Sought...Book 3 in the Brides of the Kindred series (20 page)

“It has to do with the genetic trade,” Lock
explained. “When the Kindred first came to Twin Moons, hundreds of
cycles ago, they introduced themselves to the inhabitants of the
islands. There are over three hundred islands of different sizes
and shapes in the archipelago, you know. Anyway, the Kindred made
their trade with the islanders. Being fishermen, traders, and
explorers, they were more open to new ideas and to change.”

“I get it.” Kat nodded. “So the islanders
got all the technology and advances…”

“Not to mention the genetic advantages of
the Kindred,” Lock said. “While those who still lived on the
continent—”

“Remained ignorant savages.” Deep smirked at
her. “Ignorant and
depraved
if you can believe the rumors.
It’s said they have the most barbaric sexual habits.”

Kat raised an eyebrow. “More barbaric than
never having sex unless you have at least
three
people
involved?”

Deep grinned. “Point taken. But no, they
still have two males to one female—that’s normal. For
our
world, of course. I’m well aware it’s considered immoral and
disgusting on yours.” He laughed, as though making a joke, but Kat
could feel a wave of bitterness coming from him that belied his
apparent good humor. It settled harshly on her tongue like a bad
tasting medicine she couldn’t spit out.

“Over the years attempts were made to bring
the natives into the trade, but they were put off by the change in
our physical appearance,” Lock explained. “The Kindred genes make
us much larger and more intimidating. And they changed our skin and
hair color too, making us resemble the natives less and less each
passing generation. Until at last, we are an entirely different
race of people.”

“That’s kind of sad,” Kat said thoughtfully.
“To lose contact with your roots that way.”

“Believe me, if you saw them, you wouldn’t
think so,” Deep said. “They still live in grass huts and perform
sacrifices to their gods on full moon nights. Some even say they
practice cannibalism.”

“Ugh.” Kat made a face. “I
really
hope we can find the
fi-fi
flower and get back without
running in to any of those guys.”

“That’s what we all hope, my lady,” Lock
said soberly. “But the sooner we get to the continent, the sooner
we can find the Moons blossom and come home.” He looked at Deep.
“Are we ready?”

The dark twin nodded. “Everything’s loaded.”
He stepped from the pier and over the side of the rocking boat.
Looking at Lock and Kat he said, “Come on. Time’s wasting.”

“Very well—come, my lady.” Lock climbed
aboard also and then held out a hand to Kat.

Kat looked at the swaying golden water
uneasily. It was very beautiful, certainly. But who knew what it
hid in its depths? Just watching the way the waves swelled and
slapped against the wooden side of the boat made her stomach roll.
Still, she had to get aboard. Taking a deep breath, she reached for
Lock’s hand. But just as she was leaning over the narrow gap
between the pier and the side of the boat, a wave of dizziness hit
her.

“God!” She put a hand to her head, swaying
and would have fallen if Lock hadn’t quickly grabbed her hand.

“My lady?” he asked, looking at her with
concern. “Are you all right?”

“Fine, I’m fine.” Kat blinked, trying to
clear the bright spots that were dancing in front of her eyes.
“Weak you will be,”
whispered the voice of Mother L’rin in
her head.
“The pain…return it will.”
But that couldn’t be
happening yet, could it? She was probably just weak because she
hadn’t eaten much today and her blood sugar was low.
That must
be it,
Kat told herself.
Please God, that
has
to be it. I can’t deal with this right now. I just
need to be strong enough to go get this damn flower and get back
again.

“Are you sure you’re all right?” Deep was
frowning down at her, his bottomless black eyes filled with some
emotion she couldn’t read—it roiled inside him like a cloud of
smoke, nebulous and confusing. “What happened, anyway?” he
asked.

“Nothing,” Kat lied. “I just started to trip
but Lock saved me. No big deal.”

“It had better not be. If I find out there’s
something you’re not telling us…”

“Leave her alone, Deep.” Lock frowned at his
brother. “Go make sure the boat’s ready to sail. We need to go if
we’re going to catch the crosswind.”

“Yes,
Captain.”
Performing a mock
salute, Deep turned to go. But not before he pierced Kat with
another impenetrable look.

