“That must be Carlina,” Marlyss said, eyeing the other green-robe. Sarah was surprised that her voice sounded tentative. “She hadn't arrived yet, by the time I left for Trahea.”
“Yeah,” Texi said. “Gen was the one who flew to pick her up. I don't see his flyer here, though.”
“Probably gone to the Institute to chat with Jaime and Jerold,” Marlyss mused.
Sarah was always amused that Marlyss treated the Liaison Office Staff with respect which she rarely showed the Ferhil Stones servants, who were expected to be neither seen nor heard, but, nevertheless, efficiently perform their duties. It was one of the things that had irked her no end about living at the Witch Stronghold. She was certain that Marlyss' politesse to the workers of the Liaison Office was a bow to Coryn's influence; he had a way of making the least important person in the room feel that he or she mattered.
“But, let us make our way out, and meet this Carlina,” said the Guru Johannes, sounding quite enthusiastic. “I, for one, am seriously keen to get to know the greatest Healer on Kordea.”
Texi opened the doors, and the Greencat was the first one outside, greeted with delight by Tanya who was familiar with her from past visits. The Guru followed the animal, and immediately stepped over to the strange woman, apparently introducing himself to her.
Marlyss seemed more tentative, and she stayed back to help Sarah and Texi get Coryn out of the flyer. When that was done, and the manservant had intoned the ritual welcoming words to the arrivals (for some reason it was the servants' duty to speak them, almost always), Healer Carlina turned, not to her patient but to Marlyss.
She came over to the eldest of the Twelve, and gathered her in a hug, kissing both her cheeks.
“Dear Friend Marlyss,” she said heartily, “it's so good to see you, and looking so good. It has been a long time.”
“Yes,” Marlyss replied, and Sarah saw that she was a little teary at the effusive greeting. “It has been a very long time. And I thank you for answering my call.”
“Of course I answered your call,” Carlina said. “How could I not? Besides which, you arranged for comfortable transport—there were no cranky browhorns involved the way there were when, years ago, I left Ferhil Stones to return to my home town to apprentice myself to the Great Healer of that time!”
“Carlina's part of Kordea has always produced the most talented Healers of the world,” Marlyss explained for the benefit of those who would not have known this snippet of information.
“Yes,” Carlina agreed, “and we have always tried to safeguard that genetic heritage. Which is why I had to agree to return home from Ferhil Stones to learn all that my Great-Aunt could teach me, before I was allowed to come here as an Apprentice. I did my duty, and married into a neighbouring family who were known to carry the healing trait, too.
“My two daughters are now my Apprentices, and one of them is going to be very good at Healing, too.”
“While Marlyss stayed here in Ferhil Stones,” said the Guru softly. “Missing you.”
“That was so,” Carlina agreed. “After I married Alfrie—it was an arranged marriage but he turned out to be a kind and reasonable man—he told me that he would not object if I asked Marlyss to come and join our family. I nearly did... only my Great-Aunt Janha told me that I should not do so. She had some ability to sense the future—I don't have that talent—and she said that Marlyss would be needed at Ferhil Stones. That a time of great changes for the world was approaching, and Marlyss had to be the one to handle those changes for our people. No-one else had what it would take, is what she said.”
The Guru chuckled.
“Your Aunt Janha was right,” he said. “No-one else could have done what Marlyss has.”
“It wasn't just me, as you all well know,” Marlyss objected. “There were plenty of necessary raisins in this pudding; I was only one of them.”
“On that note,” Sarah interjected, “we really need to see about the health of this necessary raisin I'm hanging onto. Or is he a part of the pudding?”
Even Coryn chuckled at that, although his stance between Sarah and Texi was unsteady enough to make Sarah anxious.
However, Sarah's words immediately drew the two Healers' attention, and that of Marlyss to him. Carlina stepped over to examine his haggard face. She pulled out her amarto, and motioned Healer Tanya over.
“Let's ease him a little bit, Tanya,” she said, “so the walk to the Infirmary will be easier on him. I don't think that this patient is going to accept being carried by even a burly servant—right, Marlyss?”
