"Here," Kalos whispered. "Look. See? There was something about a pile of stones and other markers along the way that caught my eye, even in the darkness. And here it is as though they have been arranged in a pattern."
"What pattern?" Adalginza asked.
Then, she saw the vaguest outline of a rock-lined path, mostly obscured by thickets and overgrowth of dry grasses.
Kalos moved ahead of her, and reached out to thrust aside some of the branches.
"Oh," Adalginza said, without enthusiasm. "It's a cave."
Caves in the frontier were common and often occupied by ferocious, fanged creatures that were best avoided.
So she could not share the rapture now affixed to the face of the man who she had rightfully branded explorer.
"Not just any cave," Kalos said.
He reached out to pull up some of the thick, tall grasses by their roots. He then expertly wove them together to create a torch. He made another for Adalginza, who stood watching in alarm.
Then, he took out a firestone and scraped it against a nearby rock to create the spark for lighting the first torch. With the first, he set the other on fire.
He forced one of the torches into Adalginza's hand.
"This will give us enough light, but only for a short time."
"No. Please. I am too tired..."
"You must see this first before we go home. Come on. Follow me."
Adalginza reluctantly sent forth an inquiry from her mind, to see if they were about to disturb any creatures of the dark that would make them sorry for their trespass.
Though she caught the briefest of impressions from tiny rodents scurrying away from the entrance at their approach, she sensed nothing menacing.
Once they stepped inside, however, the uneasiness she felt was far more profound than the threat of any monster that might be preparing to devour them.
"This is most disturbing," Adalginza said. Her voice echoed hollowly against the cave's walls. "This is not natural."
"Indeed it is not," Kalos answered excitedly. "It was made by human hands."
Adalginza walked across the dank floor of the cave and dared to run her own hand along the smooth, whitish walls of the cave.
The cold slickness of the material was similar to processed metal, but not metal. The cave walls were clearly not made of rock, or of any substance that she recognized at all.
Then, along the edge of the tunnel that appeared to lead toward Sola Re, she saw the roughly engraved symbol of the Seventh Crescent Moon. It also protruded in relief, in the same way as the symbol in Tunnel Cave at the Place of the Circles.
"This cannot be," she whispered.
"I wish I had paid more attention to the cave we explored near your mother's abode," Kalos said. "I saw the symbol, but it was so crude I had doubts about its significance. Yet we are now so far away, and this carving is identical."
"I…am astonished." Adalginza could find no additional words to express herself. "What does this mean?"
"I do not know."
Because of her upbringing in a Crescent House, she was usually less superstitious than others among the tribes.
But now, in these inexplicable surroundings, Adalginza was beginning to imagine she saw evil spirits in every shadow cast by their torches.
"The tunnel ends under Sola Re," Kalos said, unable to restrain the excitement in his voice. "When I easily dug my way to the surface, I found myself standing in the midst of our new cemetery. So I placed a marker at the cemetery entrance to guide us. To others, it appears only as a freshly dug burial chamber."
"This is so very strange," Adalginza said in a half whisper.
"It is strange and also fortunate. For us. Now listen carefully. The name on the burial stone, which you must remember, is Krarena of the House of the Second Crescent Moon."
"Krarena," Adalginza repeated, committing the name to memory.
"I borrowed the marker from a nearby grave site knowing that no clan members of this person now live in the frontier. Its disturbance will not be noticed. Now remember. The marker is nothing more than a heavy slab of rock. You need only remove it to access this tunnel."
"But why would I want to do that?"
"It is a means of escape."
Adalginza felt an odd premonition as she watched the cave shadows on the wall waver in the torchlight. She somehow knew that someone she loved was going to die here. But she could not share this apprehension with Kalos.
"Then you fear Benfaaro will attack Sola Re."
Kalos held his torch higher, as though hoping the different angle of the light would reveal something new in the surroundings.
"It is only a matter of time. And I may not be here to protect you when it happens."
"I hope it never comes to this," she said quietly.
"As do I. But I need to show Lady Redolo and Zartos as well. Only the four of us will know of this tunnel. To tell others would be to put the entire settlement at risk. For if word leaked out and Benfaaro knew of this secret way into Sola Re..."
"May he never know!" Adalginza said vehemently.
"Indeed." In the light of the torch, the captain's eyes now sparkled with wonder. "What material is this that is found in the walls? Do you know of it?"
"I have never seen such a thing," Adalginza said breathlessly.
The captain's fingers now reverently traced the outline of the crescent moon carving.
"Lady Redolo will be most fascinated. I expect she will now spend much of her time here in studies and documentation through numerous sketches. In secret, of course. But when safety is restored and after the frontier belongs to the Crescent Houses, she will surely have her writings published and distributed on the Prime Continent."
After the frontier belongs to the Crescent Houses.
Those words were like a vicious slap, reminding Adalginza of who the captain really was to say such a thing without even a thought.
Now she was glad she had not betrayed Benfaaro.
***
Kalos and Adalginza approached the captain's estate on their two spirited sturmons, both prancing in eagerness for the fresh grain and water they knew awaited them in the stables.