“So how long is this, uh, voyage going to
take, anyway?” she asked, ignoring him as they got under way. “Not
too long, I hope. This isn’t a very big boat.”

“It’s the sailing vessel our fathers left
us,” Lock explained, doing something to one of the many ropes that
were all around the boat. “We used to come out in it often before
they died.”

“I’m so sorry,” Kat said. “I didn’t mean to
offend you.”

“You didn’t,” Lock assured her. “It was a
long time ago. And to answer your question, the trip to the
continent is only a few hours with a good headwind. We’ll be there
before you know it.”

“Oh good.” Kat felt relieved. “I was afraid
we were going to be gone for weeks.”

“We might be,” Deep said. “The flower Mother
L’rin is sending us to find is rare—some say it exists only in
legends and fairy tales.”

“What?” Kat frowned. “Then how are we
supposed to find it?”

“We’ll start in the hill region,” Lock said.
“That’s where the legends that talk of it come from. And it’s only
a day’s hike from where we’ll be landing.”

“Hiking?” Kat raised her eyebrows. “Nobody
said anything about
hiking
. I know you guys have on boots
but I’m still wearing these.” She nodded down at the dainty,
strappy sandals Lock had gotten for her at the local bazaar. She
had to admit he had good taste and was excellent at judging her
size, but the sandals were hardly suited to days of rugged mountain
climbing.

“Don’t worry,” Deep told her. “The continent
is covered in
belsh.
It’s a soft, velvety moss that cushions
your feet at every step.”

“It’s so comfortable to walk on barefoot
that the natives have never worn shoes,” Lock explained. “The whole
concept of footwear is entirely foreign to them.”

“Well…all right.” She nodded. “But if we’re
going to be there awhile, where are we going to stay the night? I’m
assuming there aren’t any Hiltons or Holiday Inns on the
continent.”

“We’ll sleep under the stars,” Deep said.
“And there’s a tent if it rains.” He raised an eyebrow at Kat.
“Though it might be a tight fit for three.”

“Guess we’ll be hoping for clear skies
then,” she said dryly. Although a night snuggled up between the two
of them was probably exactly what she needed to keep from getting
too weak to function.
What I want and what I need are two
different things,
Kat told herself firmly.
Besides, there’s
no point in being worried over nothing. We’ll find the flower and
come back in no time. I’ll be fine.

She hoped.

Kat thought later in her life that the trip
in the little wooden boat over the golden sea was one of the things
about Twin Moons she would never forget.

Because Twin Moons’ sun was a red dwarf, the
sunlight had a golden-pink glow that sparkled on the water. It was
so clear she could see fathoms and fathoms down to the ocean floor
where rainbow colored fish flitted playfully among spiny corals and
waving anemone-type creatures. There were larger creatures too,
moving in the depths. Some longer than their boat and about twice
as wide, with round, glassy eyes and rough purple skin. Lock told
her not to worry about them, though. He said they were peaceful
plant eaters that wouldn’t harm her even if she fell overboard. Kat
planned to stay firmly in the boat anyway—she had no interest in
finding out how “tame” and “harmless” the huge creatures were
firsthand.

At last they landed on the sandy shore of a
vast tract of land—the continent. Deep and Lock anchored their boat
firmly in a natural cove they knew of and the three of them took
off their shoes and boots and Kat hiked up her dark blue toga dress
before they splashed ashore.

The pink, sugar-fine sand of the beach soon
gave way to rolling hills covered in a soft green velvety moss that
felt wonderful under Kat’s toes. It was sprinkled with yellow and
periwinkle blue flowers which she gathered as they walked and wove
into a crown to wear in her hair. It was a game she and Liv and
Sophie had used to play—queen of the castle—and she wished they
could be there to see her now and admire the scenic beauty of the
land she found herself in.

To her surprise, Kat was actually enjoying
herself. She was more at peace than she could remember feeling
since before Liv’s wedding.
Before I met Deep and Lock, that
is,
she told herself. But even the twins seemed to be feeling
peaceful. Or at least, Kat wasn’t filled to overflowing with their
angst and hunger for once. Everything was quiet here on the
continent—even their usually overwhelming emotions. It was very
pleasant, though she knew it could change in an instant.

