by Dana Davis
Finlor pushed past her without so much as an uttered apology. If he weren’t an Elder, she would have called him down for such rudeness. Instead, the large assemblage waited until Har’guana calmed and Finlor made his way back to the lead with Siri.
They began to move again, with whispers from middlings and servants who couldn’t feel the Energy. Lyssinya felt sorrow for any who couldn’t harness, especially here, though servants didn’t seem to mind, or else they never spoke of such things.
No use wishing for what cannot be, she recited in her head.
That had long become the mantra of Gypsies as well as Sages, and Elders took every opportunity to point it out, especially Siri. Lyssinya eyed the Elder, whose multiple braids tinkled together, and wondered at the woman’s age. She outranked every other Gypsy and Sage in years and Energy. Finlor came in right behind her in status and both treated each other as equals. At least from what Lyssinya had observed. In Sage hierarchy, age had more to do with how much respect one received, no matter how strong in the Energy. Another thing she must adjust to in this new life.
Mwerynde stepped close and she draped an arm about the girl’s shoulders. This one was barely sixteen, and though she hadn’t shown enthusiasm for much, she did allow the womenfolk to comfort her. Lyssinya took her duties to heart, especially where younglings were concerned. Sage oaths were no less important than Gypsy oaths. In fact, except for some slight change of wording, the two sets of oaths were the same. Mwerynde’s footprint, a tiny seashell, spun as she held the Energy. All who could harness were ordered to do so in the Means. They needed every advantage here. The mist obscured vision, except of each other, and Energy awareness seemed the only way to find the markers left from recent travels through this unusual place.
Elder Siri and several others had used Gypsy techniques to coax a few kin through the tunnel, but the longing to remain there had disappeared upon entrance to the Means. And even with the warnings, Lyssinya had nearly lost her footing at the abrupt change.
The Energy kept her heart at an upbeat pace as enthusiasm flooded her again, and she wondered what the Land of the Goddess would be like. She’d never been there, though stories about the place circled Sage fires on Dragon Island. Legends told of beauty not beheld in any other part of the world. For the Land of the Goddess had been created for gods, not mortal beings.
She walked in silence, arm about Mwerynde, for a long while, until the Elders announced the Land of the Goddess was close. She felt it too. Her heart picked up its pace again and the pale youngling beside her took quick breaths. Whether they were for joy or fear, she couldn’t tell.
They walked a while longer through the cool mist and finally reached the doorway. The Elders filed through first to announce they had Maricari middlings with them. Unannounced middlings were beaten in the Land of the Goddess before they were questioned. Though Lyssinya doubted these would receive that treatment, since Ved’nuri most likely knew about them. But tradition was important.
When it was Lyssinya’s turn enter, she was unprepared for the amount of Energy that surged through her body, even with all the warnings from the Elders, and it took several heartbeats to draw back and release it. Once she had her senses, the vibration from the ground below called to her and she wanted to take in the Energy again. She’d been warned what would happen if she did so early in her arrival. She had no desire to be punished, especially in front of Haranda and the other Gypsies.
In fact, many others near her, Gypsies and Sages alike, were encouraged to release the Energy through sparking methods. Most cried out, especially younglings and new-oathed, but they were quick to obey. All of the children now stood naked and grown, marriage age, and several servants ran up with blankets. She gave the confused Mwerynde over to one such servant.
Someone wrapped an arm about her shoulders and she turned to see Tapnut. She threw herself into his embrace, not caring who saw. That’s when she realized something was terribly wrong and pulled back. Her eyes ran over his body to discover his left arm missing just below the elbow. The stump had obviously been healed.
Shock filled her and tears ran free from her eyes. “What in the name of the Goddess happened?”
“I’m all right, Lyssy.” Tapnut led her a ways from her kin, who now started toward the cottages. “A shark thought me a feast while coming to the mainland.” He smiled and white teeth stood out against dark skin.
