The Wraeththu Chronicles (151 page)

round the chamber at those words. Someone, whom I did not know stood up, near the end of the table.

"Would you care to expand on that statement, tiahaar? Are you implying that unbeknown to anyone another race has been developing somewhere and would I be right in assuming these Kamagrian are female?" "What have they to do with us?" someone else called out.

I could detect a tiny, niggling thread of panic in those questions. Let them wait for the explanation. I put up my hand to silence them and shook my head. Behind me I heard Pellaz exhale, slowly, deeply. A sharp dart of mind-touch reached me: "What the hell are you doing. Sit down and shut up before you embarrass yourself beyond redemption!"

I ignored it. "There will be plenty of time to explain fully about the Kamagrian, their relationship to Wraeththu, and their future relationship with Wraeththu. What matters most now is something entirely different, but it is still something that must be explained before all else. As you all doubtless know by now, the Aghama is no longer completely a creature of this Earth. But that does not mean that he has left us; far from it. Thiede is now above us; trine in power with Tigron Pellaz and myself. Perhaps it would be to insult your intelligence to point out that what is spiritual must also be reflected in the matter, so I do so, not to inform but merely to place what I have to say in context. Simply; as above, so below. Three in one. Whatever any of you thought about my coming here, I can assure you it was not to remove Caera Meveny from office. He has his part to play, as do we all, and it is a vital part, as the mundane counterpoint of the Aghama. I just wanted to make that clear."

"To who?" Ashmael mouthed, for me alone.

"To me," Pell answered resignedly, under his breath, having known that Ashmael would say something like that.

I turned to Pellaz and reached for his hand. He pulled a face at me, but gave it willingly enough. Then I turned to Caeru. "Three in one?" I said, holding out my other hand. He took it as if he expected me to burn him; his flesh was icy. "Pellaz?" For a moment, I thought he would refuse. He smiled at me cynically. "It seems you insist," he said, knowing full well he had no choice. He took Caeru's free hand in his and closed the circle.

"Remember the past," I said. "The good bits."

"Whose past?" Pellaz asked, but he knew. We opened up to each other and the essence of Tigron/Tigrina whirled into a spectral cone of light above our heads. For Pell, it was so effortless, trained as he was by Thiede. There were still some things that Caera and I would have to learn, but, one day, we would raise some fearsome power together alright. This was the earthly Triad. Not even Pell could dispute it. Above us Thiede, below us Caeru. Absolute necessity. From us would have to come the strong heirs to lead this confused and potentially great race into the future. We raised our hands to spin the light and Ashmael was the first to stand and applaud. Within seconds, everyone had joined him.

In comparison to that, the rest of the meeting just seemed like small-talk. Oh, there was much to speak about. Rebuilding, reality. What should be, what was. What had started as a tense and formal affair, became a relaxed discussion. The minute-keeper was hard-pressed to keep up. I created a storm when I stood up and suggested that the people of Immanion sitting in the gallery should be allowed to have their say. From being normally quite a reserved race, the Gelaming suddenly seemed eager to put their views forward, in some cases at the same time as several other hara. Caeru suggested that Abrimel was now responsible and old enough to be allowed to sit with the Hegemony. Permission for this was granted. It was also decided, at the instigation of one particular forceful voice from the gallery, that three members of the public should yearly be elected to take their place in the Hegalion. It was politely hinted that perhaps the current Hegemony was somewhat divorced from common life, and that such new members might give a wider perspective of things. The Council of Tribes would

also have to be re-organized. It was agreed that the working future of Wraeththu certainly seemed to be taking root in Jaddayoth, and representatives of the twelve tribes should be invited to help in the reshaping of Megalithica, which was really too vast to be coped with solely by Galhea, even though it did have the backing of Immanion. I found that an excellent time to reintroduce the subject of the Kamagrian. Everyone seemed a little squeamish about it at first, which Pell deftly pointed out was a human fault and one which should be discarded.

