Quest for the Sun Orb (15 page)

“It needs to be done,” Karma said.  “It’s the reason I’m needed here, it’s why I’m the Lady Techu.  What good can I do if I don’t use the powers I am meant to use?”

Kapia nodded slowly.  “I understand what you’re saying, Karma.  You do what you have to do.  And I have to do the same.”

“Kapia, listen to me,” Karma said, waiting for Kapia to meet her steady gaze.  “I am not trying to tell you any such thing.  Do not compare yourself to me, or anyone else.  It is up to
you
, and you alone, to decide how and when to use any special gifts that you may have.  You must listen to yourself, and no one else, when making decisions like this because you are the one who must live with the consequences.”

“I understand, Karma,” Kapia said.  “I won’t do anything I’m not ready for.”

“Good,” Karma replied.  “Now, tell me, how is Tiari doing?”

“She’s doing great,” Kapia said with a grin.  “She’s sure got Tomas wrapped around her little finger.”

“Yes, though I doubt very much that she knows it,” Karma said.

“No, I’m sure that she doesn’t,” Kapia replied.  “If she did, I’d probably be worried about how easily she was able to do it.  I like her, Karma, and I think she’s very good for Tomas.”

“So do I,” Karma replied.  “I want to talk to her about how she knew where the hearts were on those things we killed today, but that discussion will have to wait until tomorrow.”

“Which reminds me that I should go now and let you rest,” Kapia said, getting to her feet.  “Thanks for your help, Karma.  You are such a wonderful sister to me, and I love you.”

“I love you, too, Kapia,” Karma replied.  “Goodnight.”

Kapia left Karma and wandered slowly back to her own tent in the fading light, thinking about the small orb in the pocket of her skirt.  It was encased in a leather coin bag that was pinned into the pocket so that there was no chance of it falling out, though Kapia wasn’t sure it was possible for such a thing to happen without her knowing it.  She was aware of it on some level all of the time, and had been since pulling it from the Orb Cradle on the atoll.

Thinking of the Orb Cradle reminded her of Bredon’s knife,
Mintaka-Til
, and how she’d left it behind, but safe.  That in turn had her thinking of Bredon, and wondering how he was, where he was, and what he was doing.  Had Worrow been able to banish Marene from his mind and body?  Was he, even now, trying to catch up to them?  Or was he going in the opposite direction in an effort to keep the rest of them safe?  She slipped her hand into her pocket and wrapped her fingers around the Moon Orb.  Maybe it was time to set aside her fears and find some answers.

She entered the women’s tent and pulled her cloak off, folding it neatly before laying it on a basket nearby. 

“Good evening, Tiari,” she said as she sat down on her own cushion.

“Good evening, Kapia,” Tiari said.  “How is Karma?”

“She’s still tired, but after dinner and a good night’s rest, I think she’ll be fine,” Kapia replied.  “How about you?  Are you all right?”

“Oh yes, I’m fine,” Tiari said.  “I did nothing more than see.”

“Do you feel more tired than usual?” Kapia asked, noting that there were dark patches beneath her eyes.  They were faint, but they hadn’t been there before.

“Yes, I do,” Tiari admitted.  “I’m sure it’s because I am not used to so much excitement and exercise.  Tomas said that I would get stronger though.”

“He is correct,” Kapia said.  “You will get stronger.  But I don’t think that’s the reason for your tiredness.  Not the only reason, anyway.”

Tiari paled.  “Did I do something wrong, Kapia?”

“No, of course not,” Kapia replied quickly.  “I only meant that I think you used more than just your eyes today.  I think you have a power, or talent, that requires more of your own energy than you realize.”

“Do you mean like Karma’s use of the Ti-Ank?  Something like that?” Tiari asked.

“Yes, exactly,” Kapia replied. 

“That would be wonderful,” Tiari said.  “I very much liked being of use today.  It would be nice if I could do it again.”

“Even without extra talents, you are of use,” Kapia said.  “You are the Maiden of the Sun, and that is no small thing to be.  You are the only one who can claim the Sun Orb.  Without you, Rathira will cease to be.”

“I know, Kapia,” Tiari said.  “And I am grateful for the honor, truly I am.  I suppose it is selfish of me to want more.”

