The Redemption, Volume 1

by Clyde B Northrup

  Yes, Klare replied, twins make up their own language so they can communicate privately with each other. What happened between you?

  “So, you’d rather I keep her here, with me,” Klaybear replied, looking sidelong at Sutugno, “so she can stick a knife in my back the first chance she gets?”

  What do you suppose? Sutugno thought back. I find that he fills the void inside that your husband caused. I will not leave him, no matter what he thinks or says!

  Rokwolf’s shoulders sagged; he looked first at Sutugno, who was watching him closely, then looked back at Klaybear. “No,” he sighed, “but I don’t want her with me either.”

  Klare was surprised by Sutugno’s vehement thought; she noticed Rokwolf’s resigned response to her husband and guessed what he must have told Rokwolf. I can see from Rokwolf’s demeanor and your evasion, she thought to Sutugno, that something happened between you, and I am not so blind; I know what this means: beware of what you do.

  “We cannot leave her here,” Klaybear noted, “on her own again; you saw how she was when we found her; I do not think she can survive on her own without going mad, so I see no alternative.”

  Easy for you to say, Sutugno’s thought snapped back, since you already possess yours, although he did murder all of our friends and masters, and he destroyed our order, and I suppose since they were sent looking for him, he is also responsible for what happened to your hometown, your family, and what the purem did to you.

  “We don’t dare take her with us,” Rokwolf snapped, “as the morgle or Gar has altered her mind and memory. They may even be using her now to spy on us.”

  Klare clenched her teeth to keep her mouth from falling open. How dare you make such a suggestion! she hurled back. You assume, wrongly, that Klaybear was the only one they were looking for; we are all chosen of the One: Klaybear, Rokwolf, Thal, Blakstar, Marilee, Delgart, Tevvy, and I, and they were looking for any and all of us.

  “We will have to check,” Klaybear noted.

  “Not in our sanctuary,” Rokwolf added, looking sidelong at Sutugno, “in case she is being used to watch us.”

  “I don’t know if this will help,” Klaybear said, “but Klare has started to have dreams like my vision.” At this, Rokwolf looked up again. “She saw the two of you in the swamp with the seklesem about to be attacked by what she thought were those wedaterem Tevvy described.”

  The purem were sent against my hometown to destroy it simply because it is my hometown; it is Gar’s way of hurting each one of us, Klare added.

  “That’s odd,” Rokwolf said, switching back to common.

  “What’s odd?” Klare asked, looking at him.

  “You having dreams like Klaybear’s visions,” Rokwolf went on, “because I’ve started to dream about the others, dreams that repeat, sometimes the same, sometimes with alterations.” He again shot a sidelong glance at Sutugno as he said this.

  Klare noticed his look, appraising both of them before speaking. “I wonder if any of the others are experiencing this?” she asked Klaybear.

  “We can ask Thal and Blakstar later,” Klaybear replied, then looked at his twin, “and you can ask Tevvy, Delgart, and Marilee when you see them, but we should probably go back to our room before discussing it.”

  “That would be wise,” Rokwolf noted.

  “What about the survivors I came to help?” Klare asked.

  Sutugno laughed, showing no sign that the two of them had been mentally shouting at each other moments before. “You have already helped all of the survivors still here,” she said.

  “There’s no one else who stayed?” Klare asked.

  Sutugno shook her head. “They all left with the few masters who survived and headed toward Holvar.”

  “That solves another problem,” Klaybear noted, “let’s go back to my master’s room.” The others nodded and followed him down the hall and into the room, after he unsealed it.

  As Klare passed him, Klaybear whispered in her ear: “Put Sutugno to sleep: I’ll explain after.”

  Klare raised an eyebrow but nodded; she walked to where Rokwolf was helping her friend into a seat, touched her head, and whispered, “supno.” Rokwolf caught her as she slumped forward. Klare glared at her husband. “Now explain.”

  “Rokwolf believes her mind has been tampered with,” Klaybear said after sealing the door and coming up to stand next to Klare.

