Two to Conquer (46 page)

Carlina began to cry again, helplessly. Melisendra pulled the other woman against her breast and held her close.

“There now, there now, cry if you will…” she murmured, rocking her. “Poor little lady, I know, I know, believe me. I woke like this, too, and there was none to comfort me, my sister was far away in the Tower, and I had to face my lady’s anger. There now, there…”

When Carlina had cried herself into quiet, Melisendra went into the bath and put Carlina into a hot tub, stripping away the torn chemise. “I shall have this burned,” she said. “I am sure you will not want to wear it again.” With it she put the torn clothing Bard had ripped away from Carlina. She washed her as if she had been a small child, and dressed her bruises with soothing creams. Then she dressed her like a doll, and sent for one of the waiting-women in the suite.

“Bring my lady some food,” she said, and when it came, she sat and encouraged Carlina to eat,

spoonful by spoonful, some soup and some custard. Carlina found it hard to eat with her bruised jaw, but Melisendra reassured her that it was not broken.

When the waiting-women had taken away the trays, Carlina looked at her tremulously, saying, “I feel it must look strange to them—that they all know how I am shamed—and you here—”

Melisendra smiled at her. She said, “Surely not; it is nothing new that a
barragana
should wait on the lawful wife. And, my lady, if the truth be told, I am certain that in this land where so many marriages are made with unwilling women you are not the only noblewoman to go to her bridal as if it were

rape.”

Carlina said, with a bitter smile, “Why, so they do. I had almost forgotten—I suppose this has made me Bard’s lawful wife, and I need only wait, now for the
catenas
to be locked on my wrists, as if I were a Dry-town whore! Where is Bard?”

“He rode away earlier today… I do not know where; but he looked as if he had met the avenging

Avarra,” Melisendra said quietly. “I do not know what will come of this; I do not know if the political situation will force him to keep you as wife. I don’t know anything about such things. But I am sure, very sure, that he will never misuse you again. I am a
leronis
, and I knew something had happened within him. I do not think he will ever mishandle any woman again.”

“How can you be such a friend to me,” Carlina asked, “considering that, if I must remain here as his wife, you will be only
barragana
?”

“I was never more than that, my lady. Bard’s father would willingly have seen us married, but Bard cares nothing for me. I was only a diversion when he was angry and bitter at all the world. If I had not borne his son, I would have been cast out…”

“Why, then,” Carlina whispered, “you are a victim too…” Reaching out, she kissed the older woman, on impulse. She said, shyly, “Under the vow of the priestesses of Avarra, I am,” she quoted, “mother and sister and daughter to every other woman…”

“… and under her mantle you are my sister,” said Melisendra softly. Carlina looked up at her in numb amazement

“Are you one of us?”

“I would willingly have been so,” said Melisendra, and her eyes filled with tears. “But you know Her law. No woman may renounce the world for the Holy Island while she has a child too young for

fostering, or aged parents who need her care. They would not have me while I had these

responsibilities; my other sister is a
leronis
at Neskaya, and I am the only remaining support for my old father, and Erlend is only six years old. So they would not accept my vow. And—further—a
laranzu
told me, once, that I had work to do in the world, though he would not say how or when. But the

Mother Ellinen allowed me to pledge myself, privately, to the obligations of a priestess, though I am not bound to chastity; she said I might one day wish to marry.”

“And you still—wished for the love of a man—” Carlina asked her shakily. “I feel—I will die—I

cannot bear the thought that any man will ever again touch me in lust—or even in love—”

Melisendra stroked her hand gently. “That will pass, sister. That will pass, if the Goddess wills. Or it may be her will that somehow, you shall serve her again in chastity, on the island or elsewhere. We are all under her mantle.” She lifted up the black cloak and said, “Shall I have this cleaned and readied for you?”

Carlina whispered, “I am not fit to wear it—”

“Hush!” said Melisendra sternly. “You know better than that! Do you think she does not know how

well you defended yourself?”

