“I thank you,” Tomas said, nearly overcome with gratitude and happiness that Zakiel would so easily forgive his years of petty behavior. He finished his wine and got to his feet. “I will check the guards again before retiring,” he said. “Then I will add a gold bead to my egora.” He grinned widely. “I never thought to look on that task with such pleasure. Goodnight, Zakiel.”
“Goodnight, Tomas,” Zakiel said. “Once again, congratulations. You are going to be among the happiest of men.”
“I already am,” Tomas said.
Chapter Nineteen
When Tiari awoke the next morning she was so happy she felt as though she were walking on clouds. So much had happened to her in such a short space of time that she barely knew how to count her blessings. The only down side to her happiness was the prospect of telling Kapia.
She loved Kapia as the sister she’d never had, and she knew that Kapia suffered daily with worry and fear for the man she loved. She had no desire to flaunt her own happy news in Kapia’s face, so she kept it to herself while they ate breakfast together. When Kapia told her that Bredon expected to enter the mysterious Darkly Fen sometime that very day, she was doubly glad of her decision.
A little while later, as she was finishing her tea, Kapia returned from her morning talk with Zakiel and Karma with a stony face. Tiari was instantly concerned.
“What is the matter?” she asked, putting her cup down and getting to her feet.
“I am hurt, Tiari,” Kapia said.
“Hurt?” Tiari asked, looking Kapia over quickly in search of some injury. “Where?”
“Inside of me,” Kapia said. “My feelings are hurt that you did not share the news of your engagement to Tomas with me. Why? Did you not want me to know?”
“Oh, Kapia, I’m so sorry,” Tiari said, tears leaping to her eyes. “I did not mean to hurt you. I meant to spare you pain.”
Kapia frowned, then understanding lit her eyes and she relaxed. “Oh, Tiari, you thought I would be hurt because Bredon is not here, didn’t you?”
Tiari nodded. “I’m sorry, Kapia. I wanted to tell you more than anyone else, but I didn’t want to make you sad, and now I have hurt you instead.”
“It’s all right,” Kapia said. “I understand now. But please know that I do not begrudge you happiness. You and Tomas deserve every happiness either of you can get, and I am very happy for you both. I am sad that Bredon is not here with me, that is true. But it does not mean that I would wish the same for you.”
Tiari threw her arms around Kapia and hugged her tightly, the first time she’d ever done such a thing to anyone. “Thank you so much, Kapia. If I could have had a sister, I would wish her to be just exactly like you.”
“Thank you, Tiari,” Kapia said, hugging her back. “I feel the same about you. Soon we will be real family, cousins actually, though I shall always think of you as a sister as well.”
Tiari stepped back and wiped her eyes. “Now that you know, and aren’t angry with me any more, will you help me plan this marriage ceremony? I don’t know the first thing about what is to be done. I’ve never even seen one.”
“Of course I’ll help you,” Kapia said. “It’ll be great fun! When Lashi, Caral, and I did Karma’s wedding we had only a few hours to prepare. This time we’ll have lots more time. Oh, when we were in the village of the Sirelina I asked Caral to get some red fabric just in case Bredon and I decided to marry before we return home. We will use that for your wedding outfit.”
“Oh, no Kapia,” Tiari said, shaking her head. “You mustn’t do that. Keep it for yourself.”
“No, I want you to have it,” Kapia said firmly. “You must be married in red, Tiari, it’s tradition. I can always get more red fabric for myself. Please, Tiari, don’t refuse me.”
“All right,” Tiari said, seeing that Kapia truly did want her to have it. “Thank you, Kapia.”
“Excellent!” Kapia said, her face lighting up. “This is going to be so much fun to plan.”
Tiari laughed, happy to see the excitement on Kapia’s face. It was the first time in days she’d seen her smile.
“I’d best go get dressed now,” Kapia said. “Zakiel said he wants to get started earlier than usual this morning, before the rain hits.”
