thefiremargins Page 26

  "Thank you, Sashti," said Vanna, walking her to the door. "I wish you were staying."

  "Next time," Sashti promised.

  "I don't suppose you've seen Kaid, have you. I need to have a word with him?"

  "Not recently," said Sashti, turning away from her. "I think I saw him heading for his room earlier. I'll see you next week, Vanna."

  "Bye, Sashti." Vanna shut the door behind her, a slight frown on her face. She was concealing something, but what? She shrugged. It obviously wasn't important or she'd have told her.

  She changed out of her work clothes, putting on something more casual, then headed downstairs to Kaid's room.

  He took longer than usual to answer her knock.

  "Could I come in a moment, Kaid? I need to have a word with you."

  He hesitated, then opened the door. "Come in. I've been expecting you."

  "We've just finished running DNA tests on our group here," she said carefully.

  He turned away from her. "You know about Dzaka."

  "I'm sorry, Kaid. It wasn't our intention to pry into your private life," she said sympathetically, aware of the slow movement of his tail tip. "I came to tell you that we've erased all the data pertaining to you. We'll rerun our original program again tomorrow and use that as our final result."

  She saw his ears dip in thanks. "Who else knows?"

  "Only myself and Jack. Not even Brynne will be able to find out."

  He turned round to look at her again, reaching out to pick up an unopened pack of stim-twigs from his desk. Meticulously, he opened it, taking one out and putting the pack back down on his desk. "Dzaka doesn't know, and I want it kept that way." He put the end of the twig in his mouth.

  "Of course, but I think you should tell Kusac. He ought to know about your true relationship."

  "Why? What difference does it make to him that I'm Dzaka's biological father?"

  "It could be relevant later."

  "If he needs to know, I'll tell him, Vanna," he said, taking the twig out again.

  "How did it happen, Kaid? How did you become his foster-father?"

  "It happened just as I told Kusac. Garras and I found Dzaka abandoned in the dead of winter, outside Stronghold's gates. I knew the moment I picked him up that he was mine. Say it was blood calling to blood if you like, but I knew."

  "Why? Why was he left there? What happened to his mother?" She found it beyond understanding. "To leave him there like that, how could she? He could have died!"

  Her words hung in the air unanswered, then she realized that had been the intention. Kaid returned the stick to his mouth. "I'm sorry, Vanna, but that's my business, not yours."

  "I shouldn't have asked," she murmured, still shocked at what had happened to Dzaka as a cub.

  "I asked myself that for years, till I found the answer," he said quietly. "I think we should go in for third meal, don't you? Otherwise your worthy mate will start regarding me with suspicion."

  She grunted derisively as she turned to leave.

  * * *

  After their meal was over, as everyone was drifting off either to the lounge or their rooms, Kaid felt a light touch on his shoulder. He turned round to see Kusac standing beside him.

  "I need to talk to you, Kaid," he said. "Not here, though. Will you come to The Limping Jegget with me?"

  "When?"

  "Now. Carrie wants to rest so I've told her we're going out for an hour or two."

  As they walked from the parking area outside Valsgarth into the town, Kusac could feel Kaid glancing at him out of the corner of his eye.

  "What is it?" he asked, turning to look at him.

  "I never put you down as the sort who'd go out in the evening for a drink," said Kaid.

  Kusac grinned, a human grin, showing his teeth. "I do a lot of things now that I never did before. And do you know what? Life is sweeter for it!"

  Kaid laughed. "I know what you mean."

  They'd come in by the clothing quarter, and as they walked along the busy sidewalks, the color and noise of the night began to wash over them.

  Most of the stores were still open, their doorways spilling golden light onto their path as they threaded their way among the late shoppers and the early evening revelers.

  "Doesn't the noise get to you?" said Kaid curiously.

  Kusac shook his head. "No, not really. I was trained to block it out as a cub. I had to," he said, stepping off the curb to make way for a group of Touibans who skittered by them trilling in their high-pitched voices. "My Talent started early and was strong even then."

  Kaid reached out to pull him back onto the sidewalk as a Chemerian powered chair rushed past.

  "Thanks. It's busy tonight."

  "A bit," said Kaid. "There's a performance by the storyteller, Kaerdhu. That's probably attracting people into the town."

  "Isn't he the one who started the new technique of using a group of people on stage with him to portray the story he's telling?"

  "That's the one," said Kaid, as they turned into the entrance of the inn. "Seems to be catching on with his audiences. Apparently he's booked in at the Governor's Palace later this year. A charity performance to raise money for those left Clanless after the destruction of Szurtha and Khyaal."

  "When? I'd like to take Carrie."

  Kaid shouldered his way through the throng of people standing by the bar until he came to the back room— the less crowded area.

  "Sometime in the next two months," he said, finally able to turn round. "I'll find out for you if you like. I would quite like to go myself. I've heard a lot about Kaerdhu but never seen him."

  They went up to the counter, waiting for one of the harassed bar staff to serve them.

  "Why don't we get a group together?" suggested Kusac. "I'm sure Vanna would enjoy it, and Garras. Jack would probably be interested as well."

