Destiny's Lovers (8 page)

Now Janina had a new and even greater fear,
that something would happen to Reid, that Sidra would make
something happen to him. It was worse than contemplating her own
death. It rivaled the pain of knowing that Tamat could not live
much longer. Janina wanted Reid safe and well. She would do
anything to help him, anything that would not harm Tamat.

She ought not to feel that way about Reid.
She had taken sacred vows that forbade her from thinking of men.
But she knew him; in the deepest reaches of her soul he was part of
her, and she would give her life, if necessary, to protect him.

* * * * *

“Will you take me to Tamat, please?” When
Reid’s deep grey eyes met hers, Janina looked away, knowing she
ought not to respond to the warmth she had seen in his
expression.

“You should be resting, Reid, and not out so
early in the day. Tamat wanted you to have adequate time to recover
from your ordeal in the wilderness,” she said.

“I slept well last night and I feel perfectly
healthy,” Reid told her.

“Is your room comfortable?” she asked
politely, to keep him there in the temple courtyard with her while
she thought about his request. Tamat was in private conversation
with Sidra and could not be disturbed. It would not do to have Reid
bursting in on them. Both priestesses would be angry if that
happened, and if Sidra learned that Janina had done nothing to
prevent such an intrusion, she would find a way to punish Janina,
and probably Reid, too.

“My room is delightful,” Reid said with just
a touch of impatience. “The two scholar-priests who live in the
same building are charming young men. Osiyar is an agreeable and
pleasant host. I want to see Tamat.”

“If you have questions about Ruthlen, you
should ask Osiyar,” she said, growing nervous under his steady
gaze. “Tamat has ordered him to explain the customs of Ruthlen to
you, so you will not offend the villagers. Oh, I’m sorry. I
shouldn’t have said that. I’m certain you would never offend
anyone.”

“Except you. I have offended you. I’ve made
you feel uneasy with me.” He put out one hand as if to take her
arm. Janina moved backward quickly to avoid him, afraid that if he
touched her, she would do something she should not do. Such as
touch him in return. Or melt into his arms and beg him to kiss her.
She was certain he saw her fear, for he withdrew his hand. But then
he moved a step closer, further disconcerting her by his
nearness.

“Janina,” he said in a hard, firm voice,
“take me to Tamat. Now.”

“But she is with Sidra.”

“Indeed she is not,” said a sweet voice
behind Janina, “for I am here. Good day to you, Reid. You wish to
see Tamat? Could not I help you instead?”

“I prefer to speak with Tamat.”

The faintest shadow of annoyance passed over
Sidra’s lovely face, then cleared.

“Janina, you should be ashamed of yourself
for keeping our guest standing here in the hot midday sun. Take him
inside at once. Offer him something cool to drink, and then ask
Tamat if she will receive him. Do it now, girl! Don’t dawdle so!”
In a swirl of pale blue robe, Sidra left them and walked across the
courtyard toward Osiyar’s house.

“If you will follow me.” Janina led the way
into the temple.

“Is she always so sharp with you?” Reid
asked.

“She’s very busy,” Janina said. “She has many
duties, and I fear I am a poor help to her. I’m not very
intelligent, you see, so I’m fortunate to be permitted to live in
the temple complex at all. It is only Tamat’s goodness that allows
such a deviation from the requirements for a priestess, even a
lesser priestess, as I shall be.”

“Even if everything you’ve just said is true,
which I doubt, that is still no excuse for rudeness,” Reid
declared.

“Sidra doesn’t mean to be rude. It’s just the
way she is. Would you like cool water, or perhaps some fruit?” When
Reid refused any refreshment, Janina left him in the central room
while she went to speak to Tamat.

“She will see you,” she said, returning a few
moments later. “Reid, please be kind to her. We in Ruthlen
frequently live to be well over one hundred years old, but Tamat’s
health is fragile and she has grown weaker in the last year. She
has asked that I remain with her, in case she needs assistance.
Will you mind that?”

“Not at all,” Reid said, giving her a long,
steady look that made her blush.

“Well, Reid,” said Tamat as soon as he
entered her chamber, “what do you want of me this day?”

