City of Gods [Book 3 of the Teadai Prophecies] Read online

  Since she was new-oathed, this was her right of course, but Siri had a fit when the girl came late to lessons, as she often did. When anyone asked her excuse, she blatantly told them she was busy choosing a husband and that some prospects didn’t want to leave her bed.

  Siri liked the girl, that much was obvious, especially to Haranda, but the Elder had difficulty keeping her temper when Pim blurted out private things in front of younglings. In fact, the Elder had taken her aside with threats of nasty chores, which Pim waved off, claiming her root life along the Tandiar had been a thorny one and she would welcome Gypsy chores over that life any day. Evidently, Nym wasn’t the only abused child in the wretched Fargoodes family.

  Haranda met up with Wren and Elder Siri near one of tables.

  “There you are, Haranda.” Wren looked rested despite all that had happened with Adelsik. “One of your new younglings came by here looking for you.”

  “Oh?”

  “I took care of her.”

  “Thank you, Wren.”

  The white-haired Gypsy looked her up and down with suspicion and her looped braids swung a bit. “Are you all right?”

  “I’ll be fine.” Before Wren could question her further, she turned her attention on Siri. “How’s LeChamb doing with his newly acquainted descendents?”

  Siri chuckled and the gold hair bangles on her braids tinkled. “He acts like a proud father to that brood. Even plans to marry off two of his nephew’s grandchildren to a couple of our new-oathed girls. He’s got the boys making marriage boats out at the lake.”

  Haranda could hear the hammering echoes and she smiled. “That might be the most promising thing I’ve heard in days.”

  “Siri!” Elder D’Esher called as she took long strides to them. Her red hair was pulled back in a lace as usual but her breeches had dirt on the knees.

  “What happened to you?”

  “Slipped on a bloody rock down by the lake. That’s not why I’m here. LeChamb has caused quite a stir with several of the new-oathed girls. He’s got them lined up along the bank.”

  Siri got to her feet. “Great Goddess!”

  “You know, Siri. I might just take one of those nephews for myself. Quite good-looking they are. I haven’t bedded a young one a long while.”

  Haranda shook her head and laughed. She hadn’t realized how much she missed D’Esher’s humor. Everyone had been so solemn of late. The large woman seemed cheerful despite all that was going on just now.

  “The last thing I need,” Siri said, “is you for a niece-in-law.”

  Xiath and several others had gathered at the table, and they all snickered as Siri took quick strides toward the lake.

  D’Esher straddled the bench and sat. “Those boys are nice to look at. LeChamb had better marry them off quick or I might lure one into my cottage.”

  “Are you still able to get any man into your bed, Elder?” Xiath said.

  D’Esher flashed him a seductive smile. “Care to find out?”

  “Oh, stop it, you two.” Wren sounded irritated but she smiled. “We have younglings about again, and I don’t need to hear any more lectures from Elder Finlor.”

  D’Esher made a rude noise. “That man has been as bitter as a lemon rind lately. Even with my attentions. I know things are tough but we’re doing everything in our power. These younglings need hope not mope.”

  Haranda chuckled at the rhyme but the Elder had a good point. These younglings were just starting their lives. They were the future. “If you like, I could ask the Vedi to speak with him, Elder.”

  “Would you, Haranda? I know how close you were to the Vedi as younglings. We could use a bit of levity around here.”

  No one dared say anything more. Especially that they had two more long and tiresome spells to complete and only two days to finish the task. Two days until fate decided every Gypsy’s future. Yes, a bit of hope sounded delicious just now.

  Chapter 29

  Saldia awoke late, surprised not to see a single healer in her cottage, and scrambled from her bed to dress. Thank the Goddess they had only two more spells to complete. She didn’t know how much longer her body could take the strain.

  Just as she started for her door, there came a knock. “Come in.”

  LePon, followed by a servant with a food-laden tray, entered.

  “Oh, thank you. Just put it on my table, please.”

