“Miss Karma, your results were a bit...different. We were unable to determine whether you are a berezi or not. We actually ran the test three times, thinking a mistake had been made. There is something in your DNA that we have not seen before. We are uncertain what it means, if anything. Our ability to identify berezi is quite new, and that may be the explanation for our difficulties. In another year, we will hopefully know more, and may be able to give you more definitive results then.”
“It would have been nice to know for certain, but in the end, I suppose it makes little difference,” Karma said. “If I am, and I am meant to find a male-set, then I will.”
“The results of these tests is confidential, correct?” Aisling asked.
“Yes, they are,” Elder Vulpiran replied. “However, you may feel it necessary to share the information under certain circumstances.”
Karma frowned and opened her mouth to ask him what he meant, but Aisling spoke first.
“I understand,” she said.
Elder Vulpiran nodded. It was clear to him that Aisling was upset about the results, and he wanted very much to ask her what was on her mind. But he could not do that without violating the directive concerning the privacy of the information he had just given her.
“Miss Karma, this afternoon I am going to our village school to speak to the students,” he said, moving on to the other reason he had come in. “I thought that as you are a teacher, you might enjoy coming along with me.”
Karma’s face lit up with pleasure. “I would love to come along,” she said. “Thank you very much for inviting me.”
“Excellent,” Elder Vulpiran replied. “I will stop by for you when it’s time to leave.”
“I’ll be ready,” Karma replied. After Elder Vulpiran left, Karma turned back to Aisling, surprised to note that her friend’s face was even more pale than usual.
“You aren’t very happy about being a berezi, are you?” Karma said, after Elder Vulpiran left the room.
“No, not really,” Aisling admitted. “I’m worried about how the Gryphons will react since I’m not their Arima.”
“I don’t see why it would make any difference,” Karma said. “You love them, they love you, right?”
“Yes, that’s right,” she said, but Karma heard the doubt and worry in her voice.
“Do you feel any hesitation? Could there be another male-set out there that you should be with instead?”
Aisling took a moment to think about that, examining her feelings carefully. The worry left her face and she smiled. “Absolutely not,” she said decisively. “The Gryphons are the men I am meant to be with. No others.”
“Then a blood test should not change that,” Karma said.
“No, it shouldn’t,” Aisling agreed. But deep inside, she had a bad feeling about this. She was certain of her own feelings. But she wasn’t quite so certain about the Gryphons’.
After lunch Aisling went back to her translations. This portion of the text was almost exclusively records. What was sold, to whom, for how much and when. Orders, destinations, arrivals, reports on crew and ship maintenance and status. It was so boring and repetitive that, before long, Aisling was reading on automatic pilot, not really paying much attention to the data as she thought about the Gryphons. When she came to a section of writing that she couldn’t read, she was so startled that for a moment she wasn’t sure why she’d stopped reading.
She stared at the screen in front of her, blinked, turned her head to look at it sideways and tsked in frustration. Whatever it was that she was looking at, she couldn’t read it. She had the strangest feeling that the words were close to being familiar, but not quite. Which made no sense to her. Either it looked like Standard or it didn’t.
She reached for the vox sitting on her desk and asked Elder Vulpiran to come to her office when he had a chance. He was there a couple of minutes later.
“What’s wrong?” he asked as he hurried across the office toward her.
“I just came across a section of writing that I can’t read.”
“Really?” Elder Vulpiran said in surprise.
“Yeah,” Aisling said, pointing to the offending text on the screen.
Elder Vulpiran swung a chair around so that it was next to Aisling’s and sat down. He studied the text for a moment, and shook his head.
“I certainly can’t read it,” he said. “I wonder why you can’t?”
“Since I don’t know how I can read and understand Xanti in the first place, I don’t have any idea why I can’t read this. I’m sorry, Elder Vulpiran.”
“Well, lets think about this for a moment,” Elder Vulpiran said. “Have you tried to read the entire thing?”
