The Obsidian Temple (10 page)

Kadar glanced up at Farrah, about to joke about their little heartbreaker, and caught his breath at the look of terrible sadness on her face. She reached out and tucked the blanket around Datura a little closer, and a tear slipped down one cheek.

Kadar touched her arm in concern. “What is it?” he whispered. “Why are you sad?”

Farrah shook her head and wiped the wet trail off her face. “Poor little thing. What a sad life she will have. It breaks my heart knowing we brought her into such a horrible place, such a horrible time,” she whispered back.

Kadar stared at Farrah with disbelief, and a little shock. “Farrah, she will have a good life. She can be anything she chooses.”

Farrah shook her head, still looking at her daughter as Datura stirred at his voice. Kadar drew Farrah away, not wanting to wake the baby and face Dana's wrath.

Farrah followed him out into the courtyard. Kadar took her cold hands in his, facing her.

“Our daughter can be anything she wants,” Kadar repeated. “Farrah, look at me.”

Farrah's eyes glistened with tears. “No, she can't, Kadar; don't you see? Here in Illian, she is nothing. The bastard daughter of a Forsaken mistress and desert scum. No matter how intelligent, how beautiful, how amazing, she grows up to be, she will only ever be seen as a Forsaken bastard, to be used and discarded. Worth nothing.”

Kadar shook his head. “She is everything to us. She will be a leader, the heir of the Hasifel clan. The women in my family, they're all leaders. In Shpeth, they don't have Forsaken; they don't care what the deities have said you are. They will care that she is intelligent, kind, and responsible. All the things we will raise her to be. That's what really matters.”

“Then take her to the desert,” Farrah said forcibly, still keeping her voice low enough not to wake the family. She pulled her hands out of Kadar's grasp. “Take her where she can be all those things. Before this place breaks her down. Because she can't here. Take her away so she can live.”

“I'll take you both, and the rest of your family,” Kadar countered. “I've told you again and again. Just tell me when, and we'll go.”

Farrah shook her head in frustration and ran fingers through her hair. “I can't, Kadar. I can't. I have to change things here. For my sister's sake, for my brothers and the families they will have someday. But I don't think it will be in time for Datura to become the woman I want her to be. She needs to go away so she can live without fear.”

“You don't think we'll succeed?” Kadar asked, surprised. Farrah was usually the optimistic one about the rebellion. He hadn't realized she had doubts.

“I don't think there is a single reason these city folks will give us more rights,” Farrah said softly.

“Decency toward other humans should be a strong reason,” Kadar pointed out.

Farrah shook her head. “The deities circumvented that by declaring us cast-­outs, no better than common criminals in the eyes of the gods. That gives these supposedly decent ­people permission to treat us like slime. I've not seen much kindness from these ‘good' towns­people.”

“So we will prove that they need you,” Kadar said. “Like Severin said, walk out. Show them how much they depend on you.”

“Do you think they'll just roll over and give us what we want?” Farrah asked. “No, if we hurt them, even just financially, they will try to hurt us back. That's why we needed a place to evacuate our families. This is going to get bloody, and we need a way to protect our innocents.”

“It will have to be a slow movement, over many months,” Kadar warned. “Voras's soldiers don't bother to check our wagons, so we can hide ­people in them. But if they start to suspect the Forsaken are being moved, they will set up checkpoints, and we won't be able to get ­people out.”

“I will send my brothers to Stonycreek as soon as Nabil is ready to start taking them,” Farrah said. “They're old enough now to be on their own. They have to leave before they are old enough to be conscripted by Voras. They're used to hard work; they'll be fine. But my sister Thea is just four. I don't have anyone to send her with,” Farrah paused, thinking. “I wish you could take her to the desert like you did with Ava. She and Datura would be safe there.”

Kadar shook his head. “Who would care for them if we sent Datura and your sister to Shpeth by themselves? From what Uncle Aaron said, Ava and Sulis are with Grandmother in the far south. Aunt Janis is settling disputes in Grandmother's absence and can't take on a baby and little child by herself.”

Farrah gave him a long, sad look.

Kadar shook his head. “No!” he said, his voice rising. “I will not leave you here again.” Farrah shushed him, and he lowered his voice. “If you stay, then I do, and so does Datura. I'm not leaving you, and Datura needs her mother and father.”

