Quest for the Moon Orb: Orbs of Rathira (37 page)

“Not at all, Lady Techu,” Zakiel replied, frowning at the dark circles under Karma’s eyes. 

“Good morning, Brother,” Kapia said, as she rose to her feet.  “Is there something wrong?”

“Yes, actually, there is,” Zakiel replied, wishing he didn’t have to do this on top of everything that had already happened.  “I’m afraid that Saigar has disappeared.”

“Disappeared?” Karma asked, almost glad for this new crisis since it gave her something else to focus on.

“Yes, Lady Techu,” he replied.  “He was left within a tent which was surrounded by Hunters.  When the tent was opened this morning, he was not in it, nor can we determine how he escaped.  I came this morning to ask Nikura to check the tent in hopes that he will sense what we cannot.”

“I’m afraid Nikura is not here right now,” Karma replied, her eyes not quite meeting his.  At that moment Nikura entered the tent behind Zakiel and walked over to sit next to Karma.  He stared up at Karma for a long moment, one ear cocked back.

Karma frowned, then turned to Zakiel.  “He says that he just came from the tent where the man was held, and that it stinks of demon.  He doesn’t know if the scent is from Saigar himself, or another demon.”

“I thank you, Nikura,” Zakiel said.  “Lady Techu, Sister, I must ask that you both stay close to the line today, and don’t go off without the Hunters.  I have no idea where Saigar has gone, but I do not want to offer him the opportunity to finish what he started last night.”

“Of course, Zakiel,” Kapia replied, while Karma only nodded. 

Zakiel could think of nothing else to say.  “I will let you ladies finish readying yourselves for the day.”

“Wait,” Kapia said suddenly as he turned to leave.”  Zakiel looked at her over his shoulder and realized that she was staring at his
egora
.  He smiled at her, glad that she had noticed it.  When her eyes rose to his, the expression of anger and disappointment in her eyes surprised him.   

“What?” he asked, frowning.  He glanced down at the
egora
himself, unable to see what had upset her, but another look at her stricken face convinced him that he had not imagined it.  Kapia was extremely upset.

“Nothing,” she said, her voice a hoarse whisper.  “Excuse me.”  She spun around and hurried into her own chamber before he could ask her to explain herself.  He turned to Karma, who seemed to be studying the floor.  After a moment she, too, excused herself and left, leaving him standing alone except for Nikura who was busy eating.  Shaking his head, Zakiel left the women’s tent and headed back to his own in utter confusion.

Chapter
19

The escape of Saigar was known throughout the caravan by the time everyone was ready to begin the day’s travel.  Karma discussed a modified stirrup for her saddle with the drover who delivered Dippy to her each morning.  As the senior drover, he claimed the honor of personally caring for Goldy and Dippy himself.  He thought it strange that Princess Kapia and Lady Techu had named their mounts, but sometimes those who held high places had strange ideas.  On the other hand, the idea of a stirrup was one he found exciting, and he could hardly wait to implement it.

Karma and Kapia rode side by side in silence for a while.  Kapia was devastated by her elder brother’s behavior toward Karma, and Karma felt guilty for sharing the whole sordid mess with the Prince’s sister. 

“Kapia,” she said finally, “I’m so sorry.  I should have thought more carefully before sharing my problems with you.”

“You regret telling me?” Kapia asked in a small voice.

“I do not regret your friendship, or the decision to trust you with my troubles,” Karma said.  “I regret damaging your good opinion of your brother.  It was thoughtless of me.”

“You did not do the damage, Karma,” Kapia said.  “He did.  I admit that my heart does not want to accept what my mind knows, but none of this is your fault.”

“That’s not true,” Karma replied.  “I must take my own share of the blame in this.”

“Why?” Kapia asked, surprised.  “What did you do wrong?”

“Marene as much as told me she was to wed your brother,” Karma reminded her.  “I didn’t believe her, but I should have checked.  Instead, I allowed myself to care for a man who belongs to another woman.  That is not Prince Zakiel’s fault.”

