“Not wise, Noni,” said Lijou gently. “She comes from the same country as Conner. She might have been able to help you.”
“The day I put up with a youngling’s hormone-fueled moods is my last day on Shola, Master Lijou,” she responded. “Now, what you got on this Conner?”
Rhyaz suddenly began to chuckle but when he caught sight of Noni’s glare, he hastily stifled it. “I think I’ll go find Alex,” he said, leaving his report and heading hurriedly off after his Leska.
What is it with you two? asked Lijou, going to his desk to fetch a printout he’d prepared for their healer.
Alex won’t tell me anything except she thinks Noni’s met her match, replied Rhyaz, using the same tight mental link that his colleague had.
Thoughtfully, he returned and handed it to Noni. “This is all I’ve been able to find out about him. They haven’t been that forthcoming at the Old Sarum College.”
She pushed herself up out of her chair and took the papers from him. “I suppose it’ll have to do,” she said. “Get one of your lads onto it, Lijou. We can’t have him running round Stronghold with a rogue talent, can we?”
“It isn’t rogue, Noni. He can obviously control it, and well, since he’s never exhibited this side of himself before. He helped me solve a problem without me even telling him what it was. Somehow he just knew, and I’ll swear he didn’t read my mind.”
She looked at him seriously for a moment. “If you couldn’t feel him read you, then it’s some Talent he has,” she said thoughtfully. “You and Konis Aldatan have the two strongest Talents on Shola, excepting maybe for his son, Kusac. There’s more to him than meets the eye, Lijou, mark my words.”
With that, she left for her quarters where Teusi was waiting for her.
Conner had gone to the Goddess’ Shrine inside the temple. He was angry and frustrated, mainly with himself. For one such as him to be treated like some raw beginner by Noni had rankled with him all along, but until tonight, he’d managed to contain it.
The artificial sunlight had dimmed to dusk in the grotto. He closed his eyes, leaning back on the bench, trying to let the sound of the running water and the smell of the nung tree soothe his raw nerves. What he’d done had exhausted him, cost him dearly in terms of his own energy levels. With a quiet request to the Goddess for healing, he slipped his bare feet out of his sandals and let them sink into the grass. Opening his mind, he felt the familiar tingling as the earth began to gently replace the energy he’d lost. It was the first time he’d tried this since he’d arrived, and was pleased to find that this much was the same here as it had been on his world.
He was here for a purpose, he knew he was, but how could he find out what if that damned old crone wouldn’t help him?
He heard a faint chuckle, followed by, If I were you, I wouldn’t let her hear you even thinking that!
Opening his eyes, he sat bolt upright and looked around. The small cavern was as empty as it had been a few minutes ago. He frowned, knowing there was someone else there, but unable to see them or even sense their presence.
You can hear me? The thought was slightly stronger this time, and full of surprise.
I can, he replied. Who are you? Where are you?
You can pathwalk?
It was a question, and he felt his heart leap inside his chest. Yes! An Entity, it had to be an Entity!
Then come to me in my realm. The thought was getting fainter, almost fading. Look for the blue-white crystal at the heart of a triple spiral on a wooden door. It will be late spring, as it is here in the Shrine. I will meet you.
That he could do, and easily! He even knew the triple spiral for it existed even on Earth. At last he’d found what he needed.
With an ease gained from years of practice, he began to relax himself into a light trance until he was able to step between the worlds and enter the void. Ribbons of light flowed around and past him until one, of bright green, came toward him and swept him away with it.
He kept his mind clear of all thoughts save late spring and the door he knew he would come to, with its sign of the triple spiral with the crystal heart.
The Head Priest, Lijou, was gently shaking his shoulder, trying to wake him.
“Conner, are you all right?” he was asking.
He stirred. Putting his hands up to rub his eyes, he felt something drop to the ground, heard the metallic clink it made.
“I’m fine,” he said as Lijou stooped to pick whatever it was up. “I wasn’t asleep,” he began.