He seemed healthy otherwise and she tried to smile but couldn’t. He held her while she wept. Tears of joy, relief, worry and fear all mixed together ran courses down her cheeks and onto his open tunic. Once she got control of her emotions, the two were alone except for a couple of guards near the doorway to the Means, which had returned to solid rock. If not for the tingling pull, Lyssinya never would have suspected a doorway stood there. The guards had the good grace not to watch.
She pulled a crying cloth from her sleeve, wiped her wet face and blew her nose. “I should’ve stayed on the island.”
“Nonsense, Lyssy. You had orders, as we all did. You couldn’t have known what Croferituus was up to any more than the rest of us. There wasn’t much pain when that shark took my arm and I was healed right afterwards. I still have my good arm. Please, don’t worry about me. We have other concerns just now. I’m so grateful I get to see you again.”
That almost started her tears again but she held on and composed herself, a bit ashamed that she’d shown such weakness where others might have seen. “Yes. I’m grateful too, my love.”
He caressed her cheek and offered a naughty grin. “I have a cottage all to myself here.”
That got her chuckling. “Tonight. Definitely tonight.”
“I look forward to it.”
She glanced down at his bare feet and smiled. Without a care, she sat in the grass and shucked the boots she’d worn since leaving the island. She also noticed the carved, wooden brooch on Tapnut’s tunic. “They have you teaching here too, eh?”
He nodded and gave her a delicious smile then scooped up her boots and took her hand. He led her to her assigned cottage and helped her settle in. The two sat on her bed and shared a long kiss. She wanted to stay like this but needed a bath, so he escorted her to the women’s bathhouse then excused himself to other duties and promised to see her soon.
She stripped, giving her soiled clothes over to one of the servants, and stepped into the deliciously warm water.
Adelsik swam over to her, with Henny right behind. “So.” Those beautiful lavender eyes focused on her. “How’s Tapnut?”
Lyssinya offered a slight smile. “He lost part of his arm to a shark.”
Both girls gaped with horror. “I’m so sorry, Lyssinya.”
“How awful,” Henny said.
“He doesn’t seem to mind. Otherwise, he’s in good shape.”
The girls visibly relaxed.
Henny drew closer. “Did you kiss him when you saw him?”
Other kin, Haranda included, flipped heads her direction.
Lyssinya raised a brow at the girl’s audacity then narrowed eyes on her. “That’s not your business, youngling.”
“Oh, all right. My apologies, Mother Lyssinya. But I’m a woman too, despite being stuck at youngling status.”
Lyssinya knew that feeling well enough from her own youngling days. But Sages and Gypsies had rules. Men were off limits until oaths.
Before she could berate Henny any further, Haranda swam up and snagged the girl’s arm. “You can bathe over there, youngling.”
Henny sighed but immediately swam to join several girls at the other end of the pool.
Adelsik eyed them a heartbeat and focused on Haranda as the Gypsy swam back to Predula and several other kin. Then those mischievous eyes turned to Lyssinya. “So. Did you kiss him?” She giggled and raised blonde brows in anticipation.
“Honestly, new-oathed. You’re as bad as Henny.”
“Well, perhaps. But neither of us have a man. So, humor me.”
The girl had changed so
much since Lyssinya first found her tormenting middlings in their dreams. Something in her had aged since she’d confronted the void, and it was especially noticeable in those eyes.
Nothing would spoil Lyssinya’s mood and she smiled. “Yes.” When Adelsik opened her mouth to say more she added, “You’ll have to be satisfied with that. For that is all you will ever know.”
“Ah, very well.”
They bathed in silence for a while with occasional giggles from the youngling girls.
After Adelsik placed one of the soap bars back on its resting cup, she leaned toward Lyssinya. “What do you think of New-oathed Grant Bliney?”
“He’s a hard worker. A promising Gypsy.”
Adelsik shook her head. “That’s not what I mean.”
