Voices - M J Marlow (i can read with my eyes shut txt) 📗

in the breeding pens. Should I collect him for you?”
The man looked at me as if stunned. I found this rather
unsettling. Why would anyone be surprised to see me on the
communications screen? Everyone in the farming regions knew I
was Joris’ ward. But this man was obviously not someone who
knew Joris well enough to know about his family situation. An off
planet supplier maybe, I mused. He was definitely of Hazri stock,
and I knew Joris did work with such to get the best seeds and stock
for the farms. I set aside my worries and waited for the answer to
my query.
“That will not be necessary, girl,” the man spoke up after a
brief pause. “I will call back.”
“May I at least tell him you called?” I asked. There was no
answer. I checked, and the line had closed. I frowned at this; it was
not normal for someone from the region not to leave a message.
Life was too unpredictable up here, and the call one meant to make
could be easily forgotten in a birthing emergency or as a storm
struck. I made a note anyway and told Joris that an unknown had
called and what time. Joris might have been expecting a call at that
time.
I went to the stables and saddled the mare that Joris and
Bekah had given me when I was ten. I would be leaving her behind
when I left tomorrow. There was no place for a horse off planet. I
rubbed her nose and leaned against her a moment. I knew she
would be cared for; Joris’ young daughters were quite fond of the
animal, but I already missed her. I led her out into the paddock and
mounted. Then we were headed off towards the mountains. I
waved to Joris as I passed so he knew where I was headed and saw
his brief nod before he went back to speaking to his nephews. I set
a time where I should be back at the hold and rode to my private
sanctuary: the crystal caverns.
“Greetings, Laura Greyson,” the Hazri foreman tipped his
hat to me as I dismounted near his office and let my mare drink
from the lake nearby. “How goes your day?”
“I leave for the capital tomorrow, Bido,” I told the man. “I
will hear if I am to be on the training crew for the Solace.”
“You are not happy about such an opportunity?” the man
asked me. “I would have thought that you would be happy to be
learning and helping people.”
“It is not the opportunity that saddens me, Bido,” I told him
honestly. I indicated the valley, the cavern, in a sweeping gesture.
“I am leaving part of myself here. What if I am not meant to be
away from here?”
“You are letting your uncertainty become fear, young one,”
Bido said to me. He nodded towards the cavern opening. “The
workers have been given the afternoon off so you have the place
mostly to yourself.” He saw the question. “The Hazri emperor’s
grandson, prince Aden, is here on an inspection. He does not like
to be interrupted when he works.”
“This is the first time in many years,” I said as I tried to
remember ever hearing of such inspection; “that one of the Hazri
royalty has come here. Perhaps I should go.”
“A rare occurrence, but necessary.” he shrugged. “He
should not bother you, child. Remember not to wander down
unexplored tunnels…”
“And if anything happens be close to an emergency
beacon,” I nodded and smiled up at him. “I am going to miss you,
Bido.”
“Life is going to be very dull around here without you, little
one,” the man nodded. “I will be here another several hours so
your mare will not be unattended.”
I wandered in, my mind already lost to the wonders I was
about to see. This place of color and light and silence had been my
sanctuary since a storm had driven me into them when I was out
riding one summer day. I had spent the next several hours
wandering around the tunnels, delighting in the gently glowing
crystal and the way they shimmered as I laughed. I didn’t even
think to be frightened. It wasn’t until I tried to go to my saddlebags
to get some food and found that my mare had run home that I was
upset. The foreman’s office was locked fast and so I retreated back
into the caverns and made the most wonderful discovery.
I headed there now; that old temple formed of crystal and
stone that had been hidden away from sight for centuries. I still
remembered the excitement my discovery had awoken. Joris and
Bekah had kept all mention of me from the record and, at the time,
I had been upset. I still did not fully understand the reasons but I
trusted them; they would not do anything that would cause me true
harm. They had taken me in when I had no one, and I had been
quite pleased when they had adopted me. I bore the name Greyson
now with intense pride. I went to that temple now and the peace
that always flowed into my mind and heart at the mere sight of it
chased the chill away.
“You have a most intriguing mind,” a young man’s voice
sounded behind me. I turned to see a flame-haired youth standing
there. “I am prince Aden.”
“I was told you would be around, Your Highness,” I
nodded to him briefly; even as I moved away from him. He was
standing next to the emergency beacon. “I don’t think it was right
of you to go into my mind without my leave, do you?”
