by L. K. Rigel
Jake really deserved nicer quarters than these. He'd built a luxurious suite for her, trying to entice her to stay permanently. His bedroom contained the bed, a closet, and a writing desk with no sense of spaciousness. His bathroom was functional, and that was the best she could say about that. The antechamber was big enough for four people to meet without touching toes. No wonder he stayed in her rooms when she was at the settlement.
Allel. The settlement was a city now. It had a name. Or it would. Sanguibahd would approve the city, no matter what happened with Jake. All gods. What a cosmic joke. A man builds a city from the ground up, names it for the gods, and it turns out he doesn't have a soul.
Of course Jake would run the liminal gauntlet.
Of course he would risk his life for the good of his city. His people.
When Char first met Jake, he was a loner. Committed to no one but his sister Rani. Now he was committed to everyone. His happiness was second to the common good. Jake could live as a wildling in the forest and never think of souls again if it wasn't for Garrick. He would never let Garrick take possession of Allel.
The old world Defenders of Gaia had been terrorists and mass murderers, but they were right about hating Garrick Corporation. Garrick had done more than any entity to bring on the cataclysm. Garrick squeezed all sweetness from the earth for profit and poured back filth and waste, poverty and despair. From what Char had seen of their prince, Garrick wasn't likely to do anything different as a city-state.
She would never understand why Samael favored that city. It must have something to do with that mysterious ways thing.
She returned to the bedroom. Instead of getting dressed, she threw off her robe and got back under the covers. She held Jake's pillow to her face to breathe in his scent. What if he did it today? What if he'd already gone to Lydia and was about to run the gauntlet? What if he had some kind of psychotic breakdown and never came back to her?
Oh, Jake…how could you leave me without even saying goodbye?
"Good morning!" He came through the door carrying a tray. He had on a green wrinkled long-sleeved hemp shirt and blue pajama bottoms and slippers. His hair stuck out in all directions.
"Tell me no one saw you out there."
He put the tray on the bed and stripped off his shirt and slippers. "I brought you some breakfast. I just saw Gordon. The bees are almost all in, about a hundred hives left to go."
"Where did you go?" How could he be so normal, so cheerful?
"Down to the kitchen to have them brew some coffee. I got it from Magda. I know you always give yours away." He climbed into the bed and gave her a kiss then poured two cups of hot black liquid. "You're not going to believe this." He picked up a small carafe and wiggled his eyebrows. "Wait for it." He poured the contents into the coffee.
"Cream?" He was right. Char couldn't believe it. She had cream any time she liked in Corcovado, but never in the world. "How?"
"A milk cow. Coronation gift from Spandau. They couldn't figure out a tactful way to take it back without calling me a soulless bastard. Which technically is accurate."
Typical Jake. Making a joke out of a disaster.
"You soulless bastard." She put her cup down. "You're about to do something that will most likely take you away from me forever. You could end up like Maribel and Durga. Worse. You have no experience with trance."
"I'll have Lydia give me some pointers before the actual event."
"There is some time then." It felt like a huge weight rolled off Char's shoulders.
"A few days, maybe a week. Coming up from the kitchen, I met Luxor's guard captain. Khai has called together the city delegates present in the citadel to discuss Garrick's protest and the timing of the liminal gauntlet."
"Luxor called the delegates together."
"That Khai is impressive, yeah?" Jake poured himself another cup. "I need one of those second-in-command types. Gordon's performance lately has been promotion-worthy, don't you think?"
"Sanguibahd was not invited."
"Durga isn't able. Magda, my mother, has a conflict of interest. It makes sense that the cities should decide what to do."
"The gods specifically denounced democratic rule, Jake."
"A council of princes and poobahs isn't a democracy. Besides, when Durga is herself again, the little tyrant might overrule anything we decide."
Char put their cups on the tray and moved it to the floor.
"Jake, I understand why you have to run the gauntlet." She pushed him back against the pillows and straddled his hips. "I won't try to talk you out of it." She ran her fingers over his chest. "But I don't want to talk about cows or Spandau or Khai or Garrick or delegate councils." She leaned forward and grazed her nipples against his skin, moving up to kiss his earlobe. "This might be the last time we have an hour alone."
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 considerably 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."
