The Quest for the Heart Orb (16 page)

Karma considered that for a moment, then relaxed.  “All right,” she said.  “But if he’s ashamed of her for
any
reason, he better keep it to himself.  I mean that, Zakiel.  Ren has been outcast and alone for as long as she can remember, which makes her acceptance among us very important not only to her, but to all of us.  She will need every bit of self-confidence and inner strength that she can muster to claim the Heart Orb.  Kapia, Tiari, and I are doing all we can to help her, and I won’t allow anyone to interfere with our efforts, not even her own father.”

“I understand your concerns,
Valia
, and I’ll share your warnings with Garundel,” Zakiel said, filled with pride for his wife.  She was already taking Ren under her wing just as she’d done with Kapia, and then Tiari.  May the Sky Warriors help anyone who attempted to harm those Karma cared about.  She was fiercely protective of those she loved, and was more than capable of backing up her words.

“You’re going to be a magnificent mother, Karma,” he said, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close. 

“Thank you, Zakiel,” she replied, touched by his words.  She stepped back and wrinkled her nose.  “Let’s get away from this stench before I become ill.”

He bowed formally.  “As you wish, Lady Techu.”

***

An hour later Bredon joined Kapia, Karma, Zakiel, Tiari, Tomas, and Ren for lunch.  They stood in a circle holding plates that Caral, Lashi and Timon had prepared and handed out.  He remembered when it had been just Zakiel, Karma and Kapia sharing lunch each day.  So much had changed since the beginning of the Orb Quest.  Much of it good.  Some of it very bad.

He and the other men hid their smiles as they watched Ren invite Marl to join them for lunch.  To those who knew him, it was clear that Marl wanted to accept in spite of the stiff mask of indifference that he wore which Ren either misinterpreted, or ignored.  In the end, to everyone’s satisfaction and no one’s real surprise, Ren prevailed and Marl found himself with a hastily prepared plate of food in his hands. 

Bredon exchanged an approving glance with Zakiel and Tomas.  Marl was a good and honorable man, and his interest in Ren was obvious to anyone who cared to look despite his attempts to hide it.  Everyone hoped she would help him find his way through whatever shadows darkened his mind.

Bredon finished his lunch quickly since he had duties to perform before Zakiel called an end to lunch.  He handed his plate to Lashi with thanks, then spoke with Kapia for a moment before excusing himself.  He managed only a few steps before he felt an unpleasantly familiar stirring in his mind.

“
Bredon,”
Marene said.  He immediately schooled his thoughts, clearing them of all emotion in general, and Kapia in particular.  Since Kapia had killed Marene, it seemed prudent to keep her out of Marene’s sights.

“Hello, Marene,”
he said, closing his eyes. 
“This is an unusual time of day for you to contact me.  Is something amiss?”

“Of course something is amiss,”
she snapped irritably. 
“The Djinn, led by that lying traitor King ShaiTyan of the Fire Djinn, are meeting to discuss the making of a new scepter.”

Bredon’s stomach rolled over, making him wish he hadn’t just eaten lunch. 
“Is that possible?
”

“Of course it is,”
Marene hissed
.  “Why else would I be speaking to you?  The Orb Quest must hurry.  Time is running out.
”

“We’ve only just resumed travelling today and have already been attacked by kadjet, serpin, and satyrs,”
Bredon said. 
“If this continues, there is no telling how long it will take us to reach
Ka-Teru
.”

“I think I can help with that,”
Marene said after a long pause.

“You can?”
Bredon asked in surprise.

“Yes,”
Marene said. 
“There aren’t many demons willing to go into the high mountains at this time of year anyway, and those who do must be forced.  It’s an easy enough matter to clear most, if not all of them from your path.  You’ll still have to watch for those that prefer the cold though, like the snow-krag.”

“We’ll keep that in mind, Marene,”
Bredon said. 
“We are grateful for your assistance.”

“Of course you are,”
Marene said. 
“Hurry Bredon.  Time is running short.”

Bredon opened his eyes to see Zakiel standing in front of him, a worried expression on his face. 

“Marene?” he asked.

“Yes,” Bredon said.  “The news is not good.”

“I can see that,” Zakiel said.

