Seed to Harvest

by Octavia E. Butler

At a canter, Teray and Amber continued on, Teray now focusing his awareness ahead while Amber focused hers behind on Darah and her people. But Darah was not following.

  Teray wanted to urge his horse into a headlong gallop, get away before the woman changed her mind. But he knew better. There was no “away” within his immediate reach. Darah could catch him if she wanted to as long as he was anywhere near her home sector. She had allies, no doubt—other Housemasters who would be willing to help her. And she had other members of her own House whom she could command to help her. It was all a matter of how much she was willing to lose to repay her debt to Coransee. He had no doubt that she was willing to sacrifice a few of her people. But apparently her own life was another matter. Now if only she did not find someone else more courageous—or foolhardy—to lead another attack in her place.

  They rode on, no longer following their roundabout route, but traveling due south across the peninsula. It seemed better to take the chance of riding through more of the sector now than to take the time to ride around it. If Coransee wanted Teray held, then he was coming after him. He was probably already on his way, and possibly not far behind.

  Teray and Amber had not spoken since their escape, but through the link, Teray could feel Amber’s anxiety. She was as eager to put the sector behind them as he was. She was grimly alert, her awareness now mingling shieldless with his. Together they covered an area nearly twice the size that either of them could have managed alone.

  With only brief rest stops, they rode on through the evening and into the night, not stopping until they had to, until both they and the horses were too weary to go on.

  Then they camped in the hills, in a depression too small to be called a valley. It was surrounded by low grassy hills, so that while a Patternist passing nearby might sense them, no one who failed to sense them would see them and have reason to be curious. They lit no fire, ate a cold meal from the rations they had been conserving. Biscuits made that morning, water, jerked beef, and raisins. And for the first time they felt like the fugitives they were.

  The night passed uneventfully. They slept as usual since the canopy of their awareness guarded them, once set, whether they were awake or asleep. The next morning they ate a quick skimpy breakfast and rode on early. They were no longer within Darah’s sector but they were still close enough to it to be nervous.

  A little of their urgency was gone, though. They reassured each other, calmed each other, without intending to. They had hardly spoken since escaping from Darah—had hardly communicated in any way beyond sensing each other’s feelings. That had been enough until now. Now Teray was in a more talkative mood. And now he had something to say—perhaps.

  “Amber?”

  She glanced at him.

  “Where did you know Darah from?”

  “Here,” she said. “The last time I came through, Darah didn’t have a decent healer and she looked twenty years older than she does now. Of course forty years older would be more accurate. Anyway, I helped her. I had thought of her as an old friend. Until now.”

  “An old lover, you mean?”

  She raised an eyebrow. “No. All her lovers are men.”

  He looked at her for several seconds, studying her. Golden-skinned, small-breasted, slender, strong. Sometimes she looked more like a boy than a woman. But when they lay together at night their minds and their bodies attuned, enmeshed, there was no mistaking her for anything but a woman. Yet …

  “Which do you prefer, Amber, really?”

  She did not pretend to misunderstand him. “I’ll tell you,” she said softly. “But you won’t like it.”

  He looked away from her. “I asked for the truth. Whether I like it or not, I have to know.”

  “Already?” she whispered.

  He pretended not to hear.

  “When I meet a woman who attracts me, I prefer women,” she said. “And when I meet a man who attracts me, I prefer men.”

  “You mean you haven’t made up your mind yet.”

  “I mean exactly what I said. I told you you wouldn’t like it. Most people who ask want me definitely on one side or the other.”

  He thought about that. “No, if that’s the way you are, I don’t mind.”

  “Thanks a lot.”

  “You know I didn’t mean any offense.”

  She sighed. “I know.”

  “And I wasn’t asking just out of curiosity.”

  “No.”

  “You risked your life for me with Darah.”

  “Not really. I know her. She’s managed to live as long as she has by gathering a solidly united House, and by avoiding situations that could kill her. She talks a good fight.”

  “She believed you were ready to die with me.”

  Amber was silent for a moment. Then she smiled ruefully. “I was. She’s not only good at bluffing, but at seeing through a bluff, so I had to be.”

  “No, you didn’t.”

  She said nothing.

  “Stay with me, Amber. Be my wife—lead wife, once I have my House.”

  She shook her head. “No. I warned you. I love you—I guess we’re too close not to get to love each other sooner or later. But no.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I want the same thing you want. My House. Mine.” ‘

  “Ours …”

  “No.” The word was a stone. “I want what I want. I could have given my life for you back there if we had had to fight. But I could never give my life to you.”

  “I’m not asking for your life,” he said angrily. “As my lead wife, you’d have authority, freedom….”

  “How interested would you be in becoming my lead husband?”

  “Be reasonable, Amber!”

  “I am. After all, I’m going to need a lead husband.”

  He glared at her, thoroughly angry, yet still searching for the words that would change her mind. “Why the hell did you stay two years with Coransee if you wanted your own House?”

  “To enjoy the man, and to learn from him. I learned a lot.”

  “You needed that on top of what you already had from Kai?”

  “I needed it. I didn’t want to be just a copy of Kai, running on her memories. Clayarks. Teray.”

