Deadly Fate [Book 1 of the Teadai Prophecies] Page 9

  “He harnesses the Goddess Energy,” Zarenia said when she caught up. Several sea birds fought over something near the rock pier that stretched out into the water, and those green eyes drifted to the vast sea.

  Thad remembered when he first saw the sea as a lad and he must have looked very much like Zarenia did just now.

  “We call it the sight.” He had never heard it called Goddess Energy but perhaps that’s what it was. “Nym and I both have it.” He offered a smile. “And from the way you walked through that cave wall last night, I’m guessing you have it too. I saw you in one of my visions.”

  “Yes. I saw you too. Though I have never had a vision in my life until then.” She looked thoughtful. “Thad, I apologize for what happened. I thought you were trying to hurt me. You said you mended my arm.”

  “Yes, lass. When I noticed the injury, I healed you. The sight always causes people to lose consciousness when I heal them. I don’t know why.” He cocked a brow and smirked at her. “You fought less once you fainted, sparing me several bruises I imagine.”

  Zarenia gave a reserved smile and peered at him like a queen who found favor in one of her subjects.

  Nym seemed to have forgotten about his illness and kicked the water into little sprays. Zarenia studied the scrawny lad, and he ran to her and took her hand.

  “I’m hungry,” he said.

  “Yes, so am I. I have some food in my pockets, not much—”

  “We caught fish this morning.” Nym dropped her hand and ran up to his knees in water to fish for the twine rope Thad had secured around one of the pier rocks. When the lad pulled it out, the three small fish they’d caught earlier dangled on the line. The fish weren’t very big but he struggled anyway.

  Thad took the line from him and pulled a knife from his boot. “Lad, you and Zarenia get the bread and cheese while I clean the fish. We’ll have us a fine morning meal.”

  “Oh, yes, Thad. That a grand idea!” Nym took Zarenia’s hand before she could say anything and pulled her toward the cave.

  Once the meal was ready, the three sat around the fire and ate. In addition to the fish, bread and cheese, Zarenia offered nuts and dried apples, which Nym seemed to enjoy the most. Thad had located a freshwater stream in one of the cave’s tunnels earlier in the morning, while Zarenia slept. He offered to fill the woman’s water bag. She insisted on doing that herself and drank greedily as they now sat in the shade of the cave entrance. This lass was very interested in mundane chores, in learning whatever Thad could teach her, which he found odd. After a while, she pulled her knees up and stared out at the waves, which seemed to have a mesmerizing effect on her. She soon nodded off.

  Thad stood watch over the dozing woman, grateful that she felt safe enough to sleep. Nym played in the sand, occasionally running from waves while Thad took stock of their supplies. He grew lethargic but stretched to relieve the drowsiness. That’s when Nym startled him.

  “They’re here! They’re here!” The lad hopped around and pointed. Then he ran to Thad and took his hand briefly before trotting up the beach.

  Zarenia awoke and stepped outside with Thad as seven horses with riders made their way toward them. He allowed the Goddess Energy, as Zarenia called it, to fill him. Pulses of tingling heat from each of the seven figures, one much stronger than the others, caressed his senses. Could this one be the dark-eyed woman he saw in his visions? His heart raced with anticipation and he fought the urge to run with Nym.

  Chapter 8

  A small figure ran toward the trotting horses and eventually Haranda made out the skinny, little boy. He stopped several paces from them. The familiar tingle of a youngling tickled her senses and a distinct Energy footprint floated just above his head. An image of a brown trout. He’d been through the calling already. And so young! A trout represented patience, not something this boy demonstrated now. Most likely, it was something he was to learn.

  The skinny boy studied Haranda a heartbeat. “That be you all right, Mistress. We waited for you. Come along.” One arm made an arch for them to follow and he bounded back down the beach toward two standing figures.

  Haranda smiled at his abruptness and slowed the horses to a walk as they followed. Her eyes settled on some cliff ruins before a gull cried out and pulled her attention away. She glanced at the ocean again, still amazed at its vastness, then focused on two approaching figures. The man’s footprint was that of an orange garden snake, a symbol of compassion. A yellow flame hovered just above the girl’s head, which represented desire. The man stepped close and placed a hand on Haranda’s bridle. He looked too old to still be at youngling status.

