Darkness & Light (3 page)

I'rone crossed the distance to them with
perhaps a bit more speed than was socially acceptable. Some of the
Guadel looked at him askance, but On'li almost imagined she could
hear a sigh from the Daughters off to her left. I'rone didn't move
like a boy anymore. More hours of sword training than On'li cared
to think about had left him with the sure motions of a master
swordsman. I'rone was dutiful in all his studies, especially law,
but he positively obsessed over weapons work.

Her adoptive son was serious, driven, and
absolutely committed to following the rules whatever the personal
cost might be to him. On'li couldn't imagine a less-likely match
for him than Betreec, but from what little she'd managed to tease
out of I'rone, he returned Betreec's interest, at least more so
than with any of the other girls who mooned after him like a gurra
calf deprived of it's mother.

The other Guadel had already received their
instructions and passed them on. People began filtering out of the
cavern as I'rone arrived at their side. "We've been assigned the
entire bottom tier. It consists of a few long tunnels that then
terminate into an irregular warren of caverns. If we're going to
search the area in the time frame that's been assigned us, we'll
have to split up."

Javin quietly explained the search method,
carefully reminding I'rone of some of the dangers inherent to
traversing such a forsaken stretch of caverns. As he finished,
On'li allowed her gaze to drift back towards the group of young
ladies. The group had unsurprisingly shrunk down to just one. Down
to just Betreec.

"I don't like it, but it's the only way to
cover so much ground. We'll have to send Betreec with you. We trust
you'll not only keep her safe, but also behave in a manner
befitting your status as a candidate and hers as a Daughter."

I'rone nodded seriously in response to
Javin's remonstration and then picked up the travel pack containing
the provisions and shelter they weren't likely to actually need.
Betreec hurried over and fell into step behind I'rone as he headed
towards one of the two long service tunnels that led down to the
drainage areas under the Capital. A few steps before they
disappeared into the darkness, Javin called out to them.

"Be extra careful with all of the water down
there. Don't bother crossing anything deeper than mid-thigh."

Betreec looked vaguely confused, but I'rone
nodded with a graveness that made it obvious he knew why the
command had been given.

Javin shouldered their travel pack and then
gestured for On'li to lead the way.

On'li gave her husband a sad smile as she
passed him. "Do you think he realizes how much of a slap in the
face it was for all of us to be pulled off of our normal tasks and
sent down here of all places to search?"

"Probably."

On'li stifled a chuckle. Now that Javin had
discharged his duty, he wasn't going to speak any more than he had
to.

"You mean 'Probably, but there's no way to
really know since it wouldn't have been proper to ask him and
thereby imply that Council consists of a bunch of idiots?'"

"Exactly."

##

It felt like they'd been walking for nearly a
cycle, but Betreec knew it had probably been less than a quarter
cycle. It just felt like forever because she couldn't seem to get
the courage up to actually open her mouth and talk to I'rone.

He seemed completely unaware of her mounting
frustration. It was so unlike her not to be able to just talk to a
boy. Granted, she usually didn't have to make the effort because
boys were so eager to come to her, but it still shouldn't be this
hard.

Then again, I'rone was hardly like the other
boys. Everyone but the teachers seemed to know that. The girls had
all either decided he was the best thing since the Goddess led the
People out on the Exodus, or a complete snob who wasn't worth their
time.

The boys all seemed to have decided he was
best given a wide berth. They were unfailingly polite, but none of
them ever gave any kind of indication they considered him a friend.
It was like he moved at the center of an invisible bubble that kept
all of the mundane concerns of the world at arm's length.

Speaking of movement, Betreec had long since
decided she could watch him move for hours. The current debate in
the dormitories after hours was whether I'rone moved like poetry,
or whether his graceful motions were more deadly in nature.
Personally Betreec was among those who thought he was probably the
closest she was going to ever get to a snow leopard.

