Love and Intrigue Under the Seven Moons of Kordea

by Helena Puumala

  Nadina glanced at the young woman wearing the cream robe.

  “Oh, yes, Sarah Mackenzie,” she said. “She seems to have inherited Anya’s phenomenal talent.”

  Coryn grinned.

  “That’s one reason we don’t want her falling into Organization hands under any circumstances. It’s bad enough that they have Witch Anya’s talents, those of the girl—if she’s still alive—the girl they seduced from Trahea, and the scientific talents of whatever Terrans are helping with the amplifying project.”

  “I have a hunch that my father and brother are mixed up in that,” Sarah said, speaking up for the first time.

  “You could be right,” Coryn agreed, with a smile for her. “The genetics seem to be there. You were the darling of the Laurentia Port Ship Mechanics’ Training Facility. When I visited them to ask about you, they were still going on about how marvellous a talent you had been! If you hadn’t been so single-mindedly determined to go into space as soon as you could, someone would have insisted on sending you to school, as was done with Jaime at the Pilot Training Facility on Mallora.”

  “I was pretty keen on leaving Earth,” Sarah said.

  “And weren’t about to let anyone talk you out of the plan,” said Nadina. “More of Anya there.”

  “I didn’t realize that you knew so much about Anya,” Witch Clarisse snapped at her colleague. “You kept awfully quiet when I was looking for her kin in order to determine Sarah’s family background.”

  “I didn’t know her kin,” Nadina said placidly. “If I had known any, I would have let you know.”

  “Let’s not get off the topic,” said Marlyss, looking authoritative as only Marlyss could. “We are trying to determine what should be done about these Organization power-grabbers, how it should be done, and who all should take part in whatever enterprise is decided upon.”

  “Thank you for that, Eldest Marlyss,” Coryn said, turning his smile on the leading greenhood. “My superiors in The Agency want to send a clandestine Team into Organization territory to do away with their amarto-lab, and to pull out the people who have been working it. They are willing to pay the costs, including those of a ship, and any necessary equipment. They are also willing to provide trained personnel, although I, as the Agent who has had responsibility for the amarto-angle of The Agency’s operations have the final say as to who goes, and who stays behind.”

  “We, the Circle Witches of Kordea, need to have representation on that Team,” stated Karina, the Eldest of the Eleven. “We are deeply involved in this matter.”

  “Oh, and which one of us are you thinking to send?” asked Clarisse. “Are you forgetting that these guys—and I’m presuming they’re men since they strike me as being both indolent and violent—are able to track amartos when they’re used?”

  “And, closer to their home, they no doubt can track quiescent Stones,” said Jaime. “Let’s not forget the machine they had on the Planet of the Amartos. Primitive, but effective.”

  “We do have browhorn testicle sacs,” said Nadina.

  “You have what?” asked Jaime.

  Nadina grinned at him.

  “Browhorn testicle sacs,” she repeated. “Properly dried and tanned, with the testes removed, of course, the sacs can make the Stones undetectable. Of course, there’s the slight problem that the amartos also are unusable while they are inside the sacs, but the lacings that the Witches of Eld designed, are very simple to undo.”

  Coryn leaned back in his chair, and chortled.

  “What other amusing but useful information have you been holding back, Honoured Witch-Women?” he asked. “Browhorn testicle sacs!”

  Even Marlyss looked like she was holding back laughter.

  “It does sound pretty crazy, doesn’t it?” she commented. “But the truth is that, for whatever reason, those things work. I don’t know which of our ancestresses discovered the amazing feature of the browhorn testicle sacs, but this would not be the first time the Witches of Kordea have had reason to feel grateful to her.”

  “Ah,” said Sarah. “Now I know why I haven’t sensed a peep out of those Stones which I inadvertently keyed on the Planet of the Amartos! They’ve been kept in browhorn testicle sacs!”

