by Shannah Jay
* * *
'She's still with those traders!' Robler whispered, grasping the edge of the instrument panel so tightly his knuckles turned white. 'Damn her, she's still surrounded by those traders!' He was alone in the com-room and it was sheer chance that had brought him prowling around just as the indicator showed Soo's com-unit to be casting a message.
When it became obvious that Soo had finished transmitting for the night, Robler switched the instruments back to monitor mode and returned to his own quarters. Lizan would have joined him there if he’d asked, he knew, but somehow he had no desire for Lizan just then. What was it about Soo that made the longing for her burn in his flesh like this? No other woman had ever affected him this way, though he’d known many.
At that moment, he’d have sold his soul to change places with the Servants of one of those shrines and have the power to drag Soo inside and take her slender body for his own, whether in a public ceremony or not. And if she’d been reluctant, he’d have wielded a whip himself. The damned Confederation laws took no account of a man's natural needs, none at all. Things might be different for women, but they shouldn't expect men to live in celibacy.
He sat on, rigid with unslaked desire, staring blindly before him. After a while, a nasty smile curved his thin lips. 'Yes,' he murmured softly, 'I've been wondering how to contact Those of the Serpent. Well, our dear Davred's gone down to the Sisterhood as the Manifestation of their God - why should I not use a similar trick with Those of the Serpent?'
CHAPTER 25 SMALL RESPITE FROM THE FOE
The two wagons rumbled across the plain towards the village. Jonner, driving the leading one, was whistling softly to himself, his face contented, his body relaxed. Herra sat beside him, enjoying the fresh air after the stifling humidity of the Tanglewoods. Beside the wagon strolled Alaran and Erlic, talking animatedly to Benjan. The youngsters' speech was, she decided, improving by the hour.
Nim ranged to and fro, always keeping close to the wagons, as if she deemed it her duty to protect them.
She would occasionally stop to roll in the grassy dirt and then stand up and stretch into a magnificent length of lean muscle. That cliff cat's growing rapidly, Herra thought. She's already waist high to Katia.
Suddenly, the deleff stopped moving and the wagons came to a halt. Benjan came to Herra's side immediately, gesturing to the twins to stay back. 'Do you know what's stopped the deleff, Elder Sister?'
Jonner stared around. 'We're not going to tumble into another adventure, are we? I mean, we've only just got out of one. We all need a breathing space.'
'There are people coming to meet us from that village,' Quinna called from the second wagon, where she was standing on the driving seat scanning the surrounding territory.
The deleff began to move forward again slowly. Within a few minutes, the Kindred could see the group approaching them more clearly. It was led by an older woman dressed in blue.
Katia jumped down from the wagon and called Nim to her side.
'That woman's wearing a Sister's robes!' exclaimed Jonner. 'Hey, look! Sister's robes! Out in the open like that!'
'Could it be a trick?' asked Cheral from the other wagon.
'I can sense no danger,' said Benjan, still watchful beside the leading wagon.
'Nor I,' said Herra. Her eyes misted with tears as she stared at the familiar sight of a woman openly wearing the blue Sister's robes and headband. 'Remember what we agreed, now. Treat me as you would anyone else until we're sure this isn't a trick.' To what pass have we come, Brother, when we daren't even trust the evidence of our own eyes? When we suspect even the sight of a Sister's robe? 'Benjan, will you act as spokesperson?'
He nodded. 'It'll be best if I go ahead to greet them. Davred, Quinna, will you come with me? Be ready for anything.'
Quinna jumped down immediately. 'Hey, you can see those blue robes from a long way away, can't you?
You'd have to feel safe to go around wearing something like that.'
'I can still sense no danger,' said Herra quietly, as the three started to move forward.
'Nor I,' agreed Davred.
'Well,' said Benjan, 'we're not taking any risks. We dare not risk your safety, Elder Sister.'
As he and the others strode out and stopped a little way in front of the wagons, the deleff came to a halt and lifted their heads as if to sniff the breeze. They were showing no signs of agitation or anxiety, and their ruffs were tightly furled. They just stood there patiently, waiting in their harness, their great snouts raised to sniff the soft scents drifting on the breeze.
