City of Gods [Book 3 of the Teadai Prophecies] Page 34

  Ved’nuri’s eyes hardened and Adelsik fought a shiver. “The others have been watching out for you. Lyssinya and Wren were on watch tonight and Wren immediately came to me when you went too far.” Before Adelsik could comment on that she added, “I know you’ve been searching alone. And I’ve allowed it. But don’t think I’m so foolish not to keep someone near you.”

  Adelsik nodded. So, she hadn’t gotten away with much. Oh, no. Did Lyssinya or Wren see me enter Grant dream? Her face heated as she thought of what had happened there but she didn’t speak of it. Ved’nuri hadn’t mentioned anything about that. Thankfully, the crowned woman couldn’t read her thoughts here, outside the dome and the Netherworld. Adelsik decided to let them think she was embarrassed by her own stupidity. “My apologies, Ved’nuri. I had no idea the trouble I could get into.”

  “Accepted, new-oathed.” But you won’t attempt another search alone again. Not after what happened this last time. Is that understood?”

  “Yes, Ved’nuri.” So much for her plans to continue. She couldn’t go back on her word to a Vedi.

  “Good. I realize I didn’t forbid any of you from searching alone but I’m making that decree right now. Understood?”

  The slumberers said their acknowledgements in unison, which seemed to please the crowned woman, and she focused on Predula. “Will this one be all right?”

  “I found nothing wrong with her mundane body, Ved’nuri. Thad’s strength seemed to be just what we needed.”

  So, he had helped pull Adelsik back, just as she suspected.

  “Good.” Ved’nuri’s colorful eyes moved back to Adelsik. “You’ll have morning meal here in your cottage. Predula will check on you periodically to make certain you can perform the next recitation.”

  “I’ll be fine, Ved’nuri.” The exhaustion had eased and she began to feel herself again. Whatever happened in the Netherworld didn’t seem to tire her that much here.

  One warm hand pinched her chin and forced her gaze to those colorful eyes. “Nonetheless, you will do exactly as Predula and the other healers tell you. If you have trouble with that, you can visit me in the dome. Am I making myself clear?”

  She swallowed. “Yes, Ved’nuri.”

  “Good. Now, I must get back.”

  The rest of the kin genuflected until she and Ved’emir left, then they began to trickle out, leaving Lyssinya, Haranda and Predula behind.

  “I wouldn’t have been so gracious.” Lyssinya had arms crossed and her red hair was in the braid she usually wore to bed, but she still had on the Gypsy dress, which had also become standard wear for Sages in the Land of the Goddess. “Ved’nuri might be satisfied with your obedience now, but I’ll spark you myself if I find out you ever attempt something so stupid again.”

  Adelsik swallowed hard. She had no doubt the woman would carry out those threats. She’d spent many nights in the Netherworld enduring the woman’s anger before the Vedi ordered Lyssinya to treat her as a new-oathed and not some wayward youngling. That order seemed to disappear from Lyssinya’s memory just now. She drew herself up. “I won’t go back on my word to a Vedi.”

  “No, but you would try and deceive your kin. For that’s just what you thought you were doing.”

  “You can have a go at her just as soon as I’m through,” Haranda told the Sage. “I was her clan mother.”

  “Evidently, you didn’t do such a grand job at raising her.”

  “Just what do you mean by that, Lyssinya?” The two stood toe to toe, glaring at each other.

  Predula gave a sound of disgust. Then the diminutive healer stepped between them, pushing them away from each other. “Stop this nonsense. I won’t have such behavior in front of my patient.”

  Both tall women moved hard eyes to Adelsik.

  “I’ve given Ved’nuri my word.” Adelsik said that with as much confidence as she could muster. She might be new-oathed, but these two could still manage to put fear into her.

  Predula glanced back and forth between the two women and crossed her arms. “If that’s not good enough for either of you, perhaps you should take the matter up with the Vedi.”

  That got their attention and they swiveled heads down to the small healer.

