Into the Fray: Volume 1 of The Sorcerers of Jhanvia Series (30 page)

Nidreyka tried to be conciliatory, “I think your memory of that time is somewhat fuzzy and tainted by nostalgia. But we are in the here and now. I believe our culture is worth protecting and that means following our ways established a thousand years ago that have served us so well. We certainly have made mistakes, and I do agree with some of your premise, especially with regards to Kaitra. However, our leaders have always stood firm on the issue of bonding with outsiders. I don’t see how we could get Kaitra home and back without getting her killed in the process.”

“I don’t have any intention of trying to take Kaitra home. They will most certainly try to kill her. I will convince her to wait for us in Triami while we travel to see Talenyan.”

“You must know that will never happen,” Kaitra said emerging from the shadows. “I will meet your mother before she passes and I will stand beside you and face whatever fates await us.”

“I told you to stay with Dikaylia,” Nidreyka’s anger clouded her words.

Kidreyli smiled rubbing her eyebrow, “She’s a very independent woman.”

“Yes, and I am going with you to see your mother. The two of you just need to figure out how to make that happen.”

Nidreyka started to say something and Kaitra held up her hand, “Stop. I don’t want to hear any predictions or philosophical bantering about cultural issues. We need a workable plan to fulfill my demands.” She pointed at Kidreyli, “You come with me.”

The warrior looked at Nidreyka, shrugged her shoulders, laughing quietly, and followed Kaitra back toward the campfire. Nidreyka watched them walk away and then took a small pouch from her saddle, stopping for a moment to smile, acknowledging the passion within her human friend.

Dikaylia was snuggled up near the campfire keeping warm when the couple returned.

Kaitra pointed at the large stone nearest the fire and commanded, “You sit here and hold me. I’m cold and I hurt and I need to cuddle for a while.”

Kidreyli complied and held her cloak out with her left arm. Kaitra tucked herself within Kidreyli’s web and wrapped both her arms around her lover’s waist.

A few minutes later, Nidreyka returned and sat on a stone across the fire from them. Dikaylia moved over, sat on the ground in front of her and wrapped her arm around her leg. Nidreyka took out a large comb from the pouch she had retrieved, and slowly and carefully brushed it through her lover’s long blond hair. They sat quietly, almost in a trance-like state, the act of combing serving as a timekeeper for the rhythm of their spirits as they came together as one.

Kaitra stared at them for a long time, mesmerized by the romanticism and depth of connection this seemed to bring to them. The beauty of them sitting in the warm dancing firelight performing this ritual touched her in her deepest emotional well. She thought about saying something to Kidreyli, but chose instead to silently tighten her grip on her waist and lay her head on her shoulder, soaking in the imagery for as long as it lasted.

Kidreyli kissed her on the forehead and silently spoke to Kaitra’s mind, “What they are doing is a common ritual we use. We call it arfulan.”

“I had touched this within you, but I never realized the beauty and sheer power of it until actually seeing it. I want to try it with you.”

“I thought you might,” she replied, holding up a large comb in her right hand.

Kaitra’s eyes smiled joyously and she quietly moved to the ground in front of her lover, wrapping her arms around her leg as Dikaylia had done.

Kidreyli explained, “Just let yourself go and become one with the rhythm of your surround.”

Kaitra’s own instincts knew what to do. After the few tangles in her hair were resolved, she sat totally relaxed with her eyes closed, feeling herself float softly within Kidreyli’s realm, surrounded by intense passions for every aspect of life and loving. Each stroke encouraged her spirit to blend with Kidreyli’s, as if wafting incense with one’s hands so as to enhance the interaction. Her spirit became one with her lover’s and she found herself soaring within her, traversing the depths and range of the Valtyr spirit, but the outer reaches of it always seemed distant and unattainable by her human soul. She could only sense glimpses of that which she could not reach. Though limited by her own being, she was overcome with the beauty and power that the ritual brought to their bond. The sensual commune took her to levels of personal ecstasy her physical being could barely withstand, achieving heights of pleasure and satisfaction that she never imagined were possible. Within her being she concluded that certainly no human relationship, no matter how passionate, could ever rival the intensity of the Valtyr. Her understanding of all that was her anamhra became more clear and defined, leaving her with the knowledge of just how advanced the Valtyr were as a species.

Kidreyli looked across the fire to see Nidreyka looking at her through the bouncing flames. They smiled at each other as the separate rituals continued uninterrupted for over an hour.

Kaitra’s eyes popped open when she heard the breeze rustle the leaves in the tree that had kept watch over them during the night. Kidreyli was lying by her side, her head on her belly and her arm draped over. She did not remember falling asleep, but her love had wrapped her cloak around both of them on this especially cold morning. She stared up at the pre-dawn sky and gently stroked the Valtyr’s hair with her fingers. The Moon of Tria majestically floated above, its reflection tinting the wispy clouds, streaking the sky with gold.

Kidreyli awoke and kissed Kaitra’s belly. “Good morning.”

“It certainly is,” Kaitra said as she stroked the top of her lover’s head.

She looked up at her face and whispered, “Why the tears?”

Kaitra begged, “Promise that you’ll never leave me.”

Kidreyli was surprised by her request, “Of course I’ll never leave you.”

She closed her eyes and explained, “In all my life, I never in my wildest dreams believed that I would love someone so completely as I love you. After what we’ve shared, culminated by last night’s experience, I don’t think I could live without you, even for a day. My heart would wither and die like a fragile flower without water. Please…don’t leave me to go to your mother. Take me with you.”