The thought of the mountains' single most
deadly predator sent chills down her neck, and Betreec spared a
brief moment to thank the Goddess that the massive animals only
rarely came up high enough to become a threat to the supply
caravans and traveling Guadel.

The guard trainees, and even some of the
candidates liked to try and impress the daughters by recounting
bloody stories from fights against snow wolves and bag'ligs. It was
a bit childish since none of them had ever been involved in
anything of the sort, but all of the stories seemed to agree that
snow leopards were among the most vicious creatures ever
created.

Adult snow leopards had been known to wipe
out small packs of snow wolves. Even large packs would often steer
clear of their feline rivals unless they were particularly hungry.
On the rare occasions when a Guadel family happened upon the scene
of such a fight, they generally found the scattered remains of not
only the snow leopard, but also two or three members of the pack
who'd fallen in the struggle.

Still, what was terrifying on such a large
predator was somehow comforting and highly desirable on I'rone's
barely smaller frame. Almost despite herself, Betreec began
fantasizing about being married to I'rone. The walking dream
quickly expanded beyond just the marriage ceremony and on to what
it would be like to walk the circuit with him. They would be
unbeatable of course. I'rone was already one of the best swordsmen
in the Capital, but once she linked with him, augmenting his speed
and strength with the magic she'd spent the last few years
learning, he'd be a match for any three normal men.

Imagining the circuit was nice, but the real
anticipation came from the events leading up to the wedding.
Betreec was deep in a fantasy where I'rone crept into the girls
dormitory to tell her he had to have her for his wife, when the
object of her musings stopped and handed her a water skin.

"Have you been able to sense her yet?"

Betreec felt herself blushing. She quickly
tapped into the fiery power that made her a Daughter, and then cast
her senses out in an effort to detect life in their immediate
area.

"No, there isn't anyone else alive around
us."

I'rone grunted as he accepted the water back
from her, taking a carefully metered drink of his own. His demeanor
wasn't any more welcoming than it'd been before, but the act of
having responded to one of his questions emboldened Betreec more
than she would have expected.

"What did Javin mean by telling us not to
cross any streams like that?"

"Flowing water is especially dangerous in the
cold. Even gurra wool loses some of its ability to insulate when
it's wet. Plus the rock can get very slick. It's likely we'd slip
and fall, completely submerging ourselves in the water if we
weren't careful."

I'rone seemed ready to lapse back into his
normal silence, but as they came to an area of the tunnel littered
with a veritable obstacle course of fallen rock, he reached back
and took her hand to help her navigate the hazards.

"Also, if the child were to somehow get into
moving water much deeper than our knees, she'd just be swept away.
Javin wanted to be sure we knew not to assume those risks when
there was no chance of finding the child alive on the other side of
the stream."

The paired bits of explanation were possibly
the most words Betreec had ever heard I'rone speak at one time.
Barring extreme emergencies and sponsors who were radically
unorthodox, Daughters and candidates didn't normally get to
exchange much in the way of idle conversation, but even so, I'rone
socialized less than most. Even the lore time, when Daughters and
candidates were actually allowed to visit for a few minutes before
and after the oral histories, hadn't ever afforded Betreec much
chance to talk to him.

I'rone had taken over one of the prize spots
on the border of the male and female areas of the cavern at a
fairly young age, but he'd never crowded the invisible line between
the sexes like most of them did. He sat down exactly one foot from
where the boys area ended, and never initiated a conversation with
the half dozen girls who'd vied for a spot within speaking distance
of him.

Of course he always responded with exquisite
politeness, but he never took any action to keep the discussions
going. Betreec felt a little thrill of excitement as she realized
he'd just done exactly that. With her. For the first time ever.

"Do you think she's down here, that we might
be the ones to find her?"

I'rone released her hand and shifted his
walking pole back to his other hand as they cleared the
rubble-strewn section of the corridor.

