No Other Love (22 page)

“Saray!” Dulan stood alone, a straight figure
in dark red. “Long ago, in my own youth and arrogance, I attempted
what you are now doing. Thus I can warn you out of my own
knowledge. There will come a time when your mind can no longer bear
the terror or the strain of repeating these experiments. I was
fortunate enough to have friends with telepathic abilities equal to
my own, who helped me back to health. But who among us is equal to
you? Who could aid you in repairing your mind and talents? Nor is
the danger only to you. With each experiment you will distort time
a little more for those who are physically near you, and that
distortion will drive them toward the same madness that will claim
you. Do you want to bring such an end to your friends? I tell you
unequivocally: these experiments are unethical and they must
stop!”

“Think before you command me, Dulan,” cried
Saray. “Dare you order anyone to cease learning, to allow superior
telepathic skills to stagnate because of an ancient tradition?”

“I plead with you not to destroy yourself.
These others agree with me.” Dulan indicated the telepaths on one
side of the Hall, who held up their hands in affirmation of his
anguished plea. “We are your friends. Let us help you. I myself am
willing to work with you to the limits of my ability, to repair the
damage already done to your mind.”

“She doesn’t need you,” yelled Hotan. “She
has Ananka.’

“Saray,” said Dulan, ignoring the young man,
“warn your friends not to harm Merin or Herne. After what you have
done to them, it is the least you owe.”

“She owes no one anything!” shouted Hotan,
but Saray’s hand on his arm stilled any further rudeness.

“In this Dulan is right,” Saray said. “Merin
and Herne are to be treated with respect until Ananka has decided
what to do with them. No friend of mine is to raise a hand against
them. I want your word on this, Hotan. The others will listen to
you.”

“I’ll do it for you,” Hotan said. “Not for
strangers, and certainly not for these old ones who have forgotten
what it is to be young or energetic, or ambitious and eager for
life.”

“Hotan,” said Jidak dryly, “it is my dearest
wish to live long enough to see you when you are your father’s
present age, so I can repeat those words to you. As for you, Saray,
like Dulan, I offer my assistance if you will but accept it.”

“And so do I,” put in Imra.

“I thank you for your concern,” said Saray,
but she did not say she would accept the offers.

“On behalf of all the folk of Tathan, who
truly care for you,” Jidak said in formal tones, “we implore you to
end your unhealthy alliance with the alien entity you call Ananka,
before you, and we, are destroyed.”

“Ananka does not intend anyone’s
destruction,” she said, leaving Jidak and Imra shaking their heads
in sadness at the obduracy of this most talented of telepaths.

“We are gathered here,” Dulan reminded them
all, “to commune with our dear friends the Chon. I marvel that they
have not left us in distress at the anger and dissension filling
this Hall. Please, my friends, for this evening at least, let us
have peace in Tathan.”

“To this I can agree,” Saray said. “Hotan,
Imra, Jidak, separate in peace, I beg you.”

Slowly the telepaths and the birds broke into
smaller groups and the tension began to ease.

“That foolish young woman,” Tula grumbled to
Merin, “is stubborn enough to destroy herself and all those who
love her rather than admit she could be wrong.”

“Tula speaksss the truth,” hissed Imra,
joining them. “If this situation continuesss, it will be the end of
Tathan. I fear a future in which we disperse across this world and
live in isolation. To prevent that possibility, SSSaray’s
experiments must stop, and soon.”

“She won’t stop voluntarily,” said Jidak.
“She’s too strong-willed to bow to any pressure we can exert, and
Hotan will always back her, no matter what she does.”

Herne had been watching and listening with
great attention. Now he voiced his opinion.

“What I have seen tonight has made me realize
that Saray needs a shock to convince her. There may be a way,”
Herne said, his gaze on Saray, who was talking to Hotan. “It is
just possible that I could bribe her with a piece of valuable
information.”

“Yesss,” breathed Imra. “You know the future,
don’t you?”

“What will you tell her?” asked Jidak.

“First, I am going to insist on meeting
Ananka again,” Herne said. “I’ll begin by confronting that ball of
light.”

