Renevere Mars: Part Three

Episode 27: Ren's Way

Ren stared at the page fixedly. Sam is here, Sam is here, Sam is here, drummed through her mind. She looked at Duren with wide eyes. Then his gaze snapped to the sound of someone ascending the stairs. Every hair on Ren's body was on end, the dark study around her shrouded in shadow and moonlight. She scanned frantically for cover, but even the desk before her was hollow underneath, providing no shield if the maid burst through the door as she had before. And she was going to. Her footsteps approached. Duren moved faster than Ren could quite comprehend until after it was over.

He stood beside the doorway, fully visible just as Ren was. The door opened and the maid stepped through, reaching for the lights reflexively as she came in. She flicked them on, but before she could look away from the light switch, Duren and broken open some kind of capsule and clamped it over the maid's mouth. She grunted and bucked, but Duren easily subdued her, shutting the door gently behind them as he held her struggling form in his other arm. In no time the maid was losing the stamina to struggle, and then even to stay conscious. He lowered her gently to the ground, now unconscious but otherwise unharmed.

Ren didn't waste time wondering about what kind of drug he'd dosed her with, nor did she bother asking for permission. Now that the help was unconscious, she could root around in her sleep-addled brain with swift ease, without detection. She cast herself into the woman's mind.

Images of the inside of the manor, decorated with massive paintings and intricate marble statues, Bonzai plants frequenting the windowsills and spice drifting through the air in the kitchen. And then she was in the basement, stone floor and walls, cool and drab. This space was used to cure meat and store root vegetables away from the light. But recently it had a new use, one that caused the work staff wish to avoid the basement all together. A young boy with golden curls, and an aqua-haired girl of the same age slept in cots side by side. A bag fed their bodies nutrients through a needle in their arm. They slept and slept and slept, never to wake. Not until Master Maharabi's return.

Ren blinked back to the present with a snap. Duren was looking at her with a frown. It seemed like she had been gone for only a minute.

"They're both here, alive," Ren said into Duren's mind. His frown bent into confliction. Why is he conflicted? "They're in the basement, let's go—" He grabbed her forearm to stop her from rushing to the window. She looked at him questioningly. She couldn't fathom what he was stalling for! And then she thought... "Don't tell me..."

"We have our orders," he said into her mind, able to do so now that the Chameleon Cha was released. It was strange hearing his familiar voice reverberating inside her own mind, but she barely paid it any mind. "We can't risk being detected, and if we take Sam and Cara they'll know a warrior from Ossilith was—"

"Duren, they're here!" she insisted, making him wince. She grabbed hold of his forearm like he was her, gripping him passionately. "We came here thinking this would be a long shot, but they're here!"

"Ren, I know you want to save Sam and Cara, so do I. But we have strict orders from the Rexus not to interfere, not to let our presence be known under any circumstances." Ren couldn't even believe what she was hearing enough to argue. "We're both drained, myself especially. There's two of us and 4 times as many guardsmen. It would be reckless to attempt a rescue without authorization from Lady—"

"Duren you're doing it again!" she projected, and this time when he winced, she broke out of his grasp, stepping away from him toward the window. He looked up at her, a little hurt appearing on his masked features. "You can't lead with your head all the time, the heart makes us human! We need both to be good warriors, I don't care if you think I'm wrong."