Desert Rising (15 page)

“We should get over to Parasu; the others are probably waiting for us,” Lasha interrupted.

Alannah had been true to her word to Sulis. Over the next few weeks, the pledge class had learned about the pitfalls of Voras and the need to guard their minds. Lasha had also made clear her determination to be taken by Aryn in spite of her
feli's
beginnings, and told certain ­people in the class about Sulis's views and encouragement. Sulis suddenly found herself surrounded by classmates who had the same dream and wanted her guidance on how to bring it about. This would be wonderful, except that Sulis herself was still learning and wasn't certain anything she'd said would actually work. The past few months had been trial and error as the pledges tested each other and experimented with focus and controlling their minds.

Only two of their classmates had reacted badly to Alannah's inquiries. Joaquil, the pretty blonde who was the daughter of a maiden of Ivanha and a soldier of Voras, rankled at the thought that the Templar could do wrong. Tori, a pledge past childbearing age and paired with the largest snow
feli
Sulis had ever met, commented that Ivanha would have very little use for her and she was content as she was, thank you.

They made their way through the pilgrims at Parasu's altar and into the courtyard. Jonas had made the discovery that Parasu's courtyard was rarely used by the acolytes, who much preferred to mew themselves away in the great library built onto the altar. As a result, many of the paths were overgrown, creating private nooks where the pledges could practice without being spied upon.

When they worked their way to an enclave created by climbing roses that had overgrown some young trees, two of their classmates were already there. Luella, a large, muscular woman who'd sailed with her father's fleet until paired with her black
feli
, was sitting immersed in discussion with Dani, the son of a sword master out east. Both were obviously Voras-­bound, their muscular frames and skill with sword and knife putting them in the top lessons. They looked up when Sulis arrived.

“I broke a
geas
today,” Luella announced proudly.

Alannah arrived just behind Jonas, and she and Sulis exchanged a glance.

“What happened?” Lasha asked, plunking herself down at the foot of the fountain. The others arranged themselves while Luella explained.

“It was one of Voras's acolytes, Samias . . . He's my fencing partner though really I should have a better one but don't because I'm a woman.” Luella was a woman of few words, but when she spoke, it was sort of a mishmash of everything she was thinking spilling out at once.

“Anyway, he's been down on me for months 'cause I beat the pants off him every time we spar, and this time I beat him so badly everyone laughed. We went to wash, and I caught him just starin' at me, with his
feli
right beside him. And suddenly I wanted to take him behind the stables there and then, and that's not like me, so I looked into my mind like you said and saw it there, and it went back to him.”

“So how did you break it?” Alannah asked.

“I put my knife at his throat and told him I'd slit it if he didn't stop messin' with my mind. Onyx there had his
feli
by the throat too—­both of them are total wimps.”

Dani rumbled out a laugh as big as the rest of his muscular body. “So now we know a second way of breaking a
geas
that one of us muscle heads can use if we can't do all that meditation stuff.”

“She never would have realized what was happening if not for the meditation stuff,” Sulis reminded him. “How did he react?” she asked Luella.

Luella made a face. “He said it didn't matter 'cause I could be the best swordswoman in the world, and I'd never be nothin' under Voras since Voras knows women ain't any use except them's got a man between their legs. And he's right. You ever seen a woman Knight in Voras? The women are just used as drudges.”

Dani knocked her on the shoulder with a big fist. “So now even she's deserting me, wanting to go to Aryn or another deity, and I'll be all alone.”

Sulis and Lasha looked at each other wide-­eyed. Luella seemed made for Voras, talking weapons and strategy at midmeal and more interested in when the next sparring match was than her written lessons.

Luella caught the look. “Yeah, I know, I don't look the type. But I was pretty good with the critters, before my pa put me on a boat. I'm starting extra lessons in riding and spending time with the blacksmith. I can do ironwork, and under Aryn, I can be something if I can get my mind to go that way.”

Sulis nodded. She'd forgotten that the blacksmiths were under Aryn's wing, as solitary workers who often had talents healing the animals they worked with. She could picture Luella bent over a forge or working with horses to be shod.

