thefiremargins (37 page)

* * *

Carrie hadn't been sleeping well for the last couple of nights. It was nothing either of them could put their finger on, she'd just been restless and fretful. Today, Kusac had persuaded her to return to bed after first meal and had accompanied her up to their rooms. When she finally dropped off, he rose and went back downstairs.
He found Meral waiting outside the door of Konis' office. His tail was swaying anxiously and his ears were showing a tendency to flick every now and then. Kusac raised an eye ridge questioningly at him.
"I'm to see the Clan Lord any time now," Meral said in a low voice. "He's expecting me."
"About Taizia?"
Meral nodded. "He can't overturn our contract, can he?" he asked, ears flicking even further back.
Kusac shook his head. "No, he wouldn't do that. Not now, anyway," he amended, the edges of his mouth curling slightly in a very human grin. "He might have several months ago."
They heard Konis call out for Meral to enter.
"Wish me luck," said Meral, stilling his tail and ears before reaching out for the door handle.
"Do you want me to come with you?" Kusac asked.
Meral shot him a horrified look and shook his head as he opened the door. Thoughtfully, Kusac ambled off to his mother's kitchen for a snack.
The house was run very differently now from the way it had been over a year ago when he left to join the Forces. Nowadays it was much more of a home. Before it had almost been a civic building with the coming and going of all the various officials both his parents had had to deal with. Now, by contrast, virtually no business except of the indirect kind on the comm, was conducted at home. Perhaps his disappearance had rung in the changes he'd longed for after all.
His mother was finishing her c'shar when he walked in. "Where's Carrie? Still resting?"
Ears flicking assent, he sat down beside her. "Mother, I need some advice from you."
"Hmm? What is it?" she asked, reaching out absently to flick a lock of hair off his face. Her fingers caressed his cheek before returning to lift up her mug.
"Well," he said, picking up her spoon and toying with it. "Do you remember me saying that perhaps the clans have been becoming too inbred, and that might be the reason for the fall in the birth of telepathic cubs?"
She regarded him over the top of her mug. "Yes." The word was said cautiously and drawn out.
"I know you've seen Vanna and Jack's report showing that even among the few Brothers here, there are a couple who could become genetically compatible with us mixed Leskas. Given that that's the case, and we know all the Brothers are Talented in some way, then do you think there's an argument for allowing marriages between the Brothers who have a strong Talent and telepaths? I mean dynastic marriages."
Rhyasha took a deep breath before replyng. "There's certainly an argument for trying a few such bondings for a limited time to see how productive they would be. Why, Kusac? Where's all this leading? These matters fall into your father's province as Clan Lord, not mine." She stopped, putting her mug down and looking hard at him.
He looked away, finding the spoon absorbing. "I was just wondering," he said. "I haven't seen this spoon before. Have you been getting some new cutlery?"
"Kusac." He could hear the warning tone in his mother's voice. She reached out and took hold of his chin, turning his face to hers. "Out with it, scamp," she ordered, catching his eyes with hers. "What's this all leading to?"
Kusac glanced away again. "Nothing, Mother. Just a question, that's all."
"Kusac!" she said warningly, giving his chin a pinch. "Out with it!"
He looked back at her, eyes wide in feigned innocence. "Honestly, Mother, it's nothing to do with me."
"Then who? Oh ho," she said, letting him go. "It's that sister of yours, isn't it? What's Taizia done now?"
Kusac shrugged. "I really can't say, Mother."
"Can't, or won't! Let me guess," she said, her voice getting tight. "She's pregnant, isn't she? And Meral came in this morning wanting to see your father. He won't allow it, Kusac," she said. "There's no way he'll allow her to bond with Meral."
"They're already bonded. For five years," said Kusac. He reached out and took his mother's hand in his. "Mother, I want you to speak up for them. Ask Father to allow them to life-bond."
