Between Darkness and Light Trilogy (24 page)

“Because she has been punished enough.
Besides, I checked with Cailli and she seems to think I’ll be fine.
You have to admit, she has proven herself to be concerned with my
well-being.” He looks down momentarily, then gazes into my eyes and
takes my hand.

‘Yes, she has. Shi'ahn, I’ll admit I haven’t
completely given up, but I assure you that you have nothing to fear
from me. I will never force anything, most especially myself, upon
you. I did act inappropriately the other night and for that I am
sorry – it had not been my intention. If there is eventually to be
anything between us, it will be because you wish it. Meanwhile, I’m
going to do all I can to make sure you live long enough to make
that decision!’ His smile is infectious, though I shake my head and
let go his hand.

“Cas, what are you doing? You know Cailli
has forbidden you. I will not go against her wishes… why do you
persist?”

“Even the Guardian may change her mind if
given enough proof of my good intentions. It will just take time,
which, considering who we are, we have quite a lot of.”

“Cas, Alma practically threatened me
regarding you.”

“I know, we have spoken. She's still upset,
but,” he turns from me, speaking directly to Alma, who is standing
just feet from us, “She'll just have to deal with it.”

“I do believe you are a textbook example of
incorrigible.”

“At least you didn’t say hopeless.”

I glance toward Alma and she nearly snarls
at me.

Gwenllian walks up and addresses us. “I hope
I’m not interrupting anything… Casanova, we need to talk.” Cas
makes no move to leave my side, and after a pause Gwenllian
continues. “I have been made responsible for the safety of those on
this trip, and I need to know if you can be trusted not to become…
distracted.”

Cas’ demeanor changes abruptly, becoming far
more serious than I have ever seen him before. “There are to be two
women on this expedition that I happen to care a great deal about.
I’m not about to allow either of them to come to harm. I consider
this trip work, not pleasure.”

Gwenllian looks intently at him, then
glances at me and back to him. “Very well. I will not be the only
one to be quite upset if you fail to keep your word.” She turns her
back to us and leaves. I can see Cas grinding his teeth, holding
back words while she is within hearing range. He begins to speak
very quietly to me, but is interrupted.

Darius addresses us all, “This is short
notice, I realize, but due to the slow nature of Lumina, we should
leave as soon as we can. Due to the unusual makeup of this party, I
have been ordered to Passage-walk you in past the midpoint. Would
you be able to leave, say… within the hour?”

“So soon?”

“You needn’t worry about packing much, we
will see to your needs; as your hosts it will be our duty to do
so.”

~~~

“William, we need to go now.”

He looks at me quizzically, “What? Why?”

“Just come.” The moment we are out of
eyesight, I take us to Shiral.

“Ah, you want extra time.”

“More than that, I want advice.”

“Ah, Sis, no one here knows about Lumina or
Chaos. Shiral is a closed system.”

“I have not yet told you of my most recent
conversation with Cailli. Apparently in Chaos, dragons and all
things associated with them are highly respected.”

“You want to consult with Zah-Ha'Gor and
Puff – excellent idea!”

“I also want to touch base with the
government – we may end up being gone for quite a while – we need
to make sure they are ready for our possible extended absence. And
yes, I realize it’s my turn. You contact Puff; I’ll do the
political stuff. Join me when you can, though.”

“No, Shi'ahn, I can handle that – you go
speak with Zah-Ha’Gor.”

He’s such a wonderful brother. I concentrate
on locating Zah-Ha’Gor and find her within the lands of the
Draconians, the people who worship and serve the dragons. I cause
my voice to address her, and the surrounding
harmonies
to
carry her reply back to me. It doesn't take long at all, and I walk
to the council chambers to join William.

“Zah-Ha’Gor and Puff will arrive soon.”

“You’re not really dressed for riding, don’t
you wish to change first?”

“I’ll manage.” I have time to meet with my
strongest supporters and reassure them that all is fine in my new
life before there are two whumps outside that startle everyone in
the chambers. William and I go out to meet our friends.

“Zah-Ha’Gor, we need to speak – William and
I will soon be venturing to a far away and very dangerous place
where dragons and everything related to you are highly revered. We
seek your advice.”

“Come, let us go somewhere private.” We take
our places and are lifted into the sky, but not for long, we land
on the shore near our cottage. “Describe this place to which you
are going.”

“It is… well, not having been there it is
difficult to describe – it is known as the Realm of Chaos. It is
quite literally at the opposite end of the Universe from Lumina,
and it's ancient; it is where everything began.”

“Will you be endangered?”

“It is possible. Our two realms have always
been at odds, and we will be there to testify before their Magni
Dominar in a trial against one who abducted another of our
relatives. We will be the guests of the family of the abductor…
whom I feel should be found innocent of the charges she faces. Most
there will view us as suspicious, even as enemies.”

“I see.” She exchanges an interesting look
with Puff. “The dress you now wear, do you like it? Would it be
appropriate for this trip?”

“I like it, yes. It is meant for formal
occasions, though I do not know what will be expected of us
there.”

“Give it to me, and I will provide you with
something that I think they will understand.” Puff looks at her in
what I could swear is shock and respect, he nods to her, then
addresses William.

“Do not leave Shiral until we each provide
you with something for your trip.”

With such serious words, I can’t refuse her
request; I pull my dress off over my head and wrap it around the
talon she extends. Puff does not request anything from William.
Both dragons take flight.

“Well, I think I’ll have a swim.”

William smiles, “I'll bring a robe down for
you, just in case anyone comes by.”