  When the servant left Saldia motioned LePon to sit with her. His massive frame made her chair look too small, as though it belonged to a child, and she smiled at him. “Is this morning meal?”

  He laughed. “Noon meal.”

  She shook her head. No wonder she was so famished. They ate noon meal early these days since the spells had to be started at zenith but she tried not to think on what would happen later. “Thank you for this.”

  He grinned and stroked his heavy beard. “I thought I should salvage some of the good food before all those ravenous younglings could eat it.”

  She chuckled. This man, despite his opposing size, was one of the gentlest Saldia had ever met, and she enjoyed his company. He reminded her of the tavern men in her past, except with manners. Bankari seemed to love bawdy jokes, even the women.

  “I see you found a place for him.” LePon motioned to the mantle just above her fireplace.

  Her eyes focused on the sea bird carving he’d made for her. “Oh, yes. He looks wonderful there. I’m just glad he made it here in one piece.” She had decided after the last episode with the elemental magic, the bird would be safer in her cottage than in her purse.

  “I would’ve made another.”

  She grinned and the two ate in silence for a while.

  LePon’s face took on a serious look. “I have something to ask of you.”

  “Anything.”

  “I don’t know whether you’re ready to ride in a marriage boat.”

  Saldia’s heart raced. Was he actually going to ask her to marry him? She didn’t think she was ready for that. Instead of opening her mouth and saying something stupid, she decided to wait.

  “I don’t blame you if you’re not ready, pretty one. But I would like you to consider something.”

  “Yes?” She couldn’t help but smile when he called her pretty or fancy or lovely.

  “We may or may not survive the next two days. I’m requesting a pre-marriage bed arrangement. But only if you think you might marry me someday, for I don’t wish to offend you, my lovely. I burn for you in every particle of this great body. More than the sea is large.”

  Feelings that she’d been shoving down the past few sunrises rose. She had liked this man from the first time she’d met him back in his Bankari shop. He was related to LeChamb somehow, great-nephew, great-cousin, something—she didn’t really understand the family relations all that well.

  She put her fork down and focused on the large figure in front of her. “I’ve never loved a man. So, I’m not certain what that feels like. But I know I miss you when you’re not around. And I’ve thought about us. What we would be like in bed.” She surprised herself by this admission. “I can’t promise marriage. I wouldn’t be offended if we bedded and didn’t marry, but I believe in marriage and had planned to go through the ceremony someday. Gypsies live such long lives, that I’d put off that kind of thinking.”

  He gave her a thoughtful gaze and nodded. “Yes. If the raising goes well, we have many, many years, centuries, ahead of us.”

  “Yes. But we might not succeed. We might not have more than a few days or weeks.” She stood. “Let’s take this opportunity, for it might not come again. And if everything goes well with the spells, then we can make plans for our future and I’ll consider your marriage boat.”

  LePon smiled. “Are you certain, lovely lady?”

  “Yes, Master LePon.” She still couldn’t believe she admitted any of this but part of her doubted very much they would finish the raising. Something in the Vedi’s eyes revealed more than they would say. “I’m certain.” She waited for him
to rise and come to her.

  When he put his great, gentle hands on her arms, they kissed. Waves of heat pulsed through her body and into her womanhood. “I’ve never bedded a man before.” Even in all her days working the tavern kitchens, she’d managed to keep herself closed to those attentions.

  He smiled and one hand cupped the entire side of her face. “I’ll be gentle, my love. Bankari men are taught to please a woman. And I intend on pleasing you as much as I possibly can.”

  “I need to take a mixture first.”

  “Yes, love.”

  She might already be barren from her work with the Energy but no sense taking chances. Saldia mixed the herbs with water and downed the liquid before making her way back to the bed. LePon began tended to her just as he’d promised.

  Chapter 30

  As kin stood on the dome lawn once again, LePon gave Saldia a gentle kiss on the lips and handed her the scroll. She didn’t attempt to conceal her feelings for him now and caught an approving nod from Haranda. The Gypsy stood near her own bedfriend, Wil’keive.

