strongholdrising

by Lisanne Norman

  Dzaou pulled away. “You made your point,” he snarled, rubbing his shoulder and getting to his feet. “But since you’re Second, I expect you to act as quickly if he gets out of line.”

  “It won’t happen,” said Banner flatly, returning to his seat.

  “Did you get any briefing from Stronghold?” asked Chima when Dzaou and Khadui had left. “I was told to report to you, that’s all.”

  Banner’s ears flicked back then raised in a negative. “Nothing, except that Kusac would brief us as we approached the rendezvous.”

  “So we’re meeting someone,” said Chima thoughtfully, reaching for the jug of c’shar. “How well is he?” she asked, lowering her voice to almost a whisper as she leaned closer under the pretext of refilling her mug. “There was gossip, as you know, out at the Palace, but no one had any facts.”

  Banner shook his head, a gesture he’d picked up from Brynne and the other Humans on the estate. “He was physically fine when he left for Stronghold, no more— episodes— but we’ve seen little of him lately. His personality has changed, Garras says, but then whose wouldn’t after what he went through, what he lost. I know he refused to leave before the cub was born.”

  “Maybe this mission is to get his self-esteem back. It would have helped the situation if he’d given us some information about what we’re doing out here.”

  “He needs our support,” emphasized Banner, locking eyes with her. “I’m aware that you’re attached to Master Rhyaz’ staff and your last posting was with Commander L’Seuli.”

  “He has it,” she said softly, raising her mug. “For now.”

  Stronghold, Zhal-Zhalwae, 24th day (May)

  An unfamiliar sound dragged Lijou from his drugged sleep. Groaning, he pushed himself up and looked in the direction of the noise. On a chair beside his bed sat Noni.

  “You’ll have to wake a deal quicker than that when this little fellow wants his feed,” she said. “You and Kha’Qwa got a name for him?”

  Lijou stared at her, unable to fully take in what she was saying. “You put something in my drink,” he said accusingly, falling back on his last remembered thought.

  “I did not,” she said, folding back the wrappings round the bundle she was cradling. “What you calling your son?” she asked again, holding the cub out to him.

  Automatically, he took it from her. A scent that was still mainly Kha’Qwa’s drifted up to him. “Chay’Dah,” he said, unable to look down at the cub that he knew lay nestled in the blanket. His arms tightened protectively round the bundle, holding him close. This might be all that was left of his love. “Kha’Qwa— how is she?” he asked, afraid of the answer.

  “Sleeping,” said Noni. “You’re lucky, Lijou. Had I been much later, we’d have lost them both. You shouldn’t have waited for me.”

  “You let him operate.” His voice sounded flat and ungrateful even to him. “I don’t mean I’m not obliged to you,” he began, but she cut him short.

  “No, Muushoi and I did it together,” she said, leaning back tiredly in the chair. “Least now I know all that he knows about modern surgery. So does Teusi. I should have done it years ago, but then, I don’t have an operating theater or the instruments to use at my place.” She turned her head to look at him. “I did what I could, Lijou. Only time will tell whether or not she can have more cubs, but at least she wasn’t butchered by your damned physician. Muushoi might be good at stapling wounds and setting limbs, but he knows nothing about birthing.”

  He felt a movement against his chest and a tiny mewl broke the silence before he could speak.

  “You going to look at your son or not?” Noni asked, sitting up again.

  He looked down, lost for words as he watched the tiny face, eyes closed and ears tightly furled, turning blindly around. Balancing the cub in the crook of one arm, tentatively he touched a fingertip to the fine ginger down on the infant’s face. Immediately the head turned toward him, and as the cub mewled again, he felt his son’s mind reaching for his.

  “Chay’Dah,” he said softly as their minds touched. “You were right, Noni. He’s got Kha’Qwa’s coloring.”

  She sniffed. “I’m always right. Now, shall we go see that mate of yours? She should be waking about now.”

  He tore his gaze away from his son. “I thought she’d only just had surgery.”

