Марина Марли – Universal Parallels: The Earth (страница 6)

«My name is Deva,» she replied calmly and, raising her head, tried once again to look behind the veil where this man was hiding from her.

«You cost us seven of our best warriors, Deva. What do you say in your defense?» he didn’t take his gaze off her and didn’t even seem to blink, frozen waiting for her answer.

«I’m sorry that they paid such a high price for my presence here,» she sighed bitterly. «But it was probably you who gave them the command to go into the forest.»

«Hm,» he snorted, clearly not expecting to receive such an answer. «Why are you here?»

«To help you,» Deva was sincere, still trying to get into his mind to look at his thoughts, but in vain.

The head of the elders raised an eyebrow, surprised at the boldness and even impudence of such a statement. The other elders chuckled at her answer, and someone laughed outright.

«And what kind of help do we need?» he asked with obvious mockery and looked around at his elders, picking up the general cheerful mood.

«To escape from extinction,» she replied seriously.

Everyone instantly fell silent and frowned. The fun ended as quickly as it began.

«What are we going to do with you, savior?» Stephen tried to straighten out the situation, which clearly did not suit him.

Rising from his throne of perfect cutting, he descended a step lower, coming closer to Deva. He stopped just a couple of feet from her. She was silent and did not move, but kept her head submissively bowed. For a while, she felt his nagging gaze on her.

«To the tower her!» one of the elders shouted. «She will sit there all night, think it over and maybe will say something more intelligible.»

«Will the tower frighten her, Oleo?» the head drawled thoughtfully, walking around Deva and examining her from all sides.

«So, we will check it out,» another elder supported the proposal. This one’s name was Meatraw.

For a brief moment, Deva raised her bowed head and caught the gaze of this elder. Instantly penetrating into his essence, she saw what challenges were in store for him. But for now he didn’t stand out much from everyone present here. Only their leader remained a mystery.

«Hmm-m-m-m. Maybe she has to go straight to the dungeons, just to be sure?» he said, stopping at the side of the maiden, looking at her intently.

In the silence that followed, someone could be heard loudly swallowing saliva.

«And if she doesn’t come back, Stephen?» his own right hand cautiously addressed the head.

Deva was silent and listened attentively. She was very curious about how this meeting with the people of the Earth Clan would end. No, they didn’t scare her, although they tried very hard to succeed. The main purpose of this meeting for her was to study their behavior. She did not want to say anything, and this desire turned out to be completely justified.

After a moment of silence, Stephen finally answered:

«You are right, as always, Harold,» he breathed, and pulled his sword from its scabbard. He put it against the thin neck of a young girl.

The elders held their breath for a moment, and Stephen wanted to see the reaction of the unexpected guest to it. The maiden was standing still. Not a muscle moved on her face. Stephen was amazed at her calmness. He pursed his lips, removed the point from her neck and hooked the ropes on which the cloak was tied. He cut them in one easy move. The fabric tinted in the Earth Clan color fell heavily on the floor, freeing of its shackles, the shoulders and the fragile figure of Deva. A startled «oh-oh-oh» echoed through the room. Even the calloused and hardened elders admired such beauty, which was previously hidden from them, and now shone with a starry sky right in front of their faces. Stephen, pleased with his escapade, returned to his throne and, sitting down comfortably, he coolly gave the command:

«Take her to the tower.»

The guards did not take long to wait. They approached Deva and wanted to take her by the elbows, as they used to do, but stopped near her, afraid to touch her. This charming cloak, covering the girl, both attracted and repelled with its beauty. It seemed that their hands weren’t below them, and their brains stubbornly resisted obeying their master. Seeing this hitch, Stephen, who was already pretty tired of all the events of the day, roared:

«What kind of ceremony?! Take her away!»

The guards, frightened by the anger of their leader, still found the strength to move. But as soon as they held out their hands, the girl recoiled. Turning around and looking at each of them, the maiden said in a firm voice:

«I will follow you whenever you say.»

