The Pearl Savage Read Online Free PDF Page B

system needs to release at this area. Also,
and this is most interesting, the outside air is drawn in.”
    “Fascinating. Myself and the
Advisers surmise it is some kind of elaborate cycle of air cleansing.
We do not know how this is achieved.”
    “Steam,” Bracus said,
remembering the heat which escaped the pin-sized holes in the seam
that connected the sphere with the tunnel.
    “Indeed. The Evil Ones were quite
advanced.” The president pressed his fingers to the throat slits on
both sides of Bracus’ neck, closed at present. He let the
uncomfortable intimacy pass without rebuff, but not without effort.
It was part of their history. As yet, no one knew why some had the
slits and others did not. Females did not have them. Slit breathing
was a sign that they would become part of the Band. If you were born
with the slits, you would be a part of the protection of his people.
No matter, slit-breathers were instinctively protective, it was part
of the fiber of their being.
    “We will plan for three weeks
hence. There will be a new moon that night, with little light, it
should be ideal to retrieve the female.”
    Today’s mission had been the last
before acquisition. All the practice and planning were finally behind
him. Bracus prepared to leave, the interior guards silently coming
forward from walls illuminated by candles, preparing to escort the
president to the first rendezvous point.
    “Wait.”
    Bracus turned.
    “What do they look like? Up
close.”
    Bracus stood thinking.
    “They dress strangely…”
    “We know it was the Princess’s
birthday. Perhaps that is traditional attire.”
    Bracus shrugged, he was not sure if
this was so. However, it made some sense as she normally wore plain
garments, which covered her whole body. But not this day. Today she
had worn ribbons of gems in her hair, winking at him as he had gazed
upon her.
    “She is a tiny female, fragile.
But fierce in expression. The males seem of adequate constitution.”
    “Similar to our males?”
    “Yes, but none that compare with
the Band.”
    “It is possible there is no
environmental need for a Band inside the cocoon of their sphere.”
    Bracus shrugged.
    President Bowen pressed his fist to
his heart. “Godspeed to a Goodman.”
    “Thank you, Mr. President.”
    “Until then.”
    “Yes.”
    Bracus strode out. Leaving the
president in the care of the central Band, he swept by Matthew and
Stephen, the two other parts to their trio, his balance.
    They jogged off into the night,
melting into the border of the forest, moonlight shone on their backs
as the quivers beat lightly with their pace.
    Bracus’ mind was heavy with his
duties. A terrible portent rode his consciousness. With the date in
the palm of his hand, he should have felt reassured, but did not. He
felt the promise of this meeting with the female lay under some vague
threat he could not name. A shadow of disquiet laced it. He would
come back to this spot, when it was not required to do so and watch
her. Somehow he felt she was in danger and could not make the feeling
leave him.
    The three of them accelerated, the
throat slits fully open, ragged tears catching the oxygen as they ran
through the woods, swiftly moving towards home, towards their clan.

CHAPTER 6

    Clara put her hands across her face,
prepared to take a blow even knowing that Ada never beat her where it
showed. The Queen prowled closer. In her left hand swung an emerald
green decanter which glistened wetly, bumping her hip on her
approach.
    Clara thought it made a fine weapon
for bludgeoning.
    When she neared Clara, she shoved
her right hand upon Clara’s stomach, pushing with drunken might,
Clara fell on the wood floor. She looked up at Olive, who winced as
she landed, trembling and angry in equal parts. But Olive knew her
role, had always known her role.
    “Insolent girl,” Queen Ada
roared, “how like your father you’ve become. You must work the oyster fields, you must show your gratitude for the masses.”