Quest

by Shannah Jay

  Two Sisters to the rescue bent

  Shall weave the arts of Mind.

  And in the younger, as was meant,

  The Lord his mate shall find.

  QUEST Shannah Jay 84

  She broke off and her eyes flew open in shock.

  'I think that means us, my Katia.'

  Hope crept into her eyes and colour surged again into her cheeks. 'If only I could be sure - I wish Herra were awake to advise us.'

  'Can you not love me unless she approves?'

  'Davred, you know it's not like that. I can - I do love you. But I've been a Sister for long enough to know that my own feelings and happiness must come second to our Quest.' As she said the words, she was astonished at how much she meant them. How very much she had changed since her own Choosing.

  'Listen again, my Katia.' He repeated the fourth and fifth verses of Herra's prophecy slowly: Two Sisters to the rescue bent

  Shall weave the arts of Mind.

  And in the younger, as was meant,

  The Lord his mate shall find.

  Like tempered steel, those two shall learn,

  Through hardship, pain and woe.

  No ease, no peace, though they may yearn,

  Small respite from the foe.

  'What better way to learn the Disciplines than as man and wife? Katia, I've paired with other women, but I have never, ever felt like this. It feels right - natural - predestined. The people I worked with would call my feelings primitive.

  I didn't believe in this sort of romantic love before, either, but I must believe in it now. I feel that you are, in truth, the other half of me, that I was incomplete before I met you.' He held out his hands to her.

  But Katia stood back from him and wrestled with her conscience, though it was the most difficult thing she had ever done in her life. She weighed not only the facts, but also the way she felt, and she tried to see the implications of becoming wife to the Lord Davred. Other Sisters had mated with some of the Manifestations of the God, especially another Herra, the third of that name, who had become the wife of the Lord Terraccalliss, the most beloved of all the Manifestations. But was it the right thing for her to do now?

  She had come so reluctantly to the Sisterhood, but thanks to Herra's training she was now committed heart and soul to the Sisters' Quest. And the more she saw of the violence of Those of the Serpent, the way they treated women, the more fervently she believed that the Quest was the only hope for her world. She would, she now realised with a shock, give her own life, if necessary, to end Discord.

  'You do love me?' His voice was soft, hesitant.

  She sighed. 'Yes. You know I do. The love between us seems as natural and right to me as it does to you. But I can't just gratify my own desires. Davred, can you not wait for a few days? We only met properly the day before yesterday.

  When Herra wakes up . . . ' she looked at the marble-still figure at the front of the cave and paused.

  'Always Herra! She has you in thrall.'

  'She is the Elder Sister, the wisest of us al .'

  Anger made him unreasonable. 'Even Elder Sisters can make mistakes, can demand too much of those who follow them.'

  QUEST Shannah Jay 85

  'Davred, no one, least of all Herra, has me in thrall. Like all Sisters, I give myself willingly. I share Herra's beliefs, but she doesn't force me to do anything now. I think my very soul is bound to our Quest. Without it, we’d have savagery too vile to contemplate in this world of ours, and that would lead in the end to its destruction.'

  She saw him start to open his mouth and shook her head at him. 'Davred, I've told you how reluctant I was to become a Sister, but that was because I had no idea what Those of the Serpent were doing. I hadn't even seen them before I left Danak. When I realised how evil they were, how happily they could kill and maim, I began to accept my fate. How could I not?

  Think, Davred, think how many years have gone into the first stages of our Quest. The difficulties of keeping the world to one language. The problems caused by our strict insistence upon the Festivals of Choosing, and the way we take the girls away from their families afterwards. Because it is necessary. We are at war against Evil. And think of the Ages of Discord through which our Sisterhood has already lived, over which we have triumphed.'

  He stared at her in wonder, so beautiful was she in her vehemence. Then his eyes widened as he realised what she had said, how she had confirmed some of his theories about the anomalies on Sunrise.

  Her voice faltered. 'Think what Those of the Serpent would do to our world if they had free rein, Davred. Those of Evil, they should be cal ed. Their leaders take over men's minds so that they have no will of their own. Some embrace evil willingly, but most don’t know what's happening to them. Herra suspects the incense. She thinks it contains substances which cloud the brain.'

