Desert Rose

by Marie Brown

you."

  How. . . shocking, Lorrine thought, releasing her hold reluctantly. She'd just assumed they'd love each other right here, out in the open, with the added excitement of wondering if someone would walk in on them. That was what Derfek would have done. But maybe, just maybe, Lorrine liked the notion of keeping their loving private. Maybe she didn't want anybody else to see her beautiful Kama. In fact, now that she thought of it, what a rat bastard! Derfek had wanted to show other people their most private moments!

  "Let's get moving, then," she said, covering over her inner snarl with a smile. "There's still time before dinner."

  "Lorrine!" Kama laughed as she rinsed soap out of her hair. "You're insatiable! Are you trying to make up for lost time?"

  "Of course! And I know, I've got a lot of making up to do."

  "Yes, you do indeed."

  They finished cleaning up. Lorrine gave her clothes a dirty look.

  "Here."

  Kama tossed a fabric bundle at her that opened out into a loose robe.

  "Kama! Oh, how wonderful! Where'd this come from?"

  "My pack." Kama grinned at her reaction.

  Lorrine slipped into the robe and looked around the bathhouse. If this were like most Ancient sites, there should be a. . . Yes, there it was. A clothes washing sink. She grinned.

  "I'm going to clean these stinking clothes. You want to hang out with me, tell me how you came to be such an experienced traveler?"

  Kama's face clouded. "We've known each other for years, without you asking about that, until today. That's twice now. Suffice it to say I spent a lot of time on the road, journeying from the top of the world to the bottom of it, okay? I don't like talking about that time."

  "Sorry." Lorrine got busy with her shirt and socks. Not much she could do about the leather, because she couldn't see any leather conditioner here, but the other stuff would certainly benefit from a good scrubbing.

  "So, if it's not too taboo a subject, why don't you tell me what you've done the last two years?"

  Lorrine made a face. "Well, most of that time, I was enchanted. Looking back on it now, a lot of it is very blurry, and what I do remember really pisses me off. Because it seems I spent almost that entire time just not thinking."

  "What do you remember?"

  Lorrine blushed. "Erm. . . sex. Lots of it. It seems that was really the only thing worth remembering, although I know there was other stuff as well. Like Derfek conning people out of money. I remember that, a little bit, and I remember thinking it was wrong, but I never did anything about it. Any time I questioned him, or did anything he didn't like, he'd just tug on that amulet of his and I'd go back to basically worshiping him and wanting more sex."

  "Well, that certainly doesn't sound fun. How did you break free of the enchantment?"

  Lorrine's blush cooled instantly. If she'd had a light skin, like Kama, it'd be chalk white after hearing those words. "I killed him," she said, very softly, barely able to get the words out. "It was an accident. He'd given me something to hold, told me it was a boom-rod. And we were running for our lives, chased by angry Dargasi warriors, including my uncle. Because Derfek had used the power of his amulet to seduce Uncle Ranam's wife. And of course Ranam was going to kill him for it. Derfek was riding my horse, I'd gotten up on my uncle's, and they were shooting at us. An arrow grazed Derfek's neck and cut through the amulet's thong. It fell away, and so did the enchantment, and I was suddenly furious. He hadn't treated me all that well, he'd slept with damn near every woman we saw, and he'd made me like it all. Asshole. He'd even made me into a horse thief, because the animal I rode damn sure wasn't mine. So I took out that boom-rod and fired it at him. It should have made a loud noise, scared his horse, got him bucked off or whatever. But. . . it wasn't a boom-rod."

  Lorrine closed her eyes, but it didn't help. She could still see the fireball all too clearly. So she looked at Kama's tunic instead, noting the pretty turquoise color and the fine weave. And of course, delicate floral embroidery around the yoke.

  "It shot a fireball," she continued. Kama made a startled sound. "And he died. Screaming horribly. The horses ran away, although someone caught them and brought them back. And then my uncle told me it was an accident, but a good one, because I'd killed him far quicker and nicer than the men would have."

  She stopped talking, feeling a tiny bit better for getting the secret out into the open. While she'd told the story, she'd scrubbed her shirt and socks into submission, and rinsed them out now, while Kama rubbed her shoulders with one hand.

  "What a horrible thing to happen," she said. "I'm very glad you're free of him and his control over you, but I am quite sorry it happened that way."

