Daughter joined them, and Val instantly sensed her hesitation. This mind link was akin to what she did during a Testing, and the results of Testings had to remain private. A complete melding of her mind with others would be against all tradition.
The leaf creature before Krys spoke to Daughter. “You need not fear, child. We will not break a trust. Let yourself go. Feel the love we hold for you.”
Daughter, alone of the four, hesitated. She sensed the feelings this creature held for her and for all, but she was a Chosen, and the Chosen must know. She released the one whose fingers she touched. Val felt the release as a physical break, and a piece of the aura dissipated.
Daughter went to the leaf creature before Krys. He seemed to be in charge. She lifted both hands to his leaf head and stared hard into the face of the leaf before her.
More words found their way to his mind. “Oh, you are a bold one. You would Test me? Test away, my dear, but beware, you might learn more than you wish.”
Her hands shook, but she kept them in place. What happened between the two, Val would never know, nor would any of the others, but Daughter held to her Test for a long time. Then, still holding her hands to the face, she knelt on both knees before it with her head bowed, tears cascading from her eyes. She spoke just loud enough for Val, Krys, and Otis to hear: “I know truth as I have never known it before. In all whom I have Tested, no matter how wonderful the person, and I include myself, there is always a dark side. In you I find only light. There is no dark. This Chosen has Tested you and finds you True.”
She removed her hands from the leaf creature and turned to the Protectors waiting behind. “Whatever takes place here today, you are to hold. We are among friends and will not be harmed in any way. There is no coercion here. I say this as Chosen.” She returned to her original place and touched her fingers to the leaf creature before her.
Communicating with these creatures did not need words. Thoughts and feelings pervaded, and they were all that mattered. The four visitors soon found themselves among the trees, and they understood. Each of the individual leaf people was just one small part of a whole, but the whole was much more inclusive than they imagined. Their thoughts flew across the world, joining with millions and billions of individual leaf people. They never lost sense of individuals, but, too, they sensed the greater oneness of the individuals as they became the Whole. The Whole carried them across the world, their beautiful world, the world with which they were one, then the four visitors found themselves on the border of the strip mine.
The thoughts of the Whole focused on the great scar in the ground. The four visitors learned that the leaf people congregated and grew along the very courses of metal and minerals being mined by the newcomers to their world. The homes of millions of leaf people had gone away here, scraped away without pity. The very concept saddened the four, but for Otis the vision was one of horror, and he literally cried out for the lost trees. His own people had gone through a similar culling two thousand years ago, and they had nearly succumbed.
Daughter reached out mentally to him, enveloping him with understanding and compassion. “It will not happen again, my friend. We will stop it now, just as we stopped it then. We thought this world held no sentient life, but we were wrong. This world is already settled. We will designate it as an emerging world, and no one will be allowed to come here.”
They were suddenly back in the field where they had started. The creature standing before Krys let all of them know that this was not the purpose of the meeting. The awful scar upon the surface of this world was but a scratch compared to what was coming. He carried their thoughts with him on a journey, first to the sky, then beyond the sky and into space. A beautiful world hung below them, a jewel, but his thoughts did not stop there. He took them further, to several neighboring stars where they sensed the feelings of all the many beings living on worlds circling those stars. When they got over their surprise, he took them further, out into the Empire where they felt the life forces of so, so many. He carried them through the Empire, then beyond, and everywhere they went, they sensed life, life in many forms but life that was always the same. Birth, living, loving, creating new life, guiding the young, dying: all these things were experienced by all living creatures, and it was right.
They circled the galaxy in their thoughts, never far from life, then they went further. First a neighboring galaxy, then galaxies farther away and farther away yet. Everywhere, life differed, but what those lives sought remained the same. Living came first, but equally important, life everywhere sought love, to be loved and to love in return. Love was the fountain of life, and from it everything else flowed.
They turned back, but as they drew closer to the boundary of their Empire, they sensed change. They still sensed life, but that life was not healthy. Love was diminished, unfocused as survival became the foundation of life’s purpose.
Sadness filled the thoughts of their tour guide, and they found themselves back in the field they had once considered barren. Now, they knew this place in its fullness as part of something so much more. They sensed each other again and exchanged looks of amazement and wonder.
Deep growls sounded from around them, from the Protectors, and they looked up to see the trees disintegrating. Millions of leaf creatures were abandoning their perches, crawling down to the ground. Soon, the trees were bare and a vast swarm of leaf creatures made their way toward the small group. Dust rose from the swarm and a soft shushing sounded as the many, many feet rustled through the tall grass.
Otis turned to his men. “Hold. There is no threat.”
It took a while, but the four were eventually surrounded by a living sea of the leaf creatures. Each of the creatures was in contact with each other, and as such they were the Whole. The four from the ship, still linked to the leaf creatures through their fingertips, sensed this and were not afraid.
Part Three – You are Called
Chapter Fifty: For You Are Called
Aboard Beta IV, Val was nearly done with his story. One meal had been served in the Queen’s quarters, and it was nearly time for the next. His story had been long, longer than he’d intended, but Mike and Reba deserved to know all of it. People’s lives had changed in the clearing on Lianli that day, or perhaps become more complete depending on your perspective. In any case, Mike and Reba were now a part of that completeness.
