The Eternal Rose

by Gail Dayton

  Kallista rather liked the stark, two-sentence demand Viyelle came up with. “Release all of the Adaran slaves and the offspring of any Adaran slaves to the Reinine of all Adara. If you do not release them of your own accord with one week of this reading, Adara will take them from you."

  Namida, being the diplomat she was, did not approve. She wanted flowery words and euphemisms like “bond servant,” skirting around the target before finally taking aim. Only because Obed agreed that an oblique approach might possibly be more effective did Kallista relent.

  It took the rest of the afternoon to hammer out something satisfactory to all. The statement took an unconscionably long time getting there, but it made the same point as Viyelle's original version. Namida took Joh's clean copy off to be copied again for the Reinine's seal. It would be handed over to the en-Kameral after Namida's reading. They had perhaps half a chime left to spend with the children before dinner.

  Obed stood behind their new son, stopping the ball when it got past him, which was most every time Omri threw it. Even sitting in Kallista's lap, with her help in the throwing, Omri sent it flying in bizarre directions. Not that it mattered. Sky wasn't any better at the catching, even when the ball came toward him. The boys didn't care. They laughed like lunatics whatever happened. It made Obed laugh too.

  The whole family was gathered to play. Torchay had the trio of oldest girls all crowded onto his lap while he read to them. Keldrey made faces at their littlest in Aisse's arms, playing peekaboo. The rest of the family growled and wrestled and chased each other. Playing bears, Obed thought. Joh made a fine bear.

  These were the moments he lived for, what he had endured all those years in the skola to have. Aisse watched him over her daughter's head, a familiar look in her eye. She wanted another child. His, or Torchay's. She'd admitted it, made no apology for it. And as Obed put out a foot to stop the ball yet again, he realized that he wanted to give Aisse what she wanted. Because he loved her.

  Not the same way he loved Kallista, but the way he loved Aisse. Which was different from the way he loved Viyelle, and the way he loved Leyja, and all the rest of them.

  How could he think Kallista was all he had when he was at this moment looking at all his riches? And how could he expect to be the only one she loved when she was not his only love?

  But Obed could tell Kallista still worried about what had happened during the trial, when he and Torchay had turned on each other. She wanted to talk, but they didn't have a chance until late, after they had retreated to their sleeping room for the night.

  "What happened?” Kallista pulled off her soft-topped boots and tossed them toward the wardrobe. “In the arena. What—"

  "The Habadras’ blades were drugged.” Torchay paused, his tunic trapping his arms, only half off. “Weren't they?"

  "Yes, but they were drugs, not magic.” Kallista frowned, reasoning her way through what she had seen. “It's possible they were meant to drive you to fight each other, but I don't know how Chani could have predictedthat.Thedrugsmimickednaturalbodilyfunctionstoowell.They interfered with your reasoning power, your control over your emotions. They also caused your heart to race wildly. I think, if you had not stopped when you did, your hearts might have burst from the strain."

  "But we did stop.” Obed kissed her forehead. “Our hearts did not burst. You cleaned the drugs from us. We're fine."

  "Except for being marked up a bit.” Torchay winked at her.

  Kallista didn't wink back, though she knew he wanted it. Their fight worried her too much. “But why did you start? Do you really hate each other so much? If the drugs ate away your self-control, then—” She bit her lip, fighting tears. “I can't force you to be together like this if that's how you truly feel."

  "No." Obed's cry came a breath ahead of Torchay's denial. Obed took her in his arms, then opened them to allow Torchay in, to envelop her between them.

  "Yes, there is a rivalry between us,” Torchay admitted. “We can't either of us let the other get half a step ahead. In anything. And jealousy—Goddess, I was so sick with it when he had your bed and I didn't. Even after, even now, it makes me sick to think of it. But I couldn't admit it, even to myself, until Obed bashed me over the head with it. I had to be the perfect bodyguard, the perfect ilias."

  Obed brushed back Kallista's hair, kissed each of her eyelids. “I was raised to believe that it is possible to love only one other, and that all else is sham. I learned better in Adara, but coming back here ... I forgot what I had learned. And Torchay was so perfect it drove me to madness. What need could you have of me when he can even follow you into the spirit world and bring you back?"