“My love, they will kill you…without remorse and feeling that they served our people well in doing it. I too feel as you. I could not live in this world without you. No one has ever gotten so close to me as you. You are in me and you are my world now. I only want to experience everything life holds for me with you.”

“But if you return home, they might want to keep you from returning to me,” Kaitra’s voice cracked a little. “They might even consider killing you to prevent that.”

Kidreyli shifted herself up so she was looking Kaitra directly in the eyes. She gently stroked her lover’s nose and eyebrows with her finger, tracing the distinctive Valtyr features that she did not have. “You’re right…you’re right. It was selfish and irresponsible for me to consider risking your life and what we have together, even in this situation. I’m very sorry. We will find another way.”

Kaitra whispered, “Please hold me close….”

The warrior shifted herself and wrapped her arms around her.

The young woman stared up at the sky and finished her thought, “…and never let go.”

Kidreyli reached over and tucked Kaitra’s head under her chin, “Never will I let you go.”

They lay in each other’s arms for a long time, watching the clouds slowly pass by, eventually drifting off into a light sleep.

short time later, Kidreyli heard the sound of her friend moving about. She raised up to see her staring at her with a most telling smile.

Nidreyka stated, “You two are something to behold.”

“What do you mean?”

“I have never seen two people more in love than you. And I could never in all my lives believe that I was saying that about my Kidreyli. And beyond that, your love manifested with a Dhoyan. We hate the Dhoyans. They have sold us out uncountable times. Can you just hear the conversations around the fires of our homeland about how the mighty Valtyr warrior Kidreyli found love with one of them?”

Kidreyli corrected her, “Actually, a Dhoyan princess.”

Nidreyka nearly fell back off the stone she was sitting on as she exclaimed, “A Dhoyan princess?! You’re not serious?!”

Kidreyli nodded, brandishing a sly smile.

Nidreyka looked over to see Dikaylia six feet away, still sleeping on their bedroll on her belly. She picked up a stick, patted her bum and commanded, “Wake up, my love. You don’t want to miss this.”

She jumped awake, with her eyes full of sleep, “What…what is it?”

“I mentioned how surprising it was that Kidreyli has found love with a Dhoyan.”

“And…?”

Nidreyka continued through her laughter, “She’s not just any Dhoyan, she’s a Dhoyan princess.”

“It’s too early to joke about something like that.”

“I’m not. In your wildest imagination you couldn’t make this up,” Nidreyka laughed through her words.

Kaitra sat up, a bit groggy from sleep, “What am I missing?”

The three Valtyr laughed out loud.

“What?” Kaitra asked dumbfounded.

Kidreyli intervened, “I’ll explain it to you later.”

She saw in her lover’s mind what happened and exclaimed, “You told them I was a princess?! What’s wrong with you?”

“It just slipped out. They found it entertaining that I bonded with a Dhoyan, irrespective of the relationship between our peoples. You realize the Valtyr don’t really get on with the Dhoyans?”

The sorceress was surprised, “I didn’t know that. Why don’t you like us?”

Nidreyka laughed, “Oh, you’ve opened a hornet’s nest now.”

Kidreyli, amidst her laughter, tried to tamp down the growing flames, “Please, please, please, my love. Let it go. It’s nothing… really.”

“But….”

Kidreyli interrupted her further inquiry by grabbing the back of her head and administering a deeply passionate kiss on her lips. “Let’s get to Triami,” she said, changing the subject. She got up and hastily headed for Tyral. Nidreyka and Dikaylia were quick to follow, so as not to get caught up alone with the sorceress.

Kaitra sat quietly for a few moments, clearly feeling left out of what was to the others a rather amusing conversation. She grabbed up Kidreyli’s cloak and stood. She tried to take a step and she suddenly saw the forest around her spinning about. She lost her sense of balance and fell, ending up on her back.

Kidreyli had looked back over her shoulder just in time to see her love hit the ground. “Kaitra?” she called out, but no response came back. “Kait!” she blurted out with fear and urgency showing in her eyes as she ran back to her. Nidreyka was right behind her.

Kidreyli jumped over a big gray stone and knelt down on one knee next to her, cradling her head. “Kaitra,” she said, but there was no response. She held out her hand over her lover’s chest, but Nidreyka pushed it away.

“Let me,” she requested.

Kidreyli nodded her agreement, knowing that her friend had a superior ability to sense what might be wrong.

Nidreyka let her hand hover over Kaitra’s chest and closed her eyes. It was but a few scant moments before she said, “The poison from that arrow is still in her. I can feel it. I think she just fainted from its effects when she tried to stand.”

“She seemed all right yesterday,” Kidreyli noted.

“She was probably running on adrenaline. When she slept, she calmed and it gave the poison an opportunity to reassert itself.”

Kaitra groaned as she regained consciousness. “What happened?”

“You are still affected by the poison,” Kidreyli explained. “We think you just fainted.”

She sat up, wincing from the pain emanating from her wounds. “The forest just started spinning and the next thing I know I’m lying in your arms.”

“How are your wounds faring?”

Her answered was painted with sarcasm, “It feels like someone shot me with an arrow. How else should it feel? It didn’t help that you slept on me there last night.”

“She’s back,” Nidreyka smiled, referring to her feisty manner as she stood.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t even think,” Kidreyli said.