by Dana Davis
They continued as the pressure built, and she opened her mouth several times to clear the fullness in her ears without success. She began to tire by the seventh line but that didn’t concern her. Elemental magic pulled Energy from those who dared use it, especially the strong, and made the Energy unstable, even here in the Land of the Goddess. That’s why it had been forbidden long ago.
As they began the eighth and final line, Saldia’s voice grew loud and more strained than Haranda had heard before, but she didn’t dare take her eyes from the scroll in her hands. Wil’keive gave her arms a squeeze. Saldia would have to hold her own right now and knew it. They needed her strength. Ved’nuri had confessed that much at tea.
The last few words began to blur but Haranda forced her eyes to focus until the end of the recitation then released the Energy and leaned against Wil’keive for support. She felt weak and quite hungry. The sun had set and torches flamed all around now. Wil’keive held a lantern which she had been reading by for what must have been several heartbeats at least, yet Haranda hadn’t even noticed the change in light.
LePon had thick arms wrapped around Saldia but the girl remained on her feet.
Ved’mana crossed to them, and Haranda moved closer with Wil’keive at her side. “Are you all right, new-oathed?” Ved’mana said.
Saldia sucked in quick breaths and closed her eyes briefly before answering. “Yes, Ved’mana. A bit disoriented this time. But at least I didn’t land on my backside at the end.” She offered a sly smile.
Haranda chuckled along with many other kin and fought tears of relief. The three Vedi stood with weary smiles.
Ved’nuri reached out one fair hand and caressed the girl’s cheek. “Very good, New-oathed Saldia Trich. You’ve done well. Get some food and rest. We have only two more spells.” Sadness colored her voice and Haranda wanted to question it. Did she know something more? Something she was afraid to tell?
“Yes, Ved’nuri.”
When the crowned woman nodded at LePon, he and Saldia genuflected then headed toward the hill that led back to the village. Had the two had become bedfriends?
“Haranda?”
“Yes, Ved’nuri.”
“Would you come to the dome for tea again tomorrow?”
“Of course. I would be honored, as always.” She offered her former clan sister a smile and fought the urge to let out a satisfied grunt. Perhaps tomorrow she could find out exactly what the crowned woman kept so secret.
“Good. I must get back inside if I’m to have slumbering strength tonight.” Ved’nuri’s gaze took in Adelsik, Lyssinya, Elder Siri and the other slumberers who had gathered and raised her voice to them. “We’ll meet as usual, just after night bells.”
The slumberers acknowledged her, and the kin genuflected until the Vedi disappeared into the dome. At once, Wil’keive took up a lantern and led Haranda over the hill and toward her cottage. Once inside, he closed the door and washed her feet.
“I’m perfectly capable of cleaning myself.” She gave him a look of mock admonishment.
“This is more enjoyable.”
She chuckled and waited until he dipped his own feet into the basin before she headed for the small table, on which servants had placed a tray of food. Both ate while making idle chat and then cleaned their teeth with the provided rags and herbs.
Wil’keive sat on the bed and raised a brow at her. He patted the straw mattress and she went to him. Before she could sit, she found herself pulled onto his lap like some tavern wench. She didn’t protest. Instead, she wrapped arms about his neck and offered her lips.
Chicken flesh crept over her body as his hands wandered to her most private places. She forced herself to stay quiet and grinned when he lifted her off his lap and moved to close the shutters.
They wasted not a heartbeat shedding their clothes and Haranda pressed her naked body against his in bed. His rough hands caressed her skin and she reveled in the feeling as the two writhed in pleasure for a long while, not knowing whether it might be their last night together.
Chapter 27
Adelsik thought of parading where Grant could see her and possibly take his chance at courting her. Lyssinya’s advice stuck in her head as honey to a spoon, but she couldn’t screw up the courage tell him how she felt. It couldn’t be love, surely, just attraction, desire for a bedfriend. The new-oathed man was reserved, an animal urger like Taniras, though not nearly as strong in the Energy, and his body stayed hard from hunting and other physical duties.
