"No, he didn't. As ordered, Sorceress Telori briefed him on all the information we had on the general's movements. Our Assassins had been involved in the first attempt at capturing the general and had reported there were three in the party, the general and two female escorts. We didn't know then that one of the escorts was actually the general. She told him one of the escorts was a sorceress. We knew because we had sensed the spell she had used to scare away our troops. Of course our Assassins had sworn they had been driven off by a rescuing cavalry squadron, but Telori was convinced it was a very powerful illusion spell."
Looking at Aetria thoughtfully for a moment, Coleni said, “That sorceress must have been you."
"What makes you think I am a sorceress?"
Coleni studied Aetria for several moments. Aetria felt like a trainee under the eye of her mentor and stirred uneasily in her seat. Coleni said cautiously, “Call it intuition, or maybe I just know."
"I have enough mysteries to solve, Coleni. I don't need any more. To solve the ones I've got already, I need answers to my questions. I suggest we be more open with each other. I'll start.” Puffing out a breath of air, Aetria said, “Yes, I am the sorceress you detected. I've been trying to figure out how Pleates tracked us down. I had hoped to get more information by talking with a Hermanian sorcerer. The general arranged for that to happen. You are the results of her efforts. Unfortunately, you are creating more questions than I had anticipated asking."
Coleni nodded her head slowly, as if she was beginning to understand. “Now I understand your question about wanting to know how Pleates knew where you were. I can't help you there."
"What did you think of Adept Pleates?"
"He was very haughty and rude."
Aetria smiled. “That sounds like Pleates, all right. He always was one to believe himself above others, and their beliefs and concerns were beneath him."
"It appears we have a small degree of agreement on our dislike of Adept Pleates, Captain,” Coleni said. “I know my Sub-commander, Sorceress Telori, didn't like him. She isn't known for her tact and rather bluntly asked him what would make an Adept turn on his own people."
"I would be most interested in that answer myself.” Aetria said.
"I thought that might be one of your questions. He said he had done it for money. After we had won the war, in payment for his services to us, he would be given a large estate in our Logathian mountain range. I was very surprised by that, and so was Telori. She laughed and told him there was nothing of value in that area of Hermania. You can't farm anything, there are no towns or cities to trade with, and there are no mineral mines. He sneered at her and said that remained to be seen."
Aetria did not believe Crusher did anything for money. It had to be something else. But then again, she didn't know Crusher that well. “Did he say anything else of non-military value to us?"
"Sounds like you are fishing, Captain Aetria. No, he left immediately afterwards, heading north with a squad of Assassins. By their uniform markings, they were from our Headquarters Unit. He must have had friends in very high places. We were all very happy to see him leave. I heard he was killed in a fight."
Aetria fingered the dagger at her waist, remembering her throw that ended the traitor's life. She looked at Coleni and found the woman staring at her hand on the dagger.
"What an interesting dagger. May I see it?"
"You want me to give an enemy sorceress a dagger? You must think I'm mad."
Coleni looked frustrated for a moment. “I will give you my word of honor I will not make any attempt on you or anyone else."
Aetria took a moment to consider Coleni's words, then flipped her the dagger. “I may be stupid taking the word of an enemy, but my Order respects honor. I have heard yours does also."
Catching the dagger deftly in her left hand, Coleni looked at it closely and slowly shut her eyes, a look of pain crossing her face. Tears fell from her closed eyes.
"My dagger causes you to cry, Coleni? Another mystery."
Opening her eyes, Coleni brushed away the tears and blearily looked at Aetria. With a croaking voice, throat tight with emotion, she said, “A Tierian dagger, just like this one, killed the closest friend I have ever had. It was found stuck in his heart."
"And you think I did it? Tierian merchants sell their weapons to anyone, Coleni."
Cautiously, the Hermanian sorceress extended her hand and offered the dagger to Aetria. She took it equally as cautiously.
"I will trade you the answer to one of your mysteries if you will answer one of mine,” Coleni said.,
"Agreed."
