Ten Crescent Moons (Moonquest)

by Marilyn Haddrill

  She had no mother or father to give her away, so Adalginza must now stand alone.

  This was the fate of one who betrays love. And it was her punishment to marry Talan.

  At that moment, a small part of her felt an alarmed flurry from the minds of the beasts of the surrounding wilderness that were awakening with the dawn.

  But she paid them no attention.

  She needed all of her strength and concentration to get through the rest of the ceremony.

  Talan now stood below the platform, looking up at her ravenously.

  Adalginza had once held the faint hope that, with Talan and Bruna already sharing a bed, her new husband would ignore her following the union.

  But by the carnal look on his face, she realized she would not be spared. His attentions, too, would have to be endured.

  She tried to keep from shuddering openly.

  Benfaaro regarded her with a look of pity, before turning to address the small gathering.

  "No one will ever know the full extent of the sacrifices made by Adalginza, Of The Blood, for her people. For this, she will be honored forever and by all generations to come. Adalginza, of the indigo eyes. Adalginza, Of The Blood."

  As those present took up the chant, Adalginza looked into her brother's face. And that's when she realized that Benfaaro understood how much she had loved and still loved Captain Kalos.

  Benfaaro then turned his look to Talan, and his expression hardened.

  "Talan, her husband to be, will pledge before me and all present his love and honor for my sister who I give away on this sacred morning. He will care for her. And protect her, remembering always that it is she who is Of The Blood."

  "This I pledge," Talan declared.

  But they were words only. Adalginza knew he eagerly awaited what was to come soon. The declaration of union, and the transfer of power to his hands. And Bruna's.

  As Benfaaro recited a litany of rites and chants, anger began to slowly fill the inner void that Adalginza had felt for most of the night.

  How could her brother do this, already knowing that Talan and Bruna were lovers? How could he think them stronger than she, when she at least had honor?

  For a moment, she was tempted to shout out the truth. That in her unquenchable thirst for power, Bruna had tried to kill her own daughter — their daughter.

  But Adalginza knew that Benfaaro would never accept such words from her. Besides, in his own way, he was showing mercy.

  For had he not cherished his sister, he already would have slain her for so openly loving his greatest enemy. And for saving Captain Kalos, when the head of the snake could have been so easily severed back on Faradera Island.

  Since that time, Kalos had killed so many in numerous demonstrations that he was incapable of forgiveness.

  Adalginza dropped her head. For all the ruthlessness he had shown in the past, Benfaaro at least was now demonstrating that he at least could forgive her.

  "Adalginza..."

  Swallowing hard, she raised her head as her brother reverently pronounced her name.

  "Are you ready to accept the mate I have chosen for you?"

  She hesitated, doing and saying nothing for many long moments.

  There was an uncomfortable stirring among the guests. Adalginza even imagined that she heard murmurings of hope that The Prophecy might yet be true, and that the woman with indigo eyes might step forward to lead her people to salvation.

  And peace.

  But The Prophecy spoken by the Ancients was now dead. Along with her own hopes.

  Benfaaro watched her impatiently, his green eyes starting to glow with warning.

  "Yes." Her voice was barely louder than a whisper.

  "Then step down from the platform and take your place by Talan's side."

  She took one step. And then another. And finally, another.

  Once she took that final step, bringing her to Talan's side, she would be considered wed. And, in her mind, doomed.

  She was about to make the final move, when a child's voice rang out.

  "Wait!"

  Adalginza looked around, confused, as Calasta suddenly darted forward and up the stairs of the platform.

  "Calasta!" Benfaaro bellowed. "You are not to be here! You know children are not allowed at weddings!"

  "I am Of The Blood, I am thirteen, and I will take my place by your side, Father. Like it or not. For I have something important to say."

  Benfaaro looked uncertain and exasperated, but he did not try to stop Calasta as she stood glowering at the watching congregation in an almost theatrical way.

  Trying not to bring attention to herself, Adalginza backed part of the way up the stairs away from Talan.