Zartos must have seen their approach, because he was astride an energetic, red speckled sturmon that loped out to greet them.
The Speckle came from Adalginza's own stables. And she had been delighted at the immediate union that took place between the young beast and Zartos.
She could even now feel the lightness of the Speckle's spirit as they approached.
"Good morn, nephew!" Kalos called out.
"Luzicos seeks you, uncle," Zartos answered, as he pulled the Speckle to a sliding halt before them. "There is more news of the caravans. Two more were attacked. Everyone was killed, and all the supplies were taken. But one caravan did arrive safely this morning, by the secret route."
"Yes, I heard the wagons. And keep your voice low, or the secret route will not be secret much longer."
"There is nothing to fear. With the slaves now banished, the savages are all gone from Sola Re." Zartos hesitated. "Except for her."
The emphasis on her was enough to reveal the utter disgust with which Zartos regarded their house guest of the past season.
As if on cue, a tiny dark-skinned girl with a defiant expression strolled out from behind the brushy hedge lining the entryway.
"My name is Calasta," she corrected him. "I have instructed you many times to use my correct name, and I fail to understand why you do not comply."
"And who are you to be giving me instructions in the first place?" Zartos demanded. "Besides, I have so many other good names for you. Pest, for one. Pest stands for pestilence, you know. And if you touch my collection of shell-sanders one more time..."
"I told you the shell-sanders are not happy with where you put them. They want more shade."
"Leave them where they are or you will hear even more names that little girls are not supposed to hear."
"Zartos!" Kalos scol
ded, as he slipped off the back of the Golden. "You are not supposed to know those names either. You have been spending too much time with Luzicos and the other knights."
"Luzicos is teaching me to fight with a Crescent sword," Zartos announced enthusiastically.
"And Lady Redolo told you to be spending less time with the knights and more time in the company of your scrolls. Your education has been sorely lacking."
"I have been spending time with the scrolls," Calasta announced smugly.
"Did you hear that?" Zartos glared at her. "And you've been cleaning your room. And all the other rooms. Including mine, where I can no longer find any of my valued possessions. Anything to curry favor with Lady Redolo at every opportunity."
"Someone sounds jealous." Kalos was clearly amused.
"Jealous? Why would I be jealous of a…?" Zartos must have seen the expression on the faces of the adults, because he suddenly stopped himself. "Never mind."
"Was he about to insult me?" Calasta asked, sounding very much like the princess that she actually was.
Adalginza slipped off her sturmon and briefly gave Calasta a hug.
"Give it no more thought."
Zartos then quickly began gathering up the reins of the sturmons.
"Come here and help me, sprite," he told Calasta. "Make yourself useful."
"My name is Calasta."
"All right then, Calasta. Follow me."
Adalginza watched them head for the stables, pulling the reins of the sturmons behind them and arguing the whole way, until they were out of sight.
"She will have to be told soon," Adalginza said quietly. "And not just part of it. She will have to be told everything."
"Why? She seems happy enough. Especially when she's vexing Zartos. He makes good sport."
Adalginza and Kalos walked slowly and contently, arm-in-arm, toward the main abode.
"I am most grateful to you for giving Calasta sanctuary."
"She is your daughter. She has your blood. She is part of you. That much is obvious to me, though it would not be so to others who do not know you as intimately as I."
"Nevertheless, I thank you."
"What I do for her, I do for you. Though I choose not to think of Benfaaro when I regard her."
Adalginza did, indeed, see part of herself in the child, even though Calasta was a niece rather than the daughter Kalos believed her to be.
As a cover story and in case the girl regained her full memory, Adalginza also told Kalos that Calasta believed her to be an aunt when they were at the Place of the Circles.
"Do you think she will ever recover completely?" Kalos asked.
"I do not know."
"Maybe it will never matter. Maybe she will be content not knowing who she is."
Calasta's head injury had left her with only partial memories. And, clearly, the one most important to her was the sound of her own name.
She was unable to name her attacker. And it was Luzicos who had actually saved her.
Calasta was regarded by other citizens of Sola Re as an unfortunate orphaned savage girl with no particular ties. She was under the protection of the captain, and this was all that mattered.
Yet, it was dangerous to add this additional complexity to the tapestry of lies that Adalginza was now weaving.
She often agonized over what would happen to Calasta if she were to suddenly regain her memory and unwisely declare in public that she was Benfaaro's daughter.
"No one without memories can be happy for long," Adalginza said thoughtfully as they approached the front entryway of the abode. "As Calasta grows older, there will be too many unanswered questions. And she will only end up hating us for our deception."
"What deception?" Kalos asked. "We simply tell her nothing."
"And that, my dear husband, is the worst of deceptions."
"I still wish we knew who did it," Kalos said, holding open the heavy wooden door for Adalginza to enter. "I am haunted by the possibility — nay, the probability — that one of my knights brutalized your child."
Adalginza had her own suspicions about what had happened, based on Bruna's story of witnessing the incident. But she, of course, could not voice them aloud.
She regarded the living area of their abode, to which she and Lady Redolo had added feminine touches such as ornate, woven wall hangings and polished brass oil lamps.
As Bruna had observed, there were — indeed — many benefits associated with being an officer's wife.
