Love to you all,
Your Eiren
My dear Menders,
Just a quick note to let you know that there is no further news from the Palace. Apparently the Queen is as usual. Aidelia continues to be somewhat in control of herself. The Council has turned away from taunting Artreya for the time being and are once again targeting the Thrun. I have gone ahead and sent a load of firearms and ammunition to your estate, Stettan, for Tharak. There have been no reports of attacks on Mordanian ships by Artreyan forces, or anything else for a couple of weeks now.
We all continue well here, though it is very quiet with the heart and soul of the house away. The various dispatches from Bartan and other branches of the network are enclosed with this. Take care, my friend.
Hake
Dear Sir Slippery Eel,
I shall be able to meet you in Fambré, as I am due to make a visit to Samorsa to see how my school and the girls are faring. I’ll be able to speak with you in more detail then.
We have a problem. Not danger to Katrin, so don’t be fearful. My former operative has come to light to some people in my network. Her intentions are not good, but they are directed at me, not at the Royal Family.
More in Fambré. Take care, my friend. My best to your family.
Gladdy
Lemhos, Surelia
12
Night Watch
I
n one movement, Varnia woke, rose from her bed and rushed out of her room, not hesitating long enough to take her dressing gown or step into her slippers. She rushed down the hallway outside her room, her breath coming short.
She didn’t stop until she had let herself out onto the patio. It was definitely cooler there. She went to her favored bench and tucked her bare feet up under her. Pillowing her head on her arms, she tried to make the nightmare images fade.
After a moment her breathing quieted. She became aware of a gentle voice speaking to her.
“Varnia, I’m right over here in the corner.”
She looked up, brushing her tumbled hair back out of her eyes.
A match was struck and she could see Menders seated in the big wicker corner chair, wearing his dressing gown.
“I’m sorry, did I wake you?” she asked hoarsely.
“No, I was already up. I’m a bit of a night owl,” he answered. “But so we don’t wake everyone by talking across the patio, I will take a closer seat. Would you care for your dressing gown?”
She nodded mutely. He went and was back in a few moments, bringing her gown and slippers. Then he settled himself across from her, where the night light in the hallway illuminated him faintly.
“Nightmare?” he asked gently.
Varnia was fastening her gown and stepping into her slippers. She nodded, not speaking aloud.
“I’m acquainted with them,” Menders went on. “Can you do with a drink?”
Varnia was about to refuse but then nodded. Menders rose a second time and disappeared into the house. He returned with two glasses of a sweet wine he knew Varnia favored.
“Now then, that will help you get back to sleep,” he said, claiming his seat again.
She shook her head.
“I never do – not once I’m awake from a nightmare,” she said after taking a sip.
“We’ll see. Is it a nightmare you have often?”
“Yes. I won’t talk about it.”
“You don’t have to. I’m sure, like mine, it has to do with your past.”
She looked at him curiously. She knew Menders had been born into the Royal Family. He was wealthy and powerful. He was also kind and fair. He led a happy life.
“Doesn’t seem like I should have nightmares, does it?” he asked, startling her. “But there are things from my childhood that still come and torment me in dreams at times. I wasn’t raised by my parents, you see. My mother died when I was born. My father was no father at all. He hated me. I was toughened by nurses and then later by tutors. That meant cold sleeping quarters, sparse food and beatings. I used to run away from home quite a bit and would hide with Tharak’s family nearby.”
Varnia’s racing heart calmed as she took interest in Menders’ words. She watched as he paused to light a cigar. The fragrant smoke was comforting to her, for some reason.
“Even so, I doubt that would be the stuff of nightmares for me,” he continued, crossing his legs and leaning back in his chair. “Not the kind that drive you from bed. A bad dream is one thing. You wake, you’re frightened for a moment, you realize it was only a dream, turn over and go back to sleep. A nightmare is something entirely other, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” she replied softly.
Her own were terrible, very real re-livings of episodes in her past. When she woke they often went on for several moments and she couldn’t tell where the edge between nightmare and reality lay. Her only recourse was to flee and stay awake for the rest of the night.
“Varnia, I know you can keep your counsel,” Menders said after a moment. “Only two other people know what I’m about to tell you – Doctor Franz and Kaymar.
“I had a tutor when I was only about eight years old who seemed very kind at first. He never beat me as the others and my nursemaids did and he didn’t give me a great deal of memorization to do. He certainly didn’t teach me much, but acted more as a friend, playing games with me, letting me read and draw as much as I liked. He never reported my visits to the Thrun to my father, who hated me going there.
“He had an ulterior motive and I was far too young and innocent to understand what he was doing. When he tried to become intimate with me, I reacted with complete horror. I fought away from him and ran to my father.”
Varnia closed her eyes.
“I got to my father’s study, but was so terrified I couldn’t say a word before the tutor came after me with some excuse that I had run out of the nursery after a nightmare.
“My father reached down where I was trying to hide beside his chair, grabbed my wrist and handed me over to that vile man. I would even go so far as to say he was bright enough and corrupt enough to have a good idea as to what was really going on. He didn’t care. At that moment, I learned what it is to be completely helpless.”