“I know,” said Lijou with a smile, handing the object back to him. “You were pathwalking to Vatra’s realm. He gave you this.”
Conner examined it carefully. It was like a coin. On one side there was the triple spiral, on the other, in the cursive Sholan script, a V.
“Do you understand its significance?” Lijou asked, sitting down beside him.
The face Conner turned to him was bleached of all color. “Never before have I brought anything back from the Entities’ Realms,” he whispered. “It’s unheard of. I hold the memories of hundreds of ...” He stopped what he’d been about to say just in time. “Of previous leaders of the College, but this is truly unique.”
Lijou raised an eye ridge. “Things are different here on Shola,” he said quietly. “You’ll find that to the Chosen few, our Entities do appear. In fact,” he said wryly, “sometimes they are a bit too active.”
The color was creeping back into Conner’s face as he nodded. “So I understand. We have to seek them out, usually.”
Lijou reached inside his own robes and brought out a coin identical to the one Conner held. “This is the symbol of the Brotherhood,” he said. “It is only worn by our members. Normally they are only given out at Graduation, but a few here have been given one personally by Vartra.”
Conner nodded.
“It means you’re Brotherhood now, one of us.”
It was Conner’s turn to raise his eyebrows. “I belong here?”
“Yes, you belong here, Conner,” Lijou said, letting go his pendant and putting his hand on the old man’s arm. “Just as you once belonged at your College, except you will never be asked to leave here. We don’t banish our elderly, to cryo or anywhere else. We honor them.”
He could feel his eyes beginning to fill with tears as he clutched the coin more tightly, realizing just what a precious gift he’d been given. To belong again ...
“I’ve sent for Rhyaz,” said Lijou, breaking into his mood, well aware the other would welcome the interruption before his feelings overcame him. “You will need to be sworn into the Brotherhood. Is that acceptable to you? It isn’t often the God chooses a member for us, but when he does ...” He could see he needed to say no more.
“I’d be proud to swear your oath,” said Conner. “I knew my Goddess had sent me here for a reason, but I never thought it would be this.”
“Your Goddess?”
“Gaia, the Earth Goddess. Here you call her Ghyakulla.”
“Ghyakulla’s Consort and son is Vartra,” explained Lijou, some what surprised, yet realizing it made sense. “There is a synchronicity to everything. Perhaps you are the link to your world that we’ve been searching for.”
“I was a Guardian on mine,” said Conner quietly, noticing how Lijou’s ears flattened in shock as he said it. “There is so much that is the same.”
“Apparently so,” murmured Lijou as they heard approaching footsteps. He looked up as Rhyaz and Alex entered the shrine. “I didn’t expect to see you, too, Alex.”
“I had to come when I knew it was Conner,” she said, grinning.
Alex was right about him, Lijou sent very privately to Rhyaz, who merely smiled.
“We should do it here, Rhyaz,” said Lijou. “Conner has brought his ties to the Green Goddess, whom he calls Gaia, with him from his own world.”
“Then he’s been doubly blessed,” said Rhyaz. “He will be with the priesthood, I take it?”
“Definitely,” said Alex.
&
nbsp; You know something, sent Lijou.
It’s not for me to tell, she replied, her mental tone serious. Either he will tell you, or you will find out.
I’ve learned to trust her instincts, Lijou, sent Rhyaz. It’s something at which the Humans excel.
Conner’s swearing of the Creed over, Alex gave him a hug, staying momentarily to whisper something in his ear.
He looked at her in amazement, and shook his head firmly. “I left that behind me,” he said quietly before returning the hug.
As they all left the chapel and walked through the temple, Conner turned to Lijou. “Will anything actually change now for me?”
“Of course,” he replied. “The Brotherhood has two sides, like the coin. It has the Warriors under Master Rhyaz, and the Priests under me. Normally they are interchangeable as all new recruits do time with us both as part of their training, then they choose which side they wish to serve. However both can be called upon in time of need to perform either Warrior or Priestly duties.”
