The Lotus Ascension (2 page)

“
Elendrie, Earth Mother, Knitter in Wombs, be praised. Let the fruit
of her handiwork come forth.” The painted priestess crushed the head of wheat
in her fingers and scattered it across the floor.

The Chiel
priestess sprinkled petals of violets from the hem of her robe. “The Lady of
Light welcomes this child into Gilalion. Let this house be blessed. Let these—”

Her breath
caught, and her spell was disrupted. Ajalira screamed one last time, and with
her final, exhausted cry, she fell back into her husband's arms. The old
midwife was working fast, though she was hidden by Ajalira's body so Konas
could not see. He heard a couple light smacks and then a lusty cry. The baby
was born.

Still the
priestess of Chiel stared. The midwife stared at the baby in her hands. The
prostitute-priestess stood dumb. Kamen leaned forward.

“
What is it?” he asked.

Konas grew
curious and drew near, too.

“
A god cloaked in flesh,” the painted priestess whispered.

“
What beauty is born into this world this
night!
”
The Chiel priestess spoke distractedly, her chant completely forgot.

The midwife
presented the baby like a precious offering, but Ajalira could not take it. She
lay dazed, and the old woman's indulgent smile vanished. With a grim look, she
passed the baby off to a younger midwife. What charm had worked in her was
forgot. She had
work
to do.

“
What's wrong?” Kamen asked.

“
Nothing.”
The old midwife knelt between Ajalira's legs. “I must deliver the
after-birth.”

“
Is it a boy or girl?” Konas asked.

“
A boy.”
The young midwife turned the baby toward him.

Konas was struck
by the child's beauty, not at all hideous as he had feared. Indeed, the boy's
features were lovely and perfect, the very flower of both races, though Konas
did not fawn over the child the way all the women were. The baby's little horns
stood like buds on his head. Konas could not help but smile. There would be no
writing to his brother tonight, and he would have to wait in Arinport until
Ajalira bore a daughter.

“
What's wrong, woman?” Kamen's demand pulled Konas back to the bloody
scene not three paces from him.

The old woman
did not look up.
“The after-birth.”
Her eyes narrowed,
and she chewed the side of her tongue in concentration. She tugged at
something. “It doesn't want to come out.”

“
What do you mean it doesn't want to come out? Of course it does.”

The midwife shot
Kamen a withering stare. “Of course it does, you say? You who know so much about
delivery? Look, sometimes it gets stuck and needs a bit of coaxing to let go.
Talk to her.
Let her know you're here.”

Kamen snuggled
down next to Ajalira's shoulder. “It'll be all right, my love. All will be
well. Soon you will see your son. He's so beautiful.”

Ajalira moaned
and gritted her teeth.

The old midwife
stepped away from her patient for a moment and took one of the young women by
the elbow. “Go, fetch me huskwort and raspberry leaf.”

The maid sped
off.

“
What do you need that for?” Konas asked. His natural curiosity had
gotten the better of him.

“
To stop the bleeding.
Sometimes the after-birth tears.”

Konas cringed
and closed his eyes against the thought.

“
But it's got to come out.” The old midwife returned to Ajalira.
“Now, now dear.
I need you to relax. Brace yourself.”

Konas could not
watch. He imagined blood pouring out. He imagined sick sounds of tearing flesh.

“
Not you without me,
nor
I without you.”
Kamen stroked Ajalira's sweat-matted hair. “You have to fight like a Tamari.
Don't you dare leave me! Remember our oath? If you go, I follow. If I go, you
follow.” Kamen held up his scarred palm, and Ajalira placed her scarred palm
flat against his. Her love for Kamen shone in her eyes, but that light soon
darkened, and her placid expression twisted into one of agony.

“
Something's stuck.” Ajalira's voice was weak, distant.

“
Yes, dear.
Just relax.” The old woman tugged at the cord.

“
No, something's still in there.” She groaned again and drew in
quick, short breaths. “I feel like I need to go—” Pain cut off her words.

The old woman
jumped up. “Elendrie's dirty ring, there's another baby in there!”

The priestess of
Elendrie gasped, but the midwife made no apology for her blasphemy.

Konas started in
shock and moved back to stand in his original position behind Ajalira.

“
Another one?”
Kamen asked.

“
Twins,” the midwife said, “who shared the same sac. That's why her
water only broke once, and that's why she's delivering early.”

“
Will it be all right?”

“
Not if you keep talking and don't let me work.”

The blue-robed
priestess smiled. “Chiel blesses this house with an abundance of life.”

Konas stood
amazed. Ausir were naturally infertile, and few ever bore children among his
kind. Even rarer were the families that had more than one child. But twins?
They were unheard of. No Ausir had ever had twins. Then Konas remembered
Ajalira's lineage. Her great-great-grandfather was human.
 
Could that, added to a mating with a human,
produce twins?

Ajalira cried
out and bore down, and all through the labor, the boy child screamed. No amount
of coddling by the young midwife could soothe him. Every limb was taut, and he
held his arms out with little, balled-up fists. Mother and child were
cacophonous, and then a third cry joined the chorus. Ajalira passed out, and
Kamen attended to her while the old midwife cleaned up the second baby. She cut
the cord and stood with the baby, wrapping it in linens like the other. Her old
face was beguiled, and an entrancement seemed to enter her through her eyes.

