Fire Margins

by Lisanne Norman

  *

  By the time a runner arrived from the Lair, Chaamga had been appraised of the main details of their journey.

  “To have met Vartra …” Chaamga found it difficult to continue. “To have met Him while He was working among our people, pulling them together after the Cataclysm!”

  “We met him before the Cataclysm hit Shola,” corrected Kaid.

  “No matter! That is an irrelevance! You still met Him and received His blessing!”

  “He’s blessed us in many ways,” Kusac murmured, drawing Carrie closer to his side as they rose to their feet.

  “We’ll take Fyak,” said Rrurto. “You can bring the Valtegan.”

  Kaid nodded. “Where’s Ghezu?”

  “Detained,” grinned Rrurto.

  *

  As they walked into sight of the main camp, there was a general disbelief and hush among the fighters gathered there. They watched and waited, seeing what their Elders intended to do. Fyak’s teachings had only gone flesh deep, respect and obedience to the traditional Tribal leaders had been bred into them from birth. As well as that, though they’d heard of the Valtegans, very few of them had even seen a vidicast of one, or of Humans for that matter. The presence of two aliens among them was enough to make the most volatile silent for the moment.

  “They’re too quiet,” said Kusac, keeping his voice low.

  “Stop worrying. They’re assessing the situation,” said Kaid, tightening his grip on Kezule.

  “A bit slower, please, Kusac,” said Carrie. “I can’t keep up any more.”

  Rrurto looked at Kusac. “Take your bond-mate into the cavern,” he said. “It’s better she’s not in front of our fighters in such an advanced state of pregnancy. Our own females are kept indoors from the time they reach their twentieth week.”

  Kusac nodded and they veered to one side, heading for the caverns.

  “The cheek of it,” Carrie muttered, limping across the hot sand.

  “No,” said Kusac. “It’s for sound reasons, Carrie. The heat in the desert is really fierce for a large part of the year. Pregnant females would be more comfortable indoors.”

  Carrie muttered under her breath as they made their way through the entrance. She stopped dead, looking up at rings set high in the wall.

  Kusac’s arm was round her shoulders. “I know. It’s past now,” he said, urging her on.

  A short way further on, she stopped again, refusing to go any further.

  “No, I’ve walked far enough,” she said, sitting against an outcrop of rock. “Go and join Kaid, I’ll rest here.”

  “Can I get you some water?”

  “Water would be wonderful,” she said. “Please.”

  He made his way down to the cooking area where the only two females he’d seen so far were seated.

  “Have you some water, please?” he asked.

  One got up to fetch him a mug. The other’s stare made him turn round.

  “Liegen Aldatan! It is you!” she said. “Vartra be praised! Don’t you recognize me, Liegen? I’m Rhaid!”

  “Rhaid! Yes, I remember you,” he said, leaning forward to look at her more closely. “What happened to you? You’re so thin!” He reached out to take hold of her chin, turning her head to the light. “Who’s been beating you?” he demanded, the rumble of anger audible in his voice.

  “Fyak. He made me his property,” she said, keeping her voice low. She looked up at him. “What’s happening, Liegen? What brings you here?”

  “It’s too complicated to explain now, Rhaid, but you’ll hear about it, I promise. Fyak’s been taken prisoner. The tribal Elders are taking over again. I’ll see you’re picked up by our people as soon as possible.”

  “Vartra be praised! Her, too. She’s a Warrior, taken like me from Laasoi.”

  He looked at the other female as she handed him the mug. Every line of her body spoke of her defeat at the hands of Fyak’s troops. “Both of you. You have my word on it. Will you sit with the Liegena? I must join Kaid.”

  “Of course, Liegen,” Rhaid said, getting to her feet and taking the other female by the arm. “We’ll sit with her.”

  Kusac headed back to Carrie and gave her the water. “I’ve asked the telepath, Rhaid, to sit with you till I return. Are you sure you’ll be all right?” he asked, catching her free hand in his.

  “I’m fine. You worry too much,” she said, taking her hand back and stuffing it into the ample pocket of the robe. “Go.”

  He flicked her cheek with his finger before leaving.