Everyone had been sitting for hours. Val now stood, his primary focus his First Knight. “There we were, surrounded by thousands of leaf creatures. We had no idea what their purpose was, but we soon found out. They called us to some future duty that they did not explain. They called six of us, Sire, though there were only four of us there at the time. In calling us, they also Named us.
“ I’ll tell you who they called, but first I want to tell you the parting words of the leaf creature who stood before Krys. He seemed to be in charge, though I believe he simply represented the rest of his people to us. I have studied his words at length, and I held to them during my long incarceration aboard this vessel.
“He said, ‘We do not have all answers. The future is not preordained. Many paths, many outcomes are possible. Choices are yours to make, and the consequences of those choices are yours to shoulder.’”
“You speak of heavy burdens, Val.”
“He spoke of heavy burdens, Sire, but he left us with the means to shoulder them. The exact words of his gift are the following: ‘Listen to your heart, always. If you do, you will know what is right. You will never be asked to do more.’”
The Queen, Otis, and Val had spent years considering those words. Val let silence fill the Queen’s quarters while Mike and Reba’s thoughts went internal.
He didn’t give them long, though. “Before leaving us that day, Sire, he left us with one more gift: ‘Other Great Ones await your call, for they, too, are called, and they, too, listen with their hearts. You will know them for who they are.’”
Mike stared at him for a long time. He turned to look at Reba and f
ound, for the first time ever, tears coursing down her cheeks. Val, too, noticed, and he went to her with a handkerchief and wiped at the tears.
“Your story is beautiful, all of it,” she said to him. “I wish I could have been there with you. I almost feel like I was.”
He smiled fondly at her. “Maybe you were, My Lady, if only in spirit, for you are called.”
“Me?”
“Yes, you. Let me say the words again: ‘Other Great Ones await your call, for they, too, are called, and they, too, listen with their hearts. You will know them for who they are.’ I knew the moment I saw you in the net aboard Resolve, and I have known every moment since. I call you in the name of the leaf people, Reba.”
Ellie spoke. “I know your heart, Reba. It is true, and I, too, call you in their name. Just as we were called, you are called to stop this horror that is spreading through our Empire.”
Reba’s hand went to Val’s hand on her shoulder. She pulled his hand away and took it in both of her own. Her shining eyes remained locked on Val’s. “I hear your call, Val, and I accept.”
Still holding that hand, she turned to Ellie. “I hear your call as well, Your Majesty, and I accept.”
Mike’s gaze moved between them. The hairs on the back of his head stood up. “Such a calling is not a kindness,” he said softly.
Otis padded up to him. He didn’t sit this time, he put his face right into Mike’s face. “It is not a kindness, Sire. There are no assurances we will prevail, and there are no assurances we will survive the process. You made a commitment to me once, a commitment you fought against for a time. What convinced you to side with us that day?”
Mike squirmed, suddenly uncomfortable in front of his friends. That had been a very private moment for him, a very private decision. “Does it matter? We got the job done. Isn’t that what’s important?”
Otis stayed in his face. “What convinced you, Sire?”
“Well . . . actually . . . it was you. You said I couldn’t not agree, and you were right.”
“And why couldn’t you not agree?”
“Otis, there were billions, maybe trillions of people out there counting on us. What’s one person when it comes to that?”
“They’re still out there, Sire, and they’re still calling. We’re not done yet. We’re not here because of the leaf people. We’re not here because of our positions in the Empire. We are here because we listen to our hearts, and they speak true.”
“Ellie speaks true. The rest of us are not bound by her constraints.”
“But our hearts speak true to ourselves, Sire. Yours, mine, Her Majesty’s, Val’s, Reba’s, and others yet to be called. You cannot deny that.”
“Nor can I prove it.”
“You don’t have to prove it. That’s what the leaf people gave us. They gave us the means to trust within our small group. All of us have accepted the call of our people. We’d be here giving everything that we are even without the leaf people’s intervention. What they have given us is the means to trust each other and to know that each other speaks true.”
“You speak of a higher calling, even higher than the call Ellie made when she knighted me. Am I to serve two masters?”
Otis stepped back a step, his head angled in a question. “To what do you think she called you, Sire? Don’t you get it? Do you think she didn’t know?”
The two stared at each other for a long time, their thoughts coming to the same place. “Refuse if you can,” Otis said softly, his eyes never blinking.
“You know I can’t.”
Otis nodded. “In the days to come, I suspect that each of us will at some points regret our decision. For me it was never a choice, but if it was, I would choose no different. It is who I am.”
Ellie went to Otis and put her arms around him. “It is who you are, my friend. In all our years together, I have never seen you waver from that.”
“Nor have I seen you waver, Your Majesty. There have been, and there will continue to be times when the wind forces us to lean a little.”
“There will, but within our small group we will be true. Val, why don’t you finish your story?”