Lyssinya put on her patient face, something she didn’t often do, especially with silly girls. But something in Adelsik’s tone caught her attention and she waited.
“I mean, what do think of him for me?”
“As a bedfriend?”
The girl’s cheeks grew red but she nodded.
Grant was quiet and polite. He held himself as though he came from money and Lyssinya guessed his root family had been wealthy. Adelsik had a knack for finding those who once held a similar status as she had in her root life. He wasn’t as strong as Adelsik in the Energy. The girl bristled at taking orders, so it didn’t surprise Lyssinya that she might choose a bedfriend who didn’t outrank her.
She studied her former Netherworld youngling. “I see. Well, you’re a grown woman, Adelsik. And he is kin. I haven’t observed anything dishonorable in him. But you’ll visit one of the healers for a barrenroot mixture if you decide to bed him.”
She wouldn’t allow any foolish, moon-eyed girl to get herself with child. Kin didn’t have much luck with babes, and infants proved a great distraction if they survived, a disruption Sages and Gypsies couldn’t afford, especially now. Lyssinya could no longer have children. She remembered when she’d first heard that fate from the Sage Elders. It was just after she had taken her oaths. The cruelty of the Energy was all she could think of back then. Though she had long since changed her attitude. Younglings were her children. And they kept her temper up more than she liked to admit, even to herself.
“I’m not some innocent child, Lyssinya.” Adelsik’s face reddened again. “I know how to prevent conception.”
“I’m certain you do. But when passion takes hold, even the most intelligent women sometimes forget.”
That blonde head nodded. “I won’t forget.”
“In that case, I see no reason why you and Grant should avoid each other. Have you told him how you feel?”
Adelsik offered a look of pure shock. “Of course not.”
A smile found Lyssinya’s lips. Ah, to be young again. Thank the Goddess I overcame that stage of my life. “He won’t know how you feel unless you confess to him.”
“But men come to women.”
“You’re a Gypsy woman now.”
“Yes. But I still feel the man should court the woman. I don’t think I could bring myself to initiate anything with a man. That just seems wrong.”
“Have it your way, new-oathed. But I’ve seen many a girl weep because she didn’t confess her interest, and the man found other arms for comfort.”
Those blonde brows furrowed. “I see your point. I’ll think on it. Please, don’t say anything to Grant.”
“I won’t interfere.” She leaned toward the girl’s ear. “Unless I find out you haven’t taken precautions.”
Adelsik didn’t argue. Instead, she gave a thoughtful gaze and nodded.
Lyssinya smiled when she noticed her personal servant, Naru, standing by the bathing pool with a towel for her. She climbed out and the two had a brief embrace.
“You look well, Naru?”
“Yes, Mistress.” The servant’s face lit up with a smile. “As do you.”
Soon after the women finished bathing, the large entourage of kin, all without shoes thank the Goddess, headed over the hill to the ancient dome, with the exception of a few servants. Lyssinya wondered how Thad faired under Ved’mana’s care.
Daphnen and her other younglings, current and former, welcomed her with hugs and kisses. She hadn’t realized just how much she’d missed them until now and it took effort to keep her eyes dry. They had lost three Sages but many felt the Goddess smiled on them to lose so few, considering the unpredictable seas and weather they had to traverse. Lyssinya had known all three, of course, but the one that tugged at her grief the most was a former youngling who passed to new-oathed just sunrises before she left the island. The girl lacked strong swimming skills, despite being born on the island, and she’d drowned before the healers could get to her. Tapnut lost his arm reaching after her, and her body was ravaged by sharks then allowed to sink into the salty water.
Lyssinya learned much in the brief walk to the dome and had to keep a tight reign on her emotions. Determination replaced grief and she vowed to do everything within her power to stop the idiot middlings who attempted to raise the old god, Cholqhuin. Tapnut touched her hand and she offered a small grin as the procession paused to enter the great white doors at the dome’s arched entrance.