  “Well, we couldn’t allow them to distract your studies, Sarah,” Marlyss explained, but she was clearly still holding back laughter. “They certainly would have interfered with your mental states if they had been lying around, uninsulated; after all, you did bring them to life.”

  “So,” Dian broke in, to redirect the conversation. “What I’m hearing is that it is possible for Witches to join in whatever foray the Terrans are planning. Just as long as we keep quiet as to who and what we are?”

  “Sounds to me like you’re planning to be a part of whatever Team is heading out,” Nadina said, her eyebrows raised.

  “Yeah,” Dian conceded. “That is what’s on my mind. I’m thinking that Sarah and I could represent the Kordean Witches in this undertaking.”

  She had everyone’s attention.

  “Why you and Sarah?” Nadina asked. Her eyebrows had not come down.

  “We’re both young and very talented,” Dian said matter-of-factly. “We work together very well—I have been aware of that for some time, but releasing Lina provided all the proof of it that might be needed. Besides, neither of us is essential to the operation of the Seven Circles. Sarah is not a member of any Circle, at least as yet, and I can be replaced by one of the more accomplished of the Apprentices during the time we are gone.”

  “But, as you said, you both are very talented,” objected Karina. “Should we be sending into the maw of the beast two of our most gifted Witches?”

  “If not Sarah and me, then who?” Dian countered.

  “Good question,” Marlyss said drily. “Are you offering to go, Karina?”

  The Eldest of the Eleven made a face.

  “Not really,” she answered. “But it did occur to me that perhaps a couple of Apprentices... my Stronghold has a few very talented ones....”

  “No, Karina, absolutely not.” Marlyss was displaying her ability to take a position and stick to it. “I will not send children to do the job of adults.”

  “So you’re with me on this?” Dian directed her words to her Eldest. There was a touch of astonished triumph in her tone.

  Marlyss smiled at her.

  “Actually yes. Assuming that Coryn’s Scientific Advisor goes along. The three of you performed a remarkable feat releasing Lina from her snare. If you can perform that well in a different emergency..., well, these Hounds don’t know what they’ll be facing.”

  “I’m, of course, willing to go,” Jaime said immediately. “Assuming that the Boss permits.”

  He glanced at Coryn.

  “Which brings up another matter,” Marlyss added. “I want Coryn not to go; I want him right here, on Kordea, ready to deal with whatever issues arise here.”

  Coryn gasped.

  “Are you telling me what to do, Witch Marlyss?” His tone was dangerous.

  “No.” To his surprise Marlyss smiled. “I’m telling you what not to do. Believe me, I have my reasons for doing so; I’m not trying to boss you around. And the woman who is your Second, is a capable Agent, according to my estimation, and can certainly be counted upon to lead the operation efficiently.”

  “Although, if I know the Agency at all, and I think that I do,” said Jillian, “they’ll bring in an older, more experienced Agent to lead the mission, when they find out that the Kordean Witches want Coryn to remain here. But I definitely want to go.”

  “I haven’t agreed to stay behind,” Coryn protested, biting his lip. “I’m going to have to hear your reasons for making the request, Witch Marlyss, if not now, then later, but before I make a decision.”

  He did not like this at all. Marlyss was sanctioning Sarah’s going, but not his. Why?

  Coryn turned his eyes to Sarah; in her cream robe she looked small, vulnerable, and beautiful. He ached to protect her, knowing
even through the ache that he could not, really. The classes she had been taking at Ferhil Stones were the only protection she had. He saw Marlyss following his gaze—was that why she wanted him to not go? Was she worried that his feelings for Sarah could sabotage the operation somehow, that he would be unwilling to allow the young woman to take risks that she was going to have to take?

  What did the Eldest of the Twelve know about his feelings for Sarah, anyway? More than he would have liked her to, was his guess; the Witches did seem to know much that the ordinary mortals did not, and Marlyss, for all her stiff-necked pride, was an astute observer of her fellow humans, (and capable of mellowing, as Coryn had had the opportunity to note since he had been associating with her). She would not have had her position as the most powerful person on Kordea had that not been true.

