Techromancy Scrolls: Soras (13 page)

I said in a voice I tried to keep the waver out of, and it was amplified by the mountainside, rolling out over the assembled crowd then blending into the whispers trapped forever in the peaks on the wind, “Lupei vote patience and tolerance.”

The crowd exploded into a frenzy of boos, hisses, and shouts. The conclave all started arguing. Ranelle looked around and her pretty face became dark with anger as she grabbed a stone on the table in front of her and she slammed it down on the table three times. It sounded like thunderclaps and her voice boomed out, “Silence!”

All in attendance instantly quieted and turned toward her.

The anger drained from her face to be replaced by a pleasant smile as she looked around. “Lupei was courteous and listened to all of your votes and arguments, do you not owe the same civility to Lupei?”

The conclave murmured together almost as if it were rehearsed, “Yes Great Mother.” It was amazing to me how she commanded such respect among the leaders of each family.

I was beginning to understand Ranelle more and more. She was on the outside of her own people, separate, caring for all but never a part of it. She was the voice of reason among the leaders, but not able to affect or dictate the inner workings of any of the thirteen families.

She held absolute power but none at all, and they all respected and... feared her because she was on the outside. She must feel so isolated and alone. I understood, at least, part of that. I was alone until a certain Techno Knight passed by a common serf in Cheap Quarter by happenstance.

I contemplated that a moment. Is that how Prince George felt, and why he would never take the crown of King? As long as he didn't, he was a part of Highland Keep, and not held apart from it. I might ask him one day if I were ever to see him again.

The leader of the Gypsies inclined her head to me and prompted, “Please continue.”

I was no speaker, so I just spoke from my heart. “Does not violence beget violence? If we go to war against an enemy without all the facts, we could be making a mistake that our people can never come back from.”

I exhaled then inhaled deeply, looked around and beseeched those around me as I stood and turned to the crowd, “The People and the Altii have always enjoyed the peace that has lasted for as long as the Altii have been here in the New World. Will we let one event, that we do not know the full truth of yet, dictate our actions and wipe away all these years of peace?”

I spun and almost pleaded with the Great Mother. “Should our first concern not be the rescue of Mother Udele? Before we make a decision which we may well regret? Allow us to free her and to investigate these knights who have perpetrated this vile act.”

I looked down at my hands and said in a small voice, “That is all we ask. And if it proves out that Solomon was indeed behind the attacks, then the Lupei will abstain from the next vote and abide by the decision of the conclave.”

The crowd started murmuring again as I sat and made myself as small as I could. Ranelle gave me an almost gentle smile and she said, “Wise words always come from the heart of those innocent of spirit.”

She turned to the young girl at the table and gave her a sweet smile which turned her pretty face into something more radiant. The young leader looked nervous and Ranelle put her at ease. “Hello, Tianna.”

The young girl blushed and said, “Hello Great Mother.”

I felt power leaking from the young one, she was of the Touched. Like me, she didn't have very good control of her gift. The leader of all the Gypsies was making her nervous. I knew that Gypsy leadership was generally passed down in bloodlines, so my heart went out to Tianna. If she were the leader of her clan, that meant her mother was taken from her while she was young.

Ranelle asked in an almost motherly tone, “How votes the Aratreya? War or patience?”

She looked down then at me before she averted her eyes to her fidgeting hands as she said in a small voice, “Mother Laney has given me words to take into consideration. Do we need more death and bloodshed before we are certain of who perpetrated the crimes? I do not believe it is out of line to allow the Altii and the Lupei to determine the truth of the matter as it is their two groups that have been directly affected by the attack.”

She looked up and around and she was suddenly full of confidence like she had just made the decision and was confident of her answer. “Aratreya votes patience with my sister Mother, Laney.”

I smiled at her. I don't know why but I felt pride for someone so young to weigh such issues that had dire consequences not just for her people, but for the world as we knew it. She felt like a kindred spirit and I suddenly felt very protective of her, like she was my own kin. She smiled back and blushed as she looked down at her hands.

I looked back at Ranelle as she spoke, “The war vote is eleven to two and does not meet the required unanimous decision.” Then I saw where the power of her title came in as she added, “The People will give Udele's Soras two weeks to investigate the attacks and affect the return of Mother Udele. The War Council will reconvene for a second vote at that time.”

Her voice boomed, “So say the People!”

The council and the crowd roared, “So say the People!”

It reverberated through the peaks with a power of its own, the echos of it joining the ghostly whispers filtering through the peaks. Then I flinched when the Great Mother again slammed the stone on the table, apparently signaling the end of the meeting as people flooded the smooth stone floor.

I glanced at Sylvia who looked exhausted and I could feel her healing magics slowing. I said to her over the din of the crowd. “Please, see to Sarafine. I am fine.”

She narrowed her eyes at me and protested, “You still have some injuries.”

I shook my head and pleaded, “I will be fine, please, go see to Sarafine before you have nothing left to give.”

She hesitated then nodded once and disappeared into the crowd.

