“The shock is having its effect,” Aradin said as he quickly grabbed hold of her arms and supported her for a while.
As she slowly regained her composure, Rhuna noticed the throng of people milling around nearby, raised voices reflecting the horror experienced in this Atlan part of Safu.
“How can such a thing happen here in Safu, among us Atlans!” asked one raised voice.
“Such things only happen when she is nearby – the one they call The Star Child,” said a woman’s hard voice.
“She healed a dying man!” retorted Aradin angrily. The crowd instantly fell silent and looked at Rhuna as Aradin ushered her along the street. Two of the soldiers accompanied her and waited outside her home as she washed blood off her hands and arms before quickly changing clothes. A wooden crate of herbal tinctures which she kept in a cool place under some furniture contained the medicine she needed, and as she took the blood-restoring herbs, she quickly grabbed a bottle of sedating herbal extracts for Lozira.
Aradin had packed a bag of Lozira’s clothes and personal items, and together they quickly returned to Goram’s house. As Rhuna approached the bed, Lozira jerked and looked up with a fright, then sighed with relief. Rhuna’s heart ached at the sight of her daughter’s distraught and tear-stained face. Her tousled hair covered part of her face, and her nervous movements told Rhuna that she was emotionally very fragile.
“I’m so scared…” she whispered.
Rhuna embraced her tightly without a word, and then instructed her to take the sedation tincture while she prepared the blood-building treatment for Goram.
After agreeing with Progress of the Wind that he should supervise the dispensing of Goram’s treatment and comfort Lozira, she and Aradin left the house and hurried to The Reigning One’s residence to find Damell. One of the soldiers accompanied them, keeping a sharp watch for sword-wielding attackers until they were safely inside the large iron gates of the residence.
Inside the grand residence, two attendants guided them to the large room where Damell and The Reigning One, along with several soldiers and Sun of the Morning were involved in agitated conversation.
Silence fell as soon as Rhuna approached the gathering.
“He shall survive?” asked Sun of the Morning, and Rhuna answered with a nod.
“He fought valiantly, like a true soldier,” stated The Reigning One.
“The others have been captured and imprisoned,” Damell told her as she stopped to stand next to her father. Rhuna suddenly remembered Shandi’s latest frightening vision and asked whether any of the swordsmen were dark or black-skinned.
“They are assassins,” answered The Reigning One with a distinct tone of bitterness. They are from the nearby land in the direction of the rising sun, and they are brown-skinned, like the Benshi. They possess no loyalties, and can be utilized for any loathsome work in exchange for material or other gain,” stated The Reigning One with a nervous twitch of his lips. “After thorough interrogation, they shall be executed,” he added bluntly.
“But who sent them to take my daughter and kill anyone who tried to stop them?” Rhuna asked, her voice squawking with rising anguish and shock. Her thoughts raced as she thought of the Dark Ones, but dismissed this idea because they had attacked Goram.
“I regret to inform you,” began Sun of the Morning shakily. “It appears…I cannot…”
“It was Harbinger of Solace,” boomed The Reigning One.
Rhuna looked at Damell, who shot her a dark look with a single, hard nod.
“He was so distressed about his daughter…he wanted her returned by any means…” stuttered Sun of the Morning, and Rhuna thought she had never seen an Atlan Council member in such a floundering state.
“He instructed the assassins to kill anyone who prevented them from taking the girl,” The Reigning One continued. “The initial interrogation of the prisoners indicates that he wished The Star Child and her father, along with Beacon of the Night to be…permanently removed.”
Rhuna suddenly felt overcome by a debilitating feeling of sickness, as if she could not breathe. She felt herself collapsing into Aradin’s arms, and saw The Reigning One make a small hand gesture to several attendants.
“She has suffered shock!” Aradin exclaimed. “First the deadly attack, and now this shocking news.” The attendants promptly guided her to seating cushions while another prepared to give her a fortifying beverage. Aradin sat beside her, holding her upright.
