Chapter Forty-Seven
Their Future Decided
Vanessa’s comments ended the history lesson. Everyone stared at her, but no one said anything.
By the entrance to the tunnel, Paula sat with El-Vin and Emile. She had been growing more and more impatient as the time passed. Now she could stand it no longer.
“Why doesn’t she come back?” she asked of no one in particular.
It was obvious who she was talking about. No one else wanted to answer her, so Kai-Tai did.
“Maybe it is because the way is clear and they have escaped without us.”
Prince Harold refused to believe that. “Nan-Po pledged to send word back to me, and Jai-Soo herself said that she would return. She would not renege on that pledge.”
“No,” Kai-Tai replied. “But the hours have passed and the time they have is limited. Even now it runs short. If that pledge was to be kept, Jai-Soo should have returned before now.”
“You think they have met with some delay?”
“What happens in the darkness of the lower corridors of the ship I cannot say. All we know from the past is that none have returned to make the journey a second time.”
Anne grasped the meaning of her words and she spoke with obvious alarm. “Are you saying that it’s too late? That we’ve waited here for nothing?”
Instead of answering her, Kai-Tai closed her eyes and tilted her head upwards. “I cannot see the ship above,” she said in a soft voice. “But when it is close I can sense its presence. I feel its energy and its power. I feel it in my veins and in my blood, but especially I feel it in my back. That feeling fades.”
Kai-Tai opened her eyes and turned to Soo-Kai. “What do you feel, my daughter? Your body is strong while mine is weak. Do you still feel the ship above?”
Soo-Kai also closed her eyes. She didn’t answer, but after a few seconds she opened her eyes again and slowly shook her head.
Anne stood up, overcome by the implication of what that meant. “We can’t go home,” she said in a shocked voice. “We’re stuck here, forever.”
Kai-Tai’s reply was very matter-of-fact. “Not forever, only until the ship returns in twenty-eight years time. Then all can try again.”
Anne looked horrified. “But if Nan-Po and the rest couldn’t get through, what chance have we got?” Then it suddenly dawned on her. “Twenty-eight years? We can’t wait twenty-eight years! I’ll be fifty-two! It’s a prison sentence! No, it’s a lifetime!”
“I’m glad,” Rowena said to everyone’s surprise. They all looked at her, causing her to blush slightly. But she had something to say, and she was going to finish it. “Vanessa and Paula are right, Miss. We can’t go home now, even if we could. I know I’ll miss my mum and dad and everything, but it just wouldn’t be right. If we went home, I’d see Linda’s brother, and Jo’s mum and dad, and my parents know Christine’s parents. My dad works with her dad at GEC. They’d all know that I was alive while their sister and daughters were dead. It would upset me, it would upset them. No, it’s better for all of them if we stay. So long as we’re all missing together, they’ll all have something to share. They’ll all have some hope that we’re all still alive somewhere, that maybe we all ran off abroad in the minibus. They’ll never find it, so they’ll never know, will they? No, I’m glad. I want to stay.”
As soon as Rowena had finished, Jane quickly said, “Me, too, Miss. I don’t want to go, either.”
Sophia was the next to speak up. “Nor me. I want to stay, too.”
One by one, all the girls began to speak up. None of them wanted to go back home. And although the two French boys only spoke a little English, it was good enough for them both to understand what was going on. Neither of them wanted to go back either. But it was Becky’s comments that finally sealed it.
“We have to stay, Miss,” she told Anne. “You just have to think about it for a second to realise that it’s the only way. I’ll be sad for a while too, but I couldn’t face going back. Think of the questions that would be asked. Think of the police and the media. And what could we tell them? They wouldn’t believe the truth. They’d say we made it all up, that we did something underhand or criminal. They’d say that we were covering up the real reason why the others were killed. They’d probably blame you, Miss. They’d make something sexual and perverted out of it. And what about the French boys? It’ll be worse for them; they’re the only one’s that are left. And while the media raged on and on about it, all our parents would have to suffer it too. Sooner or later they’d begin to believe it, and after that it wouldn’t be long before they began to hate each other. They’ll each believe the lies and the rubbish. They’ll start fighting and blaming one another over who died and who lived. And we’d be right in the middle. No, I don’t want to go back now, either. Rowena’s right, it’s best for all concerned if we stay.”
Anne stared at Becky in shock. She opened her mouth to say something, but then closed it again without uttering a sound. She looked around at everyone, suddenly feeling very self-conscious, so she slowly sat down next to Prince Carl once more, a dazed look on her face. Prince Carl put his arm around her and pulled her close. She didn’t resist.
Paula had listened impatiently and with growing annoyance while Rowena and Becky had spoken. Not that she was annoyed with them; it was just that she hadn’t wanted to have this conversation now. But annoyed or not, when the time had come, she had been just as vocal as the rest of the girls about wanting to stay. Like them, there was no way she could go back to school and normality, not after what she had seen and experienced.
Paula wasn’t the same girl who had gone off to a hockey match that morning a million years ago. She could never be the same again. She never wanted to be. But that wasn’t what was driving her crazy. She was still far more concerned about Jai-Soo than she was about going home. And she still hadn’t got a proper answer out of Kai-Tai. Instead she had been made to listen to all this talk about going home when everyone must have already known for ages that they were never really going to get home again. And why would they want to?