“You won't get me to change,” Dani rumbled. “I know where I'm bound and happy to be there though I'd like to make Knight and change some of the attitudes driving Lu away.” He grinned and looked over at Sulis. “And maybe get more tolerance goin' for the Forsaken.”

She growled at him, and he laughed his hearty rumble. Sulis had gotten herself thrown out of the scriptures class the week before for arguing with the scholar. The scholar had claimed that the Forsaken caste was set in the scriptures by the One, and Sulis had challenged him to prove it. She'd since missed the past two times, the pledges met outside of class because the scholar made her painstakingly copy the chapter of scriptures he was teaching, as punishment.

“I wrote every blasted word of those scriptures, and not once did it mention the Forsaken!” she announced.

“It does mention ‘the obedience of the cast-­down ones,'” Jonas commented quietly.

“Yes, but it's obvious that it means the deities themselves, who were cast down by the One and now should answer only to her!” Sulis argued heatedly.

Dani shrugged uneasily. “I don't know. I've never really thought about the Forsaken before; I mean, they've always been there, you know? I don't know how my father's swords smithy would get along without their labor, and we wouldn't have a profit if we paid them.”

“My family got along fine,” Luella declared. Sulis was startled by this unexpected ally. “Many ships had Forsaken, but my pa, he believed in fair wages for fair work, and we've done good over the years. You treat ­people like animals, and they throw you overboard in the night, my ma always said.”

Dani shrugged. “We gonna do this mind stuff? I've got a lesson in a sandglass.”

Alannah usually led the lessons because she was the only one who could consistently put a
geas
on the others. Sulis easily broke the
geas
Lasha cast and spent the rest of the time watching her classmates. Luella turned cross-­eyed trying to break hers by willpower instead of knifepoint.

The twins, Sandy and Shane, could be especially deadly when they chose to be since they could work off their twin bond to create especially strong
geases
. Unfortunately, Sulis often had to harass them into putting down their latest report from the family business to participate. She didn't know how they got the reports, but they didn't even try to hide them from the acolytes. Sulis had asked them once why they even bothered to read such things after being paired.

Sandy had answered her rather bitterly. “We were tithing at Parasu to form a new sector of Tellis Shipping, our family's business, when the
feli
came and found us. We didn't even set foot in the Temple of the One,” he said. “I was looking forward to finally getting out from under Father's control, and Shane would have been perfect at running the day-­to-­day of the business while I ran the lines with my men. I had them all hired and had even stolen some of the best from other shipping lines. I was just waiting for the permit from Parasu, and then this . . .” he waved at his tawny
feli
, similar to Djinn in build, who was grooming his spots beside his paired.

“It was disappointing,” Shane concluded quietly for his twin. Sandy and Shane looked identical but were opposites in personality. Sandy was restless, never holding still—­a sure candidate for courier in Aryn. Shane, however, was withdrawn and analytical, excelling at his studies and interested in the “how” of everything.

“So the men went to a second cousin who won't do half as well as we would have, and we're stuck here, back in school, which I thought I'd left forever and good riddance. I'll bow to the One's will and go to Aryn, who I think would suit me, but it isn't fair to Shane, to be put into Aryn just because we were born together. It's obvious he belongs to Parasu, but twins always get put in Aryn. He'd make a great Magistrate—­don't you think?”

“That would suit me more,” Shane agreed.

“Sulis?” Lasha brought her attention back. “Why don't you try a
geas
on me, then I'll do one on you.”

Sulis brought her mind fully back to what they were doing and practiced diligently until the bell rang.

Sulis didn't see her brother the next day or the day after though she lingered at the stables long past her lesson time. At dinner each day, the three blondes brought her tales of how amazing Kadar was, how brilliant and handsome, and fought over whom he liked best. At breakfast and midmeal, Sulis, Lasha, and Alannah had begun trekking over to the dining hall at Aryn and Parasu so they wouldn't have to hear the other women's exclamations. Alannah was quietly amused by them, but Lasha had no patience with their vanity. Sulis thought the new eating location was a good idea because it was better to be rushed at first meals and midmeals than to have Lasha irritated the rest of the day.

