part in a Bonding ceremony. I was captured before I reached the Bonding year.”
“Bonding year?” asked Ben.
Leda shook her head, indicating ignorance of this new idea. She was trembling slightly and her hands were clammy.
“The Una Head Families form interlinking alliances called the 'Sequence of Marriage’. These arranged unions join the Head Families together as one large family. It was thought that the alliances would unify the Head Families and prevent civil. The Bonded couple must both be over the age of ten before the first part of the ceremony takes place. I was taken in my ninth year, therefore it impossible that I am Bonded to anyone.”
Rem shook his head.
“You were Bonded in you third month, Aya.”
Leda fought against the urge to beg Astra to contradict his statement.
“It goes against every Una law. How could that happen?” Astra’s hands grasped each other tightly. “It cannot be so.”
Rem Uel Ne Singh’s face shuttered up instantly. Leda was taken aback at the sudden resemblance between brother and sister. It unnerved her and she shivered.
“There were reasons that made it necessary for you to be Bonded earlier, and special dispensation was granted by the Headmen.”
Astra stiffened.
“What reasons?”
Brother and sister calmly gazed at one another, their expressions glacial.
“We do not speak of it.”
“You will speak of it to me.”
Leda saw Petta begin to shake, her youngest sister’s face had blanched until her lips were bloodlessly white. Ceadron looked down, assessing her sharply, before sliding an arm around her and drawing her to rest against his side.
“No, Sister, I will not,” returned Rem with finality.
Those gathered around the table looked from one to the other of the two combatants but no one spoke.
“For this ‘situation’ I was Bonded before my time and without my consent. Yet you are now trying to keep me ignorant of the reason?”
Rem Uel Ne Singh shook his head, picking up a walnut from the bowl before him and turning the smooth shell in his fingers.
“As a Headman’s daughter it was your duty to be bound into another Head Family. You never had a ‘choice’. Your mate was picked out before you were even born, your consent expected.”
“You took away my right to object!” retuned Astra. “I was an innocent baby unaware of what was happening.”
“You had no right to object! Knowing the reasons for your Bonding will not change that it happened.”
A thoughtful inflection crossed Astra’s face.
“I will not accept the Bonding without first knowing the reason why it was performed.”
A sharp crack broke the silence as the walnut shell gave way beneath the pressure of Rem’s fingers.
“You would dare to do such a thing?”
Astra raised her eyebrows, her face taking on a haughty expression of frostiness.
“Most certainly I would. Una law supports my refusal. The Bonding would be annulled. It is precisely to avoid this situation that the Bonding age is set at ten.”
“You would bring yet more shame on our family? We have born the taint that you have forced upon us, and yet now you will deny us again?”
For the first time Astra hesitated as she thought of his words. Leda silently begged her not to give in. She knew what her sister was thinking. Astra was worrying about what her actions would mean to her family’s safety.
Rem Uel Ne Singh was still glaring at Astra, his face filled with anger. Astra inclined her head slightly.
“No, I will not. However, before I take the final vows at the Bonding ceremony, I will have you tell me the truth.”
Leda threw her knife and fork down and made to stand up. Ben’s hand on her arm prevented her. He shook his head indicating that she should stay quiet. Her temper sparked angrily and she tried to shake him off. He proved stubborn, his hand holding her locked to t
he chair and a look in his eyes that said she would be sorry if she went against him.
It surprised her. Ben had never gone against her before, in fact, she’d been pretty sure that he had a crush on her. Leda was used to being admired, she knew how to make men putty in her hands. Yet Ben stood his ground. Rem’s voice broke in on Leda’s thoughts.
“It sounds very much like you are threatening me, Sister.”
“Did it? I only meant to state fact.”
Rem tilted his head to one side, and considered Astra thoughtfully for a moment.
“Perhaps one day I will tell you.”
The room lapsed into silence again and Leda glared at Ben, daring him to say another word. Ben grinned at her and lifted his teacup in silent toast, but he said nothing more.