Farrah looked down. “They will eventually find out that I'm leading the Forsaken, and they'll come for her,” she said, despair in her voice. “I don't have the courage to watch her be hurt like Ava, to see her killed like Mother. Take her to Shpeth, Kadar. Then I can love her from a distance, knowing that she is safe and that nothing I do will get her killed.”

“You are the bravest woman I've ever known,” Kadar said, and Farrah looked up, into his eyes. “You have suffered so much, felt so much pain, but still you keep trying to make things better for others. Datura will be proud to follow in your path.”

Farrah reached out and put a soft hand on his cheek, and he leaned into her touch, covering her hand with his own.

“You see me in a way that no one ever has,” Farrah said. “Most ­people can't see past the brown cloak. When you look at me, I feel like I am beautiful and strong and more than I've ever been allowed to be.”

Kadar kissed her palm, and they stood in silence a moment.

“I want to stay here tonight,” Farrah said softly. “I wasn't sure how late the meeting would run, so my siblings are staying with our neighbors. Make me feel loved, Kadar.”

Kadar's breath caught as his body heated. “Nothing could be easier,” he breathed, putting an arm around her waist and leading her toward the house, “because you are.”

Their lovemaking that night was a little wild, almost desperate, as Kadar worshipped every inch of her body. They fell asleep with her head resting on his chest.

Kadar half woke in the morning and stroked Farrah's blonde head, still on his chest. She immediately started purring, and he woke fully with surprise. The lump on his chest was Amber, her fur short and thick under his hand. He sighed.

“When did you get in here?” he asked the cat, who stretched long across his chest and reached up to touch a claw just under his chin. “And when did Farrah leave?” He felt a touch of sadness, imagining her running back to her siblings before the early-­morning work begin.

He had to roll the cat off his chest to sit up. Amber curled beside him and closed her eyes, her purr the only indication that she wasn't sleeping.

It had become a ritual, the cat coming in at dawn, claiming a seat on his lap as he tested the reach of his farspeaking. Kadar thought the cat somehow enhanced his range, but he couldn't be positive. He let his breathing settle, let his thoughts start to dissipate. Sulis had shown him over the summer that focusing on just his breathing calmed the mind. As he focused on breathing in and out, he began to notice speech that wasn't his thoughts—­kind of a background hum in his mind. He could recognize different “voices” without having to reach out and interrupt or listen to what they were specifically saying. It was like coming into a room and seeing many different faces, but they were turned away from him, and until he “touched” them to get their attention, they would not turn to him.

Kadar searched as far as he could reach, the voices growing somewhat faint, looking for his twin. He thought he caught a faint hint of her and reached farther, brushing against someone familiar.

Sulis?
he asked

You again?
The voice sounded amused. It was the same woman he'd contacted when with Alannah. Tori.

I'm sorry,
Kadar apologized.
I'm searching for my twin. I did not mean to disturb you. I'm practicing with my reach.

Stay a bit,
Tori sent back.
I imagine there is just one Sulis who has a twin brother. You are Kadar? The one she healed after the barn fire last year? I trained with Sulis.

Yes, I remember Sulis's talking about you.
Kadar found himself curious about the woman, whom Sulis had described as older and set apart from the other students.
And
you report to Alannah now. Do all of Sulis's class farspeak with Alannah?

No,
Tori responded.
I may be the only one in the class with farspeaking. It was awakened early and never blocked, so I learned to use it without the deities or my
feli's
help.

What are you reporting?

Tori remained silent, and Kadar kicked himself for intruding.

Never mind,
he sent.
Alannah said she used the Vrishni to farspeak with you. Why doesn't she speak through her
feli
?

Alannah doesn't have farspeech. She instead connects with the mind of one who can speak that way, and communicates through them. Her
feli
makes it easier to speak at great distances,
Tori told him.
Speaking of which, I thought you weren't pledged to the Temple. How are you speaking by a
feli
?

Kadar glanced down at Amber, who'd stopped purring and settled into a nap.

I don't have a
feli
,
Kadar sent.
Just an annoying house cat. I wasn't certain she was helping.

Tori's voice was amused.
Your mindvoice sounds like Alannah's does when she uses Yaslin in the meld. Amplified. You should be able to reach Sulis, wherever she is, with that bond.