Sun of the Morning stood nearby, ashen-faced and helpless, as Aradin fussed over Rhuna and helped her drink the strange beverage. In a short time, Rhuna said that she felt a lot better already.
“We should all have a sip of this wonderful beverage,” said Aradin, and The Reigning One promptly instructed his attendants to bring drinking vessels for Aradin and Sun of the Morning. Rhuna noticed that the Atlan woman she disliked appeared emancipated and frail from her illness-curse, as if she could also collapse at any moment.
“Come with me to my chambers,” Damell said to Rhuna when everyone had silently partaken of the fortifying beverage and silently pondered the dramatic events of the day. She stood up, holding onto Aradin as she noticed that her legs were unsteady. With Aradin’s support, Rhuna slowly ascended the stairs to her father’s private chambers, where Damell quickly prepared seating cushions for them.
“Oh Rhuna!” Damell said with a deep groan anguish when they were seated. “Despite all my efforts to foresee and prevent such a reprisal, events overcame me,” he said shaking his head sadly.
“How did he get these…assassins?” Rhuna asked, her mind still reeling from the revelation that Tozar was responsible for the horrendous event.
Damell inhaled deeply and spoke slowly, his voice full of dismay. “He spoke a message to an Atlan…of disrepute…whom he had been observing by means of the Gazing of the Waters, and determined he would act on his behalf in exchange for gold and other products. Once he received the goods, he sought out the assassins and showed them by means of the Gazing of the Waters who you, Lozira, Goram and I are, so that they would recognize us and…kill us…”
“So deliberate, with forethought and planning…” Rhuna shuddered and felt coldness creep over her. Aradin put his arm around her, and she squeezed his hand in gratitude.
“Did you know that Tozar could do such a thing?” Rhuna asked, afraid to hear the answer.
Damell nodded gravely. “An incident when we were young, wandering in the land of Atlán to see new places,” he began, and described a small settlement where they decided to reside for a while, providing their Atlan skills to assist the people in various ways.
“He loved a young woman there,” Damell said as his eyes wandered into the distance. “After a time of intense involvement, she wanted to return to her family instead of remaining by his side. He could not accept this and… became irrational in certain ways.”
“He never told me about that,” Rhuna said.
“No, of course not,” responded Damell. “One day, when by chance we encountered the woman’s brother who then told Tozar to stay away from his sister, he…became violent and attacked the man.”
“Hmm,” said Aradin, and Rhuna looked at him. “I always felt intimidated by him.”
Rhuna remembered her surprise when Aradin had told her this at the beginning of their relationship, and wondered what he had seen in Tozar that she had never seen.
“He began to twist Atlan precepts and laws to use against the family, against her…” Damell continued as he looked out the window, recalling his memories of the distant past.
Rhuna realized the shocking resemblance to her own situation, and began to feel confused.
“It’s as if I never really knew him at all!” she said.
“Such derangements are usually hidden deep inside, and indeed, they may never manifest at all in a person’s lifetime,” Damell responded. “Tozar displayed utter frenzy and hysteria, using Atlan authority for personal revenge
on the one who hurt him. He could not tolerate losing control over a woman he loved, and this led to a perverse attitude.”
“What happened to the woman’s brother whom Tozar attacked?” asked Aradin.
“It was only a short altercation, yet vicious and intense, which deeply disturbed me for a considerable length of time. The delirium blazing in his eyes I shall never forget.” Damell trailed off as his eyes became unfocussed with the vivid memories.
“What will happen to him now?” Rhuna’s mind raced to imagine what the High Council of Atlán would do in such an extreme and rare case.
Damell turned his head sharply, tearing himself from compelling memories. “The Atlan High Council is keeping him under constant observation so that he cannot speak a message to anyone, nor do himself any harm. Various Healers are tending to him, attempting to discern the nature and depth of his turmoil. When this has been achieved to reasonable satisfaction of the High Council, they shall engage in serious deliberations to decide his future. Furthermore,” Damell said in a lighter tone, “the High Council of Atlán has begun to investigate Tozar’s claims about you, and with due process, the truth shall finally be known.”
