thefiremargins (51 page)

* * *

It had been some time since Carrie had last left the estate, and that had also been to visit Noni. Now, as she watched the landscape unfold beneath her, she could see the effects of the changing season more clearly. The Taykui forest was a mass of gold and brown. Here and there, the stark branches of the trees that had already shed their leaves in preparation for the snows to come rose above the autumn colors. As they traveled further north, she saw that winter's breath had touched the tops of the mountains ahead.
Khuushoi sent the first snowfall yesterday,
Kusac sent.
It's not deep, only a couple of inches.
Khuushoi?
Goddess of Winter.
Do you realize this is our second winter together? Leaving aside that we aren't on Keiss, obviously.
We've been through a lot together. At least the worst is behind us now.
There's still the Fire Margins.
Carrie's tone was somber.
Let's not worry about that now. We've a lot do to before that can happen. Finding Kaid is one of them.
Is there really no way to rescue him?
None. If we try, we'll make matters worse, I know it. The Forces are close enough that if he gets the chance to escape, they'll quickly pick him up. There's got to be a damned good reason why he's helping Fyak. As we said, it could well be the only way he can stay out of Ghezu's claws.
"Coming in to land," said T'Chebbi as she steered the craft toward Dzahai village.

* * *

Noni greeted them at the door. She pointed a gnarled finger at Carrie. "You, young Human, can just take yourself off with that T'Chebbi female to the village. It's market day. You're bound to find something to buy there. Your mate will send to you when it's time to return. Go on, spend some of that hard earned money of his. You deserve it!"
Carrie looked at T'Chebbi, a faint grin on her face. "Looks like we've got our orders, T'Chebbi," she said. "We'll see you later, then."
As the two females walked off down the dirt track to the village, they heard Meral landing, then powering down his vehicle. Within a few minutes he had joined Kusac.
"And you can stay out here," said Noni. "Don't hold with guards normally, but I suppose with him here," she jerked her head toward Kusac, "I'd better have you."
She turned and stepped back into her kitchen, beckoning Kusac to follow. Once inside, she closed the door and headed slowly over to the large table that, along with her double bed, dominated the room. She sat down, waiting for Kusac to come round in front of her.
Noni stared at him quite unashamedly, and he felt her mind touch the edges of his. He let her, remaining watchful, and when the sudden intrusive strike came, he turned it aside.
"Hmm. You'll do, I suppose. Sit down then. None of you young ones realizes what it's like for us old folks to have to keep staring up at you. Pain in the neck, that's what you all are," she said with a short cackle.
As he sat down, she poured him a mug of c'shar and pushed it across the table to him. "Next time you come, you bring me some of that coffee of yours to try, hear me? I want to know what all the fuss is about."
Kusac accepted the mug, picking it up and taking a drink. "So you're Noni," he said. "Tell me why I should trust you with my bond-mate? You're guildless, therefore unqualified in all the trades you practice. You're domineering and full of your own importance. What makes you think I want anything to do with you?"
Noni began to laugh in earnest. "Oh, you'll do. You'll more than do, young Aldatan!" she chuckled. "You and Kaid could be brothers, so alike you are in some ways."
Kusac frowned, irritated by her reaction but not prepared to show it.
"There's not many prepared to say that to my face, lad. You trust Kaid, yet he's guildless, isn't he? He's a trained killer who held your lives in his jaws for several months without telling you. Yet knowing that, you still trusted him. Explain that to me, then I'll tell you why to trust old Noni!"
She
was
old, her hair a snow white plait, ears tufted with age, her pelt liberally flecked with gray. Clear brown eyes regarded him curiously, a glint of humor in their depths.
"You'll make a good leader for that new Clan of yours, Kusac Aldatan, and a fine Liege for Kaid." She watched the surprise on his face. "Yes, I know about that," she nodded. "It's why you have to walk the Fire Margins, so those cubs of yours— and his— will grow strong and free." She reached into the pocket at the side of her robe and brought out a comm crystal. "Here's what you want. I got one of the lads up at Stronghold to put it on his comm then run me off a crystal for you. Lijou's got a copy too."
