The Quest for the Heart Orb (3 page)

“But Bredon isn’t,” Karma said.

“No, he’s not,” Kapia said.  “I told him about my part in the last battle against the harpies and kadjet.  I didn’t even think twice about it, but if I had, I would have assumed that he’d be happy I’d done so well.  I’d have thought he’d be proud of me.  I know now that I would have been very wrong.”

“I’m sorry,” Karma said.  “You’ve got to keep in mind that many of the changes in you that we just discussed took place while Bredon was absent.  It must have shocked him a great deal to hear that you fought against demons.  Maybe he just needs a little time to get used to who you are now.”

“What if he doesn’t?  What if he wants me to stop being the person I’ve become?”

“Then you’ll have to decide whether to be true to yourself, or try to go back to the person he wants you to be,” Karma said. 

“I can’t go backwards, Karma,” Kapia said.  “But at the same time, I can’t imagine a future without Bredon at my side.”

“I understand that very well,” Karma said.  “But don’t forget that Bredon has been through a lot these past weeks, just as you have.  I imagine you’ll see changes in him, too.  It’s entirely possible that you’ll both have to make adjustments.  I suggest that you wait until you’ve a chance to spend time together before making any decisions.”

“You’re right, Karma, that’s a good idea,” Kapia said.  “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, Kapia, though I didn’t really do anything,” Karma said.  Kapia raised her arms, then let them fall back to her sides.

“I want to give you a hug, but I’m afraid I’ll hurt you.  How’s your back?”

“Much better,” Karma said.  “The Argiari’s healing ointment really is a wonder.  I think it rivals the healing tanks of Earth or Jasan.”

“I wish I’d thought to ask how it was made before they left,” Kapia said.  “I’ve got several jars of it, but once it’s gone, it’s gone.  That’s another thing I’ve learned about myself on this quest that I would never have discovered otherwise.  I like caring for those who’ve been injured.”

“And you’re good at it,” Karma said, smiling at her. 

“
Someone approaches,”
Nikura said.  Karma glanced down at the Sphin who, at well over two feet high at the shoulder and at least one hundred and forty pounds, looked like an overgrown, grey and silver tabby cat with the flat face and round eyes of a Persian.  It was a comparison to which Nikura took great offense, though he’d never even seen a
cat
. 

Karma followed Nikura’s gaze.  The sun had just touched the horizon and the mountain shadows were growing deep and long, but there was enough light to see a diplo and rider on the trail below.

“Look,” Karma said pointing at the figure.

Kapia squinted into the gathering dusk, her heart beginning to race the moment she spotted the visitor.  “It’s Bredon.”

“Bredon?” Karma asked.  “Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure,” Kapia said, her face lit with excitement.  “It’s Bredon.”

“I thought he wasn’t due to arrive for another few days.”

“That’s what he said,” Kapia replied with a grin, her troubles forgotten.  “Knowing Bredon, he probably wanted to surprise me.  Please excuse me, Karma, I’m going to run down and meet him.”

“All right, but watch your footing,” she warned, but Kapia was already gone, jogging toward the path they’d worn between the Argiari village and the valley at the foot of the mountain during their stay.  “What do you think, Nikura?  Is it Bredon?”

“Almost certainly, though I can’t yet scent him,”
Nikura replied.

Karma looked around and spotted a large boulder nearby.  She walked over to it and sat down with a long, slow sigh of relief.  Her wounds were nearly healed, but her body was still weak.  This was the furthest she’d walked since the day of the attack, and knowing she had yet to walk back was a little daunting at the moment.

“Should I summon Prince Zakiel?”
Nikura asked, eyeing her carefully.

“No, thank you,” Karma replied.  “I’m fine.  I just want to be sure that’s Bredon down there, then we’ll go back.”  They watched in silence as Kapia ran down the mountain, appearing and disappearing as the trail snaked back and forth.  A little while later they saw the rider stop his diplo and leap from the saddle.  Karma fully relaxed only when she saw Kapia leap into the rider’s arms, proof enough for her that it was, in fact, Bredon.

“It’s time for us to have that conversation we’ve been putting off,” she said.

“
I
was not putting it off. 
You
were,”
Nikura said.