The delegation of strangers came to a halt and the white-haired woman in blue robes moved forward alone. She spread her arms wide in greeting. 'Welcome to Outpost.'
Her face had the serenity that Davred had noticed on the Sisters' faces when he first started observing Sunrise. It was one of the things that had drawn him to the Sisterhood, that luminosity and directness in the eyes. This woman had no evil inside her, he would swear to that.
Behind her stood two brawny young men, clearly there to act as bodyguards, but their expressions were awestruck, rather than hostile or suspicious. They too had open faces and clear unshaded eyes.
'We thank you for your welcome,' said Benjan, bowing slightly. 'We come here in peace.'
'Those who come in peace will be received in peace,' the woman said with solemn formality. 'My friends, did you indeed come out of the Tanglewoods?'
Benjan nodded. 'Yes.' It would have been useless to deny it. The Tanglewoods formed an unbroken green crescent around the distant village.
Her expression was radiant. 'Our Brother be praised! Your coming was foretold many years ago. Where is she who leads the Sisterhood? Where is the woman of wisdom?' Her eyes strayed to the wagons and settled almost immediately on Herra. 'Ah!' she said softly. 'Herra.'
Benjan tensed. Quinna coughed and shifted her weight to a more even balance, ready for whatever might come, and Nim stiffened under Katia's hand. Davred simply watched, his body as still as his mind. This was meant to be. The words slipped into his mind as gently as petals drifting on a breeze.
Herra had obviously come to the same conclusion as the advance party. She jumped down from the leading wagon and advanced to join her companions, hands outstretched, palms turned upwards in greeting. 'I am she who leads the Sisterhood.'
'Welcome to Outpost, Elder Sister. Joy be with you. And is there one with you who comes from the sky?'
Davred realised suddenly that the tension in the group of villagers was not that of danger or betrayal, but of hope, barely suppressed. Eyes shone with it, bodies vibrated with it. He took a single step forward. 'I came from the sky.'
'And is there also one who is star-born?'
Most of the Kindred frowned, not understanding this reference, but Herra and Carryn jerked around to stare at Benjan. He shook his head in amazement that anyone else had known his secret name.
'I am he who is star-born,' he said quietly.
'And you,' the woman turned to Quinna, 'must be new to the Twelve Claims.'
Quinna gaped. 'How can you possibly know that?'
'We in Outpost are of the Sisterhood. There are times when the God whispers in our ears, and then we write down his words in our great book so that none shall ever forget them. Let me recite for you the first entry of all, the reason for the founding of this village four hundred years ago.' She half-closed her eyes and quoted softly:
One day when Discord sits heavy upon the land, and Those of Outpost must hide within the Fireflats, there shall come from the Tanglewoods two traders' wagons drawn by deleff of great antiquity. These people shall have traversed the Lands of Nowhere and endured through many tribulations.
In the wagons shall ride a woman of wisdom, one who leads the Sisterhood along a new path. In front of the wagons shall walk three persons, one who comes from the sky, one who is star-born and one who is new to the Twelve Claims. They shall bring with them six of their Kindred and three others who are younger than they
seem.
They shall come in peace and in great need of peace, weary from the struggle against Discord. It shall be the honour of Those of Outpost to provide them with a respite and to serve their every need before the Quest recommences. Thus shall the future of the Twelve Claims be well served.
And afterwards, when these honoured visitors have left, a new mission shall be laid upon Outpost.
The woman stepped forward, eyes joyful, arms raised to encompass them all in her welcome. 'I am Galinna, Sister and Healer, senior in Outpost. And this is one place, my dear friends, where Those of the Serpent do not hold sway.'
'How in all the claims have you managed that?' asked Jonner, unable to retain his questions for one second longer. 'Those devils seem to have taken over everywhere else.'
'We're surrounded by the Fireflats here. None can approach from the Twelve Claims without our help to lead them through the burning fields. And no others have ever come out of the Tanglewoods. Those of the Serpent cannot pass beyond the wildwoods.'