Kadar sent a bit of his frustration to her.
I've tried, but I can't find her voice among everyone's.

That's probably because she doesn't have farspeech, so her voice would not be there to tap into. You need to go at it from the opposite way. Find your twin bond, follow it as far as it leads, then send a shout in her direction. With her
feli
and your cat, you should be able to connect.

Kadar felt hope rising.
Thank you. I hadn't thought of it that way,
he sent, eager to cut their connection to try to reach Sulis.

You're welcome,
Tori sent back warmly.
Check in with me from time to time.
Her voice was almost wistful.
I am rather isolated here up north and would appreciate hearing news from Illian.

I will,
Kadar sent back.
Speak with you again soon.

Kadar allowed that connection to drift away, but before he could try to find Sulis, he heard the wail of a baby and voices in the hall. His morning meditation time was over, and he had a busy day ahead.

 

Chapter 10

SULIS WAS MAKING
her bed when she felt something brush against her senses. She sat down quickly and crossed her legs. Alerted by her actions, Djinn leapt up with her and laid his head on her lap. Ava had already left for the eating hall.

It'd taken a month, but Master Tull had come through with beds for both Ava and Sulis, with stacked bedrolls instead of a mattress, but with a soft thick layer of bird down and batting on top. Ava declared it “perfectly divine,” and Sulis had to agree. Master Anchee and Grandmother had declined beds of their own, saying they could never sleep on something so soft. In the months of disappointment and aggravation and endless days that followed, Sulis had found great solace in having that softness waiting for her at night.

Sulis focused on the plucking she was feeling on her senses, wondering if this was another of Anchee's tests. Another way for her to fail at all this magical energy work. She focused deep inside, stilled her mind, and realized this wasn't an attack on her mind. This was familiar, tugging at a string she'd thought was lost, connected to a heart she knew as well as her own.

“Kadar?” she breathed and sent down their twin link. Her eyes filled with tears, and she brushed them away as silliness. One luxury she wasn't allowed, as she was searched daily by her teachers for weakness.

Yep.
Kadar's voice filled her ears as surely as if he were standing there talking to her. She closed her eyes and pictured just that.
Finally found the right thread.

How are you doing this?
Sulis asked.
I thought our twin bond was limited to just a short distance. And you certainly couldn't speak through it before.

It isn't just a twin bond,
Kadar confirmed.
I've learned to farspeak.

Farspeaking? When did you learn to farspeak?
Sulis was astonished.

I've always had it,
Kadar said.
They blocked me, Sulis—­Grandmother and the elders. I guess I should have trained at this place called Kabandha when I was a teenager, and they would have unblocked it then, but it never happened.
His mindvoice had a tone of anger to it.

Sulis flushed.
Because you had a crazy sister who insisted on pledging to the enemy, and they were worried she'd give you away.
Sulis bit her lip.
Kadar, I'm sorry.

She felt his smile, even if she couldn't see it.
Sand in the breeze, twin of mine.

Kadar, I'm in Kabandha,
she told him.
Trying to train. There's this prophecy. . .

I know about it,
Kadar told her.
Alannah, of all ­people, told me about it when she unblocked me. Is Ashraf there? They told me he was.

Alannah unblocked him? Sulis held her questions as she felt the strain he was under to communicate across such a great distance.
Yes, he isn't allowed to leave and had to give a pledge. Ava is here and thriving. She is a part of the prophecy, too. How are your baby and Farrah?

Good. Datura is well,
Kadar sent, though Sulis could feel some sort of tension or sadness there.
Farrah will be happy about Ava. Sulis, I can't keep this link going long. My head is splitting. This cat helps, but not enough. Not practiced yet.

Cat? You have a
feli
?
Sulis was again astonished.

No, a Frubian Flamepoint house cat the One sent,
Kadar responded, his mindvoice getting weaker.
Will explain soon. Love and misses.

Love and misses,
Sulis sent as strongly as she could, as his presence faded from their bond. She opened her eyes and realized that more tears were coursing down her cheeks. She missed him so much. Feeling him again, almost beside her, was like having a limb reattached. And now it was gone again.