She envisioned herself in Grant’s bed and her body began to heat up with desire. Foolish woman. You have more important duties. Perhaps another night, when this was over. Surely, the Great Goddess wouldn’t allow Her children to fail in the raising.
Instead, she ate a quick night meal, alone in her cottage, and went straight to bed. She was tired, not exhausted, but still wanted to get some sleep before the slumberers met in the Netherworld. Lyssinya entered her dreams to prompt her to slumber and they got to work searching for the middlings who were still trying to raise the old god. But just as she’d suspected, they had little progress. When they finished, Adelsik was more than ready to continue on her own. Of course, she never let on to any of them. And Ved’nuri never stopped her, despite the fact that she could hear everyone’s thoughts in the Netherworld.
So after the other slumberers took to their leave, Adelsik prepared her mind for another journey. She stood in her memory dream of the beach, pulled massive amounts of Energy into her body, and sent her awareness rippling outward toward the dream bubbles that floated nearby. They came to her in a flood and she jumped in and out in her search for elemental magic. Though many had the shimmering mark upon them, there were so many more they hadn’t visited, yet.
She came upon one she’d stumbled on the previous night and thought about visiting that man’s dreams again, despite the Energy shimmer on his bubble. Did he dream of half naked dancers writhing in his presence? Would he again dream of bedding them? Her thoughts strayed for a few heartbeats before she pulled herself back to her task.
That didn’t last long when she realized Grant Bliney’s dream bubble approached. Any beginning slumberer could tell a kin’s bubble from the way it glowed and pulsed with Energy and from the footprint inside. Even servants had a tiny glow to theirs, faint as their prints were in the Netherworld, the only place anyone could see a footprint on a servant. Grant had no slumbering Energy whatsoever, and Adelsik decided to do something for which Lyssinya would most likely skin her. She pulled her Energy close, keeping herself in shadow so he wouldn’t notice her, and stepped into his dream.
The man stood atop a great hill that overlooked a grassy plain. Below, several horned animals that looked like goats with mule bodies grazed, strange invented creatures, as unreal as any dream, yet real in this world. Adelsik stepped close enough to touch Grant and her eyes wandered up and down his fine figure. His tunic was open to the waist and muscular hands held a bow and arrow. Gray eyes stood out against tanned skin and he aimed for something in the distance. Adelsik turned to see what looked like a large bear, meandering just beyond the goat-mules. Grant let loose one arrow after another but they only agitated the bear and it turned toward him with a growl, prepared to charge.
Adelsik’s heart raced, despite knowing this wasn’t real and couldn’t harm either of them, and she decided to distract Grant. She loosened just enough Energy for him to see her but not enough to create the nimbus glow around her otherself. And she chose the face of a middling women she’d visited earlier, a lovely girl with light hair and eyes, dressed in peasant clothes, close to Adelsik’s coloring but no other resemblance than that. She glanced down at her larger bosom and thought the laces undone to reveal quite a bit of cleavage.
If that doesn’t attract him, then he’s not much of a man. “Grant.” She kept her voice low so as not to startle him. He turned to her and lowered his weapon. She smiled and noticed that the bear had stopped in mid-stride. “Forget about him. I’m here now.”
The new-oathed man smiled and his bear disappeared along with his bow and quiver. He stepped to her and took her by the arms. She used her slumbering Energy to keep Grant in this dream and not allow him to stray the way dreams usually did and shivered at his touch. This wasn’t real. No need for protection. He drew her to the soft grass, and she allowed him to initiate whatever his desires might be. He certainly didn’t disappoint her. He turned out to be a gentle lover, attentive to her needs as well as his own, and when she finally gave an ultimate tremor from his attentions, she knew that her mundane body had responded.