  Bruna then suddenly jumped up on the side of the platform. She grabbed Calasta's arm.

  "You will leave at once. Come with me."

  Calasta yanked her arm from her mother's grasp.

  "I will not obey. You are not my mother. I disavow you, because you are evil."

  Calasta then pointed a finger down at Talan. "You sleep with him, even while wed to my father. And you tried to kill me."

  Mutterings of anger sounded from among the tribal leaders watching.

  Adalginza realized a few among them already knew the truth of the child's words. Umbrea had spread the message far that Calasta was to be protected while in the company of her mother.

  Bruna gave her daughter a condescending smile. Then she gazed benevolently at Benfaaro.

  "Calasta was in the company of Adalginza and the Crescent House citizens for far too long. They have perverted her beliefs, and tried to win her to their ways. Just as Medosa once did with all the children, when he lived at the Place of the Circles."

  "Not true," Calasta interrupted.

  Her mother ignored her, continuing to look straight at Benfaaro.

  "These are the ravings of delusion. You know I would not harm my own blood."

  When Calasta spoke again, her words were firm, strong, and utterly convincing.

  "You tried to kill me, Mother. I saw your face after you hit me with the rock. This is why Auntie Adalginza took me with her. To protect me from you."

  "Lies!" Bruna shouted.

  Then, she turned beseechingly to Benfaaro.

  "You know your sister is a traitor. You know she loves Captain Kalos above all else. She would stop at nothing, even tampering with the mind of a child, to be reunited with him."

  "I love Captain Kalos. That part is true!" Adalginza shouted. "But I would never put my own wishes above the good of my people!"

  Bruna just laughed.

  "Did you hear her confess openly to her love of our greatest enemy? Finish the wedding, Benfaaro. Transfer the power to Talan. We need strength in this time of trouble."

  "Father," Calasta interrupted quietly. "Mother is jealous of anyone Of The Blood. She even harmed Auntie Adalginza, when she was a child, so that she would never bear any children."

  Adalginza gave Calasta a startled look. She did not realize just how much the child knew. The servants of Lady Swiala's house must have, indeed, gossiped freely.

  Benfaaro looked stricken as he stared down at his sister.

  "Is this true? Has Bruna stolen your bloodline?"

  "Yes," Adalginza said. "It is true."

  This time, the crowd responded with shouts of rage, which Benfaaro did not attempt to suppress. He now regarded his wife with a strange light in his eyes.

  Then, a brave tribal chief stepped forward.

  "Sir, I must report something that I myself witnessed while you and your family visited our province during the previous passing of the four full moons."

  He glared up at Bruna.

  "This woman prepared an herbal drink for your child. Because of Umbrea's warnings, we secretly gave Calasta another cup to drink from. And that which was contained in hers was placed on the floor. An incakit found it. The animal died instantly, sir."

  Benfaaro suddenly reached down and pressed both of his hands into Calas
ta's shoulders.

  "Leave us."

  "But Father..."

  "Leave us now!"

  The steel in his voice must have signaled Calasta that he was in no mood to argue. She was suddenly a child again, trembling before her father.

  Calasta ran down the stairway, pausing briefly to meet Adalginza's eyes, and then dashed away into the brush.

  Within only moments Bruna's bloody, severed head rolled slowly down the steps until it stopped, motionless, at Talan's feet.

  Adalginza looked away, holding her hand to her mouth to keep from retching. On the platform, Benfaaro calmly wiped the blood from his sword, and then returned it to its sheath.

  He regarded his sister sternly.

  "You will put the good of our people first?"

  "Always, honored brother."

  "They will have no one left to speak for them, until Calasta comes of age. She could rule now, but she is only a child. It will have to be you, Adalginza. And you must learn to be strong."

  "I have already learned to be strong," Adalginza said simply.

  "Yes. I believe you have. Then join me again. Here on the platform."

  As Adalginza complied, walking the rest of the way up the stairs, Benfaaro gazed down upon the tribal leaders who all had their eyes turned upward with hope.

