by Anne Bishop
“If you’ll excuse us?” Zhahar said, looking at the other men.
“Problem?” Lee asked when the Knife and the Apothecary stepped out of hearing.
“Maybe. How…carnal…is this Den?”
“Very. It’s a dark landscape that welcomes the incubi and succubi. Sex is a commodity, so it isn’t hidden, if that’s what you’re asking.” She was troubled, but he wasn’t sure why. Working as a Handler, she’d seen her share of naked men. Then he glanced toward her mother. Mothers. Which did the Tryad use? “Are you worried about Sholeh? Lynnea and Caitlin Marie don’t have a problem being in the Den, so I don’t think Sholeh will have trouble being there.” Of course, he was assuming that having Zeela for a sister had broadened Sholeh’s intellectual experience with regard to sex—and her physical experience as well? Not a discussion he wanted to have with Zhahar while Morragen Medusah a Zephyra watched them.
“Not Sholeh,” Zhahar said. “Kobrah. Something happened to her before she came to Vision. Something bad. She hates men and reacts badly to seeing male parts.”
“Guardians and Guides,” Lee muttered. The Den of Iniquity was what it was. A quick chat with Philo would keep his specialties off the table, but there was nothing they could do about the erotic statues that decorated Philo’s courtyard. And that was a quick brush of what she might see. “Kobrah?” He waved her over to them.
“Lee,” Zhahar warned. Or maybe that was Zeela, since he was suddenly hearing two voices.
Kobrah looked at the space between the stone triangles. “Did something happen?”
“No,” Lee said, “but I need to know if you can handle being in the Den. It’s an edgy place with a lot of sex.” He still had trouble seeing subtle expressions, but he had no trouble seeing the loathing on Kobrah’s face. “The rest of us need to go, but maybe you could stay here with Zhahar’s people.”
“Of course you could,” Zhahar said quickly.
Kobrah shook her head. “I’ll go. You might need my help. I can stand it as long as I don’t have to touch any Chaynes.”
“You don’t have to touch anyone or anything you don’t want to,” Lee said. Then he added, “Teaser lives there.” And Yoshani likely will be present.
“Teaser?” The loathing faded from Kobrah’s face. “I like Teaser. He’s not a Chayne, even if he is a sex demon.”
Good to know. “Then you already have a friend you can look forward to seeing.” Lee added finding out what a Chayne was to the list of things he wanted to discuss with Zhahar.
Sebastian suddenly reappeared, startling everyone. He nodded at Lee. “The border is solid. Tryadnea fits like it’s always been there.” He waited until Morragen joined them. “We’re ready for you to cross over, but I’d like to limit the number of Tryad coming to the Den this first time.”
Lee thought he could see Morragen’s temper rising—and the way Zhahar clamped her hand around his fingers confirmed it.
“Why?” Morragen and Medusah asked coldly.
Sebastian gave her a sharp-edged smile. “Because we get enough crap from the daylight landscapes about corrupting their youngsters. I don’t need that in triplicate from parents in your landscape.”
Lee huffed out a sigh. “Yep. I’m home. Morragen, until you’ve seen the Den, it would be prudent to restrict the visitors to adults.” He paused. Thought. “Experienced adults.” Then he tightened his hold on Zhahar’s hand, since it occurred to him that he might have just excluded two-thirds of her Tryad and he didn’t know how many toes he’d just stepped on—or how many women were annoyed with him.
Glorianna returned and stared at them. “Problem?”
“Sebastian is sounding like a prissy prig, and Morragen is still deciding if she should feel insulted on behalf of her people,” Lee replied.
“I am not a prissy prig,” Sebastian growled.
“And I am not insulted,” Morragen snarled.
“Then it’s settled,” Glorianna said. “Only the people involved in the discussions about Tryadnea and what do to for the city of Vision are coming to the Den. Everyone else stays on their respective sides of the border. Sebastian, did you tell these men to bring the wagon and their horses?”
“We didn’t get that far,” Sebastian replied.
“Then get that far.” She pointed at Zhahar and Kobrah. “You two. Come with me.”