Tiari nodded and watched Kapia hurry into her chamber, then she turned around wondering what to do with herself. Caral was in her chamber packing her things, but she knew she’d get in the way if she tried to help. The two attendants had the entire process down to a routine. Lashi was clearing the remainder of the breakfast dishes, and would also decline an offer of help. There really didn’t seem to be anything for her to do, so she went back to her cushion. After a moment she stood up again, deciding to go outside and look for Tomas.
“Lashi, Lady Techu would like to see you for a moment, if you please,” Timon said, poking his head through the connecting doorway.
“Of course, at once,” Lashi said. Timon withdrew and Lashi sighed softly and put the water bucket down. She wiped her hands on her apron and turned to Tiari. “Hara Tiari, if Caral finishes packing your things before I return, would you ask her to fetch a bucket of water for the dishes, please?”
“Of course, Lashi,” Tiari replied.
Lashi smiled her thanks and hurried into the next tent. Tiari thought a moment, then walked over, picked up the empty bucket, and stepped outside. There was no reason she couldn’t fetch the water. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time she’d carried water, after all. She’d carried her own water for most of her life. She paused, blinking in the dull light. The clouds overhead were thick and dark, but what light there was still came from the sun, so she could see. Not as clearly as she could in full sunlight, but well enough.
She noticed that everyone was bustling around more quickly than usual, and remembered Kapia’s comment that Zakiel wanted to get an early start. She picked up her step and headed into the grove of trees.
A few minutes later, Tiari knelt by the edge of the river and dipped the bucket into the cold, fast flowing water, careful not to wet her skirt. She heard a sound behind her, but assumed it was a servant fetching water, just as she was, so she finished filling her bucket before rising to her feet and turning around. When she saw Una standing behind her, a satisfied smirk on her pinched and dirty face, she dropped the bucket in surprise, sending the water spilling out to soak into the stony ground.
“Una,” she gasped. “What are you doing here?”
“I’ve come for you, of course,” Una said. “Those fools you travel with believe you to be the Maiden of the Sun, and you, wicked thing that you are, allow them to be deceived for your own evil purposes. For the good of Rathira, I must rid the world of you so that I can take my rightful place.”
“Your rightful place?” Tiari asked numbly.
“Yes, my rightful place,” Una screeched, her face turning almost purple with instant rage. “I have waited my entire life for this and I will not have you, blind and worthless chit that you are, steal it from me!”
“I have stolen nothing from you,” Tiari said firmly. She stood up straight and pulled her shoulders back. She would not cower before this madwoman, and she was mad, Tiari realized. Completely. If her dirty, bedraggled appearance and irrational words hadn’t given it away, her aura had.
“Careful, Una sweet,” a gravelly male voice said from somewhere out of Tiari’s sight. She did not look for the source of the voice. She kept her eyes on Una, and the bony hand stealing toward the knife at her waist. “She gots a blade on her back.”
Una grinned as a big brute of a man stepped up beside her. He was nearly as filthy as Una, with dark bushy hair and a short, unkempt beard. But his eyes, Tiari saw when she flicked her gaze to him, were sharp and clear. He was dangerous, she realized as she noted the dark, reddish black of his aura. Not crazy. Just evil.
“It’s not real,” Una scoffed. “It can’t be. She’s blind most of the time. How could she possibly learn to use a sword when she can barely walk witho
ut tripping over her own feet?”
“As you like,” the man replied with a shrug, though Tiari knew he didn’t believe Una. Not for a moment. She wondered what gave her away, then decided she didn’t care.
“Tiari, meet Pavid,” Una said, her voice suddenly, eerily, polite. “You should be nice to him, Niece. He waited a long time for you and wasn’t happy to find you escaped before he got to make you his.”
“His?” Tiari asked with a shocked grimace.
“Call me sentimental,” Una said, smiling sweetly, all signs of her earlier rage now gone. “I didn’t want to have to kill you, Tiari. You are the only family I have left. Besides, the villagers didn’t like it that I kept you locked up. They would have been suspicious had you suddenly died.
“Since the Maiden of the Sun must be a maiden, I decided to give you to Pavid as a reward for his kindness to me these long years. He just had to wait until your coming of age.”