“I think you are being too hard on yourself,” Kapia said stubbornly.

Karma wondered how Kapia would feel if the shoe was on the other foot, and instead of her brother, she’d fallen for Sir Bredon.  She decided not to raise that particular point.  Kapia had been through quite enough for one day.

“I am very proud of the way you reacted last night,” she said, changing the subject.  “What you did was very brave.”

“It means a lot that you are proud of me,” Kapia said.  “But I have to be honest with you Karma, and admit that I wasn’t brave at all.  I was terrified.”

 “Of course you were terrified,” Karma said with a laugh.  “I’d be very worried if you hadn’t been.  Bravery is not the absence of fear, Kapia.  It’s not giving into your fear.  How much courage do you need to face something you are not afraid of?”

Kapia studied Karma carefully to be sure she wasn’t just trying to make her feel better.  When she thought about it, she realized the truth of what Karma had said.  She had been afraid, but for once, she hadn’t let her fear rule her.  The knowledge caused her to sit up a little straighter in the saddle, and raise her chin a bit.  Then she turned back to face Karma.

“Without you, Karma, and all that you have taught me, I would have hidden beneath my bed last night.  And hated myself for it.  Instead, I feel proud of myself.  Thank you, more than I can say.”

“You’re very welcome, Kapia,” Karma replied.  “Now tell me, how goes the romance between you and Sir Bredon?”

Kapia flushed pink, her eyes taking on a sudden glow of happiness as she began to rattle on about her beloved knight.  Karma listened, nodding in all of the right places, happy that she had successfully diverted Kapia’s thoughts.  She could not change what the girl knew about her brother, but she could, and would, minimize the damage as much as possible.

***

Zakiel led the caravan straight west at a steady pace, anxious to make as much distance as possible since they’d gotten a late start.  He was greatly bothered by Saigar’s disappearance, as were all of the Hunters.  To make matters worse, no sign had been found of the missing guard, Hunter Marl.

Everyone was on edge, and for good reason.  Even without the demon within him, Saigar was known to be among the stealthiest of Hunters.  They dared not let their guard down for a moment, a situation that was making everyone even more tense than usual. 

Their best hope of escaping the worry of Saigar’s current whereabouts was to reach the inland sea and cross it as soon as possible.  Saigar would have no choice but to go around, and by the time he did that, they would have long reached the end of their journey.

Even with these thoughts and concerns on his mind, Zakiel still had time to worry and wonder about Kapia’s reaction to his
egora
.  Since the women were being guarded extra heavily now, he’d had no chance to speak privately with her, or Karma. 

Zakiel turned to look over his shoulder, and saw that the women were talking with each other the same as usual.  He was relieved that neither of them seemed to be upset today.  He faced forward again and went over the morning’s events in his mind once again. 

Kapia liked Karma, he was certain of it.  And she did not like Marene.  He was equally certain of that.  She had not shown any sign of being unduly upset about the Return of the Vatra when he’d told her about it.  On the contrary; she’d seemed excited.  So why had she reacted to his
egora
the way she had? 

Then there was Karma.  He still wanted to discuss her reaction to him the previous morning, but he could not get her alone long enough to begin.  Every time he tried, either Kapia stuck to her side like a burr, or she was deep in conversation with Nikura.  He was beginning to wonder if she was avoiding him on purpose.

He sighed.  He’d been puzzling over the same problems all day long, and was no closer to an answer now than he’d been that morning. 

He reined his diplo in as they came to a sand dune that ran almost straight north and south, blocking their way.  It was especially high and, from his current vantage point, appeared to go on for miles in either direction.  They needed to either climb it, which would be very difficult for the diplos carrying the water barrels, or go out of their way one direction or the other to find the end so that they could walk around it.  He could not make a decision until he climbed the dune and got a better look around, so he urged his diplo forward and began to climb the steep incline. 