  'A mind-numbing drug? She never said anything about that to me.'

  'She isn't sure. We've never been able to get into their Shrines. We don't talk of this openly. Not yet, anyway. It was a suggestion made by Fiana after - after her ordeal.'

  His expression was thoughtful. 'So you think Those of the Serpent are drugging their followers, then brainwashing them?'

  'Brainwashing. That's a good word for what they do to people.'

  'What is this God of theirs? Why the Serpent?'

  'Herra thinks the leaders have no belief in a Serpent God, only a desire to manipulate people and a warped hunger for power. But she thinks if things continue like this, they may even manage to create a God, as they've created an image of a God.' She saw his puzzlement and added, 'It's hard for me to understand, but she says their combined wills will affect the balance of life forces and will empower an embodiment of their evil. As you are the Manifestation of our belief in good.'

  He could only stare at her. The sophistication of this reasoning sat ill with the Confederation's estimations of the cultural level of the people of Sunrise.

  'So,' Katia ended, 'I must be strong, even about you. But if Herra approves, if I am the one in the prophecy, and if it's right for the Sisterhood, well, then you shall be my Davred for as long as you choose.'

  He reached out to clasp her hand. 'I shall hold you to that promise, my Katia.'

  'I'll keep it willingly. And now,' she changed the subject firmly, 'we must consider more mundane matters. I'm hungry. Aren't you?'

  'Yes. Is there any way of buying something to eat? Are there any villages nearby?'

  She laughed. 'Villages! When the woods are full of food! If it weren't for Benner's men, I could gather you a feast.

  But I daren't set traps, or wait to catch fish. I must go warily and leave no trace of my passing. But we shall eat, never fear, my dear,' her voice caught in her throat as her lips formed his name, 'my very dear Lord Davred. And since you've expressed a desire to acquire our Disciplines, I shall teach you one to suppress hunger - and then leave you here to practise it diligently!' The smile that lingered on her lips was as warm as a caress.

  'I'm yours to command, my Katia.'

  'Then I command you to stop calling me that! You don’t yet have the right.'

  QUEST Shannah Jay 86

  'I'm yours to command in all save that. For you are my Katia. I know that.'

  'The Discipline, if you please. First, you must . . . '

  Once she left the cave, Katia's smile faded and she became very alert. She moved with great caution, using all the forest-dweller's skills her grandfather had taught her. Several times she saw signs that someone had been here recently.

  Once she had to hide while a group of Benner's guards went past. They were grumbling so loudly about this prolonged stay away from Tenebrak that she heard them long before they came into view. They were obviously town-dwellers, for they moved awkwardly and complained bitterly of the rough going, not to mention the futility of their search.

  She found some nuts in the ceradon grove, some edible young greenstuff by a stream, a few fruits and even a few early glowberries here and
there in sheltered spots. When she had as much as she could carry in her bag, she turned back thankfully towards the cave. Her nerves had been stretched taut during every minute in the woods.

  Another group of men sent her diving behind some bushes. She watched in disgust as they stamped past, gratuitously breaking off branches and tossing them at each other, tearing up young shrubs and joking that no misbegotten whore would ever hide under that bush. What she didn’t see was the man following silently some distance behind them.

  He was a wood-dwel er, this one, like Katia, but more used to these particular woods, which had been half tamed by someone. He was clad in grey-green clothes that blended with the foliage and the dappled shadows, and he was so skilled that even she didn’t notice him trailing her. Only when she reached the rocky slope leading to the cave did he break cover and whistle to catch her attention.

  When she saw him, her heart began to pound and she nearly dropped her bag of food.

  He didn’t bother to run after her, just walked steadily up the slope, crying out in a hoarse voice that he’d found one of the she-devils and Lord Benner would reward anyone who helped him capture her. No one came out of the wildwoods to help him, but he kept on shouting, as if he knew that his words added to his victim's fear.