“Glorianna,” Lee protested as Zhahar released his hand.
She turned to him, but it wasn’t Glorianna who looked at him.
“You know better than to create dissonance this close to a border, Bridge,” Belladonna said. “Or have you forgotten Lighthaven and the White Isle?”
An island that held a Place of Light. A land that had been whole until two women passionately rejected each other—and by doing so, split Lighthaven from the rest of the White Isle so completely the two pieces couldn’t be connected anymore.
Lee’s heart leaped into his throat. Fool to forget something so basic—especially when Morragen’s will and heart seemed to guide Tryadnea like a tiller provided direction for a boat, and Sebastian was the Den’s anchor, the heart that kept the Den protected and kept it from turning dark in ways that would make it too dangerous.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “You’re right. I shouldn’t have needed the reminder.”
“Neither should I.” Sebastian sounded embarrassed.
“Now that we have that settled…” Belladonna turned and walked between the stone triangles—and disappeared.
“You and Kobrah should go,” Lee told Zhahar. “We’ll catch up to you.”
“Is your sister upset with you?” Zhahar asked.
“Us,” Sebastian said, looking at Lee. “She’s upset with us.”
“And she’s right to be,” Lee acknowledged. “We come from this part of Ephemera. We know better than to let emotions run without considering consequences.”
“Don’t keep her waiting, Zhahar,” Morragen said. “We’ll gather what we need and be along.”
Zhahar took Kobrah’s hand, and the two of them walked across the border.
“Do we need supplies?” Morragen asked.
“Not food and water, unless you need something special,” Sebastian replied. “A change of clothes and toiletries should be sufficient.”
She walked away, followed by the Knife and the Apothecary.
“Are you uneasy about coming back?” Sebastian asked.
Lee shook his head. “A moment’s stupidity. We’ve been running for the past two days, and getting away from the men the wizards sent after us.…It was too close. And if we don’t find a way to help the Shamans defend Vision, the surviving wizards and Dark Guides will be able to turn at least some of it into another Wizard City—a stronghold from which they’ll feed the Dark currents in a way that will change a piece of the world.”
Sebastian laid a hand on Lee’s shoulder. “You all need to rest. We all need time to talk and think and consider what can be done.”
“They need us. The Tryad. The Shamans. They need us.”
Sebastian took a step closer to him. “We need each other. I’ve missed you, cousin.”
Lee hugged Sebastian. “I missed you too.”
Holding Kobrah’s hand to offer encouragement and contact, Zhahar trailed behind Glorianna, watching the world playfully change. Glorianna walked a dozen steps, then pointed at the ground. Moments later, a boulder pushed out of the earth. The result was a string of markers from the stone triangles to a dirt lane that began in the middle of a field.
“That’s enough,” Glorianna said as a boulder pushed up a long step away from the lane. She looked at Zhahar. “This lane leads to the Den. When your people cross over to visit, you keep the markers on your right on the way to the Den, and on your left when you go home. That will keep you from stumbling someplace you shouldn’t be.”
Because you don’t want us to explore? Zhahar wondered. Before she could think of how to phrase the question without causing offense that might make Glorianna change her mind about h
elping them, Kobrah pointed in the opposite direction and asked, “What’s over that way?”
“The border to the Merry Makers’ landscape,” Glorianna replied.
“They sound festive,” Zhahar said, trying not to jump when Sholeh yelled ::No!::
“They’re not,” Glorianna said. “They respect the Den’s rules when they visit the Den, but very few people who go into the bogs the Merry Makers call home survive long enough to walk out again.”
“Oh,” Kobrah said.
::Lee told me a little about the Merry Makers and the waterhorses,:: Sholeh said. ::They’re dangerous.:: Then she added wistfully, ::But I’d still like to see them.::
Zhahar sighed, which had Glorianna raising an eyebrow in question.
“My sister Sholeh was exchanging information with Lee about some of the races found in Ephemera, and she’s curious.”
“How old are you?”
“Twenty-four.”
“Not so young, then.”
“I beg your pardon?”