  “That was several hours ago,” Noni said, grasping her stick and using it to help lever herself to her feet. “Yesterday, in fact. That cub of yours needs to be fed, Lijou. He’s refused everything but a sip of water so far.”

  “You did put something in my drink!”

  “No, I didn’t. Teusi did. You were in no fit state to make the decisions needing to be made. I’m sorry, but I had to do what was best for Kha’Qwa and that little mite there.”

  Lijou felt a gentle vibration against his chest and realized his son was purring. He began to smile, all thoughts of being angry with Noni vanishing at the wonder of this small scrap of new life that he held in his arms. Carefully, he slid himself toward the edge of the bed and lowered his legs to the floor.

  “She looks a lot better now,” said Noni as she waited for him to get up. “They cleaned her up a bit once she came round from the anesthetic.”

  “Is she all right?” he asked again as he followed her to the door.

  “She’ll be fine, but you’d best get one of the villagers up here to help her nurse him. She won’t be doing much of anything for a few weeks if she’s to heal properly. And she’s got a broken arm.”

  “She’s got me to help,” he said, following her out into the corridor.

  “And you got a guild to run, as well as your mate to look after, Lijou. I know a couple of females from the village that’d be just right for the job. You need someone who’s a mother, not one of the Sisters from here.”

  He sighed, remembering what Dhaika had said about arguing with Noni. Losing was not a concept she knew anything about. “Would you arrange it for me, then, Noni?”

  She glanced at him over her shoulder as she opened the door into Kha’Qwa’s room. “You’re learning some sense,” she said approvingly.

  Kha’Qwa was sitting propped up among a pile of pillows. She opened her eyes as she heard him enter. As he hurried over to her side, her mouth lowered in a faint smile.

  “I feared I’d lost you,” he said, barely able to speak through a throat tight with emotion. “How do you feel? Are you in pain? Is there anything I can do for you?”

  “I’m fine,” she said, her voice slightly slurred from the analgesics as she reached up to touch him. “Teusi says we have a son.”

  The cub had suddenly begun to mewl again, a high-pitched, insistent sound this time. Bending, Lijou passed his bundle carefully to her.

  “See for yourself,” he said softly as he helped her settle the cub in the crook of her uninjured arm.

  *

  About an hour later, a low chime announced a presence outside the door of Noni’s and Teusi’s suite.

  Noni cracked an eyelid at her apprentice. He was a typical young Highlander, tan-pelted, with rounded low-set ears. Shoulder length hair of the same color framed his oval face. He looked younger than his twenty years. “That’ll be Father Lijou, lad. Let him in, if you will.”

  He got to his feet, then hesitated. “There’s no village to visit, Noni. What do you want me to do while you talk to the Father?”

  She gave a low chuckle. “You stay with me, lad. About time you were present when I talk to some of the most powerful leaders on Shola. It’ll be part of your job, one day.”

  “Don’t talk like that, Noni,” he said, his voice suddenly intense, green eyes troubled. “You know I hate it.”

  The chime sounded again as Noni waved her hand at him. “Don’t you fret, Teusi, I got no plans to leave you alone for some time yet. Now answer the door before the good Father breaks it down in impatience!”

  Lijou swept in past Teusi, stopping only when he stood in front of Noni. “I just found out who’
s responsible for Kha’Qwa’s accident,” he said, voice deep with barely suppressed anger. “Raiban. She called while I was in the temple, demanding to speak to me. When Kha’Qwa said I couldn’t be disturbed, she threatened to send her people to arrest me!”

  “For what?” Noni demanded, sitting up.

  Lijou opened his mouth to tell her, then closed it with a snap, suddenly looking at her uncertainly.

  “So she’s found out just how large a presence the Brotherhood has. You must have wakened some of the Sleepers,” she said thoughtfully, reaching for the mug that sat on the low table beside her.

  The Head priest emitted a small, strangled sound, eyes widening. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Noni,” he managed to say, glancing anxiously toward Teusi.