  Once he’d gone, she leaned back against the wall, hands clenched tight against the pain in her back and belly. Now she really was afraid, but she couldn’t let him worry when so much was at stake. They’d all been right, her cub had been growing too fast, and even she could no longer ignore it. She could still feel her moving—the butterfly sensations as well as the kicks. She winced as another one came. This daughter of theirs felt more like a kangaroo than a cub! That was the other thing. Her talent hadn’t diminished at all. She tried not to think about it. There were so many factors that could have harmed her baby over the last few days—and fifteen hundred years.

  “Liegena, are you all right?” asked a concerned female voice.

  Opening her eyes, she saw Rhaid and the other female. “I’m fine, just tired,” she said. “Let me sleep here till the males return.”

  “As you wish, Liegena.”

  It was over an hour later when she opened her eyes.

  Rhaid was shaking her awake. “Liegena, we’ve been called to the meeting to hear the Elders pronounce a sentence on Fyak and Vraiyou. This warrior will stay with you till we return.”

  Carrie nodded. “Go. I’ll be fine,” she said.

  Mildly curious, she listened in through Kusac to what was happening. His mind was tightly controlled, unusually so for him.

  You don’t want to watch, he sent. He’s been sentenced todeath. So has Vraiyou. The females have demanded they be involved carrying out the sentence as they suffered under his rules too. They’re tying him to the banner-pole now. Many of the females are in a hunt state.

  He thrust her from his mind as she saw the foremost female—Rhaid’s companion—advancing on their terrified victims. The silence was suddenly broken by a loud chorus of hunting cries, audible even as far away from the meeting place as she was. The images kept coming, though, broadcast by the enraged minds of the desert tribesfolk as, using any instrument that came to hand, they hacked their false prophet and head acolyte to pieces.

  Carrie leapt to her feet with a cry of pain and disgust as she tried to block out the awful images. Then someone held her close, shielding her mind and murmuring comforting words.

  “It’s all right, Liegena,” soothed Rhaid, smoothing Carrie’s hair comfortingly. “I couldn’t stay either. It’s only what he deserves though,” she added, her voice taking on a hard quality that made Carrie pull back.

  “How can you say that?” she demanded. “No one deserves such a fate!”

  “I agree. Not even the telepaths that he had torn to pieces, nor those whose minds he destroyed.” Rhaid’s voice was implacable. “He was shown as much mercy as he gave. He betrayed these people, Liegena.”

  A disturbance at the cavern mouth claimed their attention. Ghezu was being dragged toward the entrance, where his wrists were lashed to the rings in the wall where Kaid had been flogged.

  “What’s happening?” she asked sharply. “What are they doing to him?”

  “Nothing, Liegena,” said Rhaid, “only securing him so he can’t escape. He’s to return with you so he can be handed over to the proper authorities for trial.”

  Tiredly, Carrie leaned back against the rock, content to let her argument with the telepath drop. She waited for Kusac and Kaid to appear. When they did, she knew instantly all was not well between them.

  Kaid wants to kill Ghezu now, sent Kusac, his mental tone furious. I’ve told him he has to go back for trial.

  You can understand w
hy.

  I can’t allow that in front of the Tribes! I have to keep thelaws we want reestablished here! Kaid refuses to see it that way! He put me in a position where I had to uphold the law against him!

  There was nothing she could say. She watched them come toward her, their anger only too apparent in the set of their ears and tails. As they passed Ghezu, the situation exploded.

  “Well, if it isn’t my one-time guest, Kaid! And the Aldatan brat!” Ghezu said, twisting round till he could see them.

  Just that bit taller than Kaid, his feet touched the ground, allowing him more freedom of movement, and he was making full use of it.

  “Hey, Aldatan! Has he had your mate yet?” He laughed. “You should have heard his drug ravings! What he was going to do to that little female of yours doesn’t bear thinking about!” He laughed again. “How’d she like your scars, Kaid? She into that? Cripples?”

  It was Kaid who had to hold back an enraged Kusac who roared his hate and anger as he tried to reach Ghezu.

  “Leave him!” Kaid said, pulling Kusac close enough to wrap both arms around his, pinning them to his side. “He’s trying to goad you, and he’s succeeding! It’s all lies, you know it is!”