“If you need a friend to stand with you – ”
Jidak offered.

“Or a second friend,” put in Imra.

“Don’t try to speak with Saray this evening,”
Tula advised. “On the night of a Gathering she stays with Hotan,
and he will dispute any attempt to confer with her alone. I will
send a message in the morning, asking her to join us at Dulan’s
house before she goes home tomorrow.”

“Be sure she meets with us early in the day,”
said Herne. “There may not be much time left.”

“You are a brave man, yet you are afraid. But
it is not fear for yourself,” Tula murmured as Jidak and Imra moved
away from them. “This is what I sensed in you the first time we
met. You have been concealing something of deadly importance.”

“I’ll tell you soon,” Herne promised. “Don’t
worry, Tula. There is no danger to you, or to Dulan.”

“I never thought there was.” Now that Hotan
and his band had been stopped by Saray, Tula was able to smile
again and to leave the protection of the pedestal. “You are free to
speak with anyone here, though I know you cannot communicate with
the Chon. You may retire to Dulan’s house whenever you wish. After
Hotan’s promise to Saray, no one will bother you.”

With that, Tula bowed to them, leaving to
join Dulan and a group of Chon. On the far side of the Hall, Saray
and Hotan stood talking with a few of the tougher looking men and
the two Jugarians, until Hotan took Saray’s arm a bit roughly and
led her through the main door.

“There is a soundless murmuring in the air,”
Merin said to Herne, “a constant vibration. It’s like hearing a
conversation that is just too far away for me to be able to catch
the words. I know it’s there, but I can’t understand it.”

“I don’t think anyone would mind if we left,”
Herne said, giving her a look that made her heart pound. “Come with
me now, my love.”

The hidden light source that illuminated the
Gathering Hall did not extend to the garden behind it, where there
was only moonlight and the pale gleam of hundreds of white flowers.
Herne paused, searching the shadows.

“The entrance to Ananka’s grotto has to be
here somewhere,” he said, “and in that grotto we’ll find the
answers we need.”

“If Ananka is capable of appearing at Saray’s
house, then she isn’t confined to one place,” Merin pointed out.
“In any case, you won’t find the answers you need in the dark. The
moons are lower now, and will set soon.”

“Which means we are free until daylight.”
Merin saw a flash of white teeth as Herne’s arm slid around her
waist. She stiffened, fearing they might be seen. Much as she
welcomed his caresses when they were alone, she still could not
adjust to demonstrations of affection when others were near. She
was relieved when he did not try to kiss her, but instead hurried
her through the door and into the alley between the Gathering Hall
and Dulan’s house.

His arm was still around her waist and he
drew her near, his free hand tilting her face upward. Her eyes had
not yet grown used to the almost total darkness in the shadow of
the wall, so she could not see his face.

“All evening,” he whispered, “every moment I
was aware of you. I could almost feel your skin beneath my hands. I
could remember the look of your hair all undone and falling over my
arm as I held you. And I remembered the way you cry out in pleasure
when I make you mine.”

“Oh, Herne.” His fingers held her chin and
she knew his mouth was almost on hers.

“You are part of me now, Merin, part of my
mind and heart and in every cell of my body. No matter what
happens, I promise I won’t let anything separate us.”

His kiss was meant to be gentle, to seal that
tender oath, but the meeting of their mouths lit a fire in Merin
that was out of control in an instant. Had Herne not retained a bit
of common sense, she would have lain down on the hard stone paving
and let him take her there, not caring who might come upon them,
for she was beyond embarrassment, beyond the reach of any
discipline she had ever known. She burst into frustrated tears when
he pulled away from her to urge her toward Dulan’s house.

Once they were indoors she reached for him
again and this time Herne did not resist the temptation she
offered. A moment later they were in their bedchamber, where a dim
lamp burned, and they were tearing at each other’s clothing. From
Merin’s gown rose the rich fragrance of khata wood, filling their
nostrils, heightening their desire. They fell upon the bed
together, naked limbs entwined, Merin nearly attacking him with her
greedy kisses and the most unabashedly erotic caresses she had ever
bestowed upon him.

