Destiny's Lovers (6 page)

One of the village streets ran past the
single entrance to the temple, then continued onward, suddenly
becoming a wide, stone-paved road. A little beyond the temple
complex, a high outcropping of rocks formed a wall extending into
the sea. The road curved around the landward side of the rocks and
disappeared.

Reid saw that Janina, apparently thinking he
had looked long enough, had begun to descend the steps cut into the
mountainside. He followed her, marveling that his feelings toward
her were continually changing. Once they were well away from the
unknown presence in the garden and the scent of those star-blasted
red flowers, he had recovered his wits, and his clamorous,
uncontrollable desire for her had subsided enough to allow him to
wonder what in the name of all the stars he had been doing, trying
to ravish an unknown girl.

He cast a quick glance at her, walking beside
him in quiet calmness. She was lovely, but he had known beautiful
women who left him untouched emotionally. Why had he felt such
certainty that he and Janina were meant to be together? He had felt
that way even before he had gotten close to those red flowers. What
was happening to him? Was it some cruel telepath’s trick, to make
him feel this deep bonding to a virgin priestess, a woman he could
never have?

He did not know the answers to those
questions, but he thought he would be well out of a very peculiar
situation if he could convince Janina’s people to help him get back
to headquarters at once. Perhaps, if he were far away from her, he
could forget her and begin to feel free again. He quickened his
steps. He was eager to meet this Tamat of whom Janina had spoken.
He had quite a few questions for her.

To get to the temple, Reid and Janina had to
take the road into the center of the village, then turn left on the
street leading northward out of it. But first they had to pass the
terraced, stone-walled fields. A farmer looked up at them, dropped
the armload of grain he had been tying into sheaves, and ran after
them, calling loudly to his neighbors to come along.

“A stranger!” he yelled. “A giant has been in
the sacred grove - and with a priestess, too.”

“What is he saying?” Reid demanded. “I only
understood part of it. Have I committed some sin by setting foot in
the grove?”

“It doesn’t matter what they think,”
responded Janina. “Anyone or anything that is different is a
scandal to them. Tamat will silence them quickly enough.”

Reid gave her a sharp look but said nothing
more.

By the time they reached the village, at
least a dozen people had left their work in the fields to trail
after Reid and Janina - men, women, and a few children. The
villagers joined the parade, murmuring their surprise at the sight
of a newcomer, and their horror at where he had been. When Reid saw
two boys sprinting ahead of them, he knew the High Priestess would
promptly be informed of his arrival.

As an outsider coming into an isolated
community, he had expected to be the object of much curiosity, and
possibly of hostility. What he had not expected was his own sense
of amazement. He thought he must appear to them as a dark, hairy,
frightening alien, for these people were all alike. Everyone he saw
was small in stature. Even the men seemed to be at least six inches
shorter than he was, and they all had blond hair and blue eyes.
There were minor variations. Janina’s silver-gold hair was the
lightest, but the darker shades ranged only to a soft golden brown.
The eyes, now fixed upon him in astonishment and outrage, varied
from the palest silver-blue to a deep shade that almost matched the
sky. He saw a few heavy-set, middle-aged men, but most of the
people were slender.

In his mind, Janina stood out from them all.
Her hair was the palest, her eyes were the softest, and her quiet,
dignified bearing amid the growing clamor set her apart from
farmers and villagers alike. She answered none of the rude
questions that were being called out to her, but walked silently
through the village and turned onto the road toward the temple.
When the crowd began to jostle both of them, Reid moved closer to
her, in case she should need protection.

“He’s a Cetan!” someone cried in a voice full
of fear.

“Or a Jurisdiction officer!” screamed someone
else with no less concern.

“He has desecrated the grove and the
Water!”

“And the priestess!”

“She’s not really a priestess. Without the
Gift, she’s not one of us. She’s only allowed in the temple because
of Tamat. She ought to have been banished years ago. Just wait
until Sidra becomes High Priestess. Janina won’t last long
then.”

A stone hit Reid between his shoulders. He
whirled around to search for the thrower, and the tormentors
nearest him fell back a little.

Janina had not paused in her steady steps.
Reid hurried to catch up with her. He could feel the villagers
closing in behind them once more.