  Adelsik didn’t much care what they did after that. Her thoughts turned to Maesa and how blissful the woman had looked just before she headed off to prepare for her rebirth, and she realized something. Death no longer frightened her. Oh, she hoped it wouldn’t come for a very long while, until she’d lived as long as the Elders, but she no longer feared it.

  Chapter 28

  Haranda fumed as she made her way to her cottage in the dim light of the moon. How could Adelsik have been so stupid? Especially after all that had happened with Maesa and Henny in the Netherworld? That girl had caused trouble from the get go when Haranda retrieved her on her journeys. Ved’nuri shouldn’t have allowed her to go off alone, no matter how much faith she had in Adelsik’s new abilities.

  Despite her sour temperament, she nodded at the few servants who were up this late and opened her cottage door. Wil’keive was still asleep. Once inside, she quietly dipped her feet into the basin for a quick wash, brushed a rough towel over them and headed for her bed, where she sat and put her head in her hands. Tears began and soon she sobbed in silence. She cried so hard that she didn’t notice Wil’keive woke until he sat and wrapped strong arms around her and pulled her to him. He said nothing, simply held her until she spent herself of tears.

  When she finally blew her nose, that’s when he spoke. “What is it? What’s gotten you so upset?”

  “Oh, Wil’keive. One of my former younglings nearly killed herself in the Netherworld tonight.” They had sat many nights while Haranda explained the Netherworld to him. She had even visited his dreams, where they united passionately again and again to the surprise and delight of them both. “The stupid girl.” Anger swelled and tears threatened to roll again, but she held them back and took in a long breath.

  “Adelsik?”

  “Yes. I’m beginning to wonder if Lyssinya was right wanting to keep her at youngling status a bit longer. They’re all passing into new-oathed so young now. I didn’t leave my youngling stage until I was nearly twenty-five. None of us did. And Ved’nuri did nothing to stop her from this inane trial and error she’s been doing in the Netherworld.”

  “The Goddess has her reasons for accelerating them. And the Vedi shouldn’t be questioned.”

  “Yes, I know. She needs the extra help from us, but at what cost, Wil’keive? A dead Gypsy is no good to anyone. And I can’t bear to lose another child.” She wept again as he held her.

  When she quieted, he pushed her back with a gentle move and held her face in his callused hands. “I know this is difficult for you. I find myself becoming attached to the younglings like a father, but we must believe in the Goddess if we’re going to survive.”

  “I’ve never stopped believing in Her.”

  He released her face but those dark eyes held her gaze. “I know. I didn’t mean that. I only meant that when the Goddess takes one of our children, there must be a reason. Who knows what little Maesa will do in her next life or how her birth on a certain day might be crucial to the Goddess’s plans.”

  Haranda had thought of all this. Gypsy teachings about the Goddess and rebirth went back generations upon generations. But she still longed to have Maesa back. If she only knew what the Goddess planned for all of them? She shook her head at her own vanity. Now, why would the Goddess reveal any plans to a mere Gypsy, especially to Haranda, when even the Vedi didn’t have that knowledge?

  “If it will make you feel any better. There are several new younglings who, I’m certain, are planning to make your life extremely interesting.”

  Haranda chuckled and wiped her face with a fresh crying cloth Wil’keive retrieved from the trunk at the foot of the bed. “Yes. They’ve been very well behaved of late. I’m certain when this is all over, I won’t have a heartbeat to think about much besides Gypsy mother
and teacher duties.”

  “That’s my girl.”

  She offered a smile, not admitting that she loved when he called her that. Despite her youthful appearance, she hadn’t thought of herself as a girl in many, many decades. In fact, she didn’t want to think of the decades she had on Wil’keive. He seemed older in a lot of respects. He had never asked how long she’d been a Gypsy, either and Haranda decided it didn’t really matter. The only thing that mattered was that they were both kin. They slept the rest of the night in each other’s arms.

  * * * *

  When she awoke, the sun pierced through the tiny slats of the shutters and Wil’keive sat in the chair watching her. Last night seemed a world away now.

  “Morning, sleepy.” Her lover grinned. “I thought you’d snooze right through morning meal bells.”

  “Have they rung?”

  “Not yet.” He moved to the bed and wandering hands traveled over Haranda’s body.