“Actually, Zakiel and I decided to put it off together, which is why I said
we
,” Karma corrected.  Nikura didn’t respond, but he radiated irritation the way a fire radiated heat.  She had to bite her lip to keep from laughing out loud as she got slowly to her feet.  The Sphin had been holding back the worst of his sarcasm since her injury, and while his worry and devotion touched her, she had no intention of telling him it was okay to resume his usual demeanor because she felt better.  “Come on, Nikura, let’s go back before Zakiel begins to worry too much.”

Karma was leaning on Nikura more than she liked by the time they reached the settlement, and she was grateful that he offered his support in silence.  She turned toward the dwelling she shared with Zakiel, relieved when he stepped outside, spotted them, and hurried toward her.

“What’s wrong?” he asked after one glance at her face, his light blue eyes studying her intently.

“I’m just tired,” she replied, rubbing Nikura’s ears in thanks for his help.  “Bredon has arrived.  Kapia ran down to meet him.”

Zakiel nodded as he scooped Karma up into his arms.  “You’ve had enough exercise for today,” he said after kissing her forehead.  He carried her into their tent which was set up so that it connected one of the Argiari bath houses with the two room Argiari house that they’d been using during their stay on the
Hidden Sister
.  He turned left into the house and set her on a cushion in front of the fireplace.

“Thank you,” Karma said with a sigh.  Zakiel shot her a sharp look.

“You’re in pain.”

“I may have done more than I should have today,” she said.  “Nothing a good night’s sleep won’t cure, I’m sure.”

“You shouldn’t have pushed yourself so hard,” Zakiel said sternly, his tone in direct contrast to the gentleness of his hands as he draped her favorite shawl over her shoulders.

“I know,” she admitted, surprising him.  “We need to talk about Bredon and Kapia.”

“And whether or not to tell her what we know,” he finished, taking the cushion opposite her while Nikura settled on the one between them.  Karma nodded.  “Kapia is my sister, and I don’t want to keep something this important from her.  But I’m worried.”

“About?” Karma asked. 

“What if we tell her that Bredon is
fudaso
, and what that means, and she sends him away?”

“Sir Bredon cannot be sent away,”
Nikura said. 
“We need him if we are to have any chance against the Djinn, or Marene.”

“I don’t remember Zabeth saying that,” Karma said.  “About the Djinn, yes.  But not Marene.”

“
Cadusar Zabeth said, and I quote,
Bredon is a conduit of necessity to an enemy you must treat with, else Rathira will fall to the Djinn.  Without him at your side, Rathira will be lost to the enemy.”

“I see,” Karma said.  “I wondered why Worrow’s message said the same thing twice.  But it didn’t, did it?  He meant we’d need Bredon against two different enemies; the Djinn first, and then Marene.”

“More specifically, I think it means that we need
Marene
against the Djinn, and Bredon is the means by which we will enlist her help,”
Nikura said. 
“We will need Bredon’s help in dealing with Marene as well.  That is why I asked Zabeth if Bredon was a minion.”

“You’re right, Nikura, we can’t let Kapia send Bredon away,” Karma agreed.  “But I don’t see why that means we have to lie to her.”

“I would not make such a suggestion to you, Lady Techu,”
Nikura said with a sniff and a twitch of his tail. 
“I know you better than that.  I only ask that you refrain from telling her all that you know.”

“If we were talking about something that didn’t directly affect Kapia so strongly, I
might
agree,” Karma said.  “But this is personal.  He betrayed her.  She has a right to know that.”

“He did not betray her,” Zakiel said.  Karma huffed, her eyes wide with the beginnings of outrage, but he held up one hand, palm out, in a quest for patience.  “For one thing, the incident occurred before we left Ka-Teru which was before Bredon and Kapia became a couple.”  Karma nodded, forced to admit the truth of that.  “For another thing,” Zakiel continued, “we’ve no knowledge of the circumstances in which he became
fudaso
.  I cannot believe that Bredon would knowingly or willingly consent to such a thing.  If he didn’t, then he is blameless.”

“Like Saigar?” Karma asked, naming the man they’d all thought to be a willing
cin sahib
, but who, it turned out, had been another of Marene’s victims.

“Yes, exactly,” Zakiel said.  “We know only the barest facts of what happened to Bredon.  I don’t think it would be fair for us to tell Kapia about this unless we’ve no other choice.”

