by LK Rigel
"The bees are in hydroponics in a controlled environment," Char said, "but I don't like the idea of the Blackbird landing in Allel. The noise alone could destroy the hives."
"We can land north of Allel and have the Monster come pick us up," Durga said. "And thinking about communications, I'll have the entire machine swept for bugs when we get to Corcovado."
"Mechanical as well as animal." Khai kissed Durga's hand.
"Naturally. Until then, we should all be mindful of what we say." She hated to think that her time with Khai was almost over. The coronation, if it happened, would have to be postponed. She'd actually had fun the last few days, getting out of the compound and doing real things, like flying.
Flying? Wait a minute. "Something just happened."
Durga searched her mind, but she couldn't remember how to fly the orbit runner. She knew there were bees, but she could not remember where Jake and Char had found them.
She was beginning to lose some of Jake's memories. "I think Jake must have come out of the liminal state."
Tesla
Char was the first one out of the Monster, and she didn't hold the dirigidock's lift for the others. She had to get to the ashram. Besides, Durga and Khai seemed perfectly happy to be left behind. Together.
It was a bad day for going outside. Fog rolled through the citadel commons like a mystical cold blanket, and low-lying clouds grazed the cages on the perimeter wall. There could be a fleet of raptors at her back.
But she had to get to Jake, and she wasn't going to wait for a shibbing crossbow.
As she passed hydroponics, a small begrudging piece of gratitude pushed its way into her brain. She had to remember that most of the hives had been saved. Please let Alice be safe. Hamish had to have found Alice and brought her in. Char chided herself, her romantic imagination. She'd been sure Hamish would sound the alarm, and Jake would charge off to Garrick to rescue her and the bees and all would be well.
Instead, over a hundred hives were gone, destroyed. The runner was gone, destroyed. Prince Garrick had won, no matter how sweet Durga considered the deal Khai had made. Jake might be dead. If Jake lived, if he had survived the liminal gauntlet, he was about to learn that he'd lost his ship, the last tie to his old life, to flying.
The ashram was on an acre just past hydroponics. At the entrance, a low wood fence was covered with roses, thousands of tiny pink buds about to burst into full bloom. Just inside the gate Char spotted Alice's lilac bush, freshly planted.
"Lady Charybdis." Lydia greeted her at the door. Thank Asherah, she's smiling! "Lord Ardri is eager to see you."
"Hey, Meadowlark, can I get a little help over here?"
"Jake!" Like a proper poobah, he lay against a stack of pillows on the meditation room floor surrounded by Magda, Hamish and Alice.
Char went to Magda. They'd never been demonstrative with each other, but she gave Jake's mother a huge hug which Magda returned, loaded with emotion.
A litter of pug dog puppies was on the attack, pouncing and snorting and barking their little puppy barks, licking Jake's face. Alice had a puppy in her lap. She kissed its face and showed it to Char. "My puppy."
"Alice, I'm so glad you're safe. And Hamish." Char bent down and hugged Hamish and kissed his forehead. "You are a hero."
"My lady." Impossibly, Hamish's naturally red face turned redder. "Alice and I are becoming great friends. She's a magician with those bees of hers."
"Bees buzz good," Alice said.
"I'll be right back." Char winked at Jake. She knew exactly how to reward Hamish for saving Alice. She found Lydia and asked for a pair of scissors, then returned to the meditation room.
"Hamish, I wish you and your wife and your coming child long lives and good health." She cut off a lock of her hair. "Please hold out your hand."
Hamish trembled. "My lady." He kissed the lock of Asherah's hair. "My lady."
Char sat down on Jake's other side. Jake looked at Hamish and cleared his throat.
"Oh!" Hamish turned purple. "Yes. Well. We'll be off now, my lady. Alice and I have to see about those bees."
Magda got up from the floor too. "I want to talk to Durga. Geraldo has been driving me crazy with questions about her. I should think I'd have been in the loop on these things."
And then they were alone. "Jake."
"Char."