"It's very unlikely. Not impossible, but she
would have to have been moving pretty fast to get this far ahead of
the search parties. It's more likely she'd notice how cold it was
getting and turn around instead of continuing on."

Betreec spared an evil thought for I'rone's
walking pole. He'd finally been holding her hand.

"Why did they send us all the way down here
then if there isn't much chance of finding her?"

The words were out of Betreec's mouth before
she realized just how shallow they sounded.

I'rone's gaze was questioning, like he was
cataloging some new fighting trick, or analyzing a particularly
obscure law.

"If she were your little girl wouldn't you
want every effort made to find her?"

Betreec wanted to explain she hadn't meant to
imply the search was a burden, that the question had been nothing
more than idle curiosity, but under the weight of his eyes she
couldn't find the words, and they lapsed back into silence.

The minutes passed by ever so slowly. I'rone
was the perfect escort, he helped her over all of the obstructions
they encountered, never once complaining at the heavy burden he'd
shouldered. He made sure her needs were met at each rest stop,
usually even before he'd spared a thought for himself.

It was all done in near silence, as was
typical for him, but Betreec couldn't help but worry she'd just
dropped significantly in his estimation.

Betreec tried to focus her worry on instead
being as impressive as possible. She extended her othersense
frequently, trying to sense nearby life. Complaints about the
growing weariness in her legs were carefully silenced before they
made it past her lips, and she made sure to bounce forward with an
energy she no longer felt, as soon as I'rone indicated it was time
to resume moving.

It was hard to tell if her efforts were doing
anything to redeem her in I'rone's eyes as they steadily pressed
forward into the ever-retreating shadows cast by the glow sphere
she was carrying. The tunnel gave the impression of gradually
curving as it descended, but it was so irregular it might have just
been her imagination.

The Capital must have looked much like this
when the Goddess first led The People up into the mountains. The
newer parts of the city are all man made, carefully bored into the
living rock of the mountain, but the oldest parts looked more than
a little like this twisting passage.

Of course this particular tunnel was
unusually wet. As the air got colder, Betreec noticed droplets of
moisture condensing on every irregularity on the rock's surface.
Before long they were joined in their journey downward by a thin
rivulet of water that slowly made its way along the leftmost edge
of their tunnel.

The cold was becoming really biting. Betreec
was used to the need of dressing warmly. Once you left the
immediate area of the hot springs, things tended to cool down in a
hurry, but this was unlike anything she'd experienced.

She was hurrying after I'rone, when she first
saw her breath fog the air before her. "Powers, I can see the air
leaving my body."

I'rone slowed down enough to look back at
her, and she thought she saw the barest trace of a smile playing
about his lips.

"It's the cold. Once the air drops down
enough in temperature you can see the warm air your body breathes
out. It's always at least this cold when the Guadel are out on
circuit traveling between way caves."

Betreec felt her mind whirling as she
digested this new concept. Her instructors had indicated it was
cold outside, but this was something else entirely. "You've been
outside then?"

I'rone definitely smiled this time, and if
condescension's good-natured cousin was present in the barest
measure on his expression, she couldn't really hold it against him.
"I guess that's a silly question. You're obviously not originally
from the Capital, so you must have passed through the outside to
get here."

Betreec mentally flogged herself at
forgetting such a small detail. She'd always loved how exotic his
name sounded, but never really stopped to consider the implications
of him having been born elsewhere. Some of the girls who'd lived in
the villages had complained the other girls made them feel stupid
when they first arrived at the Capital, but she'd never wondered
what it must have been like for I'rone to have come here as a young
boy.

"Unfortunately the 'Great Tunnel' still
hasn't been discovered."

It took a moment to realize I'rone was making
a joke. The great tunnel was an elusive corridor rumored to connect
the Capital to each and every one of the villages, which some of
the older miners swore would someday be found. The more devout
occasionally cited obscure passages from 
Teachings of the
Light
 as evidence of the tunnel's existence.