  "So am I. But there's not much I can do about it. It shouldn't happen again, I left that damned weapon with my people. I left the horse, too, because too many memories were attached to it. Not good ones, either. I do kind of miss the horse, though. His legs didn't get as tired as mine do."

  "Or if they did, you couldn't feel it," Kama chuckled. "If you really want a horse, we can probably get some. I'm not sure how much they cost, and you'll have to show me how to ride, but I've got a good bit of money with us."

  "Nah, not just yet. Maybe someday. But now, we're likely to get to that underground place by tomorrow night. The Shrouded One-"

  "Mother," Kama interrupted firmly. "Call her the Mother. No one is to know of her involvement with the school."

  "The Mother, then. She said your people came from that place. What did she mean?"

  "Ancestors. Not my real people. I guess I'm a descendant of some really unpleasant folk that used to live in the place you found. Can we talk about something else now?"

  Lorrine chuckled. "Neither one of us has a great pride in our ancestry, it seems. Fine. Um. . . How about the weather?"

  Kama laughed loudly, the kind of purely happy sound she hadn't made in nearly two annums. She laughed so hard, in fact, that her eyes watered a bit.

  Lorrine watched her lover having a ridiculously strong overload of amusement at a silly comment, wondering why, as she wrung her clothing out and hung it up to dry.

  "You," Kama said, getting herself back under control, "you are just too much. I always knew there was a reason I loved you."

  "Oh? And what reason is that?" Hands free of clothing, Lorrine slipped her hand into Kama's and they walked out of the bathhouse.

  "You can always manage to make me laugh."

  "I'll take that as a good thing."

  "It is. Believe me, it is. I'd rather laugh than cry any day. Although, you did make me do more of that than anyone should ever have to. . . "

  "Sorry. Weren't we going to switch to a less miserable topic, not a more uncomfortable one?"

  "Yes, indeed we were."

  But Kama stayed quiet as they walked together back to the inn. Lorrine let her, content simply to hold Kama's hand and enjoy the westering sun.

  "I wonder what they're serving for dinner?" Kama asked, as they entered the inn.

  "Let's find out."

  Roasted bird of some sort, as it turned out. They had a pleasant meal, then sought out the small room they'd rented. Then, in privacy, then Kama let Lorrine undress her and pull her right into the bed.

  Underground

  "So this is it?"

  Kama gave the green iron door a dubious look.

  "Yes, this is it," Lorrine confirmed. The door loomed larger than she remembered. But then, she'd not really seen it in daylight. It stood easily tall enough to get a horse and rider through. "I was barely able to get it closed before the geas grabbed me. Are you ready to go in?"

  Kama looked at the sun, riding high overhead. "Well, I can't protest that it's too close to night. Sure. Might as well get this over with."

  She dug into her pack and removed two lightsticks, handing one to Lorrine.

  "Is there anything you don't carry in there?"

  "My courage." She gave the door another look, then transferred her apprehensive gaze to Lorrine. "Will you keep me s
afe in there?"

  Lorrine smiled. "Of course. To the best of my ability, limited though it is."

  Then she opened the bolt, wondering about the bar mentioned by the Mother. There it lay, with a scraggly weed covering a good part of it, cast off to the side. But why would the thing be needed at all, if the bolt were shot?

  Kama stepped very close to her, lightstick outstretched, and they moved together into the murky darkness.

  Lorrine left the door open this time, because the sun shone bright in a perfect blue autumn sky. No miserable rainstorm to keep out today. The sunlight extended into the tunnel for maybe two horselengths before it faded into nothingness. Their little lightsticks didn't do much to combat the dark, but they did produce a little bubble of light, allowing the two women to move into the dark corridor with some confidence.

  "I'm surprised the shadows aren't here yet," Lorrine said. She felt really nervous, complete with sweating palms and roiling guts, but she wasn't about to show it. Not with Kama so clearly on edge.

  "Maybe they're nocturnal?"

  "Maybe. It was early morning when they spoke to me before, very early morning. Maybe they like the dawn?"

  They crept forward, following the wide tunnel, clinging to each other. The tunnel widened a bit, then a bit more.

  "I smell water," Lorrine said.

  "The Mother said there was a lake down here."

  "You sound scared. Don't be. It's not that bad here."

  "Easy for you to say. You can't hear the chattering, can you?"

  "The what?" Lorrine started to question Kama, then got distracted by the abrupt end of the tunnel. The glow from