"Only one other? Besides Calasta?" Kalos looked keenly interested. "Then she really is his daughter."
"Yes."
Now was the time to face the captain's wrath. Or his understanding.
But Adalginza was going to tell him the truth. All of it. She took a breath, about to reveal herself as the third person Of The Blood. But she stopped herself when she saw something hard as steel in his expression.
He placed his hand on the hilt of the sword he carried in the scabbard strapped to his waist.
"You told me once that the tribes would fall into chaos and internal warfare without one Of The Blood to follow," he said. "This is what keeps them united."
"Yes. I did, but — "
"I thought you said there were many Of The Blood," Kalos interrupted brusquely.
"I did. But I lied."
He didn't even pause to ask her why she had lied to him.
"So there are only three. And if those three are slain, the tribes will be helpless against our forces. Excellent. Thank you for the information. This means we have a good chance at victory."
As Kalos suddenly turned away from her, Adalginza grabbed his arm.
"Where are you going?"
"To find Benfaaro's daughter. And kill her, while she is still within my grasp."
"No!" Adalginza screamed. "No, this was not my intent! Hear me out! Hear the rest!"
"Fear not. I will be merciful."
Kalos pulled free of her grip, though she struggled with him. He threw open the door. He slammed it in her face, and she heard the scrape of a metallic bolt sliding into place from the outside.
Adalginza stood, dazed and desperate, as she realized that she no longer knew at all the man she had once called husband.
11
Adalginza poised her hand above the door, about to pound it desperately, when she heard the outside bolt scrape.
The door flew open, to reveal the anxious face of the servant woman who earlier had brought the refreshments.
"The little girl is playing in the courtyard," the servant said in a lowered voice. She looked around furtively, then pointed. "It's that way. Go. You must save Benfaaro's child."
"You were listening outside? Spying?" Adalginza asked, amazed. "I do not understand. Your hair is the color of cream. Your skin is light. And how did you know about Calasta?"
"My mother bore the child of a Crescent knight. I was created. As you were. For the purposes of Benfaaro. We will talk of these matters later. But for now, go. Go!"
Many impressions tumbled across each other, vying for attention as Adalginza darted down the hallway, past several startled maids.
Would Kalos be capable of harming Calasta? Could Adalginza's love for him turn to hate in a single, bloody instant?
Yes, she decided. It could. It most definitely could.
Adalginza saw that she was on the second, upper level of the palace as she ran to the railing and peered down into the courtyard.
Calasta was there, playing with an incakit and lost in her own world.
Kalos approached behind the unsuspecting child. His hand rested on the hilt of his dagger.
Neither saw Adalginza standing, helplessly, above them. She tried to shout a warning, but could not find her voice. Horror had frozen all speech.
She took several deep breaths, trying to collect herself, so that she could try again. But at that moment, Calasta stood and pivoted to face Kalos. The fuzzy incakit was tucked securely into her arm.
"Did you come to hurt the kit?" the child asked Kalos softly. Calasta tucked the animal even farther into her arm, protectively.
The stricken look on the captain's face caused Adalginza to hold back the scream of warning that had been rising again in her throat.
"Why would I hurt your animal?" Kalos asked gently. His hand dropped and dangled by his side.
"Because you killed Herol."
"Herol?"
"My little fox. My friend. Back at the Place of the Circles."
"You remember that?" Kalos asked.
"I remember it now. I saw your face through Herol's eyes. I felt Herol die. I felt his pain. I loved Herol so much. He was my friend."
"It was an accident," Kalos said gruffly.
"No it wasn't. It was on purpose. Why did you kill him?"
Kalos kneeled down on one knee, and reached out to ruffle the fur behind the incakit's ears.
At first, Calasta turned away and held the small animal as far away from him as possible. Finally, hesitantly, she faced the captain and allowed him to take the animal from her arms and hold it in his own.
Kalos began to stroke the kit. He had a faraway, tortured look in his eyes as he answered.
"Herol's eyes glowed in the firelight. I thought he was a demon. I threw my dagger first, without thinking. I thought only to protect Lady Adalginza — and myself."
"Oh." Calasta sighed, and took back the incakit that Kalos handed her. "Herol could be dangerous. I saw him kill a sreerat once. It was terrible. I felt the sreerat die, too."
"Herol was no threat to us, little girl. I should have waited to find out the truth before I threw the dagger. I am most gravely sorry."
"That's all right. I am glad you explained." She reached up and wiped away a tear. "I was very little back then anyway. It was a long time ago."
"So you forgive me?"
"I suppose."
"How much of your old life do you remember now?"
"Just that. It hurts to remember more. I have to go now."
With the incakit still in her arms, Calasta went skipping through an outer door and out of sight.
Kalos stood, head hanging low, for many minutes. Finally, he looked up directly into Adalginza's eyes.
"I knew you were there."
"I love you, Captain Kalos." Adalginza leaned farther over the railing, wishing her arms were long enough to reach down and touch his face. "What will you do about Calasta?"
"Nothing. For now." He looked up at her, his dark eyes brimming with passion. "It is good to see you well. It has been so long."
