thefiremargins (11 page)

CHAPTER 4

From her chair in the shade of the nung tree, Rhuna looked him up then down. Kaid towered above her. Though his brown eyes regarded her calmly, knowing him as she did, the set of his ears betrayed his uneasiness in her presence. Hair of a darker brown than his pelt was swept back between his wide ears, falling in graduated lengths, blending with the hair at the sides of his neck till it reached his shoulders.
Under his utilitarian sleeveless jacket, a short tunic, bordered with black, covered his torso. Below it, the well-muscled thighs testified to the fact that he'd kept in shape over the past ten years.
She grunted and looked back to his face. "So you're wearing the Aldatan colors now," she said. "What is it this time, Tallinu? Haven't you stopped hiding from yourself yet, eh? Still ashamed of your past?"
"You know I don't call myself that any more, Noni," he said. "I've not come on a personal matter."
She snorted, extending her right index claw and tapping it on the arm of her wooden chair. "You never do. At least you still have the manners to come in person, unlike some of the other mountain Brothers, but not to drop those barriers." Her eyes narrowed, the ridges meeting on her brow. "Female troubles again? What happened this time?"
He frowned, weighing in his mind whether it was worth arguing with her.
"It concerns a female," he said at last, his tone short, "but not me."
She snorted again, and with a flick of her ears, gestured with her hand to the lawn beside her. "Sit, sit. You're giving me a crick in the neck looking all that way up at you," she grumbled.
He sat, and she felt his uneasiness build until he took out a stim-twig.
"So she's with somebody else, is she? When will you learn, Tallinu? Go find a female of your own. It's about time you did!"
"I don't want or need one, Noni," he said defensively.
Rhuna gave a low rumble of laughter. "Sure you don't! You're not really chewing that stim-twig, are you? It's just something to hold, isn't it? You forget I know you too well! Now, who is she and what's wrong?"
As he began to collect his thoughts, slowly a realization of the situation started to build for her. Round the arms of her chair, her hands tightened until the knuckles showed white through her fur and her claws had sunk into the wood.
"Tallinu, do you realize what you've done? You've let her touch you— change you!" Her voice was low, vibrating from deep down in her chest. As she looked at him, flames seemed to flicker around and across his body. Beside him were shadow-shapes, two of them, their forms seeming to dance in the golden-red flames. A low sound, halfway between a moan and a howl, escaped her. She could almost feel the heat of those flames, hear them crackling— then her vision began to fade.
"In Vartra's name, Tallinu, why her? Why choose her?" she moaned as her eyes once more focused on the male sitting at her feet. "Their fire could destroy you! Have you any idea what you've gotten involved in?" she demanded, her voice growing stronger. "Vartra's bones, boy! What possesses you these days?"
Kaid's nose creased in worry. "Noni, I don't know what you're talking about! What did you see?" he demanded. His tail began to flick rhythmically.
She peered at his face, beginning to nod her head slowly. "So you haven't realized the full extent of it yet. You will," she said, ears swiveling round to face him.
"Noni, what did you see?" he asked again, his voice reflecting his urgent need to know what the future had shown her.
"It's the Aldatan cub's Human Leska, isn't it?" she said abruptly, hoping to divert him. "I heard she'd been hurt."
Kaid sat back on his haunches. "You don't know the half of it," he said. "She lost her cub— a Sholan cub. I need your help for her."
"They've been touched by Vartra," she whispered. "She's been singled out by the God. You want me to heal her?"
"I
need
you to heal her," he corrected. "Will you come with me to Valsgarth? She's slipping into death, Noni. She barely eats— spends her time sleeping ... We could lose both her and her life-mate."
"I don't leave home, you know that," she said, sitting back in her chair. "Bring her to me."
Kaid looked up at her, ears flicking. "I can't. She's too weak to travel."
"Then I'll not see her," she said with finality.
"Noni, Grandmother— you must," he said, leaning toward her again.
"Must, Tallinu? There's no must about it! I will not leave here to enter the telepath town!" She pushed him back with her foot. "Bring her to me— without her Leska."
Kaid got to his feet and began to pace round the small garden, tail flicking every now and then.
Rhuna watched him, narrowing her eyes against the sun. Her head moved in a tiny nod of approval. Good, his control was slipping. Now she would learn more.
He rounded on her. "I can't bring her, he'd never allow it— especially not without him there! I thought since you know what's at stake, that you'd come," he said. "If we let them die, it could disrupt our treaties with Keiss and Earth."
"That's not what you fear most."
"There's the God! You said she's been touched by Vartra. We have to help her!"
"There's that, of course," she agreed.
"Dammit, Rhuna! What more can I say?" he demanded angrily, stopping in front of her.
"Whose cub was it, Tallinu?" she asked, head cocked to one side. "Who was the father? Was it you?"
He went rigid with shock, mouth gaping, ears tilting backward.
Not his, then,
she thought with satisfaction.
Not his. But I touched a nerve there!
The growl came from low in his throat as his ears involuntarily flattened sideways. His pupils dilated and his lips pulled back in a snarl of pure rage. Then he was gone.