“But now I know we can communicate,” Sulis told Djinn, who rolled onto his back for a belly rub. She ruffled his fur, then got up, and he made no move to follow. He'd probably nap in her bed for the morning, then go find some shade in the woods for the afternoon. Sulis glanced out the window, decided she was too late to get breakfast at the hall, and lightly ran down the steps to grab a bar of pressed fruit and nuts they kept on hand in case they just didn't have time for a full meal.

She went to the garden to start settling into her meditation and chewed on the food while she thought. It was a shock that Kadar had such a talent. She wondered where it had come from. After months here, it had become apparent that Sulis's main talent was her
feli
bond. Anchee had been left in charge of Sulis's training for the dances while Clay was gone, but Grandmother was always at the lessons, observing and criticizing. She'd irritated her grandmother again and again by failing to see energies, by failing to bond with anyone else's energies, by failing to ignore Ashraf completely, by not learning fast enough. Sulis wasn't used to failing, and it left a bitter, nasty residue. She generally thought of herself as a happy person, but the past few months had made her dread rising in the morning, and she did so later and later to avoid the stares and whispers of the other warriors. The only thing she seemed to excel at was the unarmed fighting she did with Master Tull, and flowing from pose to pose of the sacred dances she was practicing for when Clay finally returned.

They'd only had two dizzying weeks with Clay before he left and had not heard from him in three months. In that week, he'd shown Sulis all the moves of power as individual poses. Then how to string those together to form dances that drew on specific energy. Sulis had drawn stick figures to help her remember, but she would not have gotten far without Master Anchee's gentle teaching. He'd been studying them for half a century and guided her when she forgot. Now Sulis could easily remember the order of the poses in the sets and practiced each pose flowing seamlessly into the next.

The last they'd heard about Clay had been a month ago, when he was spotted in Frubia.

“You missed breakfast,” Ava said, waking her from her reverie. “They had fresh-­fruit bread, and I brought you a ­couple of slices.”

“You aren't supposed to take food from the hall,” Sulis reminded her while eagerly helping herself.

Ava snorted. “What will they do, throw me out?”

The girls looked at each other and burst into laughter. The Kabandha residents were so eager to make their “Loom” happy that Ava didn't dare complain about anything lest someone be punished or removed for making her unhappy. Ava saved her complaints for Sulis, and Sulis saved her complaints about Grandmother for Ava. As a result, they'd bonded even more, become more like what Sulis imagined sisters should be. More like what she and Kadar used to have.

“I just spoke with Kadar,” Sulis said, and Ava's eyes widened. “He managed to communicate with me, mind to mind.”

“How?” Ava breathed.

“Well, he said he'd been blocked before and is now unblocked. There are some things I need to say to Grandmother about that,” Sulis said. She grinned. “He also said that things are good, and Farrah and our niece Datura are thriving. And he seems to be getting harassed by a house cat.”

She and Ava laughed again at that.

“Ah, greeted by laughter. Is that bread for me?” Clay's voice shot their heads around. Ava jumped to her feet and took the old man's pack for him, leading him over to where Sulis sat. Sulis gave him the remaining bread as he settled beside the stream and gave a great sigh.

“That is over,” Clay said cryptically. “The seeds have been sown. Other hands will harvest and bring in the fruits. I am here now for a good while.” He shook his head ruefully. “At least as far as I can see into the future. What has been happening?”

“Well, we have beds now,” Ava said enthusiastically as Clay munched his bread. Ava had instantly adored Clay, hardly leaving his side those first two weeks. “I made them put one in your room since you said your bones ache. And we've learned a lot. And Grandmother won't leave Sulis alone even though she is trying hard and just being nice to Ashraf.” Clay met Sulis's eyes, and she looked away. “And I'm ready for a new pattern. I've been drawing the old one in my dreams, like you said would happen. I missed you,” Ava concluded with a sigh.

Sulis smiled. This was the most vocal Ava had been with her teachers. Sometimes it seemed like Ava was two different ­people, the normal silly girl she'd probably been in Illian, and a darker, utterly serious adult whom everyone relied on. It seemed she saw Clay as the master of everyone at Kabandha and the righter of all wrongs, so she could let herself be younger, put the burdens on him for a while. As Clay closed his eyes and hummed softly, as though contemplating her stream of words, Sulis wondered if Ava was right.

