The Irda: Children Of The Stars

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

“Is Jyrbian all right?” Khallayne asked Lyrralt as she wiped at her forehead wearily.

Jelindra and Celise had been calmed at last, thanks to some wine, a little magic, and Igraine’s comforting, soothing words.

Bakrell swaggered up in time to hear her question. “He’s making full complaint of an interesting bump on his head. Everlyn is patting his wrist, and my sister is fuming.”

Holding her injured arm against her side, Tenaj laughed, a bell-like peal as silvery as her eyes.

Bakrell looked at her with an appraising, appreciative expression that reminded Khallayne of the old Jyrbian, the one who had wooed her and every other woman at court with rowdy charm and high spirits. Now he had vanished behind a mask of authority, straining for the affection of a woman who paid him no attention.

She felt a moment’s pang for that Jyrbian, that bygone world, then let it pass. Not for a return to that comfortable life would she give up the magic.

The crowd around Jyrbian parted. He walked with a slight limp, his arm around Everlyn’s shoulders for support. His expression, beatific, was like nothing Khallayne had ever expected to see on his face.

Whatever the extent of his injuries, at that moment he didn’t seem to be suffering much. Just as Bakrell had said, Kaede was holding his elbow for support. Storm clouds in the sky could be no darker than the expression on her face.

“How’s Jelindra?” Everlyn asked, looking around for the child.

Khallayne waited until the threesome was within hearing. “She’s better. Your father’s with them.”

“Do you really think she dreamed that monster?” Jyrbian asked, his voice clipped.

“Yes, but you can’t hold her responsible. She’s only a child, and she’s half mad with grief. And no one can control their dreams!”

“If she caused that thing once… what do we do in the future?” he asked. “Let her accidentally kill us off one by one?” His voice was less harsh, less accusing, but still bitter.

“I don’t know.”

“We could take turns at night watching her,” Everlyn suggested. “Surely, if it happens again, we can wake her up right away and break the spell.”

“Or you can die, sucked dry, like her brother did.”

Everlyn slipped from under Jyrbian’s arm, her face suddenly distant. “I think I’ll check on her.”

“What about me?” Jyrbian called after her, his voice playful. Only Lyrralt knew him well enough to sense the disappointment in his tone.

Everlyn smiled back over her shoulder, her long hair tumbling like silk down her back. “Surely you’ll manage.”

The warmth of her smile made him forget everything. He didn’t notice Kaede’s expression slipping from troubled to bleak. Without glancing at Kaede, Jyrbian limped toward his bedroll.

With a longing glance at Jyrbian’s back, Kaede turned to Bakrell. She motioned for him to stay with the group. He caught her arm and wordlessly held her for a moment.

“Keep them occupied,” she whispered.

Reluctantly, he nodded and went back to Khal-layne’s side as Kaede went to her bedroll for a shawl and a small package.

As Kaede slipped out of camp, she saw that Bakrell was still in the center of the group, drawing their attention with his questions and conversation.

Since the human attack near Nerat, the Ogres had been posting sentries at night. Kaede and Bakrell had taken turns, sitting outside the perimeter of the camp and watching the darkness. But someone could have slipped out-or in.

Kaede pulled the dark shawl over her bright hair and crept away from the camp, heading out onto the plain. Solinari was just rising, offering a pale, cold light on the horizon. She walked through the tall grass, damp with dew, until the fires of the camp were mere twinkles in the distance, until the only sounds were the rustling of grass and the chirp of nightbirds.

She searched until she came to a small rise. Beyond it, she dug a hole and planted the small package. There were no rocks on the plain, as there had been in the mountains, so she marked the place by pulling up all the grass around it for the width of her two hands. Then she set a small spell on it, a beacon for anyone who knew how to search.

Brushing grass and dirt off her pants, she rose and started back to camp. Voices, so nearby that she could understand what they were saying, interrupted the quiet, sibilant whisper of the breeze.

Kaede dropped to the ground, flat on her belly, waiting for the voices to start over. In a moment, a female’s soft voice broke the silence.

“I’m here.”

An equally soft, male voice answered.

The female’s voice again. “Oh, Love, it’s you who’ve come.”

This time Kaede recognized it. In spite of the pleasurable tone she’d never heard coloring Everlyn’s speech, she knew it was Everlyn’s voice! And in a lover’s clandestine meeting!

Her heart caught in her throat as the male voice responded. She couldn’t hear it well enough to identify it. Praying that it wouldn’t be Jyrbian, she raised herself cautiously for a better look.

Bakrell was sitting on her bedroll when Kaede slipped back into camp, waiting for her with a tense expression on his face.