“No, just the first line or two,” Aisling replied.
“Why don’t you try reading the whole thing,” Elder Vulpiran suggested.
“Okay,” Aisling said. She turned to the screen and read through the entire section, stumbling over the unfamiliar sounds. When she was finished she turned back to Elder Vulpiran. “This section is complete mush to me.”
“I wonder if its a dead language,” Elder Vulpiran said thoughtfully.
Aisling’s eyebrows rose in surprise. She looked back to the screen and ran through the first few lines again.
“Maybe,” she said. “But if I can’t read the words, why do the letters look like Standard?”
“What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking it’s in code,” Aisling replied.
“If that’s the case, it would seem to indicate that it’s important,” Elder Vulpiran said.
“Yes, I agree,” she replied. “The text leading up to this section refers to it as the Oraculum of Arkandu, and refers to a law requiring every Xanti to read it at least once each day. There’s also a very strong directive against allowing it to fall into the hands of any non-Xanti.”
“What is an oraculum?” Elder Vulpiran asked.
“I don’t know, but I have a feeling it may be a prophecy of some sort.”
“A prophecy concerning the Xanti would be a good thing for us to have.”
“If it’s in code, can’t the computer figure it out for us?” Aisling asked.
“I would say yes except for one problem,” Elder Vulpiran replied. “The characters in the section you cannot read look nothing at all like those in the rest of the document.”
“They don’t?” Aisling asked in surprise.
“No, they don’t. Not remotely. Do you think you can figure out what it says?”
“I don’t know, but I want to try. I think it’s going to take some time though. Can I download this to my hand terminal?”
“Yes, just be careful with it and don’t talk about it with anyone,” Elder Vulpiran cautioned. “The Xanti must not get wind that you have this.”
“Don’t worry, I promise that no one will know I have it other than Karma and the Gryphons. Unless you want me to keep it a secret from them as well.”
“No, that’s not necessary,” Elder Vulpiran replied.
“Thanks,” Aisling said again. She checked the time on her terminal. “You two better get going or you’ll be late.”
“Yes, yes, you’re right, thank you,” Elder Vulpiran said as he glanced at his watch and stood up. His vox beeped and he reached up to tap it. A moment later he disconnected and smiled at Aisling.
“I’ve got good news for you,” he said. “According to the computer, you’ve translated enough of the written language for the program to do the rest.
“That was fast,” Karma said, joining them.
“Yes, it sure was,” Aisling replied. “If the computer is able to translate this strange section, let me know please.”
“Of course,” Elder Vulpiran agreed. “We must leave now or we’ll be late. Once you’ve finished up in here, go down to my office and let Talus know. I’ve already told him you might need a ride home.”
“I will, thanks,” Aisling said. “Have a good time, Karma, and I’ll see you later.”
&nb
sp; After Karma and Elder Vulpiran left, Aisling copied the strange writing, as well as a couple of pages before and after it, onto her hand terminal, and turned off the computer. The she went to Elder Vulpiran’s office in search of Talus.
“Hello Talus,” she said, catching him just as he was leaving. “I was wondering if you would mind driving me to the Gryphons.”
“Not at all, Miss Aisling,” Talus replied. “I was just going to leave for the air field to pick up some people in a few minutes anyway.”
“Oh, in that case, I don’t want to hold you up,” Aisling said.
“You won’t be,” Talus assured her. “The timing will work out perfectly.”
“All right, if you’re sure,” Aisling replied, liking the young man. He had already driven her and Karma a couple of times, and she knew that he was Olaf’s, Rand’s and Rudy’s nephew.
“Are you ready to leave now or would you like a few minutes?” Talus asked.
“Now is fine,” Aisling replied. Talus reached up and tapped his vox as he and Aisling walked back toward the front of the building.
“Jonus, I am leaving now to take Miss Aisling home,” he said. “Then I will pick up the Falcorans at the air field.” Talus listened for a moment. “Thank you,” he said before tapping the vox again.