They lay afterward on the soft grass and held each other. If Adelsik couldn’t bring herself to do this in the mundane world, perhaps she could visit Grant this way again. But a tiny voice in the back of her mind told her this was cheating, not allowing him to know. Sudden guilt flooded her.
What had she done? She had betrayed the privacy of another Gypsy, of her own kin. How could she have been so stupid? Lyssinya would skin her if she found out, not to mention what Ved’nuri might do to her. She immediately released her hold on Grant’s dream and his mind took it to some village, probably his root home. He no longer noticed her so she pulled her Energy close and stepped back to her beach memory dream.
She closed her eyes as she faced the water and the cool breeze that wrapped around her naked body, for she hadn’t bothered to think herself back into clothing. She didn’t care. She was alone. No one could enter her memory dream without her knowing. Once morning came, she would have to confess to Grant what she’d done. That was the proper thing to do. Then allow him to decide whether to turn her in or not. But why? He enjoyed the dream as much as she did. Why tell him? No harm came to either of them. Perhaps she should wait until after the raising was complete. Yes. No need to distract her kin before then.
She decided not to think on that any longer and she clothed her otherself, pulled the Energy inside to the point of discomfort and continued her search for elemental magic. She worked faster than ever and jumped in and out of dreams quicker than even she thought possible. Awareness sped outward so fast the sensation made her dizzy. The Energy exhilarated her and she pushed off into the air, higher and higher, until she could no longer tell where the beach stopped and the water began. Higher she flew, toward the stars that now filled the sky above. The moon hovered bright and pregnant and she flew straight for it, all the while pulling in more and more Energy, until she screamed with ecstasy and pain. She couldn’t release it.
Perhaps she ought to panic, but the thought was so brief she doubted it existed at all. What did exist, what lay in front of her, so close that she could touch it, was the moon. Within the swollen orb, she could see swirls of Goddess colors, beautiful and bright. The moon called to her, tugged at her otherself, and she flew toward it with great speed. Was this what true freedom felt like?
Something grabbed onto her with urgency, wrapped around her middle, and she jerked to a halt in mid-air, almost able to touch the moon, yet she couldn’t reach. She resisted but something held her fast and no amount of pulling or kicking released its hold. She thought she heard someone call her name but that couldn’t be. She was alone. This was her memory dream.
She wanted so much to reach the moon and she struggled in vain against the invisible binds that kept her in place. Then she began to move backwards, down, down, away from the beautiful moon. Her cries went unanswered as she fought with all her might against the binds. She tried to take in more Energy but something prevented that too, and panic swelled.
The beach came toward her faster and the sensation of falling brought her stomach to her throat. A scream flew from her lips until her throat began to hurt and still she couldn’t break the binds, couldn’t even wake. What in the name of the Goddess was happening? She made out the dark area where the cave sat. Rocks stretched outward into the water, the pier. Lower and lower she dropped, unable to slow or stop or pull away. Helpless! She looked up toward the moon but the sky was no longer dark and the moon no longer visible. Tears poured from her eyes until her vision blurred, and she didn’t stop crying even when her feet hit the sand.
Whatever had a hold on her didn’t release her even now and she fought in vain. Something snapped across her face, causing soreness. Again. A third time. She heard a faint voice.
“Release the Energy.”
Was someone here? “Who’s there?” She couldn’t see anyone and she pulled against the invisible binds but that earned her more pain, this time on her thighs.
“Release the Energy!” The voice was stronger now and she thought she recognized it. Oh, how she wanted to fly again! “Release the Energy, new-oathed!”
Adelsik was certain she recognized the voice and she fought through disorientation to focus her mind. She tried to release some of the Energy, reduce what flowed into her, but she couldn’t. It held her fast, just as the invisible binds.
“Release the Energy.”
She could see no one, but it was a woman’s voice, of that much she was certain. “I can’t!”