  “I’m Thad Macwinnough. That Zarenia Va’pash and Nym Fargoodes.”

  Haranda made the introductions for her group and allowed Thad to assist her in dismounting. At his touch, the strong smell of greenery and dirt filled her nose, and her head churned with a touch of agitation before she walled off her mind. Thad was definitely a youngling but his essence was strong. She had touched errant males twice before and his essence was very similar. One had become a fine Gypsy. The other had run off in fear of her. A mob had killed him.

  Haranda couldn’t have saved him. She was new to the calling then, just a youngling. If only that errant had kept his mouth shut and not babbled on about seeing Death everywhere. Haranda didn’t envy any Gypsy who could see Death, and she was thankful not to have that aspect of the Energy.

  Mistress Lane had served the Gypsies for close to a century and had told her how lucky they were to lose only one Gypsy-child in the year Haranda searched the Cragrilon Prefecture. The loss of that unfortunate youngling still weighed heavy on Haranda’s mind.

  Others had gone before her, searching out younglings and errants, and Haranda suspected many were already in the Land of the Goddess with the newly chosen Vedi. Gypsies hailed from various villages but left their root families once called into service. The Land of the Goddess was a safe haven, home, and she longed to be there with her kin. In the long ago past, middlings revered Gypsies and opened their homes when kin needed shelter. That was very long ago. The Goddess hadn’t summoned her children home since before Haranda’s days, much longer in fact, and locations of many of the life circles that marked the entrances had been lost or forgotten. But one survived. And it was in the cave where she now headed.

  “You all right, Mistress?” Thad said.

  Concerned brown eyes searched Haranda’s and she studied him. He was handsome with his sandy hair tied behind his head, but the lines on his face made him look older, well beyond thirty. But he was new to the Energy, still a youngling, as the flickering against her senses revealed. Thankfully, she had gotten to him before his next phase. Otherwise, he would have become an errant. If errants survived beyond thirty, which was rare, they usually isolated themselves. Many went mad with the strain of Energy they never learned to control and died.

  “Mistress Haranda?”

  “What?”

  “I asked if you were all right.”

  “Yes, thank you for your concern, Thad.”

  She’d been in her own mind long enough to draw attention from a youngling. That wasn’t like her. Had Wren been here, the woman would have called her down for that disgraceful act. Saldia stood nearby, and she glanced briefly at the girl before pulling herself straight. She studied Thad again.

  He was handsome and well-developed and she had to remind herself that he was still a youngling, however old he looked. She hadn’t bedded a man in a long while and certain thoughts flitted through her head, not to mention a warming in a few body parts. She for one looked forward to the Land of the Goddess, where she could find someone to have intimate relations with. A smile crept onto her lips and she quickly forced it away.

  Thad assisted Adelsik and Maesa from their horses but Eletha and Kal didn’t wait for him. The two seemed very interested in Zarenia, perhaps because she also wore breeches. The girls hadn’t caused any trouble this morning, even when Haranda kept the horses at a trot. The ocean k
ept them occupied, as none had ever seen it. Henny remained on her horse, politely refusing Thad’s assistance. Most likely, she was happy to stay off her blistered feet, not that she would be any more comfortable with a saddle-sore backside.

  It was all Haranda could do to keep a straight face when Adelsik and Maesa limped toward her rubbing their legs. If the other three felt the effects of riding, none showed it, other than stretching a bit, which Haranda also did. Besides, the ride today had been a short one, as the sun was still high in the sky.

  “I’ll ease your horses of their burdens, Mistress,” Thad told her. “Then you may as well release them.”

  Haranda nodded.

  “You’re just going to let them go?” Eletha took Haranda by the arm.

  Immediately, an overwhelming smell of flowers assaulted her and she put up her wall again. Kin didn’t have to wall themselves around each other unless younglings were among them. She for one would be glad when all her younglings went through the calling, that way she could teach them to keep their essences from intruding on other Gypsies. She glanced at the thin hand on her arm.