A few minutes later he stood on top of the dune and smiled at the tiny strip of green in the distance.  Less then half a day’s ride, he guessed.  He turned to look along the dune in either direction.  Satisfied, he turned around and rode back down, letting his diplo select its own route down the sandy slope to where Bredon and Garundel awaited him.

“There is a break in the dune about a mile south,” he said.  “Once on the other side, it will take perhaps half a day to reach the forest.  I suggest we get safely on the other side, then make camp.  We’ll approach the forest tomorrow when everyone is fresh.”

“Agreed,” Garundel said at once, followed by a nod from Bredon.

Word spread quickly as the caravan turned south and traveled along the foot of the high dune.  By the time the drovers bringing up the rear reached the break and crossed through, everyone knew how close they were to the inland sea.  And the people who were rumored to kill everyone who dared approach them.

***

Karma and Kapia sat watching the tent setters, having agreed that they would not spar again for the third night in a row.  They were too tired in both mind and body for the focus and discipline required to spar.  Karma felt a little uncomfortable with Zakiel’s tent abutting theirs, but she could not deny that it was also reassuring.  She doubted she would have been able to sleep at all the previous night had she not known he was so close, though she had no intention of admitting it to anyone. 

“I think I’ll go for a walk,” Karma said after she and Kapia finished their dinner.  “Do you want to join me?”

“No thank you,” Kapia replied, setting her cup down and stretching.  “I’m tired and want nothing more than to go to bed.”

“All right,” Karma replied as she got to her feet.  “Sleep well.”

“I hope to,” Kapia said with a smile. 

Karma looked around for Nikura, then remembered he’d left after finishing his own dinner.  It was nice that they could spend a little time apart from each other now.  They’d done some experimenting and discovered that so long as they weren’t too far apart, they didn’t have to be within sight of each other any more either. 

Karma left the tent and breathed deeply of the cool evening, enjoying the faint hint of green in the air from the distant forest.  She smiled at Harmin, who was on guard duty nearby, and he bowed in return before turning to face the darkness beyond the tents.  Karma realized she would need to stay within the light of the torches and campfires or risk upsetting the guards, so she turned to walk around the tent toward the center of camp.

“Good evening,” Zakiel said softly from the darkness, startling her.

“Good evening, Prince Zakiel,” she replied, unable to prevent the sudden rush of excitement caused by the sound of his voice. 

Zakiel walked toward her, wishing he could see her face better in the flickering light.  “I thought that you agreed to call me Zakiel,” he said when he was close enough that no one else could hear. 

Karma met his gaze with her own, refusing to drop her eyes to the ground, though she wanted to.  “I don’t think it’s a good idea to do that,” she replied.

“Why not?” Zakiel asked, stepping closer. 

Karma’s body reacted so strongly to his nearness that she had to lock her knees to prevent herself from backing away from him.  She focused on his words, instead of his nearness, relieved to feel her temper flare.

“I know that you do not like off-worlders, Prince Zakiel,” she said coolly.  “But it doesn’t follow that, because you don’t like us, we’re stupid.”

“Stupid?” Zakiel asked in surprise.  “Karma, I have no idea what you’re talking about, but I have never thought you to be stupid.”

Karma felt Nikura brush against her and she automatically reached down and sank her fingers into his fur.  She thought of several responses, each more angry than the last.  She glanced at his
egora
, and though the beads faced away from her, she raised one hand to point at it.  That should tell him more than any words she could say.

As her hand neared the strip of beaded leather on his arm, pain exploded in her head.  She gasped sharply when the pain instantly spread to her chest.  She spent one panicked moment trying to breathe through the pain before her knees gave out and she began to slump to the ground.

Zakiel reached out to catch Karma even before his brain had a chance to process that she was falling.  He was shocked to see that her face was white, just as it had been the morning before, her lips pale, eyes dilated with shock.  He was so stunned by what he was seeing that it took a moment to realize Nikura was hissing and growling angrily.  He glanced down at the Sphin, remembering his clear threat to attack the morning before, but decided to ignore it this time.  Karma was more important.  He picked her up and carried her into his tent, Nikura at his heels.