Spiderwork

by LK Rigel

  It hurt—it hurt so much—to see Sky and to not be able to talk to her. But it was also a relief. She could stop wondering. And Sky was alive.

  The Empani looked up, and Char nodded.

  “I will hear it in a minute. I forgot something,” the Empani said to Sky. “I’ll be right back.”

  Char felt a quick tug, and she was back on the surface. “Wait!” She needed to ask something.

  The Empani waited.

  “Why?” Char said. “Why are you keeping her down there? You could bring her up to me.”

  “Asherah has chosen Sky Meadowlark to transcribe her story. The human is happy. We will never leave her.”

  “I’ll find her and bring her out.”

  “You will not.”

  “I’ll never stop looking.”

  “You will fail.”

  The Empani was gone. Jake and Alice were waiting with the horses.

  Age of Consent

  Durga had borrowed something to wear from the ashram. The cloth felt strange on her left shoulder and arm, but the hemp was soft and the tunic was comfortable. She tucked up her legs on her seat in the Blackbird.

  The pug dog on her lap grumbled at being disturbed in her sleep. Khai had thought to ask for another one to take to Jordana.

  “This champagne is excellent.” Magda held her glass out to the Blackbird steward for a refill. “Prince Garrick has always had wonderful taste.”

  Once the deal had been struck for the runner, Prince Garrick had metamorphosed into the perfect host, though Durga couldn’t forget his basic creepiness. He’d ordered the Blackbird completely restocked.

  “Char isn’t happy about us accepting the Blackbird.” They were coming up on the south’s western shore. In the Monster they’d still be in the northern hemisphere. “She thinks we betrayed Jake, handing over the runner.”

  “Char isn’t happy, period. She can’t decide if she’s Sanguibahd’s hydroponics consultant or the king of Allel’s lover. Besides, she doesn’t like Prince Garrick the way you don’t like Geraldo.”

  “I don’t like Prince Garrick either.”

  “I’ve tried to explain to you girls. In politics, if you want a friend, you should get a dog.”

  “It’s an old saying, Matriarch.” Khai returned from the galley and sat down beside Durga. “And a good one.” At the sound of Khai’s voice, the puppy woke instantly and moved over to his lap.

  “Dogs don’t like me,” Durga said. “And I’m not a girl anymore.”

  Khai kissed her hand. His raised eyebrow indicated that he agreed. A stab of longing tore through her. She’d absorbed more from Jake in the liminal gauntlet than how to fly the orbital runner. Specific memories had disappeared, but some awareness remained—like Jake’s longing for Char, and his happiness with their lovemaking.

  Durga was acutely aware of how much she wanted to be with Khai. The liminal gauntlet had given Jake a soul, but it had changed her too. It had shown her Jake’s love for another human being—and made her aware of the capacity in her own heart.

  This was terrible. Love is not part of the mission.

  “What about you, Prince Khai?” Magda said. “Isn’t your guest-host journey experiment about over with? Your people must be anxious to see you again.”

  Khai took Magda’s needling with good grace. “You are correct, Matriarch. My airship is docked in Sanguibahd, waiting even now to take me back to Luxor.”

  Durga made her face into a mask. She didn’t want to show how painful it was for her to hear this.

  “But as Durga’s birthday is tomorrow, and the soul ceremony is the day after that, I will delay my departure.”

  “Soul ceremony?” Durga said.

  “Hieros gamos. Soul ceremony. Whatever you want to call it,” Khai said. “I would offer myself as witness to a successful ritual, but I’m unable to see souls.”

  “Successful ritual.” Magda refilled her glass. “Soul ceremony. I like that. In the sixth or seventh month of gestation, the scion will return to Sanguibahd for the hieros gamos. Make it a special event.”

  “Come to paradise for a sexual encounter beyond your wildest imagination,” Durga said. “I don’t think we’ll have to work too hard to make it special.”

  “That’s good.” Khai squeezed Durga’s hand. “And the cities won’t want to rely on rogue priests to confirm the ceremony’s success. The hieros gamos should take place in Corcovado.”

