by LK Rigel
She kissed his jaw, his chin, his neck. She committed him to memory. This is his clavicle. This is the articulation of his shoulder and arm. This is his sternum, shielding his heart. This is the way his heart beats. The middle toe on his left foot sticks out farther than the second toe. His ears are smaller than you would think. One eye is slightly larger than the other. His voice is warm and rolls over me in waves like soft thunder. He fits me as if the gods made him only for me. Me. Not any chalice.
Jake ran his hands through her hair and held her so tight she could barely breathe. "I'll come through it, Char." There was no joking in his voice. "I will live. Nothing is going to take me from you."
-oOo-
Durga thought she might explode with heat. Khai's lips were warm and demanding. She was aware of his hand on her shoulder. She wished he would move it to her breast. She put her arms around his shoulders. Was it possible for a human being to erupt in flames?
Khai must have a soul. Could she feel this way about someone who didn't? Approaching the void in Jake had been terrifying. She'd felt herself slipping closer to it, on the verge of being lost. Then Jake's touch had been too much for Maribel to handle. Maribel had let go of Durga and fallen into the void herself.
Durga didn't care now about manners or breaching boundaries. It was too important. She had to know. She let her analytical mind fall to the wayside and withdrew to an interior place, out of the world and still aware of it.
Khai's breathing, his long black eyelashes brushing against her cheeks when he kissed her, his strong forehead, his hot desire.
She moved past his body, past his mind, to his inner core. There. Yes. She wanted to burst out laughing, she was so happy. It was there. The sense of the fullness and depth. The sense of uncontained eternal existence.
"What are you doing?" Khai broke away from her kiss, alarm and a little fear on his face.
"What do you mean?" He shouldn't have sensed anything.
"It felt like you were inside me, in tandem with my thoughts."
"Don't worry."
"So I was right."
"I…yes. Yes." Why deny it? What had she done?
"I think I feel violated." Khai stood up and went over to the window. The light was brighter. He'd taken off his gold ornaments, but he looked as noble without them.
She felt miserable. He was angry, and he had a right to be. He came back to the bed and sat down. Again he took her hand and said, so gently that she felt even worse, "Why did you do that?"
"I shouldn't have done it. But you're not a chalice. You shouldn't have felt it. I didn't expect such a powerful connection between us."
He seemed to like that answer. "But what was the point?"
"I had to know if you had a soul."
"I see." He was quiet for a minute. Then he lifted one eyebrow. "Do I?"
"Yes."
"Good to know."
They talked, and she discovered that they were not at all alike. Khai loved politics. Durga hated politics with the heat of a thousand suns going nova.
"It's why I came to Corcovado with the Versailles delegation," Khai said. "I was visiting their city."
"On a goodwill tour."
"Exactly. In ancient times among the city-states, ruling families sent their future kings to visit each of their rivals. The custom was you could not violate someone who had been a guest in your home. The guest-host journey is a key to understanding our differences and similarities without killing each other."
"It makes sense." She'd rather be kissing than talking.
"It does make sense. Now I have met Ithaca and Hibernia. Spandau."
"Garrick."
"Yes, Garrick. No bonds of friendship there, I'm afraid. But I understand the city more clearly, and Luxor will be better equipped to deal with Garrick in the future."
"I hate politics."
"You shouldn't have to deal with politics. The cities should meet and agree to a mutual concordance, a set of laws and agreements that bind us all. Sanguibahd should be the final arbiter of disputes, but the Concords should govern the day-to-day."
"You've thought this through, I see."
"You have plenty to think about in Sanguibahd. It's obvious to anyone with eyes that things are falling apart down there."
"You go too far, musician." She was joking, but not really.
"Lydia didn't want to be a glorified prostitute. She's right. The system needs to be refined. You and the Matriarch shouldn't match the chalices to the scions. At the very minimum, Geraldo should not."
Lydia. In her distress, Durga had been aware of someone, a sister, reaching out to her. Someone Durga didn't know. Wasn't even sure had been real. Lydia. The priest of Asherah. "Who would choose then, the chalices themselves?"