  Eletha released her but held her gaze with impatient, blue eyes. “Are you insane? Those are good horses. Good enough to keep anyway. How are we supposed to leave this bloody place if we have no rides? Bloody swim?”

  Haranda gave the girl a blue spark to one thigh. “Guard your tongue, Eletha Lavine,” she said, keeping a tight lid on her anger. She had accepted responsibility for these younglings, and she would do everything in her power to see that they became good and honorable Gypsies. She owed that to the Goddess. These girls had tried her patience near its end for two days now. “In case you haven’t noticed, there are children present.”

  Eletha glared at Haranda while vigorously rubbing her thigh. Henny, Adelsik and Maesa stared with wary expressions. Little Nym didn’t seem to notice, and Thad watched with what looked like curiosity. Saldia and Zarenia gave her approving looks as Kal studied her with that braid-wrapped head cocked to one side and a look of quiet amusement in her eyes.

  “And yes, we’re letting the horses go.” Haranda kept her gaze hard. “If we keep them tied up while we travel to the Land of the Goddess, they’ll starve to death.” She smoothed her hair. “Now, if my Energy isn’t enough to convince you to control that mouth, I have other ways.” Eletha hated washing clothes and dishes, just about anything to do with water.

  The small girl lowered her eyes, though very briefly. “No. Thank you, Mistress Haranda.”

  “Good. Now an apology to the others would be a nice gesture.” It wasn’t a suggestion.

  The girl’s jaw bulged as she clenched her teeth together and fire lit her eyes. “I apologize.”

  It wasn’t much above a mumble but it was a start, and Haranda turned her attention to Thad. “Have you waited long?” He took the reins of two horses and she followed him toward a fire. The others, except Henny, walked behind and brought the remaining mounts.

  “Not long. The lad and me have been here two days. Zarenia arrived last night.”

  “Good. We would’ve been here sooner but we were still far up the beach when it began to grow dark.”

  He nodded. “I saw you in one of my visions.”

  “Is that how you found this place, through your visions?”

  “That exactly how. Yes.”

  “Mistress?“ Nym looked up at her with innocent eyes.

  “Call me Haranda. All of you.” For now. Her official title, they wouldn’t learn until they arrived in the Land of the Goddess.

  The boy’s grin revealed a missing bottom tooth. “Haranda. I have visions too. That a fact.” Then he frowned. “But they make me sick.”

  She patted the boy’s head and looked to Thad. “He’s very young to touch the Energy.”

  Thad nodded. “Nine.” He leaned close. “I think it has something to do with his fada.”

  That surprised Haranda. She thought Nym no older than seven and quelled any further questions at Thad’s expression. They would talk later when the little boy was out of earshot.

  “Until he can distance from the visions, he’ll vomit. I did.”

  She eyed Thad sideways and nodded. “There always seem to be consequences for Gypsies.”

  “That what we are? Well, that as good a name as any. Me and my horse got footsore hunting down the lad and then this cave. We Gypsies should stay together.” He got no argument from the girls, and Haranda was satisfied she’d gotten her point across with Eletha. “You lasses hungry?”

  “Famished.” Saldia matched strides with him. “I could eat a horse.” That phrase always caught Haranda off her guard and she shot the girl a look. “I won’t, of course.” Saldia gave her a sweet smile, but her eyes flickered to Thad more than once.

  “This is not a tavern, Saldia Trich.” Haranda narrowed her eyes and the girl’s face reddened, despite the sunburn on her cheeks. A Gypsy’s gaze could unnerve even the most hardened youngling and Haranda fought a smile at Saldia’s blush. The girl had given up a portion of Mistress Lane’s sun salve, along with Haranda’s, to Eletha, who was the fairest of their group.

  If Thad understood the message to Saldia, he didn’t show it. The tavern girl eyed him again but didn’t say anything.

  It was all Haranda could do to keep from rolling her eyes and groaning like a frustrated adolescent. Younglings weren’t allowed bed relations. Keeping young men and women apart would prove an unwanted distraction for her and she sighed quietly.