Val nodded. “We’re almost done. There we were, sitting in a dry, dusty field surrounded by thousands of leaf people. All of them were in contact with each other, and as such they were the Whole. Through their representatives with whom we still maintained contact we sensed all this and were not afraid.
“Krys became the focus of the head leaf creature. He spoke to her, though his thoughts carried to the minds of all. He said, ‘You are our Messenger. Your struggle will be mighty. When your need is greatest, the Guide will find you. Give all that you are, for you are more than you know. I call both of you.’
“I know what you’re going to ask, Sire. We don’t know who the Guide is.”
Mike’s lips firmed. “Where is she?”
“I don’t know.”
“We should find her. She’s important.”
“She might be better equipped to find us, Sire.”
He nodded with pursed lips. “Indeed. I was mentioned in one of her visions, and I don’t like the feeling it gives me. Now, maybe it’s starting to make more sense.”
“I’m glad to hear that, Sire. Artmis and I were called that day, as well.”
“And your title was what?”
“Let me finish with the others, Sire. Otis was next. What did he say to you, Otis?”
“His exact words were, ‘The Protector. You heed the call of past generations, but future generations now call upon you. Protect well, my friend, for they are counting on you. Hear their call, for it is mine as well.’”
Val nodded. “The Queen, who was Daughter at the time, was the last in line. What were his words for you, Mother?”
She looked at him, but since Val already knew what she was about to say, she turned her focus to Mike. “He seemed to study me for a time, then suddenly his thoughts hardened. He spoke almost angrily. ‘Mother of future generations. You test for truth, but who tests the tester?’ Then just as suddenly, his thoughts softened, and I almost felt like he was holding me in his arms, comforting me like a father would a daughter. He said, ‘The answer lies in your people. Do not fail them. Heed their call, for you are called as no other Chosen before you has been called.’”
Mike stared at her as she spoke. When she was done, he continued staring, blinking from time to time.
“Frightening words, are they not?” she asked. “Who am I to be called at this time, at this place, to have the hopes of future generations dependent on me?”
He shook his head. He had no answer.
She stood and came to him. He, too, stood. She reached her arms around him and pressed her body to his. “His words give me strength, Michael. I have accepted his call, and I accept the call of my people.”
She released one arm from around his waist and turned to the others. “I believe I am the Last of the Chosen. Hear me well: until a Chosen stands free in the Palace, I will not yield so long as there is breath in my body.”
Reba took a step forward and went to one knee, her head bowed. “I stand with you, My Queen.”
Val, Otis, and Jessie followed her example, though none needed to speak the words. Reba had spoken for all of them.
Mike loosened his grip around Ellie to follow their example, but she held tight to his waist, reaching a hand up to caress his face. “Never you, Michael, for you are the Knight.”
“You mean First Knight.”
“That, too.” She studied his eyes for a time, then turned to the others. “Rise, all of you. Never kneel before me again. Instead, stand with me. Stand united with me.”
Reba, Val, and Otis stood and came to her. Arms reached out, joining one to the other, not just in unity of purpose but in friendship.
Ellie stared solemnly at them. “If ever a Queen had a more intimate circle of advisors, I do not know of her. Thank you.”
They broke for dinner. When they returned to the Queen’s quarte
rs, all showed the stress of a long day, but their day was not yet done.
Mike took the same chair he’d had all that day and decided to move the meeting along. “You’re the last, Val. You still haven’t told us what the Leaf Creature said to you.”
“Almost, Sire, but six were called that day.” He nodded to Ellie.
Ellie stood, then simply kneeled on both knees before Mike, taking his only available hand in hers. “The Leaf Creature told me to heed the call of my people, for I was called as no other Chosen before me had been called.” She paused, then said softly, “He wasn’t done, Michael. He said, and these are his exact words, ‘The Knight will stand with you. Lean on him, love him if you will, but hear him well, for he holds the keys. Your Talents are nothing without the keys.’”
Mike leaned away from her. The whole room fell silent, all eyes on him. He looked around at those eyes, eyes whose futures were, if he was, indeed, the Knight, dependent on him.
He knew her words should make him proud, even puffed up, but they did not. Nor did her words make him feel small. Instead, they felt right to him. Almost as if something had been missing since the very beginning, since the Chessori spaceship fell from the skies that night, a feeling of completeness washed through him. Suddenly, he knew his place was here, and it was the right place for him. He sat up straighter.
“You are the Knight,” Ellie said softly.
He stared into her eyes and nodded. “I am. I have no keys.”
“Not true. You’ve already shown us the way many times. There are more keys, I’m certain. You’ll just have to find them.”
It was just the two of them for the moment. He reached out and caressed her face. She leaned into his hand, but their gazes did not waver.
“It’s in my nature to tell you that you have the wrong man,” he said softly, intimately, “but you don’t. Don’t ask me how I know, because I can’t tell you, but I know it’s true. I’m the Knight.” He looked briefly away from her to the ceiling. “I almost feel like he’s here right now,” he mumbled.
Last of the Chosen (Spirit of Empire, Book One) Page 51