"Why not?" Khai laughed. "Have the cities bid, like in an auction. Let the chalice decide when the price is high enough. Let her keep half the winning bid and use the other half for Sanguibahd's maintenance and to pay something to the families of new chalices. You'll have a lot fewer chalices hiding with wildlings under a system like that."
Durga frowned. She had truly been naïve. Chalices hiding among wildings! Sacrilege.
Khai's way sounded so commercial. But why not? Sanguibahd couldn't run on air, and Geraldo's connections were less fruitful every year. The chalices would like being able to choose.
"The cities would have to belong to your group, your Concord group, to qualify to bid." These weren't bad ideas. "Then they'd follow the rules or face ostracism."
"You're learning. You're a political monster already."
"Speaking of monsters, I want a new airship for Sanguibahd."
"Yes, my lady." He made a grandiose bow.
"And I want Jake to make it through the liminal gauntlet."
"Yes. He's one of few leaders who will stand up to Garrick's power."
Durga sat up and fluffed her pillows. Again Khai came to sit on the bed. She felt fine, though a bit weak. She would never forget that horrific emptiness. She remembered something Empani Rani had said. Something about ensouling a gestation.
It can happen at any time during gestation, but the optimal time is in the sixth month.
How many soulless human beings had Sanguibahd created? The procedures must be reformed.
"The chalices will have to learn to perform a ritual that my -- that someone told me about. The hieros gamos. We have to ensure that the offspring are ensouled."
"The priest Lydia spoke of the hieros gamos last night when you were unconscious."
"Another reason to speak with her. I am convinced of another thing. There can be no love in the equation. It only makes them miserable."
Khai made his face a blank. "Love would make you miserable?"
"It might." Already, he was beautiful in her eyes. She had never been so at ease with someone. Enthralled. Lust, yes. But love she would guard against. "I was thinking of someone else. The chalices must not have relationships with the princes. Nor can they bond with the offspring. If they want affection, they can get a dog."
The Blackbird
On the way down to her suite, Char met Khai of Luxor in a corridor. Thank Asherah, Durga was herself again.
"She is somewhat weak in body," Khai said. "But not in spirit."
The prince was obviously in love with Durga. In another world, they would be perfect for each other. Char was sad for them both. "Durga is unique. Any other person would have been lost forever," she said. "Look at Maribel. She was Sanguibahd's most adept at trance." It made Char afraid for Jake all over again.
"Maribel is young and unstable," Khai said. "She doesn't know who she is, and she played with a fire that is not her own. Lord Ardri has integrity of mind. He is strong. He is admired among the cities for his good sense."
"He says much the same about you, Prince Khai," Char said.
"Lady Charybdis, I am certain that Lord Ardri will prevail in the liminal gauntlet. I am not the only one who supports him against Garrick."
Char had cheered up con
siderably by the time she got to her room. "All right then, Alice. Let's go see how your bees are today." As soon as Char returned from hydroponics she'd visit Durga.
"Bees no boom."
"Bees no boom. They should do well here. Hamish has given them their own dedicated sector. The air is regulated, and they'll be out of the rain and away from raptors. I'm excited to taste honey and use beeswax candles again. And natural pollination will change everything."
Char was babbling. Alice didn't care about beeswax and pollination. Char's thoughts overflowed with all the changes from the last week. "It's funny." They headed down the corridor toward the lift. "We were hunting for Tesla and we found a different kind of treasure altogether."
"Tes. La." Alice said.
Char froze. "What did you say?"
"Tes." Alice said. "La."
"Yes. Tesla."
Alice nodded enthusiastically. "Tes la." She moved her hand in a circle. "Tesla."
"What do you know about that word, Alice?" Char's blood raced through her veins. "Have you seen that word? Tesla?"
"Tesla." Alice moved her hand again, making a larger circle, its circumference from her knees to her head. "Fire. Safe. Tesla."