Kusac picked up the crystal. "What is it?"
"You wanted all the records from each guild, didn't you? Well, we know a damned sight more about what happened in our past than either Stronghold or that Esken fellow down at Valsgarth. In there are all the replays that have been experienced by us nonguild folk over the last fifty-some years, as well as mention of those from further back. There's one or two in there you'll not get from anywhere else."
"Thank you, Noni," he said. "How did you get hold of them? What replays have you got that we haven't?"
"Ah, well, you'll just have to read them for yourself, won't you?" she grinned, sitting back in her chair. "As to how I got them, I experienced more than a few myself. Then, some of the young ones in the village are sensitive enough to pick up the odd replay if they're in the right place at the right time." She paused, looking at him with amusement still in her eyes. "There's all the Brothers who visit me. They'll tell me what they keep hidden from Lijou up in that bird's nest called Stronghold. I'm not breaking confidences, now, you'll find no names attached to the files."
Kusac put the cube in his jacket pocket. "Thank you again, Noni. That's a gift we didn't expect. You know Kaid's been seen in the desert?"
She nodded. "Damn fool boy! Told him not to go there! He's put your Triad at risk. Still, he always did have a strange sense of honor. He had to do what he saw as right."
"Is there any way we can help him? Even get a message to him?"
Noni began to cackle quietly, eyes crinkling with humor. "You're asking me, a guildless, humble village healer? You, with your Guild-learned skills, know the answer to that one better than I do! You can do nothing but wait— and pray. It's Ghezu who wants him, not Fyak. He's just using Kaid's skills for now. When he's done with him, he'll hand him over to Ghezu, you'll see."
"There must be something we can do!"
"Told you. Pray to Vartra. He's the only one as can help you now. With your mental powers, you and that mate of yours can send your prayers to Vartra!"
Kusac decided to let the matter drop. Noni obviously hadn't any suggestions either. "Why did you ask to see me? You could have given the cube to Carrie, you didn't need me."
"I wanted to meet her mate. Needed to know if you could handle it."
Kusac frowned. "Handle what?"
"There you go again! The Triad, naturally!" She took a sip from her mug. "Can you remember you're Sholan and deal with it properly? Have you left adolescence behind?"
The look he gave her was cool in the extreme. "I'll handle it because it's Kaid."
Noni relaxed, resting her elbows on the table as she sipped her drink. "You're a strange one, right enough. Usually you males don't have the strengths we females are born with. But you, and Kaid...
You're
easy to understand, you get those strengths from her through your Link. They may be Human female, but they're close enough to us to make no real difference. Kaid baffles me. Always has, right from the time he was found at the Retreat. I don't know where he gets his strengths from. His mind's always so closed, even when I get him to open it up a tiny crack for me."
"You're as curious as Carrie," he said. "I don't need to analyze Kaid, he just
is
. I trust him, and that's it."
She nodded. "And you don't know why. Right?"
Kusac was getting exasperated, then he remembered the conversations about Noni he'd heard in the staff lounge when they'd all lived in the main house. It was his turn to grin. "You're good, too, Noni," he said softly. "Very good. Carrie trusted him first, and I trust her judgement."
"So?"
He shrugged, ears dipping in acknowledgment of a point scored. "So I trust you. Tell me about the replays you've had, Noni," he said, changing the topic. "I'll read the files, but while I'm here, you might as well tell me."
Noni snorted in disgust. "Lazy is what you are!"
"No, I
will
read the files, but you can save me a lot of time by telling me the points you consider important."
"Haven't you had the replays then?"
He shook his head. "Carrie has them, not me, though afterward I do experience them from her perspective."
Noni raised an eye ridge. "Now that does surprise me," she said. "I was sure you'd have them as well."
"I did once, but they've stopped over the last couple of months."
"So, she's more tuned in to them than you. Why should that be, I wonder?"
"Tell me about the replays, Noni," he said.

