Changing of the Glads (18 page)

Max’s brow shot up. 
Vitus.
 

The brothers’ connected minds echoed through the air.  No need for them to reach out.  Any on this planet could hear these thoughts.  But why had Max not heard them before now?  How had they remained hidden for all these years?

Zalphia’s thoughts joined the brothers’.  “Am I pregnant?” 

Cold shivers clawed their way up Max’s spine as he waited for Karaticus’s answer.

“Yes, I believe so.” The confirmation from Karaticus shot lighting through Max’s heart, splitting it in two like the trunk of a tree.

No, it couldn’t be.

Max closed his eyes and fought to catch his breath.  Why would Simeon say that Max and Zalphia would combine to save this world when he knew that wasn’t the case? 

Falling onto his hands, Max listened as Karaticus’s confidential thoughts confirmed the child Zalphia carried would be the fulfillment of The Prophecy. 

He and Zalphia
had
combined.  In his moments of weakness in the forest, they fulfilled something a prophet foretold hundreds of years before the Great War began. 

Now their innocent child would suffer as well. 

If Zalphia lived long enough to deliver it.

Until the priest shook him, Max didn’t realize he lay at the base of the altar, crying out Zalphia’s name.

“Maximillion, are you all right?”

Max turned his face to the priest.  “It is true.  Zalphia does carry the child of prophecy.  But the Emperor will kill them both.”

“No, it can’t be.  The child would be from two not of this world.  Two sent from the higher world of Selestia.  I do not believe Zalphia the Glad is one of those.  No, the Emperor will show she is as human as the rest of us and execute her for her crimes.”

Max sprang to his feet, his voice shattering the reverence of the small space.  “I, Maximillion, am from the Selestial sphere as is Zalphia.  Together we were joined before the
Elders and the great God above.  We have sealed our love and created the child of promise.  And you better pray, Father Michael, that I can save her from the fate your Emperor has condemned her to.  Or, so help me, you will suffer with the rest of this world when we leave you to your destruction.”

The priest shrank back as Max spun around.  “Let me out.”

Father Michael knelt beside the altar and opened the concealed doorway.

Max ran out of the office, down the hallway, and through the rows of gleaming benches.  As he reached the street, he doubled his speed. Soon, Karaticus’s ship would be leaving and somehow Max needed to be aboard.

Avoiding the crowd in front of the arena, Max headed to the trainer’s entrance.  The guard normally stationed there at this time of day was one person Max knew and trusted.  Something about the way Taebor acted set him apart from the other guards.  He genuinely cared about others.  In spite of his job, he always treated everyone with respect and dignity, be it another guard, an Armor, or even a Glad. 

A few minutes later, Max reached the gate and rattled the bars.  “Taebor! Taebor!  Grant me entrance.”

The blond guard appeared on the other side.  “Gaius?  Where have you been?”

“I had some thinking to do.”

“You were missed yesterday.”

“I know.  What did the Captain of the Armors say?”

Taebor inserted his key in the lock and opened the gate.  “I covered for you.  Said you weren’t feeling well.  I think he believed me.”

“Thank you, my friend.  I am in your debt.”

Max entered, and the blond locked the gate behind him.  “Not a problem.  So what were you
thinking
about?  The girl you visited in the dungeon?”

“Yes.”

“Well, you missed all the excitement.”

“What excitement?”

Taebor motioned for Max to step closer then whispered, “Everyone is saying that No Mercy Zalph is suspected to carry the child of prophecy.”

Max’s brow furrowed.  “What do you know of this prophecy?”

Taebor glanced around then slipped his hand into the pouch tied at his waist.  He held his hand out to Max and slowly uncurled his fingers, revealing a ring identical to the one Zebrone had given Max earlier.

“I see.”  Max studied his friend’s face.  Now his actions made sense.  “How long have you believed?”

“I began searching for the truth about six months ago.  There were rumors running through town that two Glads with the power of Selestia were to meet in this very arena.  I could hardly wait to witness it.  However, that day I fell deathly ill and couldn’t rise from my bed.  I missed my shift.  But in doing so, my life was saved.  It was then I realized I had been spared.  What had seemed like a curse was truly a blessing.”

“I see.” Max’s eyes narrowed.  He never thought anyone inside the arena would worship the one true God.

“Do you know of The Prophecy?” Taebor asked.