Glorianna laughed. “Never mind. The others are coming.” She looked down the lane and laughed again. “Tell your sister she’s about to have an opportunity to meet a demon.” She sounded as concerned as if the family dog was heading toward them—a dog large enough to be scary, but usually friendly.
Zhahar looked at the swiftly moving lights and felt weak-kneed relief when she turned and saw Sebastian and Lee walking ahead of the Apothecary’s wagon. Her mother shared the driving seat with the shadowman while the Knife rode alongside.
“Why are we stopping here?” Sebastian asked.
“We were waiting for you,” Glorianna replied.
“How did you set the markers so quickly?” Morragen asked, pointing to a boulder.
Glorianna smiled. “Ephemera helped. Shall we—”
“Wait,” Zhahar said, her voice so sharp everyone looked at her. But all she saw was a boulder that hadn’t been there a few minutes ago. All she remembered was a mud wallow changing into rushing, fresh water.
She changes the world. Glorianna can change the world. “If you can make boulders, can you repair farmland?” Zhahar asked. “Can you restore streams? Turn sparse grass into rich grazing?” She looked at Glorianna and heard Morragen suck in a breath. Her mothers understood the reason for the questions. “Can you?”
“This isn’t the place to discuss this,” Glorianna said at the same time Lee said, “Zhahar,” and touched her arm.
She pulled away from Lee. “Can you?”
“Despair made the deserts, and hope the oases,” Glorianna replied. “Ephemera manifests the heart.”
Zhahar stared at her in disbelief. “You think we did this to our homeland? You think we wanted this?”
“Wanted it? No. Did your people do it? Yes. Heart’s Blessing, Sholeh Zeela a Zhahar,” Glorianna Belladonna said in a cold voice that was oddly laced with compassion. “May your heart travel lightly, because what you bring with you becomes part of the landscape.” She turned and started walking down the lane toward the Den.
Lee grabbed Zhahar’s arm. “That’s enough. You don’t make demands of a Landscaper. It isn’t done.”
“Well, maybe it should be!” Zhahar tried to jerk her arm out of his grip. When she couldn’t, she appealed to Zeela.
=No,= Zeela said, sounding troubled.
*Why not?* Zhahar continued to try to pull away from Lee, ignoring the fact that the harder she struggled, the tighter he held her arm.
=Because our mothers didn’t agree with you.=
::And because what Glorianna said is true,:: Sholeh added.
She looked at Morragen Medusah a Zephyra and realized Zeela was right. Their mothers were angry—at her. If Sholeh knew why Glorianna had spoken the truth, then so did Medusah.
She stopped struggling. Lee released her arm and stepped back to stand beside Sebastian, who no longer looked friendly.
“We ask you to overlook our daughter’s unconsidered, and inconsiderate, words,” Medusah said, coming into view. “She needs rest, so Zeela should continue this journey.”
“Not Zeela,” Lee said. “Not yet. I think Sholeh should finish the trip to the Den.”
Medusah tipped her head, considering. “Why?”
Lee’s smile looked forced, but it was still a smile. “Because there’s someone she should meet.”
Sebastian glanced at the lights heading toward them, then at Lee. “You sure?”
“Lynnea did all right with them.”
“Oh, daylight. Then you’d better ride with her, or she’ll never get to Philo’s.”
Ashamed for being reprimanded before the others and angry enough not to want to be around Lee, Zhahar’s aspect waned and Sholeh’s came into view.
Sebastian pointed to the Apothecary and the Knife. “Wait there so the horses don’t spook.”
“Come on, Sholeh.” Lee walked over to the lane.
“What about Kobrah?” Sholeh asked, hurrying to catch up.
“She can take a look and make her own choice,” Sebastian said.
That’s when Sholeh saw two somethings racing toward them. Big eyes, long arms, and…
“Blaaarrrrrgh!” one of them roared, waving those long arms and displaying too many sharp teeth. It stopped within touching distance of them. “Blaaarrrrrgh!”
She had never seen anything like them. Not even in the pictures she had found in the books she’d studied in Vision.
“Demon cycles,” she breathed, smiling so widely her cheeks hurt. “Are you a demon cycle?”
It seemed to ponder her reaction. “Wanna ride?”