Carlina’a eyes filled with tears again. She said, “That is what I am afraid of. I could have fought harder

—I could have let him kill me—I wish that I had—”

“
Vai domna
—sister,” Melisendra said gently, “I think it blasphemous to believe the Goddess could be less understanding than a weak woman like myself. And if I can understand and condone your

weakness, why, then, the Dark Mother can certainly do no less.”

“Perhaps I have been on the Holy Island too long,” said Carlina, and her voice was shaking. “I have forgotten the real things of the world. You are at war here.”

“Did you even know when Hali was fire-bombed and they—died?”

“We knew. But Mother Ellinen bade us shut it out, saying we could do no good by sharing their death agony—”

“My father said the same. But we were on the march with the armies,” said Melisendra.

“But the Mothers said that we must not entangle ourselves in the making of war, that our business was with eternal things, birth and death, and that war was a man’s business— that it was nothing to do with us, patriotism and men’s pride and royalty and succession, that women had nothing to do with it—”

Melisendra said a rude word. “Forgive me, lady. But I have fought alongside men in the field, unarmed except for a starstone and a dagger to make sure I did not fall into the enemy’s hands. And the

Sisterhood of the Sword fight with such weapons as they have, even though they know that, for them, the penalties of defeat are even more cruel. Some of the prisoners suffered that fate only a few days ago, after the last defeat of Serrais.”

Carlina said faintly, “The priestesses of Avarra are always being asked to leave their island and do healing in the world. Perhaps we should ask the Sisterhood to protect us. At least we could not harm them in that way…” Her voice trailed off. “Perhaps the Mother Ellinen is wrong when she says we

should take no part in the struggles around us…”

“I am not the keeper of anyone’s conscience,” Melisendra ventured. “Perhaps there are different

callings for different women…”

Carlina asked bitterly, “But where will you find a man to grant us that?” and the women were silent.

Neither of them had warning of what happened next. There was a small, faint, droning sound—all the survivors agreed upon that. A moment later, there was a great crash, a booming noise, the ground rocked under their feet, and they involuntarily caught at one another. The first explosion was followed by another and another.

“Erlend!” screamed Melisendra, and ran wildly down the corridor, stumbling as the walls rocked with a fourth explosion. “Erlend! Paolo!”

Paul shouted Melisendra’s name and caught her at the entrance to their rooms, grabbing her by force and dragging her under one of the doorways, where he stood, bracing himself against a further

explosion. Melisendra clutched at him and stood, swaying, reaching out for the mind of her son. He was safe! Praise to all the gods, he was safe in the stables where he had gone to visit a litter of puppies!

Paul felt her relief as his own, her mind open to him as she stood, swaying, holding to him with both hands. Again and again the floors rocked with repeated explosions, the rumble and crash of collapsing stone.

“Come on,” Paul said tersely. “We’ve got to get out!”

“The Lady Carlina—”

Paul followed Melisendra as she fled back. He found Carlina cowering under overturned furniture, and snatched her up in his arms, hurrying with her toward the small private stairway into the small garden where he had first seen Melisendra with her son. Melisendra hurried at his heels. Safely outside, he set Carlina on her feet. In the confusion of terror, she had not seen him; now, staring at him, she shrank away in renewed fear.

“You—but no, you are not Bard, are you?”

“No, my lady. But it was I who took you from the Island of Silence.”

“You are very like him,” she said. “It is very strange.”

Stranger than you can know
, Paul thought, but he could not tell her and knew that she would probably not believe him if he did. What could she possibly know of his world and the stasis box? That was behind him, anyway, that had been another life and the man he had been on that world was dead

beyond recall. What good would it do to tell her?

Somehow, some way, he must make Bard believe that he, Paul, was no threat. Perhaps now, with Bard fled on some mysterious errand, and the castle in confusion, under attack like this—by sorcery?—was the time to take Melisendra and flee into the Kilghard Hills and farther, past the Hellers. Back in that wild and undiscovered country, perhaps, they could make another life somehow. But would Melisendra agree to leave her son?

