“Yes, but I need to wait till the other women get here,” Saige said.
“The other women are here,” Clark said as he stepped into the room. “Aisling and Karma just arrived to visit the boys.”
Hope stood up and went to greet Aisling and Karma, giving each woman a hug.
“You remember Saige, don’t you?” she asked.
“Yes, I do,” Karma said, nodding politely at the Lobo’s Arima.
“So do I, of course,” Aisling added. “Nice to see you again, Saige.”
“Thank you,” Saige said as she watched Karma. She noticed that the other woman suddenly appeared nervous, and she knew why.
“I wonder if you men would mind letting us females talk for a bit,” Saige asked.
All of the men looked surprised by her request, but not offended. “Of course,” Jackson said. “We’ll be in the living room if you need anything,” he said to Hope.
A moment later the women were alone and Saige noticed that Karma had relaxed a great deal. Just as she’d hoped.
She quickly told Aisling and Karma about Riata, noting that Karma was not in the least bit surprised or doubtful at being told she had a spirit guide. “The reason I’ve asked you here, is that Riata has messages for all three of you.”
Hope and Aisling both tensed, but Karma merely nodded.
“Don’t worry, it’s nothing bad,” Saige said. “But you already know that, don’t you Karma?”
Karma looked at Saige for a long moment, then shrugged. “Yes, I know that.”
“Can you hear Riata?” Saige asked.
“Yes,” Karma admitted. “I can see her, and hear her.”
“Wow,” Hope said. “You can still do that, huh?”
“Yes. Ever since I spoke with your brother, I’ve been able to talk to people who are no longer living.”
Hope opened her mouth, then shut it with a snap, but Karma knew what she’d been about to say.
“I’m sorry Hope,” she said softly. “I know you’d like to know how Harlan is, but he isn’t here now, nor have I seen him since that day.”
Hope smiled and reached across the table to pat Karma’s hand. “Don’t apologize,” she said. “I shall assume that if you ever have a message for me, you will share it. Meanwhile, I will not hound you about it.”
“Thanks,” Karma said with a relieved smile.
“What are your messages?” Aisling asked Saige.
“I need to give my messages in order,” Saige said. “Hope is first.”
“Great,” Hope said with a grimace.
“Don’t worry so much,” Saige said with a smile. “I think you will actually like this.”
Hope sat up straighter in her chair. “Okay, shoot.”
“Riata says that the true reason for this collection of objects, and the duty of your family for them, has long been lost. It is very important for you, in particular, to know this because of your talent. Most of the items in this box are not yours to read. Attempting to do so would be uncomfortable for you in some cases, dangerous for you in others. Do you understand?”
“Yes, so far, I understand,” Hope said. “Can you tell me what the true reason and duty is?”
“Partly,” Saige said. “Riata says that the objects in this box were entrusted to a very distant ancestress of yours known as the Keeper, who agreed to keep them safe until such time as their true owners, their descendants, needed them. Part of the duty of the Keeper was to know when an object needed to be given, and to whom. Each of these objects were deliberately imbued with something from their original owner. A trait, or a message, something of that nature. It could be dangerous for you to read one of these objects that is specifically meant for another.”
“Is that why my Mother and my Aunt were worried about me reading them?”
“They sensed enough to know, or believe, that it would be unsafe for you to read them, yes. Except for one of them. One object is meant for you.”
“That would be the owl and bear carving, of course,” Hope said.
“Yes,” Saige said. “The question is, can you say which, if any, of the remaining objects belong to Karma or Aisling?”
Hope looked at the objects on the table, testing her feelings. “I think so, yes. What does that mean?”
“It means that you, like your ancestress, are a Keeper,” Saige replied. “You will know when a woman comes to you that is ready to receive an object that you are holding, and which object to give her.”
“Right now, I know that the mobius bracelet belongs to you, Aisling,” Hope said, indicating the delicate golden bangle. It was a flat, narrow band of twisted gold with strange markings carved into it’s surface.
