by L. K. Rigel
Garrick's men had almost finished loading the pallets onto the transport. "You make a fair point," Prince Garrick said. "Oh, what to do?" A simpering grin spread over his face. "I know!" He turned to one of his men, the guy Char had kicked in the solar plexus last night. "Lady Charybdis has decided to pay us that long-overdue visit."
"You wouldn't dare."
"See that she's comfortably ensconced in the Blackbird."
Char ran. It was crazy. She had no hope of getting away, but she had to try. She made it across the clearing and plunged into the thicket. She almost ran into Hamish hiding behind a bush, his eyes huge with fear.
Garrick's captain was too fast. His arm wound around Char's waist like a python. He didn't seem so out of shape today. He easily threw her over his shoulder.
As she was being hauled away, Char locked eyes with Hamish. He started to come forward and she shook her head, warning him off.
Better to stay silent, Hamish, and warn Lord Ardri.
Char's captor followed Prince Garrick up the transport stairs into a private suite and dumped her into a luxurious leather chair. The prince sat down across from her. The transport spooled up and lifted off the ground with amazing ease for such a huge machine.
"Welcome to the Blackbird, Lady Charybdis. It's one of two jet-fueled transports in existence. The other is the Eaglet, my personal runabout. Of course the Eaglet is nothing like the orbital runner. What do you call it? The Mikemobile?"
Great Asherah, what did he not know? Mike, the man Char had thrown out the airlock, had called the orbital runner the Mikemobile. That was a lifetime ago.
"May I call you Char?" Prince Garrick did not grow on a person. Except to grow worse. Char had thought him a fool, and she still did. But a dangerous fool.
"How did you know where to look?" She was sure she hadn't said anything in the corridor specific enough to lead anyone to the bee clearing.
"We know what's in the hydroponics building," Prince Garrick said. "And we'll get those hives too." He motioned to a steward. "Bring champagne when we reach altitude."
"Yes, my lord."
Prince Garrick smirked. He was enjoying this. "I've had Ardri's minions watched from the beginning. Holiday, my ass."
As the Blackbird leveled out on an eastern heading, the steward served the wine. Garrick lifted his flute in Char's direction. "To celebrate your visit."
"My kidnapping, you mean."
"As you wish." The prince struck a thoughtful pose, tapping his lips with one finger. "Come to think of it, that's probably how they'll read the note I left with Geraldo."
The Liminal Gauntlet
Durga was with Magda when Khai's message found her. Lord Ardri was about to leave for the ashram to undertake the liminal gauntlet. This morning. Right now.
In the entry hall the delegates had assembled, weapons in hand, for the short walk. Jake and Khai were fitting their quarrels as Captain Gordon handed quivers to the delegates from Spandau and Ithaca.
The king of Hibernia had his own weapon, a longbow as tall as its ruddy-faced owner. The bow was made of polished yew with horn nocks and inlaid with mother of pearl, an exceptional piece of workmanship.
Durga's heartbeat quickened as she watched Khai check the sight on his weapon with an expert eye. He wore black leather pants and boots and a black sleeveless leather top. Today he had cut back on the adornments: a gold circlet on his head and plain armbands. The carnelian dagger hung at his right hip. A flutter of desire spread over her. She felt herself blush, and she turned away.
"Perhaps I needn't go." The demanding Versailles delegate was behind her. "It isn't necessary for every one of us to risk his neck."
"Shibbing shibadeh." His female partner took the crossbow out of his hands. "Stay here and eat strawberries." She noticed Durga watching the exchange and rolled her eyes as if to say do you see what I have to work with here?
"It's loaded, my lady." Captain Gordon brought her a crossbow. "Careful. The quarrels are poisoned." He looked at the floor around Durga's feet and smiled. "I see I will be able to stay close to you today."
Yes, the magnificent dress had hardly had time to make an impression in its debut last night. Durga was back in her usual fitted jumpsuit with bare left shoulder and loose legs, made for working out. Training shoes. She had copied Char and pulled her hair back in a French braid that reached her waist. Neat. Utilitarian. No yards of silk taffeta between her and anyone.