  His touch created longing and she grabbed his wrists. “Wait. I need to use the privy.”

  “Go in the night pot.”

  Her cheeks heated up. “Wil’keive—”

  “I’ve seen every part of you, Haranda Banwidden.” His eyes took in her nakedness from top to bottom. “Surely, you can use the night pot before we get interrupted by any younglings this morning.”

  In all her years, she had never used a night pot or privy with a man present. Why did that embarrass her? She forced the heat from her face, made her way behind the wooden screen and did her business. She half-expected some crude remark when she returned to the bed but Wil’keive said nothing. He simply grabbed her in a fierce embrace. She clung to him.

  These last two days would be hardest on all of them. And if they failed to raise Cholqhuin, well, she couldn’t think on that just now, the horrors that would follow.

  She fell onto the bed and pulled Wil’keive to her with desperation and they pleasured each other without interruption.

  Afterward, he collapsed onto his side and she burrowed into his sweaty and fragrant chest. “That was amazing, Wil’keive.”

  “I know. The Goddess has blessed us.”

  “Yes. Indeed she has.” Haranda enjoyed the blissful sensation as the two lay for a while.

  When morning meal bells rang, they reluctantly headed to their prospective bath houses then met at the tables.

  Many kin had paired off, probably afraid they might not see the next day, and the mood seemed somber this morning.

  Adelsik seemed more distracted than ever when she arrived late and Haranda decided to confront the girl. When she got close, those lavender eyes, rimmed with red, didn’t look as innocent as they once had. Last night had been hard on her too.

  “Are you all right?”

  “What? Oh. Just tired, Haranda. I plan to eat and go right back to bed.”

  Haranda reached out and placed her palm on the girl’s forehead. She didn’t expect to feel any fever, of course, but her mothering instincts with this former youngling caught at her just now. “That’s a very good idea.” She fought the urge to chastise the girl again about last night. But Adelsik had made her promises to the Vedi. She wouldn’t break them.

  That doll-like face gazed up with a sly smile. “No need to worry over me. I’m not as stupid as I was a night ago.”

  Haranda chuckled and left Adelsik to her meal. Predula and the other healers were busy, so she caught up with Taniras and asked her to have a look at the girl. “If she gives you any trouble, just tell her it was my order.”

  “Yes, Haranda.” The wolf singer looked pleased with the task.

  She then headed toward Saldia’s cottage and ran into Predula along the way. The healer agreed to check the slumberer over again before the recitation, but assured her that Taniras was quite capable, despite her lack of healing Energy. Haranda smiled and nodded in agreement. Saldia seemed well rested and sat on her cottage steps with LePon as they ate morning meal. That put Haranda at ease. She then checked on Henny and the rest of the younglings, to find them well and fed and proceeding with studies that didn’t require Energy use.

  After morning chores, she said a brief good-bye to Wil’keive and headed over the hill to the dome. The Fetch led her directly to Ved’nuri’s anteroom behind the throne, where the crowned woman already had tea set out.

  “Come in, Haranda. Sit.”

  She curtsied. “Thank you, Ved’nuri.”

  One fair hand waved her up. “Please. Sit with me as my sister under the Goddess.” She hadn’t requested such familiarity in a long while and Haranda studied her. “I’m not regressing. And, yes, I can still hear your thoughts in my home. Now, please sit. You have questions I can’t answer, but I’ll put you at ease as much as I can.”

  “I appreciate that.” She made her way to the table, sat and took the offered cup of tea and honey biscuit.

  “You knew Candelus better than anyone. And you sense that I’m hiding something from you.”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, there are many things we Vedi aren’t allowed to disclose, even to our closest kin. You know that.”

  “Yes, Ved’nuri.”

  “We must continue to believe this raising will succeed. That Cholqhuin won’t become a puppet at the hands of malicious middlings.”

  “You think we can?”

  “I hope so.”

  “Have you had any luck in the Netherworld?”

  Ved’nuri took in a long breath and let out a sigh. “I’m afraid not. Though your former youngling, Adelsik, continues to amaze me with her strength.”

