Warrior of the Ages (Warriors of the Ages) (40 page)

“Then why am I on trial?”

“We needed to ascertain that you did not hide it willfully.”

“Control your anger, Beth.”
Kahtar’s second voice whispered into her mind, and automatically she tried to obey by taking a deep breath. Her muscles were so tight she hurt. Her eyes and lungs burned from suppressing unshed tears, the dispersion against her Father stung. Unable to control them, tears spilled over, running down her cheeks.

“I never thought of it, I’ve never considered my father any different than my mother or me. Why would I have? I can sense his heart!”

The Mother bit her lip, a frown line between her brows.

“It was our mistake, Beth. I apologize to you. Of course it occurred to me that you had Seeker ancestors, I simply never imagined one of your parents would be…it doesn’t matter.” Gloriana leaned forward and kissed her on the lips, both cheeks and then let her lips linger on her forehead. Though Beth received the gesture reluctantly, the tension in her back eased at the contact. The Mother loved her, there was no doubt. This is what she had agreed to. This is what the pain of being Covenant Keeper was. The problem was in The Mother’s words, ‘it doesn’t matter’. They didn’t ring completely true. It mattered.

But Beth was acquitted of the charge. The Old Guard in the room flickered and vanished, and Warriors began to file out. The Mother glided to her side to announce she was bringing dinner later, and pudgy Elder, Father Wixen, told her that her genetics were secondary to her Christianity. Kahtar shuffled her out the doorway and Beth realized she was somewhere in the sprawling confusion that was Cobbson Compound. Walking down a narrow hall, she saw Honor.

Beth’s eyes filled with tears at the sight of her friend. Honor would understand how much this had hurt. Surely he felt it already, her heart ached with the sting of an implied dishonor but it was nothing compared to aspersions cast against her Dad. Rushing to Honor, both her arms wrapped around his torso, past his sword, and she leaned into his familiar frame, pressing her heart against his honorable one. Honor stiffened, his arms did not return the hug. She pulled back immediately and wiped her face.

“Sorry, Honor, you’re on duty. Come for dinner later? The Mother’s bringing it.”

Honor didn’t meet her eyes when he replied, his voice cool. “No.” Then he marched past her and disappeared down the tunnel, the familiar touch of his heart cold and distant.

Cobbson Compound became a blur. Beth noticed none of the odd activity in the colorful and strange rooms she passed. Whispered comments drifted to her ears. “Who would have imagined? I’d declared to her myself!” and “Poor Kahtar.” That one repeated many times. “Poor Kahtar.” Shutting her ears to the cruel words Beth slogged forward, following Kahtar’s direction as he nudged her into the main room. Beth’s heart burned with pain and anger and she fought hot tears, refusing to allow them in public. Kahtar shuttled her towards one of the dark geometric shapes she’d long been curious about, but she barely noticed what a tesseract was like as she stepped through and emerged in front of the log cabin she’d been learning to call home.

Parked beside the front porch was her yellow convertible and Beth stopped in front of it, unable to force herself to walk up the stairs to the house.

Kahtar’s voice was low. “They will get over it, Beth. It was a shock for them. We’ve never had this situation before. Blending is so forbidden, to them all Seekers are tainted, in their shock they think your bloodline pollutes you in some way. Eventually they’ll see your heart for what it is—as much Covenant Keeper as they are, they just need time.”

“Do they?” Her voice was ice-cold, but anger burned hot as it coursed through her body. “So do I.”

“Love?” Kahtar squeezed her elbow and she pulled from his grasp.

“Who told them?”

He looked confused, his eyebrows pulled together and he studied her as though he barely understood her language, visibly straining.

“About your father? I did, Beth. Surely you didn’t expect me to hide it from my clan?”

“No. I don’t expect you to hide anything, most especially not from me. Why didn’t you tell me? Why did you drive home from my parents without a word about this? Why did you vanish last night without telling me there was a problem? I got dragged to my trial by Old Guard! Where you stood with your hand on your blade!”

“That’s habit.” Mumbling, he briefly touched the hilt of one of his swords as though demonstrating.

Looking away from him, Beth went to the door of her car and opened it with such force that it swung back, banging into her sore hip.

“Where do you think you’re going? You’re my wife now and Cultuelle Khristos.”

“I’m not your wife yet, and I’m going home to my parents. To my father who has been everything to me. I love him, Kahtar. With all that I am I love him!”

“I know that you do, Beth, but you can’t just leave like this.”

Sliding into her seat she slammed the door shut.

“Yes I can. I need to. I need to be with someone I can count on right now. Someone I can trust. Don’t you dare try to stop me, Kahtar. I’ll never forgive you if you do.” Without looking at him again she turned the vehicle around in the grass, and sped towards the veil’s opening, not caring how much pollution was filling the veil with her hasty retreat.

THAT NIGHT KAHTAR stood at his bedroom window looking out at the moonless night, simultaneously scanning the perimeter for a half mile in each direction.

Mosquitoes. Trees. Skunks.
Trying to focus on the moonless night was useless, random thoughts kept banging through his head.

Shieldmaiden. Orphan. Seeker. Rotten husband.
Beth was right, he should have told her first. It would not have even delayed him to have spoken to her about her father first.