She made the Sisterhood's graceful gesture of greeting and invitation to stay, and even this simple action brought tears to Herra's and Cheral's eyes, for it was a long time since they had seen a greeting so freely and openly given.
'Will you come into the village?' Galinna asked. 'We have your quarters ready. You look very tired.'
'Why does she hold her hands out like that?' Lerina asked Cheral with a child's open curiosity. 'And why are you crying?'
'She holds her hands out to bid us welcome and I'm crying,' Cheral sniffed in vain, for the tears would not be held back, 'because I'm happy to find another Sister here in this wilderness.'
'But you and Herra are Sisters. So is Katia.'
'Yes. But it's a long time since we've met any others from our Sisterhood.' The deleff started moving forward and Cheral steadied herself against the girl sitting next to her, pressing the firm young shoulder gently. 'No more questions now, child. Galinna is right. I'm tired. Very tired. I need,' she added in tones of surprise, for she hadn’t dared admit this before, even to herself, 'I need to undergo a Renewal. And we all need to rest.'
The village was built around an oval of grass, with each of the wooden houses possessing a neatly fenced wedge of land behind it. Encircling this central garden area lay fields, two or three deep, carrying a variety of crops, as bright under the sun as a patchwork quilt. Beyond them lay a haze of smoke and the shivering of air distorted by heat. No distant vistas were possible, only that curtain of haziness. The smoke ought to have been drifting over the village, but it seemed to stop at the edges of the fields, leaving clear air sparkling in the sunlight.
At one end of the village stood an octagonal building, much larger and higher than the others, with a small octagonal tower in the centre and a semicircular porch framing its double entrance. The building was shaded on one side by huge trees and at the other side, a short terrace of wooden dwellings led off at right angles to the rest of the village.
Nim paced beside Katia as Galinna and her companions led the newcomers to the terrace and the deleff followed, still with that air of calm tranquillity. They stopped outside the large building of their own accord and when the Kindred had alighted, without any need for instructions the deleff pulled the wagons over to a barnlike shelter at the end of the terrace.
'How did they know to do that?' Narla whispered to Jonner.
'How do the deleff know to do anything?'
'This is our guest accommodation,' Galinna said with a smile. 'Choose the rooms which please you and then we'll go inside the meeting place and gather.'
'That will be a rare treat.' Herra's smile was as bright as the sunlight which seemed to sparkle around them after the dim light of the Tanglewoods.
Galinna hesitated. 'Will your great cat be safe among us?'
'Nim is very gentle, but we'll keep an eye on her till she's used to children,' said Katia.
Cheral sighed in relief as she saw the comforts of their accommodation, and since the others were doing more staring than choosing, she started organising the allocation of rooms. She couldn’t help sighing with pleasure as she tested the softness of the beds, and saw the clean sheets and other simple comforts. The outside walls were of sun-bleached wood, lined with highly polished golden planks inside. The roof was made of wooden shingles, neatly layered in rows, forming a pattern near the eaves. The floors were of a darker wood, softened by rugs in colours that matched the covers on the beds. As in Dsheresh Kashal, there was no glass in the windows, but finely woven grass meshes ensured privacy when it was needed.
'This is our Respite Centre,' said Galinna, who was standing chatting to Herra. 'It was built especially for your coming, but over the years it's been open to many who have needed time to recover from illness, or more lately from their tribulations.'
'Tribulations?' queried Herra.
'Yes. Those of the Serpent now control Peneron, so we of the Sisterhood must work secretly to heal and to teach. Those dealing with Sisters are severely punished. The Sisters not under stasis in the temple are scattered across the whole claim, staying with well-wishers, moving frequently, but occasionally they're trapped and hunted. Even,' her voice broke as she tried to form the word and she paused for a moment to regain control of herself, 'killed. The new Lord Claimant of Peneron, one Dasran, is of the Serpent.'
Sadness sheened her eyes briefly with tears. 'I was one of those who chose to remain outside when the temple went into stasis, but I'm fortunate in my destiny. The God whispered in my ear that I must come here to Outpost and hold it as a place of refuge and respite, ready for those who would one day come out of the Tanglewoods. And indeed you have come, Sisters, just as it was foretold.'