“I have just come from the Cathedral of the Saints.”

“And how did they receive an Armor from the arena?”

“They were suspicious, as you would imagine.” 

Taebor nodded.  “I’d suspect they would be.”

“But...” Max laid a hand on his friend’s shoulder.  He wiped the projected image from Taebor’s mind, and Max revealed who he truly was.

Taebor gasped.  “You’re him, Maximillion of Selestia.”

“I am.”

“Then you have to save her.”

“I intend to do just that.  Where is she now?”

“She was taken to the infirmary.  The Captain of the Guard stands watch at the door. The Emperor’s physician has come, and he will be taking her back with him.”

“Do you know what is planned once she reaches the palace?”

Taebor kicked at the dirt with his toe, then met Max’s gaze.  “I’m sure they will destroy the child.  It is said the Emperor’s physician has done it many times.”

“Where is the ship in which he arrived?”

“It is on the roof, amidst the garden.”

Max clapped his friend on the shoulder.  “I must get aboard somehow.”

“Good luck to you, Gaius, or should I say, Maximillion.  I hope you are able to protect her.”

“I will do my best.”

“You must hurry then, my friend,” Taebor said.  “Even as we speak, they are preparing to leave.”

Max turned, sprinted down the alleyway, and took the stairs two at a time.  He burst through the doorway onto the roof just as two guards exited the bottom level of the ship.

Max projected the image of the Captain of the Guard.  “Wait.”  He extended his hand, stopping the guards in their tracks.  “I must accompany the prisoner.”

“Very well, Captain.”  The two guards stepped aside, and Max rushed into the cargo hold, saluting the subordinates as he passed.

He turned and watched as the plank blended seamlessly into the side of the ship.  Fighting for breath, he leaned against the wall.  A mind quickly scanned his then disappeared.

“Zalphia?” Max ran a hand across his face.

A familiar voice echoed inside the hold.  “So, you did come.”

Max spun around, and his eyes grew wide.  “You!”

CHAPTER 18

The ship hummed and shivered beneath Zalphia.  Framed in the small round window behind Karaticus, the trees narrowed then disappeared.

He turned and followed her gaze.  “It’s amazing, isn’t it?”

“Yes. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Karaticus studied her face.  “I wish I could use my mind to fly these.”  He searched his empty hands for a moment before again meeting her gaze.  “If I could, things might have been different all those years ago.” 

“What?  You’re not flying this?”

“No, I don’t have that kind of power.”

“So how is it flying?”

“Vitus.”

“You mean he’s controlling the ship from somewhere else?”

“Yes.  He and I are connected.”

“I don’t understand.  Why can’t
you
fly the ship?”

“I can change people’s thoughts, but using my mind to physically do things like fly a ship or kill an arena full of people with an electrical pulse... well, very few even from Selestia can do that.”

“Why are you helping your brother?”

“Like you and Father, Vitus and I can communicate our thoughts to each other. But he is the one who can physically change things.  He just uses my mind to do it.”

“You can’t keep him from using your mind?”

Karaticus hung his head.  “No.  Well... I could, but it would cost me my family.”

Zalphia leaned back in the chair.  “Your family?”

“Yes.  I fell in love with a human woman within a few months of the war ending.  We started a family and had twin boys.  Vitus uses that. He holds them in the palace, and I’m only allowed to see them twice a week for a few hours.  If I don’t do as he commands, he will kill them. He’s got me imprisoned as surely as if I were in a cage.  The only difference is he can use me and my talents as a physician to do his dirty work.”

“And what exactly is the dirty work he has you do?”

He chuckled nervously.  “I should think it was obvious.  He uses me to keep control.  Anytime he suspects that someone might have been sent from Selestia, he uses me to eliminate them.  I’ve killed more humans than I care to think about.  But the worst is what he’s had me do to the unborn.”

“The unborn?”  Zalphia shrank back against her chair.  “What do you do to them?”

“Just as I did with Odette.  I rip the child from the womb in the cruelest manner.  A procedure that causes great pain for the infant.”

“All of them?”

“No, just the ones my brother believes might be sent from Selestia.”

Zalphia’s hands protectively surrounded her belly.  “You won’t...”

Sorrow formed a line between Karaticus’s eyes.  “I’m hoping it doesn’t come down to that.  How could I choose which part of my family dies?”

“Why does Vitus care about unborn children?”