  Now Marlyss nodded at him.

  “My reasons will become clear to you soon,” she promised.

  Then she turned to the gathering as a whole:

  “Are we then agreed that what you Terrans would call an undercover operation has to be sent to the territory of this Organization, to remove the threat that they are posing, in the first place, to Kordea, and, furthermore, to the amalgamation of humanity known as the Confederation?”

  “The Agency of the Confederation is already thoroughly convinced that such an undertaking has to be attempted,” Coryn responded formally. “Should it fail, we’ll be looking forward to a galaxy-spanning war.”

  “That would put us in a tough spot, indeed,” muttered Nadina. “Which means that there’s a lot riding on the success of this enterprise.”

  “It’s obvious that we Circle Witches have to ally ourselves with one side or the other,” said Clarisse. “And after the lovely Lina-caper, I don’t think that there’s much question about which side we belong on. Coercion does not sit well with me.”

  “Coercion does not sit well with any of us Circle Witches,” Marlyss said. “Which is one reason why I prefer the side that employs tact, rationality, and persuasion to get us to join an enterprise which neither of us could possibly succeed at on our own.”

  “If I may be critical, however,” said a tall, thin Witch who had been introduced as Marta, the Eldest of the Seven, “Marlyss, perhaps you have spent too much time with these Terrans, and are unduly friendly, and influenced by them.”

  Jillian chortled, and she and Coryn shared a glance.

  Marlyss looked at them questioningly, and Coryn smiled at her.

  “Jill and I were taking bets as to how long into the meeting we’d get before someone would come up with that old chestnut,” he said. “The matter of undue influence always comes up in diplomatic doings.”

  Marlyss actually laughed, while Marta bristled.

  “Of course you may be critical,” Marlyss then said, directing her words to Marta. “I can only repeat that considering what our choices are—and I’m counting sitting tight while hoping for the best, among them—cooperating with the Terrans and their scientific knowledge seems to be our most positive option. If you have a better idea, I’m willing to listen.”

  Marta tightened her lips into a thin line, but she did not speak, merely shook her head.

  To Coryn’s surprise, Jaime got up from his seat and fetched a bottle of white wine. Smiling disarmingly, he refilled Marta’s glass which the Witch had emptied in careful but appreciative sips while the others had been talking.

  “Anybody else?” he then asked, brandishing the bottle.

  Then Coryn was presented with another surprise. Witch Dian rose, too, and took it upon herself to grab a bottle of red, and to offer its contents to the drinkers of red wine around the table. Even Marlyss accepted a refill from her.

  “We’re in a Terran household,” Dian explained to her fellow Witches. “Since I’m staying here at the moment, I get to play hostess, and a Terran host or hostess looks after his or her guests.”

  “My job really,” Coryn said, “only the servants, whom I sent away early, today, have thoroughly spoiled me.”

  “I haven’t had time to be spoiled,” Jaime laughed. “A student at a Terran university learns also to fetch and carry.”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  At the end of the following sleep-cycle Sarah waylaid Coryn, as he entered the kitchen after his shower, thinking to grab something to eat before anyone else in the Residence was up, and head for his office. She had remained at the Port to help with the preparations for The Mission, as the presumed participants had begun calling it. Marlyss had encouraged her to stay behind, to Coryn’s surprise. But, if she was planning on using Apprentices to replace Dian while she was off-planet, perhaps it made sense to get them used to the Circle as soon as was possible.

  “You’re up early,” he said to her.

  Curt had already arrived for his work shift, and was busy preparing the first meal of the night. He had coffee ready; Sarah had a mugful on a counter.

  She took a clean mug from a cupboard, and filled it for Coryn.

  “I need to talk to you, privately,” she said, as she passed the coffee to him.

  “All right.” He stared at her. “The dining room okay? Or will this take long?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe the sitting room would be better.”