* * *

Lijou and Yaszho were busy when Ghezu strolled into his office. He stopped in front of the desk, looking down at what the two males were working on.
"You really do intend to calmly hand over your Priesthood's files to Chuz's committee, don't you? I trust none of them pertain to me or my warriors."
There was an edge to his voice that Lijou didn't like. He looked up at him. "What can we do for you, Ghezu?"
"I said, are you really going to hand over your files?"
"I'd rather hand over what I've collated and edited, than suffer the indignity of having the actual files collected by the Forces."
Ghezu smiled gently. "You know, you're actually cleverer than I thought. I have to admit that it didn't occur to me to give them what I wanted them to have. Quite subtle, Lijou. Worthy of a Brother."
"A compliment indeed," said Lijou, aware that Ghezu was trying to use his talent to charm him— and failing. His judgement, and his talent, was slipping badly. "Now, how can I help you?"
"The female, Khemu, is dead," said Ghezu, ambling over to the window. "Nice view you've got. Better than mine, I think."
Lijou put down his stylus and, clasping one hand over the other, sat back to watch Ghezu. "Oh? How did she die?"
"Her own hand. Poison, the medic said. Actually one of our drugs." He turned round. "Kaid gave it to her."
Lijou raised an eye ridge questioningly. "So Kaid went to her?"
"Yes. Fyak's people took him."
"Fyak's people? What would they want with him?" Lijou was puzzled as to why Ghezu was offering this information.
"Seems Kaid's got a new master, Lijou. He dropped us for the Aldatan cub. Now he's taken up with this desert prophet. Not only that, but I've had to put a contract out on his son now."
"Dzaka? What's he done?"
"He's broken his oath, Lijou." Ghezu returned to stand at Lijou's desk, towering over them. "He sent word he'd left the Brotherhood. He's hiding out on the Aldatan estate, but I'll get him, you needn't worry about that. Now I have all three of them. Khemu dead, Kaid a prisoner, albeit with Fyak, and Dzaka a walking corpse." He snarled the last comment, his eyes taking on a tinge of fanaticism that was quickly masked.
Lijou felt Ghezu's glamour slip, then as it returned, he sensed the subtle difference in it. The darkness he'd felt creeping across Ghezu's soul was echoed now in his gift. Lijou could feel himself being drawn toward the other's world of hate and paranoia.
"You were wrong, weren't you?" As Ghezu rested his hands on the desk and leaned forward, Lijou saw the glint of a silver bracelet on his right wrist.
"You thought you knew Kaid, that you could handle him. How does it feel to be so wrong, Lijou?" His tone now held a hint of gloating in it.
Lijou felt Yaszho stir beside him, reacting to Ghezu's dark glamour. He let his tail tip briefly touch the other male's leg and felt him start in surprise. He shrugged. "So I was wrong, Ghezu. What does it matter to us now? We have what we wanted, our Guild status."
Ghezu began to laugh as he walked toward the door. "You wouldn't make a politician, Lijou," he chuckled. "You miss the obvious. Without Kaid, the Aldatan cub has no chance of going to the Fire Margins! He's their third. Without him, they're ours! Members of the Brotherhood. I have my fighting telepaths, Lijou." Still chuckling, he opened the door and left.
A cold shiver ran down his spine. "I fear our esteemed Guild Master of the Warriors has finally crossed over that thin edge between madness and sanity," said Lijou. "We must get this news of Kaid and Dzaka out to Kusac immediately."
"It was so ... seductive!" exclaimed Yaszho, flicking his ears in nervous reaction. "No wonder his bodyguards behave the way they do! I begin to wonder if remaining here at Stronghold is wise, Master Lijou. If you're right about Master Ghezu, and after this experience I'm sure you are, he could actually incarcerate you without anyone being the wiser— especially now he's had the whole complex fitted with psychic dampers."
"If I go, then all the Brothers in our Order are at Ghezu's mercy," said Lijou gently. "I appreciate your concern, but I cannot leave them at this time."
"You can't help them if you're dead."
"Nor can I help them if I'm not where they need me. You've done as you ought, Yaszho, warned me of the potential danger."
"There is an alternative," Yaszho ventured. "The tide of feeling against Ghezu and his guards is becoming stronger every day, among both the lay-Brothers and the Warriors. It would take very little encouragement for them to turn against Ghezu."
"Absolutely not, Yaszho!" Lijou was shocked at the suggestion. "Doing that will only cause Brother to fight Brother, and I will not be responsible for that! Now, how do we get the information out to Kusac?" he asked, trying to regain his composure. "In your opinion, is the comm link secure?"
"No, Master Lijou, I don't think it is. If your call was intercepted, Ghezu could claim you were acting against the Brotherhood interests by giving confidential information to non-Guild members."
"He could," agreed Lijou. "But we have to send the information nonetheless."
"We could encode it and send it direct to the temple at Valsgarth so they can see it's delivered to the estate. Or you can send it telepathically."
"Long range communication isn't easy, Yaszho. Apart from having the necessary degree of talent, it requires meditation and concentration. A little difficult when one's ears are freezing off on the battlements of Stronghold," he said, mouth opening in a gentle grin. He sighed. "It does seem the safest way, though."
"I see Master Ghezu has taken to wearing a bonding bracelet," said Yaszho, tapping his stylus thoughtfully on the desktop. "Hazarding a guess, do you think it could belong to the dead female, Khemu?"
"I think it very likely. And if Ghezu has it, then he must have been to Fyak's lair since she died."
"That was my thought. Likely he's also seen Kaid."
The two exchanged a glance. It was Lijou who voiced their common thought. "Kaid may no longer be with Fyak."