“I want to leave Ruthlen. I want you to help
my friend and my cousin.”

“You are an impatient man, I fear.” Tamat sat
in a large armchair carved from white stone, which was softened by
thick green cushions on the seat and back. She motioned to a
similar chair next to hers. “I have not yet decided what I will do
about your companions. You may not leave us. If there is anything
else you would like to discuss, I will be happy to converse with
you.”

“I do have a few questions,” Reid admitted,
seating himself in the chair Tamat had indicated.

Janina saw he was hiding anger in an effort
to be polite to Tamat. She thought she could understand how he must
feel, being prevented from doing the one thing he wanted. But in
time he would learn to accept his fate, as she was learning to
accept hers. He would have to learn. There was nothing else he
could do.

That morning was the first of many when Reid
visited Tamat to ask her innumerable questions about the people who
lived in Ruthlen. Janina came to love those visits. From her
position behind Tamat’s chair she could watch him without being
obvious about it, and she could occasionally answer one of his
questions herself under the guise of sparing Tamat the effort.

“You are more attentive than usual these
days,” Tamat said to her one morning just before Reid arrived. “Is
it concern for my welfare, or interest in Reid that brings you to
me when you need not be here?”

“I am always concerned about you, Tamat,” she
answered quietly, “but I must confess to a great interest in what
we can learn from an outsider. You have always told me that
knowledge ought to be my primary quest, that in time I might be
able to use it as some poor compensation for my lack of telepathic
ability. I know my wits are of inferior quality, but I try to
exercise them as much as possible.”

“There is nothing wrong with your wits,
Janina,” Tamat observed dryly. “Sometimes I suspect they are a bit
too quick. Well, stay with me and learn what you can from Reid. I
always enjoy your presence. Only, do not let Sidra grow annoyed
with you, as she will if you neglect your other duties.”

“Yes, Tamat.” Janina told herself that her
desire to be in the same room with Reid was perfectly innocent.
Daily she tested her resistance to the attraction she still felt
toward him. She had to teach herself to be strong, to adhere
scrupulously to the vows she had so nearly violated with Reid. She
could never give herself to him, and she told herself that in time
she would find joy in having sacrificed her selfish longings in
order to better serve the temple and Ruthlen. She would not allow
herself to deviate again from the Chosen Way.

That morning Tamat told Reid how their
ancestors had survived the Cetan attack of six hundred years
before. Janina had heard the story many times, yet still she
listened with undiminished pride in the accomplishments of the
founders of Ruthlen.

“There were just twenty of our people,” Tamat
said, “who were deep in a nearby forest cutting wood for charcoal,
and some were gathering medicinal herbs. When they realized what
was happening in the city, and knew they could not help, they fled
still deeper into the forest where they found a cave and hid in it.
At their bidding, the Chon drew the Cetans in another direction and
thus saved our ancestors. After that day’s terrible battle, all the
telepaths in the settlement were dead and the Chon were lost to us
forever.”

“Not everyone was killed.” Reid told Tamat
what he knew about Dulan and the other survivors, and about the
Chon who still lived at the lake.

“I am happy to learn that the great birds are
not extinct,” Tamat said. “They were once a vital part of our
history. But I know of no one named Dulan. Our records were
destroyed along with the beautiful city of Tathan and the farmlands
surrounding it. All we have left of the time before the Cetan raid
is memory. The few people who remained alive decided to flee far
away from Tathan and hide themselves, hoping thereby to escape
another Cetan intrusion. After a long and difficult journey, they
arrived here and built this small village, where we live by fishing
and farming.”

“Did they also build the pavilion inside the
mountain?” asked Reid.

“They made the pool a sacred spot, because
the Water in it is clear and perfectly pure,” Tamat replied. “You
should not have been there. Even Osiyar may not go there. It is a
place reserved for priestesses only. Do not return to it.”

“I hope you will not punish Janina because I
was there.”

“No. Your presence in the grove was not her
doing.” Then, looking deep into his eyes, the High Priestess added,
“She is not meant for any man, Reid. Do not touch her again.”