As she began to shake her head and pull her hand away from him, he held onto her more tightly. "Mother, he's of the Nazule Clan. He's their second son, and he's an honorable male. You won't find one better, nor one more able to handle Taizia. Speak for them, Mother," he pleaded, lifting her hand up to his cheek.
"Gods, Kusac!" she said exasperated. "Do you know what you're asking of me? And don't try to act like a cub at your age! It won't wash," she said tartly, pulling her hand away. "I don't know what this family's coming to! I thought I knew you and your sister, now look at you both! You, the quiet one, have a Human Leska. You couldn't be less like the youngling I knew before you ran away! As for Taizia! I never thought I'd see the day when she'd settle down enough to have a cub, let alone choose it as a way to put off an arranged marriage!"
Kusac took hold of her hand again, this time in both of his. "Speak for her, Mother. This grandchild will be pure Sholan, and both parents are Talented. There's a good chance their cub will be, too. As good a chance as with any arranged marriage."
Before she could answer, the door opened and Konis strode in. Behind him, Kusac could see Meral hovering anxiously.
"I see you've just learned about what your daughter has done," he said. "Well? What do you think of this... situation?"
Rhyasha took her hand from Kusac's and drew herself up as she looked over to her life-mate. "
My
daughter, Konis?" she said, arching an eye ridge at him. "Since when did
our
daughter become mine?"
"I want to know your opinion on this," he said, frowning at her.
Kusac watched his mother look past her husband to Meral. "I think," she said, her voice softening, "we should ask Taizia to join us."
Startled, Konis came farther into the room. "You can sense Taizia's presence? Meral said she was with his family."
"I believe your sister's in the shrine, Kusac. Go and fetch her," his mother said. "Meral, don't stand out there, join us. You've been in here often enough."
Kusac got up and left the kitchen, heading down the corridor to the shrine at a run as soon as he was out of sight of his parents. Taizia was already on her way to meet him.
She stopped, looking anxiously at him. He swept her up into his arms in a hug.
"Taizia! I've missed you," he said, rubbing his cheek on hers as he set her back down again. "You're looking and feeling well! In fact," he said, standing back a little from her, "you look pregnant!" He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and drew her toward the kitchen. "Mother sent me to fetch you. I take it Meral didn't know you were here?"
"No. I couldn't let him face Father on his own, Kusac, no matter how much he wanted to. What do you think he's going to say? Do you think we've got a chance?"
"I honestly don't know. I've been working on Mother, softening her up for you," he said, then they were pushing the door open.
Taizia went straight to Meral's side, her hand going down to take his.
"I told you not to come!" said Meral quietly, his voice somewhat angry. "I said I'd see to it."
"I couldn't let you tell them on your own," she said. She looked over at her father and Kusac saw her jaw tighten before she spoke. "I want him, Father. He's not a telepath, but he's got enough Talent to receive me. He's obviously got the genes, and that's what you really want, isn't it?"
Konis looked over to Rhyasha.
She sat for a moment, tapping a claw tip on the table. "You're a second son I'm told. You'd be prepared to leave your clan for ours?"
Taizia's face lit up with hope as she looked at Meral.
He looked from her to Kusac, then Rhyasha. "Yes."
Rhyasha continued to tap the table thoughtfully for a moment or two. "You have my retrospective permission as Clan Leader to bond," she said abruptly.
Konis sat down at the table and ran his hands across his ears, looking from one to the other of them.
"The world we knew is changing drastically," he said. "It doesn't belong to our generation any more, Rhyasha. It belongs to Kusac and Taizia, and their partners. In the space of less than a year we've had the first Sholan/Human Leska Link, their first child conceived, and discovered that for hundreds of years we've ignored every mental Talent but telepathy in our desire to breed more of ourselves." He sighed.
Rhyasha reached out to touch his arm, but he took her hand in his instead. Kusac couldn't believe he was seeing it. His father particularly wasn't given to public shows of affection.
