Expatria: The Box Set Read Online Free PDF Page B

wall and he pulled himself up until his other hand joined it. With a heave his elbows were there and his feet found purchase on the outside of the balcony.
    Then he looked up and saw the people in his room. 'What—?'
    Vice-like hands seized his arms and pulled him over the balcony wall. He hit the floor hard. Winded, he struggled to turn, but the hands were still gripping him, holding him down.
    Pulled to his feet, he looked into the face of an officer of the Primal Guard. The man's name was Agrozo; Mathias had never spoken to him before.
    'Sneaking in, eh?' said Agrozo. 'Didn't fancy the stairs, eh? Eh?' He prodded Mathias in the ribs.
    'You can't treat me like this,' said Mathias, straightening in the grip of two more guards.
    'Orders says we can.'
    'Orders?' Pernicious thoughts about his father were creeping into Mathias's mind. All he had done was argue, he had committed no crime! 'The Prime would not order you to treat his son in this manner,' he said, trying to sound in control, trying to sound like March. 'Let me speak with him.'
    Agrozo exchanged glances with another of the guards. 'You can save that for the Court, sir. Now you can come with us.'
    'Court? What are you saying? Just let me speak with the Prime, OK?'
    Agrozo set his face and turned from Mathias. 'The Prime is dead, sir. Murdered. My orders are to arrest you, that's all.' The man shrugged. 'Now will you just come along? Or the boys'll have to help you.'
    Mathias went. He didn't know what else to do. The Prime dead? Dead?

Chapter 4
    The Manse corridors were empty as Agrozo led Mathias and his guards to the Administry wing. On one level, Mathias had already accepted what had happened: March was no longer alive.
    But he tried to distance himself from that thought.
    How could he mourn when he was being marched like this through the Manse, surrounded by soldiers of the Primal Guard? He felt physically broken, like when the market-place crowd had threatened to crush him. Twelve years earlier, when his mother had been killed in the Abidjan Uprising, Mathias had felt like this; only now it was worse. The closest family he had left was Edward. True, there were Sala and, especially, Greta, but they were not family . Walking through the corridors, he could only think of this loss; he had no time for thoughts of his own future or what was happening to him at that moment.
    The fact of his arrest finally hit him when Agrozo hammered at the door of the Prime's office and called, 'Prisoner Mathias arrested and awaits interview.'
    The door opened and Agrozo was ushered in. After a minute or two the door opened again and Mathias was ordered to enter.
    This had been March's favourite room. Here he had a broad desk and a view over the Manse gardens; on fine days he would open the windows for the scents of the Expatrian herbs. The room was cluttered with mementoes and signs of regular use; the single bookshelf was heavy with hand-bound volumes of Expatrian history, some written by Sala Pedralis, one volume even penned by the Prime himself, back when he had only been heir to his vagabond father.
    But now the room had lost its easy atmosphere. Four guards stood by the door, a scribe sat poised to document the proceedings, and the Prime's oak desk had been cleared. Seated behind the desk was Lars Anderson, Captain of the Prime's Guard. At his left shoulder stood Lucilla Ngota, staring at the wall and carefully avoiding Mathias's gaze. Mathias could not tell if she would be his ally or not, events were still confusing him.
    He looked at Anderson and stepped forward. 'Tell me, Captain. Is it true? What happened?'
    Anderson's face told him nothing. The captain had taught Mathias to shoot, shown him the basics of shore-casting for mawfish; they had spent many hours, just the two of them, the world left far behind. And now they were on opposite sides of the dead Prime's desk.
    'The Prime is dead,' said Anderson. 'Please, answer my questions. This has to be done. Where did you go