His arms felt good, so strong, the same Jake arms. The same Jake smile. The same Jake everything, apparently. She pressed her body to his and felt his growing desire. He held her face between his hands and kissed her. She accepted his urgent tongue and pulled him over on top of her. The pugs jumped all over them, excited to be in on the game. Jake kissed her face and her neck, and the dogs pounced on her head and her legs.
Jake rolled back on the pillows, laughing, and brought her with him, her head on his chest. A couple of acolytes came in with a basket and quietly collected the dogs. When they left, they closed off the room with a sliding shoji screen.
"That's better," Jake said. He brushed Char's hair out of her face and lifted her chin with his finger. His brown eyes were deep and clear. He was the same, and he was different. Serene, a word she'd never applied to Jake. "In the gauntlet, Char, I lost everything. At the edge of the abyss, I didn't know who I was anymore."
"I wish …"
"Don't. It turned out for the best. Lydia tells me that I now have a soul."
"I'm happy for you. For Allel." And she was. She was.
"When I was a kid in school, one of the religions I studied had a concept. The ten thousand things. It's simply a shorthand way of indicating everything in the universe. You, me, the puppies, Jordana's flashing eyes. In the void or abyss or whatever you want to call it, I wasn't a person anymore. I was the abyss. The ten thousand things were the abyss. It was … wonderful."
Wonderful. She had expected him to say it was terrifying. He stared into space for so long, it scared her. "Did you go away just now?"
"I kind of did." He smiled and ran his finger over her lips and gave her a brief smack of a kiss. "When I was myself again, it was because I had a thought. Having my own thought made me a human being, still a part of the ten thousand things, and separate from them too."
"Are you going religious on me, Jake?"
His chuckle made her nervous. How far they had both come from their atheist days in a rotting world. "The thought that made me whole again was the thought of you, Char. I heard your name, and my heart felt like it was going to burst with love. And desire. I had to leave the ten thousand things because I had to see you again."
His kiss felt like it would never end, but it did. His lips left hers, traveled to her jaw, her ear, her neck. Kissing her again, he opened her top and ran his hands over her breasts.
They both got up and stripped off their clothes. Jake eased Char down onto her back and put a pillow behind her head. "I didn't get my coronation feast," he said. "I think I'll have it now." His mouth on her breast sent shivers all over her body. He reached between her legs and murmured with appreciation. He came into her, huge, hot, and demanding.
"Don't leave me, Char," he said. "I love you so much. Come live with me in Allel. Promise me you'll stay."
"I will," she said. "I promise."
It was getting dark when Jake and Char left the ashram. They stopped at hydroponics to bring Alice back with them to the citadel.
"I want my bathtub back," Char said as she brushed her teeth in Jake's bathroom. "When we get back from Corcovado, I'm going to find Alice her own room in this place."
"Then you mean it," Jake said. "You are going to stay in Allel."
"I am. And I think we're going to find Sky tomorrow, Jake. Or at least find out what happened to her." Char lit one of the beeswax candles Lydia had given them. She placed it on a low table and sat on her heels before it.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm not sure. I think I'm trying to appease a god."
She breathed in the delicate aroma and understood why Asherah preferred beeswax
to tallow. She stayed in position until the candle burned out. She didn't pray. But she did think about Sky.
The next morning, after Durga and the others left for Sanguibahd, Char, Jake, and Alice went Tesla hunting. By now the route to the bee clearing was so familiar it seemed odd that they'd never found it before.
They let the horses graze where the hives used to be. "Let's try to find where the flower was," Char said to Alice. "Let's find Tesla."
They looked for two hours. Every time Alice thought she was close to the tunnel opening, she lost her bearings.
"I know it's here somewhere," Char said. "She stayed in the tunnel during Samael's fire. There was a door that said Tesla."
They searched another hour. Char knew she'd retraced her steps four or five or ten times. She should call it off, admit defeat. Jake wouldn't. He'd stay up here until she was satisfied.
She'd never be satisfied.
"Tesla," Alice said. "I know it's here somewhere."
