Ten Crescent Moons (Moonquest)

by Marilyn Haddrill

  "Armada?" Adalginza asked.

  "All part of the secret plan," Swiala said, sounding resigned. "Now that his horrible weapon has been demonstrated in public, the captain feared that word would leak out if the invasion was delayed."

  Swiala explained that the Prime Congress had concurred with the captain's need for urgency. To assuage those who protested the military action, the governing body also voted to send its own ambassadors to observe and monitor the activities of the military.

  Lady Swiala was among the delegates. And Captain Kalos insisted that Lady Adalginza was to accompany her. Umbrea, too, would be present to serve them both.

  Adalginza knew that Kalos requested her presence only because he did not trust her and he wanted her under his watchful eye. If she was confined to his ship, there was no way she could send any reports to Benfaaro.

  She was given barely enough time to pack a few of her more practical belongings, before rejoining Umbrea and Swiala in the outside courtyard.

  They started walking toward the street. But Lady Swiala hung back to give last minute instructions for running the household to a distressed group of servants clustered to bid them farewell.

  "It may be best for all of us that it has worked out this way," Adalginza whispered to Umbrea, as they kept walking.

  "But why me?" Umbrea asked mournfully. "I do not want to go."

  "Maybe you, too, are part of The Prophecy."

  Umbrea's expression said she was more disturbed than honored by the prospect. They hurried toward the carriage and team of four sturmons that awaited them for transport to the ship.

  Adalginza again lowered her voice, so that only Umbrea could hear.

  "When we reach the frontier, you will escape. Find Benfaaro. Report what I told you about what happened at the session of the Prime Congress. I'm sure he will have been reunited with Calasta by the time we arrive. For that reason, you must hurry before she is harmed. Tell him of the threat to his daughter."

  "But he will never believe Bruna would harm Calasta. You said so yourself."

  "Perhaps Calasta herself now remembers."

  "We cannot know that for sure. And we cannot know that she would tell her father."

  Adalginza then saw her grandmother hurrying toward them. She lowered her voice still more, and spoke quickly.

  "Then do not mention Bruna's name. Say only that I sent word that Calasta was taken to protect her against those among our people who would murder her. Calasta must be watched at every moment. She must have a guard with her at all times. Say only that."

  "I will, lady. I will. But what will I tell him of you?"

  "Tell him that I will rejoin him when the time is right. It is very important that you give Benfaaro every detail of all that I have related to you about the weapon and the possibility of a new plague."

  "You must come with me," Umbrea said. "The Prophecy says you will lead your people. You cannot remain with those of the Crescent Houses."

  Adalginza considered those words, as she watched the woman she now called grandmother. Her heart was pained already with potential loss, because she had actually learned to love Lady Swiala.

  "My blood is mixed, and I no longer know where I belong. I do not know any more what is best. Or even what is in my own mind and heart."

  Umbrea quickly touched Adalginza's arm. "You are Of The Blood. The moon gods will guide you."

  After a quick carriage ride, they were escorted aboard the lead ship where they were politely greeted by Captain Kalos himself. Of course, Lady Sagawea accompanied him.

  Polyper also was a surprising member of the welcoming delegation.

  At Adalginza's raised eyebrows, he simply shrugged.

  "It is time to begin my holy mission in the frontier," he said simply.

  But upon seeing Sagawea's advanced state of pregnancy, Adalginza knew Polyper had other reasons for joining the expedition.

  Others among the ship's occupants included about a dozen political appointees from the Prime Congress and six representatives of Lady Sagawea's School of Minds.

  The ship debarked without much fanfare, though in the company of twenty six other floating vessels. Adalginza did not miss the significance of the number. There were twenty seven launchers for the new weapon. So, obviously, each ship was equipped with its own launcher.

  Adalginza recognized the strategy. Even if the armada was attacked en route to the frontier, there was no way all the ships could be destroyed at once. In this way, enough of the weapons could be preserved to cause considerable damage on land.

  During the first day of the journey, Kalos was preoccupied with his command of the twenty or so Crescent knights aboard the ship. They remained generally engaged in what appeared to be ongoing strategy sessions conducted in private.

  In fact, it seemed that Kalos was so preoccupied he barely had time to exchange a civil word with any of those aboard.

  Adalginza also sensed the presence below deck of the captain's sturmon, the Golden, safely stashed in his own paddock along with about a dozen other animals. She tried mindlinking with the animal, but the Golden rejected her inquiry as though sensing that she was an enemy.

  On the second day at sea, Adalginza stood at the rear railing to stare over the vast expanse of water and the bubbling wake left as the ship's sail caught a brisk wind.

  It helped with her peace of mind to keep her back turned to the weapon that was being brought to massacre her people. What would she do to stop it? What could she do? And were there containers aboard that carried the dreaded plague itself?

  Then, a familiar voice interrupted her dark thoughts.

  "At last we are alone together."

  "I would not call this a very private moment."

  Adalginza gave Kalos a weak smile, as he leaned over the railing beside her.

  She glanced over her shoulder at the various antics of the crew and a few of the passengers who were topside for purposes of stretching cramped muscles.