"If it is so that we must share our world with a race of androgynes more feminine in aspect than ourselves, then we should rejoice," he said. "For a long time I tried to reconcile myself to the fact that Woman as a divine form must necessarily become extinct. Now I am glad that it is not so. Are we still so attached to human failings that we shun those that are different to ourselves? Haven't we learned the price Man had to pay for such foolishness? Surely as true Wraeththu we should embrace Kamagrian as the sisters they are and work together with them. As Cal pointed out, without their help we, Thiede included, would have been wandering up the wrong path for a long time. Perhaps forever, or until some other race came to take our place, as we took Mankind's. Think well on this, tiahaara. To be great, don't we also have to be humble? Serve as well as be served? If the power of the Kamagrian is greater than ours, then we should not resent it, but see it as it truly is. A great opportunity for learning."

Enterprise was another new facet of Pellaz I'd have to get used to. I didn't think it would be a good time to tell him that Kate, his good friend, was Kamagrian, nor that she had been Opalexian's eyes and ears in Im-manion. Perhaps she would want to tell him herself. I still had not seen her. From what I could remember, the last time we'd met (a long, long time ago), I'd been a little bit rude to her. That was when I'd hated women because, deep inside, I'd envied them. Strange to think that I can admit that now. Perhaps it is because I have learned to be truly Wraeththu, to see myself as male and female, as I should, and not just a modified male. A lesson that had to be learned by many I think.

And now my story is just about up to date. It will all take a lot of getting used to. Sometimes, I am sure, Pell and I will hate each other's guts because we have both changed so much. This is necessary because we could not function as a pair if we'd remained the same, but it is still hard. Sometimes he is a stranger and I have to fight a certain fear of him. Sometimes I find myself going to Caeru to escape that fear, that power, but less and less as time goes on. We have learned how to love again. That makes up for all the bad times.

The other night, after a ritual in the temple, Pellaz, Caeru and I ate together on Caeru's terrace and the atmosphere was congenial between us. We were talking about Galhea. Swift, once he'd learned what had happened to me, had lost no time in contacting me. He suggested that we should meet in Immanion before I went back to Forever myself. (Still having trouble with Seel over me, I wonder?) He also said that he'd very much like to bring Tyson with him. It was a request more than a statement. I'd asked how Ty felt about it. My son was now about thirty years old; a disorientating thought. "He is like you," Swift had answered, which probably meant he and Cobweb were still trying to force Tyson to agree to it. I'd said OK, but a little reluctantly. Ty doubtlessly felt the same about it. I wanted to see him, but anticipated difficulties in communication at first. He might still hold a grudge against me because I'd left him in Galhea and never bothered to get in touch. I was telling Pell and Caeru all about Galhea, making them laugh with tales of Cobweb's often absurd behavior which I expect they thought I'd exaggerated. I hadn't. I told them, "Cobweb hated my guts for ages! Can't blame him, I suppose."

"Yet you ended up quite close," Caeru observed wistfully. A certain awkwardness materialized. Relations between Pell and the Tigrina were still cool more often than not.

Pell said, "Rue, do you want to know why I hated you?" and the air went cold.

Caeru rubbed his arms. "If you want to tell me," he said, meaning, 'no.'

"It was because I wanted you to be Cal, and you weren't. I felt you were taking his place, and if I let myself grow to love you, I would be reinforcing that belief, doing what Thiede wanted me to do. In a way, it was pure stubbornness on my part. It must have hurt you a lot. I won't apologize because it would sound pathetic after so much mental cruelty, so let's just open another bottle of wine and talk about something else shall we."

But it was said; that's all that matters. I caught Caeru's eye and winked. He smiled back. Sometimes it would be necessary for us to join forces against Pellaz and keep his ego under control. Not too often I hope.

Eventually, it got too cold to sit on the terrace. We stood up to go inside. One of Caeru's attendants was going round drawing the drapes, lighting the lamps that would show the rooms off to best effect.

"It's quite cozy here, isn't it," Pell remarked. I thought we'd be leaving but he threw himself down in a chair.

"Have we exhausted your wine, Rue?"

"Er, no. I'll have someone bring us more." The Tigrina was as surprised as me. Usually Pell couldn't wait to get away from him.

Left alone with Pell for a few moments, I said, "What are you up to?"

"What do you think of Caeru?"

"Why?"

"Just answer."

"Why?"