"Come to my room. We will make love. And then we will talk of many things."
Adalginza felt her hair dangling against her arms, tickling her skin, as it hung over the railing. She and Kalos gazed at each other for several long moments. Though he had a look of wanting, he didn't move.
"Since you are not Calasta's mother, how is that you know Benfaaro's child so intimately?" he asked.
Adalginza uneasily looked around. This palace courtyard was too public for confessions, and she had just learned that Benfaaro had at least one spy placed here.
"We share a love of animals."
"That which the two of you share with animals is more than just love. Is this the magic that binds you to the little girl? Or is it much more than that? I find this all very confusing."
"I will tell you everything, if you will come with me where we can be alone."
Kalos regarded her strangely. "You wish only to cast a spell on me again, so that I no longer know my own thoughts."
"These are hardly the words of a scholar who scorns superstition."
"Then I withdraw them." Hurt and distrust were on his face as he continued to gaze up at her. "I want to believe in you again. If only you knew how much. But how can I? You have lied to me about so many things. You lied about being Calasta's mother. Why?"
"It was to save the child by placing her under your protection. You have to believe this. Calasta was injured by someone who meant her great harm."
"Then why would you risk everything to save the spawn of a man as cruel as Benfaaro?"
"Kalos, if you would just come with me. I will explain everything. In private."
He gazed up at her, his eyes full of longing. "I have to go. I have somewhere else I need to be. Someone I must meet."
"Sagawea?"
He did not bother to deny this. "I am already late. And there are others who await me, too."
"So you continue to plot with Lady Sagawea aga
inst the interests of Lady Swiala," Adalginza said. "Against those who are working for peace."
Without warning, Kalos unsheathed his Crescent sword and speared it into the soft ground of a courtyard garden. The hilt vibrated with the force of his action.
"I want peace, too. Peace through strength."
"Then arrange a meeting with Benfaaro. Negotiate terms for his surrender. I can help do this."
"We are way beyond that. I told you Benfaaro has become much stronger. And now his lust for power grows. Did you know he has taken control of some of the islands of the Crescent Houses?"
"He has done this?" Adalginza asked incredulously.
"This, and much more. Through the use of the ships he has stolen from us and ships he has had built for himself, he has even attacked some of our more isolated coastal cities on the Prime Continent itself."
"I did not know." Adalginza again gripped the railing, wishing she could somehow fly to the lower level to speak to Kalos more directly. "But I believe Benfaaro will retreat if you can convince the High Command to, in turn, withdraw from the frontier."
Kalos grabbed the hilt of his sword, pulled it from the ground and returned it to its sheath. "Even if we were to withdraw from the frontier, do you think Benfaaro would stop now?"
"You far outnumber the savages."
"Dearest wife. You have been on the Prime Continent long enough to see us as we really are. We have grown soft, because we have not known war in many generations."
"But you have the Crescent knights."
"Far too few of them. The only hardened soldiers we have are in the frontier. But here, we are no better than barnyard chizleans. Who is the stronger? One fanged tawnwolf? Or thousands of penned up, helpless chizleans?"
"Benfaaro is the stronger." Adalginza thought she whispered the words, but Kalos heard her.
"You know him too well, don't you? And may the saints forgive you for what you have done."
Adalginza felt the stab of guilt, but she didn't look away.
"What is it that you accuse me of?"
Kalos regarded her steadily. "I know only that Benfaaro had — or has — influence over you. But you are safe here. And away from him. That is all that matters to me now."
Adalginza simply stared down at her husband, not knowing what to say in answer.
Kalos softened his expression.
"You have your mother's madness, and Benfaaro used that. I do not hold you accountable for anything that has happened."
"What if I told you that I am quite sane?"
"Then I would have to kill you. Even worse, I would despise you."
"Why, exactly, would you despise me?"
He gave her a look so tortured that her heart felt as if it were shredding into millions of tiny threads, never to be made whole again.
"You told my secrets. To Benfaaro. Or one of his confederates. It is the only explanation for how he knew of the movements of the caravans. While you were ill, I had much time alone with my thoughts. And when I think of who knew those kinds of details, the answer is only one other than myself. You."
Adalginza dropped her head, and the tears flowed unchecked down her cheeks.
"So the only way I can keep your love is for you to think of me as insane?"
"Oh, wife. Dear wife."
His tone was gentle and so very tender.
"I do not dare imagine all the things that Benfaaro did to you as a child. But you are insane. Polyper assures me of this. If the High Command knew of what you did, they would have you executed anyway. But I will not tell. I will protect you. Because I love you. And I know that in your own way you love me."
Adalginza reached up with the back of her trembling hand to wipe the tears from her face.
"You cannot leave yet. You must stay and hear what I must now tell you."
"What good would it do? I do not know any more when you speak from madness or from truth. Even you do not know."
"Sometimes what seems like madness is the truth."
"I must go." Kalos turned away from her.
Adalginza angrily straightened from where she was leaning over the railing.
"You will not listen to me. But you will listen to Lady Sagawea?"