'And this larger building? What is it?' queried Herra.
'A meeting place, where we can hold our temple rituals, teach our children and train our few remaining novices.'
'Ah!' Herra's breath was a soft sigh of satisfaction. She had ached for the temple rituals, missed them most desperately, and missed most of all the peace and strength they renewed within her. 'Indeed, our Brother is good to lead us to this place.'
Galinna took a deep breath, then said with a hint of defiance in her tone. 'I must tell you, though, Elder Sister, that in such a small community we didn’t feel the Sisterhood could keep itself separate, nor could we deny our menfolk our Brother’s peace and blessing in these troubled times. If there’s any fault in that, then it's mine, but men and women share the rituals here in Outpost, both the dancing and the Gatherings.'
Herra's face was a blaze of happiness, her eyes so bright with that other light that you couldn’t look into them. 'No fault, dear Sister, but our Brother's guidance along a new path.' Suddenly she could wait no longer.
'Summon everyone to the meeting place, Galinna. What I have to say will fill you with joy. As the temple rituals will fill me with joy.'
Inside the meeting place was just one perfectly circular room, with meshed openings at intervals to keep it cool and ventilated. Its walls of curved and polished wood were adorned with paintings and woven hangings, interspersed with beautiful lamps. The short octagonal tower in the centre of the ceiling had a series of patterned glass windows all round it, diffusing jewel-coloured sunlight across the floor.
Davred drew in his breath in astonishment at the sight of the floor and walls. They were made of wood, cut and fitted with supreme artistry into inlaid patterns and pictures of people dancing. He almost feared to tread on the floor, lest he mark it in any way. He’d forgotten how skilled Those of the Sisterhood were at creating and crafting beauty. How could he have forgotten that so quickly? This meeting place alone would bring the Confex Cultural Team running to plant a caveat on it being sold off-planet. And they’d be horrified to see people treading on that magnificent floor so carelessly.
Everyone in the whole village filed in and assembled around the edges of the room. There was apprehension behind their smiles of welcome and tension in their bodies, as well as a hint of defiance i
n some of the men.
Galinna gestured to Herra to take the lead and she stepped forward.
'Know that I am Herra,' she said, her voice ringing out clearly, 'Elder Sister of Temple Tenebrak.'
'She's here!' The whispers ran round the room. 'She's come at last. Herra. Temple Tenebrak.'
Davred watched with a sense of quiet understanding. Somehow, things were about to change again, and although the changes might not be caused by danger, they nonetheless formed a turning point of the sort of which he, as a Cathartic Agent, was always most acutely aware. Change was stirring in the very air around him, change which could not but affect him and Katia. Whither now, Brother? he wondered.
'Let us dance!' called Herra. 'Let the chimes play and we shall all dance, men and women, Brothers and Sisters together.' And so it was done, the soft melodies leading everyone, even the three youngsters, into circles. And as the chimes died away, Herra gestured again, and everyone sank to the ground, sitting cross-legged, hands touching hands, circles complete.
'Do you remember the Great Prophecy?' Herra began.
A soft chorus of voices chanted, 'We remember.'
How could anyone in the Sisterhood forget that? wondered Davred.
'Then know Davred, Manifestation of your God!' One finger pointed dramatically at Davred, who rose to his feet and bowed in a gesture of greeting as graceful as Herra's own, before joining her in the centre of the inner circle. And in the younger, as was meant The Lord his mate shall find.
Herra quoted from the fourth verse of the prophecy and then gestured towards Katia. 'Know also Katia, wife of our Brother's Manifestation.'
Katia rose to her feet and stepped forward, with a whirling salutation to the whole circle of people that seemed to spin streamers of jewel-coloured light everywhere. Her hands were slim and graceful as they lifted in greeting and Davred knew, as he knew every time he looked at her, that there could be no other woman for him, that she would always be the light of his life.
'Brother, I thank you for Katia,' he murmured, then concentrated on the rituals.