She glanced about, checking that no one appeared overly interested in their conversation before leaning close. “Bakrell, you won’t believe what I’ve discovered about Everlyn!” she whispered.

He looked at her flushed face, at the exhilaration shining in her eyes. Her lips were pulled back in an intense smile. ‘That’s what I wanted to talk to you about, Kaede.”

The caution, the disapproval in his voice, dimmed her enthusiasm.

“I was wondering… if you haven’t forgotten why we came here.” He looked first at her, then at his own hands, clasped in his lap.

“What do you mean?”

“Just what I said.” He edged closer to her. “I was wondering, considering the way you feel about Jyr-bian and all, if you’ve-”

“I haven’t forgotten anything!” Kaede glared at him, slapping away the conciliatory hand he extended. “I’ve searched and searched, but I’m convinced that Jyrbian is the one. Why do you think I keep running after him?”

Bakrell lifted an eyebrow at her and smiled.

“All right,” she admitted. “I do want him for other reasons. What’s wrong with that? That only makes it more convincing. I haven’t forgotten why I came here, and I resent-”

“Kaede.” He stopped her by gently placing his fingers over her mouth. “Slow down. You misunderstand. I wasn’t accusing you. I was-I’ve been thinking. This life really isn’t so bad, is it? I mean, if s pretty exciting, and we can do as we please. And I was just thinking maybe we shouldn’t cause any trouble…”

“I have no intentions of causing trouble,” she said sweetly, and pushed him off her blankets.

Two days later, Kaede waited for Jyrbian near the edge of the camp. He greeted her with a smile, which he regretted the moment her face lit up. She was a beguiling woman, and she had left no doubt about her interest in him. In another life, just a few short weeks ago, he would have been interested in her. But now there was Everlyn, and she eclipsed Kaede the way the sun outshone the stars.

“Jyrbian,” she said, her voice as sweet as cream. “I have to talk with you.”

The way she said it, he thought talking wasn’t what she had in mind. He answered with a word, her name. He eased the warning in his tone with a slight smile.

She reached for him, wrapping her arms around his, pinning them to his sides playfully. Her breasts were soft against his chest, her breath sweet. “I want you.”

He stepped back, gentle as he pushed her away. “Kaede, don’t. I won’t say I’m not tempted, but…”

Her expression went from lighthearted and seductive to disappointed and grim. “You think you want her. But she’s not what she seems.”

“Don’t say anything against Everlyn, Kaede,” he warned.

“Then ask her yourself! Ask her why she leaves the camp when she thinks everyone is asleep. Ask her who she meets during the night! Ask her…”

For the first time since she’d met him, Jyrbian’s fearsome temper frightened her. His face twisted with fury. His fingers bit into the soft flesh of her arms.

“You’re hurting me,” she whimpered, pushing closer to him.

“Hurting you!” he roared. “I’ll kill you!”

“Then kill me!” She went still in his grasp. “Ask her, then kill me if I’m lying. I’ll sing my song of death quickly and lie quietly under your sword.” She pressed into him harder.

He allowed it. He crushed her to him so hard that the knots in his belt scraped her skin. He twisted his fingers in her hair and yanked her head back.

“Ask her. Unless you’re afraid to hear the truth. Unless you’re willing to accept her with the scent of a human’s hands still fresh on her body.”

“What are you saying?” Jyrbian rasped.

“The truth. I’ve seen things. Before you decide who you want, you should know the truth. Ask her. I’ll wait.”

Jyrbian looked at her. He stepped back so suddenly that she stumbled. “I’ll be back,” he almost hissed.

The conviction in her voice didn’t waver. “Not to kill me.”

“I may kill you either way,” he vowed.

He found Everlyn in Igraine’s tent, sitting on a camp stool at the makeshift table where Igraine kept his maps. A stub of candle on a piece of bark provided some illumination, warming Everlyn’s face with a soft glow. In a shadowed corner Jyrbian could discern a figure underneath a blanket that must be Jelindra, breathing rhythmically.

“Is she sleeping?” he asked.

Everlyn nodded. “You seem better.” When he appeared not to understand, she pointed at his leg and said, “You’re not limping anymore.”

He shrugged, indicating that his injury was of no consequence.

“What’s wrong?” She stood and moved closer to him, nearer the flap of the tent, away from the sleeping figure. Still speaking softly, she laid her hand on his arm and repeated the question.

“Everlyn…” He almost walked away. For a moment, he thought, I cannot live with knowing. But he had to know. “I have to ask you something. I have to… Is there-? I’ve been told-”

He saw the truth in her eyes, the sadness, the fearful anticipation, even before he could finish the question. He knew the truth of Kaede’s words.

“It’s true! You are sneaking out of the camp to meet someone.”