Rand opened the front door of the house before Aisling reached it, surprising her. He stepped outside and wrapped his arms around her, giving her a warm hug and a gentle kiss on the forehead.
“Welcome home,” he said. “You are early today, and minus Karma.”
Aisling smiled, the spot where his lips had touched her feeling warm and tingly. “The written translations are done, and Karma went with Elder Vulpiran to a local school.”
“Congratulations on the translations. That’s excellent news.”
“Thanks,” Aisling replied. “I thought you guys were working today?”
“We were,” Rand replied as he turned and guided her into the house. “We just returned home a few minutes ago.”
“Ah, I see,” Aisling said. “Jonus called you from the Council Complex, right?”
“Of course,” Rand said easily. “You need at least one of us near you at all times in order to insure your safety. Elder Vulpiran would never be so careless as to allow you to leave his protection without being certain that you would be in our protection. Nor would our nephews.”
“I think I’m just going to be glad that I no longer have to pretend to be someone I’m not, and leave it at that,” Aisling said. “All I want right now is a hot shower.”
Rand smiled as he watched Aisling walk away, wondering if Doc had returned from his latest trip with the Katres. Now that the translations were complete, there was no reason not to have Aisling’s injury corrected.
Olaf and Rudy joined Rand in the living room where they sat talking as they waited for Aisling to join them. They had a long list of things to discuss with Aisling concerning their upcoming ceremony, such as when to have it, where to have it and who to invite. They had never thought that these subjects would be of much interest to them. But now that they were to be mated, they were excited and could hardly wait for Aisling to finish her shower and join them so they could begin planning.
Suddenly, Olaf sprang to his feet, Rand and Rudy a split second behind him. They turned to face the front of the house, their senses tightly focused on the yard beyond it. They were moving toward the door before the knock sounded, but they already knew who their visitors were.
Olaf opened the door and stepped outside, forcing Merrick, Torrick and Jerrick Falcoran to back away and step off the porch. He had nothing against the Falcorans. In fact, they had an excellent reputation and were thought of highly among Clan Jasani, in spite of their relatively young age. But approaching the home of any Clan Jasani without prior notification or permission, especially the home of Clan Consuls, was not only a breach of protocol, it was also an insult.
Rand and Rudy flanked Olaf on the porch, Rand closing the door firmly behind them. The three of them stood quietly, gazing sternly at the Falcorans for a long moment. Olaf sensed their tension, and wondered at it, but he would not be the first to speak.
“Please accept our apologies, High Consul Gryphon,” Merrick said finally. There was an undercurrent of tension in his voice that he couldn’t quite hide, and that increased the Gryphons’ watchfulness.
“We have scented our Arima, and are on the edge of our control,” Merrick continued.
Olaf, Rand and Rudy were rocked by that, but none of them showed their feelings by so much as a flicker of an eyelash.
“When your nephew, Talus Gryphon, met as at the air field, we scented our Arima in his car. He informed us that the last occupant had been a young woman under your protection. We ask that we be allowed to meet her.”
Olaf felt as though his blood had turned to lead. His entire body refused to move for a long moment as he struggled to think of the correct thing to do. He wanted to fly at the Falcorans, attack them, run them off their land and away from their woman. But one of the oldest and most basic laws of their people was that no one, ever, interfered between a male-set and their Arima.
“Again, our sincerest apologies, High Consul,” Merrick said again. Olaf noticed that Merrick’s face was pale, his fists clenched, his eyes dark with the effort to maintain his civil demeanor.
“Your apologies are accepted, of course,” Olaf said, his voice calm to his own ears. “We invite you into our home. However, as Miss Aisling is currently under our protection, and Prince Dracon’s, we must ask that you take care in your approach with her.”
An expression of anger crossed Merrick’s features, followed by an expression of understanding and apology. “We are in control of ourselves, and will do nothing to cause her harm or upset,” he said.