Sulis, meanwhile, found she couldn't get enough talk about her brother—­even if it did come from such frivolous sources. While she had friends she really enjoyed and trusted, Kadar was like an extension of herself. She missed him terribly and wanted to confide in him as she always had. She even began asking Aggie at riding lessons what she thought of Kadar although the older woman only saw him at a distance. Aggie gave her a knowing look and shook her head.

“Concentrate on your jumping,” she told Sulis, which she did. Sulis had picked up on the new cues and riding style and was working on riding the jumps Aggie had set up in the far ring, beside the weapons classes. She and Starfire had gotten used to the clash of swords, and she loved the feel of the gelding's muscles bunching beneath her as he launched into the air with her perched like a puff on his back. Her uncle's horses had been trained as racers, and there weren't many objects to jump in the desert, so this was her first experience with jumping. It was intoxicating, and she enjoyed Aggie's critiques, quick but shrewd, that made immediate improvements in Sulis's riding.

“You're a natural,” Aggie commented.

“You should see my brother,” Sulis said. “He can do anything with hoofed beasts—­mules, horses, even oxen. When he rides, it's like he's a part of the horse.”

Aggie looked at her speculatively. “Why don't you come just after midmeal, the day after next. I know Scholar Jantis will be sitting judgment, and your geography class will be canceled. I moved Lasha's ride to the same time—­it will be good for her to have a lesson with a more experienced rider.”

The next few days went slowly. Sulis dragged a complaining Lasha away from midmeal, determined to get to the stables and look for Kadar as soon as she could.

She saddled Starfire and waited impatiently while Lasha slowly saddled a placid bay mare.

“She's not going to bite you,” she said acidly, as Lasha approached the mare cautiously with the bridle. Lasha gave her a wounded look and led the mare out, Sulis following behind.

As she approached the jumping arena, she saw that Joaquil and the two blondes were already gathered, watching the men in the weapons arena. These men were obviously more highly skilled than the ones she'd seen earlier in the day, and they wore leather practice armor that gleamed in the hot midday sun. Kadar was easy to spot since he was almost a head taller than the other men. She admired her brother's ease with his knives but admired his handsome opponent more and could see why the women gathered to watch.

Aggie cleared her throat, and Sulis realized that the woman had been waiting for her to mount. Lasha was already mounted and making a slow walk around the arena. Sulis blushed and leapt gracefully into the saddle in desert fashion, ignoring the stirrups.

“Show-­off,” Aggie muttered with a smile.

Sulis saw several heads turn her way from the sparring grounds out of the corner of her eye, and as she adjusted the stirrups, she imagined the way she must look, a tall dark form on the handsome black gelding. Starfire caught her excitement and tension and pranced.

“Take him around a ­couple of times—­warm him up,” Aggie ordered.

Sulis walked Starfire a bit as he asked for more. Then she urged him to a trot, then a canter, lapping Lasha and her horse. She was barely keeping her attention on Starfire, trying to catch a glimpse of what was happening on the other side of the fence as her brother faced off with the other men.

Aggie signaled her to take the first jump, a low one-­beam. She did so easily, in spite of her lack of attention.

“Concentrate,” Aggie ordered her, as Sulis swept past. Sulis prepared to take a jump closer to the arena's fence.

A war whoop sounded loud and clear, seemingly almost in her ear, and Starfire shied away from the fence. Normally, Sulis would have been aware enough to correct her mount without falling, but her attention was elsewhere. The solid ground rose up to meet her as she tucked into a roll. Starfire continued on without her.

Sulis grunted and got to her feet, dusting off her breeches.

“Are you all right?” Aggie asked. Sulis could see a crowd of men gathered at the fence, watching, and her face burned. So much for a graceful figure. Lasha rode up and dismounted; having been on the other side of the arena when it happened, she'd kept her seat in the way Sulis had not.