“Can’t you walk faster?” he said, not because
he was afraid but because he was suddenly concerned for her safety.
He did not want to see her harmed.

“It wouldn’t help,” she replied calmly. “If
we try to run away, they will overpower us and it will be worse.
They might hurt you badly.” Without breaking stride she gave Reid a
quick look from mist-blue eyes. “Ignore them. We will be inside the
temple complex soon. Tamat will send them away.”

After they had left the village behind them
and were approaching the graceful temple, the hostile crowd
trailing them fell silent, drawing back a little. Reid thought
perhaps they were in awe of the man who stood at the opening in the
low wall surrounding the temple complex.

The man was robed in darkest blue trimmed in
silver, and he was the most handsome man Reid had ever seen. He was
almost as tall as Reid and looked like some magnificent mutant
among the shorter villagers. His jaw was square and his nose was
perfect. Smooth, golden hair hung to just below his ears.
Sparkling, sea-blue eyes looked directly into Reid’s with cool
assurance. On his brow, just above his eyes, the man bore a tattoo,
a large blue dot between two blue crescents. Reid learned later
that these signs represented the sun and the two moons. Along with
the knotted, rope-shaped gold bracelets on each wrist, the tattoos
were the identifying marks of those bound into full priesthood.

“This is Osiyar, our High Priest and
Co-Ruler,” Janina informed Reid, in a voice that told him she held
the man in either reverence or fear. To the handsome man she said,
“He was awaiting me in the pavilion. His name is Reid, and he is
the man I saw in my Test. I thought it best to bring him here at
once.”

“I’m not certain that was wise.” Osiyar
looked past Reid, to the people still hovering nearby, who were
obviously angry and frightened. Osiyar raised his voice to address
them. “There is nothing to fear. The man is not a Cetan, nor are
there Cetans coming to attack us. Tamat will examine him and will
tell you later what will be done with him. Return to your homes
until Tamat calls you together.”

With numerous curious looks in Reid’s
direction, the crowd meekly dispersed. Osiyar spoke to Reid
again.

“Come with me,” he said.

Reid was struck by the deep coldness of the
man. Osiyar had offered no word of greeting, much less of welcome
or even curiosity, and his manner toward Janina was that of a
person far superior to her. To his dismay, Janina left them as they
reached the temple, hurrying along the colonnade and out of sight
before Reid could call her back. Osiyar waited by the huge twin
doors, watching him with cool eyes. Reid followed him inside.

It was just like the headquarters building at
the lake, with an inner colonnade, twelve rooms arranged around the
perimeter, and a large round central room. Unlike the other
building, however, this central room held no computer. It was empty
except for two women, but the strength and power of the older woman
seemed to fill all the space. She was ancient, and so frail that
she ought to have been laid low by the weight of her gold-and-white
disk and crescent headdress. Her robe was white with gold designs
on it of stars and fantastic symbols which Reid could not
interpret. Blue eyes the exact shade of Janina’s looked him up and
down.

The other, younger woman was stunningly
beautiful, with golden hair and a mature, well-rounded body. She
wore pale blue trimmed in silver. Reid saw her eyes fix first upon
Osiyar’s handsome face before moving to his own face, then back to
Osiyar again, as though looking for some clue from him.

Osiyar had just presented him to the
priestesses when, to Reid’s great relief, Janina reappeared,
without the water jar.

“You are late,” Sidra told her harshly. “You
have delayed the midday ritual by your dallying.”

“Never mind,” Tamat said in a patient voice.
“Janina has an excuse for keeping us waiting.”

Then, at Tamat’s order, Janina described how
she had found Reid, while he wondered again that telepaths should
use speech to communicate when there was no need.

“And there were others with you?” Tamat asked
Reid.

“I don’t know if they are dead or alive,” he
replied. “We mean you no harm, priestess, nor will we interfere in
your lives in any way. The purpose of our small settlement on this
planet is to watch the movements of Cetan warships and report them
to the Jurisdiction. We would be happy to inform you of any
possible danger to you from the Cetans.”

“The Jurisdiction has banished all
telepaths,” Sidra said, her lovely face cold.