Tamat had never said a word to Janina about
the day when she had found Reid, though Janina knew Tamat
understood what they had almost done. Now, Janina felt herself
blushing, and she saw Reid’s face flush at Tamat’s direct order,
but he made no promise. Instead, he asked Tamat another
question.

“Can you tell me why the computer model of
the continent we have at our headquarters does not show the area
around Ruthlen? According to our information, the forest extends to
the very edge of steep cliffs, which fall off directly into the
sea. We have no information about the ravine, or the mountain
range, or the village.”

“We use a blanking shield,” Tamat replied.
“All who are full priestesses, including myself, take turns
maintaining it. The images you spoke of are exactly what outsiders
are expected to see. It is our protection against a Cetan return,
or against anyone else who would harm us. No one can enter the
shield unless we wish it.”

“I got through it,” Reid pointed out.

“Yes,” Tamat said, looking at him
strangely.

“You maintain this shield with your minds?”
Reid then asked.

“We do,” Tamat answered. “We have
strengthened it since you have come, Reid. You will not be able to
breach it a second time.” She smiled at him, but Reid understood
the threat implicit in her words. He could not blame her. She had a
right to protect her people in the way she believed was best. But
he had a right, too; the right to seek his freedom.

* * * * *

“Reid, why are you pacing back and forth
across the courtyard?” When he swung around to glare at her, Janina
saw that his grey eyes were dark with anger. She faced him
trembling, yet determined not to back down until she knew what was
troubling him. She attempted a smile, though in his present mood he
frightened her. Gathering what little courage she possessed, she
tried again. “You look like a caged animal.”

“Do I? Perhaps I look caged because that is
what I am.”

“Oh, no. Never that.”

“Then what would you call it?” he demanded,
frowning down at her.

“You are our guest,” she said. “You are
perfectly free to go wherever you want within the boundaries of
Ruthlen, which is the same freedom the rest of us have.”

“Janina, you know as well as I do that I am a
prisoner here.”

“Don’t say that.” She wanted to touch him,
but she could not, not here in the open courtyard, where anyone
could see them. “It hurts me to know you are so deeply
unhappy.”

“Does it hurt you enough that you’d help me
escape?”

“Escape?” She stared at him, terrified by the
idea. “Don’t even think of such a thing.”

“Why not?” His voice was harsh and filled
with anger. Janina watched him trying to control his feelings until
he spoke more calmly, yet still with strong emotion. “I am being
kept here against my will. Therefore, I have the right to try to
escape if I want. You people don’t seem to understand that I have a
life, and friends, and important work, beyond Ruthlen. I want to
return to all that. I wish your High Priestess would believe I’d
never bring others here if you want to remain isolated. Commander
Tarik would respect Tamat’s wishes, too. What about the sea? I’m a
fairly good sailor.”

“The sea?” He must think she was incredibly
stupid if she could do nothing except echo his words, but the
sudden question had surprised her. She answered him promptly and
definitely. “You can’t leave by the sea. Once you reached deep
water the sea monsters would eat you. That’s why the fisherfolk
only go as far away from the shore as the near side of the swift
current.”

“Monsters?” He looked as though he would
burst into laughter.

“Besides,” she added quickly, seeing that he
did not believe her about the monsters, “you could be observed from
the village until you were far enough out at sea to be below the
horizon. There is no place to hide out there.”

“That kind of thinking I can understand,” he
said, nodding. “As for sea monsters - well, there may be something
in the deep water that I don’t know about. I’ll accept that much of
your sea monster story. I’ll have to go by land then.”

“Don’t. Reid, please don’t. You will only be
caught and brought back here. Then you truly will be a prisoner.
Please accept your fate. It’s the best thing for you. It’s the
safest thing.”

“Janina, why are you loitering here with this
man?” Sidra had come up to them so quietly that her question
startled both of them. They had been standing close together,
talking in low tones. Now they hastily moved apart. Sidra acted as
though she had caught them in some forbidden activity, but her
voice was silky-smooth. “Stay away from her, Reid. There are women
enough in the village to assuage your lust, if that is what you
want.”