“Look! Oh, merciful gods,
look
!” cried Melisendra, looking back at the building they had escaped. One whole wing of the castle had fallen in, and she clutched at Paul in horror. Through her mind he saw…

A young face, drawn with terror; a crippled body too slow and cumbersome on the stairs, an old man
hastening to safety, turning back to give an arm to the lame child… a flight of stairs collapsing, sliding
away under their feet, the roof opening to admit the sky… and the world wiped out in a fall of masonry
that buried them, instantly, together.
…

“Dom Rafael! Alaric!” Melisendra whispered, in horror. She began to weep. “The old man was always so kind to me. And the boy—his life had been so hard, poor little lad, and to die like this…”

Carlina’s face was set and implacable. She said, “I am sorry for your grief, Melisendra. But the usurper of the throne of Asturias is dead. And I cannot find it in me to grieve.”

Now, all through the gardens and grounds of Castle Asturias, men and women, courtiers and servants, nobles and kitchen girls and grooms, were emerging, yelling and shouting in confusion, crowding

together to look in horror at the fallen wing. But even while one of the majordomos was calling out, telling everyone not to go near the still-quaking building, there was a terrific final explosion, the remainder of the stonework of that wing collapsed and crashed down, with a rising of stone dust and muffled cries, and silence descended.

In that stillness Paul heard Master Gareth shouting, “Are there any of the king’s
leroni
yet alive? To me! Quickly! We must find out who is attacking us!”

“I must go,” said Melisendra, and hurried away before Paul could catch at her hand, urge her to escape during the confusion. He stood beside Carlina, watching the sorcerers, not now in their gray robes, bat wearing everything from nightcaps and chamber robes to one, the young boy Rory, wrapped in a towel and evidently fresh from his bath, assembling beneath the flowering trees in the orchard. Master Gareth, hobbling on his bad leg gathered the
leroni
around him; two or three were missing, for some of them had been in the other wing in attendance on Dom Rafael and the king, but there were four women and two men besides the boy, and Master Gareth spoke to them in hushed tones. Paul, at this distance, could not hear what he said. The soldiers were rallying, trying to keep people away from the fallen walls. Paul went toward them—what had Bard said?

You are Lord General till I return. It has come a little sooner than we thought, that is all.

One of the men ran up to him and saluted. “Sir, you’ll be worrying about your son. He’s safe, one of the sergeants has him in charge, since his mother will be with the old wizard and all the other
leroni
. Come, sir, show yourself to him and let the little fellow know he’s still got a father and a mother.”

Yes, that was only fair. He saw Erlend, looking pale and shaken, clinging to a puppy with both hands.

“Your mother is safe, Erlend, she’s there with your grand-da,” said the soldier, “and look,
chiyu
, here’s the Lord General come to take you to mammy.”

Erlend raised his head. He said, “That’s not—” and for a panicky moment Paul
knew
the game was over already, before it began, that Erlend was about to say,
That’s not my father
, but he met Paul’s eyes for a split second, and said instead, “That’s not the way to talk to me, Corus, I’m not a baby.” He thrust the puppy into the soldier’s hands and said, ‘Take
him
to his mammy, he’s the one howling for milk! I should be with the
leroni
, some of us are dead; they will need every starstone.“

“He’s a one, he is, Lord General,” said the soldier. “Like wolf, like cub! Good lad!”

Paul said to Erlend, carefully and with dignity, “I do not think they will need you, Erlend, but you may go and inquire if they have need of you.”

“Thank you, sir.” Erlend walked at his side, steadily, but Paul could feel that the boy was shaking, and after a moment he held out his hand. The boy gripped it in his small sweaty one. When they were out of earshot he said fiercely to Paul, “Where is my father!”

“He—he rode away this morning.” After a moment he said, “I feared they would think he had deserted them in trouble, so I answered to his name when they thought I was your father.” He wondered why he bothered to explain to a child of six.

“Yes. He should be here,” Erlend said, and there was a shade of condemnation in his voice. It made Paul wonder, for the first time, if or when Bard would return!

“He said before he left,
Until I return you are the Lord General
.” and Erlend looked up at him, strangely. He said, “I saw him ride away. I did not know, then, what it meant,” and was silent. At last he said, “You must do as he told you.”