“You think it is selfish to want to help others?” Kapia asked, laughing.  “I’m not sure you understand the real meaning of selfish, Tiari.”

Tiari smiled ruefully, as she reached for her tea.  “I must seem silly to you.”

“Not at all,” Kapia replied.  “I just want you to realize that you are already unique.  Already of great help.  And you are already cared for by many of us.  You need not worry so much.”

“You...care for me?” Tiari asked hesitantly.

“Very much,” Kapia replied.  “There is something about you that makes me feel as though I’ve always known you.  Maybe it’s because we are both Orb Maidens.  I don’t know, and I don’t really care.  I like you, and I care about you.  Just so you know, I’ve only once before cared so much for another person so quickly, and that was Karma.  You are much like her.”

“Me?  Like Karma?” Tiari asked doubtfully.  She shook her head.  “I want to be as strong, brave, and kind as you and Karma one day.  But I have only just begun to learn.”

“You do not have to learn to be who you are,” Kapia said.  “You are strong, Tiari, and very brave.  You agreed to join us, complete strangers, on a quest you knew nothing of aside from what we told you.  You rode a diplo, which you’d never seen before, allowed us to take you away from the only home you ever knew into a world filled with things you know nothing about.  Because of you, the battle with the
kadjet
ended without the loss of lives, and with only one injury.  And you are very kind.  You must believe me when I say that, Tiari.  I’ve had many years of experience with someone who was not kind, so I know a kind person when I see one.”

“I’m sorry, Kapia,” Tiari said, seeing the mixed sadness and anger in Kapia’s aura.  “I did not mean to bring up bad memories.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Kapia said, smiling.  “Marene seems to be an evil that I am not quite finished dealing with, and it is best that I keep that in mind.  That reminds me of something.”  Kapia pulled a gold ring from her finger and held it in her hand for a moment.  “Can you still see?”

“Yes, though it’s growing dark, I can see well enough,” Tiari replied.

“Good, because you need to be able to see for this,” Kapia said.  “Yesterday, when you said you’d like to be able to defend yourself, I thought of this ring.  Before I learned the staff, I relied upon this.  It was once my mother’s, and now I offer it to you to use until you, too, are able to defend yourself with a weapon.”

“I am honored that you would offer me something so valuable,” Tiari said, looking at the ring in the shape of a snake on Kapia’s palm.  “But I do not understand how it is to be used to defend myself.”

“This is more than a ring,” Kapia said.  “It’s called the Sting of the Naja.  The Naja is a deadly snake that’s found in the deep deserts of Isiben.  It’s venom is so deadly that one drop can kill in moments.”

Tiari studied the ring closely, noting the intricately carved scales of the snake’s body that wrapped around the finger when worn, the flat, triangular head, the tiny eyes set with green stones, and the twin fangs in its opened mouth. 

“If you hold here,” Kapia said as she turned the ring over and held the band portion, “then twist this part at the top, two tiny needles pop out through the fangs.”

Tiari smiled, understanding.  “They have poison on them, don’t they?”

“Yes, they do,” Kapia said.  Tiari watched carefully as Kapia reset the mechanism.  “The poison will never lose it’s effectiveness.  The smallest scratch from one of those needles will kill in a few short minutes.  A wound deep enough to draw blood will kill in moments.  You must be very careful with it, though I will say that it isn’t possible to accidentally release the poison.  It requires that you turn it on top and press beneath at the same time.”

Tiari accepted the ring from Kapia and ran her fingers over it carefully, memorizing by touch as she had by sight.  Then she slipped it over the middle finger of her right hand and smiled, enjoying the rare sensation of protection it gave her.  “Thank you very much, Kapia,” she said.  “I promise to be very careful with it.” 

***

Bredon sat staring into the dwindling flames of his campfire, thinking, as he did so often, of Kapia.  It had been a long day for him.  As a Knight Hunter, leader of his own pack of Hunters, he’d rarely spent much time alone during the daylight hours.  The loneliness of just the past few days was already beginning to wear on him, but he had no idea how to guard against it.

