Rilla's Inheritance Chapter 15

Chapter 15 I had triplets in high chairs again! It was nice to see the gifts that Adri Tallin had given me being used. And I was pregnant again - another set of Adrin children. And I was going to need some help soon!
Time to send out a call to my older daughters, I thought – but I wished with all my heart I could have had Amaryllis back. She would be growing up any day now, and I wasn’t there with her: this was hard. Apparently, it was just as hard being near the three of them as they got nearer and nearer their time to change. Armiger was deafened by them – not their talking, but the way they were broadcasting. The three of them were noticing this too. They were so aware of what the others were thinking and feeling that it was almost uncanny.
“Though I think some of this is because we are triplets,” Amaryllis said as they were talking one evening. “I wish there was someone who we could talk to – I wish there was an Adrina for us. It’s a bit scary, knowing that we are going to have to be the Adrina – one of us, anyway – and no-one can tell us how to do it.”
“But it must have been the same for the first Adrina,” Zoe pointed out. “She had to work it all out for herself, and she managed OK.” “Can’t you three turn it down a bit?” Armiger came into the room. “I was two floors above you, and I could feel you. The only one of you who can keep herself reined in is Amaryllis.”
Yolande raised her eyebrows. There was a lot he hadn’t picked up on – Amaryllis wasn’t the only one who could keep things in. But he was right; Amaryllis could fold in on herself until you hardly knew she was there. Armiger always knew when she was around. Yolande was the first of them to change. It was sudden and joyous: the joy was realising what her future held. She was not going to be the Adrina! For her, there was a whole wide world to explore. The sense of freedom was almost intoxicating, and the potency of her change surged from her in waves. It was like a chain reaction. As soon as Yolande finished changing, Zoe changed too. And there was an equal recognition from all four of them as to what Zoe would become. The sweetness and fairness of her nature was suddenly unmistakeable. She would make a wonderful Adrina. Amaryllis changed last, and felt as though she was riding on the crest of a wave, held up by her sisters and their love for her. But as the wave ebbed, she became aware of something that was wrong, upsetting, disturbing. The other two were more aware of it than she was. It hit Yolande straight away.
“Something’s wrong with Gabriella!”
Armiger just stared at her. There was no way she should be able to sense someone at that sort of distance. What he hadn’t realised - what none of them had realised – was that the three of them changing at once would reach far beyond their safe hide-out. Zoe reacted in much the same way.
“Gabriella! Something’s wrong with her and Yan! Something’s happened to them!”
And on the heels of that awareness came another cry for help, from somewhere else. Gabriella and Ella were sitting in the Adrina’s garden, playing in the sunshine. Pertin had made Ella some toys from bits of wood that had fallen from the trees, and the child was contented enough. Gabriella couldn’t settle though; she wandered off to find Pertin and talk to him. “Tell me some more stories about Rilla and the orphanage,” Pertin said. “Tell me about what they did when they left.”
Gabriella riffled through her memories of the stories she’d heard.
“There was one orphan who left and became a lawyer eventually.”
“What’s a lawyer?”
Well, I think it’s a bit like what the Xydin used to be – a lawyer sorts out arguments, and finds the rules that make things work properly. Anyway, it was a good thing to be. And she used to come back to the orphanage and help them for free – “ Suddenly Gabriella broke off from what she was saying. “What was that? I felt it! And why are Zoe and Yolande suddenly in my mind so strongly?” She swayed on her feet, and then recovered her balance.
“That almost hurt! It was strong! Did you feel it too?”
Pertin had felt something, but not the same way that Gabriella had. She had brought Yolande and Zoe up, and they were her half-sisters too. She was more in tune with them than she realised, and the sheer raw power of the three of them changing at once had brought them very close to her again.
“I miss them so. And Ella isn’t growing up knowing them – or her father. When will they find us?” “Soon, I hope.”
