A Forest of Stars - Kevin J. Anderson [239]
Osira’h saw the love Nira and her father had shared, heard the promises they had made to each other…and finally understood the treachery of the Mage-Imperator and the Dobro Designate. They had slain old Otema because she was not of breeding age. They had locked Nira in a darkened cell, kept her isolated before they learned she was pregnant with the Prime Designate’s child—with Osira’h. And after the daughter was successfully delivered, after Nira had spent several months loving her child, they had stolen the baby away, to raise her—and brainwash her.
Insatiable now, Osira’h took more and more of it, consuming every horrific memory of repeated rapes and forced impregnations. Suddenly the little girl saw the truth behind all the dry words Udru’h had spoken, even though she didn’t want to hear it.
And she also learned the joy of serving the worldforest, the thrill of tapping into the sentient network, the wondrous things Nira had seen on Theroc and in Mijistra. At last, she knew the love and happiness that Nira had once experienced, and everything that her mother had lost by becoming a captive here on Dobro, a victim of the Designate’s experiments.
When the thoughts finally faded to a trickle, emptying into an echo in her mind, Osira’h knew everything that her mother was, all that she had lived and thought. Each realization resounded like a thunderclap in her mind.
The Ildiran leaders were not the admirable heroes she had been taught to worship. Her mission to connect with the hydrogues and save the Empire was not the altruistic goal the Dobro Designate had always explained to her.
Drained and utterly exhausted, Nira slid to her knees. But her face wore a smile of weak relief that she had been able to do such an important thing, at last. Osira’h stood stunned, her hand still resting lightly on her mother’s head.
Before the girl could say anything, her mother suddenly gasped and broke away. Osira’h saw the fear on her face. She turned.
Two looming forms of guard kithmen appeared from the well-lit streets, venturing into the shadows where Osira’h huddled at the fence juncture with her mother. “Nira Khali, we have come for you,” said one of the soldiers. “The Designate gave us strict instructions.”
A third guard approached from the outside, marching purposefully toward the little girl. In a gruff voice, he said, “Osira’h, you are not to leave the residence without supervision. It is dangerous. You could be hurt. I will take you back now.”
The girl turned quickly, defiantly meeting the gaze of the burly soldier. “I am unharmed. How can there be any threat to me here on Dobro?”
The guard took her by the arm. “We do not ask the Designate to explain himself. Neither should you.” He pulled Osira’h away from her mother, while the two other guards grabbed Nira by her thin wrists. The green-skinned woman did not resist.
“Leave her alone!” By instinct, because of all that she now understood, Osira’h did not reveal what she knew or who Nira was. “Don’t harm her.”
“We are following the Designate’s orders.”
As the soldier kithmen wrestled her away, Nira shouted to Osira’h, “Remember…Just remember.”
Without speaking, the guard hurried Osira’h back along the well-lit streets toward the tall, bright residence. Though she could no longer see Nira, Osira’h still felt the connection with her mother echoing in her mind. Her heart pounded with fear that was both her own and Nira’s, and she felt the resignation in her mother’s mind. The green priest began to struggle; she almost broke away—
Then, suddenly, more pain than the girl could comprehend. A shaft of ice went through her chest, and she caught her breath. Osira’h stumbled. She heard a distant harsh cry of agony, and then the wet sounds of another blow.
Just as they had done to Ambassador Otema! It must be!
Frantic, Osira’h snatched her hand away from the guard, surprising him, and bolted back toward the fence. “Stop it!