“She says that the Djinn are meeting to discuss the creation of a new scepter, and that we need to hurry.”  Bredon could see the questions forming in Zakiel’s eyes, and held one hand up, palm out.  “I’m sorry, but I didn’t get any details.  Next time I’ll ask questions.”

“All right,” Zakiel said.  “Anything else?”

“She’s going to try to help with the demon attacks.”

“That’s good news, if it’s possible,” Zakiel said.  “Do you think she can actually do that?”

“I know she can,” Bredon said.  “I asked her straight out, and she answered.  She told the truth.”

“I know you don’t like it, my friend,” Zakiel said, “but this connection is going to help us a great deal in the coming days.”

“I know,” Bredon said.  “That’s why I don’t shut her out.” 

“You could do that?” Zakiel asked in surprise.

“Yes, but if I did, then she’d know I could do it and that would not be pretty.”  Bredon took a breath and opened his mouth as though to say something.  Then he closed his mouth with a snap, every muscle tense as he shook his head and sighed.  “We really should travel as quickly as we can, Highness.”

Zakiel wanted to ask Bredon what he was holding back, but he didn’t.  The man was giving enough of himself as it was.  He would not ask for more.  Not yet, anyway.  He clapped Bredon on the shoulder.  “We will, Bredon.”

***

While Marl waited for the others to finish their lunches or wander away to speak more privately with each other, he argued with himself about the wisdom of speaking with Ren any more than absolutely necessary.  His arguments were good ones, and he believed in them absolutely.  They just didn’t help.

“Are you feeling better now?” he asked when they were, finally, alone. 

“Yes, I am, thank you,” she replied.  “I feel foolish more than anything else.”

Marl was momentarily distracted by a ray of sunlight glinting off the ruby she wore on her forehead, causing it to look as though it had burst into flame, so it took him a moment to replay her words in his mind.  “Why do you feel foolish?”

“Because I did nothing,” Ren said, pretending that she didn’t notice his distraction, though it hurt something deep inside of her.  “Everyone else moved to either fight the demons, shelter the pack diplos, get out of the way or take shelter, or…
something
.  Not me.  I just sat there and stared.  If you hadn’t pulled me off the diplo and taken me to stand with Lashi, Caral, and Kapia, I’d probably still be sitting there.  I had no idea what to do.”

“Why would you have known what to do?” Marl asked reasonably.  “You’ve been with us for less than a day and a half and it was your first attack.  If you ask Lady Techu or Princess Kapia, I’m sure they’ll tell you whatever you need to know.”

“I’ll do that,” Ren said.  “Thank you, Sir Marl, for your kindness.”

“You are most welcome, though I’ve done little.”  Marl’s eyes strayed to her forehead again and stayed there for several heartbeats.  Ren was trying very hard to remember
Brai
Sierna’s advice and not make assumptions, but she grew more and more tense each time his gaze wandered upward.  Part of her wanted to hide beneath the hood of her cloak and move away, as she’d always done.  But another part of her (to her complete surprise) wanted to stomp on his foot.  Since she really didn’t want to do either of those things, she decided to approach the subject straight on.

“I notice that you keep staring at my forehead, Sir Marl,” she said, her voice trembling only a little.  “If you have a question, I’d prefer that you ask it.”

“I apologize,” Marl said, surprised to feel his cheeks grow warm for the first time since his youth.  “It was rude of me to stare.”

His embarrassed apology gave her the courage to continue.  “It’s the stones on my forehead that have captured your curiosity, am I correct?”

“They are quite beautiful, especially when the sunlight hits them,” he said, shocking her to her toes.  “Do you wear them because they’re attractive, or is there a deeper meaning behind them?”

“I don’t
wear
them,” Ren said, bracing herself for his reaction.  “The corona stones are a part of me.  They do not come off.”

“
Corona stones
?” Marl said in much the same tone of voice Karma had used. 

“Yes, I know, Karma told me yesterday that
corona
means
crown
,” Ren said.  “All I know is that my mother called them corona stones.  She died when I was six, and no one at Sanctuary knew any more than I did about them.  Hearing them called
beautiful
is…unexpected.  I’ve spent my life hating them because they marked me as a fr…as different.” 

Marl turned his face away from her to hide the sudden violence of his feelings, but not quickly enough for her to miss the sudden fury in his eyes.  Somehow, she understood that his anger wasn’t directed at her. 