  Many kin had paired up recently. Eletha and Brak frequently made tracks to and from each other’s cottages, though neither had mentioned anything about marriage. The little treewalker teased the large man mercilessly but he always stuck by her, despite having a red face and clenched jaw many occasions in her presence. Elder Siri and her husband LeChamb didn’t show public affection more than a touch, but Saldia knew that wasn’t the case when they were away from younglings. In fact, the two could be as brazen as tavern patrons when they wanted. Other couples included Wren and Xiath, and Sages Lyssinya and Tapnut.

  Kin had grown in numbers, which please Saldia, but she hoped with all her heart they succeeded in the raising. Doubt filled every part of her. The Teadai Ved’cosima, which kin simply called the New Age, actually translated as Great Goddess Sacred Order, but no one had used that antiquated term for centuries. Even the Vedi referred to these challenges as the coming of the New Age.

  Saldia watched as Zarenia, her aide, Hallia, and her former nurse, Grenwin, spoke quietly with Adelsik, Henny and Mwerynde, Zarenia’s cousin rescued from Lombreeth’s home in the hamlet. Those six women hardly left each other’s company anymore, and none had taken a bedfriend, at least that Saldia had seen. She eyed Adelsik. That one had taken it upon herself to try and locate the middlings who tampered with elemental magic. Saldia found out that little tidbit of information this morning when she overheard Wren and Siri talking about the girl. Thankfully they hadn’t lost her the same way they’d lost Maesa.

  There were other kin, besides younglings of course, who hadn’t taken bedfriends. Thad was among them. The quiet man kept to himself except for occasional talks with Nym, and Saldia wondered what Cass had said to him. His eyes drifted to the truth-seeker more often than not, but she spent most of her days with Gwen. Saldia studied the two women now and realized what she had missed. So, that’s why Thad was so upset. He had pined over Cass even in his youngling days.

  She let her eyes move on. The wolf singer and her mate, Snowy, stayed close together, as they were now, and spent their days communing with the wolves. Even the pack hadn’t located the idiot tampering middlings. In fact, from what Taniras told them at the daily meetings, the wolves feared elemental magic more than anything else. They refused to venture far from Faint Mountains now and were of little help. It was through them that Taniras found the raising spells, so perhaps they had completed their duties to the Goddess.

  The Fetch stood in his usual spot near the Vedi and raised his stick high at Ved’mana’s command. Saldia took in the Energy along with a deep breath of courage. She expected pain with each recitation, for that’s always what happened, but she didn’t know how she would continue if the intensity grew as it had over the last few spells. LePon must have sensed her uneasiness because he gave her arms a gentle squeeze. She gazed up at that dark face and received the most generous smile behind that full beard. Most of her fear melted away and determination took its place.

  The Fetch began the rhythm and the harnessing kin came in on the fourth tap, as always. The first couple of lines of the sixth recitation, the only one they would attempt today, proved no problem for Saldia. The middlings’ elemental magic tugged at her but not enough to distract her. It was the third line when her problems began anew, and the tow increased so quickly that she found herself sucking in rapid breaths in order to speak the words on her scroll.

  LePon kept a constant hold on her now, and she used his massive weight to anchor her body to the ground and increased the amount of Energy. Awareness spread to the edges of the Means just as before, yet she couldn’t tell where the middling spells came from. She continued in this manner until the fourth and fifth lines were complete, grateful she still stood upright.

  Then came the sixth and most difficult line she had uttered as of yet. As the first word of this line left her lips, the Energy threatened to separate from her and pain ripped through her gut. She heaved her latest meal onto the grass. Strong hands kept her upright as she emptied her stomach and wept with the pain. Someone whispered in her ear but she couldn’t make out the words. A cool cloth swiped across her forehead and mouth but everything around her moved in a blurry mass of images. The Fetch’s rhythm caught in her senses, and she forced the Energy into her body until she trembled with a mixture of ecstasy and pain and managed to focus her vision on the scroll again. It was only then that she realized LePon held the scroll for her. She placed her hands on it and joined in with her voice adding to the muffled mass.