In final desperation, Paula left her place by the steps and went to stand in front of Kai-Tai.
“Never mind about all that!” she said to her. “What about Jai-Soo? She wouldn’t leave without us! She promised to come back! Why hasn’t she come back? What could have happened?”
Kai-Tai stared at her for a moment, as if not realising what the questions referred to. But then she answered Paula in almost the same way as she had done earlier.
“Maybe the way is not clear and the ship has consumed them.”
Paula looked alarmed. “What does that mean?”
“The ship is one of the Twelve Great Ships. This is not a name based on praise. The ship is huge, vast and its condition unknown. After a thousand years, walls may be weak, and floors collapsed. All the ground and this castle sit above it. The way may be difficult and hazardous, it may take time to reach the data link, and the return journey could be equally difficult. Jai-Soo may not have returned because she may be lost or dead.”
Kai-Tai’s words were blunt and harsh. Rolf could see that they upset Paula, who had obviously formed an attachment to Jai-Soo. He watched as Paula moved back to the top of the steps and sat down again, turning her back to them. She didn’t say a word, but Rolf had seen the tears welling up in her eyes. Her distress had been needless, and Kai-Tai’s attitude in causing it annoyed him. Even Emile looked sad. Maybe he had understood. Rolf turned to glare at Kai-Tai, wondering how he could possibly have thought that she and Soo-Kai were alike.
Rolf wasn’t the only one to notice Kai-Tai’s hardening nature. Prince Harold had seen it too, and he recognised what it meant.
“I see that the dawn approaches,” he said with regret.
Kai-Tai nodded. “Yes. Soon the sun will rise and I will be free. You must be far away from me by then, or my Purpose will consume you as easily as the Outsider would have done.”
When Kai-
Tai spoke, her tone was haughty and aloof and that familiar frosty nature had returned. The change in her wasn’t lost on Prince Carl, either.
“The spirit of freedom,” he muttered. Then more loudly he said, “I envy you, my brother. For one night you did what I was always too proud and too stupid to attempt. Your brief time together you will remember with joy and clarity, while my memories will always be dark and grim. But no more. There are things I must say, an act of penitence that I will have witnessed. And I can think of no others more suited to bear that witness than those around me this day.”
To everyone’s surprise, Prince Carl stood up and went to stand before Rolf and Soo-Kai. Both of them stared at him in even more surprise as he suddenly knelt down before them. He spoke to Rolf first.
“I apologise to you, Rolf L’Epine, tailor to the court of King L’Hage. When we met in the forest you spoke to me truthfully and honestly. I answered you with anger. Now I want you to forget my anger and remember only our friendship.”
Rolf nodded, speechless.
Prince Carl now turned to Soo-Kai, taking her hand in his. “And I apologise to you also, my Lady, Soo-Kai, wife of Rolf L’Epine. From you I ask only for forgiveness. Once I committed an evil deed against you. I cannot undo that now, but only swear to you that I will commit no such deeds in the future. From this day forth the Hunts are dead. I will not rest until I see the law is repealed. It will be my first task when I return to Court and face my father. I vow this to you now, with all those who watch.”
Soo-Kai stared with round eyes as Prince Carl bowed his head and kissed her hand.
The brief spell was broken when El-Vin suddenly called out.
“Nan-Po sun lak!” she shouted, and stood up with Emile and Paula, and the three of them quickly moved back from the steps.
Everyone turned to look and what greeted them was a strange sight.
The Destroyers all emerged from the tunnel in a rush, one after the other. Paula looked at them all eagerly, searching for Jai-Soo. But it was impossible to tell who was who because every one of them was covered in black mud, mud that was slowly drying and turning grey. It was deeply encrusted all over them, hiding their identity. And with the mud came a strange musty smell. It was powerful and pungent. It smelt like something old and decaying, something that had died and been buried for a long time.
Jane stared at them with a look of distaste. “Oh, my God,” she muttered, holding her nose.
While most of the humans in the chamber backed away, Paula and Emile appeared to be unaffected by the smell of the mud. Emile began counting the Destroyers while Paula darted about among them, anxiously pulling at the tunic of one, or at the sleeve of another. Each time she was disappointed, and would move on to the next, growing more and more desperate each time.
Prince Harold had helped Kai-Tai climb to her feet and now she joined El-Vin in the middle of the mud encrusted Destroyers. She was quickly surrounded, and a heated discussion developed.
Prince Harold quickly stepped back; even he was put off by the smell. He went to stand with Rolf and Soo-Kai.
“Why did they all return?” he asked Soo-Kai.
“They did not all return,” Soo-Kai pointed out. “They are only six.”
It was a fact not lost on Emile, as he joined Paula in calling out Jai-Soo’s name. But there was no answer.
One by one the Destroyers slowly revealed themselves. They scraped away the mud from their faces and their bodies, or tore it from their hair. First was Mai-Ra, then Hai-Fam, her yellow ribbon now black and sodden. Next came Nan-Po, Zen-Wa and Chen-Bey. The last Destroyer took her time pulling the mud from her face and hair. Her hair was blonde. It was Di-Quan.