But Pertin was beginning to despair. Would they ever be free? The sheer raw power of the girls’ change didn’t just reach out to Gabriella. It ripped through the ground as well and reached the Xydin trapped inside the mine. Chandin felt it first. It was as though the ground trembled beneath his feet. For Hardin, it was an almost physical pain, as he felt something he had never expected to feel again: a female Xydin mind. Frandin was rocked on his feet.
“Did you feel that? What was it?” But Dyander just called for help with all the strength that was in him. All the loneliness, the frustration, the fear that he had felt himself or picked up from the others came pouring out of him and towards the source of this amazing power. “I tell you, there’s someone in trouble! And it’s somewhere over here.”
Yolande had insisted on leaving the mine to follow up her hunch. And the other two had backed her up – though much to Armiger’s relief, they had agreed to stay safely underground. Now they were outside another old, deserted mine.
“Yolande, there’s no-one here. This mine was closed ages ago.”
There was a long pause. Then Yolande said, squinting upwards:
“So why is the ventilation system still working?” The ventilation system was still working. Armiger could hear it humming away. Solar panels and wind turbines would provide all the power necessary, but Armiger knew that at all the abandoned mines, the systems had been turned off.
“It’s coming from somewhere near here. I know it is.” Yolande was very certain. She could still feel that wordless, desperate cry for help.
“Let’s go inside and check it out.”
Armiger was dubious, but having been married to a Xydin woman had taught him that you listen when they say they’re sensing something wrong. Only two years of marriage, but they had been the best and sweetest of his life – she had had a spirit as adventurous as his own, and together they had explored this still largely unknown place. A little reluctantly, he followed Yolande down the first flight of stairs. The first thing that met their gaze was a large rubble fall, that looked as if it had happened after the mine had been closed.
“That’s it then. We can’t get any further.”
But Yolande was not going to give up so easily. “There’s a gate behind that rubble. Let’s clear the rubble and see if we can get any further.” She took a pick from the tools still neatly arranged in their racks, and attacked the pile with a will. The sense of urgency was growing in her – had she but known, all her senses were in a heightened state because she had so recently changed. Armiger watched her, admiring her determination and worrying about her safety in roughly equal quantities. Yolande meanwhile swung her pick with a will, blessing Armiger for all the exercise he had made them do. At least her muscles were in good trim. That gate cleared, they headed towards the next set of stairs. As they descended, Yolande was more sure than ever that there was someone else down there. Armiger, on the other hand, had no such reassurance – and there had been rockfalls, and the other two were on their own…He was worried and said so. The next level down was also with its fair share of rubble falls.
“Yolande, this isn’t getting us anywhere. Look at all these falls.”
“I am,” she replied. “And what I’m noticing is that every single one of them is over a gate. It’s almost as if someone wanted to make sure that none of the gates could be opened from the other side, isn’t it?” Armiger looked at her face and into her eyes, went over to the rack of tools on this level and started attacking the rubble. And as Yolande began her assault on the other pile, her heart was warmed by his willingness to believe her, even when he couldn’t see much evidence for what she was saying himself. Once they had cleared a way through for themselves, they went down another flight of stairs, even deeper into the bowels of the mine. And to their surprise, they were brought up short against an obviously recent metal wall. Armiger ran his fingers over it.
“This is from the ship. It’s emergency bulkhead wall – incredibly tough and really hard to damage. Why has someone put it here? What were they trying to wall off? I mean, nothing gets through this easily.”
He was beginning to wonder if there was some strange monster here in the depths of the mine. Yolande, however, with her senses still alert and nearer the source of what she was sensing, wasn’t thinking along such alarmist lines. There were people there, she was sure of that.
And one of them at least was young and desperate and unhappy: she recognised the feelings as the ones she had first sensed. And also..
“Listen. I can hear voices. Coming through that ventilator grille.”
Armiger listened. She was right. He raised his voice to full pitch.
