Gorgoroth (Haladras #2)

FOUR

"Kava?" said Skylar, interrupting Endrick's reading. "Is that a person's name?"

"No idea," replied Endrick, scratching his dark hair. "It's not one I've ever heard before."

"Does he say anything more about it?"

Endrick scanned the next page or two of the journal. Then shook his head.

"Nothing."

Skylar rested his forehead on his fist.

"Then we have no idea who wrote that note, or why whoever it is would want my sister."

"Or even if the note has anything to do with your family," added Endrick.

Skylar shook his head.

"It must. It's too coincidental not to be related."

"Let's say it is about your sister," said Endrick. "It's obvious the orders were not carried out. Your sister's remains were among the ashes, along with your mother's and the servant's."

"We don't know that for certain. Everyone thought that the servant's body was my father's. Maybe the girl's body they found wasn't my sister's."

"Whose was it, then?"

Skylar rocked back in the desk chair. He understood Endrick's point. Things just didn't quite add up. Had his father been wrong about his sister? It was a possibility which made his heart sink. It nullified months and months of planning and preparation. And what more, it would mean that his sister—whom he never met—truly was dead. That his father had been mistaken. With his last moments of life, Skylar's father had divulged to him the secret of his sister's existence, and in the same breath charged him with finding her. Surely his father would not have committed Skylar to such a task without more substantive evidence. Wouldn't he?

"There has to be something else we're missing," said Skylar after a few minutes of exploring possibilities in his mind. "You knew my father. He possessed sound reason and a keen mind. This wouldn't be like him."

"Perhaps so. But the facts aren't in your favor. Maybe if he had found her doll lying near the launch site, or evidence that the assassins brought another body to replace your sisters, or a ransom—"

"That's it," exclaimed Skylar.

"What's it?"

Skylar involuntarily shuddered as he considered the possibility of what Endrick had suggested.

"Though it's depraved and barbaric, it would explain where the body came from."

"You mean you actually believe that they brought some other child as a sacrifice, just so they could cover up the kidnapping?"

"I don't want to believe it. It's the most disturbing thing I've ever heard. The whole business is making me feel sick. But we're dealing with Tors, aren't we?"

"It's all still supposition, Skylar. No facts."

"It's plausible, though. That's sufficient for me."

Endrick raised his hands in the air.

"Great! Plausible. We'll go to who-knows-where, chasing after who-knows-who all because it seems plausible that the logical answer is wrong. Good. Glad we've got a solid plan."

Skylar didn't respond to Endrick's outburst but immediately busied his mind with the question of where to continue their search. The Tors were involved. They might have taken her back to their nation. Where, though? He and Endrick might spend years looking without some clue as to where to go first. He thought about the note again. Kava. There must something in that name. What could it be?

"Surely, you had an idea, Father," he muttered to himself, and he resumed rummaging through the desk drawers. Give me another clue.

It did not take long before he found those clues. Among his father's things were star charts, planet diagrams, names of important people, dates—all related to the Tor nation. The Tors. Longtime enemies of the Ahlderion empire. Murders of his biological mother, the queen. They were the reason he would never know her, and may never know his sister.

All that he found, Skylar studied with interest. Of all the maps, one he noticed appeared more worn than the others. As if someone had handled it many times. It diagramed a region of the planet Gorgoroth. It was a name he knew well enough. The Tor's head of state resided on Gorgoroth. The region's name meant nothing to Skylar. Harcain Dun, it was called, located in the planet's southern hemisphere. But what Skylar cared about was a thinly scribed circle he discovered. The circle was done by hand, in ink. And it surrounded a tiny blot on the map; a hamlet, with the name Kava.

"You want to go to that tick mark?" said Endrick after Skylar showed him his discovery. "Of all the places in the universe..."

"I know it's a long shot. But it's the best lead we have, and...my father apparently believed it important."

"You don't have to go, you know?"

"There he goes again. I'm going, wherever it is, whether you or I like it."

"That settles it, then. We leave for Gorgoroth as soon possible."

After Skylar had collected all pertinent maps and documents—including his father's journal—they set off again for Kaladra, to rendezvous with Grüny. The Haladrian sun was still high in the cloudless sky. It was the high summer season in the northern hemisphere of Haladras. And the days blazed on endlessly. They sped their way back across to the desert in silence.

Back at the Gorge, they went to work procuring the necessary provisions for the remainder of their journey. Mostly, they needed food. Krom had permitted them to take only a two week's supply of food from the castle's larder. Any more than that would have brought unwanted questions. If they were to travel to Gorgoroth, they needed at least another month's worth. They had visited a dozen different shops before the pair had purchased all the fresh water, dried meats, cheese, and bread wafers they thought they would need.

After each shop visit, Endrick grumbled about the quality of the provisions. "I knew I should have poached a few more of those meat pies from Maud. I'll be as skinny as you by the time we get back—if we get back at all."

"You could never be thin as I am," said Skylar. "Even if you tried. You're as solid as a chunk of limestone."

"Well, my stomach's sure to feel like it's full of sandstone after eating some of this so-called food."

Skylar worried little about what they would eat. Traveling across the galaxy, leaving the empire's safeguard, exploring an enemy planet: those things worried him. Gorgoroth. The very name produced a feeling of foreboding. Gorgoroth. What good could come from a planet with such a name?

After several hours, they completed the bulk of their purchasing. Endrick was only too glad to be done with it. They walked out of a miller's shop, back out into the scorching sun, and headed back down one of the Gorge's pathways. Midway down the path back to their transport, Skylar froze midstride. Endrick bumped into him from behind.

"What are you trying to do?" cried Endrick.

Skylar didn't respond. He didn't do anything. He felt he couldn't move.

There, coming up the path was Kendyl.