She pointed her bow to the ground and moved through the group to Khai and Jake. "Where is Garrick?"
"Gone." Khai's smile shot right through her. He made no attempt to hide his feelings. "We were discussing who should witness Lord Ardri's attempt when Prince Garrick announced that there was nothing to keep him here."
"Jake, you're not doing this today because of Garrick."
"Not Garrick," Jake said. "I want to do it this morning while Char is busy. If it goes badly, I don't want her to have to see it."
Khai nodded as if this was the most reasonable thing in the world, but Durga didn't think Char would appreciate the gesture. If Khai had only minutes of sanity remaining, Durga wouldn't want to be occupied elsewhere on some meaningless errand.
Shibadeh. It would not do to think about Khai as Char and Jake must think about each other. The two relationships were not at all alike. She could never have anything close to what Char and Jake had. She was the chosen one, the bridge to the goddess. She might one day take lovers, but Asherah could be her only love.
"The raptor cages are fully manned." Jake addressed the group. "But birds can hide in the kind of low-lying clouds that have come in this morning. These weapons are a mere precaution. The ashram is not far, just beyond the hydroponics facility."
They set out for the ashram, Jake in the lead. Durga came next with Magda. In all these years, she and Magda had never discussed Jake as Magda's son. It was always about his usefulness in rebuilding the world, his fitness to be a lord sheriff, his requests for nails and crossbows and tools and seed.
Magda always called him Jake or Lord Ardri. Never my son. Durga was sure Magda admired Jake. But did she love him? Right now, this very minute, they all might be going to see Jake die. Magda's demeanor was as cool as if she were following the king of Muskova to a Rites of May breakfast.
Khai and Captain Gordon took positions on either side of Durga. She looked at the ground and smiled. A rivalry seemed to have formed as to who would be her protector.
The ashram was a mere fifteen-minute walk, and they all made it with no poobah taken by a raptor. Lydia met them at the entrance with a sour look. "No weapon will cross this threshold."
Durga didn't see why, but as a courtesy she backed the priest. "With one exception," she said. "I suggest that Hibernia might carry the beautiful longbow if its arrows and quiver remain outside." It was a test. She wanted to find out how far Lydia would press her rights as priest of the jurisdiction.
"Agreed." Lydia didn't hesitate. The Hibernian king turned even ruddier with pride over Durga's compliment.
"The witnesses may enter the sanctuary," Lydia said, "but once the meditation begins, you must not speak. This is a matter of respect for the goddess in her ashram, but also for Lord Ardri's safety. He will be entering a highly dangerous psychic field, and we must not distract him."
The sanctuary was spare and invoked a sense of peace. There was no furniture other than scattered low-lying tables convenient for tea. The floor was covered with plain light green carpets, and a couple of acolytes were chasing a litter of pug dog puppies around the pillows strewn all over the floor.
Jake picked up an unlit candle and examined it closely. He gave Lydia a sharp look, which she ignored. The ones that were lit gave off a faint lovely aroma Durga didn't recognize, but she didn't think anything was wrong with them.
The acolytes carried the puppies away in a basket, and the delegates tried to get comfortable with the pillows along the wall.
Lydia asked Jake to lie down in the center of the room. She st
ood at his feet, and the acolytes gathered to form a circle of meditation around him. Durga joined the circle at Jake's head.
Lydia said, "Emissary, the liminal gauntlet is invasive to all who participate, including those within the circle of meditation. Especially in light of your experience with Sister Maribel, you may want to abstain from today's endeavor."
Across the room, Khai nodded. He remained silent, but his eyes pleaded with her to leave the circle. Which she could not do. First, it would be cowardly to step out of the circle. Worse, she couldn't stand the idea that Lydia, or anyone, had any kind of knowledge of Asherah which Durga didn't possess.
"I am the chosen one," she said. "I am the bridge to the goddess. You say you are a priest of Asherah. If you can't open yourself to me, how will you ever approach her?"
"You are correct, of course." Lydia removed her outer tunic. "I honor your courage."
They sat on the floor and crossed their legs, their hands placed palms up on their thighs. With her first deep breath, Durga felt the pull.