  “She’s quite a handful when she desires to be.”

  “Yes. I’m glad we were able to pull her back last night. She’s overly ambitious, that one. But she has the best in her heart for her kin. She’s not why I asked you here. It’s my son, Ved’emir.” She leaned across the table and took Haranda’s hand. “Despite our belief that this raising will succeed for us, we need to be prepared in case we lose. Should something happen to me or to Eguin—”

  Haranda’s heart drummed at the thought and she blurted, “Nothing will happen to you. What are you saying, Candelus? Do you expect something to happen?”

  Those colorful eyes hardened. “Hear me out, Haranda. I simply mean to provide for my son’s future, should he need that. Eguin and I aren’t gods. We can be killed by Cholqhuin just as any Gypsy can. And we’re sitting ducks here in this dome, unable to leave.”

  Haranda closed her eyes for a heartbeat. “I don’t like thinking about that.” If these middlings raised the god, the first thing they would do would be to destroy the Vedi and either take the Gypsies as slaves or kill them as well. Even the younglings could figure that much out. Another reason elemental magic had been banned ages ago.

  “You’re correct, Haranda. And if that should happen, I want you to get my son to safety. Hide him within the kin and choose a wife for him if you can. Before our enemies can enslave or kill him.”

  “You think he could take your place?”

  “He’s our best hope for the future. If he can continue his seed then perhaps someday—” Tears came to her eyes.

  Haranda squeezed her hand. “I’ll do everything in my power to keep him safe, Ved’nuri. For you as much as Candelus.”

  “Thank you.”

  “You’re hoping any children he might have will resist the god eventually.”

  “Yes. We’ve already brought this up to the Elder’s Council and they’re prepared to take action if necessary, but I want you to choose Ved’emir’s wife, if events require that. You know Eguin and me the best, and we trust your judgment over any other Gypsy’s when it comes to our progeny.”

  “I’m honored. I’ll choose wisely.”

  “I know you will.” She released Haranda’s hand and leaned back in her chair. “These few days have been trying, haven’t they?”

  “Yes.”

  A warm smile grew on her lips. “You have a bedfriend.” Haranda didn’t get a chance to answer. “Is he generous in
bed? Ah, yes, I see he is. There are advantages to hearing one’s thoughts, you know.”

  “I can imagine. Though that would be considered rude by some.”

  Ved’nuri threw her head back and laughed. “Candelus still misses you, Haranda. Especially when you make me laugh so.”

  The crowned woman’s mirth caught Haranda up in its contagion and the two guffawed until their eyes leaked. They chatted for quite a while and Haranda inquired about Saldia’s reactions to the spells. Ved’nuri simply said the girl had great strength and potential and left it at that. Haranda decided the Vedi were just as befuddled as the rest of the kin on the subject of Saldia and she tried not to worry about that.

  * * * *

  Cousins Pim and Nym Fargoodes strode toward the grassy area where young Gypsies often played games and Haranda watched a heartbeat. Since the two had been reunited, they didn’t stray far from each other.

  They’d been quite reserved when they were first reintroduced, and it took a slew of answered questions for Pim to believe the grown man she met here was actually Nym. No one had bothered to warn the poor girl about that. But she had witnessed when the children they brought with them from Maricar and the hamlet altered. All now walked around in marriage age bodies. Of course, Nym’s mind had reached maturity a while back, and he mooned after one of the youngling girls that had crossed from the Means not long after he did. The girl still had some growing to do in her mind before she was merged but she returned his affection, and the two claimed they were betrothed.

  Of course, that was ridiculous as far as Gypsy law. Younglings couldn’t be betrothed. The two hadn’t tried to sneak off together, much to everyone’s relief, but every Gypsy from new-oathed to servants to Elders had agreed to keep a close watch on them.

  Pim was another matter. Her former husband had been put to work in the dome gardens after Ved’nuri altered his memory so he no longer claimed Pim as his wife. But the girl, who’d already taken her new-oathed vows, seemed determined to find another husband as soon as possible. In fact, she made no secret about whom she liked and had already taken several Bankari men to her cottage of late.