“It must be a great upheaval for the Council,” Aradin said.
“The High Council regarded Tozar too highly, without questioning his word, and such blind obeisance always leads to tragedy,” Damell said gravely. “Sun of the Morning is confused and distressed. The person she so greatly admired has become deranged, and as a result, she has lost her own way.”
“I’m afraid for Lozira,” Rhuna whispered. “She’ll have to learn what her father did, and she’s already in such a fragile state!”
Aradin put his arm around Rhuna as she prepared to leave Damell’s chamber, and after a reassuring gesture from her father, she walked back to Goram’s house. One of The Reigning One’s soldiers was still standing guard outside, prepared to run errands or deliver messages as well as to protect those inside. Rhuna entered the bedroom, her heart filled with dread at the thought of telling Lozira about her father.
“Lozira, you haven’t washed and changed clothes,” Rhuna observed with concern.
“I’m afraid to leave his side,” she said shakily. “Rhuna, he nearly died! He was almost dead…” Lozira wailed as she began to sob. “I couldn’t live if he had died!”
“Oh, my poor Child!” Rhuna said as she firmly held her daughter in a long and silent embrace.
“Go wash now, while I stay and watch him,” she said after a while, giving Lozira a reassuring squeeze. She watched her daughter slowly take some personal items and walk to the bath chamber, and then turned her attention to her patient.
Rhuna examined Goram’s breathing and then began to feel his pulse when his hand suddenly grasped for her arm.
“Who did this?” Goram’s raspy voice came with great effort.
“Lozira’s father sent assassins to take Lozira back to Atlán, and to kill us if we got in the way,” Rhuna said in a low voice that only Goram could hear.
“What?” he said, trying to raise his head. Rhuna told him to lie back and let her examine his condition.
“He wanted us killed? You and me?” Goram said, grasping Rhuna’s arm again.
“Yes. You, me and my father, Avenger of Justice.” Rhuna said as she finished checking Goram’s energy pulses.
“You were right, Rhuna,” Goram whispered with effort. “My involvement with Lozira is the cause of this,” he said with a bitter groan.
“You did as you promised,” Rhuna said softly. “You protected her.”
Rhuna administered the herbal tincture while she listened to splashing water in the nearby chamber. Shortly after, Goram slipped into sleep again, and Rhuna sat in silence next to the bed waiting for her daughter to finish washing.
Lozira appeared in the room holding a towel and running the fingers of one hand through her washed hair.
“Do you know more about those horrible men?” Lozira asked as she approached Rhuna.
“I don’t know how to tell you,” Rhuna said quietly. “They are called assassins…and they were told to do it…by your father. Tozar sent them,” said Rhuna steadily, hoping the blow would not break Lozira’s fragile condition.
Lozira stared at Rhuna and silently mouthed the words she had just heard. Then her eyes darted back and forth, trying to comprehend.
“He wanted them to take you back to Atlán, by force if necessary, and…to kill Goram, Damell and me, if we got in the way,” Rhuna said, trying to keep her voice from faltering.
Lozira’s lips trembled for a moment, and then broadened into a distorted grin as shrill laughter burst forth. Between shudders of near-hysterical laughter she asked, “Tozar? My father? My own father caused this? He wanted to kill Goram? Kill you?” Suddenly she stopped laughing and her lips pursed into a hateful grimace.
“I hate him!” she hissed venomously. “I Hate him, I hate him!” she began to scream, and Rhuna reached out to calm her.
“Lozira!” croaked Goram, and Rhuna looked to see his wide eyes fill with loving concern. “Come to me,” he whispered, wearily raising his arm to reach out to her. Lozira immediately obeyed, and grabbed his outstretched hand before lowering herself next to him on the bed and stroking his face.