"I know you were a sorceress because I sensed an aura of stored Power in you. That knowledge will be my death if my Order ever find out."
Aetria reacted with shock. She turned her back for a moment, not wanting Coleni to see the look of horror on her face. What kind of a Mage Order would cause the death of one of its own sorcerers for such a flaw? A flaw she possessed herself. Calming herself, she turned back to face Coleni.
"I know your fears only too well. Although my Order is a little more flexible in its view of the world, they also do not allow sorcerers manifesting what they consider aberrations to continue in the profession. If they can't reeducate them, they give them a hearing. The results range from a stern warning to being banned from using sources and casting spells. It took a lot of courage for you to tell me you can sense an aura of stored Power. I can sense that aura also. I told my mentor—now I have been summoned for a hearing. I am to report for my trial as soon as the general can be browbeaten into submission by the our Mage Council and lets me go."
"I am sorry you have to face such an ordeal, but you are lucky to have been given any chance at all. Now please answer my mystery, Sorceress. Were you with the sorcerer unit that attacked my camp three months ago?"
Aetria nodded, looking with sad eyes at Coleni. “I was the Sub-Commander of a Sorcerer recruit company traveling from our training lodge at Inhestia to join the Delmathian army. We detected your source, and our Commander decided to attack your camp. We tragically lost five Novices for no reason at all."
Coleni interrupted with an angry retort. “You only lost five fledgling sorcerers and you are sad about that! We lost over fifty seasoned soldiers to your fireballs and a dozen of our guards—” She gagged and choked, as if the image of the dead guards in her mind kept her from talking. “A dozen with slit throats. I also lost my best friend."
Tears started flowing again from Coleni's eyes, and Aetria felt a wrench of strong sympathy for the Hermanian sorceress.
"My sadness is not for losses that happen in a battle fought between our forces. We are at war. I am sad because it was senseless for my commander to even attempt a fight under those conditions,” said Aetria. “We were badly outnumbered, and I couldn't convince him not to make the attack. I blame myself for not trying harder. Instead, I went along with a plan I felt very risky. My concerns were soon proven true. And yes, it was my dagger.” With a dawning realization, Aetria remembered the words of the Hermanian. “Coleni, what does ‘brachda dias’ mean?"
"It means ‘behind you.’ Where did you hear that?"
"It was your friend's last words. He yelled, ‘Coleni, brachda dias.’”
Coleni broke down, wails of agony pouring from her throat. Aetria rushed to her side. She spoke a calming spell, which acted to decrease Coleni's distress somewhat, but she continued to moan pitifully. Aetria couldn't think of anything more to do, so she held her double close and rocked her. Coleni slowly collapsed, dragging the two of them down to their knees.
The door to the tent flew open and Loreana entered. She took one look at the two women, and seeing Coleni's distress, moved in quickly to assist Aetria in supporting the young woman. Shooting a questioning look at Aetria, she said quietly, “The guard reported screams coming from your tent. What is going on?"
Struggling with the now dead weight of Coleni, who had fainted, the two women carried her over to Aetria's sleeping pall
et and lowered her to the floor. Aetria couldn't think anymore. She felt a building of distress in her own heart.
"Please help her. I-I killed her closest friend. She became hysterical. I tried a calming spell, but the pain is too great."
Without looking back, Aetria walked off into the night, marching to nowhere.
* * * *
A Novice Healer found Aetria standing by the main entrance to the camp, watching a seemingly endless line of troops pouring through the gates and into the darkness beyond.
"Sorceress Aetria—Oh! Please excuse me, Captain Aetria."
Aetria turned to look at the Novice. She recognized her as Carleena, one of the Novices who had made the journey from Inhestia with her so many months ago. Numbly, she greeted her with a tired, sad smile. “Carleena, how are Novice Verdilan, you, and the others finding army life?"