  The seventh line came and went and Saldia continued to hold on. Halfway through the eighth line, though, whatever had tried to separate her from the Energy numerous times before, flooded against her, and flames licked her skin. She screamed with agony and felt as though her skin melted in the torturing fire. She moved this way and that in an attempt to put out the flames that threatened to consume her. She took in more Energy but that didn’t stamp out the fire or push away the attack.

  Finally, as she heard her kin recite the last word of the eighth line, her senses returned and the fire that had consumed her relented. She would have fallen if not for LePon. Sobs racked her body and it took her a while before she could concentrate again. The Vedi watched her now, along with several kin. Servants hovered but she waved them off, pulled herself upright with LePon’s assistance, and joined in the ninth line of the recitation. Tears streamed down her cheeks but she ignored them as she formed words, difficult as that was just now. Her throat hurt and her skin tingled even through the massive amounts of Energy she held, but she managed to complete the ninth.

  Very little happened during the next three lines. Then the thirteenth came, the last for today. It caused pain, not fire this time, but stinging pain, as though a thousand bees attacked her already sensitive skin. She cried out but she continued the spell out of pure determination not to let the middlings win. When this was over, she would gladly repay them. That anger fueled her determination. Her body, now soaked in sweat, trembled beyond her control and she gave her entire weight over to LePon. Once the last word left her lips, she thought the attack would cease, but it didn’t, and she found herself writhing in LePon’s grasp. She flailed her arms about to ward off whatever invisible tormenter had her under its spell and tried to pull in even more Energy.

  “Release the Energy, Saldia!” someone’s grating voice broke through her wails.

  “No!” Her voice didn’t sound like her own. If the pain was this bad with the Energy, she would surely die if she let go. With that thought, she gripped even tighter to it.

  “No, Saldia!” She couldn’t see anything around her beyond blurred images and couldn’t distinguish the speaker. “You must release the Energy! Focus on me, New-oathed Saldia Trich.”

  Saldia forced her mind to work despite the multiple stings she received constantly. Her kin could force the Energy from her. All they had to do was create an Energy hold. Did she see three kin form a triangle? No. She held onto th
e Energy as though her life depended on that strength.

  Listen to me, new-oathed. You must release the Energy.

  Saldia didn’t realize at first that the voice came from within and not from outside. Urging. Ved’nuri, Wren, Haranda and several other kin had that ability. It was a woman’s voice, she was certain, but she couldn’t tell who spoke.

  Release. You must. Middling magic is holding you through the Energy.

  “You lie.” This is some sort of trick. A trick by her enemies so they could torture her to death. Why else would she not recognize the voice?

  I’ve never lied to you, Saldia, and I don’t lie to you now. You must release the Energy.

  Saldia wept as she tried in vain to get away from the attack. “Help me.”

  Trust me. I give my word as a Gypsy. I swear to you on the Goddess Herself that I don’t lie. Release the Energy, my little shadow.

  Haranda. The woman had never harmed Saldia. Well, beyond youngling discipline anyway. But how could she tell whether Haranda truly spoke now. And if the Gypsy used the urging, why didn’t she just force Saldia to release the Energy.

  Please, Saldia. We can’t do this for you. Saldia thought she heard a touch of fear. You’re too strong and the Energy has an excessive hold on you.

  She could take the pain no longer and released the Energy, preparing for agony, or even death. Much to her surprise, the pain flooded out. She collapsed into strong arms and wept. LePon lifted her sweat-soaked body and carried her across the hill to her cottage. Before he could take her inside, she wriggled from his grasp and forced her feet to the ground.

  “Saldia, love.”

  “No. I need to be strong.” Middlings couldn’t defeat her like this, not when every other kin managed to stay upright.