01 Taxilas Children

TAXILA'S CHILDREN
There was activity close to the Thanehold. It looked as if Rho Arpor and his men had found
a reserve of courage. Danyk and Maia were distracted enough for Steve to slip away. When
they turned he was gone and though they searched for his mind, they couldn't find him. Maia
whispered:
"What does it mean? Why can't we feel him?"
"Some trick of Rho Arpor and his Adepts, I suspect."
They walked slowly back to the great house. Lyot watched them approach the threshold.
He said nothing and his mind was locked against them. Rho Arpor appeared from within the
entrance.
"I congratulate you Danyk and you, Maia, for the courage you have shown in escorting the
creature from the house of your father. I do not propose to pursue it. Undoubtedly, our
cousins the wild cats will purge it from our lands. As for the metal box, it will be useless
without the mind which controls it. You yourself, Danyk, attempted to make it perform for
you - is that not so? You were not successful and we may assume that only the Scarn creature
can make it behave in the unpleasant manner we have seen demonstrated. We must not
trouble ourselves any further with this aberration, especially when we have such a delightful
prospect unfolding before us!"
The High Thane had recovered his poise and his affability. The loss of two men and the
injury to four others, did not appear to be causing concern. Danyk tried to probe into his
father's mind - he failed. Lyot was unsmiling, stiffly formal. On the face of it, the peace of his
house had been disturbed, the supreme ruler's life had been threatened, there had been deaths
and injuries. These were not circumstances which bred smiles and cordiality. Danyk knew
there was something more. Something which Rho Arpor was keeping to himself behind his
impenetrable mind block - but a glimpse of it had been picked up by Lyot and for this reason,
the Thane had mustered all his defences.
Steve watched Maia and Danyk return to the house. He had stepped only a few paces from
them into the thick cover provided by the oil crop, for once, he was thankful that their planet
had no moon. He watched the group at the main door to the Thanehold. Rho Arpor's men
were milling around, but there was little sign of an organised pursuit. It was time to distance
himself. He looked around, suddenly aware that he was alone in the midst of an alien
environment which might harbour all manner of nasties. He whispered to the Bole.
"Establish a force field around us - we're getting out of here!"
He felt heartsick for Maia, he couldn't get rid of the picture of her stricken face when he
told her she had to remain. Part of him had screamed that she must go with him - another
part, a colder part, had insisted that he go alone. It had been the same part of his psyche
which had thrown down the challenge to Rho Arpor. Reason told him that he was in no
position to make good any threats he had made, but the other part was supremely confident. It
had authority and could use it.
He was faced with the decision of where to find refuge. He had a few hours to make some
distance from the Thanehold. In the cold light of day, he would be hunted. The High Thane
and his men would track him down and his ten Adepts would be able to pinpoint his location.
It wouldn't matter where he decided to hide. His options were limited. He knew the way to
Jabez's community - but that was out of the question. He knew the way to the School of the
Adepts in the great city - they would hardly receive him with open arms. His main enemies
were the Adepts which surrounded Rho Arpor. He sensed that the High Thane would be
nothing without them. He stopped abruptly at the thought, it had come unbidden from deep
within him.
He was walking briskly down one of the cleared paths through the oil crop. The Bole
tripped daintily behind, as yet, it hadn't fallen over its own feet - it could only be a matter of
time. Steve sighed, it would have been good to have had Danyk's company, but the emerging
130