Kalos stopped, his back stiffening, but he did not turn around. "The lady is an old friend.'
"A very dear old friend," Adalginza said.
"I do not have time to linger to soothe your jealousy. You must trust me."
"Yet, you do not return the favor of trusting me."
Kalos still did not turn around, as though he might weaken if he saw her face.
"Polyper tells me there is no cure for that which afflicts you. He knows, for he has treated other women of Lady Donzala's clan. In the meantime, you are in Lady Swiala's good care."
He turned his head slightly to the side, but again resisted the urge to look back at her again.
"We must say our goodbyes now. I will be gone for a half season. Perhaps much longer."
"Kalos! Why so long? And where — ?"
"Do not ask me where. I cannot tell you."
"You are going back to the frontier without me. Aren't you?"
Kalos didn't answer, but instead strolled through the outer court archway until he was out of sight.
In only a moment, the spy posing as servant melted from a nearby shadow and quietly stood beside the stunned Lady Adalginza.
"They always leave us, the saktutus." The servant made a spitting noise, to emphasize her curse on men. "And they never return, even when they promise to."
Adalginza pushed desperately by the servant, and bolted down the stairs to almost knock over her grandmother in her haste.
"Where are you going?" Lady Swiala demanded.
Not getting an answer from Adalginza, who hurried past her, she turned to the servant.
"Where is she going?"
"She pursues her husband, who told her he is leaving her."
"No granddaughter of mine pursues a man! It is his place to pursue her! Adalginza, you will return this instant!"
Adalginza shoved open the heavy wooden doors leading to the outside street, where sturmons and buggies rolled by on the cobblestone street and pedestrians went about their day's business.
Adalginza saw her husband grab the reins of the Golden where the animal was tethered outside the palace. She ran toward him as he swung into the saddle.
"Please!" she shouted. She reached out and grabbed the reins of the confused Golden, who was now prancing away from her. "Please don't go! I would rather that all the light of all the moons in the sky fade forever, than to lose you!"
Kalos looked down at her in despair. "Adalginza. Do not do this."
In that moment, Adalginza knew she had won him back.
She saw Kalos pause, about to swing off the sturmon. She knew he would have taken her in his arms then and there, except that Lady Swiala burst onto the scene.
This caused the now completely unnerved Golden to rear backwards, almost unseating Kalos.
"Be off with you!" Swiala shouted. "My granddaughter deserves better than a man who breaks his marriage vows!"
A small crowd was now gathering, and Adalginza knew tongues would be waggling about this scene for many moon passings to come. Lady Swiala glared around at the gawkers.
"Let it be known that Lady Adalginza drove away a man who is beneath her. A man without honor. He has been banished from this household. And may he never return — "
"Grandmother!" Adalginza protested.
But Swiala had now locked eyes with Captain Kalos.
"Well, captain? Will you further debase my granddaughter? Or will you take your leave now?"
The Golden danced underneath the captain's restraining hand, as Kalos regarded Adalginza with anguish. Swiala moved very close to him, and only Adalginza heard her grandmother's low voice.
"Or would you have her again beg you to stay? Would it make you swagger with victory to see her so humbled? Stay or go. Decide which it will be. But do it quickly. W
e are watched."
Kalos nodded once, his face strained and angry.
Then he yanked the head of the sturmon around and spurred the animal into a fast retreat.
The Golden's hollow, fading hoof beats seemed to vibrate within the pit of Adalginza's stomach.
It was only the servant on one side and her grandmother on the other who gave her the strength to walk with any semblance of dignity back into the palace.
12
As the small, murmuring crowd formed a semi-circle in the front palace yard, the door thudded shut behind the three women.
Adalginza angrily confronted Swiala as they entered the palace foyer propped by two white, marbled columns. Neither woman paid any attention to the servant, hovering from a discreet distance.
"You drove him away!" Adalginza shouted.
"I tested him," Swiala said calmly. "And he failed."
"It was not your right. My life is mine to live. Do you hear me?"
Adalginza started up the stairs, only vaguely aware that the flustered servant now trailed after her. But Swiala defiantly called after her granddaughter.
"What kind of a man would let an old crone like me persuade him to leave the woman he is supposed to love? Answer me that!"
Adalginza paused and looked back over her shoulder.
"You had no concern for me. You were only worried about what those people on the street thought of us."
"Of course I was concerned. You were making a poor spectacle of yourself."
"You have no idea what had been passing between the captain and me. You ruined everything. You have, in fact, done more damage than you will ever know."
Adalginza turned, hiked up her skirts, and began marching back up the stairs.
Swiala stayed where she was, but called out to her.
"You are beautiful. You are young. You have indigo eyes. And you will have many suitors with far better breeding than that captain of yours. I will see to that. You have my promise."
"I am not listening to you! You will no longer meddle in my personal life!"
The servant was still with her when Adalginza slammed the door of her sleep room behind her. She flung herself upright upon the bed, folded her arms, and then glowered at the intruder who now half cowered away from her.
Ten Crescent Moons (Moonquest) Page 23