Olaf stood aside and gestured the Falcorans into their home. It was one of the most difficult things he had ever done in all the centuries of his life, but none of that showed on his face or in his demeanor. When the Falcorans passed between them and entered the house, Olaf met the eyes of his brothers. A moment ago he had learned what despair felt like. Now, he knew what it looked like as well.
Aisling ran a comb through her hair, slid her feet into a pair of sandals and left her room. She had been looking forward to spending some time with the Gryphons alone, but a few minutes earlier she had suddenly begun feeling anxious and tense. Even though she wasn’t close to the Gryphons, she knew that the feelings were coming from them. Maybe her ability to sense them was getting stronger, she thought. Unfortunately, she couldn’t discern the reason for their sudden tension.
She had rushed through the remainder of her shower, thrown on the first clothes she’d pulled from the closet and barely took time to comb the snarls from her hair. She wished that she had her weapons. Just one shuriken, or even a knife. She’d felt so relaxed and comfortable here that it hadn’t occurred to her that she might need a weapon, and she chastised herself for that as she left her room and hurried along the curved hallway. She was so focused on her own thoughts that she didn’t realize there were strangers in the living room until she was several steps into it.
She stopped suddenly, her eyes instantly going to Olaf’s. She gasped softly at the unbearably sad expression in his eyes. She looked at Rand, then Rudy, and saw the same sadness mirrored in their eyes. She glanced quickly at the other three men who were now standing. She had no idea who they were, and didn’t really care. All she cared about was the Gryphons, and why they looked the way they did.
“Aisling, these are the Falcoran brothers,” Olaf said, his voice sounding normal to everyone but Aisling. She heard the tension, the sadness, the tears in it. “Merrick, Torrick and Jerrick.”
The three men bowed politely, but Aisling didn’t notice.
“It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Aisling,” Merrick said.
Finally, Aisling tore her eyes from Olaf to look at the man who had spoken. She scrambled around for her manners. “Thank you,” she said. “
It is a pleasure to meet you as well.”
Merrick was staring at her intently, which raised Aisling’s defenses. Then he lifted his nose into the air and sniffed, causing her take a step backward. Almost before she knew it Olaf was at her side. A moment later, Rand was at her other side and Rudy stood before her, partially blocking her view of the other men.
“What is going on here?” Aisling asked. She studied their faces for the first time and saw expressions of confusion, embarrassment and uncertainty.
Merrick looked at her hard for another moment, then turned his gaze to Olaf. “I do not understand this,” he said.
“What?” Olaf demanded. “Tell us what is happening.”
“When we got into the back of the ground-car Talus was driving, we scented our Arima,” Merrick said again. “There can be no mistake. Our fangs descended. But this woman, Miss Aisling, is not the women we seek.”
Aisling felt all three of the Gryphons’ relax around her, though none of them made a sound or a movement.
“You are certain?” Olaf asked.
“May I?” Merrick asked, gesturing toward Aisling.
“Aisling, would you mind if Merrick comes closer to you?” Olaf asked.
“Yes actually, I do mind,” Aisling said furiously as she pushed her way out from between the Gryphons. She stalked to the other side of the room, her limp noticeable, but in no way hindering her. She turned around, her back to the wall, and glared at the six men before her. “If any of you goons had bothered to ask me, rather than ambush me, I could have given you the answers you want.” She looked at the Falcorans, who were standing together with matching expressions of shock and chagrin on their faces. “I am not your Arima. If you feel you must sniff me to prove that to yourselves, fine. Do it and get it over with.”
Aisling held one hand out toward Merrick, the other hand on one hip, her green eyes blazing with golden sparks of anger. Merrick glanced at Olaf, uncertain now whether he should approach this fiery woman or not. She was stunning in her outrage and he couldn’t help but admire her. She would certainly make someone a fine Arima. But she was not for them.
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