  “But?” Durga had heard a but hidden in there somewhere.

  “But another thing must change. There is a flaw in your system. The cities need assurance that the heir delivered to them is the heir they contracted for.”

  Magda opened her mouth to protest, but Durga stopped her with a look. Khai was right. The Versailles complaint had been justified. And a political animal thrived in Khai. He wouldn’t have mentioned the problem if he didn’t have a solution—his solution—ready. “You have something in mind.”

  “The Concord Cities have decided. Conception and delivery of the heirs must occur within city borders. The chalices must take residence in the contract city twice during a gestation. The conception residency will be from at least one month prior to conception until confirmation of gestation. The lying-in residency will be the last month of gestation until delivery.”

  “How dare you?” Magda said.

  “I dare nothing, Matriarch, except to solve this problem. It’s not Sanguibahd’s problem alone, you will agree.”

  “But you did dare.” Durga’s heart sank. She pulled her hand away. “The Concord Cities? You’ve already formed your council when you let me think it was just an idea.”

  “It was only an idea. But at the meeting in Allel, in light of the Versailles complaint and the soul issue, we acted.” The puppy barked, reacting to the tension. She scrambled up Khai’s chest to lick his face.

  “You acted.” Durga was a mass of conflict. She hated Khai. Magda was right. How dare he presume to change the way they ran Sanguibahd? “I am the bridge to the goddess.” Shibadeh. That sounded so weak.

  “And that’s what you remain, Emissary.”

  Emissary. What had happened to Durga, to my lady?

  “You said it yourself. The world is becoming more complicated. Sanguibahd’s province is the sacred. Let the Concord Cities take care of the mundane.”

  “The gods have forbidden democratic rule.”

  “A council of princes –“

  “– isn’t a democracy.” Where had she heard that? Khai was right.

  Khai was right, and Magda was right. She agreed with everything he said, every change he wanted to implement. But he had gone behind her back.

  “This was necessary, my lady.” Khai took her hand again. His eyes pleaded for understanding, for acceptance.

  She was used to being the absolute last word on any subject, and oftentimes the first word too. It would be a relief not to be the first word so much, to let a council of princes and kings deal with things like Garrick while she made changes in Sanguibahd.

  “Did they make you president of the council?”

  “They did.”

  “Well, I’m glad to see that they aren’t stupid.”

  He raised her hand to his lips, and she allowed it.

  The Blackbird landed on the tarmac it had always used in Sanguibahd. Durga appreciated Garrick’s offer of the crew, but she’d have to interview each member to determine if they’d be fit citizens of Corcovado. She hoped the pilot would be.

  As they entered the admin building, she realized she had no appointments. No demands. No obligations. At this moment, she was scheduled to be in Allel for the ongoing coronation activities.

  She looked at Khai, carrying the puppy. This would be a good time to work out their feelings about what had happened with the Empani.

  “Durga!” Jordana burst into the foyer from one of the lifts. “You’ll never guess!” She jumped and kicked and spun her way over to them. Khai held up a palm for her to throw some punches then handed her the puppy. H
er eyes flashed blue. “Thank you!”

  “Guess what, Jordana?” Magda said.

  Jordana held the dog on her bald head and smiled like a prankster. “The first auction has started, and there’s a huge bid.”

  “Already?” That mercenary Geraldo. His communications system worked fine when he smelled profit. Why didn’t he just go live in Garrick? “Geraldo had better not think he’s getting any piece of this.”

  “Emissary. Matriarch.” Faina had been following Jordana at a more dignified pace. “I’m happy to see you returned safely.”

  Durga took Faina’s hands. “And I am so glad to find you well, Faina.”

  “I am well,” Faina said. “My sister.”

  Durga nodded, acknowledging the endearment, afraid she would burst out in tears. My sister. “Faina, Lord Ardri will arrive in Sanguibahd tonight. Can you be prepared for a ceremony in two days?”

  Faina nodded. “Asherah has blessed us. When the Team of Inquiry went to the library to begin its research, a stack of appropriate volumes had been pulled and was waiting for them. The Kama Sutra, books on tantric sex and such.”