  "I'll contact the Entertainment Guild office tomorrow," said Kaid.

  Finally, holding their drinks, they headed over to an empty booth. Once settled, Kusac made some more small talk until they were onto their second drink.

  "When you were in the Brotherhood, you were a qualified lay-priest, weren't you?" he asked, idly playing with his glass.

  Kaid looked surprised. "Yes, I was. We all did some time at Vartra's Retreat with the Head Priest, but I spent several tours as a lay-brother. Why?"

  "You're our main bodyguard, Kaid. You need to know where we are and what we're doing," he said, keeping his eyes on his hands. "Under the old rules of En'Shalla, as you're a qualified lay-priest, I can tell you what I intend to do and ask you to be a witness to that intent."

  "You're talking in riddles, Kusac," said Kaid. "What old rules are you talking about, and what're you planning to do?"

  "Even though you're no longer a Brother, under the old rules governing the Priesthood of Vartra, you remain a lay-priest unless dismissed by the Head Priest of your Order. Were you dismissed by Lijou when you left the Brotherhood?" asked Kusac, looking up at him.

  "Lijou had only just been appointed Head Priest then," said Kaid, pulling his stim-twig out of his pocket and beginning to chew the end thoughtfully. "No, I wasn't. What's this all leading up to? I might still have my lay-priest status, but..."

  "Nothing else matters," said Kusac firmly. "If I tell you of my intention to follow one of the En'Shalla rituals, then you're a witness to the fact I intend to do it."

  "Intent doesn't prove anything."

  "In three days we have the All Guilds Council meeting. The day after tomorrow is our Link day," said Kusac. "Tomorrow I intend to take Carrie on an En'Shalla retreat for two days. I'll tell you where so you can satisfy your protective urges by keeping an eye on the area, but I want us left alone. I want you to confirm that we did go on retreat and remained there for two days. Will you do that for me?"

  "Yes, but ..."

  Kusac interrupted him again, locking eyes with him. "Carrie's fertile again, Kaid, for the first time since we lost our cub. She'll conceive on our Link day if we do
n't do it now. Neither of us wants to go through what happened last time. I swore then our next cub would be conceived when we chose, and would be an En'Shalla child."

  Kaid nodded slowly, his eyes still held by Kusac's.

  "Everything's been done the way the ritual is laid down." He broke the eye contact and grinned. "Collecting all that sweet-grass without coming home smelling of it was a job in itself!"

  Kaid gave a faint grin. "I can imagine."

  "So, now I've told you my intent, and as you'll be guarding the area, you can be a witness that we were in fact there for two days. That's all that's required under the old laws."

  "Of course I'll be a witness to that, but why me, Kusac? Why not Ghyan? He's not only a priest but your friend."

  "I'm telling you because we want you with us as our third when we walk the Fire Margins."

  He watched Kaid's eyes widen with shock.

  "I want you, but more importantly, so does Carrie," he said. "It's our choice. I don't care what anyone else has said about it, none of that mattered when we made our decision, least of all who had the favorite odds." He gave a half grin.

  "You knew about that?"

  "Of course we did! Will you do it for us?"

  He looked away. "I can't, Kusac, and I can't tell you why."

  "I don't care why you think you can't do it. I'm having to place our lives in the hands of a God I don't quite believe in. I want a male I can trust implicitly with us. I want ... We want you."

  "You don't understand ..."

  "I don't need to understand!" he said forcefully, reaching out to cover Kaid's hand with his. "You and Carrie have a rapport of some kind, I know that, I can feel it. Trust it, Kaid, as we trust you. I don't know why you say you can't, but surely you can work it out between now and when we decide to go."

  "When's that?"

  Kusac shrugged. "When the God tells us," he said with a wry smile. "Will you come?"

  The silence lengthened until Kaid's hand began to move underneath his, turning over so it clasped his. "I'll go if the God calls me. I can't say fairer than that."

  Kusac's hand tightened briefly round Kaid's before he let him go. "Thank you, Kaid. Now I know you'll be with us."

  "I didn't promise!"

  "Trust your God, Kaid, that's what you told me. He's got work for you, for us. Changing our world, you said. Did you really think He'd leave you out of the center of the picture?"

  "No, I have to admit I didn't."

  CHAPTER 7

  The message had come that morning via the main house comm and was handed to Dzaka by one of the attendants.

  Surprised, he opened the note, then as he scanned the words, he realized it was from Ghezu, requesting he contact him immediately.

  Dzaka's first impulse was to crush it into a ball and fling it the length of his room. If he'd ever been in doubt that Ghezu was using him against Kaid, this note, coupled with the fact he'd refused to release him from his oath, proved it. Then he stopped as common sense took over. He couldn't afford to disobey the Leader of the Brotherhood, it would mark him for the rest of what would be a very short life. It was, however, an ideal opportunity to try and find out what Ghezu was up to this time. That it involved spying on Kaid yet again, he had no doubt, but despite everything, the ties that had bound him in the past to his foster-father were still strong. He was all the family Dzaka had left since he'd lost Nnya and their cub at Szurtha.