  Her tone did not change as she gave the warning, but through the link he was instantly aware of her alarm. She had reason to be alarmed. She had sensed the edge of a vast horde of Clayarks—perhaps the same tribe that they had noticed days before. They were behind Teray and Amber, approaching from the direction of Darah’s sector. It was possible that they had attacked one of the Houses there.

  Teray and Amber had come through the hills to finally meet the old coastal trail, but the Clayarks were still in the hills. By the way they were moving, they meant to stay in the hills. There was game in the hills, and there were edible plants. The Clayarks were moving on a course that roughly paralleled the coastal trail. It was possible, even likely, that they would pass the two Patternists without ever seeing them. Unless they changed course. Or unless they spread out more widely. Or unless they had already seen Teray and Amber—spotted them from their higher vantage point before they blundered into the Patternists’ range.

  That last was a real possibility. Clayarks knew that two Patternists alone would not dare to attack a tribe.

  “If they don’t go any faster,” said Teray, “we can keep ahead of them.”

  “I’m not so sure I wouldn’t rather be behind them. I don’t like the idea of their driving us.”

  “There are supposed to be some mute-era ruins not far ahead of us. Maybe the Clayarks will settle there for a while.”

  “I don’t think so. I’ve been through those ruins. There’s not enough left standing to give shelter to a family of Clayarks, let alone a tribe.”

  “That’s not what one of the stones I studied said.”

  “Then that stone was out of date. I think people from Darah’s sector tore the ruins down because they attracted Clayarks.”

  That was reasonable. That w
as why most of the ancient mute ruins had been leveled over the centuries, at least in Patternist Territory. But he was in no mood to be agreeable.

  “Maybe they’ll stop there out of habit,” said Teray. “Whether they do or not, we’d better keep ahead of them.”

  “Or find some cover and let them pass.”

  “No. If they get ahead of us and stop, they’ll spread out. We’ll have to detour back through the hills to get around them.”

  “Fine. At least we’ll be alive to make the detour. If we stay ahead of them, and they decide to come out of the hills, we’ll have nowhere to go.”

  She was at least partly right, Teray knew. She was always right. He was getting tired of it. “Listen,” he said, “if you want to stay here and let them pass you, go ahead.”

  “Teray …”

  He looked at her angrily.

  “We can’t afford this. Only people safe and secure in Houses can afford to let their emotions get in the way of their judgment.”

  “Do you want to stay behind?”

  “Yes. But I won’t. I’ll stay with you unless the Clayark’s start to veer in our direction. If that happens and you still haven’t cooled off, I’ll stay back and watch you go to meet them.”

  And that, he thought bitterly, was probably the closest thing to a victory that he would ever have with her. Surely she had done him a favor by refusing to become his wife.

  The Clayarks picked up speed a little and more of them came into range. Without thinking about it, Teray and Amber also moved faster. Then the Clayarks began to catch up again.

  At that moment Teray realized that he and Amber were being pursued—or driven. Abruptly, there was no longer any question of what they should do. They had to find cover, a place from which they could make a stand. They could not outrun the Clayarks if the Clayarks were aware of them and intent on catching them.

  Teray looked around quickly for a place where they could take shelter. Even as he looked, the Clayarks increased their speed again and turned toward the two Patternists.

  Clayarks were, if nothing else, magnificent physical specimens. Running without restraint on level ground, they could reach speeds of one hundred kilometers per hour. Of course, they were running on hilly ground now—but they were running.

  They were in a kind of flying wedge formation, and they were holding back, not running even as fast as the hilly terrain would allow. Even at their present speed, though, they could run down a horse. Left alone, they could race past the horses, stop more quickly than anything moving that fast should be able to stop, turn, and fire at the passing horse and rider. They had been known to do such things to mutes. More-daring ones had even been known to attack the horse and rider directly, leaping onto the horse’s back or neck. They seemed totally oblivious to the risk to their own lives if they saw a chance to kill their enemies.

  At a full gallop, Teray and Amber passed a grove of trees, ignoring them because they did not offer enough protection. There were rocks ahead, jutting up from the sand and continuing at irregular intervals out into the surf. Teray could see one place where they seemed to be high enough and wide enough to give shelter even to the horses. He directed Amber’s attention toward it and left it to her to see that they got there. He turned his own attention back to the Clayarks.

  With shock, he realized they were in sight. He looked back to verify the impression and saw them first as a line, then as a wave coming over the crest of a hill, far too close behind the fleeing horses.

  He began to kill.

  The first ones died easily, their legs collapsing under them. Their bodies, impelled by their speed, rolled over and over, tripping those behind them who did not see them in time, causing some to dodge or leap over the sudden tangle of bodies.

  There was a sound like a baying of hounds, and the formation broke. Hundreds of howling Clayarks scattered, put distance between one another, some speeding up, some slowing, many keeping to the other side of the hill where they could not be seen, where most could not even be sensed. A few rushed completely out of the hills, speeding toward the two Patternists until Teray cut them down.

  The shooting began.