“Yes.” She said it quietly, softly, without any regret.

If she’d a tinge of remorse… “Who?”

She shook her head and looked away.

Weeks of watching and waiting washed over him like fever. “Why do you meet in secret like thieves?”

Again she shook her head, but he already knew the answer. “So it’s true!” he hissed. “You turn me away, ignore my every smile, refuse the touch of my hand, for a slave.”

“He’s no slave! He’s a… a being with a heart and a soul, the same as you and me.”

Her quick defense, her easy tenderness, fanned his anger. A dagger slid into his belly would have caused no more agony.

“Jyrbian, I’m sorry. I know this is not easy to explain, but… once I knew him… I couldn’t help it. I couldn’t help but love him! I couldn’t help but- And now, I don’t know what to do.” The words began to pour out of her. “I don’t know where to turn. We could never live with my people. And his kind hate the Ogres so. They’d never accept me.”

Every word was a thorn driven into his heart. Yet, he wanted her to go on, wanted whatever intimacy she was willing to share, wanted to be the one to whom she revealed her heart.

She glanced up, saw his stricken expression, the warring of emotions on his face. “Jyrbian, I’m so sorry. I never meant to hurt you. But he has worn my heart… from the day he saved my life…”

“Eadamm,” he breathed. He remembered the way the slave had spoken to her, that morning in her father’s home, the way she had looked at him. He realized that Everlyn would have stayed at Khal-Ther-axian if the slave had not advised her to go. He whispered the name again, tasting hatred and jealousy on his tongue.

“Yes,” she admitted reluctantly. “He’s been following us, protecting us. His people have been harrying the king’s troops in the mountain passes. That’s why they haven’t followed us so far.”

He barely heard the last words. She was offering him crumbs. “Do you think you could ever love me?” He saw the answer in her eyes before the whisper had died on his lips. He understood before she murmured a sound.

She lifted her hands slowly and rested them on her belly. “I bear his child.”

He reached for her. She stepped into his embrace, resting her forehead on his arm as if putting aside a heavy load. “I don’t know what we’ll do, where we’ll go so that our child can be raised without hatred and pain.” He closed his eyes and felt a deathly stillness creep over him, a peacefulness such as he’d never known before.

He moved his hands slowly up her back, feeling the delicate bones, the thin layer of flesh through the silky cloth. His fingers touched her shoulders, slipped tenderly up to her throat.

She made one sound, an ecstasy so exquisite it could barely be discerned, before his fingers closed. She struggled almost not at all.

“Everlyn?” He eased her down gently and smoothed her hair back from her face, straightening the long strands until they fell prettily over her shoulders. “Everlyn?”

So still. So pretty. He placed her hands at her sides, touched her cheek. Her skin was smooth and warm. Her tunic was rumpled around her neck, and as he straightened it, a necklace fell out: a stone wrapped in fine silver wire, hung on a silver chain, shiny and black, shot through with red, and shaped like tear.

He yanked it from her neck, breaking the chain.

A sound, a soft chuckle, disturbed the silence.

He looked up and saw eyes staring at him from the darkness: Jelindra’s eyes, wild and mad.

“Get up,” he told her. “We’re leaving.”

The girl obeyed his orders, showing not the least hint of repulsion, though he walked with his arm firmly around her shoulders, so he could stop her if she made a sound.

He led Jelindra through the least populated areas of the camp. Kaede caught up with them at the line where his horse was tethered. “You said you’d come back for me,” she said accusingly.

He looked at her as though he’d never seen her before, yet he said, “Get our things.”

She stared at him open-mouthed for a moment, then rushed off. By the time he’d readied the horses, she had returned. She carried his bedroll and saddlebags as well as her own.

The sight of her snapped him back to reality. How long since-? His mind fled from the memory of soft skin against his fingers.

He looked around quickly. Still nobody had noticed them. “Stay here. Watch the girl. If she makes a sound, kill her.”

Kaede opened her mouth to question him, but he had already gone back into the camp, slipping silently among the sleeping Ogres.

He found Khallayne easily, quickly. She was buried in her blankets, only the top of her head showing, black hair spilling out onto the ground. He started to shake her awake roughly, then thought better of it and slipped his hand down into the blankets until her soft breath touched his fingers.

The soft skin of her cheek reminded him of another’s skin. He stroked her face gently, remembering soft skin and a sweet scent.

Khallayne woke, striking out at his hand. He clamped his fingers over her mouth, leaning down until his lips were against her ear. “Shhh, Khallayne, it’s me.”

She stopped struggling, and immediately he eased the pressure on her mouth, helped her to sit.