  While it was good to have Kalos so close again, somehow his very presence made her feel immensely dejected. He seemed to sense her melancholy, for he dipped his head to peer upward into her eyes.

  She wanted so much at that moment to take his face into her hands, and press her lips against his. But she fought the urge.

  "Perhaps now we can talk," he said.

  "I know not what you mean."

  "You tried once before to tell me something, after you had recovered from your illness. Just before I left Lady Swiala's palace. It was something that seemed very important to you. It seems you never got that chance."

  "And now you are offering it." Adalginza laughed once, without humor. "It is true I once thought I had a way to bring peace to the frontier. But forces are in place now that are beyond your power and mine to stop. My ideas no longer seem to matter anyway."

  "Because of the weapons?"

  "Because of many things. We are as helpless in our personal course as those seabirds, trapped by wings that are forced to follow the current of the wind." Adalginza regarded him sadly. "How is Lady Sagawea?"

  "Still below deck. And heaving at regular intervals. Polyper is there to offer solace."

  "As well he should."

  "I fear Sagawea already despises the frontier, and she has not even yet arrived."

  "She has a keen interest in that which she despises."

  "A keen intellectual interest. I do not think she ever believed that her physical presence would ever be required. The Congressional appointment was quite a shock to her, especially in her current condition."

  "I will be anxious to see her intellectual reaction to blood and carnage, after you launch your first attack on a savage village. Perhaps you should release the plague first. The killing would be cleaner and faster. And complete. You could be known as the captain who finished what Heinste the Cruel started so long ago. It would be interesting to see how history eventually judges you."

  "I have no intention of releasing the plague!"

  "Yet,
it exists."

  Remembering then the words of The Prophecy Umbrea had so recently recited, Adalginza suddenly shuddered.

  "I asked this at the Prime Congress, and the question was never really answered. How can you be so sure that the plague will kill only the savages? Was it tested upon people of the Crescent Houses first?"

  "It is a variation of that which Captain Heinste discovered by accident. It was not considered necessary to test it."

  "The Ancients who lived in the Valley of Beginnings taught that the vessels of disease are too small to see and too complex to understand. To survive, they can transform themselves in ways that we might not anticipate."

  "Captain Heinste's plague killed only savages."

  "Has any form of the plague ever caused citizens of the Crescent Houses to become ill?"

  "No. Never. It is not considered possible."

  "Oh, Captain. Do not be fooled, because all things are possible."

  "We can stand here and argue for as long as we want. But I suppose these matters will always stand between us."

  Sighing, Kalos gazed out over the sea, as though he could already see to the far shore of the frontier he seemed so determined to conquer.

  "How is Calasta?"

  "Gone. She recovered her memories, and then ran away to join her father."

  "Will she be safe?"

  "Not if she is in a village soon to be attacked by canisters filled with death. Or perhaps she was already murdered by a good citizen of a Crescent House who cannot abide the sight of a savage."

  "Why did you tell me you were Calasta's mother? Is this the only way you thought you could protect her from me?"

  Adalginza said nothing.

  Kalos watched her closely before speaking again.

  "It concerns me that Calasta was able to disappear so thoroughly. She was a little savage girl alone on the Prime Continent. She could not possibly have managed this on her own. So she had help. From Benfaaro's spies. Are you a spy?"

  "I did not help Calasta escape." Adalginza stepped away from the railing. "You make many excuses about why we are no longer together. But the truth is you no longer trust me in any way. Nor do I trust you. And it is this that stands between us."

  As she walked away, she heard him mutter behind her.

  "I hate the masque. I really do."

  ***

  It was deep into the dark of night, and Adalginza somehow managed to fall into a restless sleep lulled partly by the gentle rocking of the ship.

  A short time later, she felt a hand close over her mouth. She struggled, but could make no sound.

  In the bed next to hers was the dark outline of the rise and fall of gentle breathing, indicating that her grandmother was still peacefully asleep.

  Then Adalginza looked up, barely able to see the outline of the captain's face. He held a finger to his lips, released his hand, and swept her into his arms.

  Above deck, and in the crisp breeze of the sea winds, she dared speak.

  "Put me down. What do you think you are doing?"

  "I found a private place for us," he said.

  He carried her toward the back of the ship, and then set her on her feet. He looked around in the moonlight to see if anyone was watching. Then he lifted up the edge of the canvas covering that hid one of the smaller craft used for fishing and scouting expeditions.

  He swept his hand in a grandiose gesture, inviting her to go under the shroud with him.

  "Really?" Adalginza regarded him with total disbelief. "You have a very high opinion of yourself, Captain Kalos, if you believe you can simply carry me off and expect a night of love-making after all the time we have been apart."

  "I thought long of what you said. About trust."

  Two crescent moons were directly overhead, illuminating the sincerity of his expression.

  "Oh, Kalos."

  Adalginza felt her heart twisting as she watched his face. She wanted to tell Kalos that his instincts were right. That she had a darkness within that he should fear. And that, for his own good, they should remain apart forevermore.

  Instead, the salty ocean breeze sprayed them with its own perfume. The dim lighting of the night moons bathed them in a fantasy glow. His hair whipped in the wind. And her eyes could not leave his face.