Adalginza wearily sank into one of the plump, overstuffed leather chairs and breathed in the fresh aroma of yeasty bread baking in the kitchen.
"At least one of your knights displayed honor," she said. "Calasta would have slowly bled to death had Luzicos not found her hidden in the suckleberry brush."
"And as his reward for bringing the child out into the clearing for her wounds to be tended, he is attacked and stabbed by the captain's screeching, hysterical wife. It is good that you are the daughter of Lady Donzala. Otherwise, I would have been at a loss to explain your behavior."
"It was an honest mistake. You saw how it looked."
"I am only glad that we were not compelled to bury your mistake, dear one." The captain settled into his own chair beside Adalginza. Then, his expression grew serious. "It was not Luzicos who hurt Calasta. He is not of the same bloodline as our infamous Captain Heinste the Cruel."
"I know that now. He would have left Calasta hidden, had he been the one responsible."
"It would be good if Calasta someday could identify whoever did this to her," Kalos said. "If it was one of my knights, rest assured that I will administer swift justice. Captain Heinste was executed on the Prime Continent for the atrocities he committed here. There have been no others like him since. At least, no officers of his rank."
Adalginza regarded her husband steadily, trying to keep accusation from her eyes.
"Yet, savage children have been harmed during some of the recent conflicts. And killed."
Kalos leaned his head back and squeezed his eyes shut.
"An unintended consequence of war. Benfaaro, on the other hand, is now deliberately targeting women. And children. He has become a monster."
"From the news dispatches we are hearing from the incoming ships, you are very likely to receive orders from the Congress of the Prime Continent to attack the villages. To take no prisoners. Is this not the same thing?"
"Do not ask me that."
Adalginza leaned toward him and lowered her voice.
"Would you do what Benfaaro does? In the end, will you also become a monster?"
Kalos kept his eyes held shut, refusing to meet her gaze.
"I do not know."
Lady Redolo picked that moment to cheerily stroll into the living area.
She held a platter full of newly backed breads fresh from the adobe brick oven that was the centerpiece of the adjoining kitchen. She held the delicacies temptingly in front of Kalos and Adalginza.
Adalginza politely took one of the samples and then slowly bit into the fresh, doughy bread concoction. Her empty stomach raged in answer, demanding that she eat more.
"I knew you could not resist hot bread," Lady Redolo told Adalginza. "You must eat. Recover your strength. And what is this sad look on your face? Kalos, what did you say to her?"
Adalginza glanced up in time to catch Kalos barely shake his head, signaling that she must not tell Lady Redolo about the possibility of attacks on the savage villages.
"Lady Adalginza is disturbed by something that I showed her on our way back from the Canyon of Despair," Kalos said. "It is beyond explanation. But it will serve only to enchant you in your scholarly pursuits, Mother."
"Oh?" Redolo eagerly placed the tray on a small wooden table in front of the chairs. "Beyond explanation, you say?"
Kalos winked at Adalginza. "I knew that would get her attention."
He told his mother only enough to stir up her considerable curiosity. In fact, Redolo tried insisting that he take her to the cav
e at once. But Kalos declined.
"I have urgent business today. I must meet with Luzicos."
"Adalginza could show me."
"No. Adalginza needs her rest. Besides, I want to take you there myself."
"Kalos, this is most vexing! On the morrow, then?"
"Not then either. I leave with Luzicos and some of the other knights. We have business at the Mountain of Treasures."
Adalginza tried to keep her hands from visibly shaking as she clutched the remainder of the bread she had been nibbling.
She stared at Kalos.
"I did not know you planned to go with Luzicos."
Kalos tore off a huge chunk of bread from the large loaf on the tray. His next words were muffled, as he munched on the delicacy.
"A change in plans..." He interrupted himself to finish swallowing. "I wish to see the site of the new post before construction begins. I want to make sure it is properly concealed."
"Then I will go with you," Adalginza said suddenly.
Kalos regarded her in surprise.
"You are not well."
"I will go."
"No."
Adalginza forced a smile upon her face and insinuation into her voice.
"I want to go because I know of a lake near there. In the wilderness. It has been more than a full season since we were wed there. And I think we might find an opportunity to visit again."
"Take her with you, Kalos," Redolo interrupted. "She could do with an outing. And your company. Besides, did you not tell me that the savages have no knowledge of this new post or route for the caravans? There have been no attacks at the Mountain of Treasures. So the danger would be small."
Adalginza swallowed hard, trying to choke down the last bite of the bread that now tasted dry and bitter.
Lady Redolo had no idea how great the danger actually was. But Adalginza's plan was working. By now, Kalos had assumed a faraway look along with a knowing smile.
He no doubt was reliving some fond memories of their wedding night.
"Maybe," he said.
10
They had named it, between themselves, Fire Lake — a metaphor for their own passions, and a private joke they delighted in sharing.
It was here in the wilderness, where they had first been wed, that Adalginza sat with her knee touching the captain's. They snuggled together on the rock overlooking the lake, with their bare feet dangling and soaking in the warm water feeding the pool from a hot spring.
Ten Crescent Moons (Moonquest) Page 19