The sky was a vast lavender-blue bowl above
her head without a single scrap of cloud.
Looks like our
sleeping arrangements won’t be too crowded tonight then,
Kat
thought, gazing up at it.
Good thing I’m still feeling fine.
It was true she was a little tired, but a lot had already happened
that day—it was to be expected that she would get somewhat
fatigued, she told herself. Lifting her chin, she ignored the
ominous beginnings of a headache behind her right eye, and kept
walking.

“So what are we looking for, anyway?” she
said after they’d been hiking for about an hour in silence. “I
mean, what does this
fi-fi
blossom look like?”

“The Moons blossom has two flowers on a
single stem,” Lock said. “One light and one dark, like the moons
that fill our sky at night.”

“One moon—
Dakir
is always in the
shadow of the other—
Lanare
,” Deep explained. “So
Dakir
shows up as a black disk in the sky rather than a
white or light one like
Lanare
. “When both are fully visible
at once, then it’s said the Moons blossom will bloom.”

“Is it a full moon night tonight then?” Kat
asked, shading her eyes to look up at the sky. The large pinkish
sun was already descending, dropping behind the purple peaks
brooding in the distance.

“The moons are coming to their zenith
tomorrow night,” Lock said. But they should be close enough to full
tonight for our purposes. Legend says that the Moons blossom hides
in plain sight—its stem blends into the
belsh
and the
flowers don’t unfurl until the light of the moons touches their
petals.”

“So…they could be anywhere and we’d never
see them?” Kat asked.

“Not until the moons come out.” Deep
frowned. “Actually, we should probably be finding a place to camp.
There’s a likely looking copse of trees over there about a hundred
yards away.” He nodded at the small area of dense vegetation which
reminded Kat of the bushes and trees in the Healing Gardens. “We
might as well get comfortable and find a place to rest since we’re
going to be up half the night hunting for
fi-fi
flowers, as
Kat calls them.”

“Very funny.” Kat put a hand on her hip.
“But that’s as close to pronouncing that weird long name that
Mother L’rin said. Come to think of it, my convo-pillar wouldn’t
even translate it. Why is that?”

Deep raised an eyebrow at her. “Possibly
because it’s the biological equivalent of a shoddy piece of
technological equipment? I believe in Earth vernacular you would
call it a ‘piece of crap.’”

“Nice try,” Kat said. “But I’m not giving it
up. I don’t like being dependant on anyone else to communicate for
me.”

Deep put a hand to his chest. “It touches my
heart, little Kat, that you’re so very
trusting
.”

Kat knew she shouldn’t let him get to her,
but her head was really beginning to throb. “Maybe if you’d
talk
to me instead of keeping secrets,” she said furiously.
“If you’d give me a
reason
to trust you—”

“Stop!” Lock frowned at both of them. “Kat’s
convo-pillar couldn’t translate Mother L’rin’s name for the Moons
blossom because it comes from the Elder Tongue.”

“The what?” Kat asked.

“The Elder Tongue,” Lock repeated. “It’s the
root of all languages on Twin Moons and impossible to translate by
biological or technical means. You have to study it for years to
understand even a tenth of it.”

“And have you?” she asked. “Studied it?”

“Unsolvable riddles and obtuse, unlearnable
languages are my dear brother’s passion,” Deep answered for him.
“It’s one of the reasons he puts up with me so well.”

“Exactly,” Lock replied, smiling. “Because
no one else in the universe speaks Deep’s language but me. Not
really.”

Kat could well believe that was true, but it
was interesting to hear them admit it out loud.
So they know
what they are to each other and how they appear to other people.
Deep knows that he makes it hard for Lock and Lock forgives him and
loves him anyway. Fascinating.

“Come here, Brother.” Deep grabbed for his
twin and threw an arm over Lock’s shoulders, pulling him close for
a brief embrace. “What would I do without you to translate for
me?”

“You’d have died long ago. Most likely at
the hands of an angry mob.” Lock grinned and hugged his twin
back.

For a moment Kat forgot her growing headache
in the pleasure of their positive emotions for each other. The love
that flowed between the brothers spilled through their three-way
link and flowed over her skin like the warm glow of a fire on a
chilly night.
Wow,
she found herself thinking.
See, if
they felt like this all the time, I wouldn’t mind sharing their
emotions at all. It’s really kind of nice.