  Katia tried to head away from the cave, but there was only one real route down the hillside and the man was on it, cutting off escape from below.

  'Got you now, little Sister, haven't I?' he gloated. 'And I don't lose my prey, once it's within range.'

  Silently she backed away from him. Oh, for the ability to still him! She couldn’t flee, so she would have to try to fight him off, and he was much stronger and heavier than she was. The Sisters were taught self-defence tactics, but she had never excelled at them. To hurt someone, even the minimum amount necessary to disable an attacker, was quite alien to her nature.

  The pursuit sent her nearer and nearer to the cave, try as she would to avoid it. She prayed Davred would stay inside.

  As the man closed the distance between them, he began to taunt her and what he said filled her with terror for her companions. 'There's a nice cave up there, Sister. I've used it before. I always like a bit privacy when I take a woman.'

  'You'll not take me! I'll die first,' she called out, in case Davred had been asleep and needed warning.

  'I'l have you, dead or alive. Bodies don't cool down that quickly.' He roared with laughter at the horror on her face and gained more ground. Disgust kept her frozen to the spot for several seconds.

  'Tasty piece, you are,' he went on, 'though a bit tall for my liking. Virgin too, I'd bet. I can usually tell. Those old witches keep their younger Sisters shut right away from men. Perverts, they are. And such a waste of firm young flesh, too! I'll help you change that, though. We'll make sacrifice to the Serpent together here and now. I've helped quite a few to lose their maidenheads in my time, but never a Sister. Ah!' He lunged forward and caught her off balance. Locking his fingers in her hair, he swung her around, knocking her off her feet and thumping the side of her head so hard on the ground that she cried out in pain.

  Even though Katia managed to kick him several times before he turned her onto her face and pinned her down with his body, she was easily bested, for he was a ruthless fighter.

  QUEST Shannah Jay 87

  'You'll be sorry for that, you foul bitch!' he grunted, beginning to tie her arms behind her back. 'You'll scream out your apologies for that, I promise you!' He pulled the knot viciously tight, clouted her again on the side of her head, then lowered his trousers. 'Here it comes, you whore. You'll learn to know your duty before I'm through with you!' His voice throbbing with anticipation, he reached for her skirt, and she gave a strangled moan as she felt him begin to lift it.

  Suddenly there was a grunt and he fell forward across her, a heavy weight that didn’t move again.

  She lay perfectly stil , head spinning from the blows. Was this a trick? She could hear an insect buzzing, sense her own heartbeat, feel the warm sun on the backs of her legs. But the body across her still didn’t move.

  After an eternity another voice spoke. It seemed to come from a long way away and the ringing in her ears made it hard to understand the words. Footsteps came round towards her head and someone pushed the heavy weight off her, then took the rope from her wrists. When she saw Davred's face leaning over hers, she gasped in relief.

  'My darling, are you all right?'

  This time the words made sense. Katia let him help her to her feet and clung to him, shivering. 'Davred! Oh, Davred!'

  But after a very few seconds she straightened resolutely, ignoring the pain in her head. She was afraid the man might regain consciousness and attack them again. 'I'm sorry. I have control of myself now.'

  But Davred wouldn’t let her go. He stroked her hair back from her face. 'There's blood on your cheek. Are you sure you're all right?'

  'Yes. But we can't stay here. Is he still unconscious? What did you hit him with?' She forced herself to turn and look at her attacker. Only then did she see the knife sticking out of the man's back and the sticky redness around it. She turned chalk white. 'You killed him!' She whispered the words, as if she couldn’t bear to say them aloud, then flung herself on the body, testing it for signs of life. But the man was most definitely dead. 'The God preserve us from violence!' she moaned. 'Oh, dear Brother, forgive me! What have I done?'

  'Katia!'

  She did not hear him. 'To take a life! And it's my fault, all my fault! I should have been more careful. I should have noticed someone was following me.'

  'Katia, listen to me!' But Davred had to take her by the shoulders and shake her before she would do that.

  'Katia, I had to kill him.'

  'Had to?' Her voice was a hysterical shriek, which the rocks bounced back at them. 'No one has to kill anyone else!