“In your case, however,” said Rhyaz, “you will be excused any Warrior duties, though if we need your services in a Priestly way, I will make use of you.”
“That is to be expected,” said Conner.
“Tomorrow you can start training with a group of our seniors,” said Lijou. “Unless you would prefer to study alone?”
Conner shook his head. “I was taught, and inherited, many skills,” he said. “Tactics and warfare were among them, so were law-giving and law-making. They are at your disposal.”
“I don’t think we’ll make the mistake Noni did of underestimating you, Master Conner,” said Rhyaz dryly.
Conner’s lips twitched slightly. “What do you know of my past at the College?” he asked as they left the Temple and entered the front hallway.
“Euan would tell Master Aldatan very little,” said Lijou.
“There’s much I can’t reveal,” he said, “but I can tell you that when I was involved in Choosing the new leader, I gave my memories of my incumbency to the young girl who will be his teacher.”
“Nimue,” said Lijou.
Alex started, drawing attention away from Conner briefly so that Lijou almost missed the expression of pain that flitted across the old man’s face.
“Just so,” he said. “In my turn, I was given the memories of the leader before me, and his memories, as mine do, held those of all the past leaders. I have memories stretching back in an unbroken line for nearly three thousand years. I think it is similar to how your Leskas exchange memories when they Link to each other for the first time.”
“Vartra’s bones!” exclaimed Rhyaz, ears flicking back at the thought. “How do you tell them apart?”
“I don’t, at times,” said Conner, glancing at him in amusement. “When I need to, I just search in my mind for what I need and it is usually there. You can imagine that being treated as a novice by your very worthy Noni is not something I am used to.”
“Noni has many admirable qualities, and we value her dearly, but she can also be very irritating,” said Lijou quietly. “It will be interesting to know her reaction to tonight’s happenings.”
“All that knowledge,” said Rhyaz. “All that experience! Can’t you record it in some way so it’s never lost?”
“It’s continued in Khyan,” said Conner. “And he will have Nimue to help him.”
“That’s not what I meant,” began Rhyaz.
“I know it isn’t,” interrupted Conner with a gentle smile. “The Goddess, or Vartra, will tell me what I must do about that. But that knowledge, as I said, is at your disposal now.”
“Thank you,” said Lijou, inclining his head. “Believe me, we are aware of just how much you are offering us. It is appreciated, and as Rhyaz said, will not be underestimated. One thing we do here is make use of a person’s Gifts in positive ways. Our Charter as a Guild is to protect Sholan life at all costs, especially the Telepaths, and now the En’Shallans.”
“Then we’ll work well together because they comprise the best of both our species. I’ll say good night now, if you don’t mind. It has been a tiring evening for me.”
“Good night, Conner,” said Lijou as the elderly male bowed to them and headed up the stairs.
“It’s Earth’s loss,” said Alex, watching him. “But only on Shola could he ever find the respect he’s due, and only here will he be free enough to really help us.”
“How do you mean?” asked Lijou as they began to slowly ascend the stairs together.
“You know how they viewed telepaths until you came along,” she said. “What government would ever think of, or admit to consulting him and the College?”
“You have a point,” said Rhyaz. “Shall we include him in our daily briefings for a week or two to see how he works out?”
“It certainly can’t hurt,” said Lijou, thinking of the advice Conner had given him in handling the matter of the hybrid cubs and Rhyaz. “I want to know more about his Talent. It may be that we have Brothers capable of working the way he does. And possibly even our few telepaths.”
“Now that would give us a sound tactical advantage,” said Rhyaz with satisfaction.
En’Shalla estate, afternoon
“It could be a fake,” said Kaid, sitting back from the screen.
“Why am I not surprised you said that?” said Carrie, too mentally exhausted to care any more. Kaid had finally agreed to look at the message, but only at the small portion where Kusac was playing with the knife.
She switched the comp off and took the crystal out, putting it away in her drawer.