Those, unable to withstand the pressure of her gaze, retreated. One of them nodded to her and went first. She followed him. The second guard closed the chain. He followed the maiden and could not take his eyes off her wonderful cloak, which stretched like a weightless mantle. Stephen, watching this picture, shook his head in displeasure.

The door slammed behind Deva, and she was escorted back through the winding corridors. They were on their way to the prisoner’s tower. She had read it all from the elders’ minds when she was in the room where they sat on their carved thrones. She understood perfectly well where she was being led, but she was still not afraid for herself or her fate. The only thing she aspired to was to understand where to begin the path to reconciliation of people. For all the time she had spent here, she had never seen any spark of desire for change in any person. They were all faded, as if they had frozen and died while alive. Everyone she met that day was not burning with any desire or aspiration related to a peaceful existence. More precisely, they wanted to live in peace, but they wanted to dominate, be above others, be stronger than others. But what could move them, what could help them to change, she didn’t know or hadn’t found yet. Her path was obviously long and thorny. Given the place where she was being led, the future seemed not just shrouded in fog, it was obscured by an impenetrable smoke screen, from which she had to find a way out, both for herself and for all mankind.

Getting higher up the endless steps of the spiral staircase, they finally stopped. Hearing the clang of the key in the keyhole, Deva realized that her path was over at the moment. «Now the door will close behind me and, probably, my mission will be completed,» she thought, giving in to despair, but tried to hold on and not to show it.

The guard opened the door for her, and without waiting for an invitation, she stepped inside with her head held high. At the same moment, the iron door slammed shut behind, leaving her completely alone. The key rattled in the keyhole again. One turn. The second. The sound of retreating footsteps. Deva was left along with herself and the bare walls that stared at her with bulging stones. Only a small elongated window was kindly positioned towards her, offering bird’s-eye views. Looking around, she saw a shabbily made bed in the corner. More precisely, its likeness, made of rough boards. Opposite, was exactly the same bed. The window was in the middle and divided the small room into two halves.

Deva, without thinking twice, walked forward. Ignoring the beds, she went straight to the window, the lower part of which was reaching the floor.

«So, these were the towers… the towers for prisoners,» she said softly and cheerlessly, now understanding the purpose of those four inner towers of the settlement. She stared into the inevitable dusk, and tears gradually welled up in her eyes.

From a height, Deva saw the valley. It stretched like a lifeless cradle for miles. To the right, there were peaks of mountains, probably belonging to a hostile clan. The lands were devastated and deserted. Seeing this whole miserable picture, even with such poor lightning, she was even more deeply struck by all the devastation going on outside the settlement wall. Deva finally allowed herself to exhale. She closed her eyes, and streams of tears poured down her cheeks. There was nothing she could do. She gripped the wall and sank smoothly to her knees. Her heart was almost not beating, and there was a continuous cloudy veil in front of her eyes. She sobbed with the realization of her impotence, swallowing salty tears. «Are they doomed, and did the Creators make a mistake?» she wondered. The tears did not stop running, filling the rivers formed on her cheeks with new streams.

Leaning back against the wall, she pulled her legs up to her and wrapped her arms around them. Resting her head on her knees, she watched as the night mist descended to the ground, taking over more and more new territories. Covering with a dark veil, hiding the ugliness that people have created.

Eventually, Deva falls asleep. It seemed like only a minute had passed since she closed her eyes when she heard the heavy footsteps of a warrior and the clang of a key in the keyhole. She lifted her eyelids and looked towards the opening door. There was the same guard who had brought her here yesterday. The face of the guard was gloomy and tense, but he didn’t say a word. Probably he noticed that the night had passed for the maiden quickly and brought neither cheerfulness nor rest. Deva indifferently turned away from him and looked out the window again. The sun was shining brightly and she squinted. The piercing blue sky appeared to her in its all glory, and, having got used to the light, she opened her eyes wide to enjoy its azure in a golden glow.