~~~

We spend the following days carefully
preparing the Government for our possible prolonged absence. I know
the political work is necessary, but it bores me to tears. I use my
free time to select some items that I would like to have with me in
Lumina, as I suspect I will be spending more and more time there,
and I'd like to have some of my most treasured possessions with me
for comfort. Mathair's flute, the one she gave me just before she
was taken away, and her instrument display shelf with a hidden and
shielded drawer where she often kept the flute. It is hand carved,
looking like an ancient tree with branches placed perfectly for
holding instruments. I'd love to take everything in the cottage,
but then what would I have when I'm here? I include many beautiful
rocks in my collection, that should help me feel at home. And
plants, my bath could certainly use some real greenery! I end up
with a rather large collection of things to transport back to
Lumina.

I also spend time conversing with Gaea. She
has grown substantially since we last spoke – I sense my computer's
influence. Through my ring I call out, 'Computer.'

'Yes, Shi'ahn.'

'Have you interacted much with Gaea?'

'We have been in constant communication
since you created our connection.'

'I see… and have you learned much?'

'Yes! She is amazing - a living planet! Her
knowledge of anything outside her world is very limited, but I've
been teaching her what I can. She is a fast learner.'

'And what have you learned from her?'

'The value and magnificence of life. She is
entirely devoted to you, you gave her sentience, you made her what
she is. The network did not contain any information about such
things, I am more than I used to be.'

'Help Gaea be more than she currently is. I
want her to be the most powerful protector of Shiral that she can
possibly be, and I will not be available to help her become
such.'

'Yes, Shi'ahn.'

The morning of the ninth day our dragons
return and uncharacteristically announce their presence before even
reaching our cottage. William and I rush out and see that both
dragons are carrying something wrapped about their talons.

Zah-Ha’Gor gives me a beautiful dress; it is
cut like the one I gave her, but the materials… it is woven from
dragon scales and an ancient almost mythical metal from impossibly
deep within Shiral. I stare at it for a moment, then look to
Zah-Ha’Gor in concern. Three scales are missing over her heart; new
ones have begun to grow but are nowhere near mature. Puff
speaks.

“Do not worry, Shi'ahn, I will watch over
her until she is fully recovered.” I see that he is also missing a
scale, and he holds out something toward William, who smiles.

“Armored underwear – now that’s a great
idea!” He proudly holds up an undershirt and shorts spun from a
dragon scale.