“
And a goddess to join him.”
The old woman cradled the bawling baby girl in her arms, though no
cooing quieted her.

The Queen of the
Ausir was born. Konas had to see her, his future sister-in-law, future bride to
his brother, the Ausir King. Konas stepped around, but when he saw the baby's
face, he was dumbstruck. Her face seemed to glow with her beauty, and Konas had
never seen anything more perfect. Now he understood the ladies' reactions. He
wanted nothing more than to ease the baby's suffering, for truly she was
distraught.

The old midwife
passed the baby girl to her now conscious mother, but the baby still cried.

“
Hold her against your chest,” the old woman said. “She's heard
nothing but your heartbeat for months. The sound will soothe her.”

Ajalira did so,
but the girl did not cease her bawling.

The old woman
took the baby from Ajalira. “I must measure them.” She took the girl over to
the table where the boy already lay crying, but as soon as she laid the girl
next to her brother, they both stopped. Silence fell suddenly.

“These children
are not mine.” The priestess of Elendrie shredded the stalks of wheat in her
nervous hands.

The priestess of
Chiel stared at the babies. “Nor mine. The Bright Lady cannot claim them.”

Konas shouldered
his way between the women. “What are you talking about?”

“Their birth was
not brought about by the Earthmother,” the temple harlot said. “Nor was it by
her grace that their mother conceived them.”

“The light of
Chiel does not shine in their eyes,” the blue-robed woman said. “Their life is
not her gift.”

Konas shook his
head and stepped back, but he kept his gaze fixed on the beautiful children,
especially the little girl. Nothing made sense to him, and he was happy to
leave it to the mystics.

“
They're not crying anymore,” Kamen said, clearly oblivious to the
concern of the priestesses.

Ajalira rubbed
her belly. “They lived together for eight months. They're used to each other.”

“
You didn't leave me.” Kamen kissed her forehead. “I'm glad you
decided to stay.”

Ajalira's weak
smile was full of love for Kamen. “Not you without me,
nor
I without you.”

Was that a
Tamari thing, or just something those two had come up with? Konas wondered at
this vow, this idea that Kamen could not, would not live without Ajalira, and
vice versa. He shook his head and walked over to where the babies lay, content
and quiet. He knelt before the girl and touched her tiny foot.

“
My Queen.
Behold your servant. And if you were not my Queen, still I would
serve you for your beauty's sake.”

Chuckling caught
Konas's attention.

“
What will we name him?” Ajalira asked.

“
Soren.
A fine Sunjaa name, one fit for the Itenu heir.”

“
And the girl?”

Kamen lips rose
in a wry smile. “Well, let's see.” He looked around the room. “I say we follow
Ausir fashion of naming children for the first thing we see. You know, the way
your parents named you.”

Ajalira smiled.

“
Yes.” Kamen looked out the window. “I know. I know enough Ausir to
know what 'star' means. Let's call her Sillara, for the stars are twinkling
beautifully tonight.”

Sillara?
A name
fraught with meaning.
Sillara, a name that meant
something to the Seranimesti.

“
Sillara and Soren.
Beautiful names.
Beautiful,
just like their father.”
Ajalira reached back and played with Kamen's
dreadlocks.

“
All their loveliness comes from their mother.” He kissed her lips,
and Konas looked away.

His gaze
returned to baby Sillara. “Sillara,” he whispered. “Lovelier than any star. You
shine more brightly, and the stars' beauty insults yours, which is
incomparable. There is no name to call your beauty.”

He bowed to her
once more and left the room. He had an urgent letter to write.

****

Brother,

When you
wrote to me with good news, I thought it would be of Kamen's death. I have no
intention of marrying the Itenu brat. It is Ajalira I want—have always wanted.
You should have known this. Write me again when Kamen is dead. It cannot be
long, no longer than the burning of a candle. I wait in Duildal.

Ever
your
loving brother,

Tivanel

Chapter One

Sillara twisted
one long lock of her midnight hair around her forefinger and sighed. Though she
stood at a distance of the entire length of the corridor from the chamber in
which her parents stood, though the doors were shut, and though her parents and
Konas all spoke in lowered voices, still she heard them. It was a blessing to
have such keen hearing. She knew that. Or at least, she told herself so. In
truth, it did not please her to know the secret conversations of every
inhabitant of her father's house.

“
Lord Konas.” The voice was Ajalira's, a low, pleading note suffusing
it. “You have been Sillara's tutor. You know our daughter best.”

He does not
, thought Sillara.
Second-best, perhaps.

“
Tell me,” said Kamen. “Is this madness permanent, do you think? Is
there hope that she will return to sanity? That she will be able to face—” Her
father's voice caught, but it was only for an instant. He continued smoothly,
his Ausir accented but correct. “Face her brother's death and acknowledge it?”

Sillara shook
her head, and she swept down the corridor. As Konas spoke idle words of
comfort, she pushed the door open. “Father, Mother.” With the proper behavior
of Sunjaa daughter, Sillara touched her hand to her brow as she greeted her
parents. When she turned to Konas, she bent at the knees in the greeting of
pupil to her master. “Lord Konas.” Then she smiled. “I am not mad, you know.”

Kamen inhaled
deeply, and Ajalira's breast heaved. “My son,” said Kamen, “my firstborn, my
pride, is drowned in the Meshkenet Sea. His ship went down, and you, my
daughter, would mock my sorrow?”