“It could also be real,” he added. “I have no way of knowing, neither do you.”
“We can go to Stronghold and ask Lijou and Rhyaz.”
“We could call them.”
“No, I want to be there and know if they’re lying to us.”
Kaid sighed.
“Did Rezac tell you everything? About what we think the message means?”
“Yes,” he said tiredly. “He told me everything. It proves nothing, Carrie.”
“Wouldn’t it explain a lot, including Kusac’s behavior?”
“Very conveniently, that’s my problem with all this,” he said, gesturing to the now blank screen.
“I’m going to talk to Zsurtul tomorrow,” she said, getting up. “Maybe he knows something that can help.”
“Don’t go putting pressure on him, Carrie, remember who he is. Apart from anything else, he’s our guest here.”
“I’m well aware of that,” she said testily. “I’m going up to say good night to the children, then I think I’ll turn in.”
“I’ll come with you,” he said. “Look, Carrie, this ... crusade of yours is driving us apart. We shouldn’t be letting that happen.”
She stared at him. “The answer’s in your hands,” she said. “It’s your attitude that’s turned it into my crusade.”
“All right!” he snapped angrily, tail swinging from side to side. “If you find one more thing to support this crazy theory of yours, we’ll go to Stronghold and ask them! Now will you please call a truce between us?”
She hesitated. “I intend to go to Stronghold anyway,” she said. “If you won’t come, I’ll go alone.”
“You’re impossible at times!” he said and stormed out, closing his mind off to her.
She listened as he went upstairs to his room. “I’m not going to cry,” she muttered to herself, blinking back tears. “I’ll be damned if he’ll make me cry!”
Next day, Zhal-L’Shoh 28th day (January)
“What is it you want to know, Carrie?” asked Zsurtul as he sat down at Ruth’s living room table with her.
“You heard all about Kusac leaving Shola, didn’t you?”
“Yes,” he said. “I was sorry for you all. It was very distressing.”
“Did you know the Brotherhood said he left to go back to your people because he’d got so used to J’koshuk’s torture that he couldn’t exist without it?”
The young Prime Prince looked shocked. “That I can’t believe,” he said. “No one would want to go back to that. Besides, J’koshuk is dead. How would going to the Prime world help him? And wouldn’t they have told you if he was there?”
“You’re quite right,” she said. “They would have, which is why I am convinced he didn’t go to them. I think he went to meet Kezule.”
“Why would you think that?” Zsurtul asked after a moment or two.
“He didn’t get on with Primes, Zsurtul. Something about your people set him off—look at the way he attacked you.”
“That was different,” he said automatically, then stopped, aware he’d nearly said something he shouldn’t have. “He was teaching me to defend myself,” he said lamely.
“That’s not what you meant,” said Carrie. “What was different about you?”
Zsurtul was hard pressed not to squirm visibly under her stare. He liked Carrie, and he liked Kaid and Kusac—he admired them all for the strength they’d shown under Chy’qui’s dreadful treatment. And he did not like lying to her, or keeping secrets from her.
“He was programmed to kill me. Perhaps he never really got over that,” he said, suddenly remembering the hostage handover.
“I heard Doctor Zayshul and Kezule got married,” she said, switching the topic.
He brightened visibly. This wasn’t dangerous ground for him. “Yes. I was at their wedding. My mother helped her prepare for it, dressed her up like a Court lady. She was very beautiful,” he confided in her. “I wonder if she’s still alive.”
“Pardon?”
“You didn’t know?” he asked, surprised. “She was expecting, but because she married the General, who was a member of the old royal family, she had to bear her egg herself. My mother nearly died with two of her eggs, that’s why there’s only me.”
“What do you mean she had to bear her own egg?”
“We have growth tubes where all the young are grown,” he said. “Since the Fall, our females are too small for the size of eggs they carry so the doctors remove them very early and they are grown in the tubes instead. But not for our family. They have to carry their own eggs because then everyone knows it is the true child of the Emperor.”
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