“No, not unless you can convince him that the diplomatic relations between the Confederation and Kordea depend on his being bundled off to a sick-bed like a small child,” Marlyss said drily.
“I suspect that they don't,” Carlina said with a grin. Then she and Tanya both concentrated on their Stones, and Sarah could sense the results of what they were doing in the way Coryn's grip on her shoulder eased.
Texi on his other side, also seemed to visibly relax.
“Okay, that wasn't healing, merely easing,” Carlina said, as she and Tanya released their amartos. “Now, if Sarah, you—you are Sarah, right?—will cede your spot to the servant, we'll get this patient to bed. He's been badly mangled, and ill-treated; there will be a lot of work for me to do. Tanya will aid me, so do not despair, Sarah, nor Marlyss, either; we'll fix him up, though it may take a few days before we're done.”
**
“The call was from my father,” Sarah said to Marlyss.
Witch Alta, the Ferhil Stones receptionist had sent an Apprentice to fetch her to speak on the communications console which connected the Stronghold to the Confederation universe. Mostly the console was used for communications between Ferhil Stones and the Confederation-Kordean Liaison Office, although there were, also, exchanges between the Witches and the Research Institute which Jaime Morrow ran.
“Dad wants me to come back to Trahea if I'm not needed here,” she added. “Coryn's parents have shown up at the Liaison Office. They, of course, had to be informed of his kidnapping, and of the plan to rescue him, and now they have arrived on Kordea, naturally quite anxious about their son.
“I've never met them in person, though I talked to them via com after Coryn disappeared, and before the Team left on the rescue mission. Dad thinks that I am in a better position to reassure them than he is, and, naturally, they want to talk to the woman who now is their daughter-in-law.”
“Has your father explained anything about the methods of our Healers, to them?” Marlyss asked.
“Apparently Witch Clarisse was in Trahea when they arrived and told them that Coryn would have to stay in the Infirmary here, until Healer Carlina had finished her work. She had tried to make them see that he had been deeply damaged by what Evil Evella had done to him. Dad said that they had not quite credited her words until he had brought in Dr. Mary Jonas, and she had mentioned the term Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome. Dr. Jonas had assured Coryn's parents that the Kordean healing methods are very effective, more effective than anything the Terrans have in their medicine cabinets.
“But Dad feels that my presence would help diffuse their concerns further.”
Sarah was actually keen to return to Trahea. She had not been allowed to see Coryn since she had ceded him to Carlina's care. Healer Tanya had taken a few moments to explain to her that a Healer of Carlina's ability was able to enter the raw, torn psychic terrain of a badly hurt patient, but that the work she would have to do was delicate, required deep concentration, and after every break in the process she needed to pick it up again at the exact place where she had left off. It was better if Sarah did not ask to see her husband during the healing; even a well-meaning, loving interference could upset the delicate balance necessary. Thus, it looked like she had no part to play at Ferhil Stones; anything she could do for Coryn, Marlyss could do better.
“That actually sounds like a good idea,” Marlyss said immediately. “There's little point in you re
maining here to fret; sure you could sit in on some lessons about Circle procedures, but I doubt that you really could concentrate on them. If there are ways in which you can be useful, and keep busy, in Trahea, you certainly should go.
“Call the Institute, Dian has informed me that Jaime and Jerold are taking a flyer to the Trahea Port this night. They want to talk to the Neotsarian Rebels—well, Jerold does, since some of them are from his home planet. They wanted to know if anyone here needed a ride in; they have room in the flyer.”
**
The Trahea Port was a hive of activity. Its population had been increased by the Fleet Ship's crew, and the ex-slaves who had arrived on that ship. The Port's Human Resources, and the Social Services Department were swamped by efforts to clothe, feed and temporarily house the young men more comfortably than the cots in the Recreation Lounge of the big ship could afford. The Port Infirmary which normally was an almost empty facility—the Trahea Port workers were a healthy lot—had a number of patients who were both physically and mentally fragile, and Dr. Mary Jonas and her Health Aides were kept busy. The Kordean Healer Mora came in to assist them whenever she was not attending to cases in Trahea, and Dr. Jonas was honest enough to admit that her help was invaluable, especially with those young men who were exhibiting emotional trauma. Mora might not have been a phenomenon as a Healer the way Carlina apparently was, but she was a very competent practitioner.