  “Check her,” Rokwolf said, still gently cradling her in his arms. “If she has not been tampered with then her mind is totally unbalanced.”

  Klare looked at him shrewdly. “What makes you say that?”

  “First check her,” Rokwolf implored, “then I will explain.”

  Both kailum touched Sutugno’s head and switched their awareness, beginning to examine her mind. After a few minutes, Klare’s mental voice thought to Klaybear. Here, I think I’ve found something.

  I’ve not discovered any kind of connection, Klaybear thought back, but Thal is better at this kind of search than I; there still could be something subtle. What have you found?

  Something stuck into the pattern, Klare thought, with elements both subtle and crude, that only disturbs parts of the pattern but completely disrupts other parts, a feeling, I would guess, passion, by its deep, violet color.

  Color? Klaybear questioned, there are only light and dark, black and white, and shades of gray in between. He felt waves and waves of her disgust roll over his mind.

  No wonder you could not repair my mind! Of course there are colors! What do you think all those emotions are? Shades of gray? I think we need to have some more lessons, my dear. What do you call this spot, then? she asked.

  Slightly lighter than black, almost a spot of darkness?

  Dear, came her thought back at him, don’t try and ‘fix’ my mind again until we cure you of this color blindness.

  Klaybear thought of several replies but chose silence.

  I don’t see how we could remove this without her mind unraveling, Klare thought.

  Klaybear examined it for a moment. I think we could isolate parts of it, he thought back, which should minimize some of the worst effects.

  I don’t see how.

  Well then, while you are giving me color lessons then perhaps I can give you some mental magnifying lenses to help sharpen your vision.

  Don’t be snide, Klaybear.

  Klaybear reached out with his mental fingers to show Klare the places he meant. If we take either side of it at these points, sever the connection, and then tie them off one at a time, that would certainly improve her mental state. If only we had the Rod. . . .

  They worked through the patterns methodically, Klaybear working on one side of her mind and Klare on the other. When they were nearly finished, Klare sent a thought to her husband: I can say one thing for sure about this passionate memory.

  What?

  Rokwolf is at the center of it.

  Do you know what it involves?

  I have a fairly good idea.

  And?

  Let me say this: I do not think it is entirely a real memory, but I could be wrong; parts of it feel too contrived and mechanical, as if they were made by someone who did not clearly understand relations between wethi males and females.

  Someone who is not wethi–the morgle!

  Is that all of them?

  I think that is all we dare; if Thal were here, we might do more.

  We better return and explain this to your twin brother.

  They sat around the table of their sanctuary; Sutugno still slept, propped in the chair next to Rokwolf. After Klaybear and Klare had returned from the mental plane, he told his twin what they had done, then Rokwolf had related to them what had happened between them earlier, especially Sutugno’s strange behavior and sudden, odd changes of mood, and finally, he told them what she believed had happened, which caused his ears to burn.

  “This explains what we found in her mind,” Klare noted. “Hopefully, what we did will stabilize her mood, although the memory is
still there.”

  Rokwolf’s face fell. “And you still think I ought to take her with me?” he asked incredulously.

  “You’ve said she still has an irrational desire to kill me,” Klaybear noted.

  “But you stabilized her mind, so maybe . . . ,” Rokwolf left it hanging.

  Klare was shaking her head. “What we fixed had nothing to do with Klaybear and everything to do with you,” she replied, “and being with you stabilizes her mind.”

  “But she believes that we have already . . . ,” Rokwolf stopped, looking for a word, “you know,” he added, his ears burning again.

  Klare looked at her husband and noticed that his face was flushed; she threw an exasperated look at the ceiling. “You are both prudes!” she exclaimed. “You I understand,” she shot an irritated glance at Rokwolf, “but you,” she glared at her husband, “you have no reason for such behavior! Call it what it is: sexual intercourse, physical intimacy, having sex, or the vulgar, screw.”

  They flinched at her every word. “I wish you wouldn’t speak of it so,” Klaybear pleaded, “it sounds so much worse in your mouth.”