Karaticus leaned back in his chair.  “He assumed when he first heard about The Prophecy that he was the one who would fulfill it as he is your firstborn.  However, one of the priests he slated for execution declared that it wasn’t so.  He said two others would be sent.  These two would combine and overthrow Vitus as ruler of this world.”

“So this prophecy is about me and Max?”

“I’m not sure, but Vitus believes so.  He has a person searching constantly for anyone who shows signs of mind powers.  That is how he found you, Mother, but he was unable to find Father.”

Zalphia’s brow furrowed.  “Why didn’t he kill me then?”

“He was waiting for you to draw Father out.  He hoped if your life was in danger, Father would come to your rescue.”

“And he did, didn’t he?”

“Yes, he did.” Karaticus leaned his elbows on his knees.  “But Vitus didn’t foresee you two getting away.  He hoped that you would kill Father.”

“Then what would he have done?”

“Made sure that you were caught cheating just as he has now.”

“Why did he need me to draw out Max?  Couldn’t he reach out with his mind to find us?”  Zalphia studied her son’s face.

“I’m sure he could have.  But he didn’t want the Elders from Selestia to know what he was doing.  If he searched with his mind, his plan would have been discovered.  The Elders could follow the thought tendrils back into Vitus’s mind.  And he didn’t want that.”

“So why send me into the Glad arena?”

Karaticus shrugged.  “I guess in the hopes that once both of you were fighting in the arena that you’d be killed.  There was that chance.”

“I see, but Platy taught me to use my mind powers to win.”

“I know.”

Zalphia’s eyes narrowed “So, Platy has known all along about me and Max?”

“No.” Karaticus shook his head.  “But she was the only trainer willing to take you on at such a young age.  However, she eventually learned the hidden truth about the prophecy from an Arena General.  It is the child that you and Father would create who would be the downfall of the Emperor, not the two of you.”  He stared at the floor.  “Vitus will ensure that this child will never be born.” 

“I don’t understand.  Why didn’t Vitus complete the mission you two were sent to accomplish?”

“He changed after we came here.” Karaticus searched her face.  “Back on Selestia, I never could have imagined he would act like this.  But here, he’s different.”

“How so?”

He’s... well... it’s almost like he’s a different person, self-absorbed and cruel.  Almost as bad as the Elder Mantus on Selestia.”

“Mantus?  Who’s that?”

Karaticus shook his head.  “That’s right.  You don’t remember anything from Selestia.  Mantus was an Elder who was caught interfering in the affairs of some lower planets.  He was trying to overthrow the Council and rule all the planets under their influence.  When it was discovered what he was doing, he was stripped of his powers and banned from Selestia.”

“I don’t remember any of that.”

“Well, everyone felt the evil emanating from him before he was banished.  Now, Vitus reminds me of Mantus.”

Zalphia’s shoulders slumped.  “I see.  So Vitus wants us dead so we’re no longer a threat?”

Karaticus nodded.  “But he won’t do it himself.  It will be up to me.”

The way Karaticus’s hands trembled revealed how deeply the cost of saving his family had affected him. 

If Zalphia could look into his mind, would she find pain like Max carried?  Seeing the sadness in his eyes told her she would.

She leaned close.  “I’m so sorry.  I’ve judged you harshly.  I saw the way killing affected your father, and I’m sure you are as sensitive as he.  But wouldn’t it have been better to sacrifice three in order to save millions?”

Karaticus looked up, his eyes narrow and his lips a thin line.  “Really?  You ask me that?  Are you willing to let Father die to save these humans?  Are you willing to let me rip the child you carry from your womb in order to save this planet?”

His words sank like a cold, hard rock into the pit of her stomach.  She’d do anything to save the child she carried. 

Tears brimmed in her eyes, and her shoulders sagged as the dreams of the night before sprang to mind.  How could Karaticus know what she had done there to save one or the other and what could she possibly do now?

“I see the answer in your eyes.”  Karaticus grabbed her hands.  “Don’t you think I would do all that I could to save the ones that I love?”

Zalphia nodded.

The torment in Karaticus’s face mirrored what she felt in her heart.

Moisture filled his eyes.  “I’ve tried to change the minds of the people, help them to see that Vitus is evil.” He took a shaky breath.  “But as soon as enough of them begin to believe, he kills them in front of me.”