  "Is there any here who objects to the transfer of power, to my sister, Adalginza?"

  The answering chants began immediately. "Adalginza, Of The Blood. Adalginza, of the indigo eyes. Adalginza! Adalginza!"

  Benfaaro nodded in grim approval.

  "Let it be known that The Prophecy may now be spoken aloud, and that The Prophecy is true." He turned to his sister. "I am sorry I doubted the Ancients. I am sorry I doubted you."

  "There was a time when you had reason. But, dear brother, you must know this about me. I will work for peace as best I can, even as we fight for survival."

  "Will you ever see our people surrender as a way of achieving peace?"

  "We must make compromises at times. But surrender? No. Violence will be met with violence. But there are those, on both sides, who want peace."

  "Some who say they want peace cannot be trusted."

  "On both sides, Benfaaro. On both sides. There is always treachery, as you have seen here."

  They both stared down at the vacant, loathsome eyes of Bruna's disembodied head. It seemed to be leering up at them, mocking them even in death.

  There was only an empty spot left where Talan once stood, for he had taken his opportunity to flee into the wilderness.

  "I should have killed Talan," Benfaaro muttered.

  "Without the power Of The Blood and without Bruna, he is no longer a threat."

  "I hope you are right."

  At that moment, Adalginza felt panic erupt in the minds of the creatures of the woods surrounding them. But it was too late to shout out a warning.

  A huge globule came screaming from the sky. It burst to release a spray of pellets that rained down on them. The wooden platform exploded with smoking holes, as Adalginza and Benfaaro scrambled for their lives.

  They leaped away, taking cover in a nearby thicket.

  "To the caves!" Benfaaro screamed the order.

  The tribal leaders, too, gathered their weapons and fled just as a second projectile screamed into the air. Bone chilling shrieks could be heard from the direction of the village, where more pellets had landed.

  "Calasta!" Benfaaro looked in the direction of the screams.

  "Do not worry. She knows to go underground."

  "Come with me then."

  Benfaaro took Adalginza's hand as they ran. Then he abruptly stopped, pulling her back with him protectively.

  "Captain Kalos is nearby. I feel his hatred."

  "You cannot know that." Adalginza looked around, her heart beating fast.

  "I, too, have gifts."

  "Your fever causes you these illusions."

  Adalginza felt Benfaaro collapse against her, and she lent him her support. She saw, too, that his left thigh oozed considerable blood from where he had been splashed with acid.

  "You are hurt, but we must keep moving. We will be safe in the caves, with the others."

  "Would he harm you?" Benfaaro demanded.

  Adalginza hesitated only a moment.

  "Yes. If he sees my face, he will kill me."

  "Then you must leave me here and go on. The new leader Of The Blood must survive to fight another day."

  "I will not leave you, brother."

  "I command you!"

  Adalginza just bit her bottom lip, and summoned the strength to half carry her brother at a stumbling run. Behind them, the tribal leaders fanned out to cover their escape.

  "This is weakness!" he whispered. "Do you hear me? Weakness!"

  "No, Benfaaro," she answered. "This is humanity."

  "I am sorry," he whispered, as he struggled to keep up. "Sorry for the life I took from you, the life you were meant to live. Sorry for the loss of the bloodline that Bruna has stolen from you. Sorry for everything."

  "I know," Adalginza said. "Please. Say no more."

  When Benfaaro stumbled and fell to his knees, Kalos stepped directly in front of them.

  He held the Crescent sword in readiness. And his face looked exactly as it had when Adalginza had last seen him when he was her prisoner.

  There would be no mercy here.

  To her surprise, Zartos then stepped into the clearing from the opposite side. He was holding his own Crescent sword. And he was no longer the big-footed, awkward boy she remembered as the captain's nephew.

  This was a man who knew how to handle a warrior's sword with confidence.

  "Zartos!" Kalos said, jerking his head in the opposite direction. "Go! I can handle this!"