“Yes, I thought so,” Aisling said as she reached for the bracelet. She touched it lightly with one finger, then withdrew her hand.
“What is a mobus bracelet?” Karma asked.
“Mobius,” Aisling corrected without taking her eyes off the bracelet.
“All right, what is a mobius bracelet then?”
“I’ll show you,” Aisling said. She reached for the bracelet, hesitated, then picked it up and handed it to Karma. “Place your finger on the bracelet, then, without lifting your fingertip from the metal, run your finger all the way around it.”
Karma did as Aisling said. “No way,” she said. “Let me try that again.” She repeated the experiment and shook her head, hardly able to believe that she had run her finger in a continuous line all the way around the bracelet, covering both the apparent top and bottom of the flat surface. “That’s just freaky.”
“Freaky?” Aisling asked with amusement.
“Never mind,” Karma said handing the bracelet back to her. “It’s strange okay? Very strange.”
“I was fascinated with this as a child,” Aisling said as she accepted the bracelet from Karma. “My Mother had one that my father had given her as a wedding gift. She used to let me wear it sometimes, on very special occasions.”
“This one is a bit older than that,” Saige said. “This bracelet belongs to you because it belonged to women who were your direct ancestors. It is about three thousand years old, give or take.”
Aisling frowned at Saige as she turned the bracelet over in her hand. “I don’t think so,” she said. “The mobius band was discovered in 1858 by two German mathematicians. Several hundred years old, yes, but not thousands.”
“On Earth, that’s true,” Saige agreed. “But Aisling, some of your ancestors were not from Earth.”
“Ah,” Aisling said softly. “I suppose that would explain a few things, wouldn’t it?”
“Yes,” Saige replied simply.
“Is that all then?” Karma asked, assuming that there was nothing on the table for her. She didn’t believe that she was meant to be an Arima to a Clan Jasani male-set, and her blood test had seemed to back up her feelings on that subject. Therefore, there shouldn’t be anything here for her.
“No, the ankh is for you,” Hope said, pointing at the large lapis object.
Karma stared at the ankh in surprise, then looked up at Hope. “Are you sure?” she asked.
Hope took Karma’s question seriously and spent a moment reexamining her feelings. “Yes, there is no doubt,” she said.
Karma reached for the ankh, hiding her inner confusion. “It’s a strange looking ankh,” she said as she turned it over in her hand. “Looks sort of like it has wings. And this tube thing at the bottom is weird.”
“Yes, that’s what I thought too,” Hope said. “You are familiar with the ankh then?
“Yes,” Karma replied shortly without offering any more information. “You don’t know anything about it? Where it came from or why it’s supposed to be mine?”
“No, I don’t,” Hope replied. “Sorry.”
Karma started to say something, but was distracted when Riata appeared beside her. “I have a message for you, that goes along with the ankh,” she said.
Karma turned to what appeared to everyone else to be an empty space besid
e her, then looked at Saige in surprise, but Saige only shrugged. “I am not able to see or hear Riata unless I go into a trance. She did tell me that she would speak with you, so I assume she is here and that you are able to see her.”
“Yes,” Karma said. She turned back to Riata, struck by the woman’s large, purple eyes and gentle smile. “Who is the message from?” she asked.
Riata smiled and somehow Karma understood that not all questions would receive answers.
“It is known that your friends are very important to you, Karma, and that does you credit,” Riata said, her voice sweet and gentle. “However, your destiny lies apart from Jasan, and the women who have come to mean so much to you.”
Karma stared down at the ankh in her hand, torn between relief that her feelings were not so wrong, and regret at the thought of losing the only true friends she’d made in years. “I suspected as much,” she said so softly that the other women around the table could barely hear her.
“Of course you did,” Riata agreed. “It is most important that you keep this object with you at all times, Karma. Without it, events may not unfold as they are meant to.”