He dropped her hands and turned to look out the window.  “How could I continue to make the cause known only to have Vitus crush them between the stones for believing what I placed into their minds?  I can’t do it anymore.  I’ve prayed the time would come for The Prophecy to be fulfilled.”

Karaticus turned back toward Zalphia.  “And then you were discovered.  Oh, Mother.  I don’t want to do what I will be forced to.  Can’t you change this?”

Zalphia shook her head.  “I don’t know how.  Max said we could combine and end it.”

Karaticus sat forward, a look of hope on his face.  “Yes, together you and Father have the same powers as Vitus.”

“But Max isn’t here.  So, I see no way to end all this.”

“But you’ll find a way, right?”

She shrugged and shook her head.  “I don’t think so.”

Karaticus again grabbed her hands.  “Please, end this reign of terror and release me.”

Zalphia saw the same agony in his face that she felt in her dreams.  He, too, could only save his own family or her and her child.  Either way the horror of causing someone’s death would rest on his shoulders.  Max could have changed things by releasing her from the dungeon, but he hadn’t.  So she must face this terror alone.

The butterfly feeling tickled her insides. Zalphia pulled her hands away from Karaticus’s and rubbed her belly.  A child.  Their child, her and Max’s, grew inside.  How could she save it from what was about to be?

“Karaticus?”

He swallowed hard.

“Tell me how Vitus combines his mind with yours.”

“I don’t know.  It’s like he comes in and pulls all thought away.  I only see what he wants and then watch as it is accomplished.  I could never do the things he’s made me do on my own.  I’m a weapon he uses to kill those he wishes to be rid of. Now, he’ll use me to kill your child and then you and Father.”

Karaticus paused.  His breathing shuddered, and a tear slipped down his cheek.  “If only I couldn’t remember who you are.  If only I didn’t know about The Prophecy, then it wouldn’t cut so deep.  But how can Vitus do this?  He knows with everything inside it is wrong.  He has always known.”

Zalphia shook her head.  “Sometimes we do what we must.  Maybe he gets his desire for power from me.  I’ve killed for years, and I admit I almost enjoyed being the undefeated champion.  I hid the guilt deep inside and didn’t allow it to affect me.  Maybe his heart is iced over, frozen and unfeeling.  He surely inherited those traits from his mother.”  She wrapped her arms around her middle. 

Maybe if she felt more emotion, been more caring, then maybe her older son would have inherited that.  But he was a killer.  As much a Glad as his mother.  No wonder this world was doomed.  They sent two who only cared about themselves to try and save more who only cared about themselves.  Only Karaticus and Max held the lives of those on this planet in such reverence, and yet being loyal to the second part of the twosome turned both of them into reluctant executioners.

“No.”  Karaticus leaned forward.  “You are nothing like him.  We came straight from Selestia as fully aware of our mission as we could be.  He made a conscious choice to become as he is.  But you, Mother.  You he forced to be a killer.  I’m sure he thought you would never be discovered or, better yet, killed before Father could find you.  But he never counted on the Elders of Selestia interfering with his plans.”

“So, where does that leave us now?  What will you do with me once we reach the palace?”

He turned toward the window.  “I will be forced to do as I always have.  Once you are confirmed to be with child and your trainer attests to the fact you and Father were together, then I will be forced to rip the life growing inside you to pieces.  Vitus will put them on display to show the world how powerful he is.”   He turned back to her.  “Then he will do everything in his power to force Father to come in and rescue you.  You will suffer greatly at his hands, I’m afraid.”

Zalphia ground her teeth.  Max should have let her out.  He should have considered that no matter who was at the head of the Glad games, they would torture her again.  If they truly were connected, she hoped he would feel each and every pain along with her.  Then he would regret breaking every promise he’d made. 

A smile tipped her lips.  Yes, Max deserved to suffer for his actions.

Zalphia turned her attention back to Karaticus.  “Don’t worry.  I’ll endure whatever I must to end this once and for all.”

“But what about this world?  You and Father are the last hope to save it.”

Zalphia lifted her chin. “Max has left me to suffer whatever Vitus decrees.  So I will endure whatever I must.”

Karaticus reached out and took her hand.  “You are the bravest person I’ve ever met.”

Zalphia smiled and patted his hand.

The rest of the trip continued in silence.  When the ship landed at the palace, Zalphia stood.

“Well, Son, let’s go meet our fate.”