  Kallista swallowed down the tears choking her throat. “So I was right. You do hate each other."

  "No." Both of them spoke at once.

  "When you took away the drugs,” Obed said, “I threw away my sword. I would not fight. How can I be jealous when I myself love you and Aisse and Viyelle and Leyja? How can I say you should not love Torchay?"

  "It was the drugs, Kallista.” Torchay turned her to face him. “Just the drugs. When they were gone, I couldn't kill him. Beat that pretty face bloody, perhaps, but no’ kill him."

  "Wait. You mean while you were still in the arena?” Kallista twisted so she could see both of them at once. “But the drugs weren't gone then. I could barely touch them, much less sweep them away, until you started drinking the water. The water allowed me to start ridding you of them. The healer-naitan discovered it while she took care of Fox."

  Torchay lifted an eyebrow as he looked at Obed. “We were still drugged."

  "So truly, in your heart of hearts, you do not want to kill me,” Obed said thoughtfully.

  Torchay's eyes narrowed. “But you want me to."

  "I dare you to.” Obed's teeth flashed in a wicked smile. “It is not at all the same thing."

  Kallista made a disgusted noise. “You sound like my brothersedili."

  "But we're no'.” Torchay nuzzled the sensitive spot under her ear. “We're your iliasti.” He kissed her cheek and stepped out of the three-sided embrace. “And now, I'll go see whether Aisse and Leyja have room for a fourth. You two haven't made love alone together since we've been here. I think it's time—"

  "No.” Obed grabbed Torchay's wrist. “You are not playing Perfect Reinas again. You haven't been alone with her either."

  "Excuse me.” Kallista put her hand up. “When did I become invisible?"

  "Never.” Obed leaned forward to kiss her. “You are with us even when you are not."

  Kallista felt a shiver of magic along his link as his lips touched hers, made softer, warmer by the scritch of his day's beard surrounding them. She opened to him, deepened the kiss, abandoned herself to the wonder of holding him, kissing him, when she thought she might have lost him forever.

  Obed pulled away, left her reaching for him until he turned her round, urged her into Torchay's arms. She didn't need urging. Kallista wrapped her arms around her other ilias, tangled her hands in his tumble of red curls and demanded a matching response to her needy kiss.

  "Don't leave me,” she murmured into his mouth. “Don't you ever leave me."

  She stretched an arm behind her and caught a handful of Obed's loose black waves to pull him in. “Either one of you. Don't ever scare me like this again."

  She leaned backandtwistedtokissObed as Torchay kissedhiswaydown to her breasts. Somehow, by means of all-too-mortal magic, they were in the bed together, naked, while true magic whispered through their links.

  "Love me.” Kallista hooked a leg over Torchay's hip, opening herself to him.

  "Always. Forever.” He surged inside her with a quiet groan.

  Against her back, Obed shifted as if to move away. Kallista clutched at his rough-haired leg. “No. You love me too."

  "You know I do,” he breathed into her ear. “Always. Forever."

  "Then love me now.” She needed him here with her, a part of her as Torchay was.

  "There's no room."r />
  "Then make room.” She said it without quite knowing what she meant by it, knowing only that she needed them both, now.

  She sensed the two men exchanging a look past her, then Obed was pushing his way inside her too, stretching her wide, making room for himself as she'd bid him. Magic surged through the link from Torchay, leaving her slick with arousal.

  "How do you do that?” Kallista gasped as Torchay pulled her leg higher over his hip, opening her wider. “How do you send me magic when I don't call it?"

  "Don't know exactly. It works?"

  The men began to thrust in unison, leaving Kallista unable to reply. She grasped the magic she'd been given and sent it rippling between them.

  It was awkward, almost uncomfortable to have both of them shoving inside her at once, and it was so erotic it made her tremble. She let the magic go, unable to hold it, much less control it. The sensations bleeding through the link were not the magic. She could feel what they felt, sense how every slide of flesh against flesh against flesh aroused each of them. Intense. Outrageous. Uncontrollable.