Something tugged at her chest, a force or power. An invitation. She didn't feel compelled to go, but she had to know. What was it? Something wonderful. As in Faina's classroom meditation, Durga sensed something wonderful in each acolyte in the circle. The circle glowed like a halo, a halo of god that surrounded a hollow. A hollow like the emptiness Durga had felt in Chita.
The hollow was Jake.
"Breathe, my sister." Lydia's voice in Durga's head. Lydia's wonderfulness was as deep and pure as Faina's had been. Durga inhaled and exhaled. So easy to fall into the flow, into the whirling energy circling the hollow. She was a whirling mass of particle energy.
Lydia's energy particles mingled in hers, and the mingled particles comingled with energy particles of the acolytes.
A wormhole from the profane to the sacred. Yes. That was it exactly. This whirling tunnel of particle energy was the liminal gauntlet. Durga was the liminal gauntlet.
"Lord Ardri." Durga couldn't tell if she had said the words or Lydia had. It didn't matter. She was Lydia. And Lydia was Durga.
"Jake," they said together. "I am Jake."
Char was so beautiful last night, and she didn't even know it. When she kicked that asshole and ripped her dress, I wanted to haul her out of that place and drag her up to my bed. Sometimes when I look at her my heart feels like it's been torn out of my chest. It hurts. Why won't she say yes? I have to do better. The bees will change everything.
Bees! Char was with a bee girl today. There were hundreds of hives hidden in Allel. The candles. Durga's eyes met Lydia's. The candles are made of beeswax.
This was how it worked. Durga's thoughts flowed in the same energy space as Jake's and everyone in the circle. She tried not to think of Khai.
You can't not think of something. Or someone. Lydia's voice. All is well, sister. Breathe.
Durga couldn't pull out of this now. It might kill Jake if she did. She had to trust the circle.
Jordana? Why was Jordana here? But no. It was Rani. Rani when she was Jordana's age.
If Rani flashes those eyes again I hope I don't pee my pants this time. Shib, those things are scaretastic. I miss you, Rani. That shibbing DOG. The antibiotics.
"It wasn't your fault, Jake."
"Where am I?"
"The land of shades, Elysium."
"Heaven? Is there heaven now, too?"
"It wasn't your fault. Let the antibiotics go. I was dead when the shot from the disruptor hit my intestine. We just didn't know it yet."
"Rani. I named my daughter after you: Ranigita."
"I love you, my brother. Love binds us. You must let me go now. You're almost there. Let me go. Let the world go. You are alone. This is your leap of faith. Here is the abyss."
Durga's heartbeat and breath sounds were so loud she thought she was dying. Did she scream? Did someone scream?
Lydia's eyes were closed, but Durga sensed that she had returned from the liminal gauntlet. The acolytes moved their heads from side to side, stretching. Their eyelashes fluttered as they came back to the world. Jake was pale. His lips were parted, and his panting breaths were erratic. He was alive. Durga started to probe for his soul.
"Stop." Lydia stood up. "He must complete this task alone."
"What do we do?"
"We wait. Lord Ardri will come out of the liminal state in his own time. We can determine then if he has received a soul. He made it inside. That's a good sign."
"What if he doesn't come out again?"
"We will pray that he does."
Captain Gordon and Khai were sitting together on the floor at one of the low tables, sharing a pot of tea. It was impossible to tell how long the trance had lasted, but it appeared that they were well into their conversation. When they saw Durga, they both jumped to their feet.
"Captain Gordon, Lord Ardri entered the liminal gauntlet. He hasn't come out again, and the priest doesn't know when he will. I want you to stay with him and alert me the instant he has recovered."
"Yes, my lady."
"I'll stay with Jake too." Magda looked as if she had aged years.
"Will you all share in our afternoon meal, Emissary?" Lydia said.
There was a bond of love now between Durga and Lydia and all the acolytes in the circle that felt eternal. "We do have much to discuss, Lydia." The priest had been right about the liminal experience. Durga had come out of it knowing things Lydia surely had not intended. "But not now. Not today. I do have a request that you might think unusual."
