Wulfston's odyssey se-6

by Jean Lorrah

  “Did we… drive out Z’Nelia?”

  “I’m not sure. She’s in a coma, and I’m not ready right now to Read her that deeply.”

  That had to wait for the next day. Today they healed themselves once more. Lenardo and Wulfston ate, then went to their own rooms to sleep. They rested comfortably, for the news from the battlefield was good: the Karili allies had sent the Savishnon into retreat once again, and if the followers of the war god could never be persuaded to change their ways, at least their numbers had been decimated. There would be a few years of peace.

  But under whose rule?

  In the morning, Wulfston found that their problems were far from resolved.

  Norgu was no longer an immediate threat. Tadisha, Ashuru, and Barak escorted back to the castle a living, unharmed body… with a mind that seemed to comprehend less than Chaiku’s.

  The trauma Norgu had suffered when his mother took her revenge at the dream-volcano had erased his knowledge and memories, leaving him a hulking, helpless infant. Ashuru and Lenardo found no injury to his intelligence; he began immediately relearning, and within a few days could already babble a few words. He was still completely self-centered, but it was normal for his apparent stage of infancy. Perhaps this time, if he grew up under the proper supervision, he would mature in character as well as intelligence and powers.

  Chulaika was another matter. Lenardo and Ashuru spent hours beside her comatose body, trying to reach her mind. Eventually they discovered something quite unexpected.

  “It’s as if Z’Nelia and Chulaika are uniting to form one individual!” Ashuru explained.

  “When Norgu thrust them together into that maelstrom of destruction,” Lenardo speculated, “they were forced to depend on each other, or they would have been as devastated by it as he was.”

  “Do you think they can integrate?” Wulfston asked. “Can you help them?”

  “We’re trying,” said Ashuru. “Only time will tell if a person capable of ruling the Zionae will emerge.”

  But time was something they did not have. Neither the Zionae nor the Warimu had a leader. If they did not settle those people’s fears soon, some of them would try to assume leadership, creating civil war.

  Lenardo gave Wulfston a grim smile. “You know what you have to do. You and Aradia taught me, remember?”

  Aradia had tested Lenardos mettle by throwing him to the wolves-giving him a conquered land to rule, alone. And the Lord Reader had succeeded far beyond Wulfstons expectations. He had never discovered whether it had been beyond Aradias.

  Much as it disturbed him, Wulfston recognized that Lenardo was right: someone had to take command, and Wulfston was the logical candidate.

  The Zionae and the Warimu were accustomed to being ruled by strength. Only a powerful leader could unite them to the Karili Assembly. And with Z’Nelia/Chulaika in coma and Norgu reduced to mental infancy, Wulfston was the only leader available with the Mover’s powers they respected.

  So, before any minor leader decided to make his move, Ashuru called the Karili Assembly into session in the audience chamber of the palace of Djahat. But she did not take the throne; rather, she took center place in the Assembly, who faced the throne as visiting dignitaries.

  The officers of the Zionae and Warimu armies were also the chieftains of their towns and villages.

  Wulfston invited them into the audience chamber. When all were assembled, he made his entrance, dressed in the richest garments they could find in the palace, including a golden crown. Lenardo walked beside him, similarly attired. Thus they declared themselves the equals of the kings of the African nations.

  Wulfston took the throne, to a mutter of astonishment. Lenardo stood at his side. Neither man was armed, nor was Barak, who stepped forward to flank Wulfston on the opposite side.

  Wulfston waited until the whispers died into hushed expectancy. “Most of you do not know me,” he said,

  “but you know who I am: Lord Wulfston of the Savage Empire. This is Lord Lenardo, Master Reader-the greatest Seer among our people. He is also my brother-my sister’s husband-and the reason I am in Africa.

  “When Lenardo was kidnapped and brought to Africa, I was forced to come here, and became involved in your wars with one another and the Zionae. Here I discovered that I am Zionae. My ancestors built this palace, and ruled these very lands.

  “My grandmother was Katalia, who was murdered by her nephew Desak, the father of Z’Nelia and Chulaika. I am their cousin, and Norgu’s one generation removed. Z’Nelia is dead, and her sister Chulaika is in coma. Norgu is incapacitated, and Chulaika’s son Chaiku is only three years old.