"I nearly lost my son because of the female he loved," Konis continued. "I don't intend to risk losing my daughter. You can have your Warrior, Taizia. For now, I'll sanction your bonding for five years. After that, we'll review the situation. Agreed?"
They all felt not only Taizia's but Meral's mental exhilaration.
"Father ..." She flung herself at her father, arms going round him. "You don't know what this means to me!"
"I think I do," he said, his voice droll as he looked over his daughter's head to Rhyasha. "I know another female who did the same as you to ensure she had the husband she wanted."
"Konis!" said Rhyasha, her tone one of shocked outrage. "You've no business telling them that!"
"So that's why you called Taizia Mother's daughter," said Kusac with a grin.
"If it's time for truths, I can tell you a thing or two about your father," Rhyasha began.
"Rhyasha," Konis interrupted blandly as Taizia gave him one last hug before going back to Meral. "You've a bonding ceremony to record. Don't you think you should take these two younglings and get started on it now while I work out how I'm going to justify my decision to the Clans? I've also to approach Meral's family and ask them."
"Oh, they won't refuse, Clan Lord," said Meral hurriedly. "They wouldn't have looked for such a marriage for my older brother, let alone me."
"I don't doubt it," said Konis dryly as chuckling, Rhyasha got to her feet.
"Come on, you two," she said, gathering them up and sweeping them toward the door. "You've your brother to thank for this, Taizia."
"Bless you, Kusac," Taizia said over her shoulder as they left for Rhyasha's office on the floor above.

* * *

Carrie had slept till she'd been called for second meal. Afterward, with Kusac busy on the new estate, she'd decided to work on Kaid's book. So engrossed was she that she failed to notice that T'Chebbi was standing at the doorway to the lounge.
"Liegena, sorry to disturb you. A vehicle's arrived from Dzahai village with a message from Noni," said T'Chebbi. "She wants you for a checkup."
Carrie looked over at her. "A checkup?"
"I know the pilot. Noni told him it was important. She wants only you."
"Alone?" she said in disbelief.
T'Chebbi flicked her ears in agreement. "Without the Liegen. I'm only the messenger, Liegena," she apologized.
"Noni shouldn't even think of asking me to go without him, T'Chebbi, and Kusac agrees with me. What's she got against him coming anyway?"
"Don't know, Liegena. You ask her. I'll go with you."
"Kusac's as displeased as I am about this. I think I'd better contact her. What's her comm address?"
"She doesn't have one. The only way you can contact her is by going there."
Carrie hesitated, finally overruling Kusac's mental objections. "I'll go, but this is the last time I'll go without Kusac."
"Has the Liegen found anything about Khemu?" asked T'Chebbi as they left.
"He's managed to locate her Clan records and is checking through them now. He says it'll take him a while yet."

* * *

The trip to Noni's was quickly over, and as the pilot brought his vehicle down in the roadway outside Noni's cottage, Carrie felt the old female's mind touch hers lightly in greeting.
Noni was waiting for them at her gate. "Don't know what you think you're doing, T'Chebbi. You and that pilot can just take yourselves off to the inn. There's no place for you useless Brothers here!" she said tartly, opening the gate for Carrie.
T'Chebbi backed away from the gate. "Peace, Noni! I'll wait here."
"Suit yourself! More fool you for preferring that aircar to the inn!" She turned to walk back to the house. "Give me your arm, girl," she said, reaching out to take it.
"Why did you want me to come, Noni?" Carrie asked, matching her pace to the elderly Sholan's. "You know I'm fine now."
"Wait till we're inside, girl," she said, pushing open the door.
As soon as she'd stepped inside, Carrie turned angrily to Noni. "You've got a damper on! Why? I demand to know what this is all about!"
"Sit, youngling," said Noni, pointing to the table. "It's not for you, it's for that mate of yours. I need to talk to you about the Margins, and Kaid, but first, let me see that crystal you found."