  She grabbed for the magic in a too-late bid to hold out longer, and kicked them all into cascading, screaming climax.

  Eons passed before she could move again, or perhaps just a moment. Kallista rolled to her back and hooked an arm around each man's neck, drawing them in until their faces touched hers.

  "I love you.” She kissed Torchay. “And I love you.” She kissed Obed. “Please don't force me to choose. I can't. I couldn't bear to lose either one of you, and I know our other iliasti feel the same."

  "We couldn't bear to lose you either.” Torchay kissed her cheek. “And I've been thinking."

  Kallista gave him a wary look. “That sounds ominous."

  "It's not. At least I don't think so.” He sat up and folded his legs. “I want you to teach Obed how to go to the dreamscape and back. If something happens and you get trapped there again, I don't like being the only one who can follow. It would be better if you could teach all of us to do it."

  "Now?” She could feel weariness eating away her strength.

  "Obed now, yes. I—I'm afraid to wait. Now we've got Sky back and the drugged swords failed to take any more godmarked from you, the demons could be desperate enough to attack directly. I don't want you dreaming without at least two of us able to come after you."

  He was right. And two of them could help each other if need be. “Go fetch Jondi,” she said. “Or whoever's on duty. Tell him what we're doing, to watch without interfering unless the sun rises and we still haven't woken. Then he's to fetch the godmarked and Gweric. When you've done that, come back and lie down.” Kallista patted the empty pillow beside her.

  Torchay eyed her with suspicion. “I can watch."

  "You're coming with us. You need the practice.” Kallista looked at Obed as Torchay padded naked to the door. “We didn't ask whether you wanted to learn this, did we?"

  "Whatever you ask, you know I will do it, if I can.” He smiled as he brought her hand up to kiss her fingers. “And I agree. I should know how to do this. I want to know.” A shadow crossed his face. “But I fear I will not be able to learn."

  "You will. It doesn't require magic, and our link will make it easier."

  Leaving the night guard just inside the door, Torchay returned and stretched out next to Kallista, drawing the bedcover to his neck. She found his hand beneath it and twined her fingers with his, her other hand still clasped in Obed's.

  "Listen to your heartbeat.” She closed her eyes. “Feel your breath whisper in and out of your chest, your blood pulse through each part of your body. Sense each part of your physical self. Know it. Accept it. Love it."

  Kallista sank deeper into her own body, sensing her men settle solid into theirs. “This is home,” she said. “Where you belong. It will be here waiting for you when you return. Now that you have anchored yourself, you can let go. Body and spirit are one whole, but spirit can leave for a short time without harm. Listen to my heartbeat now, and step out."

  She wanted to help them, to take that step with them, for them, but they had to be able to do it on their own. So she sat in the dreamscape, watching anxiously.

  After a moment, Torchay exhaled and bobbed up into the dreamfog beside her, a cork rising to the surface. “That was easier than last time.” He looked around curiously. “Is it always like this?"

  "When you've got yourself properly anchored, yes.” Kallista watched Obed struggle. “Don't wander off."

  Torchay gave her a sour look. “What sort of bodyguard do you think I am?"

  Kallista ignored him, satisfied he would stay close, and focused her attention on Obed. “Relax,” she whispered. “Let go. Gain control by giving it up."

  He tensed, then his lips moved as if he repeated some meditation. His body visibly relaxed. Kallista felt a tug on his link, and Obed slipped out of his body and into the dreamscape.

  "See?” Kallista hugged him tight. “Not so hard after all. Now, to get yourself back."

  "But I just got here.” Obed turned in a circle, staring at the multicolored glows flaring within the gray mist.

  "Practice first. Explore later. Back you go.” She swatted Torchay's backside and with a wink, he dove back into his body.

  Obed stepped down with more dignity, settling in without trouble. Kallista had them do it twice more, up and back, before she declared them proficient.

  "What are the colors?” Obed reached for an azure bubble floating by. It dodged his touch, bobbing higher out of reach.