The voice like gravel in a metal barrel thrilled Sholeh.
“This is Sholeh, who is Lee’s friend,” Sebastian said. “They could use a ride to Philo’s Place. Belladonna will be waiting for them there.”
One demon cycle turned its odd metal body as an invitation to mount while the other drifted above the road until it was looking right at Kobrah.
Sebastian smiled at Kobrah. She swallowed hard but nodded.
“Kobrah will ride with me.” Sebastian walked up to the cycle and swung a leg over the leather seat. “Come on. You can ride behind me.”
“Take the front position,” Lee said, guiding Sholeh over to the cycle that was waiting for them.
“But I don’t know how to steer!”
He laughed. “You don’t steer. You just hold on.”
She mounted. He got on behind her and rested his hands lightly on her waist. A friendly touch that warmed her and made her wish he could remain their friend after he learned about the taboos. It wasn’t likely, but she still wished it.
“The lane will take you to the Den,” Sebastian told the shadowmen. “You should be fine on your own, but I’ll send Addison or Henley to guide you.”
“Appreciate it,” the Knife said.
Sholeh turned her head and spoke over her shoulder. “The horses weren’t afraid.”
“The horses were upwind and don’t understand what they’re seeing,” Lee replied.
They headed down the lane.
After a minute, Sholeh sighed. Now that she was used to how the demon cycles looked and how they floated over the road, they weren’t very exciting.
“Daylight,” Sebastian muttered. “All right. You two go ahead. We’ll catch up.”
Suddenly the ground was a blur.
“Hang on!” Lee shouted.
She whooped in answer. Zeela did exciting things, but even her warrior sister hadn’t done anything like this.
It seemed like they’d barely started when she saw lights coming up fast. Lots of lights.
“We’re here already?” She didn’t say it loudly, but she didn’t take those big, tufted ears into account. As they reached the place where dirt lane changed to cobblestone street, the demon cycle made a tight turn and went speeding back the way they’d come.
“Hey!” Lee shouted.
“Yay!” Sholeh shouted.
“Blaaarrrrrgh!” the demon cycle shouted.
<
br /> They passed Sebastian and Kobrah, then made another tight turn to race alongside the other cycle, which sped up, responding to the competitive spirit—or something—until Sebastian made a sharp sound that caused both cycles to slow the pace to halfway between amble and blur.
She wanted to tell him it was all right for the cycle to go faster, but a glance at Kobrah made it clear that the other woman had never ridden anything that went this fast and was, according to Lee, very dangerous, even if it was acting friendly. So she contented herself with the more sedate return to the Den.
When they reached the cobblestones, the demon cycles slowed to the pace of a fast walk and finally stopped in front of a courtyard that had tables and statues.
“That was wonderful!” Sholeh said as she dismounted. “Can we do it again?”
“Later,” Lee replied, grinning.
She noticed the blond-haired man who stared at them a moment before hurrying toward them. And she noticed the way Kobrah stood frozen, staring at the statues.
*Oh no,* Zhahar said. *Sholeh, you’d better let me—*
=It’s my turn,= Zeela said.
*Kobrah needs help.*
::I want to stay a bit longer!::
Zhahar withdrew from them in a way that told her sisters she was hurt and upset.
“Lee!” The man bounced up to Lee and hugged him. “Welcome back, you fool.” Then he gave Kobrah a delighted grin—and put himself between Kobrah and her view of the statues. “Hey-a, Kobbi. Welcome to the Den.”
Kobrah blinked. “Teaser?”
“All the way.”
Teaser cocked a thumb over his shoulder. “Nothing but statues tonight. No live performance. But if they bother you, we could go down the street and listen to some music.”
“I think it would be best for us all to stay together for a bit,” Sebastian said. “But we can use the inside room if the statues bother Kobrah.”
“No,” Kobrah said. “I can—” Her mouth fell open. “Shaman Danyal?”
It was Danyal heading for them with a dark-eyed, dark-haired man.
“I’m happy to see you all,” Danyal said. He looked at Lee. “And I’m glad you found your way home.”
“Me too,” Lee replied.