“Is there anybody there?” Prodene could hardly believe his ears. Cautiously, he approached the metal wall that separated them from the stairs and from freedom. Was this Four, or one of the other three, coming back to taunt them? The voice continued.
“This is Armiger Valdin. Is there anybody there?”
“Armiger!” Hardin was halfway across the room in a moment. “Is that you?”
“Yes. Who’s that – Hardin or Sellinder?”
“Hardin, but Sellinder’s here too. How did you find us?”
They would have talked for ever, but Armiger wanted to get back to Amaryllis and Zoe, to make sure they were all right.
“But I will tell everyone. Straight away. We’ll get you out of there.” When they were safely inside their own mine again, with the secret doors closed and bolted behind them, Armiger turned to Yolande.
“You were amazing! And you were right – if it hadn’t been for you, and your determination, we might never have found them. Yolande, you are incredible!” And then, much to his surprise, he caught her up in his arms and kissed her. Yolande, however, didn’t seem surprised at all – and when he pulled away, stammering an apology, she pulled him back to her, and kissed him herself. And for the second time in his life, Armiger felt someone else open up their mind to him and welcome him into it. Eventually, he pulled himself away from her.
“How are we going to tell the other two?”
Yolande leant forwards and kissed him again.
“I think you’ll find they already know by now. I don’t think it’s going to come as any surprise. I was so afraid that I would have to be Adrina, that I would be the best choice. The relief when I knew it wasn’t meant to be me! When I knew I’d be free to go anywhere with you, do anything with you. Once we get out of here, that is.”
Her tart tone of voice at the end made him laugh. While all this had been going on, Sorrel had come to stay with me and help me with Gwyneth and Helen. I was expecting again – as usual – and this time I was more tired than normal. I think I’d been worrying about Amaryllis and her sisters; Gabriella was never far from my thoughts, and Yan, my first son-in-law, was so sad and lonely.
Adri Adrin was very concerned about the way the other three Xydin were – or weren’t – responding to treatment, and he didn’t like the after-effects of the drugs they had been taking at all. I was grateful for the help and the company. Adri Mellin was worried about me too, and sent people round to visit on a regular basis. Feru Mellin was one of the most frequent visitors. Nydin Caldin had three daughters – Joy, Katherine, meaning pure, and Irene, which meant peace. But it was harvest time, and he was busy in the fields all day, so Feru Mellin did what the Mellin were so good at, and helped Nydin’s children to grow up well. And he also tried to help his own, as-yet-unborn children grow well too. With him around, I was much more relaxed: he took care of so much. He was also a very good cook! The news about the Xydin down the mine spread fast in some quarters. W heard all about it, as the Valdin were heavily involved in the rescue operation. Since changing, she had become silent and withdrawn – the old aggressive W had gone. She performed all her duties quietly and efficiently, but none of the others really felt that they were getting close to her.
Xydin, though, had always been that bit apart from the other clans; some more so than others. They were pleased to see that she was making efforts to get on good terms with her Xydin sisters though. Dev and Edo were discussing the difficulties they faced in rescuing the Xydin one night.
“We can’t use heavy cutting equipment – there’s not enough oxygen in the air. The ventilation system can’t cope with that sort of demand, and Sellinder and the others would be suffocated.”
“We can’t use chemicals to eat our way in for the same reason – only this time they’d be poisoned by the fumes.” “Did anything come of the idea to dig a tunnel?”
“No. Adri Valdin found the old plans for the mine, but it’s a non-starter. Unless we want to cause a cave-in and bury them all.”
“So we’re down to cutting through emergency bulkhead with manual tools?”
Dev nodded. “Fraid so. This is not going to be easy or quick – but they’re OK for food and water, and knowing that help is on its way has made a huge difference to them. Especially the children.”
Children? W thought. She hadn’t realised that there had been children walled up in that mine. The thought was a little disquieting. But sooner or later, they would all be free – and when they were, then things would change.