  Ghezu began to laugh again. “Got you riled? Shame!” He looked beyond them to the approaching group of Tribal rulers.

  “I demand justice, Elders!”

  Kaid took his chance to haul Kusac back out of Ghezu’s line of sight, giving a yelp of pain as Kusac’s struggles hit his injured hand.

  Carrie pushed herself to her feet and in a couple of strides, was standing in front of them.

  “Kusac! What the hell do you think you’re doing?” she demanded. “How could you behave like this!”

  He ignored her, twisting in Kaid’s grasp, trying to get free.

  Carrie reached out, grasping him by the ears and pulling his head down. He yowled in pain, but it brought him to his senses and made him look at her.

  “Kusac, stop it! How can you shame me like this! You lend truth to Ghezu’s lies by reacting to them, and you’ve hurt Kaid’s injured hand!”

  His eyes were black with anger but he forced himself to calm down, to leave the hunt state behind. Gradually he relaxed his muscles till Kaid felt it safe to release him.

  “Now you’ve tasted my anger,” said Kaid, facing him. “You tried to do what you denied me! What am I, Kusac? Friend—or liegeman?”

  There was no opportunity for Kusac to answer as from behind them, the topic of Ghezu’s argument became clear.

  “I have the right to trial by Challenge,” said Ghezu, pulling at the ropes that bound him to the rings above. “You can’t deny me that right!”

  “You can request it at your trial,” growled Chaamga. “We’ll return you to the Forces at the Nyacko Pass when we meet with them tomorrow.”

  “I have the right to be heard now!” Ghezu howled, enraged by their refusal. “I hold the rank of Guild Master! I demand a speedy settlement!”

  “He has the right,” admitted Rrurto.

  “We’ve no Warriors here to accept the Challenge,” said Chaamga, turning away. “The matter is closed.”

  “You have two,” said Ghezu, dropping his voice to a gentle purr. “You have the Aldatan brat standing there,” he flicked an ear in Kusac’s direction. “Don’t be put off by him being a telepath, he’s a member of my Guild now. He trained at the Warrior Guild. And there’s Kaid.”

  Carrie stood there hardly believing what she heard. Pain gripped her again, but she couldn’t let it show. Wrapping an arm across her belly, she stepped in front of the Elders.

  “Don’t listen to him! His Talent is to charm people into believing him reasonable! He’s not! He’s guilty of treason, and of torturing a prisoner! He deserves the public humiliation of a trial!”

  The Elders looked from one to the other, muttering among themselves.

  Ghezu laughed. “You’d listen to a pregnant female so close to her time? I ask you, how rational can she be?”

  “I’ll give him the Challenge he wants,” said Kaid, stepping forward, casting a long look at Kusac. “It has to be me. Kusac risks three lives if he fights. I only risk my own.”

  “No!” shrieked Carrie. “You damned-fool males with your cockeyed sense of honor! You fight between yourselves, then threaten everything I hold dear! You will not fight him, Kaid! I forbid you!”

  Kusac reached out for her, taking her by the arm and thrusting her behind him.

  “Well, Liegen Aldatan? Do you permit your liegeman to fight?” asked Chaamga.

  Kusac stood looking at Kaid, still holding onto Carrie who was now beginning to weep. “Kaid,” he began, then he saw Kaid’s chin tilt up and his eyes darken.

  “My friend is free to do what he must,” said Kusac. “He’s a member of my house, the third in our Triad, not a liegeman.” He watched Kaid relax, his ears giving the smallest of flicks as he acknowledged the public recognition of their friendship.

  Chaamga nodded. “Then release Ghezu under close guard and let him prepare himself for the Challenge. You have half an hour.”

  Chaamga turned away, leading his party deeper into the cavern. Ghezu was cut down and taken within as Kezule was brought past, bound and heavily guarded. Gradually the area cleared. Finally Kaid came over to them.

  “Thank you,” he said to Kusac, watching his friend’s eyes, studying his face as if for the last time. “I don’t intend to lose, that’s not why I’m doing this.”

  “I know,” said Kusac.