  They choose to!'

  'Then I chose to kill him. It was necessary, believe me, Katia.'

  'No! No, it was wrong. It's always wrong to kill.'

  He took her by the shoulders. 'You're not thinking clearly. I'm a weakling compared to him, and I'm still limping badly. If I'd tried to overcome him, I'd have been captured like you were. He was not only as strong as an ox, but cunning with it. I watched him herd you up the hill. I listened to his obscenities. I had to stay here and watch. I longed to come to your help, but I didn't dare leave the cave until his back was turned. The Sisterhood teaches its women self-defence tactics, I know, and look how quickly he overcame you. I've never fought anyone in my life, Katia. Personal physical combat is extinct on all our advanced worlds, or it was until recently. Those who crave such things go out to settle new planets. I'm not that sort of person.'

  Katia swallowed and looked across at him. She hated the fact that his words made sense. She did not want to be convinced.

  He pressed his advantage. 'Herra said you must kill to save me, if necessary. She said I'm important enough to the Quest to justify killing. She made a point of it.'

  'In that case, you should have stayed in the cave and let him take me. I'm not important and I don't want anyone to be killed for me.'

  QUEST Shannah Jay 88

  'You're wrong. We're both Key Lives in the next Stage, according to Herra. Doesn't the Quest come before everything? And would you have stayed safely out of sight if it had been me who’d been captured?'

  She gazed at him numbly, then slowly shook her head. A tear trickled down her cheek and she brushed it away. 'No.

  No, I couldn't have. But oh, to kill him! To take a life!'

  'Katia, you must pull yourself together. I can't hide this body on my own. We must move it now then get back into the cave. It's a miracle no one's come along. We're in full view here. Katia, are you listening?'

  She shuddered, but the blankness had left her eyes. She looked around and swallowed her nausea, running through a quick Discipline of Self-control. 'We can't bury him in this rocky ground,' her voice was dull and flat, 'so we'll have to find a crevi
ce and cover the body with rocks.'

  'Where?'

  'I don't know. I'll look round. You'd better go back into the cave until I return.'

  'And him?'

  'We'l pull him behind this rock. They won't be able to see him from below.'

  'Will you be all right?'

  'I must be.' Her voice was toneless, her cheeks ashen.

  Katia found a crack in the rocks, not large enough to call a cave, but large enough for their purpose. With Davred's help, she rolled the body into it and they covered it with rocks. She tried to say the words of passing from this life, but couldn’t. In the end she gave up trying, whispered, 'I'm so sorry!' then went to retrieve her bag of food before rejoining Davred in the cave.

  'Would you like something to eat?' she asked, looking dazedly at the food.

  'Not yet. Would you like to talk about it?'

  'No.'

  'Come and sit next to me, then.'

  'No. Please - just leave me alone for a while.'

  'Do you have a Discipline to deal with this?' he asked gently, still worried about her ashen face and stricken expression.

  'Yes. But I can't do it now. I need to stay alert, to keep watch. Over you. Over Herra.' She gestured to the Elder Sister, still lying near the front of the cave like a serene marble statue.

  'How long will she be like that?'

  'A few days. You can never tell. She's so old she's a law unto herself. Since she's well over two hundred years old, her body will take longer to regenerate than others would.' She didn’t tell him how worried she was about Herra, who ought to have had a Healer's help.

  'Well then, I think I’d like something to eat. I practised your Discipline, and it helped, but the hunger is still there.

  Am I such a poor subject?'

  'No. But when you're hungry, it's best to do something else as well as run through the Discipline. If you continue to think about your hunger, then you'll stay hungry.' Listlessly she stood up and went over to the bag of food. As she looked down at it, she suddenly sobbed, cast an anguished look at Davred and crumpled to the ground.

  'He's dead! We killed him! We took a life!'

  Davred gathered her in his arms and let her cry against him. Gradual y her tears lessened and she stopped her bitter self-recrimination. When she was quiet, he said in his most gentle voice, 'Say the fifth verse of the prophecy, my Katia.'