The most unpleasant sensation came over her and everything around her spun out of control, forcing her to hands and knees on the sand. She closed her eyes against the violent movement but retched several times before the spinning finally stopped. Once she had her senses again, she realized that several pairs of bare feet surrounded her and she glanced up to see Ved’nuri, Elder Siri, Wren, Lyssinya, Haranda and others hovering over her. She tried to stand but couldn’t and realized that she no longer held the Energy. Her dream memory hadn’t altered and she suspected Ved’nuri of holding it now.
The crowned woman crouched and took her face. “Are you all right, daughter?” Worry colored her beautiful features and guilt flooded Adelsik.
“What happened?”
“Get back to your body first. Then we can talk about this.”
Before Adelsik could say anything more, she awoke in her cottage. The others had gathered around her, many dressed in nightclothes; Ved’emir was just getting up off the floor as Adelsik sat with Predula’s assistance. The boy looked like a man now. Her head ached and her stomach felt as though it might heave again. No one said a word but she felt tension poke at her like thousands of tiny rose thorns. They had been extremely worried. What in the name of the Goddess had she done? She couldn’t remember now.
“Drink,” Predula said in a quiet voice that held no anger. Thad sat in a chair behind the small body-healer and studied Adelsik with tired eyes. He and Predula watched over the slumberers, as they did every night.
Adelsik’s stomach protested as soon as she smelled the medicinal tea.
Predula wouldn’t be put off. “You must drink. It’ll ease your stomach and your pain.”
She managed to get several swallows down without her stomach protesting and soon she felt well enough to speak. “I don’t understand what happened.”
Ved’nuri sat at her side and took her hand. “You tried to search for elemental magic alone, new-oathed.” Her voice took on slight agitation.
“Yes. I remember that.” Memories floated to the forefront of her mind, some slipping out of her grasp, others coming quite clear. “I’m able to send my awareness out as far as we do with the seeker wave, even farther, I think. I can jump in and out of many more dreams that way.” More memories became clear. Sudden terror took hold of her and she couldn’t stop trembling.
Predula pulled the blankets around her and ordered more wood for the fire.
Soon, she had control enough to speak again and she asked a burning question. “Did I discover elemental magic? Is that why this happened?”
Ved’nuri studied her down to her bones with those colorful eyes that seemed to glow ever so slightly in the dim light of the cottage. “No. You took in too much Energy. Way too much. More than any Gypsy has ever managed. You took in so much that you nearly killed yourself.”
“What? How is that possible? We’re in the Land of the Goddess. The Energy doesn’t pose that kind of danger here.”
“Yes, I remember. But that wouldn’t kill me.”
“No, but you couldn’t draw back from it this time and it began to take you beyond the Netherworld.”
Adelsik thought on that and glanced at Thad again. She had thought he was here simply to assist Predula, but perhaps he went after Adelsik much the way he’d located Henny from her deep sleep.
“You mean I was heading toward—” She shook her head. “But that can’t be. I didn’t see Death anywhere.”
“You didn’t need to see. You followed the path specters take when they’re ready to be reborn.”
“The moon. The Goddess colors. I’d never put them in my dreams like that.”
“At first, the moon was part of your memory dream. But as you were pulled from the Netherworld, it became the portal for your essence to cross.”
Adelsik closed her eyes and tears fled down her cheeks as terror renewed in her gut. “I had no idea I could kill myself.”
“We didn’t know for certain whether that could be done, either. You possess Energy in a much different way than any Gypsy before you.”
Under normal circumstances, that would have raised Adelsik’s spirits. She longed to be special. But not now. “I’ve been foolish.” She didn’t intend to be so unwise again. Now that she knew what could happen, she would be aware of her limits in the Netherworld. But this wouldn’t stop her search. If the Goddess had allowed her to live, there must be a reason. “How did you find out? I mean, we’d finished our task for the night.” Ved’nuri couldn’t have read her intentions because she hadn’t planned this recent slumbering trip from the Netherworld. She expected the woman would haul her to the dome for punishment and wanted to weep at the thought.