Reclamation

The main walls of Kiv's room were set in a mirror configuration of Perivar's with the door to the private section in the far wall. When Aria reached it, she froze.

Draped across the threshold lay Kiv's long corpse. His arms lay wrapped around three smaller corpses. Three of his daughters lay dead with him.

Aria swallowed hard. Horror and fear took her over as a wretched thought reminded her how the Vitae came to find this place. Anger came fast on their heels.

You don't do this to the children. If your quarrel is with the parents, you bring it to the parents. You do not claim thelives of the children. The Nameless forbid it. Expressly, firmly, with every breath.

You are not in the Realm of the Nameless. The Skymen may do what they please.

But not this! There is no power that can excuse them for this!

She steeled herself and climbed around Kiv's cold body.

"I'm sorry," she whispered to the little corpses as she stepped around them. "Nameless Powers preserve me, I truly am."

Her foot kicked something and it screamed. She jumped backward, missed her footing, and fell against Kiv's clammy hide. With a screech of disgust, she scrabbled across the tacky floor. The thing on the floor screamed and whistled and buzzed, but didn't move. Aria peered at it. It was about the size of her torso and it…writhed.

The capsule. It was the capsule that had dangled from the overhead cables and carried Kiv's children between the rooms. Inside huddled one…no, two of the children.

They screamed at her. She rumbled with the disk in her ear. "Come on, you fool thing, work!" She tapped it impatiently.

"Murderer!" she heard abruptly. "You killed them! You killed them!"

The little one clawed at the sides of the capsule, its snout opening and closing maniacally as if it would bite its way through to get to her. The other grabbed at it with all four hands and twined their long bodies together until her sister was smothered into silence and could only lie still, with her sides trembling.

"Help us," she pleaded. "I know it's not your fault, but she's going crazy. Please help us."

"Oh, little ones," Aria laid her hands on the capsule. "We're trapped together unless you can you show me how to open the doors."

"I can."

"Then we're gone." Aria hefted the capsule. It weighed less than she thought it would. She balanced it on one shoulder. "Close your eyes," she told them, and hoped they obeyed as she stepped over the remains of their family. Her stomach roiled and heaved and she forced her gorge back down. She had to get out of here. She had to get them out of here. She could hear one of them keening in a sound that she couldn't imagine meant anything but pain.

Under the child's instructions, she punched in the override code for the door lock. Aria had them all out in the hallway before the door had opened all the way. She avoided the elevators. Machines were the enemy now. Any or all of them might be in the hands of the Vitae. But the doors to the stairs were open and the stairway was clear.

"What are your names?" Aria asked as she negotiated the doorway with her cargo.

"I'm…I will be Kiv when we get back home, but until then, I'm named Ere," said the one who was trying to calm her sister. "And Ri is my…my…" Whatever it was, Ere didn't seem able to finish her sentence.

"Ere." The stairs turned a corner and Aria had to juggle the capsule to keep from standing the children on their heads. "Is there a safe place I can take you?"

"The Embassy," Ere said immediately. "They can…take care of us and…"

"Good." Aria cut her off before she had to try to finish that sentence. "How far is it?"

"Across the city. I know the address. We all knew, in case of emergencies and…"

"And this is one, yes. I tell you what we'll do. We'll go to a public terminal and put in a call, let them know we're coming…" She stopped. The Vitae might be listening to the lines and a call from her to the Shessel would let them know where she was going.

After another three flights of stairs, they came to a door labeled EXIT. Aria backed against the door to open it. The portal led straight out onto the main street, which was good, because it also led straight into a pair of Vitae. A young one and a tall one stood frozen in mid-stride, heading for the door.

Aria froze too, but her heart pounded. Backing up was no good, they'd hunt her like a rat. There was no way she could hide with the children in her arms. Running was already no good; they'd spread apart in front of her, ready to spring.