A lot of thoughts went through Karma’s mind, but there were none she wanted to voice in front of everyone. “Thank you, Riata,” she said. “I appreciate you taking the time to give me this message.”
“You are most welcome,” Riata said, bowing to her. When she straightened again she gazed at Karma for a long moment as though trying to make up her mind about something.
“I would ask a favor of you, if you do not mind,” she said.
“Of course,” Karma replied. “You’ve been helpful to all of us, and I am happy to return the favor if I can.”
“You are very kind,” Riata said. “I ask only that you speak with Lady Anne. Tell her of your ability, and consider her request.”
Karma hesitated. “I’m not really comfortable telling others about this new ability,” she admitted. “If this Lady Anne doesn’t do ridicule or laugh at me, then I’m happy to talk to her.”
Riata laughed, a sound like the tinkling of bells that made Karma smile. “Lady Anne will not ridicule you,” she said. “This I promise. I thank you, Karma, and wish you all happiness and blessings in your life, whatever path you choose.”
With that, Riata slowly faded away. When she was gone, Karma suddenly realized that the other women were all staring at her.
“What was that about Lady Anne?” Saige asked curiously.
“Riata asked me to speak with her,” Karma said. “Who is she?”
“She is the Dracons’ mother,” Saige replied, guessing Riata’s reasons, and thankful for them. “If you like, I can arrange a meeting for you this afternoon.”
Karma shrugged. “Sure, if you wouldn’t mind, that would be helpful. I assume that walking up to the Princes’ door and asking for their Mother would be less than appropriate.”
“Not really,” Saige said. “They are not as formal as you might think.”
“I have a feeling that you know why Riata asked me to speak with Lady Anne,” Karma said.
“Yes,” Saige admitted. “I believe I do. But I think it would be best if I follow Riata’s lead in this, and allow you to speak with Lady Anne.”
“Okay,” Karma replied. “Just let me know when and where, and I’ll be there. In the meantime, Hope, do you mind if Ash and I go and visit the boys? We’ve missed the little guys and didn’t get a lot of time with them yesterday.”
“Not at all,” Hope said, rising from the table. “It’s time for them to wake up and be fed now anyway. You two can help change diapers.”
Karma grimaced, but Aisling laughed as they all rose and followed Hope out of the room. Karma slipped the ankh into a pocket of her jacket. She’d known from the moment she’d touched it, before Riata’s warning, that she needed to keep it close to her always. She wished it were a pendant or a belt buckle, something she could wear, but it was too big for that. She’d just have to keep it in her pocket.
Chapter 25
Olaf, Rand and Rudy followed Prince Trey into the Dracons’ study and bowed formally to High Prince Garen. Garen stepped around his desk and clasped Olaf’s forearms in the traditional warrior to warrior greeting as Trey and Val did the same with Rand and Rudy.
“I thank you for agreeing to come so far on such short notice,” Garen said after the greetings were complete and everyone was seated.
“We are always glad to meet with you,” Olaf said. “In truth, we also have information we would like to share with you. But please, you first, Highness.”
“We would not have asked you to come so far, but the news we have is sensitive enough that we decided to refrain from the usual channels and relate it in person only.
“That sounds ominous,” Olaf said.
“Not ominous at all,” Garen said. “On the contrary, it’s very good. And very secret. Mara Winicke contacted us.”
“Isn’t that the woman who disappeared from her home some weeks ago?” Olaf asked.
“Yes, exactly,” Garen said. “She sent a message that she had escaped from the Brethren leader, Stalnek, who had transported her from her home against her will. She asked to be returned to Jasan in exchange for the current location of the Narrasti.”
“That’s exciting, if you can believe her,” Olaf said.
“Rather than return her to Jasan, we gave her the new identity we had originally promised and an increased amount of money in return for the information she offered,” Garen continued. “We have every reason to believe that the information she gave us is valid.”
“Astonishing,” Olaf said. “I agree that this is information that must be guarded at all costs.”