I looked over at Tianna as she stood and walked past to rejoin her family. I laid a hand on her arm as she passed and said, “Thank you.”

She nodded and blushed again and rushed off. I had a genuine smile on my face. It was nice to know that I had at least one ally on the council.

My smile spread as two warm arms wrapped around my waist from behind. I looked back up into Celeste's sparkling eyes and almost sighed into a quick kiss. She whispered in my ear, “You did good lady.”

I exhaled in relief and admitted as she moved to my side and claimed my hand, “I have no clue what I am doing. I'm not qualified to speak on matters of war.”

She shook her head and said, “But this, was a matter of the heart. Something you excel in, love.”

Ranelle had come around the table to join us then she looked at the darkening sky. It was evening already, how long had this taken?

She smiled at me and said, “Well done Laney. The rumors about your level head are well founded. Let us feast, I assume you will be off on your mission at first light.”

Celeste nodded, and then I staggered.

I was hanging from chains from the ceiling in a dark room, I could feel the iron biting into the flesh of my wrists as my grey hair hung in my vision. I saw blood on the ground that had dripped from some of the wounds on my body.

I heard voices, asking me questions but I couldn't make them out. I was struck in the face by a powerful blow. I winced but would not cry out to show my tormentors the satisfaction. My vision pulled out to see it was Mother Udele, beaten and bloody, her fingernails had been pulled out on one hand. And she had various cuts and bruises on all her exposed flesh.

She was smiling, right at me and she said something I couldn't understand, like she was speaking to me, like she could see me there, watching. Then I was somewhere else, with Dark Knights descending upon me. There were flashes of pain, of power. Then I was searching, questing for something or someone as I was being pursued. Some portion of my brain understood I was having another vision, but I was so exhausted and still had some injuries from Sarafine's challenge, that it was taking everything I had left in me. Then as a small mercy, everything went dark.

I awoke with a start, to find myself in Sylvia's wagon, someone put a hand on my chest and forced me back down to the bed. I felt a warmth flowing around me, into me, in sheets of finely spun mist. I knew this feeling. I turned my head to look up at a smiling Syl as she said, “Welcome back Laney.”

I stretched as she let her healing powers fade. I felt great. How had she found the power to finish healing me so soon? Then I realized there was bright sunlight streaming in through the little, stained glass windows. It was morning.

Ranelle said, “Good morning sleepyhead. You had us worried for a bit.”

I turned my head and I blinked. She was sitting at the little table by the door, sipping tea. My normal little bed warmers were not in the bed. Ingr must have already awoken and went outside with her goats.

Sylvia scolded me, “You had some internal bleeding I hadn't found yet. If you would have let me finish last night before sending me off to tend to the woman who did it to you, I would have found it.”

I blushed at the scolding.

She smiled and crinkled her nose at me. Then she asked, “It was a vision? The way you stumbled and your eyes clouded over before you passed out.”

I nodded and said, “Mother Udele is alive. Being tortured for something. I couldn't make out the words. She is hurting but defiant. She was trying to tell me something.”

Ranelle sat her teacup down and narrowed her eyes at me. “You can hear in your visions?”

I nodded. “And I felt her pain.”

She cocked an eyebrow and Sylvia explained, “Transference.”

The ruler tipped her head back and laughed heartily, I couldn't help but smile at her. She looked down at me, shaking her head as she said, “You are just full of surprises aren't you little one? And the way Sarafine's curses seemed to burn off of you?”

I shrugged in embarrassment for reasons I don't understand, then said almost like an apology, “Though I have very little power of my own, I can channel the power of others and convert it into energy I can use, so long as it isn't too much.”

She froze for a moment and then said carefully, “But... only and Adept can do such a thing.”

I swallowed, it was a secret of Wexbury what I truly was. And I had just opened my mouth and just told her without thinking. I looked down and played nervously with the glove on my hand. She tilted her head back again to laugh. Father Sol help me if I didn't grin at it.

She nodded as if to herself and quietly said, “Now some of the stories I have heard are starting to make sense now.”

She moved over and sat on the side of the bed and laid a hand on my head to stroke my sweat-matted hair. “Do not fear, it is not our place to divulge your secrets.”

She smiled and I nodded my thanks.

I looked around and asked, “Where's Celeste?”

Both women froze. I narrowed my eyes as I looked at the angle of the sunlight streaming in through the windows, it was an extreme angle, it was around noon. I started to get up but both women held me down.

Ranelle squinted an eye and said like she was tearing a bandage off a wound. “She and your party rode out at sunrise with some of our trackers to Solomon, to confront Duke Liam with what they have found.”

I tried to get up but they blocked me again. “I need Goliath. I have to catch up with them.”

Ranelle shook her head as Sylvia forced me back to the bed saying, “You'll do nothing until I finish with you. Why did you just take that beating without defending yourself? It was reckless, she could have killed you.”

I felt like a child being chastised. I lowered my eyes. “It seemed like the thing to do at the time.”

She tried not to smirk but failed as she muttered, “And totally in character for you, my... Sora.” She said the last word with a ton of humor in coloring it. I grinned and slapped her arm lightly.