“My coming of age was two years past, Aunt,” Tiari said curtly, wondering what game she was playing.
Pavid grunted in surprise, narrowing his eyes at Una. “That so, Una?”
“She lies,” Una replied. “Don’t believe anything she says.”
Pavid grinned. “More like you wasn’t ready to lose the cash you got from the girl’s weaving,” he said, then laughed heartily.
Tiari felt a quick stab of hurt at this new knowledge of betrayal, but refused to let herself be sidetracked. Una was glaring at her again, her hand fingering the knife handle.
“You have to die now,” Una said. “I’m afraid there’s no getting around that after all you’ve done. But I think Pavid deserves his reward first, don’t you? After all, he has waited so very long.”
If Karma had not told her the secrets of relationships between males and females, she would not have understood what Una was talking about at all. Now that she did know, she had to struggle not to vomit.
“You will not lay a hand on me,” she said to Pavid, flicking another glance at him. He leered at her and she reached for the sword on her back without thinking, moving so quickly that she surprised herself. One moment she stood there, straight and defiant before them. The next, her hand held a slender but deadly blade, her balance rested on the balls of her feet, her body relaxed and ready to spring.
“Leave now,” she said, giving them an out. She really did not want to have to kill her own aunt. But she would do it if she had to. She would not go back to living in that hut. She would not allow that disgusting man to touch her. And she would not allow anyone to kill her like an animal for slaughter. She would fight to her last breath.
Una laughed again, but Pavid’s eyes were wary as he saw the way she held the sword, her body position, and the speed with which she had drawn it. He reached down, moving very slowly, and slid his own sword from its scabbard.
He decided that he wanted her, and not just for a quick fuck before Una killed her, either. No, that would not do at all. She was pretty, this one, with her curly black hair, smooth white skin, and strange eyes. Much prettier than Una had led him to believe. Even better, she had spirit. He would enjoy breaking that spirit more than he would enjoy breaking in her body. He’d have to do something about Una, too, since she was so hell-bent on killing the girl, but that was easily handled.
As soon as Tiari heard the slide of metal on metal, she realized that Pavid was drawing a sword and knew she’d made a grave error. She should not have given him time to arm himself, but she’d been distracted by Una and her knife. There was nothing to be done about it now, though.
She flicked her eyes back to Una just in time to see the older woman fling her knife. Tiari blocked the blade speeding toward her without thinking, a small twitch of her sword was all it took to send it flying harmlessly away, but it was enough for Pavid to take advantage of the distraction.
He leapt forward and swung his sword at Tiari’s, his intention to knock the weapon from her hands. He didn’t want to actually injure her. Yet.
Tiari sensed more than saw the powerful strike aimed at her sword and blessed Tomas for his lessons. Just yesterday he’d taught her how to respond to such an attack, telling her it was likely to happen considering her size. She would have to thank him again, if she lived through this.
She allowed Pavid’s sword to strike her own even as she followed the momentum down and around in a circular motion, making no effort to resist. Since Pavid had braced himself for resistance, he was slightly off balance when she allowed her blade to follow through his strike. Tiari continued the circular motion all the way around, turning the sword slightly in her hand as it came back up and leaping forward so that the tip of her blade sliced across the big man’s chest.
Tiari swallowed hard against nausea at the instant gush of blood that poured from the wound she’d inflicted, drenching Pavid’s clothing. But she didn’t hesitate. She followed through once more, bringing her sword back down and around in a half circle before slicing the man from right hip to left shoulder.
She leapt back out of sword range and waited, hoping that would be enough for Pavid, that he would decide his life was worth more than whatever Una had promised him. She had deliberately kept her slashes shallow enough that, while they bled profusely, they were not necessarily lethal. So long as he took proper care of them.
Pavid was furious that the half blind little female had bested him so quickly and so easily. Of course, she’d managed it only because he was not trying to hurt her. Pretty or not, spirit or not, he would not play nice now. She’d drawn his blood. She would die. Perhaps he would hang her hair on his wall as a trophy. With a wordless roar of fury, Pavid gripped his sword in both hands and charged forward.