  The horses, sides heaving, reached the rocks, outran them slightly, and twisted back as more shots rang out. Teray’s horse stumbled and almost fell. He did not realize until he had jumped off that it had been hit. Even then, his attention remained on the scattering Clayarks. He was only peripherally aware of Amber beside it, cursing and apparently healing. It was a Clayark habit to shoot Patternists’ horses since shooting Patternists themselves was not as immediately effective. A Patternist on foot was at least a slower-moving target.

  Amber controlled the horses totally for a moment, made them lie down in the shelter of the rocks, then pushed them into unconsciousness. That was safest. It eliminated the possibility of their being frightened, or their bolting and being lost. Teray was aware of Amber shifting her attention, turning to help him. Then abruptly her attention was elsewhere.

  He needed her strength to extend his range, to reach the Clayarks who had fled back into the hills and who were now trying to approach them, shoot at them from a better angle. They were managing to stay just out of his range. He looked at her angrily.

  She was gazing off into space, her mind closed to him except for the link, and she was making no use of the link. He realized suddenly that she was in communication with someone. Another Patternist. Through the link, he received shadowy impressions of her fear, desperation, and hopelessness. Only one person could excite such emotions in her. Coransee.

  He turned furiously and swept for Clayarks. He found only a few within his range, and those he killed instantly. Then he snapped back to Amber.

  “How far away is he?” He did not want to reach out himself and touch his brother. That would come soon enough. That would come when for the second time he tried to kill Coransee.

  “Not far. He’ll be here in a few minutes.” Amber’s voice was soft, faraway. She was still in communication with Coransee. Teray seized her by the shoulders and shook her.

  “Cut him off!”

  Her eyes refocused on him sharply. She sat still, glaring at him until he let her go.

  “If he’s almost here, surely you can wait to talk to him.”

  Her gaze softened. She sighed. “I was trying to bargain with him.”

  He swept once more for Clayarks, and found none, but was now aware of the larger shapes of several approaching horses and riders. The Clayarks were leaving. Coransee had a party of about ten—ten, yes—of his people with him. Apparently that was more Patternists than the Clayarks thought they could pin down and kill. The shooting had stopped entirely.

  Teray sighed and turned his attention again to Amber. “I assume you failed—in your bargaining.”

  “I think so.”

  He put an arm around her. “I could have told you you would. But thanks anyway.”

  “He wants to take you back alive.”

  “He won’t.”

  She winced. “If we weren’t so close, you and I, I’d try to get you to change your mind.”

  “No.”

  “I know. We’re alike that way. Stubborn beyond any reasoning.”

  He looked at her for a long moment, then drew her to him. “ Look, I want you to stay out of it when he gets here.”

  “No.”

  He pushed her away in alarm. “Amber, I mean it. He isn’t Darah, to be frightened off. He’ll kill you.”

  “Maybe. But he’ll surely kill you alone.”

  He severed the link with her and almost gasped at the sudden terrible solitude. Solitude had never seemed terrible before. He had come to depend on the link more than he had realized.

  “Teray,” she pleaded, “please. This isn’t an ordinary confrontation. He made you his outsider illegally. You haven’t challenged him. You don’t want anything he has. He’s dead wrong, but he’s still going to kill you. Your only possible chance is for me to help.”

  “I said no
. He’ll face me alone, without any of his people backing him. That’s the way I’ll have to face him.”

  She looked up at the riders now in sight, coming down the trail. “The hell with your stupid pride,” she said. “You’ve forgotten that I don’t want to go back to Redhill any more than you do. You’d better link up with me again, because when he hits you, I’m going to hit him. If we aren’t linked, one of us is liable to get killed, without doing the other any good at all.”

  “Amber, no … !”

  “Link. Now!”

  He linked, furious with her, half hating her, feeling no gratitude at all. Pride. He was trying to save her life.

  He stood up to meet Coransee and his people. Amber stood next to him, close enough to make Coransee aware that his arrival had not caused her to change sides. She was the one Coransee spoke to as he dismounted. He came up to them, but his people stayed back, still mounted, apparently watching for Clayarks.

  “I don’t suppose you persuaded him to submit.”

  “I didn’t try.”

  “And you’re staying with him. I thought you were brighter than that.”

  “No, you thought I was more frightened of you than that. You were mistaken.”

  He turned away from her with a sound of annoyance. “Teray … do you really want to die here?”

  “I’ll either die here or I’ll go on to Forsyth. Nothing is going to get me to go back to Redhill with you.”

  Coransee frowned. “What did you expect to find in Forsyth, anyway?”

  “Sanctuary.” Coransee would find out sooner or later anyway.

  “Sanctuary? For how long?”

  “Even if it was only a few months, at least I’d spend them in freedom.”

  “You’d spend them learning everything you could to defeat me.”

  “Only because you’ve left me no choice.”

  “I left you one very simple choice and you …” Coransee stopped and took a deep breath. “There’s no point in arguing that with you again. Whether you believe it or not, though, I really don’t want to kill you. Look … I’ll give you one more choice.”

  “What choice?” asked Teray suspiciously.

  “Not much of one, maybe. It’s just that even with our ancestry, I find myself wondering more and more how much of a threat you could become.”