  "No, Uncle. I have something to report from last night's scouting."

  "Later!" Kalos took a step toward Adalginza and Benfaaro, his posture menacing.

  Adalginza had no weapon. But Benfaaro struggled to his feet, holding his own dagger threateningly.

  "A dagger against a sword?" Kalos asked mockingly. "Surely you make a joke."

  Kalos paused to examine both of them as though they were excrement on the bottom of his boot.

  "I have long dreamed of meeting you in battle, Benfaaro. Now that I see you, I am disappointed."

  "Benfaaro is no match for you, Kalos," Adalginza said. "He has been ill for quite some time."

  "And this is supposed to stir my pity?"

  Benfaaro suddenly charged forward.

  "I do not need your pity, Captain!"

  With the dagger aimed straight at him, Kalos reacted as would any soldier — with a swift uppercut of the sword.

  But it was Benfaaro's last minute hesitation that had allowed the captain to stroke so easily. The leader Of The Blood fell forward to one knee. He grasped his chest, which was now sliced open and spewing blood.

  "You have done me a favor, Captain. For I choose to die in battle rather than in my own bed."

  As he fell forward, Benfaaro reached out and grasped the captain's arm. He held himself upright for one more moment.

  "Do not kill her...She loves you..."

  Then, he pitched forward.

  Adalginza dropped down to her knees beside the still body of her brother, who she had once admired like no other. He had never been a god. He had been only a man — and greatly flawed.

  Her tears flowed freely, even though she knew Kalos was watching.

  "I will allow you another moment for your grief. And then you will come with me."

  Adalginza did not look up. She merely nodded. She knew she was about to die, and she did not want him to see her face. She did not want Kalos to know how much she still cared about him.

  "Uncle..."

  "Zartos, I told you to go! Go back to the unit. It is dangerous here."

  "But I have something to tell you."

  Adalginza felt rather than saw Kalos grab her hair and yank her to her feet.

  She di
d not look up as he wrapped her hands in the rope. He roughly jerked the bonds tight, then wrenched the end of the snare to pull her after him.

  Adalginza kept her eyes squeezed shut as she stumbled forward. She still did not want to look at him, though she dared speak.

  "I thought Lady Redolo did not want Zartos to belong to the Crescent knights. She must be very displeased. He is still so young."

  "We need all the men we can recruit. And my mother is dead. As you should well know."

  "Dead?" More tears found their way down Adalginza's cheek. "I did not know. I am so sorry."

  "Tell me no more lies!"

  The rope was snatched forward viciously, almost causing her to fall to her face.

  "You told Benfaaro about the tunnel of the Seventh Crescent Cave, leading into Sola Re. We had blocked the entryway from the city cemetery, of course, once we knew you were a spy. But the savages found the wilderness entrance, and caught her working there."

  "I never told."

  "I told her to stay away. Because of the danger. But she could not resist studying the writings of the Seventh Crescent found on more of the walls. They tortured her. Do you want to know the details?"

  "No! Please..."

  "Uncle! No!" Zartos was somewhere behind them, following.

  Adalginza finally forced open her eyes, but could only see the captain's back as she was dragged along after him.

  "I did not tell about the tunnel. You must believe me."

  "How did the savages know then?"

  "If Lady Redolo no longer had access from the city, she must have been seen going back and forth from Sola Re to the entrance in the wilderness."

  "A convenient explanation."

  "If I wanted you all to die, why would I have released you back in Faradera?"

  "Listen to her, Uncle."

  "Zartos! I told you to go! I have grim business with this woman. And I don't want you to watch."

  Adalginza opened her eyes in time to see Zartos thrust himself physically in front of the captain.

  "I was hidden in the brush last night. I watched their ceremony. Lady Adalginza is now their new leader — the Leader Of The Blood. Do you understand what this means?"

  "Is she?" Kalos threw Adalginza a sardonic look over his shoulder. "Congratulations. Too bad the honor will be so short-lived."

  Then, he tried to push by Zartos. But the boy refused to budge.