Returning Aetria's somber greeting with one of greater warmth and enthusiasm, Carleena gushed, “We are all just fine. Busier than we had ever thought we'd be, but all well.” Giggling, she continued, “I guess one would expect Healers to be well. And I think we will be busier soon. My, there are so many of them!"
"There will be fewer, come morning."
Afraid to touch the more senior officer, but needing to soothe the distress shown, Carleena put a tentative hand on Aetria's arm and dropped into the empathic stance of her profession. She spoke reassuringly. “As you have taught us, Sorceress, that is the nature of war. Don't let it burden your heart so."
"The burden in my heart is not for the dying to come, but for the dying that has been. You have a message for me?"
"Yes, Ma'am. Adept Loreana would like to see you as soon as possible."
"I am finished here. Where is she now?"
"She said she would meet you at your quarters."
CHAPTER 9
Aetria entered her tent and found Loreana seated in a chair next to a sleeping Coleni. Loreana motioned for Aetria to take the empty chair next to her. After she had, Loreana handed her a goblet of wine. Aetria waved it away.
"No, take it and drink. You have suffered blood loss and I, your Healer, am telling you to drink."
After taking the proffered goblet, Aetria took a sip of wine and tried to relax in her chair. “Could you help her?"
Loreana bent forward resting her elbows on top of her legs, lowering her head into her hands, and looking at Coleni. “I gave her temporary relief from the pain she was inflicting on herself. She would not talk to me directly, only kept saying she wanted to die to stop the misery."
That shocked Aetria. “Why would she want that? She had obviously learned to live with the loss of her friend months ago."
"I don't know, but I have put her into a trance to try to find out what the source of her pain is. Wanting to die may be a way of punishing herself."
"I don't understand."
Loreana got up and crossed to Coleni, adjusting the blankets that didn't need adjusting. She looked back and forth between the two women. “Did she tell you that Lornes—that is the name of the Novice you killed—was a friend? I think he was more than that."
"You think he was her lifemate? Why didn't she say so?"
Loreana returned to her seat, turning to face Aetria. “Could not have been her lifemate. Hermanian sorceresses are not allowed to marry and continue in practice."
A look of disgust crossed Aetria's face. “Surely they don't hold to that archaic nonsense about madness in the woman and her children if she uses spells."
"The Hermanians are a very conservative Order and have many very strong beliefs. Their beliefs are based on experience gained over centuries, just as our Order has. Our rules, and theirs, are drawn from the shared history of all sorcerers."
"But we do not believe that rubbish—"
Loreana stopped Aetria with a warding hand. “It is not rubbish. Even our Order does not allow a mother to absorb or expend Power in spell use once it is ascertained she is with child. We women laugh amongst ourselves and say you have to be crazy to want to be a mother. A pregnant woman is a woman in transition. We know there are many changes occurring in her body, driven by the formation of the baby, which are manifested not only in physical change, but mental, as well. We know there are mood swings and cravings experienced by mothers-to-be. It affects the way the mother-to-be thinks, and remember the saying, ‘I think, therefore I spell.’”
Aetria felt embarrassed, more by her outburst than being lectured to. “Yes, I understand that rule, but carrying it past the birth of the child and forever is not sensible."
"Not taking it in the context of the whole view of sorcerer life, I would agree. But add other facts into the argument. Remember that in the early days of our Order, marriage was only allowed with another sorcerer. We laughed at the non-sorcerer's belief our sorceresses would absorb the life force of normal man, but did nothing to discourage it because it provided protection for our sorceresses."
Remembering her own explanation to Sonja during their stay at the lodge, Aetria nodded in agreement to the Healing Adept's words.
"In fact, there is a very strong bond between people who share the same life's experiences, and naturally enough, sorcerers sought out each other. The males tended to dominate in the early years, both from being males and their aggressive behavior, but also because life was shorter and women had to produce more children in a short period of time."
"You mean they were more breeding stock than partner."