"Now that's a sentence," Jake said. "Very good, Alice."
Char stared at the same leafless manzanita she'd come across fifteen times today. "It's not going to happen." Jake put his arms around her. She laid her head against his chest and let the tears flow. "We're never going to find Sky." As she sobbed, Jake stroked her hair, and Alice patted her shoulder.
"It's so good to see you again."
The voice from the past sent a chill through Char's bones. Mike Augustine was no more than five yards away from them, standing beside a birch tree. His hair was brushed up with white-blond tips. His eyes were emerald green, and his enhanced muscles bulged against his shirt. Char's heart pounded and butterflies had a riot in her stomach.
"Jake, do you see that?"
"I do."
Char stepped away from Jake and approached the Empani. "Why are you here?"
He smiled. Mike's smile. "By Asherah's command. She takes pity on you. You will be allowed to see your sister. We will take you to her."
"Sky! Yes, take me. But … we? Why do you say we and not I?"
"We are under Asherah's command in this. Your will is superseded."
"Show me where Sky is."
"We will not show you where she is, but we will take you to her. If you speak or let her see you, you will not be allowed to leave. If you wish to return here to these others, you must remain silent."
"Don't go, Char," Jake said. "It's too dangerous. What if he teleports you inside a rock -- or to hell, for that matter?"
"I have to go, Jake. Just as you had to go through the liminal gauntlet. You know I have to. I have to know what happened to Sky."
She walked over to the Empani. Mike. Mike, who had tried to kill her before she shoved him out an airlock. Cripes, just say it, Meadowlark. You killed him.
He put his arms around her.
She was warm and standing in a dark hallway. Music drifted out from the lighted room ahead. Vivaldi. It looked like a science lab in there. So much plastic and steel.
The Mike Empani put his finger to his lips. His eyes had changed to Mike's natural hazel, and his hair was light brown with no bleached tips. His muscles were no longer enhanced. He motioned for Char to stay in place.
He entered the lighted room and said, "It's so good to see you again."
"Mike. You always say that, silly." Sky jumped up from a desk and put her arms around the Empani. They kissed passionately.
It was a long kiss. Mike or Empani, they were equally repulsive. One was a monster, and who knew what the other one was. But it wasn't the monster. It wasn't Mike. And her sister was happy, Char could see that.
"I've finished another section of the poem," Sky said. "Do you want to hear it?"
A voice in Char's head screamed, Go! Go to her now! But she believed the Empani. She knew Asherah would leave her down here without a thought. She fingered the half-heart pendant. She couldn't see if Sky was wearing hers.
The Empani Mike lifted the half heart on Sky's necklace. "You always wear this," he said. He had read Char's mind.
"And I always will," Sky said. "I'll never forget the memory of my sister."
Oh, Sky! All these years, Char had thought about her sister every day, almost every hour. She loved Sky. But she loved Jake, and life, too.
It hurt -- it hurt so much -- to see Sky and to not be able to talk to her. But it was also a relief. She could stop wondering. And Sky was alive.
The Empani looked up, and Char nodded.
"I will hear it in a minute. I forgot something," the Empani said to Sky. "I'll be right back."
Char felt a quick tug, and she was back on the surface. "Wait!" She needed to ask something.
The Empani waited.
"Why?" Char said. "Why are you keeping her down there? You could bring her up to me."
"Asherah has chosen Sky Meadowlark to transcribe her story. The human is happy. We will never leave her."
"I'll find her and bring her out."
"You will not."
"I'll never stop looking."
"You will fail."
The Empani was gone. Jake and Alice were waiting with the horses.
Age of Consent
Durga had borrowed something to wear from the ashram. The cloth felt strange on her left shoulder and arm, but the hemp was soft and the tunic was comfortable. She tucked up her legs on her seat in the Blackbird.
The pug dog on her lap grumbled at being disturbed in her sleep. Khai had thought to ask for another one to take to Jordana.
"This champagne is excellent." Magda held her glass out to the Blackbird steward for a refill. "Prince Garrick has always had wonderful taste."