At first Herne reveled in this unleashing of
repressed passion, but she would not stop, not until he caught her
hands in a tight grip, holding them at either side of her head
while he thrust into her, hard, harder, harder still. She began to
moan and writhe. Herne forced himself to control his own need so he
could watch her lovely, tormented face dissolve into ecstasy. But
that sight, together with the thrashing of her legs and the
swiveling of her hips had their effect on him. With a loud cry he
burst into a passionate climax that seemed to extend Merin’s, for
she continued to move and throb beneath him. It was not until her
wild cries of passion had eased into soft sobs that he withdrew and
lay beside her. When she turned to him he saw the tears upon her
cheeks.

“I don’t know what’s happening to me,” she
choked. He put his arm around her, pulling her against his
shoulder. “Never in my life have I completely lost control like
that.”

“Perhaps it’s something to do with the
telepaths,” he said, kissing her forehead.

“Oressian minds are not suited to telepathy,”
she reminded him.

“Nor are Sibirnan minds,” he responded. “But
close contact with many telepaths who are in communion with the
Chon made us aware of what you called ‘vibrations in the air.’ That
must have affected us. And don’t forget, we are suffering from a
severe dislocation in both time and space. I haven’t really felt
like myself since I arrived in Tathan.”

“I’m hungry all the time,” Merin said,
sitting up. “At this moment I am absolutely starving. I have to
find some food.”

“I’ll go with you.” He found their towels in
the bathing room. Wrapped in them, they explored Dulan’s kitchen,
discovering bread, ixak cheese, fruit, and a small jug of batreen.
All of this they piled onto a tray which they took back to their
room, where they sat upon the bed to eat. Merin cut the cheese,
laying the pieces neatly on small slices of bread before feeding
them to Herne

“Do you think I’m so hungry because of our
lovemaking?” she asked.

“I wouldn’t be at all surprised. Just a
moment there!” he cried in mock anger. “For every one you give to
me, you eat two, yourself.” He snatched a slice of bread and cheese
out of her hand and ate it.

“I can’t help myself. This tastes wonderful.
In fact, all Tathan food tastes marvelous. Could I have some of
those little orange berries before you finish all of them?” When
Herne popped the fruit into her mouth she caught his finger in her
teeth.

“Will you eat that, too?” he teased.

“Possibly.” Still clenching her teeth around
his finger, she circled it with her tongue.

“Woman.” Herne pulled his finger free. “I
hope you are aware that I haven’t finished with you yet.”

“I’m so glad.” She ran her hand across his
naked chest, then reached down and tugged at the towel still
twisted around his waist. Her eyes met his and in their
purple-brown depths Herne saw all the love that had gone ungiven
throughout her lonely life. “I hope you never finish with me,” she
whispered. “I know I will never be finished with you.”

Not taking his eyes from hers, Herne piled
the few remaining crumbs of food and the empty batreen jug onto the
tray and set it on the floor. Then he took her into his arms
again.

This was a less frantic loving than the first
time, but still passion flared hot and bright between them. Merin
was an apt pupil, always willing to learn more, and Herne found her
endlessly fascinating. She was exquisitely sensitive to his every
caress, so that he felt as if her body sang beneath his searching,
probing hands and his eager mouth. Their coming together was a
delight so intense that he almost lost his mind.

“I love you,” he said, looking into her
wondrous eyes. He waited, poised above her, his manhood deep inside
her, hoping, secretly praying to all the ancient Sibirnan gods for
the answer his heart longed to hear.

“I love you,” she whispered, and moved in
exactly the way he wanted her to move. Then he did lose his mind
and every vestige of self-control in an explosion of happiness that
went on and on until he was drained and weak and they were both
completely, blissfully satisfied. This was his woman, his love, in
this time or any other. And he knew with absolute certainty that
for him there could be no other love.

* * * * *

“Whether we ever get home again,” Herne said
during the darkest reaches of the night, “or whether we are forced
to spend the rest of our lives in this time, I want everyone to
know that you are mine and I am yours. Will you marry me tomorrow?
And if we can go home, or if we find a way to escape the Cetan
attack, will you have my children? Will you live with me until we
both grow old and die?”