  “Faina, I like your enthusiasm.”

  “I know my duty.” She actually winked. Durga breathed a sigh of relief. Faina really was going to be all right.

  “But Durga, guess who it is.” Jordana put down the puppy and bounced on her toes. Her eyes flashed orange. Orange? A mixed signal. “Guess who they’re bidding on.”

  At this, Faina blushed terribly. She shouldn’t. Of course the bidding would be fast, furious, and high for her. She was lovely and demonstrably reliable.

  “You!” Jordana said. “It’s you, Durga. That was the rule, right? You’re eighteen tomorrow, so you can do it.”

  Faina nodded confirmation. “Geraldo sent out the guidelines yesterday, and the bid came in this morning. Prince Garrick wants you to be his chalice.”

  Exgusting!

  Hieros Gamos

  Durga paced back and forth across the wall of windows in her bedroom. What had she done? It had never occurred to her that any city—let alone Garrick—would bid on her.

  Khai’s airship was in the dirigidock, ready to take him back to Luxor and away from her.

  “Garrick is a fool,” Khai said. “He will never have you.”

  “Garrick is the richest city in the world,” Durga said. “I must accept the highest bid, for the good of Sanguibahd and the other chalices. If any other city dares bid against him at all, he’ll just go higher.”

  “Whatever Garrick bids, Luxor will bid more.”

  “You can’t.”

  “I can. When Garrick has driven the price high enough, you can cut him off by accepting Luxor’s next bid. That’s all to the good. It will set a price floor for the future.”

  “But everyone will know that I chose you because I hate Garrick.”

  “And the others will see that you mean it that they are free to choose among their bids. That’s a good thing too.” One of Khai’s eyebrows went up, and he had an inappropriate grin on his face.

  “You think this is funny?”

  “I heard from Jordana that you once killed a raptor with your bare hands.”

  Durga shook her head and turned away. “That old story.”

  “I see you don’t deny it.”

  “It wasn’t with my bare hands. But what is your point?”

  “You say you hate Garrick. You have already bested him, and he doesn’t even know it. You’ve taken his precious Blackbird. You’ve established a new city, Allel, with an export more precious than oil to balance Garrick’s power. And now you’ve enticed him to expose his craven desire to the world, his desire for you—which you will deny him. This will weaken him in the eyes of the other cities.”

  “And when you win,” Durga said, “will that strengthen you in their eyes?”

  Khai smiled and took her into his arms. “When I first saw you in the Matriarch’s chambers, I knew that you must be Luxor’s chalice. After I spent a day with you, I knew that you must be mine. No other woman could ever find a place in my heart.”

  “Another woman will find a place in your heart, Khai. You can’t fight that. I don’t want you to fight it. Luxor deserves a queen, and so do you.”

  “I already have a queen, my lady.”

  He kissed her, and she felt as if they were the only two people in the world. The universe radiated from their embrace and came back to it again. But when Khai pulled away from her, he looked sad. “You said you would choose me because you hate Garrick. I wish you had said you would choose me because you want me.”

  “Oh, Khai.” Durga pulled the ashram tunic over her head and threw it on the floor. “I’m surprised such a brilliant man can be so dull.”

  She took the circlet from his brow and the gold bands from his biceps and removed the carnelian dagger from his belt. She laid them on the table at the window like the precious objects they were, the symbols of his city and his kingship to come.

  When she turned around, he had taken off his clothes. He was beautiful, perfect. Like a statue carved by a master. He said nothing, waiting for her to choose to come to him. She smiled and took the scion of Luxor’s hand and led him to her bed.

  “Now let me show you what I want for my birthday.”

  -oOo-

  Char drained the last of the champagne from her glass and looked at the locked door. Again. The yin-yang chamber. That’s what they had named the room where Jake was hieros gamosing it up with Faina at this very moment.

  Last night, after an uncomfortable and long flight on the Monster, she and Jake had been given the grand tour. The chamber’s proud designers had developed the soul ceremony, as they were calling it, after consulting a cache of erotic literature discovered in the library.