"How do you know about it?" demanded Carrie.
"Let me see it," said Noni, sitting down and holding out her hand.
Reluctantly she fished it out of her trouser pocket and held it out.
Taking it between thumb and forefinger, Noni held it up to the light, squinting through it as she studied it. "Sit, sit," she murmured as, finishing her visual examination, her hand closed over it and a distant look came into her eyes.
Carrie sat, waiting to see what Noni could learn from it.
A look of pain crossed the Healer's face and with a low moan, she reached out and gave the crystal back to Carrie.
"Take it!" she said, getting to her feet as quickly as she was able. Rubbing her hands together, she went over to the sink.
"What's wrong, Noni?" asked Carrie, hurrying over to her side. "Can I help you?"
"No, child. It's what you thought it was, an eye from a statue of Vartra. The impressions are stronger than I expected, that's all." She turned on the faucet and ran her hands under the stream of water for a minute or two. "You go on and sit down now. I'm fine."
After drying her hands on a towel, she moved over to her stove and began busying herself pouring out two mugs of c'shar.
"What did you find out?" asked Carrie, putting the crystal away.
"Patience," said Noni, bringing the mugs back to the table and placing one in front of her. "And keep that crystal out. We'll need it awhile yet."
Once she was settled, Carrie asked her again. "What did you find out?"
Noni took a sip of her drink. "Like I said, it's an eye from the image of the God."
"I knew it! What else did you discover?"
"These crystals can store memories and feelings," she said. "There are many in this one, as you'd expect. What I picked up was a confusion of emotions that shouldn't by rights go together. Yes, there was peace and tranquillity, but that was in the past of its existence. The later emotions are quite different." She stopped, and peered across the table at Carrie.
"Is there something wrong with the way I make c'shar? You haven't touched yours yet."
Carrie made a noise halfway between exasperation and anger as she picked up her mug and took a large swig of the drink. Noni was stringing her along on purpose. "Well?" she demanded, putting it down again.
"They conflict with each other. The feelings of anger and frustration are strongest."
"I picked up the same from the actual ruins," Carrie said nodding. "I got very little from the crystal, though."
"If you can read the stones of buildings and the land on which they stand, then you can read this crystal."
"How? At the shrine, the feelings just came to me. I didn't go looking for them."
"Hold the crystal in your hand and just reach into it with your mind."
Carrie looked at her. "What?"
"I told you, girl! Hold it and reach into it with your mind!" she repeated tartly.
Taking it in her hand again, Carrie sat back and closed her eyes. She wasn't quite sure what she was doing because when she had mentally searched the ruins, it was something she'd done without thinking. She concentrated on the crystal in her hand, probing around it till suddenly, she'd found what she was looking for.
"I see a time of darkness, of neglect, then suddenly there is light and people— many, many people. Flames leap from a bowl before him ... no, closer than that. A bowl in his hands, I think," she said, her voice quiet so as not to lose the tenuous contact she had with the gem. "There's incense and chanting— the low, pleasing sounds of worshipers."
The scene grew, expanding to fill her mind till she could hear nothing but the chanting, smell nothing but the scent of incense from the nung tree, and see nothing but a sea of heads bowed toward her beyond the flames that gently flickered in her hands.
"There were so many then, all worshiping me. These ones were peaceful, not like the ones who lived below,"
she said, hearing with horror the sudden deepening of her voice. The voice continued as if it belonged to someone other than herself, leaving her terrified as it spoke words in a Sholan dialect she didn't know.
"Fire ran through their veins! They were Warriors. At the end, they fought the furless ones, dying like heroes, taking them with them into death."
Suddenly finding herself partially released from the spell of the past, she gave a low cry of anguish, putting her hands up to protect her head. The crystal fell to the floor, rolling away to stop by Noni's foot even as the old Sholan stepped over it to reach her.
"They destroyed the Shrine and me! I fragment! I am lost!"