Durga left the ashram carrying one of the pug puppies. Khai came with her as a matter of course, and she realized she would have been disappointed if he had done otherwise. He carried their crossbows, and they set off for the citadel in a comfortable, friendly silence.
As they passed the hydroponics building, she remembered the bees and other bits and shards from the liminal gauntlet. Jake's love for Char and for Rani.
Jake was right. If the bees thrived, they would change everything for Allel. The city would have an export in high demand for trade, and not only for honey and the pollination bees would provide for crops. Asherah had mentioned more than once her longing for the smoke from beeswax candles. Every king, prince, ashram, and temple would clamor to buy them.
That bee girl, Alice, had been giving Lydia beeswax in exchange for clothing and shoes. People were interesting and resourceful. Durga was a little bit in love with humanity today.
"It's good to see you smile, Emissary."
"It's good to smile, Prince Khai."
He frowned. "Emissary. Prince Khai. So formal."
"You are a prince, and I am the Emissary." She remembered something else. "And I have my obligations. I need to go to Corcovado now." Fear seized her. What was she doing, strolling through a settlement with a potential lover? "I have to tell them about the souls. We can't let one more birth take place without ensoulment."
"Is it so urgent?"
"If you could feel it -- I think this was Asherah's plan all along. She wanted Jake to be lord sheriff, knowing he was soulless, knowing he would have the courage to run the liminal gauntlet. She couldn't just tell me about it. I had to experience the void myself to truly understand."
Asherah had not forsaken her! This had been a test, and she had risen to it.
At the citadel, Geraldo was waiting. "Emissary." He looked at Khai nervously. "Will Lord Ardri be returning soon?"
"We don't know." Interesting that Geraldo should care. He usually went out of his way to avoid Jake.
He held up a sealed note. "Prince Garrick gave this to me just before he left. He said Lord Ardri was to have it, but not until he had returned from the ashram."
"I'll see that Lord Ardri gets it."
Geraldo hesitated. Khai looked at him rather pointedly, and he handed the note over. Those eyebrows really were expressive.
Durga didn't break the seal until she and Khai were alone in her turret room. "Great Asherah."
"What is it, my lady?"
Durga rested a palm on Khai's chest. She loved to hear him say my lady with such concern and care. It was going to be so hard to say goodbye. "It's Char," she said. "Lady Charybdis." She read the note aloud:
If you want to see Lady Charybdis again, come to Garrick with the orbit runner.
Lotus Dagger
Durga flew the orbital runner from Allel to Corcovado in half the Monster's best time. From the ritual, she still carried in her consciousness some of Jake's memories and experiences, and when she and Khai reached land in the southern hemisphere, she pulled a loop. The pug let out an emphatically unhappy wail. After that, the puppy wouldn't leave Khai's lap.
Reading the ransom note—how else could it be interpreted?—had sent a blast of Jake's emotions coursing through her. Pure blinding rage. The desire to murder Garrick. Raw emotion, straight from Jake's inner child.
She struggled to enforce her will on the mental mess. On the upside, she knew where Jake had hidden the orbit runner in Allel, and she knew how to fly it. She and Khai had each thrown some things in a bag, grabbed the dog, and snuck out of Allel in the runner.
"I don't know why Jake isn't in this thing every day," she said. "It's so much fun!"
"There." Khai looked a bit queasy. "The statue. We're almost there."
"What? You don't like the way Jake—that I fly?"
Khai rubbed his nose against the puppy. "Look! The statue! We're almost there!"
He was like a chalice playing with the infants. It suddenly hit her, how much pain she was about to cause in Sanguibahd. But she had no choice. "It's endearing when a big strong man shows his love-of-puppies side."
Khai just laughed and said, "My lady, I want you to see all my sides."
She knew he did. She was sure Khai was falling in love with her the way Jake loved Char. In the gauntlet, Durga had learned what that kind of love could be like for a man. Was like for Jake. Might be like for Khai. It was a shock how vulnerable it made them.
Part of her wanted Khai to love her that deeply, without compromise. But that was the selfish part of her. Because anything she allowed with Khai would have to end in separation. He must understand that.