  He scrutinized her as she picked up her mug, and preceded him into the comfortable room intended for the occupants’ private use. The room had a door; he pulled it shut before sitting down across a low table from where she had settled.

  He was worried. This was not normal behaviour for Sarah; not these days. She spent more time avoiding him, it seemed, than looking for opportunities to have private conversations. And he usually made certain that there were witnesses to any of their interactions; he wanted everything between them to be above suspicion. Yet, suddenly, she had approached him for a private talk, and she did not seem to know how long it would take.

  She sipped at her coffee, apparently collecting her thoughts. He did not interrupt her, even to ask what was the matter.

  “I had a dream this sleep-cycle,” she finally said, a little bit lamely, in his opinion.

  “Do you remember how I didn’t want to talk about what happened to me when I was comatose during that time on, and off, the Planet of the Amartos?” she queried when he made no response to her statement.

  “Yes. I told you that when you were ready to talk, I would listen. Are you ready to talk now?”

  “I may have left it ‘til too late,” she replied, sounding regretful. “It’s too long a story to go into right now, and I have no idea when we’ll have the time for it, later.”

  “Sarah, we’ll make the time. I promise that I’ll listen to you—whenever.”

  She shook her head.

  “It will have to wait,” she said. “But I’ll say this much: when I ran away from the two energies that were chasing me, I ended up in a very beautiful place which was called Eden. I almost didn’t want to come back to this reality.

  “Well, the golden-haired woman who helped me leave Eden was in my dream—if it was a dream—today. She said that she had a message for you.”

  “A message for me?” Coryn stared at Sarah, puzzled.

  “Yes. I was to tell you that you must not leave Kordea on this Mission. That if you do, somebody very important to you will die, and you won’t be able to stop the death. But if you remain here, there’s a good chance that you can.”

  Coryn felt a deep chill pass through his body, and settle around his heart.

  “Did she tell you who this person is, this person who is important to me, and might die?” he asked, realizing as he spoke that his face must have paled.

  Sarah shook her head.

  “By the look of your face, it must be someone very important to you,” she said.

  He stared at her. She really did not know what she was telling him. Had the incorporeal woman from some other reality intended it that way? And he knew that he could not enlighten Sarah, not even if she came to think that he had someone else in his life, perhaps some
Kordean woman whom he might have fallen for. He could not tell her that she was going to have, at the very least, another brush with death.

  And the way to keep it as just a brush was for him to let her go on The Mission without him! Is this what Marlyss had meant when she had said that her reasons would become clear to him? What all did Marlyss know?

  “Have I convinced you, then, to stay on Kordea?” Sarah asked, reaching for a light-hearted tone.

  She stood up. Coryn did, too, and picked up his coffee mug. He was going to have to empty it into the sink. And he would not be eating much of the breakfast that Curt was preparing.

  “You have.”

  His heart was a heavy stone in his chest.

  *****

  The preparations for The Mission moved quickly. Jillian had been right about The Agency insisting on bringing in an experienced operator to lead it, when they were informed of the fact that the Witches of Kordea were adamant that Coryn should stay on planet. Coryn appeared to have acquiesced with their wishes, although not particularly gracefully. Jillian, who was going on The Mission, accompanied by Joe who had insisted on sharing, this time, whatever dangers she was heading into, was taken aback by her boss’ black mood. What had happened, she wondered, and what the hell were the Witches up to? But there were no answers, not for her, or anyone else. Coryn refused to explain, and Sarah and Dian merely shook their heads when Jillian queried them. They knew nothing about the role which the greenhoods must have assigned Coryn.

  The two young women who were to represent the Witches on The Mission were almost giddy at the prospect of being—clandestinely—a part of the group. They received the insulating sacs for their Stones with gleeful jokes about getting awfully close to the cantankerous browhorns. They tried them out, and, sure enough, the amarto-detectors did not respond at all to the bagged Stones, not even when Jaime brought one of them close enough to touch Dian’s bag while she was wearing it.