After servants washed their feet at the entrance, they were led down several corridors, past elaborately carved doors. Even with the warnings that she wouldn’t be able to harness here, Lyssinya wasn’t prepared for the loss of the Energy. She couldn’t even feel it here in the dome. The Vedi were the only ones who could harness inside the dome. Her worries didn’t last long as she glanced around at the magnificence around her.
Ved’nuri had created rooms from the dome numerous times in the Netherworld, yet Lyssinya thought the real thing much more impressive, not to mention tangible. She studied the reliefs along the corridors, full of color and intricately done, and the blanched statues that stood in alcoves just as white. The statues wore garments of a bygone era, draped cloth, barely modest, that left legs and bare feet exposed. A shameful wardrobe by today’s standards but the ancients didn’t seem to mind. At least, the statues didn’t. Many had features and smiles so real she almost expected them to come to life, but they stood erect and noble, as distant as those they represented. Most Gypsy kin didn’t seem to notice the adornments, probably because they’d been here numerous times already, but the Sages and newest younglings and servants gazed about in awe.
The crowd wound their way through the corridors until they reached a large receiving room with one great, elaborately carved door on the other side. This door had crevices painted with all the Goddess colors and Lyssinya caressed Tapnut’s hand as she admired it.
A short, odd man finally opened the large door and motioned the Elders inside first, followed by full Gypsies and Sages, new-oathed and younglings—two Maricari children had since become younglings—with servants and middling Maricari last. They stood and waited until the Vedi entered then genuflected in respect while Ved’nuri and Ved’mana took their thrones, with their son, Ved’emir, sitting on a fluted stool to the right of his father’s gilded chair. The Elders sat on benches along the wall but the remaining Gypsies took the floor. The servants took rows behind younglings and kept Maricari middlings close, so that the only one who remained standing was the odd little man who had showed them in.
Lyssinya had never seen Ved’mana before today and thought him quite handsome with his dark skin and black hair. His son favored him in ways but also looked much like his mother, a perfect blend of the two. Of course, the Goddess would have nothing less than perfection in Her house.
Ved’mana welcomed them all and explained that servants had been invited to this auspicious occasion because they would be involved in the raising, though in minor roles mostly.
Using a blue crystal to tap into the Energy, the Vedi oathed the Maricari middlings. And they didn’t lose a single one, thank the Goddess. Lyssinya breathed a sigh of relief. After a brief welcoming to the newest kin, official introductions began with the Elde
rs and made their way back and back to each consecutive row, until the last youngling stood with his clan father and nervously gave his name.
Once everyone was seated again, Ved’mana stood and all eyes riveted to him. He smiled but sadness seemed to linger behind it.
“At last.” His rich, full voice seemed made for speeches. “We have all of our kin home where we belong. This should be an occasion of rejoicing but we have other matters, dire matters, to attend to before festivities can begin. I’m still in the process of deciphering the underlying parts of the texts and invite the Elders to assist in this task.” The rows of Sage and Gypsy Elders nodded and Ved’mana smiled in approval. “Once we have the correct spells, those of elemental magic, we can finish the task of raising Cholqhuin. As most of you know, we must complete the raising before the middlings do.” He turned to his wife, held out a hand and she joined him.
Her gaze swept over those seated on the benches and on the floor, alongside the green carpet. Lyssinya saw something in Ved’nuri’s face that reminded her of melancholy, and she fought the urge to comfort the woman. Ved’nuri lifted her head high, that gilded wreath catching the light. “My children. We have few days left to succeed and we need every harnessing kin to lend power to the raising, even the weakest younglings. We must not lose this final battle for our world. The Goddess depends on us to preserve what She so dearly created.”
Ved’mana nodded to his wife and faced the seated crowd again. “We still don’t know who or where these middlings are. Ved’nuri has not been able to locate them in the Netherworld.”