Menders puffed his cigar for a moment while Varnia waited silently. She knew Menders was putting absolute trust in her and wanted to show that it was deserved.
“He raped me. For almost two years he was there at Stettan and I was his object he used for his own pleasure. He knew there would be no punishment or retribution. I think I would have gone mad or even taken my life if I hadn’t had Tharak and his clan to run away to – and Tharan T’ul, who taught me how to endure such a situation through mental discipline.”
Varnia could feel how difficult it was for him to speak of the horror in his past. She rose without thinking, went to him and held her hands out to comfort him.
Menders smiled and took them.
“Many years have passed since then,” he said. “I don’t have the nightmares very often and when I do, I have the tools Tharan T’ul gave me in my mind. I’m able to take control no matter how terrible the nightmares are. I know it’s been over for many years, that I have a good life and a wonderful family. I know I’m safe and in control.”
“I’d like to know how to do that – so long as I don’t have to tell you what’s in my nightmares,” Varnia said.
“You don’t have to. One day you may want to confide them to someone – and that can help, but not always. You’re the first person I’ve voluntarily told the story to. Franz figured it out from things I said during a fever. Kaymar deduced what happened because he ended up with the same tutor. I have to say that having told this story is making me feel even more in control.”
“Can you teach me the things Tharan T’ul taught you? I’d like to be in control of the nightmares – and being angry.”
“That’s why I’ve told you these very personal things,” Menders answered. “Yes, I’ll help you. You’re doing very well with the anger on y
our own, but I hate to think of you not being able to go back to sleep after a nightmare or being so in the grips of terrible things in the past. You’re a disciplined person, so it won’t take you long to learn how to take control, even when you’re in the middle of a terrible dream.”
Varnia, for the first time completely comfortable with him, sat beside him.
“What can I do to go back to sleep tonight?” she asked earnestly.
“First, finish your glass of wine,” Menders replied, smiling as she retrieved it and sat down again. “Also, you’ve already come out of yourself a great deal since you woke. You’ve become interested in someone else’s story and turned away from your own. So when you lie down again, let yourself believe that you are in control. Don’t do it as if you’re issuing a command, but as if you’re comforting a child who is frightened. The dreams cannot hurt you. If they come again, you will wake, realize they are only dreams and go right back to sleep.”
Varnia smiled peacefully and drank some of her wine.
“You should have had many children,” she said.
“I do. Katrin, Hemmett, Borsen – they openly call me ‘Papa’,” Menders replied proudly. “There’s Kaymar – he was young enough and so in need of help when he came to The Shadows that he became one of my boys. A couple of the younger Menders’ Men are that close as well. There were problems they struggled with that I could show them the way out of. Though they officially call me Menders and ‘sir’ they have also been known to call me ‘Pa’. Tomar’s children have always been like my own. The stablemaster’s little boy calls me ‘Dranpa’, which knocked me off my high horse about looking youthful.”
Varnia laughed softly.
“When we’re back in Mordania, I’ll introduce you to the man I consider my father,” Menders smiled. “He’s the Commandant of the Military Academy. It was from him I learned the concept of being a parent to many, even though you may have no children of your own.”
“I’d like that,” Vania smiled, finishing her wine. Her eyes actually felt sleepy. She rose and Menders rose with her.
“Remember – you control the dream. You can always wake and find reality before you go back to sleep,” he reminded her.
She put her hands out to him again and he took them.
“Good night, my brave girl,” he said, looking into her eyes.
She felt that he was removing all the darkness from her mind with his gaze. She felt some of her heavy burden lifting.
“Good night,” she said softly, releasing his hands. She went to the doorway, but felt impelled to turn to him.
“Papa,” she whispered before she went into the house.
Menders heard her return to her room and went to the edge of the patio to see the night sky.
A movement above him only made him smile and shake his head. He looked to see Kaymar climbing down an ironwork pillar covered with grapevines, his bare toes clinging to the stems. A quiet rustle and Menders’ cousin was beside him.
“You’re as bad as a mandequan,” Menders said, comparing Kaymar to the highly intelligent and meddlesome monkeys of Surytam.
“It’s been a night for bad dreams,” Kaymar answered, taking his own cigar case from his dressing gown pocket. “I heard you chatting with her – well done. I’ve been aware that she has these nightmares very often. She usually huddles out there and shivers until dawn and then is snappish and surly the entire day after.”
“She’ll overcome that, given some guidance,” Menders replied. “I’ve never found the opportunity to speak with her about it before. She’s apt to mistake any attention from a man as an advance.”
“Don’t I know. Tried to take her arm the other day and I thought she was going to bite my hand off.” Kaymar shook his head. “It had to have been really bad, Cuz.”
“No doubt. I’ve sent word to Hake to get those bastards off that land, no matter what he has to do. I don’t want them near The Shadows with so many youngsters around now.”