He’d left the forest that day around noon and passed into a landscape of low, rocky hills dotted with small groves of scraggly trees and wild brush.  He’d seen no people, which wasn’t really unusual considering the landscape.  Why would anyone want to live in such a barren place?  He smiled to himself as he thought of the desert sands of Isiben.  But that was different, he thought.  That was home
.

“Bredon?”

Bredon twitched in surprise and looked around warily, cursing himself for staring directly into the flames for so long that his night vision was ruined.  He closed his eyes and focused with his ears, straining for the slightest sound.

“Bredon?  Can you hear me?  It’s Kapia.”

Bredon frowned but didn’t open his eyes.  After a moment he realized that he wasn’t actually hearing the voice with his ears at all.  It was in his mind, like Marene’s voice was in his mind.  But this didn’t sound anything like Marene.

“Kapia?”
he asked cautiously, some instinct warning him not to speak aloud the way he did when he spoke to Marene.  If he did, Marene would hear every word he said.  Assuming that this wasn’t Marene trying to trick him.

“
Bredon!”
she said. 
“Can you really hear me?”

“Yes, I can hear you,”
Bredon said warily. 
“Only, how do I know it’s you?”

“Good question,”
Kapia replied. 
“Ask me something that only I would know the answer to.”

Bredon thought about that for a few moments. 
“What is my secret name for you?”

“Surna,”
Kapia replied at once, and Bredon blew out a surprised breath of air.  No one but Kapia could know that.  It was an archaic word meaning
sugar
that few knew.

“How are you doing this?”
he asked
.

“The Moon Orb,”
Kapia replied. 
“Are you all right Bredon?  I’ve been so worried about you.”

“At the moment I’m better than ever,”
Bredon replied. 
“You don’t know what it means to me to be able to hear your voice, my beloved surna.  In a manner of speaking.”

Kapia’s soft laughter filled his mind and he couldn’t help grinning, feeling happy for the first time in days.  Her laughter always made him happy.

“What about Marene?”
she asked.

“She’s still here,”
Bredon said, his grin fading as quickly as it had appeared. 

“Can she hear us?”

“No, I don’t think so,”
Bredon replied.
 “I can’t tell what she’s thinking, so I assume it’s the same for her.”

“Did Worrow try to get her out of you?”

“Yes, he did,”
Bredon replied. 
“I don’t know what happened, though.  He gave me something to drink and that’s the last thing I remember until waking up yesterday, alone.  Except for Marene.  He warned me that it might affect my memory but I had no idea how much.”

“Where are you now?”

“I’m heading south,”
he said. 
“To Darkly Fen.”

“Darkly Fen?”
Kapia asked in surprise
.  “Why are you going there?”

“Because Marene says there’s an artifact there that will allow her to separate us,”
Bredon replied.

“And you believe her?”

“It’s my only option, Kapia,”
Bredon said. 
“I cannot come near you, or the others, so long as Marene is inside of me.  The only bright side to this is that I don’t think she likes being here any more than I like having her.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,”
Kapia said. 
“Being inside of you is better than being dead.  She’s demon now, did you know that?”

“Yes, Worrow told me,”
Bredon replied. 
“Are you sure about that though?  She sounds the same as ever when I talk to her.”

“I’m positive, Bredon,”
Kapia said. 
“Trust me on this.  Marene is fully evil.”

“I still don’t have a choice, Kapia,”
Bredon replied
.  “I want her out, and she’s the only one so far who has offered a solution to the problem.”

“I understand, Bredon,”
Kapia said reluctantly. 
“Just be careful, all right?  I don’t trust Marene, and I hate the idea of you having to rely on her for anything.”

“I don’t like it either,”
Bredon said. 
“I’m sorry, Kapia.”

“There’s nothing for you to be sorry about,”
Kapia said
.  “Don’t apologize to me for something that you had nothing to do with, and cannot control.”

Bredon felt a wave of guilt wash over him, and was suddenly glad that Kapia couldn’t see him. 
“How are you?”
he asked, trying to change the subject. 

“I’m much better now that I can talk to you,”
she replied. 
“I wish that I could join you, though.”

“No,”
Bredon said sharply.  He felt Kapia’s surprise and hurt at the vehemence of his response. 
“I’m sorry, surna,”
he said. 
“It’s just that the very idea of you being so close to Marene makes me a little crazy.”