  “Asherah must have put the books there for us.”

  The chalices on the Team of Inquiry had been careful to assure Char how sacred it all was, how essential, how it was not about connection or emotions between the yin and the yang but rather a cosmic connection beyond human understanding.

  That did not help.

  Char wondered if Durga had put them up to it, warned them to think of Lady Charybdis’s feelings. She caught Durga watching her watch the door. Again.

  The room was garish, but the Team seemed to think they had recreated something from the Arabian Nights. There was a yin entry for the chalice and a yang entry for the scion, both doors to be locked during the event. The walls and ceiling were covered with erotic art. Cherubs flew around the head of the giant-phallused god Priapus. Fauns and satyrs cavorted with wood nymphs. There were scenes from the Kama Sutra.

  She sighed. Magda and Durga pretended not to notice. What was wrong with her? She had promised to live in Allel, but she still hadn’t agreed to marry Jake. She loved him. She knew he loved her. Something held her back, kept her from saying yes.

  Yes. The best word in the language, and she couldn’t say it to Jake.

  This whole hieros gamos thing wasn’t helping. Thank Asherah it was almost over with.

  Faina’s fellow chalices were in the yin chamber, but Magda had come over to the yang side to support her son. She’d put on quite a spread. Strawberries, champagne, beef filets, asparagus. And something Char hadn’t seen in years.

  “Where on earth did you get blackberries?” she said. “I actually mean that literally.”

  “Midwest plains in the north,” Magda said. “Two hundred miles south of Garrick.”

  Garrick. She and Jake had heard all about the new contract and the bidding for Durga. And that Garrick had been denied in favor of Luxor.

  “More champagne, Char?” Durga refilled her own glass. She’d come to the yang side to offer her support. At least, that’s what she told Char. As she drank from her flute, it seemed there was something different about her. She was relaxed. Durga was never relaxed. Happy.

  Why shouldn’t she be? She was eighteen, beautiful, Emissary of Sanguibahd, queen of the world. A fabulous new jet transport at
her disposal.

  Why was Garrick allowed to continue its polluting ways? Because it could. Because no one had the power to do anything about it. Because the city was favored by Samael.

  “Why did you accept the Blackbird from Garrick? Jet engines are banned. Anathema. You set a bad example.”

  “One or two jet engines are like a drop of water in an ocean. Each city will be allowed one jet transport as necessary for trade and diplomacy.”

  “Badly done, Durga. You’ve made a mistake there.”

  “It saved you, didn’t it?”

  How had they gotten off on this sniping track? “I thought the scion of Luxor would be here.”

  That was worse. The light went out of Durga’s happiness. “He returned to Luxor this morning.”

  “But I hear congratulations are in order.” Char held out her empty glass. “That’s a marvelous first contract.” She couldn’t keep the chatty, impersonal tone out of her voice. She could tell Durga was upset about Khai leaving, but she didn’t care. For some reason, everything about Durga irritated her at the moment.

  Durga poured the wine. “I escaped Garrick, anyway.”

  “Well, congratulations then.”

  “You sound upset, Char. Why does the contract with Luxor bother you so much?”

  “Everything is working out superbly for you, Durga. For Sanguibahd. Even for Luxor. All at Jake’s expense.” That was it. She was upset for Jake’s sake.

  “Jake’s expense? Jake is going to be the king of Allel.”

  “And he’s lost the runner, the thing that he loved.”

  “But not the only thing he loved, Char.” Durga set down her glass. “And not the thing he loves best. You’re not angry because of the runner,” she said. “It’s the hieros gamos. I understand, but I think you’re being a bit selfish.”

  “You would say that. I suppose it’s easy for a chalice to say. You’ll have so many lovers in your life, if one goes through a soul ceremony with someone else it won’t mean a thing to you.”

  Oh, cripes. That was harsh. Too harsh and too cruel. Char put her glass down beside Durga’s and turned away. What had happened to her? She had never been a cruel person.