MAYFLOWER

CHAPTER EIGHT

It could not be taken in and understood in one look. Glinda kept her mouth open and amazed. She had arrived in the Capital. There were people everywhere. More than she had ever seen before in the one place. All dressed in different ways. Some of the women with shawls over their heads, others let the wind mess their hair. The men wore hats and caps. It was warm enough that they only needed waistcoats. The clothes were a jumble, colorful array, not the muted grays and brown of the villages. A marketplace after the gates was a competition of noise. The stallholders unashamedly touted their goods. There was much more than the produce of farms. Glinda saw pottery, artwork, linens. Then the smell of foodstuff. But rich, complex smells, nothing like the cabbage that was the smell of Branston.

The cohort was on foot. The motortruck had been left at a station outside the city walls. They moved in a loose column, distracted by the stalls. The captain tried to keep order but lost interest. They were to report back to headquarters. Glinda was to make a statement to the Royal Intelligence. Font had left them at the gates. A motor vehicle waited for him. He told the captain to seal his cabin in the motortruck and had left them with no more words or even a glance. Glinda was thankful to see the last of him.

The buildings, made of stone and wood, became bigger the farther into the city they went. Many had multiple floors. Some with six, seven ... Glinda counted hurriedly as they passed. Then was distracted. People thrust themselves in front of the soldiers. They wore dirty, rags, and held open their hands as if pleading. The soldiers shoved them out of the way without a look. Glinda without great thought decided that she did not like the Capital. The smells were unnatural, the people predatory, the sounds overwhelming ...

They came to a second wall. Taller and thicker than the first, and with gates that reached high and were firmly shut. "I always get nervous when I come to this place," Ringo whispered over her shoulder.

"What is it?"

'This is the palace-fort of the King and Queen. The damned center of the planet."

Glinda's pushed her neck back to look up. "Why so tall?"

"Things aren't always peaceful. Don't you guys in the villages know anything?"

Her father was somewhere in this city. Would he be in the palace or somewhere else? She did not know – he had not sent a letter. She looked up at the steep walls again. She could only barely see the top. He was unlikely to be in such a place. She had no choice. Her report on the attack on Branston had to be made and then she would be free to find her father. Then, she would turn her efforts to finding Gideon.

"What do you mean the center?" she asked Ringo.

"Huh. Nothing happens on this planet without the King and Queen, right."

The cohort without instruction formed into neat lines. Glinda stood at the back. The captain inspected them and corrected a few who were not wearing their uniform properly. The oversized gates swung open.

The inside of the fort was clean and uncluttered with people. The boots of the cohort drummed on the long stretch of stone paving. The tall buildings alongside cast shadows over them. Broad steps took them upward to a building larger than the others. It was so wide that Glinda could not see the ends. It tapered with its height and peaked well above the gates.

The cohort waited outside. The captain stood at the side and glared at anyone that moved even a fraction. A small side door opened. A squad of blue uniformed soldiers marched out. At their front was a hawk-nosed officer. His uniform sparkled at the shoulders and buttons. The captain's lips moved to say something but a glowered face from the officer stopped him. "I know why you are here, captain," the officer said. His eagle eyes searched along the column and settled on Glinda for a moment. "Only her – the rest of you report to barracks," he said sharply.