  "You know you want me," Kalos said with his usual immodesty.

  "How many women have you had since we were apart?"

  He hesitated. "There have been temptations. But on each occasion, I could see only you and me together. In the lake. In the wilderness. And then the face before me was only a stranger who could never be you. Besides..."

  "Yes?"

  "I took a vow with you. And I am a man of honor."

  The utter earnestness of those words disarmed her completely.

  She fell into his arms. At the same time, he pulled her with him into the small boat, where they fell together. Then he yanked down the cover to conceal them from prying eyes.

  The next morning, when she tiptoed back into the sleeping quarters she shared with her grandmother, Lady Swiala was still in bed but awake. She eyed Adalginza disapprovingly.

  "You spent the night with him," she accused.

  "I spent the night with my husband."

  "He has not been much of a husband."

  "From his viewpoint, I have not been much of a wife."

  "That woman's belly is swollen. Or had you not noticed?"

  Adalginza stood, hands on hips, eyeing her grandmother rebelliously.

  "Captain Kalos is not the father of Lady Sagawea's child. And I am not your possession. I will no longer allow you to treat me as such."

  Instant rage at first registered in Lady Swiala's indigo eyes, reflecting back the same light that Adalginza was sure now showed in her own. They glared at each other for many moments.

  Then, finally, the fire in Lady Swiala's eyes faded. And her grandmother, for the first time, appeared just as she probably had been all along.

  A lonely old woman, with no family except Adalginza. And no real friends.

  "It came to this with my son," she said finally. "Rather than staying at my side, he left for the frontier. To escape me. And he never came back."

  "He was killed, Grandmother. Otherwise, I am sure you would have seen him again."

  "Maybe. But we had words. And no other words were spoken between us to soothe the sting. You are right to push me away. I have no one. And when I do have those I love near me, I try to possess them until I drive them away."

  "I am not driven away."

  Lady Swiala gave her a faint smile. "No?"

  "I have love enough for my husband, and love enough for my grandmother. There is plenty to share."

  "That is generous of you, dear." Lady Swiala sighed longingly. "I see so much of myself in you. The indigo eyes. The youth I lost is born again in you."

  "And in you, I see where I am going. You are a woman of strength. And conviction. Because of you, I see that it is possible to demand something more of life."

  Adalginza walked over to stand above her. Lady Swiala reached out, took Adalginza's hand, and squeezed it.

  "Child, I did not want to come between you and your captain. I wanted the two of you to be together. And happy. But when I heard he had been living on that woman's estate..."

  "I understand."

  "I thought to protect you. So I turned him away, even when you knew nothing about it."

  "Do not make such assumptions again, Grandmother. I am capable of protecting myself."

  "Go, then. Go to your captain." Swiala then eyed her curiously. "Who is the father?"

  "You promise to say nothing?"

  At Swiala's nod, Adalginza dropped her voice into a tone of conspiracy.

  "Polyper."

  "Polyper?" Swiala lowered her voice at Adalginza's frantic gesturing to be quiet. "Oh, this is most scandalous."

  "Remember. This is our secret."

  Adalginza shed her nightclothes and donned her skirt and bodice sash. Then she strolled
back out onto the deck. She took a deep breath of salty sea air as she peered up at the shore birds hovering overhead.

  Nearby was the Prime Continent island of Faradera, a midway stopover for transports en route to and from the frontier.

  Soon they would dock in the harbor, where they would be formally greeted by local merchants. And then the bartering would begin for trade of manufactured goods from the big cities for fresh provisions such as fruits, vegetables, and meats.

  The passengers and crew aboard the ships also would be permitted to go ashore, where they could visit the marketplaces and enjoy the feel of solid ground beneath their feet. It would be a welcome diversion from the monotony of ocean travel.

  Adalginza searched for Captain Kalos, while her mind contemplated the incongruities of life. She who wanted a child would never have one. Captain Kalos who wanted only to explore the unknown instead found himself the reluctant leader of a vast army of Crescent knights.

  The gnostic, Polyper, who had vowed never to align himself with carnal pursuits was now about to become a father. And Lady Sagawea, heavy with child, was destined for a land that she had declared she never wanted to see.

  People could have their personal contrivances and schemes. But sometimes the moon gods overruled all mortal desires.

  In her case, however, she was being given a gift. Another chance at love. And, this time, she was going to base the relationship strictly on the truth.

  She was going to find the captain, and she was going to tell him everything.

  She finally spotted Kalos, his back to her as he was coiling some rope attached to the sails. As she took a step toward him, she saw something flash in her peripheral vision.

  The arrow, flaming with fire and smoke, was on the downside of an arc that caused it to land with a "thwack" only inches from Adalginza's feet.

  She reacted instantly, ripping off part of her skirt to smother the flames that otherwise would have ignited the wooden deck into an inferno.

  "We're under attack!" she screamed.

  14

  Dozens of tribal sailing ships glided from around the far northern edge of the island.

  At the same time, flaming arrows burst from each vessel, filling the air with fiery streaks. Now, in the distance, blazes could now be seen on almost every deck of the twenty seven Crescent House ships.