  "I don't know. Other people's dreams?” Kallista shrugged. “My own dreaming is enough to deal with."

  "Are we dreaming now?” Torchay had clothed and armed his dreamself, apparently deciding that if he played the part of bodyguard, he ought to look like one.

  "Not exactly. When we dream, a smaller part of ourselves comes here.” Kallista surveyed the dreamscape, itching to search it for demons. But she would not drag her magicless iliasti after her. Not in this place.

  "What is that?” Obed pointed.

  Not far from where they stood, a golden glow speared through the mist, growing in brightness until they had to hide their eyes from its brilliance. When it faded enough to see, the light had become a glowing tendril, groping blindly in the dreamscape as if looking for an anchor. It called to Kallista, and she eased closer. She reached for it, but her hand closed on nothing. The slender thread seemed to dissolve.

  "What is it?” Torchay asked this time, staring in wonder.

  Kallista started to shake her head, then stopped as the possible answer hit her. "Hurry!"

  She didn't wait for them, flying back to her body. The men scrambled after, stumbling as they followed her out of the bed.

  "Wait!” Torchay cried. "Stop."

  She couldn't. Without pausing to grab her houserobe, or anything else, Kallista ran naked through the embassy, her nightguards trotting impassively after her. Her iliasti staggered behind, holding each other up as if they hadn't quite got themselves shoved all the way back down to their feet. “Damn it, Kallista,” Torchay shouted. “What's going on?” Elationbubbledthroughherandshespuninacelebratorycircle,allowing the men to catch up. “I know what we saw. Keldrey's been marked!"

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Kallista threw her arms around Torchay and Obed and even the startled bodyguards, hugging them each in turn, before darting away again. She threw open the door to the room where Viyelle slept with Joh and now Keldrey too, snoring in his place nearest the wall. It brought Kallista up short a moment. Wouldn't he have been awake for his marking?

  She crawled onto the bed and up his blanket-covered form, not bothering to keep from waking the other two sleepers. “Keldrey,” she crooned. “Darling Kel, kiss me."

  "Mmm.” He obeyed before he came fully awake, pursing his lips, bringing up his hand to the back of her head to hold her as he deepened the kiss. The kiss that was just a kiss.

  On the verge of tears, her elation crumbled into despair, Kallista
struggled to free herself. Jerking out of Keldrey's hold, she swiped her hand across her mouth as she sank back onto her heels. It couldn't be.

  "Hey,” Keldrey protested. “That's not right. To come in here while I'm sleeping all peaceful-like and kiss me and get me all hot and stand-up, and then push me away like that.” He reached for Kallista and she batted his hand away.

  Then she reached for it. Maybe she hadn't done it right. “You have to be marked,” she muttered, clasping his hand between both of hers. "I need you to be marked."

  Her agitation growing, she grabbed Keldrey's head and pulled him forward, down, till he almost lay in her lap, searching for the rose-shaped mark on the back of his neck, the one that had to be there. And wasn't.

  "Why aren't you marked?” She flew at him in a rage.

  Shock held Torchay motionless for too long while Kallista rained openhanded blows down on Keldrey, following as he tried to retreat. This wasn't like her. Surely even delayed grief couldn't have sent her this far out of control.

  She screamed incoherently in her attack. Keldrey shouted at her, telling her to stop. Joh swept Viyelle out of harm's way. Obed caught Kallista's flailing arms and pinned them to her body, but couldn't stop her kicking at Keldrey as he lifted her off the bed. Too late, Torchay came to help, imprisoning her in the houserobe he'd thought to bring, taking her from Obed.

  "What in all the seven bloody hells is going on?” Keldrey touched his split lip and frowned at the blood he found.

  "Kallista." Torchay shook her gently. She'd stopped screaming finally, but the weeping didn't reassure him.

  "She thought you'd been marked,” Obed said.

  "I gathered that.” Keldrey looked at the others in the room. “You okay, Vee?” He crawled from the bed and went to use his bodyguard's healer training to check on her.

  "Fine. Never better.” Viyelle turned Keldrey's face to the lamp Joh had lit. “Is your lip the worst of it?"