  “Therefor, by right of blood and conquest, I am now the ruler of these lands.”

  In the silent, sullen hush, Barak stepped forward. “I Verify what Lord Wulfston has told you of his ancestry, by my Grioka’s powers.”

  People looked at one another uneasily. To most of them, Wulfston was an unknown quantity.

  One of the Warimu chiefs stepped forward. “Are you not the Lord of the Black Wolf, reports of whose conquests have come to us from the lands across the Northern Sea?”

  “I am,” Wulfston agreed, squashing his feelings of irony that at last that song was doing him some positive good in Africa.

  “You led the assault on the castle,” said one of the Zionae officers. “Your Mover’s powers destroyed more than a hundred of our best men.”

  “If Z’Nelia had not captured Lenardo, I would have had no reason to enter the castle,” Wulfston reminded him.

  “Nor,” he added, sensing that he had their attention and growing respect, “do I want to rule the lands of the Zionae or the Warimu.”

  There was a murmur of disbelief. Wulfston let it fade before he continued. “I have lands and peoples of my own, to whom I have responsibilities. I cannot stay in Africa. However, I have incurred obligations here by my actions, and discovered obligations of kinship. Therefor, I appoint as my regent in Africa Queen Ashuru of the Karili.”

  All eyes turned to the Karili queen, who stood wrapped in dignity, waiting for the protest to be voiced.

  It was. “Ashuru is a Seer, not a Mover,” the Zionae officer pointed out. “She has no powers with which to battle our enemies.”

  “Powers do not make great leaders,” Wulfston replied. “The greatest enemy you have faced is the Savishnon. Z’Nelia defeated them with her Mover’s powers, but almost destroyed herself in the process.

  And all that happened was that the Savishnon regrouped and came back four years later.

  “You were all in the most recent battle. How were the Savishnon defeated this time? Not by Movers’

  powers, but by you, the combined armies of the Zionae, the Warimu, the Karili, and the members of the Assembly.

  ” There is your secret of peace and safety,” Wulfston explained. “It lies in unity, in alliances between peaceful nations, standing together against those who spend their energies in mindless conquest.

  “The Karili Assembly drove the Savishnon from their lands by uniting in a common cause. Queen Ashuru brought them together, and has led them successfully through this test of their union. I trust her as my regent, and you will soon grow to trust her when you prosper under her rule.”

  He did not mention the problem of Chulaika/Z’Nelia. Chulaika’s body still lay in coma, both sisters’

  mental presences within it, slowly integrating as if they might eventually become one person.

  Lenardo kept his agreement to help Ashuru. Each day they spent hours in rapport with the twin minds, attempting to help them integrate.

  Wulfston spent the time at first in a futile attempt to arrange a peace conference with the Savishnon leaders. They would not even discuss it. Savishna, he learned, mandated war and conquest until the whole world was under the rule of the war god, at which time the world would end and all who had fought gloriously in the cause would be united with Savishna for an eternity of celebration.

  Followers of the weak, peaceful Shangonu
, he was told, would be destroyed.

  There was no foundation on which to make a truce, let alone a lasting peace. The Savishnon would lick their wounds, regroup, and attack again. And they would probably continue to do so until the last one of them died.

  It was incomprehensible to him how anyone could think as the Savishnon did, so in the end he could only console himself with the idea that strengthening the Karili Assembly meant that the Savishnon would have enough to occupy them in Africa for the next few generations, and would not set out across the sea to attack his friends or his descendants.

  Thinking of descendants, though, always brought his thoughts to Tadisha. Some days she worked with her mother and Lenardo, attempting to integrate Z’Nelia and Chulaika, but on others she stood as her mother’s representative, reminding Wulfston that she would be Queen of the Karili one day, and that meant she would live out her life in Africa.

  He didn’t want Tadisha to stay in Africa; he wanted to take her home as his wife, And she wanted him to stay here and rule.

  Both were impossible.

  Still, they could not resist having what time they could together. One evening they stood on the parapets, watching the sun set in red and gold splendor. Tadisha had worked with Lenardo and Ashuru that day, and was mentally but not physically tired.