“Yes, it is,” Garen said. “We have only just received this information but we have decided to send a task force to the Narrasti planet, a world known as Onddo. The journey is expected to take months.
“We will be issuing a request for funds soon. This will be a reconnaissance in force, with every possible asset we can muster.”
“Of course,” Olaf said. “We will inform our Clan at once to begin readying the appropriate documents and transfer of funds so that they will be available without delay when needed.”
“Thank you, Olaf,” Prince Garen said. “That will be most appreciated. As always, we knew we could count on Clan Gryphon to make things as easy as possible. Now, what is it that you wanted to discuss with us?”
“There are a number of matters,” Olaf said. “To begin, the most interesting thing that Aisling came across in the Xanti documentation is something called an oraculum, which she believes is much the same as a prophecy. So far she has been unable to translate it. She believes that it may be extremely important and continues to work on it. Aside from that, there is nothing of real interest to report aside from a few possible slave compound locations.”
“Yes, Elder Vulpiran informed us of those,” Garen replied. “We have already given that information to the Katres. They plan to leave in a couple of days to begin checking them.”
“We were given to understand that Doc would be going with them, but we did not know their destination,” Olaf said.
“Are you in need of Doc?” Prince Garen asked.
“Yes,” Olaf replied. “He has already consented to correct Aisling’s back tomorrow morning. Afterward he will put her in a healing tank which we will transfer to the Kontuan.”
“May I ask, where are you going?” Prince Garen asked.
“That’s the other issue we wanted to discuss with you,” Olaf said. “I would explain before answering your question, if you don’t mind.”
“Not at all,” Garen said.
Olaf told the Dracons Aisling’s story. He told them about her parents’ work on Welfare ships, about her father’s research on the Xanti and the many hidden groups of refugees, and that Urwin had stolen that data. He told them about the crimes Urwin had committed against Aisling’s family, as well as other women. He told them that Aisling was truly a bounty h
unter in disguise, and why the Xanti were after her. And he told them their belief that Urwin was on a Class D planet, and their intention to go after him.
When he was finished he sat back in his seat and waited for the Princes to assimilate all that he had said.
“I have some questions,” Garen said after a few moments. “To begin, may I ask if Aisling is willing to share her father’s research if she should recover it? It may be very helpful to all of us in the Thousand Worlds.”
“She is,” Olaf said. “She wants the data to be given to all of those who can best make use of it. She thinks, and we agree, that the more who have it, the better.”
“I agree,” Garen said. “I understand Aisling’s reason for wanting to go after this Urwin fellow, but I admit, I am not clear on why you wish to accompany her. If it is to assist her in recovering her father’s research, we would be glad to send several seasoned warriors with her.”
“We appreciate your offer, Highness, but we must decline it. We will accompany Aisling in this matter, and any other. We love her,” Olaf said. “She is the woman we have dreamed of since we were old enough to dream.”
“She is not your Arima?” Garen asked.
“No, she is not,” Olaf said. “She senses us, our emotions, our presence, as an Arima would. And we sense her in the same way, though not as strongly.”
“Much time has passed since the destruction of our home world,” Garen said thoughtfully “Many things have changed. Even the number of times we use our mating fangs, and what the serum does, has changed. Who is to say that there won’t be a few hiccups here and there? If you love her and she loves you, then nothing else matters.”
“We worried that she might be destined to belong to another male-set,” Olaf said.
“I have no more knowledge of this than you do, old friend,” Garen said. “Still, I doubt there is another male-set out there for her,” Garen said. “From what you have told us, I think it’s more than possible she is meant to be your Arima. Why else would you have dreamed of her for so long?”
“You accept it much easier than we did,” Olaf said.
“We have learned that real life does not always follow our rules,” Garen said. “Oftentimes, it doesn’t follow any rules at all. When that happens, you must take risks you wouldn’t normally consider. You have to accept things as they are, not as you want or expect them to be.”
Laura Jo Phillips Page 20