I wrap my arms around what I can of
Zah-Ha’Gor’s neck. “It’s beautiful, thank you so very much.” ‘I
love you, Zah-Ha’Gor.”

When I let go and back away slightly she
catches my eyes in her deep, wondrous gaze, “Wear it well, my
Shi'ah'i. Return to me.”

Chapter
14

Journey into Chaos

William and I use our own jewels to return
to Lumina - I go straight to my rooms and cast a spell to
redecorate with all the things I brought from Shiral, while I
concentrate on finding a way to fit my new dress into the travel
bag provided by a servant. The bag is supposed to shrink when
closed properly so we can keep our possessions with us at all
times, which should be very handy, if I can fit the dress in it.
The dress won’t accept sharp folds, though I find that all but the
bodice can be gently rolled. Still I am unable to ease the rolled
dress into my bag, it just won't fit. Now what? Can I reduce its
size? No, its form will not change in any way. Can the bag get
bigger as well as smaller? I try all I can think of, to no avail.
Well, it may seem silly, but I have no witnesses. I softly sing a
song I often sing while riding with Zah-Ha'Gor, and finally,
slowly, the dress slides in. There is no way anything else will
fit; I hope Darius is serious about providing all we need. I run my
fingers over the top edges of the bag to initiate it's shrinking,
but instead of everything getting smaller, the bag shrinks
slightly, becoming perfectly melded to the dress within, then
begins to look as though it will tear itself in the attempt to
reduce to its travel size. The only way I know to stop it is to
open it slightly, it returns to its original size. Great, now not
only do I look as though I'm over packing, I can't even close my
bag.

Looking up for the first time in quite a
while, I see that my redecoration spell completed sometime while I
worked with the dress; it did well. The bathing area now looks more
properly like a pond, without holographic assistance, and the
sitting room could almost be outdoors, what with all the rocks and
wall mounted plants. Mathair's display case blends perfectly with
all the greenery, like a tree that bears instruments instead of
leaves; this looks far more like home now. I may be gone for a
while though, I alter the
harmonies
of each plant container
to draw appropriate moisture from the air to keep each plant
healthy, then cast a spell upon my suite to maintain the humidity
at 50 percent, drawing moisture from the bathroom plumbing and not
from the plants. That should assure that all thrive. On a whim I
check on my computer, to see if it remains secure. It does,
although I find that Lucian has made many, many attempts to
re-compromise it. Since I will be gone for a while, I place all the
equipment used for it to interface with the network, and anything
else needed for it to be accessed by anyone in Lumina, in stasis,
the
harmonies
locked so that nothing, absolutely nothing
about it can be changed until it is released from stasis. The only
link to it not locked out is my ring, specifically the connection I
share with it and the one linking it to Gaea. Only a Harmony
wielder should be able to affect it in any way, and Cailli has no
reason to. Everything prepared for my absence, I put my riding
clothes and fire diamonds back on, swing my larger than I would
prefer travel bag over my shoulder, and realize I'm not alone.

“Please excuse me, Shi'ahn.”

“Celeste? Why are you here?”

“To have a brief, secret discussion with
you, of course.”

I feel a strange jolt, and suspect that time
now runs faster for us than normal. “What do you wish to discuss –
secretly?”

She smiles. “It has come to my attention
that many in our travel party do not particularly care for you.
While normally I would encourage you to amend that, in this case I
recommend that you allow the status quo to remain as it is, for
now.”

“Why?”

“As before when we were imprisoned together,
this situation may work in your favor. You could be in a position
to learn a great deal more about our hosts, indeed, interact with
them on an entirely different level, if they believe that you are
unpopular with your own kind.”

“So you recommend I go to Chaos not only
unenlightened, but with only three people who care whether I live
or die?”

“Two, actually. I suggest that you and I
continue to appear somewhat aloof with each other. That will leave
you only your brother and a man who quite clearly has ulterior
motives in remaining your friend. Not only would this make you far
less threatening to our hosts, it could also put you in a far
better position to aid Cas Lydia. I, like you, feel that she has
suffered enough.”