"It's only a memory, child," Noni said, pulling her arms down by her sides and holding her close. "A memory, no more."
Carrie shuddered several times, then the tension left her body and she slumped against Noni.
"Sit, child," she said, moving her grasp to Carrie's hands as she did so.
Carrie looked up at her, blinking to try and bring her eyes into focus. She took her hands away from Noni, putting them up to her face as she began to shudder again. "He spoke through me! He took over my voice, Noni!" Even she could hear the panic in her voice.
"No," said Noni, gently lowering herself to her chair again. "Your subconscious mind copied the way they spoke and thought in those days, that's all."
"I don't like it, Noni," Carrie said, rubbing her eyes. "All these dreams and voices— it's frightening."
Noni poked Carrie's mug toward her again. "Take another drink," she said, then bent slowly down to retrieve the crystal orb from the floor. "Don't be frightened," she said. "It's other people's memories you're seeing and hearing, not yours. That painter that lives on the Aldatan estate, she sees a picture in everything she looks at, that's her Talent. Yours is to be sensitive to thoughts, amongst other things. So you pick them up from crystals like this." She put it down in front of Carrie.
"I don't know," Carrie began dubiously.
"Well, I do!" interrupted Noni sharply. "Stop working yourself into a panic over something as natural as those damned comm crystals you use every day! They store electronic information, don't they? Well, these ones," she said, taking Carrie's hand from the table and placing the crystal in her palm, "store information from our minds! I want you to keep that crystal. Wear it round your neck. Get a jeweler to put it in one of those silver cage things. Now, put it away, I've got more important things to say to you."
Holding the crystal gingerly between thumb and index finger, Carrie returned it to her pocket. Noni's explanation sounded eminently logical and already she was feeling a little easier about the whole incident. Instinctively she reached for Kusac, forgetting about the psychic damper.
"Yes, I use a damper. I need privacy for myself and those who come to me," Noni said. "You'd be surprised how many of the Brothers are sensitives if not telepaths. Now we know for sure there was a shrine to Vartra on your estate, that along with the fact that the new Leska pairs dream of the God in Valsgarth Guildhouse, makes it pretty sure there are seams of these crystals on your land. They're also found here at Stronghold, which would account for the dreams and visions of the Brothers."
"Kusac and I camped out for a couple of days in a cave that had seams of those crystals in it. The cave was at the foot of the hill on which the shrine stands."
"I know that these crystals store memories," said Noni. "I use them for healing. I used one when I healed you. Because I was working with your mind, it picked up the essence of what and who you are. It also picked up the feelings and emotions of my helper."
Carrie looked up at her, puzzled. What was Noni get-ting at?
"I wanted Tallinu to be an element in that crystal."
"Kaid? But why?"
"I wondered that myself, till now," Noni said. "Part of it was because you would become a Triad. Now, with Tallinu missing, and Ghezu wanting him dead, it suddenly makes sense."
"How does it make sense?" Carrie asked. "You've lost me, Noni." She was thoroughly confused now.
"I've used that particular crystal for more years than I care to remember, but this time, I knew I had to give it to Tallinu just as it was, with both of you a part of it. His link to you is now something tangible that he can believe in every time he touches the crystal."
"Are you telling me that he can somehow contact me through it?"
"Not quite. He isn't a telepath, after all, but he can sense some of what's in it because he's also a part of it. It sensitizes him to you. It's possible that you could use it to try and locate him. Perhaps you'll pick him up anyway."
"Pick him up how?"
"You ask too many questions!" Noni growled. "Try thinking for yourself, girl! You might have dreams that show you where he is or what's happening to him. Anything's possible! Just be on your guard for any strange feelings regarding Tallinu, that's all."
"Who knows? After you've paired, he may be able to reach you mentally by using it himself."
She stopped talking and leaned forward. "What is it? You've already felt something, haven't you? I can sense you thinking about it. Tell me!"