  “I’ll stop saying it when you stop flinching,” Klare replied. “Shall I test you again?” She grinned wickedly and turned to Rokwolf. “Klaybear really likes to. . . . “

  “Klare!” Klaybear shouted over her.

  “Can we get back to my problem?” Rokwolf implored. “What do I tell her? How do I keep from falling into the trap?”

  Klare’s green eyes flashed dangerously. “We’re traps, now?”

  Rokwolf glared at her. “You know that is not what I meant.”

  “Just making sure,” Klare noted, a grin flashing across her lips. “Tell her that you both had a moment of weakness, created by grief, and that you should wait until the proper time.”

  “Do you know what you are saying?” Rokwolf asked.

  “Perfectly,” Klare replied, her face hard.

  “And when she decides that we should make it the proper time?” Rokwolf asked.

  “Then go and find someone with the authority to make it proper,” Klare shrugged.

  Rokwolf choked. “I do not think you are taking this seriously, Klare.”

  “I’m dead serious, brother,” Klare said. “It’s time you gave up on Marilee: she’s destined for someone else, Delgart, if I’m not mistaken, which is why they have been marked as they have. You could do a lot worse than my friend, and I’ve seen the way you look at each other, devouring each other with your eyes, since the first time you two met. Afterward, she could not talk of anything, or anyone, else.”

  “There is another problem,” Klaybear noted, “we have no way to prevent the morgle from tampering with her mind again.”

  But Klare was not listening to him, she was pointing toward the shelves opposite her chair at the table. “Why is there a light coming from over there?” she asked suddenly.

  Both Rokwolf and Klaybear turned to look where she pointed, seeing the light coming from a chest that Klaybear recognized.

  “What is it?” Rokwolf asked.

  Klaybear stood and went toward the shelf. “It is the chest that contained all of our verghrenum,” he noted as he reached the shelf and picked up the glowing chest. He brought it back to the table.

  “Why would it be suddenly glowing?” Klare asked.

  Klaybear looked up from the chest. “I don’t know,” he replied, “but this is how we found our verghrenum.” He opened the chest and found two more pair of the verghrenum in the bottom of the chest: the first was another set of gold bracelets, like Klare’s; the second were leather, like the others, and the same size and color as Tevvy’s, with the same symbol as the awemi’s. He took them out and showed them to Klare and Rokwolf.

  “I think you just answered your question,” Rokwolf said, “but how did you fail to notice that there were more of these in this chest?”

  Klaybear was stunned. “I did not open the chest,” he admitted, “Delgart did; surely he would have noticed them?”

  Rokwolf laughed. “He did not notice them,” he said, “because, at the time, they were not visible to him.”

  Klare looked skeptical. “What do you mean, not visible? Are you suggesting he simply missed seeing them?”

  Rokwolf started to laugh, but checked himself, remembering that Klare had forgotten all that had happened to them. “It is a function of the way this space, or these rooms, work, altering their shape to give us what we need, when we need it, like the stable for our horses, and the cave for exercising them and growing a garden.” He looked at his twin. “The moment you mentioned the problem, the room responded by supplying us with what we need: more verghrenum.” He took the gold bracelets from Klaybear and slipped them onto Sutugno’s wrists; when the second slid into place, her sleeping form was encased in white light which lifted her upright for a few moments, then the light winked out and she sank limply into the chair and Rokwolf’s arms. Anger flashed across Rokwolf’s face as the significance of what he had just done, what had just happened, dawned on him. He looked up at his twin, who was still stunned and looking down at the second, smaller pair of verghrenum; Rokwolf turned his angry gaze on Klare and saw that she understood, as he had, what this meant.

  Klare headed off his anger. “Who do you think that other pair is for?” she asked.

  Rokwolf looked at the pair held by Klaybear. “I have a pretty good idea,” he noted. “Considering their size, I’ll give them to Tevvy when I see him.” A grin played at the corners of his mouth, but then he looked at the sleeping form still held in his arms; he jerked his arms free, then shook his head and got to his feet. “I’ll need a second horse: which should I take?”