"Did you hide there from Samael's fire?" Great Asherah. She could be miming the door to a tunnel. "Where is Tesla, Alice?"
"Flower." Alice smiled in triumph.
"Change of plan, Alice. We're not going to hydroponics. We're going to see the bees at the clearing." Where the lilac bush had been. Where Tesla had been. "Let's go down to the stables for a horse."
As Char said the word horse, she and Alice rounded the corner. Geraldo was standing at the lift, his back to them. As the door opened, he nodded to Char. Char returned the nod.
All the way down, the silence was painful. Geraldo's smug expression told all. He had heard enough. Char pulled Alice out of the lift on the first floor. They went down to the kitchen and out the back way to the stables. Char put Alice in front of her on the horse.
She tore through the perimeter gate and into the woods as if they were being chased by raptors. In truth, Char felt more terrified. She didn't relax until they were deep into the forest and she was sure they hadn't been followed.
She wished Jake were with her. He'd been by her side through every inch of the hunt for Sky and Tesla. It was like cutting him out with success so close. And it was close. Alice, dear bees-no-boom Alice, had seen the door to Tesla. Char was sure of it. But according to Prince Khai, Jake had already gone to the ashram to see Lydia.
The delegate meeting had lasted only minutes. Hibernia had suggested waiting until after Jake attempted the liminal gauntlet to consider his status. Ithaca and Luxor agreed.
Garrick had wanted to annex Allel immediately. Versailles had agreed with Garrick, no surprise. And so had Spandau, the shibdabs. They just wanted their cow back.
Khai had pointed out Garrick's conflict of interest, and the remaining cities lined up heavily on Jake's side. It bought Jake at most a week.
Flower, Alice had said. The lilac might have been planted right at Tesla's entrance. If only Char had followed Alice that first day, she might already know Sky's fate.
The rain had left the ground muddy, and Char had to take the horse at a slow pace. At the picnic area near the cliff, they turned toward the small clearing. At the larger clearing, Char dismounted and helped Alice down. There were seven rows left, each with seven mounds and a hive.
"Bees gone." Alice didn't like that.
"It's all right," Char said. "The bees are at the citadel for you. It's safer there. Jake will send people to collect the rest of the hives."
"No boom."
"Where was the flower, Alice? Where is Tesla?"
"Flower." Alice walked down a row of hives and into some heavy brush. She hesitated and doubled back. She hesitated again. It didn't take long to realize that the rain had obscured the lilac bush's former position. "No flower," Alice said.
"No flower." Char wanted to cry. It was here somewhere close. It had to be.
"Bees boom!" Alice cried. A sound like Garrick's jet thundered in the air. Not like Garrick's get. It was Garrick's jet. The black transport screamed in the air above them. Its jets rotated, and the transport began to descend.
Alice screamed too, tears streaming down her face.
The transport landed about twenty yards from the bee clearing.
"Get down!" Char said. They hid in the brush. Garrickers brought flat pallets out of the transport and started to load the hives. That shibdab Geraldo had told Garrick what he'd heard in the corridor. But how did he find them? There were only forty-nine hives still here, but it was a disaster that Garrick even knew about one.
Alice cried, "No boom!"
"Alice, wait." But Char couldn't stop her from running out into the clearing just as Prince Garrick arrived. He examined Alice with mild amusement. "How wonderfully pathetic."
"Those bees belong to Allel." Char came out from her hiding place. She couldn't leave Alice on her own.
Prince Garrick giggled, as he had done last night. So creepy. "What do you care, Lady Charybdis? Aren't you a citizen of Sanguibahd?"
"The bees will die in Garrick." Horrid man. Didn't he understand? "Everything dies in Garrick."
Garrick's men had almost finished loading the pallets onto the transport. "You make a fair point," Prince Garrick said. "Oh, what to do?" A simpering grin spread over his face. "I know!" He turned to one of his men, the guy Char had kicked in the solar plexus last night. "Lady Charybdis has decided to pay us that long-overdue visit."
"You wouldn't dare."
"See that she's comfortably ensconced in the Blackbird."