“You were born with them?” he asked.

“No,” Ren replied.  “The green stone I’ve had since my sixth birthday.  The second one, the red one, appeared on my thirteenth birthday and the pearl just a couple of weeks ago, on my twentieth birthday.  I don’t know what they mean, or what purpose they serve, if any.”  Without thought, she reached over to lightly touch his hand.  Marl immediately turned toward her again, his dark eyes filled with an emotion she could not identify.

“You will one day learn the meaning of the stones if it is meant to be so,” he said.  “If not, well, as I said, they’re beautiful.  I’m sorry that you were given cause to dislike them so much.”

Unable to meet his eyes when she knew her cheeks were pink with yet another compliment, she averted her face and looked away.  She gasped in surprise at the sight her eyes fell upon.

“What is it?” Marl asked, shifting so that he could follow her gaze.

“Is…what is…?”  She glanced at him, then away, and cleared her throat.  “What is it that Prince Zakiel and Lady Techu are doing?”

“Doing?” Marl asked, confused.  He was looking right at them and they were doing nothing more than talking quietly together.

“Not now,” Ren said.  “A moment ago they were…there, do you see?  They’re doing it again.”

Marl’s eyebrows shot nearly to his hair line.  “They’re kissing, Hara Ren,” he said.  “Have you never seen two people kiss before?”

Her expression turned thoughtful as she searched her memory.  “Not like that, no,” she said finally.  “I have a vague memory of my mother kissing my forehead at night before I went to sleep, but that is certainly not what they’re doing.”

“No, it isn’t,” Marl agreed.  “You speak of a kiss from parent to child.  They are married, so their kisses are far different.”  Marl studied Ren’s expression.  “Does it offend you?”

“Offend?” Ren asked in surprise.  “No, of course not.  I’m just curious.”

“Public displays of affection are unusual, but between two people who are married there is no shame in it,” Marl said.  “I suppose the customs regarding such behavior are different where you’re from.”

“I don’t know,” Ren said.  “There are no married people in Sanctuary, and whenever I passed through the village I kept my eyes down and walked as fast as I could.”

Her statement raised so many questions in Marl’s mind that he couldn’t decide which one to ask first.  Unfortunately, the call to remount came before he made up his mind.  He guided Ren back to her diplo and stood ready to help while she mounted, hating the stirrup since he really wanted to place his hands at her waist again.  When she was settled he returned to his own diplo, his mind in turmoil as he wondered just what sort of place she’d grown up in that the last time she’d been kissed was by her mother when she was six.  Or how it was that a woman her age had never witnessed a married couple kissing before.

***

“Are you well, Ren?” Karma asked after watching the younger woman ride in silence with a frown on her face for nearly half an hour.

“Yes, thank you, but there is something I’d like to discuss with you,” Ren replied.

“Of course,” Karma replied. 

“When those demons attacked, I had no idea what to do,” Ren said.  “I didn’t know if I should remain on the diplo, or try to jump down and hide, or if there was something I could or should do to be of assistance.  I felt completely useless, and that is not a feeling I enjoy.  Please tell me what I can do to help or, if not that, at least tell me what I should do so that I don’t get in anyone’s way.”

“That depends on you,” Karma said.  “Now that you’ve seen a demon attack, what do you think you’d like to do?  Would you like to learn to use a weapon to protect yourself?”

“Yes, I would, when you’re well enough and the weather allows,” Ren said.  “In the meantime, there must be something else I can do to help.”

“How about we put you in charge of our diplos?” Kapia suggested.  “You can keep them together and out of danger when we’re attacked.  Would you mind doing that?”

“Not at all,” Ren said, brightening.  

“I’ll feel better knowing that Goldy isn’t about to follow me into danger,” Kapia said, patting her diplo affectionately.  “I know these diplo are battle trained for the Hunters, but I still worry about him sometimes.” 

“I promise that I’ll do whatever I can to keep him, Nosy, Dippy and Spot out of danger,” Ren said, feeling much better.  She was still afraid of the diplos, including Spot, but they seemed docile enough.  Besides, she had no intention of allowing fear to stop her from doing her share.  “If you think of anything else you’d like me to do, no matter what it is, please let me know.”