“I meant no harm, girl,” Aden said as he saw my eyes on
the beacon. “There is no need to be alarmed.” He was looking at
me quite seriously. “I was expecting…” He shook his head. “I
wish I could tell you that your journey will be an easy one. You
will make many interesting allies along the way. Cherish them.”
“I don’t understand,” I said to the stranger. “What are you
talking about?”
“I have said enough, little one,” Aden said to me. “Some
things you must learn for yourself for them to be of true value.”
He bowed his head and left me and I stared after him in
confusion. Why would the Hazri emperor’s grandson care about
me? He had talked to me like he knew me, but I knew I had never
met him before. I had the unpleasant feeling that this meeting was
just the beginning of the upsets my life would face. I rode home
with a mind heavy with worry.
We arrived at the capital two hours after mid-morning after
a night of dancing and gruff but heartfelt farewells. The small bag I
had packed had become two additional bags filled with mementos
from my friends among the farming region and I was still tearing
up remembering their words. Joris’ nephews saw me to Moris
Tulin without a word or action out of place and dropped me off at
the Medical Center. Obviously, whatever Joris had said to them
after they had made a move on me in the breeding pens had left its
result. The receptionist on the main floor desk informed us that
Moris Tulin was in the Pharmacy when we arrived. We went up to
the fifth floor and entered the area as we had been directed and I
felt as if I had fallen into a fantasy. It carried all manner of
medicants and even some intoxicants for medical use, and I lost
myself in examining the descriptions of some of them as I waited.
Iyan and Myko were too polite to say how bored they were but I
could tell from their fidgeting that it was becoming harder and
harder for them to remain with me.
“Laura?”
I turned at the sound of a warm, mellow voice and smiled
as the man embraced me in welcome, smiling. Moris Tulin was
nothing like a person would imagine him to be, if all they had to go
by was the fact that he was Joris’ cousin. He was almost
completely unlike Joris; only his coloring and the shape of his face
told me the two men were related. Moris was short and round and
had twinkling brown eyes. I had known him a long time, but our
contact had been during his stays with Joris. I had a feeling that I
was going to be happy staying with him in his home; where he
could be as warm and effusive as his true nature indicated. He was
older than Joris; his once brown hair was thinning and stuck out in
errant wisps around his round face. He took my hand in his and
shook it with a solemn expression on his face; and then he smiled
broadly and warmly and drew me into a hug. When he turned to
welcome his cousin’s nephews; they had already left.
“I am so happy you have come to stay with me, little one,”
he said as he took off his coat and turned to one of his assistants.
“Please inform my assistant that I am going to be off for the rest of
the day. I need to make certain my cousin’s girl is settled into my
home properly.” The man nodded and looked at me briefly before
returning to his work. To anyone with eyes, it was quite apparent
that I shared no genetic bond with the man. “Come along, child,”
he smiled as he picked up two of my bags and left the smaller one
to me. “We will walk to the apartment from here. It’s nothing
special,” he assured me; “but it suits my needs. It is far too lovely a
day to be stuck in a transport.”
He described the various sights of the city as we walked out
of the medical center and through the central park into the
residence district. He told me all about his work, his home life, and
the Center where I would be working as an intern once I passed my
exams. Then we approached a tall white building and went inside.
His ‘apartment’ turned out to be the penthouse on the top floor of
the building and I was astonished to see that it was guarded. He
had introduced me to the two huge men at the door and they
snapped to attention and bowed their heads to me. When Joris had
told me his cousin would take me in, he had neglected to tell me
that Moris was important and well-to-do. This fact had never come
up in our conversations during his visits to the farms. I was in what
would be considered a palace by the standards I had been raised
by; and Moris thought it nothing special.
“It is all so different from what you are used to,” Moris
smiled as he showed me to the room that would be mine while I
stayed with him, “but I am certain you will settle in nicely. This
used to be my daughter, Ennora’s, room. It should suit you,
Laura.”
“It’s much more than I’m used to, sir,” I said as I looked
around the three-room suite. “This is all for me?”
“Oh yes, Laura,” Moris nodded and watched me move
around the rooms with a fond smile on his face. He would never
have told me back on the farms; but he had grown inordinately
fond of me over the years. I was like one of his own children, as
far as he was concerned. When Joris had broached the subject of
my studying medicine, he had been more than happy to go along
with the plan. Soon it was going to give the Jarusian another fine
and gifted medic. “I’ll leave you