Char ran. It was crazy. She had no hope of getting away, but she had to try. She made it across the clearing and plunged into the thicket. She almost ran into Hamish hiding behind a bush, his eyes huge with fear.
Garrick's captain was too fast. His arm wound around Char's waist like a python. He didn't seem so out of shape today. He easily threw her over his shoulder.
As she was being hauled away, Char locked eyes with Hamish. He started to come forward and she shook her head, warning him off.
Better to stay silent, Hamish, and warn Lord Ardri.
Char's captor followed Prince Garrick up the transport stairs into a private suite and dumped her into a luxurious leather chair. The prince sat down across from her. The transport spooled up and lifted off the ground with amazing ease for such a huge machine.
"Welcome to the Blackbird, Lady Charybdis. It's one of two jet-fueled transports in existence. The other is the Eaglet, my personal runabout. Of course the Eaglet is nothing like the orbital runner. What do you call it? The Mikemobile?"
Great Asherah, what did he not know? Mike, the man Char had thrown out the airlock, had called the orbital runner the Mikemobile. That was a lifetime ago.
"May I call you Char?" Prince Garrick did not grow on a person. Except to grow worse. Char had thought him a fool, and she still did. But a dangerous fool.
"How did you know where to look?" She was sure she hadn't said anything in the corridor specific enough to lead anyone to the bee clearing.
"We know what's in the hydroponics building," Prince Garrick said. "And we'll get those hives too." He motioned to a steward. "Bring champagne when we reach altitude."
"Yes, my lord."
Prince Garrick smirked. He was enjoying this. "I've had Ardri's minions watched from the beginning. Holiday, my ass."
As the Blackbird leveled out on an eastern heading, the steward served the wine. Garrick lifted his flute in Char's direction. "To celebrate your visit."
"My kidnapping, you mean."
"As you wish." The prince struck a thoughtful pose, tapping his lips with one finger. "Come to think of it, that's probably how they'll read the note I left with Geraldo."
The Liminal Gauntlet
Durga was with Magda when Khai's message found her. Lord Ardri was about to leave for the ashram to undertake the liminal g
auntlet. This morning. Right now.
In the entry hall the delegates had assembled, weapons in hand, for the short walk. Jake and Khai were fitting their quarrels as Captain Gordon handed quivers to the delegates from Spandau and Ithaca.
The king of Hibernia had his own weapon, a longbow as tall as its ruddy-faced owner. The bow was made of polished yew with horn nocks and inlaid with mother of pearl, an exceptional piece of workmanship.
Durga's heartbeat quickened as she watched Khai check the sight on his weapon with an expert eye. He wore black leather pants and boots and a black sleeveless leather top. Today he had cut back on the adornments: a gold circlet on his head and plain armbands. The carnelian dagger hung at his right hip. A flutter of desire spread over her. She felt herself blush, and she turned away.
"Perhaps I needn't go." The demanding Versailles delegate was behind her. "It isn't necessary for every one of us to risk his neck."
"Shibbing shibadeh." His female partner took the crossbow out of his hands. "Stay here and eat strawberries." She noticed Durga watching the exchange and rolled her eyes as if to say do you see what I have to work with here?
"It's loaded, my lady." Captain Gordon brought her a crossbow. "Careful. The quarrels are poisoned." He looked at the floor around Durga's feet and smiled. "I see I will be able to stay close to you today."
Yes, the magnificent dress had hardly had time to make an impression in its debut last night. Durga was back in her usual fitted jumpsuit with bare left shoulder and loose legs, made for working out. Training shoes. She had copied Char and pulled her hair back in a French braid that reached her waist. Neat. Utilitarian. No yards of silk taffeta between her and anyone.
She pointed her bow to the ground and moved through the group to Khai and Jake. "Where is Garrick?"
"Gone." Khai's smile shot right through her. He made no attempt to hide his feelings. "We were discussing who should witness Lord Ardri's attempt when Prince Garrick announced that there was nothing to keep him here."