  He'd shut all thoughts of her away for months, unable to cope with the aching loss. Now her image came to his mind as clearly as if she'd been in the room with him. She'd been a colleague, attached like him at the time to Lijou's staff. He'd surprised Dzaka by giving them permission to take out a bonding contract, and suggesting it be for five years, when she'd requested planet leave on Szurtha to have their cub. Normally they'd only have been allowed a three-year contract.

  Their cub, Khyaz, had only been a couple of months old when he'd been recalled to the Khalossa. He'd been everything a father could want in a son. Alert, healthy, and already developing his own personality. Dzaka smiled at the memories of him and Nnya. Then reality returned, and with it the grief. Once more he hardened himself, turning his mind away from them and his loss.

  He'd contact Ghezu and see what he wanted this time. Spreading the message out on his desk, he did his best to flatten it again before folding it neatly and putting it safely in an inner pocket.

  * * *

  Once in Valsgarth, he headed for the Warrior Guild Accommodation house and requested the use of their secure comm.

  "Leader Ghezu," he said as his superior's image appeared on the screen.

  "I've got a job for you," Ghezu said without preamble. "One involving protection. At Rhijudu, a village on the western side of the Ghuulgul desert, there's a female called Khemu Arrazo. I've reason to believe that Kaid may try to reach her. There's been bad blood between them in the past, but until now he's not known where to find her. I want you to keep an eye on him, follow him if he leaves the estate."

  Dzaka sat motionless. "What are my orders if he does head for Rhijudu?"

  "Do nothing unless he tries to contact her," said Ghezu. "Then you must stop him by whatever means possible. This female's life must not be put in jeopardy."

  The cold knot in the pit of Dzaka's stomach was beginning to spread as he listened to Ghezu. " 'Do we know the nature of what lies between them?"

  "That's not your concern," said Ghezu.

  Dzaka hesitated briefly before speaking again. "With respect, Leader Ghezu, I think you'd be better off choosing one of the other Brothers. My relationship with Kaid is close enough that I may not be able to conclude this job for you should he attempt to harm the female."

  "Your closeness is precisely why I want you," said Ghezu, leaning forward slightly. "You're the last person he'd expect to be involved in guarding the Arrazo female, especially since you're based at the Aldatan estate with him. No one else can get close enough. Unless you have news, report to me weekly through the usual channels."

  The comm went dead and Dzaka was left staring at a blank screen.

  * * *

  L'Seuli was aware of the sudden sense of purpose in the air before he heard the commotion caused by the Faithful and the guard as they scrambled from their bedrolls. Fyak, the Prophet, was back from his vigil earlier than expected. Like the rest of the elite guard, L'Seuli was instantly on his feet and ready.

  While the Faithful prostrated themselves on the ground, their sand-colored robes making them almost invisible, he and the other guards were allowed to remain stand-ing. The air was electric with expectation as Fyak, the Word of Kezule, entered the huge canopy that formed their communal tent.

  He watched the Prophet stride to the center, stopping to survey the bowing figures of his followers. Alone among them, his head was uncovered against the sun, his mane of long tan hair flowing wildly around his narrow face. At his throat, the green-jeweled torc briefly reflected the light.

  "Rise," Fyak commanded, his voice filling the expectant hush. Around him, like grass swaying in the breeze, the Faithful rose to their feet.

  "Today we are in the territory of the Rhijudu Tribe. We shall consolidate our position here. Go to the same families you visited last time. Listen to their problems, their achievements, and praise them where you can. Where they have slipped back into the old ways of looking to their one-time Tribal Leader for guidance, chastise them. Remind them of the power of Kezule's wrath."

  His almost hypnotic voice rolled over them, washing toward L'Seuli and the other guards. He had to force his attention away from the Prophet and concentrate instead on the male who stood just behind him, the Commander of the Guard.

  "Tell them of the duty they owe to Kezule, God of Fire," continued Fyak, raising his arms above his head, hands spread out to the heavens as if in supplication. His eyes glowed feverishly. "I have visited the time of destruction! I saw the demons walking among us, spitting venom in our faces, killing our people with one blow! Beside them wal
ked the mind-poisoners— our own people— helping them! I saw the very sky ablaze with the holy fire of the God as He came to our aid!"

  Fyak paused to survey the upturned faces of his followers. The sudden silence took L'Seuli by surprise and he looked back at the prophet. Behind him, beyond the edges of the tent, he could see the movement of shadowy figures as more and more of the villagers of Rhijudu gathered to hear their Prophet speak. Glancing at Fyak's face, he saw that he was well aware of his impromptu audience.

  "Kezule will come to our aid again! He will free our people from the slavery of the demons once and for all. Make no mistake," he said, dropping his voice, "the demons still walk among us— the demons and the mind-poisoners! Search out those who talk with their minds for they are cursed of Kezule! Bring them to me so that we can deal with them as befits those who are traitors to their own kind!" he said, raising his voice again. "The time of fire is near at hand! Only those who believe will survive. Go now, and spread the word of our God."