Kahtar leaned his forehead against the cool, dark glass of the window and pressed a hand against his chest. Beth’s absence left an ache in his heart, whether she would call him husband yet or not. They were nearly one and the separation was wrong. He stood so long at the window that when he finally moved his body was stiff. It had taken that long for a thought to occur to him. Beth had demanded that he let her go and he had, she had said she needed to be with someone she could count on. The fact that that someone ought to be him struck him hard, and he hurried to change into the clothes of her world.

WHEN KAHTAR SENSED Carole White jogging the dark streets, four miles from her house, he cut his flashing lights and slowed. It was 2:00 a.m. At least he wouldn’t have to contend with the Shieldmaiden in order to speak with Beth. He parked the police car down the block from the White’s residence, and stepped into a treed lot and focused. Like light he was transported away, and before he could consciously know he wasn’t in the same place, he had moved. Instantly he was standing inside the White’s tiny house in the dark. It wasn’t necessary to scan to sense Ted White, the man’s guttural snores echoed down the small staircase. Every step protested his weight as Kahtar slowly made his way towards the tiny bedroom Beth lay in. Even a Warrior of ilu couldn’t take these creaking stairs in complete silence, not a single board was solid enough to disguise his progress. Pausing frequently, when Ted White’s snores quieted, he eventually made his way to the top landing and into Beth’s small room.

Street lights revealed Beth curled up in a tiny twin bed covered in a pilled blanket decorated with flowers and peace signs. An enormous floor to ceiling pile of stuffed animals towered precariously in a corner and some rolled down on Kahtar when he knelt beside Beth’s bed. A stuffed unicorn skimmed over Beth’s head and fell off the far side of the bed, while Kahtar batted back a blue monkey and plaid turtle. Opening her clear eyes Beth looked up at him as though not at all surprised to see him.

He leaned forward, pressed his forehead against hers and whispered, “I’m sorry. You’re right, I should have told you first. I’m not used to sharing my thoughts with anyone, Beth.”

Immediately she scooted away, and then patted a sliver of exposed space invitingly. Enticing, tan arms stretched towards him, welcoming him to lie beside her. He knew his surprise was evident when she rolled her eyes at him.

“I meant to cuddle. Seriously? What were you thinking?” she whispered.

Scratching his head he pointed out in a whisper, “If I tried to lay on that little bed I think that the crash would take us down into the kitchen. Come home.”

“I can’t. We’re—my Dad—is planning our wedding. I didn’t want to tell him I was mad at you. I think he could tell, but I didn’t want him to be mad at you too. So when he asked if I had a wedding dress yet, I said he had to help me choose.”

At first Kahtar didn’t realize that his mouth was hanging open, when he did he had to swallow a couple times to combat the dryness.

“Wedding?” The question sounded weak.

“Yes, Kahtar, wedding. I know no one from Cultuelle Khristos will come, but I figure we’ll have two.”

“Two?”

“Yes, one at my parent’s church, and then one where your clan comes and watches us join.”

It took effort to choke back the sudden laughter, and he fought back the inappropriate visual his odd sense of humor tried to paint.

“Why is that funny?” Beth hissed. “Will no one come watch us join just because my Dad is a Seeker?”

Kahtar gently put a finger over her lips to keep her from saying it again. The outlandish assumption was too ridiculous. Leaning forward he put his mouth against her ear and whispered softly, “We have no ceremony, Beth, Covenant Keepers don’t. We simply complete what you started on the porch the other night, the part that neither of us was yet ready for.”

Pushing up on one arm she looked at him, whispering low. “You mean having sex makes us married?”

“Joined is the correct term, and it doesn’t have to involve sex, although it usually does. When your heart penetrates into mine and mine closes over yours, we are one. For life.”

In the night, surrounded by piles of stuffed animals, clad in too small pajamas that had penguins dancing across them, Beth contemplated this. Then she put a hand over Kahtar’s heart pressing gently against the polyester fabric and the badge with his alias emblazoned on it. Her heart brushed against his, the touch was sultry like a desert night lit by the moon. The juvenile bedroom vanished from Kahtar’s consciousness as Beth’s heart again bit through the fresh mark she’d left there just days ago, tasting him. With a gasp and a moan he dropped forward, too much of his weight falling on the bed. It screamed in protest and Ted White’s hearty snores snorked to a stop.

Beth mouthed, ‘sorry,’ and Kahtar fought to control his gasping. It would have been easier to quiet moans of pain from a Malay boot and hot oil, than it was to silence what her touch had just done to his heart. The woman cluelessly had no mercy, and if it weren’t for the venue Kahtar would have wanted none at that moment. Briefly he wondered if it would be possible to take Beth with him and travel like light, but as his hand closed around her thin wrist he instinctively knew he did not have that talent.

Ted White thudded out of his bed and banged into the hallway.

“Bethy? You good?” His voice echoed loudly, and Kahtar knew if the man opened the bedroom door he’d lose Ted’s respect forever. Suddenly keeping in Ted’s good standing struck him as of paramount importance. It occurred to him that he could no sooner vanish in front of Beth’s eyes than he could in front of Ted’s. The last thing he wanted to do was to seem less normal than he already did to Beth. Although he suspected if he told her he could fly she might take even that in stride. Still she’d already been introduced to enough oddity without tossing more at her.