Kayel sat on the ledge above the cage area. There were twenty Varga being held in there, alongside the former Queen of this Vohra nest. While the Varga’s cages had all been extended and opened up in one cage, the upset Vayra’s cage had been made smaller, as if it was ready to be transported elsewhere. Below Kayel’s ledge, a Ksa assisted a Kalsa Warrior as they welded a new door onto one of the cells. He was amazed how well this had all come together. Retha and Vohra working together for a free future.
For a moment, Kayel forgot about how much danger they were all in. The Ksa had been falsely imprisoned, and now that they had broken free, they were going to be hunted down and captured by the Retha they swore to protect. The Kalsa Warriors had defied and imprisoned their own Queen, sick of her constant torture of them. It was a weird feeling, being both respected by the masses and feared and hated by their rulers.
“Kayel, may I have a word?”
The Rethan spun around. Peering from around the corner of the ledge was Korak, the Kalsa Warrior that started all of this. She seemed upset.
“Of course.”
Korak shuffled cautiously along the edge, then sat down next to Kayel.
“I thought you had sent him away from here.”
It took Kayel a couple of seconds to understand what Korak was on about. Then it clicked.
“What do you mean? I sent Talok out to live with a couple of Θ-Class guys who were planning on heading out to Portalia!” Kayel protested. “Talok really didn’t want to leave you, he wanted to stay here, but I insisted he stay with them.”
“They just turned up on our doorstep. With Talok!” Korak snarled. “I gave you a job…”
Kayel stood up on the ledge, something Korak was too scared to do. “Hang on! I told him not to come back, to go out and be free! I didn’t think that they would change their minds, come here and bring Talok with them. Senth and Renth explicitly said they were going to ”
Korak sighed, then apologised. “I am sorry, Kayel. You must understand, trust is in limited quantities currently. So many of your kind have arrived here, wanting to help us. It is a confusing time. Talok coming back… I thought that maybe you hadn’t done as I had asked, not wanting to.”
“I understand…” Kayel sat back down, watching as a Ksa lugged in large slabs of meat around, to help several Kalsa Warriors feed the Varga. Korak hummed gently to herself, then too started watching the cooperative beings below her.
After a few moments, Korak started sighing.
“Kayel, why have your kind come here to assist us?”
“I thought I already told you.”
“Us Ksa work a lot like you do. We work day in and day out to make sure our leaders are protected. I always thought I was the exception to the rule, but I realised, all my life, I have still been protecting others. It’s ingrained into us. We trust that those we protect will let us do our job while they do the more important things of life. A lot of us weren’t arrested straight away. They brought us in, wanting to question us and test our loyalty. I’ve always been distrustful, I have been for years, but my siblings, almost all other Ksa, are still trusting in others. Or rather, they were.”
“Did you expect to be arrested?”
“Yes…” Kayel sighed. “I did. I’d been on the run for a while. I’d retired from being a Ksa. I’ve done… things that I am not proud of. Legal things, but not good things. Every other Ksa? From the Warriors of Light, to the Keepers of the Great Library, to my own kids and the little Godkiller, They still had trust in our leaders.”
“Do you think that trust could ever be replaced?” Korak asked.
“Do you?” Kayel asked back. “For both of us, it is possible. But such huge betrayals of trust are not easily fixed.”
Korak looked over to where her former leader was now imprisoned. She had put her there. “I guess. Maybe it isn’t supposed to be fixed. Maybe we must start anew.”
Kayel shrugged, not sure whether he agreed or not.
“So what about your little children?” Korak asked, catching the Rethan by surprise. “What will they do?”
“I’m leaving them out of this.” Kayel suddenly became quite defensive. “With Elkay currently in hospital, I don’t want any of them getting hurt. They’ve made up their minds. And so have I.”
“Do you know where they are?”
“Not exactly. All I know is that they have set up on their own. Maybe when they come for us, my kids and their friends will be spared…”
Korak noticed something in the way Kayel just spoke. As if he believed they would eventually fall. She wanted to push Kayel further, but she had more important things to do. Korak got up and left, leaving Kayel to his thoughts.
She had a rebellion to run.