  Does everything have to be such a challenge? May the Goddess give me strength.

  Chapter 9

  Eletha Lavine gave Haranda a headache. The small girl fought her each day when it came to bathing, but Gypsies washed daily in respect for the Goddess, whenever that was an option, anyway. At the very least, they cleaned face, hands and feet each day. Eletha hated baths almost as much as Nym. That was obvious. The girl claimed a dip every fourteen sunrises or so in a lake or pond was all a body needed, and if she wore her clothes, those would get clean too. Nym wholeheartedly agreed, despite Haranda’s teachings about Goddess ways.

  She clenched her jaw to keep from grunting in front of her younglings as she stoked the fire again. The day was chilly and she wore her cloak for protection against the brisk ocean wind. She turned toward the water to see Eletha sitting on the sand, probably sulking from the bath Haranda had forced on her. The girl had gotten filthy trying to climb the cliffs to reach scant branches and tree roots that jutted out. That one was going to be a treewalker. Haranda would wager her boots on it. Henny strolled nearby, scooped up something every now and then, and tossed it into the waves. At least things were quiet just now.

  Eletha had been the last rescue before Saldia, when Haranda had traveled through Agnar. She’d traveled alone simply because Gypsies needed all the available hands in other regions, and there were so many younglings being called due to the Prophecies. The Energy could protect her from occasional suspicious types, and she knew not to draw a mob’s attention. Thankfully, she had gotten out of Makrilon with her hide in one piece. Eletha’s village, Agnar, was closest to Makrilon. In Haranda’s root village, Agnarians were considered outcasts because of their odd ways, and they mistrusted just about anyone who wasn’t family. Haranda suspected a lot of inbreeding there and worried over Eletha. Inbreeding rarely turned out well for the children produced. Thankfully, Gypsies had body-healers like Thad and mind-healers like Haranda’s former clan mother, Wren.

  Like most younglings, Eletha hadn’t come willingly. The girl’s brothers protested at first, but Haranda, who posed as a long lost cousin with the aid of her urging Energy, convinced them Eletha needed a woman to teach and prepare her for the task of keeping a home and husband. Tough as Agnar was, women were still expected to marry and produce children. Though the brothers had taught their youngest sibling and only sister to hunt and fight, none thought women should travel without at least one man to protect them. That argument, Haranda had cut off immediately. She had assured them the
re was a man waiting for her, which, as it turned out, was an accurate statement since Thad was a man, but had to use the urging on the eldest brother and his wife before they agreed to put Eletha in her care.

  Next to Saldia, Eletha had been Haranda’s most difficult rescue, and she fought a sigh as she drew her eyes from the sulking girl back to the fire.

  Thad walked up. “Wish we had other animals here besides them from the ocean.” His sandy hair was loose now and hung just below his shoulders.

  “Tired of fish and clams?” Haranda chuckled.

  He smiled and nodded. “I enjoy fishing. That a good way to eat. But I’d love to sink my teeth into a nice deer or fleshy rabbit.” He raised his brows and deep lines creased his forehead.

  During their private talks, Haranda had learned Thad hadn’t even reached his twenty-first year and she thanked the Goddess the Energy hadn’t killed him. He wouldn’t die now that she’d found him—she wouldn’t allow that to happen. Once they were in the Land of the Goddess, all younglings would learn to harness the Energy safely. But they had to go through the calling first before they could cross safely through the Means. She stretched and rubbed at her sore back and was about to comment on Thad’s last statement, when Henny’s screams filled the salty air.

  Eletha had the youngest girl pinned facedown on the sand and smacked her mercilessly. Haranda couldn’t afford Gypsy composure now and ran toward them with Thad on her heels. On her way, she pulled the Energy into her body and reveled in the power and awareness.

  Henny wailed and struggled to get away, but Eletha didn’t look as though she were about to let up. Thad hauled the fiery girl to her feet and restrained her arms behind her back, while Haranda tended to the crying Henny.

  “You’ll be all right, Henny. Get to the cave.” Henny fled and Haranda turned her attention on Eletha.