“Well played. They’re a blight on the place.” Kaymar handed his cigar to Menders for a puff. “Now the question for me, is to try to get back to sleep or give up and expect to be cranky tomorrow.”
“We’ll try a stroll around the vineyard. Distract the mind,” Menders answered.
Fambré
13
Sullen, Suspicious Eyes
“I
thought we might travel in the public cars,” Katrin said in surprise as Menders ushered their group down the crowded railroad platform toward the private cars at the end of the train.
“It’s an overnight trip. I doubt you’d enjoy trying to sleep in an upright seat with everyone snoring around you,” Menders smiled in reply.
“Hemmett will snore us awake anyway,” Katrin teased, slewing her eyes around toward Hemmett, who snorted at her like a pig.
“More pleasant and safer,” Menders said firmly.
Katrin smiled and nodded. He meant that nothing was going to change his plans and that he wouldn’t entertain any arguments.
Kaymar nodded at the carriage guard and swung aboard. They waited as he meticulously searched the car, climbed on a chair to open the overhead hatch and then vaulted up out of sight. He reappeared on the top of the car, looked keenly around, then rapidly crossed his eyes at Katrin, who laughed aloud.
Then Kaymar’s gaze riveted into the crowd. He looked right at Menders and then back at whatever had caught his attention.
“Hemmett,” Menders said softly. Hemmett stepped forward and took Katrin’s arm. Borsen flanked her other side and Ifor stepped up behind her. Doctor Franz and Eiren turned and scanned the crowd along with Menders.
Katrin was trying to see around everyone, but suddenly Kaymar was there in front of her.
“Up you go, Cuz, it’s all clear,” he said, smiling. He took her free arm and up the steps she went into the carriage.
“May I look?” she asked him.
“Of course – it’s our friend, the Revenant,” he answered, standing at the carriage window with her.
Indeed, Tellyn Fein was standing in the crowd further back on the platform. Menders was heading in his direction.
“What could he be doing here?” Katrin asked.
“I’m sure Menders will find out,” Kaymar replied.
She watched as Tellyn Fein nodded to Menders and Menders returned the compliment. The two men spoke sedately for a moment or two – then, to her surprise, Menders led the Revenant over to where she was standing at the window.
Tellyn Fein bowed and then looked up at her. She noticed his eyes were a clear light green.
“Light Of The Winter Sun,” he said gently. “I would speak with you for a moment, but waited until you were aboard, for your safety.”
“What did you want to tell me?” Katrin asked curiously.
“While you be in Fambré, listen with your inward ear,” he said, drawing closer to the window and lowering his voice while projecting it in such a way that she could hear every word. “The ear that hears the Queens of Mordania. If there comes a time of roaring silence while you be in Fambré – you must leave then. You are the one who can hear – if you will listen.”
He bowed again and began to move away.
“Mister Fein!” Katrin called. “Please wait!”
He turned back to her.
“How did you know – about the voices?” she asked.
“Revenants have ears everywhere,” he replied, giving her a sudden, mischievous grin. “Be not afraid. Just listen with the inward ear and should the silence roar – you and yours must leave Fambré.”
Katrin frowned in frustration. Tellyn Fein laughed aloud.
“We will be watching,” he told her. Then he walked rapidly away through the crowd.
***
Oddly upright stone hills with massive boulders tumbled around them dotted the landscape of northern Fambré. They were a complete novelty to the entire party and the young people hung out the windows of the train carriage, remarking and pointing.
There was a general scramble as everyone tried to claim a window. They were all familiar with the ancient stone sculptures known as Giants in northern Mordania, but to see them here, south of the equator, was an enormous surprise.
“One of them looks just like the hand you sketched Hemmett, Borsen and me sitting in, Papa!” Katrin said excitedly to Menders as the train chuffed by the huge hands, feet and faces thrusting up from the soil.
“And so it does,” Menders agreed, giving Kaymar a friendly shove aside and helping Eiren to the place he’d occupied at the window. “I wish we could stop for a moment… Hemmett, if you pull that emergency cord, it will be the last thing you do!”
A haw-haw from the end of the car, where Hemmett was claiming a window for himself answered him. The train went on without interruption. Menders ignored Hemmett’s teasing and pulled out his binoculars to get a better look at The Giants as they passed.
“That Giant’s face jutting up out of the ground – I’ll swear that’s the same nose as the one near The Shadows,” he said, passing the binoculars to Eiren.
“Definitely,” she agreed. There was a consensus as everyone considered the partially exposed face that seemed to watch them as they rode past. The Giants near The Shadows included a stone nose that was exposed. Seeing the same feature on an entire stone face was eerie.
“They look to be carved of that same stone as these odd hills and the boulders,” Doctor Franz observed. “Could it be possible they were carved directly from one of the smaller hills? The proportions are such that it could be possible.”
“But with what tools?” Ifor asked, using his own binoculars to look back at The Giants. “As far as we know, those sculptures are ancient. How could ancient men have carved those figures out of tons of rock? There are no other ancient sculptures so sophisticated.”
Love and Sacrifice: Book Two of the Prophecy Series Page 13