  “Lord Lenardo is teaching me so much,” she said. “But it is frustrating.”

  “How so?”

  “Z’Nelia resists the final integration with Chulaika. Yet once that is achieved, Lenardo’s obligation will be fulfilled, and you and he will leave.”

  Wulfston had no answer to that. It was true.

  Tadisha was silent for a moment, then said, “I once hoped to persuade you to stay with me.”

  “I know.”

  “Do you know when I knew it was impossible?” she asked.

  “No.”

  “When we rescued Lenardo. He was so weak after Z’Nelia’s torture-we might as well put the right name to what she did to him. I have seen it in his mind, things he would not tell you… but I think you knew anyway.”

  “I know Lenardo,” he replied.

  “Yes,” she said softly, “just as I knew when Kamas was trying to hide the pain of his broken arm. That was when I Saw it, Wulfston. Lenardo is as much your brother as Kamas is mine. You had told me that your ties were to your family in the Savage Empire, but the first time I saw you and Lenardo together was the first time I understood in my heart that your bonds of love are as strong as bonds of blood.”

  “Tadisha,” he said gently, “you must know how that can be. Every true marriage is such a bond of love.

  Every adoption of a child,” he added, thinking of the way Chaiku had taken to Ashuru. “You may have a new little brother if you cannot bring Chulaika out of her coma, or if she recovers, but cannot care for Chaiku.”

  ‘I know,” said Tadisha. “But I already have a brother who is almost a grown man. Kamas proved himself in battle and now he stands in for Mother on the days I am in the rapport.”

  She was closed against Reading. Wulfston looked into her face in the fading light, trying to tell if she was offering him hope. He was afraid to take it, afraid to expose his heart to the disappointment of mistaking her meaning.

  “Your mother once said you could learn a great deal from our Master Readers,” he suggested.

  She turned toward him with a smile. “Yes. And what would be better for the Karili than an alliance with the famous Lord of the Black Wolf?”

  “Tadisha!” At last he dared to take her in his arms, to kiss her, to hold her close. He needed the reality of her slender form against him to believe it was possible-

  “Wulfston?” she whispered against his cheek.

  “Yes?”

  “Will you marry me?”

  He laughed. “I will if you will marry me!” he told her. “You will be welcome in my lands, Tadisha. And, although the journey is long, you will see your home again, and surely your family will visit us.”

  She hugged him tightly. “I think Mother knows, but I will go now and tell her officially.” Then she slipped from his arms and was gone, leaving him breathless in the cool night air, fearing that Ashuru might forbid it, knowing that she had no reason except to lose her only daughter to the lord of a far-distant land.

  Ashuru did not leave him in trepidation for long. By the time he descended the tower stairs, a servant was there to request that he attend the Karili queen in her chambers.

  He felt once more that he faced the lion in her den.

  Ashuru was seated, flanked by Tadisha and Kamas, all three closed to Reading. “Lord of the Black Wolf, you ask for my daughter in marriage?”

  “I do,” he replied, “and offer the Karili nation both the assurance of support in time of need, and trade in time of prosperity. Like you, Queen Ashuru, I speak for several nations joined in an alliance. I can offer your Seers the knowledge of our Master Readers. You may send your Seers to train in our Academies, and we will send our Readers to share their knowledge, and learn from you.”

  She waved that aside. “But what do you offer my daughter?”

  “My hand, my throne… my heart,” he replied simply.

  “Tadisha, will you then renounce your claims as my heir to your brother Kamas?”

  “Yes, Mother, gladly,” Tadisha replied.

  “Very well,” Ashuru replied, still the majestic lioness. “Lord Wulfston, you arrived in our lands with nothing, and have proved yourself a valuable ally. Lord Lenardo has shown me how much our Seers could learn from your Readers. A union with your Savage Empire will provide us with much of value.

  And I believe that despite your lineage, you can be trusted to treat my daughter with love and respect.”

  “I promise that, Queen Ashuru.”

  “However,” she continued, “I must make one condition: you must fulfill an obligation of blood.”

  “An… obligation of blood?”

  “Your cousin Norgu.”