* * *

Rhuna sat there, waiting, watching, as the sun slowly began to sink lower behind her tree, casting dappled patterns of shade across the green robe she wore. The insects chirred louder as the day grew cooler. An attendant came to ask if she required anything, but she waved him away, telling him to go home for the night.
Tallinu will be back, it's just a matter of time,
she thought as she nodded off.
She sensed him return but continued to feign sleep till he spoke.
"I'll ask, Noni." His voice was barely audible.
"She needs to come here, Tallinu. I won't go to her," she said, opening her eyes to look at him. He was sitting on his haunches in front of her again. "Bring her here alone. Just the two of you."
He looked away, unwilling to meet her gaze.
Rhuna gave a rumbling laugh. "What's wrong, boy? Looked into one too many of the dark corners of your soul? About time some sunlight got in there! You can't face the truth? Have you begun to realize some of what's happening to you?"
"The God knows I didn't choose it, Noni! What do you think I am? A fool? I'm not the same person who came to see you about a female all those years ago." He turned his head back round to face her. "Yes, I was young, and fool enough then to think I could have something in my life that was normal. How was I to know?"
His eyes closed in anguish at the memory. She could feel it, the waves of shock and regret— and a deep fear of it ever happening again— whatever
it
had been!
"How was I to know?" he whispered. "No, I daren't touch her, Noni, nor would I if I could. She's my Liege's bonded life-mate. The child was his, not mine. How could you think otherwise?"
"I had to know," she said simply. "There is a bond between you, I can feel it. I need to know its nature."
"It's not just me," he said, taking a deep breath. "It's Garras, too, though it was slightly different for him. It was his female who found a Human Leska. What's happening, Noni? What are these Humans doing to us?"
She didn't need eyes to know the confusion he felt and the plea for help that was written on his face.
"Is Vartra just playing with us? Are we no more than His toys, an experiment He'll toss aside?" he asked, and she knew he voiced one of his deepest fears.
"Bring her to me," she said, pronouncing each word slowly. "Life goes in threes, Tallinu. It's no mistake you're all linked. I was told by my grandmother, and she by hers before, that long ago— after the Cataclysm, after the time of fire— things were thus. There was always someone to guard them, to be with them— as one of them." The images she'd been shown as a girl began to come to her mind, replaying themselves, putting a faint overlay of shapes between her and Kaid.
"Most often it was two males and one female," she said. "A Triad for mutual protection. The Telepaths and the Warrior— linked."
The shapes wavered then were gone as the memories of the images given to her all those years ago also faded. She blinked, refocusing on the here and now again.
"Go and fetch her," she said, pushing herself up stiffly from her chair. "There isn't much time left. I'll be ready when you return."
"What if Kusac wants to come?" he asked, on his feet almost instantly to help her.
He was pushed firmly away. "Leave me alone, Tallinu, I can manage! I'm not in my dotage yet," she snapped as she turned toward the house. "You'll have to convince him to stay, won't you?" She laughed, a low rumble of malicious glee. "Call it the ultimate test of his trust in you. Why not? You're doing the same to Dzaka! Now go! I need time to prepare for her."

* * *

"Vanna says moving her won't do any harm," Kaid said, distinctly uncomfortable as he watched Kusac pace round the ornamental garden.
"She's not going without me," Kusac said.
"Then Noni won't see her. I have to take her alone."
"Noni? Is she your grandmother?" demanded Kusac. "Why can't I go with her? Why does she need to see her alone?"
"She's not my grandmother, that's just what we call her," said Kaid, trying not to let his exasperation show. "Liege, you trust me to guard her, surely you can trust me to take her to the Healer."
Kusac frowned. "Of course I trust you. It isn't a matter of trust!"
"Then what is it, Liege? Tell me, because we're wasting time!"
"I want to be there!" said Kusac, stopping in front of him. "If anything goes wrong, I
have
to be with her. If she dies, so do I. I
need
to be there— to die with her if that's what has to happen! Can you guarantee that she won't die there, alone, without me? Can you guarantee that won't happen?"
"You know I can't, but it won't and we both know that," he said quietly. "What's more important, Liege? Carrie, or your need to be with her?"
Kusac's internal struggle was visible on his face, and took no talent at all to read. He was torn between what was best for Carrie and his natural desire to be with her.
"Take her then," he said finally, ears flicking with distress at being placed in such a situation. "Remember, you'll have both our lives in your hands."
Kaid crossed his forearms over his chest and bowed, hiding his relief. "Thank you, Liege. I know the level of trust you're placing in me. I'll contact you as soon as I have news."
"I know you will," Kusac sighed. "I'll take T'Chebbi with me when I go to meet Lijou at the temple," he said, changing the subject.
They walked back through the garden to the lounge. Kaid watched as Kusac went over to the daybed to pick Carrie up. Vividly, the memory of the last time he'd seen her lying limply in someone's arms came to him. He'd been in the corridor on the
Khalossa,
watching as Askad, Rhian, and Vanna rushed her to Kusac's room, trying to save both their lives. Now here they were again.
"Have you got an aircar ready?" Kusac asked, then answered himself. "Of course you have. You don't leave anything to chance if you can avoid it, do you?"
"I try not to, Liege," he replied, following them out into the hallway.
Kusac stopped, turning round to look at him. "Kaid, please stop insisting on calling me Liege. In Vartra's name, don't be so formal! I need to know that you'll act for me as a friend, not an employee. I'd feel better if you'd call me Kusac like everyone else does."
Kaid nodded slowly. "Very well, Kusac, but not in public. Then you must be my Liege."
Kusac started walking again. "Public doesn't include my family and our friends, Kaid."
"If that's what you wish," he agreed, following Kusac into the gathering darkness.
In the aircar, he waited while Kusac placed Carrie on the stretcher bed, then stepped forward to fasten the safety straps, double-checking that none of them rubbed against her.
She hadn't stirred, remaining deeply asleep. Kusac bent to caress her cheek, laying his face alongside hers, then straightened up to look at Kaid.
"Take care of her," he said.