  Kaid could hear and feel the tight control it was costing him to speak at all. He looked at Carrie, who refused to see him. Reaching out, he took hold of her face in his good hand.

  “Carrie, you know I have to do this,” he said. “You’ve seen my inner fears. You know I must face them. This is the only way I can do it.”

  She nodded.

  Carrie, I have to! If I don’t, he’s broken me! Kaid’s sending was full of the emotions he could barely admit to himself, and it cost him dear to mindspeak it to her.

  She lifted a trembling hand to his face. “Just don’t lose,” she whispered. Her hand dropped to the leather bag that held his crystal.

  “I’ll try not to,” he said, mouth opening in a smile.

  “It stayed with you again,” she murmured. “Part of me goes with you.”

  He put his hand on top of hers, pressing it gently before she stepped back from him. As he turned to move away, Kusac stopped him.

  “You lose, and he won’t live, Kaid, no matter what the law says!”

  Kaid grasped Kusac’s arm. “Then I have double the reason to win; I would not have you dishonor your family name.”

  He left them, going into the cavern and walking deeper and deeper through the tunnels till he came to the temple. Hesitating, he pushed the door open and walked in. It was deserted but the lights were still on. Going over to the altar, he put his hands on it, feeling the coolness of the rock absorb some of the fires of anger within him. Flexing his injured hand, he winced a little at the pain, realizing for the first time that for the last two days he’d been using it almost as if it were uninjured. Lifting it up, he tried to remove the bandage but he needed two hands for that. Using his teeth, he cut through the seal, then carefully pulled it off.

  Underneath, the skin had healed completely and there was very little swelling. His pelt had even begun to grow back. Strange. He tried flexing the fingers again and found he had some movement back in them, particularly in the one that had only been broken. The other still felt painful, but at least he could bend it. It was as if they’d had weeks to heal, not days. Then the realization hit him. Time. They’d traveled in time and it hadn’t left them untouched. Carrie must be near full term whether she admitted it or not, and his hand had healed beyond any expectation given that they’d only been away four days.

  Sitting down with his back to the altar, he realized worry about Carrie and fear of how he’d manage with his damaged hand was not what he needed before a fight.
He began to quiet his mind, reciting the litanies to Vartra that still brought him comfort, inner peace and clear thought. Relaxed, he began to drift, confident now that he could cope with the coming Challenge.

  So, a now familiar voice said within his mind. Should I be less because you’ve met me in the flesh? The voice faded to nothing as someone shook his arm.

  “It’s time,” said Kusac, holding out his hand to help him up. They stood eye to eye for a moment before embracing.

  “Just see you win,” said Kusac again.

  “I’ll try. If I don’t, would you go with Dzaka to the Arrazo’s estate? He’ll tell you why. It’s a promise I haven’t had the chance to keep.”

  “We’ll go together,” said Kusac as they began to walk down the corridors to the cavern mouth. “I’ve a robe for you. Do you want to put it on?”

  “Keep it for afterward.”

  *

  Now that Fyak’s hold had been broken and the false priest was dead, many of the remaining fighters had left to return to their tribal lands. Little of Fyak’s army was left now. Riders had been sent to the Nyacko Pass to deliver the message Kusac and Chaamga had written to Governor Nesul during the last half hour: the letter that offered the Forces Kezule as the tribes’ gesture of atonement.

  *

  “Carrie refuses to watch,” said Kusac. “Understand that she had to watch me fight a Death Challenge on Keiss. She won’t go through that a second time, she said.”

  “I understand.”

  “We’ve been loaned an aircar. We’re leaving for home after your fight.”

  “Good.”

  Kaid walked out into the sunlight, blinking slightly as they headed toward the area that had been set aside for the Challenge. They made their way to the awning that had been set up for the Elders, and waited beside them for Ghezu’s arrival.

  Kusac glanced at the arena. “They’re bringing Ghezu out now,” he said.

  Kaid nodded and stepped out to meet him.

  Like Kaid, Ghezu had opted to fight unclothed because of the heat. “Think you can beat me, Kaid?” he asked, beginning to circle slowly round him. “How’s the hand?”