  Noni laughed gently. “You think I didn’t know about them, Lijou? They’re in Kuushoi’s Realm, touched by Winter Herself in their cold sleep. A few dream, like Carrie, but none remember it when they wake.” She watched, amused, as Lijou stumbled the few feet to the nearest chair, and groping behind him for reassurance it was there, sat down.

  “What do you think I do on the Guardians’ Council, Lijou?”

  “Same as the rest of us,” he said, caught with no ready answer. “Look out for our planet’s and species’ best interests, irrespective of guild, clan, or politics.”

  She sighed. “Well, you’re still fairly new, I suppose. Guardians are only appointed when one dies or retires, or another is felt to be needed by a majority of us. With one exception.” She gave him a long look. “The one chosen by the Entities Themselves. They chose me, just as through me, They chose Teusi as my successor.”

  He stared at her. “You. Not from either the clans or the guilds…”

  She flicked both ears in assent. “The bridge between us and Them. When I need to, I go to Their realms, bargain with Them for help. And when They need me, They call me, like over the matter of Keeza Lassah. As for how I know about the Sleepers, as I said, cryo puts them in Kuushoi’s realm, doesn’t it?”

  “The Sleepers,” he whispered, ears becoming invisible against his head in shock as he glanced again at Teusi.

  “Aye, the Sleepers. I know about them, have done for a long time, as have those before me. The Entities have limits, you know. Only Kuushoi can travel beyond the bounds of our world, and then only through those Sleepers with enough mind-Talent for her to contact. Carrie, now, she’s aware in cryo. Her mind still functioned on some level Kuushoi could reach.”

  “You knew this and kept it from me?” The shock of her duplicity added to the others he’d experienced this day.

  “I knew only that Kuushoi had reached her, warned her about the threat to her cub here on Shola, no more, for that was all She knew. Once Carrie was awakened, the contact was gone. You have to realize, the Entities aren’t much concerned with us, Vartra being the exception. By the time I knew, I had bigger things to worry about.”

  “What could be bigger than them and the U’Churians going missing?” he demanded.

  “The Pledge’s been broken.”

  “Pledge? What Pledge?” She’d lost him now.

  “The agreement between Them and us. The threat to Shola’s just begun, Lijou. The Entities are retreating from us so They can be sure of surviving. They want no more contact with us. If Shola falls, then so do They.”

  “No more contact?”

  “Stop echoing me!” she snapped testily. “You heard me well enough! The gates to the realms are closing!”

  “Vartra save us!” he whispered, ears flattening to his skull once more. “I thought this treaty with the Primes…”

  “Aye, pray to Him, Lijou. Even His door has been closed lately.” Her voice was grim.

  “But He came to me in the temple!” exclaimed the priest. “Warned me to leave because of Kha’Qwa!”

  “He did, did He?” she murmured thoughtfully, looking past him to where Teusi sat silently. “That’s to the good. I was afraid He’d leave us too. What d’you think happened to Them the last time the Valtegans came here? You won’t find it in your past, but it’s in ours, the legends of the Highlanders.”

  “I thought you’d given all that information to us when we were collecting what clan and guild records existed for our new historians.”

  She shrugged, a Human gesture she knew he’d understand. “This isn’t for the likes of them. They’d discount it out of hand. When the Valtegans came, they tried to sever us from everything we believed in. Apart from the obvious, which you already know, they tried to change our language, religions, the way we measured the seasons and time— everything that gave us an identity of our own.”

  “Calendars?” he asked, remembering what Vartra had said. “They changed the calendars?”

  She shot him an irritated look. “You’re still interrupting me! Yes, calendars! During that time, we were made to worship their Emperor. Temples were taken over, statues smashed. Like the one up at the ruins on Kusac’s land.”

  “Varza,” he said absently, his mind still on calendars. Vartra had said he must know when to visit him. “I thought the Cataclysm was what broke it.”

  “It was the Valtegans. That’s how many of the lesser Gods and Goddesses were lost to us. By the time the floods and storms stopped, there were few people who remembered any but the Entities. But one new God rose from those times.”

  “Vartra.” She had his attention again.