"It's nothing, Noni." She wasn't happy about anyone else being able to know her thoughts. "Just that I've been sleeping badly. No dreams or anything, just unable to sleep."
"Since he left?"
"Round about then," Carrie admitted, looking away from her as she toyed with her mug. "Noni, this pairing. I know you have a different outlook on pairings from Humans, but in my experience, all the people around me except Vanna seem to have only one partner."
"What people do in their private life isn't usually common knowledge," said Noni. "Many Leska pairs have a mate as well, and I remember times when your bond-parents had a lover or two."
Carrie looked up quizzically.
"No, I won't tell you," said Noni. "Private is private. My knowledge was legitimately come by, not gossip. What is it that bothers you about the pairing? Do you dislike Tallinu?"
Carrie could feel her curiosity. "No. He's never been anything but kind and understanding with me," she said.
"He's older than Kusac," said Noni, "but that's no bad thing. You'll not find him causing trouble for either of you."
"How could he cause trouble?" She watched Noni's eyes narrow.
"How much do you know about the Triads, girl?"
"Only what the Brotherhood and Ghyan at the temple in Valsgarth have in their records."
Noni made a noise of disgust. "They know nothing!"
"How do you know more?"
"Knowledge passed down through our families, girl," said Noni. "Our knowledge goes back further than theirs! At the time of the Cataclysm, there was a hatred and fear of the Telepaths. Many believed they caused the disas-ter that swept across the face of Shola, but that wasn't so. Theirs was a time when the guilds grew up out of the ruins of the past, a time when people fought to keep as many of their skills alive as possible so they could re-build their world. Warriors were needed, and to protect those telepaths that were left, they formed Triads with the Leska pairs."
"The telepaths would have been able to sense danger."
"And the Warriors could protect them from attack," finished Noni.
"I suppose it was easier for lone telepaths to go unnoticed."
"Within reason. With people trying to loot all they could from what was left of their world, telepaths were easy to spot because of their inability to stand physical violence. So they set up their own guild and retreated to defensible places with Warriors to protect them."
"There were the Valtegans as well," Carrie reminded her.
"We've only just begun to learn of their existence in the past, we can't assume they survived the Cataclysm. In time, some of the Warriors became the Brotherhood. Perhaps they were the result of pairings between Warriors and Telepaths. Who knows? Be that as it may, these Triads had to be close, had to trust each other. Especially if there were cubs," she said quietly.
Carrie looked away, picking up her mug and taking a drink. "That's not likely in our case."
"What made you choose Tallinu?" asked Noni, sitting back in her chair.
"What d'you mean?"
"Just what I said."
"I feel I can trust him," said Carrie, refusing to look her in the eye. "He's the only other male I know well enough." She had no intention of telling Noni, or anyone else, that she'd sensed the presence of his mind several times.
"What else?"
"His touch doesn't make me want to move away."
Noni made a small, noncommittal noise.
Carrie looked up at her. "I like him! Is there anything wrong in that?" she demanded, angry at being goaded into admitting it.
Noni spread her hands expressively. "Did I say anything?" she asked. "Your reasons are good. Most people choose lovers for less sound reasons."
"I didn't say I was choosing him as a lover!" Carrie exclaimed.
"What do you think the third in a Triad is, if not a lover to one of you? It isn't a one-time tumble just so you can walk the Fire Margins! Think Sholan, girl, not Human!" said Noni, her voice sharp. "If you don't, you'll hurt them both."
"But ... Surely Kusac doesn't want me to ..."
"He's Sholan, girl, just remember that. For all his understanding of your Human side, if you confuse the Human and Sholan ideals, you'll cause your mate more hurt. Tallinu needn't mean to you what Kusac does, but treat him as less than a lover and you'll hurt him too. Just enjoy the pairing when it happens. It's a pleasure the Gods gifted to us, to be enjoyed for what it is, no more. Your loyalty to your life-mate isn't affected by that, is it?"