* * *

"
This
is the Human female?" said Rhuna, looking down at the bed where Kaid had laid her. "
This
tiny being?" She snorted as she moved her chair beside the bed. "You might at least have chosen a full grown one!"
"She's full grown enough to have lost a cub," Kaid growled. "And I didn't choose her. There's nothing between us."
She glanced up at him as she sat down. "You'll have to face your fears soon, Tallinu. If you don't, they'll continue to control you. Now go and light that incense and the candles so I can begin. We've lost enough time already." She turned away from him and took an egg-shaped crystal from her pocket.
While Kaid busied himself doing her bidding, Rhuna took hold of Carrie's hand. Instantly she was aware of the Link to Kusac and with a tart thought in his direction, she cut him out, isolating the three of them from him. She smiled slightly to herself. For all his mental strength and ability, he wouldn't be able to break her shielding because it didn't respond to brute force. The more he tried, the more insubstantial it would seem to him.
She relaxed, letting her mind roam alongside the Human female's, finding it surprisingly close in feel to her own people's. Gradually she felt herself matching the girl's rhythms, minds and hearts beating together as one.
Tallinu had been almost right; she was asleep, but it was deeper than was normal— more a retreat from the world. Rhuna could feel the hurt and guilt caused by her cub's death, but there was more. She frowned, releasing Carrie's hand to touch her face instead. Vague images were there, drifting like smoke on the wind.
Rhuna tried to grasp one, but it eluded her, dissipating as if it had never been. With a mental shrug, she returned to where the sleeping Carrie was hiding from the world and began to gently insinuate herself into the Human girl's thoughts.
Carefully and slowly she worked, healing first the mental pain caused by Carrie's fear of her half-Sholan, half-Human child. That done, she began on Carrie's self-imposed guilt, rebuilding her shattered confidence, assuring her that neither she nor Kusac had been responsible for their cub's death.
It seemed to take an age, and Rhuna had to wryly admit to herself that she wasn't as young as she used to be, but finally it was over and Carrie lay sleeping normally.
She sat back in her chair, eyes closed, her hands holding the warm crystal in her lap. "I should have used the damned dampers," she muttered to herself.
"Noni, your drink," said Kaid quietly, holding out a glass of water for her.
Her eyes flicked open and as she took the glass from him, she tossed the crystal at him. Automatically, his Warrior's reactions made him reach up and catch it. She watched in satisfaction as he yelped, almost dropping it.
"Hot, isn't it, Tallinu?" She gave a short hiss of laughter before taking a long drink. "Get a damp cloth and wipe her face and hands. It was tiring for her, too, poor little thing. It's been a long time since I needed to work as hard as that."
"Your crystal," he said, holding the now cool gemstone out to her.
"Keep it," she said abruptly. "Since you can't have her yet, have it."
Kaid frowned. "I don't need ..."
"Go and get the cloth!" Rhuna snapped, taking another drink.
Pocketing the crystal, Kaid went to the bathing room and came back with a damp towel. He bent over Carrie, gently wiping the sweat from her face before lifting her hands one at a time. Finished, he looked up at Rhuna.
"Did you succeed?"
"What d'you think I am, Tallinu? An amateur?" she frowned at him. "Of course I succeeded! Her wounds I didn't do too much for because it was more important to heal her mind, but they should heal faster now."
"Thank you, Noni," he said. "I'd better contact Kusac. He's been trying to reach me for the past two hours."
"That long, huh? Ah, well. She's the first alien I've worked on. Go and tell him she's sleeping and you'll return her in the morning. When you come back, put the damper on. I'm keeping her mind shielded from him tonight."
"He won't like that."
"Doubtless," she said dryly, "but it isn't up to him, is it? When you've finished, we'll eat."
While he was outside at the aircar making his call, she got to her feet, moving stiffly across to the light sensor. She was blowing out the candles when he returned.
"There's stew on the stove and bread in the pantry," she said, sitting down at the table. "Once you've brought it over you can either eat first or wake the girl. She's slept enough, she needs to eat now."
"I'll wake her first," he said, tail flicking as he headed for the pantry.