A Forest of Stars - Kevin J. Anderson [198]
Ildiran guards began to charge after her, crashing through the dry, crackling weeds, but Nira did not slow. Gasping and panting, she felt the ruddy sun on her green skin giving her the strength she needed. She had not experienced such desperation in years.
Using her inner strength and the drive she felt in her heart, perhaps Nira and these alien trees could offer the captive humans hope…if only she could save them. If she could somehow send a message, use these distant cousins of the worldtrees, then she could let the green priests know what was happening here on Dobro. Theroc would spread the news, find some way to send help—and the prisoners could be freed. Not just Nira, but all of the breeder slaves.
Nira ran harder toward the scraggly grove. Here in the open hills, she was free from fences and breeder barracks, evil medical kithmen and Ildiran males who had been ordered to rape her until she conceived another child. Nira had not planned this escape, and she knew she had little time, which made her scramble even faster. Her legs and feet were cut and bleeding, but she felt no pain. Not now.
The Dobro Designate’s men hunted Nira, angry to be pulled from their more important battle against the fire. She finally reached the nearest clump of twisted trees. The air was hot, laden with drifting ash like a gray snowfall. She charged into the thicket, knocking branches aside, feeling the thorns and sharp twigs rip at her skin like claws. But she pushed deeper into the dangerous, comforting presence. She sensed their life force stretching from roots beneath the ground. They were trees.
She cried out in a hoarse voice, “Please hear me. Please!”
Nira pushed her body deeper into the thicket. Finally, surrounded by the tangle of tree limbs, she fell to her knees and wrapped her arms around two of the distorted trunks, clutching them close. “Hear me. Oh, hear me!”
With all her heart, Nira tried to send out a telink message to the worldforest network, to send out a cry for help, to tell the outside universe that she was still alive. Every human here depended on her, even if they didn’t know it.
But she heard no response. Nothing.
She pressed her forehead against the rough bark, squeezing her eyes shut. She shouted with her mind, putting all her strength behind her plea. She thought of Osira’h, her other four children, and all of the Burton descendants.
Silence.
Nira clutched the thin trunk in a stranglehold, not feeling the sharp thorns. Refusing to give up, she battered her forehead against the tree until blood trickled into her eyes. “Please…please.”
But it was only a tree, not part of the worldforest at all. Just a tree…and it was doomed to burn in the fire.
Nira was still clutching the branches and sobbing when the Designate’s men found her. After hacking away the undergrowth to reach her, they pried her away, hopelessly struggling, still calling out with her mind…but reaching nothing.
103
KING PETER
After the exhausting wedding celebration, hours of dancing and music, fine delicacies and desserts and drinks, King Peter finally retired to his private wing of the WhisperPalace. The sudden silence made his ears ring, and he was glad to finally be alone.
With Estarra.
The lovely young woman was now his wife, his Queen. She seemed bright-eyed and shy, intelligent, yet out of place. She remained a wonderfully intriguing mystery to him.
Now, inside the royal bedroom, with several personal guards stationed outside the doors, Peter turned to face Estarra in an infinitely awkward moment. He touched her chin, turning her face so that they could look into each other’s eyes. “I think if I had to face an entire delegation of hydrogues, I’d be less scared than I am right now.”
Estarra looked startled; then she laughed. The tension seemed to melt away like magic. “You’re scared of me?”
“No, I’m scared of us.”
Before Estarra could say