“No need to wake the whole camp,” he said easily.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” He picked up her boots and held them out. “It’s the girl. I need you to come with me.”

“Jelindra?” Instantly, she was wide awake. She took the boots and pulled them on. “What’s happened?”

“Nothing. She’s just-wandered away from camp, and she’s frightened. Come with me.”

Khallayne stood quickly and grabbed her jacket.

“That way.”

As Khallayne started to move, Lyrralt stirred and sat up. His bedroll was only a few feet away. “Jyrbian?”

Jyrbian put a finger to his lips and shushed Lyrralt.

“Jyrbian, what’s wrong? Where’s Khallayne going?”

Jyrbian gave him a look such as Lyrralt had not seen since Takar, one eyebrow raised high, self-deprecating charm twisting his mouth. “It’s none of your affair, Brother, if you know what I mean. Go back to sleep.”

Jyrbian picked up Khallayne’s saddlebags and eased away into the darkness. Khallayne was almost to where he’d left Kaede and Jelindra when he caught up with her.

Kaede and Jelindra were mounted. Kaede was holding the reins to the other horses. The girl appeared even more docile, even more remote, than before.

“What’s going on here?” Khallayne wheeled on him.

“We’re leaving,” he said. “Mount up.”

Kaede tossed him his reins, her expression murderous.

“I’m not going anywhere with you, Jyrbian,” said Khallayne.

“We don’t need her,” Kaede jeered.

Jyrbian responded to Khallayne as if Kaede hadn’t even spoken. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to. But if you don’t, you’ll find her body”-he paused and jerked his thumb in the direction of Jelindra-”left to rot on our trail.”

“Why are you doing this? What’s happened?”

“It’s your choice,” he said conversationally. “Her only use to me is as a hostage, to keep you in line. If you’re not with me… And before you think of casting a spell, are you willing to bet you could take care of both of us before one of us kills her?”

When Khallayne still didn’t move, he turned his horse and started to ride away. Kaede followed him, leading Jelindra’s horse.

“I wouldn’t do that, Jyrbian.” Lyrralt’s voice came out of the darkness.

Jyrbian spun, his hand moving to his sword, and found himself facing off against his brother and Bakrell.

“Why not?” Jyrbian asked softly. He dropped his hand from his sword hilt, with his palm open and ready, dangling at his side.

“They’ve found Everlyn.”

Jyrbian started at the name. Quickly, he regained his composure. Beyond them, in the lights nearest the tent, he could see agitated movement.

“What’s happened to Everlyn?” Khallayne asked.

“She’s dead. From the bruises and marks on her body, strangled.”

“Jyrbian?” Khallayne stepped forward.

He was reminded of Everlyn, stepping between him and the human at Nerat. The memory seemed etched in blood.

“What happened?” Khallayne asked. Hers was a voice of reason, of conciliation.

“Everlyn was seeing a human male, at night, outside the camp.” Kaede also edged forward, her voice brisk, cold.

“Seeing a human?” Lyrralt didn’t understand.

“He was her lover.” Kaede spat the word as if it were filth.

The others responded with shocked silence.

Before they could react, Jyrbian surged forward and grabbed Khallayne. He yanked her by the back of her tunic, up and over his saddle. Before she could recover her senses, he thumped her across the back of her head and she went limp.

Lyrralt started forward, stopping when Jyrbian reached with one hand for his sword. His horse danced, agitated by the extra weight and the tension around him. “Go back, Brother. Go back to your miserable friends. Don’t follow us. Don’t-”

“Jyrbian, don’t do this.” Igraine’s voice, choked with grief, interrupted the scene. “There’s been enough damage. Don’t do anything more.”

“You’re responsible for this!” Jyrbian retorted, eyeing the silent crowd amassing behind Igraine. “You! Preaching of better ways. But there is only so much we can change while still giving honor to the gods. Still honor our traditions. If you continue this way, the vengeance of the gods will rain upon your heads!”

He glanced at Kaede, the only person in the whole camp who sided with him willingly, and jerked his head in the direction of the mountains. He galloped away, Khallayne hanging limply on his horse.

Kaede started to follow, then stopped and turned back for a moment, yanking on the reins of Jelindra’s horse to control the animal. The child sat astride, much more docile than the horse.

“Bakrell?”

Caught by surprise, Bakrell opened his mouth, then closed it, then opened it again.

“You’re not going to stay here? There’s no reason anymore. We have what we came for.”

She waited, but Bakrell refused to meet her gaze. “No,” he said at last.

“You’re staying?” Kaede was incredulous, but when he didn’t speak to her again, she yanked her horse around and galloped after Jyrbian, leading Khallayne’s riderless stallion and the horse on which Jelindra rode.