Jaime parked the Institute's flyer in the Maintenance Sector where he was obviously a familiar, and well-liked figure, and he, Sarah and Jerold walked over to the Liaison Office where the staff knew that they were coming. It was getting towards the end of the work-night, and Sarah wondered what would be on the agenda for her. A dinner with her in-laws? Were they staying at the Liaison Office Residence, or had so many of the ex-slaves been housed there that the place had finally reached its capacity? She thought with longing of the room that she and Coryn had shared. Did it house someone else now, with her and her husband's things packed away in containers, in some storage room? Would she and Coryn ever again spend time together in its big, comfortable bed?
Suddenly she realized, as she walked along, that very likely, for at least a time, she was going to be free of the fear of being chased down by the Neotsarian Elites and Hounds! The Elites behind the plot to take over the Galaxy, using amartos and her talent, were dead, brutally killed by the feral cats which they had mistreated! If Carlina could heal Coryn, maybe she and he could go on a honeymoon! And visit relatives; her mother, sister, and grandparents in Laurentia, on Earth, to begin with. And Coryn's relatives; besides his parents he had a sister, plus she knew not what other kin.
If Shellion succeeded in his attempts to foment rebellion against the Elites in the Neotsarian Sector, those Elites would probably be too busy to bother chasing a chimera that the amarto-angle, so far, had proved itself to be! The need to hide in Ferhil Stones might be coming to an end!
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Peter had reserved a table in the Back Room of The LockandKey for the dinner he was hosting for his daughter and her in-laws. He had chosen the place because he knew that the bar had been Coryn's favourite watering hole—as it was for many of the employees at the Port, both the Port workers, and the staff of the Liaison Office. The bar was a big, noisy establishment, but the locals had introduced him to the Back Room which was a much smaller, quiet restaurant. He had checked it out with Clarisse, and had found it a more than adequate eating establishment with a good selection of Kordean dishes plus a smattering of off-planet offerings, and a fine selection of local fruit wines.
To get to the Back Room it was necessary to traverse the bar, and it took the foursome several minutes to do so, because people at the tables were hailing Sarah, expressing their pleasure at seeing her, and asking after Coryn's health. She put off most of the questions and requests, merely stating that Coryn was in the hands of the Healers at Ferhil Stones. She was sorry that, no, she did not know when he would be back in Trahea, and she had no time to talk, because she needed to inform Coryn's parents of all that had been going on in the past some time. This comment killed most of the questioning, and the prying person usually turned to study the Leigh couple.
Moire Leigh was an attractive, tall woman well past the heady bloom of youth, with the tell-tale violet tinge to her hair and eyes, which marked the people who carried at least some Calligan DNA. Her husband seemed to be an intellectual type, possibly an academic (though Sarah knew that he was a civil servant), which was not surprising, since even the part-Calligans were known to like to marry brains.
In contrast to them, Father and Daughter Mackenzie were dark-haired, if pale-skinned, shorter, and slighter. Although Lindy Cass who was watching their slow progress to the back, by now knew that the Mackenzie wiriness concealed coiled energy waiting to be sprung into the world. She was also amused to note that Sarah had found time to get the bleached ends of her short hair dyed, and looked very much the smallest of the Kordean Witches that she had been when Lindy had first met her, in spite of the ordinary dress that she was wearing.
“No robes for Sarah tonight,” she commented.
“What?” Ariane, who was sitting across the table from her, asked.
They were a group of six, at the moment; Cam sat at the end of the table next to her, Lew was on her other side with Dini at his end, and Shellion between her and Ariane. Texi and his wife Nance were supposed to join them; they'd have to rearrange the seating to accommodate the Kordean couple when they arrived.