  “Norgu? What about him?”

  “Lord Lenardo believes that the Master Readers in your Savage Empire could help Norgu to regain his mental capacities. But along with his mental growth, his great powers as a Mover will return. If he does not have the right guidance, he will grow again into the dangerous, spiteful, selfish man we saw here. A Seer cannot discipline a Mover of such strength. Norgu must be raised by a powerful Mover-a man like his father who might have turned him into a true leader. But Matu’s death left no one with both the power and the wisdom to teach Norgu. You saw the result.”

  “I saw it,” Wulfston replied, his mouth dry. She couldn’t mean…?

  She did.

  “The condition I place upon your marriage to Tadisha is that you take Norgu as your ward. You are a Lord Adept, a powerful Mover with the strength to control him. You control your powers; you do not let them control you. Teach this to Norgu, Lord Wulfston. Bring him to manhood again and return him to us as wise and capable a leader as you are yourself. Give me this promise, and you may have my daughter as your wife.”

  He looked at Tadisha, seeing hope and fear mingled in her eyes. Norgu, his ward? To accept the task of teaching him to act responsibly?

  But if he refused, he lost Tadisha!

  “I… cannot guarantee the result,” he said finally, “but I will accept the task, Queen Ashuru. I will do my best to turn Norgu into a capable, responsible adult.”

  Ashuru smiled. Tadisha absolutely glowed. Kamas grinned at him.

  Then Ashuru stood, holding out her arms. “Then welcome to our family, son!”

  There were hugs all around. Kamas said, “I’ve always wanted a brother! But by taking Tadisha away, you’re certainly giving me a job.”

  “Want to trade?” he suggested. “You take Norgu, and I’ll take the Karili.”

  Kamas laughed. “No, I think I got the better bargain.”

  “You’re wrong,” Wulfston replied, standing now with his arm around Tadisha’s waist, “no matter what she costs, Tadisha i
s the best bargain of all!”

  He left Tadisha and her family to make wedding plans, and went to tell Lenardo.

  “I wondered how long it would take the two of you to figure out that you were meant for one another,”

  Lenardo told him with a grin. “Congratulations! I needed some good news.”

  “Why? Is there something wrong that I don’t know about?”

  “We’ve hit a block in the reintegration of Z’Nelia and Chulaika. Z’Nelia is hiding something behind a barrier so strong that to break it would be to destroy her mind, and probably Chulaika’s as well.”

  “What can you do?” Wulfston asked.

  “I don’t know. In my training at Gaeta I Read a patient with a similar block. He had been there for months, in a coma, just like Chulaika. The Healers could not get through it. And while I was still there the man died; his body just wasted away because we could not reunite his mind to it.”

  “And you didn’t have Adepts to strengthen his body. At least Aradia and I were able to keep Nerius alive until you came to help us rid his brain of that tumor we could not Read. Is there any way I can help you with Chulaika, Lenardo?”

  “I don’t see how,” the Master Reader replied. “But it cant hurt your training as a Reader to get more experience, so why don’t you join us in the rapport tomorrow?” He laughed. “Your Reader’s training is all upside-down, Wulfston! We’ve never worked on the most basic lessons, and you’ve plunged right into healing sick minds.”

  “Well, I’ll leave Norgu’s mind to you, if you don’t mind,” Wulfston told him. “But yes, I’d like to Read what you do to try to help Chulaika.”

  So the next day Wulfston joined Lenardo in the rapport. Ashuru was content to beg off, as she had a royal wedding to plan.

  Wulfston didn’t know quite what he expected, but it wasn’t the calm, peaceful emptiness he found when he followed Lenardo into the mental landscape now inhabited by Chulaika/Z’Nelia. There was no volcano now; no battling figures wrestled to the death. Instead, there was something like a long, empty corridor, featureless, disappearing into nothingness in the distance.

  Slowly, Wulfston became aware that the disorientation he felt came from the fact that there were really two corridors occupying the same space, not quite overlapping perfectly. In the physical world, that would make no sense. Here, he understood that the corridors were the twin sisters’ lives from past to future, merging together to form one personality that would not be either of them, but a new person formed from all the past experiences of both.