“I will try out this bed,” Clay declared, opening his eyes and holding a hand out to Ava. “I will put my pack away and settle in with Ava's help. Sulis, let the others know I am back, and let the masters know Ashraf will be released from training because he is needed by me for this entire week.”

Sulis watched the girl lead the old man into the house, then turned to gather the others. She found she was smiling. Things were changing again, and hopefully for the better now that Master Clay was back. Maybe he could point out what was going wrong when she tried to see the energies that were so apparent to her Grandmother and Ava.

They gathered in an area at the back of the house late that afternoon, where it was shaded from the sun. Ashraf leaned against a tree, keeping a watch on the area with another guard Sulis had seen once or twice. Djinn lay with his heavy body against Ashraf's shins, watching the gathering with interest. The
feli
seemed to take pleasure from disobeying Sulis's silent commands to leave Ashraf alone. The more she discouraged Djinn, the more he sought the Frubian, sneaking off to spend almost as much time in the men's dormitory with him as with Sulis these days.

The Chosen sat on the grass in a half-­moon, with Clay as the focus in the center facing them.

“So,” Clay said, clapping his hands once. “Ava showed me her chalk mandalas. She closed her eyes and still was able to get the lines correct. Dare I hope the rest of you have made your assignments a habit?”

Sulis looked down, not willing to admit how much she had failed the past few months.

“Sulis,” Clay chided gently, and she looked up again. “Show me the core form. Don't let anything anyone does interrupt.”

Sulis slowly got to her feet. The others moved to the sides of the clearing, giving her space. Sulis took the first Warrior position. She focused her breath, finding the rhythm that sounded like the ocean waves as she inhaled and exhaled, clearing her mind to begin the twenty-­seven-­pose form she'd been practicing. She began with the salutations and moved fluidly to the moon forms, the positions and energy changing as she stepped and held, breathed and moved. Every step was steady, every position felt energetic. But Grandmother told her that she should see lines of energy as she flowed, and each pose should weave that energy in a certain way. Sulis saw nothing and just felt the movement of the poses, losing herself in the movement and flow. She finished in the second Warrior position, looking over her pointing arm at Ashraf, who grinned broadly, appreciating her effort.

“Ah, beauty,” Clay said delightedly, clapping his hands. “Did you see, she didn't break form or notice when I spoke to her, when I threw that stone at her. Yes, you are ready for the next step.”

Sulis plopped on the ground, both glad that Clay seemed impressed and worried that he hadn't noticed her flaws. The rest settled down again, and Ava shoved Sulis's shoulder in approval.

“She didn't control the energy,” Grandmother critiqued disapprovingly.

Sulis rolled her eyes. Grandmother was still mad that Sulis had yelled at her at midmeal for not unblocking Kadar. She was sure to give everyone an earful about Sulis's faults because of that.

Grandmother continued the critique. “She created energy without control and did not make it into anything. And she has not dispersed it now that it has risen. She left a mess of energy.”

Clay looked at Grandmother. “I didn't ask her to control the energy,” he said mildly. “I asked her to learn the dance so she could move in her sleep. She has clearly done so. Why are you angry with her?”

“There is no point to raising the energy if you can't control it,” Grandmother said dismissively. Her voice was defensive. “She claims she can't control it, but I think she is getting distracted.” Grandmother waved a hand toward Ashraf, who frowned at her.

“You don't like our protector?” Clay asked. “He seems like a handsome fellow to me.”

“Too handsome,” Grandmother countered. “As I said, a distraction to a young girl.”

Sulis was about to interrupt, furious that her grandmother would treat her like a child, but Ava put a hand on her arm and shushed her.

“So you are afraid he is after Ava?” Clay countered. He glanced over at Ashraf, who shook his head theatrically. “No, I didn't think so. And Ava is the only young girl here. All the others are adults.”

Sulis watched in fascination as Grandmother seethed. She started to say something, paused, then tried again. “If Sulis loses her heart to this man, how will she be able to push that bond aside when her brother comes to be her Guardian? How will she focus on the path she and her brother must take? The twin bond must come first to keep all of us safe!”

“Her brother is not her Guardian,” Clay said quietly.

Sulis had rarely seen her grandmother speechless. She could see the woman's thoughts spinning as she absorbed the information.

“He must be. They have a strong bond; I've seen it,” she said, shaking her head. “If not, then what part does Kadar play?”