“She's not doing Witch-duty tonight,” Cameron said with a chuckle. “Sarah's not one to parade in a floor-length outfit, the way the greenhoods like to do. Dad probably had to persuade her to put on a dress for an outing with her in-laws; he has more sense of decorum than she does.”
“A floor-length outfit?” Dini repeated. “Greenhoods? I'm having a little bit of trouble imagining Sunny-Sarah dressed like that tall, regal-looking Witch Marlyss, whom we met so briefly, or even like Healer Mora, for that matter.”
“Her robes are cream-coloured because she has never truly been considered a Circle Witch,” Lindy explained. “I think that she still has a few lessons to finish before she'd be allowed the Green, though she's far beyond the Apprentice Level. The Apprentices at the Circle Strongholds wear white gowns.”
“My impression is that Sarah doesn't want to work in a Circle, anyway,”Cameron said. “I think that she's looking for a little more normal existence, at least for a while—you know, being a wife, having children, working as a Space Ship Mechanic, which is what she trained for in the first place. Of course, how long she'd last at that is anybody's guess.”
The last words were spoken in a wry tone.
Shellion chuckled at Cam.
“Don't think your sister has the patience for the simple life?” he asked.
“Oh she'd be fine for a while—while the novelty lasts,” Cam said. “After that; well, Coryn will have to be willing to accommodate a whirl-wind, would be my guess. She hasn't changed that much from the little Sarah I knew years ago; she still rushes towards experiences full of enthusiasm.”
“That's one of the things I've always liked about her,” said a tall, athletic, brown-skinned woman who had just arrived to stand beside Lindy's chair.
“Hi Jillian,” Lindy said. “Where did you drop from?”
“We've got a table a little ways off in that direction,” Jillian explained, pointing. “Joe, Sandy, Leon, and I. The Paxic IV big guys are sharing anecdotes while I came by to tell you the news, Lindy. Just heard it at work, before I left.”
“Heard what?”
“There was an accident on Outerland, in one of the Hunting Preserves. The word is that the Safari Outfitters aren't quite sure how it happened; things like that aren't supposed to happen. They take precautions against them happening.
“Two men of the Forshie Party, that's what they called the group of five men involved, were badly mauled by a pack of the wolves which run wild, and prey on the large h
erbivores, on the preserves. The animals are usually wary of humans; they know that the bipeds carry killing weapons, and like to use them. But this time they did attack, and one man was killed, and the second one was left alive but seriously hurt.”
“Names, Jillian, names,” Lindy prompted her.
“The dead man was Ry Marcues,” Jillian replied. “The badly mauled, but still alive one was Graeme Forshie. Apparently his face is a mess.”
“Serves them right.”
Lindy lifted up her beer stein with a shaking hand, and gulped down a large mouthful. Cam reached a hand to stroke her bare forearm; she grabbed the hand and squeezed its fingers hard, the moment she had replaced her beer on the table.
“Shit, shit shit!” she said. “This whole affair has been just crap after shit, after crap! Why do people have to be such shits to one another?”
She was not quite sure whether the tears stinging her lids were from anger or regret.
“They could have listened to Anya,” Jillian said. “I'm just surprised how quickly it came about. And I'm a little bit surprised that the wolves spared your ex-husband.”
“At least on this side of the Galaxy, you people have room for emotions of anger, regret, and such,” said Shellion, staring at Lindy's face. “On our side, most people are so inured to being wronged by their rulers that they barely register such responses anymore. They're numb from all the abuse they take.”
“That's true,” Ariane said. “You force yourself to stop responding. Otherwise you go crazy.”
“Maybe we'll be able to slip in some professional help to you Revolutionaries, now that Marcues is no longer in charge of The Agency,” Jillian said. “I sure hope they put Roland Harmiss in charge, and don't saddle us with another idiot of a political appointment.”
Two more people had arrived at the table in time to hear Jillian's news and Lindy's reaction to it. Texi and his wife, Nance, waited in silence while the waiter brought chairs over to accommodate them, and while the occupants of the table made room. Then, as Jillian turned to return to her table, Nance said to Lindy:
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