Rhuna stayed with them until sunset, when she prepared a simple meal for her and Lozira before reluctantly leaving and returning to her own home. She repeated instructions for Goram’s treatment, speaking to Progress of the Wind who had arrived with some apparel to spend the night.
“If you need me, send the soldier outside to get me,” she said firmly, and after another brief examination of her patient, she hurried home. As she walked, sudden fear gripped her, and she turned around several times to see if anyone was approaching from behind her. She realized that it was an irrational fear resulting from the day’s traumatic events, and when she reached her comfortable home, she prepared some herbal remedies for herself.
Despite the sedating herbs she had taken, Rhuna slept fitfully and awoke tense and agitated. The sun’s rays had barely reached across Safu when she walked briskly to Goram’s house, anxious to see how Lozira and Goram were faring.
Rhuna was surprised to see Goram propped on cushions, slowly eating meat broth and bread as Lozira eagerly attended to all his needs.
“Rhuna!” said Goram as she stood at the foot of his bed. “Your power of healing has been explained to me, and I am grateful to you,” he said. His voice was still weak, but Rhuna sensed an underlying strength and determination to recover quickly.
“I am deeply grateful,” he said humbly. “Not only for the continuation of my life. Much more poignant are my feelings of gratitude for the opportunity to experience true love,” he said as he reached for Lozira’s hand and gazed up into her eyes. “Before meeting Lozira, I had not known love at all. This cognition had eluded me until recently.”
Lozira tenderly stroked his cheek with the side of her finger.
“How grateful I am to be alive and experience the pure love of a wonderful woman!”
Rhuna ignored Goram’s words and proceeded to remove the bandage and examine the wound. She gave the used bandages to Lozira, instructing her how to dispose of them.
“What has become of him?” Goram asked when Lozira had left the sleeping chamber.
Rhuna explained that Tozar was being constantly observed by Healers to determine the extent of his condition. “He has an ailment of mind and spirit, but like most illnesses, it can be healed, with time.”
“What you requested of me, Rhuna; I shall do,” he said as his strength waned again.
“Enough talking,” Rhuna interrupted firmly. “Be quiet and get more rest,” she ordered. “Your wound is healing well, but your heart and energy pulses are still very weak.”
Part Seven
(The Ubanti)
Rhuna went about her morning chores with more vigour than usual, finding the physical routine a suitable outlet f
or her pent-up anger at Tozar, and the brooding concern over Lozira. She also fought to suppress the fear that Goram’s condition could suddenly deteriorate. She had never healed such a deadly wound, and wondered whether his internal organs had been fully restored by the energy she released through her touch. The uncertainty of the healing process brought waves of fear that Goram might relapse and die, which would have a devastating impact on her daughter.
As the sun was shining warmly, Rhuna tried to enjoy it as she put out the washed clothes to dry, and then breathed in the scent of fresh blooms in the garden nearby. A shuffle behind her made her jump, but seeing her husband’s kind face put her quickly at ease again.
“Our friends are coming,” announced Aradin, and Rhuna said that she was ready to receive visitors.
The Observers arrived, commenting on the pleasant weather and politely inquiring into Rhuna’s wellbeing. They ambled around the house and garden talking freely with each other.
“The High Council of Atlán is thoroughly investigating events concerning The Star Child, and they have addressed many individuals, asking certain questions,” said Revealer of Truths. “They are striving to ascertain the complete account of events, untainted by emotional prejudice, as it was in the case of Harbinger of Solace.”
“Indeed, they have inquired of me all manner of things,” twittered Echo of the Evening. “No doubt the entire truth shall soon be known to all!”
“When all secrets have been revealed, we shall be relieved of the burden we have carried as The Observers,” stated Reaching the Moon.
“It’s also a relief that we don’t have to fear the Guardians of Knowledge,” said Rhuna, and then noticed reluctance and doubt cross their faces.
“The Guardians have not yet abandoned their ways,” grumbled Divider of Fortunes with a deep frown. “However, in view of the current circumstances, we may dispense with the use of the special room.”
Rhuna, The Star Child Page 23