  “The Valtegan idea of their Emperor being a living god was transferred to Him. The Entities can survive without us, but we need Them. They’ll only be forgotten if Shola falls again. But if any Valtegan visits Their realms, They could be destroyed.”

  “What of Brynne Stevens? He’s been to Ghyakulla’s realm.”

  “Through Vartra. She’s not dealt with him in Her realm. With the gateways shut, our only contact with the Entities is through Vartra— if He decides to remain with us.”

  “Is there anything we can do? The Brotherhood has been recognized as a guild of Priests as well as Warriors— I’m Master of the Telepath priests too now. Our devotions to Vartra have never been mere lip service as in some religions. If the power of prayer keeps the Gods and Entities strong, then Vartra is surely in no danger!”

  “Two things occur to me,” she said. “One is that we have living relatives of Vartra in our time.”

  “Who?” he demanded.

  “The Aldatan family. Didn’t Kaid say Vartra bonded to the sister of his father’s Leska? And took her name when she inherited the Clan?”

  “Zylisha Aldatan. You’re right. Kusac is His direct descendant. Is that why Vartra’s interest in Kaid?”

  “Could be. When you swear, what d’you say, Lijou?”

  Startled, he sat back in his seat. “What do you mean?”

  “Something wrong with your hearing?” she asked tartly. “What do you say when you swear at something?”

  “It depends,” he said evasively. “What relevance has that to anything?”

  “Dammit, Lijou! What’s one of the worst curses we use?”

  “Vartra’s bones!” he snapped, annoyed by her attitude. “What of it? It means nothing!”

  “Oh, yes?” she asked archly. “Considering we burn our dead, why d’you think we say that, eh?”

  “How should I know!”

  “Take a minute to think, Lijou,” she said quietly. “You have Vartra, a living God. Your people look up to Him, follow Him, do what He says. And when the inevitable happens and He dies, what do you do then? Have a public funeral and burn Him, so proving He isn’t divine?”

  “Vartra’s bones!” he swore, appalled. “You mean they buried Him secretly?”

  Noni nodded. “Not my idea, Teusi’s. He was chattering away as he does,” she said, nodding toward the young male who sat patiently a few feet away. “And came out with this idea. Maybe, just maybe, what ties Vartra to Shola is His bones— the fact He wasn’t burned.”

  “We need to find His burial place,” said Lijou, getting to his feet and
starting to pace. “If we can, perhaps we can persuade Him not to close His gateway.” He stopped in front of her. “What exactly do you see as the nature of this continuing threat to Shola?” he demanded.

  “Sit down,” she ordered him. “Think I’m going to crick my neck looking up at you? The threat is the same— the Valtegans. And our answer is Vartra’s bones and the Aldatan Triad— Vartra’s descendants.”

  “But how? What can they do— and against what? We have a treaty with the Primes…”

  “There’re more Valtegans than Primes,” she reminded him. “I can’t tell yet whether letting them come to Shola will help or hinder our survival, but heed me well, Lijou. The darkness out there—” she waved her hand toward the window “— is thickening!”

  “Have you anything in your legends that might suggest where they buried Him?”

  “Nothing I know of,” she said. “But considering He spent most of his life around these parts, chances are pretty good it’s in the mountains.”

  “Vartra’s Retreat! It could be there! Maybe even in the tomb of the sword-brothers! What better place to hide His body than in full view?”

  She snorted in disgust. “What you going to do? Open the tomb to find out what’s inside and outrage everyone by telling them what you’re looking for? Don’t be a fool, Lijou! You got to check out your records here. Teusi and I are doing what we can with our stuff, at least we know what kind of reference we’re looking for, but another couple of folk to help us would be useful.”

  “You’ve got them,” he said. “The answer’s got to be here or at the Retreat.” Lijou’s wrist comm buzzed discreetly. He excused himself and answered it.

  “General Raiban again, Father Lijou,” said the elderly Brother regretfully.

  “I’ll take it in my office, Chaddo,” he replied.

  “Any news on Mistress Kha’Qwa, Father? Many of the Brothers and Sisters have been standing vigil in the temple through the night for her and the cub.”