They fell silent as Lashi set bowls and utensils on the low table between them, and Timon served dinner, a rich stew that made Karma’s mouth water.  Her appetite was just returning and she seemed to feel hungry all of the time now.  If she kept eating the way she had been the last couple of days, her diplo wouldn’t be able to carry her by the time the babies were born.  She set that subject aside with a characteristic shrug and began eating while she considered what Zakiel had said.

“I understand your points, Zakiel, I really do,” she said after a few minutes.  “And I understand you, too, Nikura.  But understanding, logic, reason…none of that prevents me from feeling that Kapia has a right to know the truth about the man she loves.  I know that’s how I’d feel in her place.  She’s proven herself to be a strong and capable woman, and keeping this information from her is not only wrong, it makes me feel as though we’re betraying her too.  She has to be told.”

Nikura yawned, his long white fangs gleaming in the firelight, a sure sign of annoyance, but Zakiel shook his head sharply, forestalling whatever the Sphin had been about to say.  “I have a solution that should appease everyone.”  Karma and Nikura looked at him with matching expressions of surprise.  “I agree that it appears as though Bredon has made some unfortunate choices, but I’ve known him my whole life, Karma.  There’s more to this than we know.  I will tell him what Zabeth told us, and Worrow’s message.  Bredon is a good man, and he loves Kapia.  I know that once he understands that the fate of Rathira depends on him remaining with the Orb Quest, there is nothing anyone could say or do that would cause him to abandon his duty.  Not even Kapia.”

Karma put her spoon down and reached for her tea.  From the corner of her eye she saw Nikura nod in agreement with Zakiel, but she wasn’t convinced quite yet.  “After you speak with Bredon, will you then agree to tell Kapia everything?”

“No,” Zakiel said.  “But I will tell Bredon that he must reveal all to Kapia himself, or we will.  This is the best way, Karma.  He knows the truth.  All of it.  We do not.”

“I will agree to this only if you speak with Bredon tonight, or in the morning at latest,” Karma said.  “We can delay no longer than that, Zakiel.”

“Agreed,” Zakiel said.  “Nikura?”

“Agreed.”

“Good,” Zakiel said.  “I’m glad that’s settled.”

“As am I,” Karma said, picking her spoon up again.  “I really didn’t want to be the one to add to Kapia’s worries.”

“Did she speak with you about why she’s been so melancholy these last days?” Zakiel asked.

“She did,” Karma said.  “Even without the matter we just discussed, I’m afraid Kapia may have a difficult choice to make now that Bredon has returned.”

It didn’t take more than a few moments for Zakiel to understand.  “Bredon has expressed displeasure with Kapia’s newfound fighting skills.”  Karma nodded.  “I hope he changes his view, because I’ve seen Kapia in battle.  The Tigren is very strong in her, and she can’t change that any more than I can.”

Chapter Two

Sir Bredon of the House of Bauron, First Knight of Isiben, stared up at the mountain before him.  It was hard to believe that, until recently, this had been an empty valley.  There was nothing to indicate that the mountain had ever
not
been there, nor did it appear to be different from any other mountain he’d ever seen.  In fact, if not for the large building at the foot of the trail that Kapia had told him about, he’d have doubted he was in the right place. 

He took a moment to study the building, surprised by the size of it even though Kapia had told him how large the Argiari were.  Why they’d put the building here instead of higher on the mountain where their settlement was, no one seemed to understand.  Now that he was seeing it with his own eyes, he thought it was probably a guardhouse of sorts.  Satisfied with that explanation, he guided his diplo past the building and onto the well-worn trail leading up the southern face of the
Hidden Sister
, his heart pounding with excitement.  Soon, very soon, he’d be with his beloved Kapia again.  He could hardly wait.

Unbidden came the memory of the argument they’d had a few days earlier.  He winced.  He had no right to speak to Kapia as he had.  Nor did he have the right to tell her what she could or could not do.  She was Princess of Isiben.  He was only a knight.  A knight of the highest rank, true, but still, just a knight.  His only excuse was that it terrified him to imagine her in a life and death battle against not just one harpy, but many.  He didn’t even want to think about the kadjets.

On the bright side, their argument had taken place while they were communicating through the Moon Orb rather than in person.  If he and Kapia had been face to face at that moment, she would have seen a side of him that he considered best hidden from her.