“Commander Tarik has a kinder view of those
who differ from Jurisdiction norms,” Reid responded. Then, deciding
there would be no better time, he made his important request of
Tamat. “Priestess, I have lost my communicating equipment, so I
have no way to contact my friends. Would you use your telepathic
powers to reach our headquarters? I believe you would find Tank
open to such a message.”

Sidra’s indrawn breath sounded like the long
hiss of a beautiful, dangerous reptile.

“How dare you?” she whispered. “The Gift may
not be used for trivial matters.”

“I have lost a cousin and a friend out there
in the forest,” Reid declared. “I want to help them. Tarik will
send others to try to find us, and they may fall into danger, too.
The safety of intelligent life forms is not a trivial matter.”

“Well said.” It was Tamat who answered
him.

Reid had looked at Sidra as he spoke to her,
but now he turned his attention back to Tamat. Their eyes met and
held, and Reid experienced the oddest sensation. It was as though
gentle, invisible tentacles entered and caressed his mind, pressed
delicately, and then withdrew.

Reid’s jaw fell open. It had been so easy, so
effortless, yet he was certain Tamat now knew all that was in his
mind at the instant she had touched it. He knew something else,
too. She had wanted him to be aware of what she was doing. If she
had not wanted it, he never would have known.

Everything in his mind. That meant Tamat knew
how intensely aware he was of Janina, now standing quietly beside
Sidra, and she knew what they had almost done in the grove. He
thought he saw astonishment, anger, and then understanding in
Tamat’s eyes, though the aged face did not change expression.

“He speaks true,” Tamat said.

“Then you will help me?” Reid asked, so
relieved he almost forgot his embarrassment about Janina, as well
as his concern that his mind had been entered and explored so
easily. “You will contact Commander Tank and tell him where I am
and about Herne and Alla?”

“I will consider it,” Tamat replied.

“While you are considering, my companions may
die.” Reid reacted to Tamat’s measured tones with impatience. “They
need help now.”

“You must understand,” Tamat said, “that the
safety and security of my people is my primary concern. I will try
to devise a means of warning your Commander Tarik about your lost
friends without divulging the presence of our village. But you,
Reid, cannot be allowed to leave Ruthlen to report our location, to
bring other outsiders here.”

“I wouldn’t do that,” Reid began, but Osiyar
interrupted him.

“You could not avoid it. You would have to
explain where you were, and inevitably your friends would learn
about the blanking shield,” the priest said. “Tamat, will you allow
him to live, or will you order him set adrift?”

“He will live, for now,” she replied after a
moment’s deliberation. When both Osiyar and Sidra looked ready to
protest this decision, Tamat continued, “Think how useful he could
be to us. Think of the knowledge his mind contains about the
universe beyond Ruthlen. But Reid has something more important even
than knowledge. He appears to be perfectly healthy, despite the
ordeal of defeating the full force of our blanking shield in the
forest and the ravine. In fact, he is filled with amazing vitality.
A man so strong, a man brave enough to face unknown telepaths and
keep his wits with him must be made of superior genetic material.
After so many centuries of isolation, we here in the village are
all too similar. Our gene pool has grown weak. It needs an infusion
from an outsider.

“Yes,” she went on, nodding to herself, “we
will allow Reid to live, and in return he will lend himself to us.
Reid will stay in the temple complex until he has learned our ways.
Then, on the festival nights of the full moons and dark moons, he
will mate with whichever women choose him.”

“He is not a telepath. It will never be a
true mating,” Sidra objected before anyone else could say anything.
“He will dilute the telepathic abilities of any children he
begets.”

“Consider Janina’s situation and know that
what you suggest is by no means certain,” Tamat returned. “Janina’s
parents were both true telepaths, yet she is not. Therefore, it
appears that variations in this inherited trait can occur. I
believe it is possible that a non-telepath, mated to a telepath,
can produce a child who is a true telepath. I am surprised you do
not agree with me, Sidra. We have discussed this problem often
enough - how sickly many of our people are, how they are born with
defects that kill them at an early age. We know well the reason. It
is because the same small group has interbred for centuries. Let us
try this experiment. It cannot leave us in worse condition than we
already are. It may help us.”