Once the deal had been struck for the runner, Prince Garrick had metamorphosed into the perfect host, though Durga couldn't forget his basic creepiness. He'd ordered the Blackbird completely restocked.
"Char isn't happy about us accepting the Blackbird." They were coming up on the south's western shore. In the Monster they'd still be in the northern hemisphere. "She thinks we betrayed Jake, handing over the runner."
"Char isn't happy, period. She can't decide if she's Sanguibahd's hydroponics consultant or the king of Allel's lover. Besides, she doesn't like Prince Garrick the way you don't like Geraldo."
"I don't like Prince Garrick either."
"I've tried to explain to you girls. In politics, if you want a friend, you should get a dog."
"It's an old saying, Matriarch." Khai returned from the galley and sat down beside Durga. "And a good one." At the sound of Khai's voice, the puppy woke instantly and moved over to his lap.
"Dogs don't like me," Durga said. "And I'm not a girl anymore."
Khai kissed her hand. His raised eyebrow indicated that he agreed. A stab of longing tore through her. She'd absorbed more from Jake in the liminal gauntlet than how to fly the orbital runner. Specific memories had disappeared, but some awareness remained -- like Jake's longing for Char, and his happiness with their lovemaking.
Durga was acutely aware of how much she wanted to be with Khai. The liminal gauntlet had given Jake a soul, but it had changed her too. It had shown her Jake's love for another human being -- and made her aware of the capacity in her own heart.
This was terrible. Love is not part of the mission.
"What about you, Prince Khai?" Magda said. "Isn't your guest-host journey experiment about over with? Your people must be anxious to see you again."
Khai took Magda's needling with good grace. "You are correct, Matriarch. My airship is docked in Sanguibahd, waiting even now to take me back to Luxor."
Durga made her face into a mask. She didn't want to show how painful it was for her to hear this.
"But as Durga's birthday is tomorrow, and the soul ceremony is the day after that, I will delay my departure."
"Soul ceremony?" Durga said.
"Hieros gamos. Soul ceremony. Whatever you want to call it," Khai said. "I would offer myself as witness to a successful ritual, but I'm unable to see souls."
"Successful ritual." Magda ref
illed her glass. "Soul ceremony. I like that. In the sixth or seventh month of gestation, the scion will return to Sanguibahd for the hieros gamos. Make it a special event."
"Come to paradise for a sexual encounter beyond your wildest imagination," Durga said. "I don't think we'll have to work too hard to make it special."
"That's good." Khai squeezed Durga's hand. "And the cities won't want to rely on rogue priests to confirm the ceremony's success. The hieros gamos should take place in Corcovado."
"But?" Durga had heard a but hidden in there somewhere.
"But another thing must change. There is a flaw in your system. The cities need assurance that the heir delivered to them is the heir they contracted for."
Magda opened her mouth to protest, but Durga stopped her with a look. Khai was right. The Versailles complaint had been justified. And a political animal thrived in Khai. He wouldn't have mentioned the problem if he didn't have a solution -- his solution -- ready. "You have something in mind."
"The Concord Cities have decided. Conception and delivery of the heirs must occur within city borders. The chalices must take residence in the contract city twice during a gestation. The conception residency will be from at least one month prior to conception until confirmation of gestation. The lying-in residency will be the last month of gestation until delivery."
"How dare you?" Magda said.
"I dare nothing, Matriarch, except to solve this problem. It's not Sanguibahd's problem alone, you will agree."
"But you did dare." Durga's heart sank. She pulled her hand away. "The Concord Cities? You've already formed your council when you let me think it was just an idea."
"It was only an idea. But at the meeting in Allel, in light of the Versailles complaint and the soul issue, we acted." The puppy barked, reacting to the tension. She scrambled up Khai's chest to lick his face.
"You acted." Durga was a mass of conflict. She hated Khai. Magda was right. How dare he presume to change the way they ran Sanguibahd? "I am the bridge to the goddess." Shibadeh. That sounded so weak.