  “I’ll come and saddle Klare’s,” Klaybear said, handing the verghrenum to his twin; he closed the lid and returned the box to its former place on the shelf.

  Klare watched them shrewdly, suspicious of Rokwolf’s odd change in behavior, but chose not to comment.

  Rokwolf led his horse into the main area from the stable five minutes later; Klaybear followed him, leading Klare’s horse, now saddled and ready to go. Rokwolf had already picked up breath-giver, the eye-shaped emerald bathing his face in green light, and he was ready to communicate with the awemi.

  Klaybear came and stood behind Rokwolf.

  “I’m guessing he has already responded?” Klare asked.

  Rokwolf nodded, then drew the small archway on the table with the heel of the staff. The gray arch shimmered and became a small version of Tevvy’s head, floating just above the surface of the table.

  “What’s up?” Tevvy whispered, and his face indicated he wanted them to be quiet. “I’m a bit rushed right now, so if you could hurry.”

  “Right,” Rokwolf replied softly, and got right to the point: “I need to investigate more thoroughly what is going on in the Mariskal with the seklesem and the trade way, and I thought the best place to start would be with you and Kilnar.”

  Tevvy nodded; his head turned this way and that, as if he were looking around their sanctuary. “I’m hiding from the thugs sent to take me,” Tevvy noted, “so you probably shouldn’t come straight to me.”

  “We could bring him here first,” Klaybear noted.

  “Do you have your pony there with you?” Rokwolf asked.

  Tevvy’s head shook, then continued to look around. “I had to leave her at the Jakal,” he replied.

  “I’ll bring you back here,” Rokwolf said, “then we can go back to Kilnar and pick up your pony.”

  “I’d rather go straight to my father’s school in Rykelle first,” he noted, “but we can discuss that in a minute: I think they are coming.”

  “Breaking contact to open a door,” Rokwolf said, lifting the staff and standing; he turned and began to draw a larger circle on the floor behind his chair; the archway opened, and Tevvy appeared, leaping through the doorway.

  “Good timing,” Tevvy said, coming over to the table and gripping Klaybear’s and then Rokwolf’s hands. “I was a
bout to contact you for help,” he went on, “and risk our mother’s wrath,” he nodded to Klare, “since it is quite late, or early, depending on one’s perspective.”

  Klare gave the awemi an appraising look, then she smiled. “I like that,” she said, “you calling me ‘our mother.’”

  Tevvy looked surprised. “Did I?”

  They all nodded.

  “A slip of the tongue,” he went on, bowing to Klare. “I’ve been preparing myself to enter Rykelle, a much larger city than Shigmar, so I’ve been putting on the airs of . . . ,” he paused, searching for a word.

  “A buffoon?” Klare supplied.

  Tevvy feigned shock. “My lady, really! Say, rather, a polished courtier.” He bowed with a flourish to Klare. “I am here, at my lady’s request; what service does my lady require?”

  “You should take note of this, Klaybear,” Klare said, grinning, “it might come in handy later on.”

  “Can we get back to the problems at hand?” Rokwolf asked impatiently. He turned to Tevvy. “What happened after you left the inn?”

  Tevvy shook his head. “I got out without being seen, but I had not gone half-a-mile before I was jumped by another group of thugs; I have spent the time since dodging, running, and hiding, without a moment to rest. It is uncanny how they seem to know exactly where to find us.”

  “The rod?” Rokwolf asked.

  Klaybear and Klare both shrugged. “It’s possible,” Klaybear said.

  “Is it still in the swamp?” Rokwolf asked, handing breath-giver to his twin.

  “What’s she doing here?” Tevvy whispered to Rokwolf, pointing to Sutugno as Klaybear took the staff.

  A muscle in Rokwolf’s jaw clenched. “Don’t ask.”

  Klaybear accepted the staff; his eyes grew distant. “The sword is that way,” he pointed south of west, “and the rod is that way,” and he pointed west of south, as before. “Wait,” he added, “I think there is another thread, pointing in that direction,” his arm moved to point just south of east, “but it is faint, like an echo that appears and fades.” His eye refocused on the room and his companions.