Pellaz sighed. "OK, you think our communion should become more than spiritual?"

"I can't believe I'm hearing this!"

"Do you?"

I shrugged. Caeru came back in, trailing a servant carrying a tray of wine. Caeru was smiling; he was happy we were still there.

"Yes, I think it should," I said.

"What's going on?" Caeru asked.

Pellaz sat up in his chair, smiled wolfishly. "Rue, I want you to think back," he said. "I want you to remember Ferelithia. Remember a romantic young har and the time you spent with him. He's not that far away. Think you can manage that?"

Caeru has a good memory; it wasn't that difficult for him.

Someday soon, the stories of our lives, Pell's and mine, will snuggle together on the shelf beside our bed, and that will be an end to all the frantic soul-searching we went through writing them. We have the future now, no need to cling to the past. When we go to the temple to join with the Aghama, we can see it before us. Thiede will always be with us. Not just in memory, but in each harling that is born, every decision that is made, every worship we make to the power that is within us. We call that power God and Goddess. Once it lived in man, but men and women couldn't experience the light and dark of their natures without fear. Perhaps Kamagrian and Wraeththu are the answer. We shall certainly try. Our races as we know ourselves are just the beginning; there is so much more to come, and if we are wise, we shall greet it gladly.

The country that became Almagabra was initially colonized by the Gelaming who came over from Megalithica. They found human society in a state of collapse, mainly through the effects of strange, incurable diseases, inner conflict between peoples and a marked increase in the suicide rate via mental disturbance.

After settlement, various splinter groups split off from the main body of the Gelaming and traveled east. Although the Gelaming did not exactly sanction these moves, no overt action was taken to stop them. There are twelve acknowledged tribes of Jaddayoth, varying in size from the powerful MAUDRAH (MAW-druh), HADASSAH (HAD-uss-ar) and NATAWNI (Nat-AW-nee). To the smaller, but mystically influential tribes, such as ROSELANE (ROZ-uh-larn) and FERIKE (FER-i-kuh).

Hierarchies vary within the tribes, but most have governing families that have either seized power or been elected to govern by the rest of the tribe. Among the tribes, alliances may be formed by the mixing of blood through mating. Hara such as the Maudrah may want to improve their royal bloodlines by breeding with hara known for their intelligence, such as the Ferike. The sale of harlings between tribes is not uncommon.

Some tribes are city builders, often cannibalizing what mankind has left behind to construct their own towns, whilst others live in scattered, smaller communities. The main interaction between tribes is for trade. The Garridan deal in toxins and stimulants, the Emunah (besides being brokers for many other tribes) deal in perfumes, carpets, household commodities, the Gimrah deal in livestock.

Religion among the twelve tribes is as varied as their systems of government. The Maudrah's priesthood, the Niz, are basically political, although the Maudrah do have a king, the Archon Ariaric. However, it is suspected that the Niz put Ariaric on the throne themselves and that he is answerable to them. Before the Confederation of Tribes was initiated in ai-cara 14, skirmishes and raids between the tribes were common, especially along the boundaries of territories. In ai-cara 13, Ariaric of the Maudrah commenced hostilities with the Natawni over some trivial offense, and the Natawni applied to the Gelaming for assistance. Once the Gelaming fore arrived from Almagabra, Ariaric claimed that Natawni warriors had been raiding Maudrah settlements along the border (which was still indistinct) stealing livestock and burning farms. The Gelaming proposed that proper boundaries be marked out, and suggested that a permanent peace-keeping force from Almagabra be stationed along this boundary. Thus, the Gelaming inveigled their way into Jaddayoth; a situation regarded with mixed feelings by all tribes. At this time, the Confederation of Tribes also formed;
 
an attempt
 
to prevent further incidence of hostilities occurring. Another outcome of Gelaming intervention was that slavery was outlawed in Jaddayoth, whether of remaining humans or hara. Slavery has always been abhorrent to the Gelaming, and they stated that allowing such a practice to continue would be a step backwards for Wraeththukind Healthy respect for the power of the Gelaming meant that this request was complied with, but the ensuing systems of bondharing are little other than slavery, and it is clear there is still a black market for slaves, if one knows where to look for it.