Loreana smiled at Aetria. “An interesting choice of words, Aetria. Healers are trained in animal husbandry, as well as healing men. There are Healers dedicated to that one field. We are told by controlling the mating of animals, you can develop in a selected breed of animal certain improved characteristics: more milk from milk cows, bigger poultry, quicker hunting dogs. We think what caused our Sorcerer War was very powerful but unstable sorcerers began to appear among the sorcerers. They took over ruling the land and were responsible for our near-extermination in their battles for dominance. The non-sorcerers suffered terribly and have never forgiven us for the chaos we caused in the world."
"I had not heard of this breeding theory before, Loreana. Most of the reasons I have heard for the War were due to male egos and thirst for power.” Aetria suddenly felt as if her instructors at Inhestia had lied to her. Had she been perpetuating a lie all these years in her training of Novices?
"I think you have found that our Order is not so unlike Coleni's in having conservative beliefs. I know you have been summoned to appear before the Council. There are very powerful members who do not like your liberal ways."
"My liberal ways?"
Loreana reached out and put a calming hand on Aetria. “The regiment does not understand your being assigned to the general, and some are convinced you have sold out our secrets to her. I don't know for sure, but that may be a cause for your summons."
"My ways are liberal because I believe that we, the sorcerers, should show more respect for the non-sorcerer and be more open about our ways? Must we hide everything in mystic lore? We come from the non-sorcerer. We don't become something different just because we spend years at Inhestia. That is your definition of ‘liberal ways'?"
"Aetria, you have supporters as well among the sorcerers. But you are not a Mage, and not on the governing Council. Maybe someday you will be, but the path you are taking now will more likely lead to your living back among the non-sorcerers if you are not careful."
Shaken, Aetria seemed to understand for the first time what she was facing. “I hear, Loreana. I feel so very alone."
"You are not, Aetria. I count you as a friend. But we are far afield of Coleni and her problems. I am a strong believer in the breeding theory, as you call it. Our Mage Healers took the lessons learned from the War and influenced the Council to encourage marriage outside of the sorcerers. To ensure more stable babies, we discouraged spell use until mother and child are past suckling and the mother's body returns to natural rhythms. The Hermanians took their experiences further an
d banned all intercourse between sorcerers, unless married; then the woman must stop being a sorceress. Therefore, Coleni could not have been married."
"But you said Lornes was more than a friend?"
Loreana nodded her head. “Yes, I did. I think he was her lover."
The frown on Aetria's face told Loreana that Aetria was confused before she spoke. “You said the Hermanians banned all intercourse between sorcerers? What do they do to sorcerers who break the ban?"
"I don't know, but we will soon find out."
Turning her attention to Coleni, Loreana said quietly, “Coleni, do not try to break through the haze you feel in your mind. I put it there to help you. You can hear me and answer me, but you must not fight the relaxation you feel. No one will hurt you; you are very safe in your dream world. Do you hear me?"
"Yes, but I don't want to talk now."
"I know, but I can help you. I need to understand. What happens to Novices when you break the rules?"
A childlike voice, weak and barely audible, said, “They cloister you. So sad, go away!” The sitting women turned their heads toward Coleni, Aetria in surprise and Loreana with intense interest.
As Aetria started to speak, she was stopped by a sharp glance from Loreana, who put her finger to her lips to intensify her command for Aetria to be quiet. “I know, dear, but as you talk you will feel the pain leaving your heart, and you feel even better, more safe, more at ease. You want to feel at peace, don't you, Coleni?"
The answer was a sigh. “Yes, peace."
Loreana got up and knelt beside the resting Coleni. She checked the Novice's pulse and listened to her slow breathing. Satisfied Coleni was in the prescribed trance-like state, she repositioned herself up by the supine woman's head and sat on the rug-covered floor, her feet curled underneath her.
"Now, continue to relax, dear. You said sorcerers who break the ban are cloistered. What does that mean?"
Coleni stirred, starting to become restless; a frown danced across her forehead. She seemed to be fighting an unpleasant memory.
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