Tiari saw Pavid’s decision to kill her in his eyes, and knew that her reluctance to kill him outright might now cost her life. His strength and size would win the battle for him if she did not act fast. She sidestepped his furious charge neatly, avoiding his sword with no effort at all as she brought her own blade up and around in a strike that Tomas had not taught her. She didn’t even think about what she was doing. There was no time for that. She acted purely on extinct, almost shocked when she felt her blade slide smoothly between his ribs, jerking once with the last beat of his heart.
Una began screeching so loudly that Tiari turned her head to see who was murdering the woman. Instead, she saw Una a few yards behind her along the beach, bending over to pick something up. The knife she’d deflected, Tiari realized.
She’d turned her attention from Pavid for only a moment, but when she looked back she saw that the big man was toppling over like a felled tree. She pulled on her sword, but found that it was stuck on Pavid’s ribs. The thought made her blanch even as she continued to pull, suddenly worried that the blade would snap if she didn’t get it free before he hit the ground.
Una continued her wordless screaming, but Tiari’s hearing was exceptionally fine tuned and she heard the sound of Una’s footsteps beneath the screams as she raced toward her back. She gave the sword one last, futile pull, then gave up and spun around to face her aunt. If Una was going to kill her, she’d have to look her in the eye as she did it.
Una skidded to a stop a mere two feet from Tiari when she saw that her niece was unarmed. She stopped screeching and lowered the knife she was holding over her head, ready to plunge into Tiari’s back.
“Are you going to kill me now, Aunt?” Tiari asked in the calmest tone she could manage.
Una glanced at Pavid, who lay motionless on the ground behind Tiari, then shrugged indifferently as she returned her gaze to her niece. “Probably,” she said. “It depends on how helpful you choose to be.”
“Helpful?” Tiari asked warily.
“Tell me of these people you travel with,” Una said. “Tell me how to make them take me in your place. If you do that, I may decide to let you walk away alive.”
Tiari thought quickly. A plan suggested itself in her mind, but she recoiled from it and searched for another.
“I’m waitin
g, witch,” Una warned. “Speak quickly, or die now. Actually, now that I think of it, once you’re dead they’ll have no choice but to take me, anyway.”
“Here,” Tiari said quickly as Una began to raise her knife into the air again. “You’ll need these.” She reached for the metal ring hidden by the long sleeves of her blouse, slipped it off over her hand, then held it out toward Una.
Una’s eyes widened in shock as she stared at the rainbow colored ring lying on Tiari’s palm. “You had it all this time?” she demanded, screeching so loudly that Tiari’s ears throbbed. “How? Where?” She reached out and snatched the ring from Tiari, her face purple again as she stared at it, still stunned by its sudden and unexpected appearance. While she was distracted, Tiari slipped Kapia’s ring from her finger, her heart pounding with regret as she gave the golden snake a little twist. Then she placed the ring carefully in the palm of her hand and offered it to Una.
She knew that the best, smartest, surest action on her part would be to toss the ring to Una, forcing her to catch it, but she couldn’t make herself do that. Una would have to do this herself. Tiari could not cold bloodedly murder her own aunt, no matter what the woman had done, or intended to do.
Una tore her gaze from the bracelet to glare at Tiari for a long moment before glancing at the golden ring in her palm. She was obviously surprised, never having seen the ring before, but that didn’t stop her from reaching for it.
“Be careful,” Tiari said, unable to prevent the warning from leaving her lips at the last moment. But Una ignored her, as always, and snatched the golden ring from Tiari’s hand, squeezing it in her fist with a triumphant grin. Then she raised the knife with her other hand, murder gleaming in her muddy eyes for one brief moment before they widened in surprise. She opened her fist and stared at the twin droplets of blood on her palm next to the golden ring. Her eyes flashed to Tiari in sudden understanding, but she was not dead yet. The knife, still gripped tightly in her other hand above her head, came down with the last of her strength. But it was not enough.
Quest for the Sun Orb Page 26