Then Ranelle spoke, “You were in no shape to travel, and time is of the essence so Sora Celeste left me to protect her greatest treasure. If it were any other than the Lightbringer, I would have brushed aside the threat of the great pain she would bring down upon us if we failed to keep you safe. We are to care for you until her return.”

She smiled warmly at me and confided, “She loves you with all her heart, you know that don't you?”

I blushed and nodded. “And it goes both ways.”

She nodded back and her smile grew. “I can see that. I doubt she would have let you out of her sight if I hadn't pledged personal responsibility for you. She figured that you couldn't be any safer than in the middle of tens of thousands of protectors.”

I swallowed. She had pledged herself personally? Then I tried to get up again as anger rose. I was held down again as I growled, “She left without me. She thinks I am too fragile to face the violence of knights.” Then I blanched as I realized that she thought here was the possibility that she may not return if it turns out that Solomon was behind this. Their fighting force was next to none but Highland itself.

As if she could read that realization in my eyes, Ranelle nodded slowly and said, “Lady Celeste of the Altii is no fool. If it proves to be our darkest fears, she can make it back out if any can.”

I nodded but still felt slighted.

Then she leaned in with a bright smile that almost made me forget about Celeste leaving me there. She asked quietly in a 'just between us girls' tone, “So tell me Laney... does Sir Bowyn have a woman back home in Wexbury?”

My smile almost split my face as my eyes widened in surprise. I scrunched up my mouth then grinned again as I almost whispered, “No.”

Sylvia chuckled as she pushed my head back onto the bed to continue her healing work. “Those two were flirting all night at the feast. I was tempted to dump a bucket of water on Rain here.”

My shock returned. She had called the Great Mother, Rain? Wasn't that akin to blasphemy, giving a nickname to your ruler? It would land you in the stockades in the realms to show such familiarity. I looked desperately between the two women in concern for my friend.

Ranelle smirked at me and said, “Come now Laney, I haven't always been the Great Mother. I was good friends with Syl's mother, Elaine, when I was younger. I used to change this one's diapers on occasion when I visited the Lupei.”

She tilted her head almost cutely at me and said, “When we are alone, my friends and family call me Rain. You can do so as well, I'm finding myself quite fond of you and your protector.”

I shook my head. “I don't think...”

She gave a wicked grin and interrupted quickly, “Proclaimed. Too late, you have no choice now.”

I narrowed an eye at the playful woman who was possibly the most powerful woman in all the lands of Sparo and asked, “Isn't that abuse of power... Rain?”

She tilted her head back again and laughed heartily. It was infectious and Syl and I found ourselves chuckling at the woman. I paused and took a good look at her, realizing that she must feel so isolated being apart from her own people, a necessity if she were to lead and stay neutral. Then I found myself glad that I could make her laugh and feel like a normal woman, if for just a while.

While I worried about Celeste and the others, we gossiped about the differences in our cultures. I think Ranelle was fishing for more information about how nobles live in the community. I admitted to her, “I live on the peripheral of the noble world. I live in the barracks with Celeste and my exposure to the nobles is limited to a small group who I believe are not your customary nobles. I prefer the scholars and Techromancers in the library of the Techromancy Scrolls over socializing with the upper crust of Wexbury. I'm just a chicken herder at heart and feel out of place in such circumstances.”

“True I no longer have a heart attack whenever the Duke or Duchess are in the room, and I have grown accustomed to being around the Knights of the realm over the past two years so I may be slowly acclimating to it.”

She gave me a sad smile and confided, “I understand, I'm still slowly acclimating to the isolation that being Great Mother entails.”

Syl gave her a sly smirk and threw a linen napkin at her. “Oh boo hoo, you are such a drama queen, Rain. You've been basking in it the past fifteen years. You get to travel the lands visiting every clan, being welcomed into each.”

Rain grinned a little and cocked an eyebrow and said, “There is that I guess.”

They chuckled and I could see that both of them really didn't believe it was any consolation.

Elaine joined us and we moved out to one of the Lupei tables where lunch was still being served and we ate, I saw her isolation in action, as nobody joined the four of us.

After the meal I excused myself and I wandered the various camps, helping out where I could. Ranelle accompanied me, I gave her a questioning look and she held her hands up in surrender, stating, “I gave Sora Celeste my pledge.”

I sighed and felt nervous about my high ranking shadow.

In any of their eyes, I knew I wasn't a real Gypsy, but I would participate in their community where given a chance, it was only fair since they were caring for me while I was there. I wound up with a different band of the Lupei, they were weaving fishing nets.

After they got comfortable with me watching and asking questions, a younger man, Bolan, let me try. I made a poor attempt at knotting and weaving and the other men and women seemed entertained. I learned that this band preferred to travel the base of the range to the east, and fish in the Great Sea with their nets.

I kept glancing over when they would clip off the end pieces of the rolls of string and toss them into the small fire nearby. I cringed each time they did. It was such a waste. I paused and asked, “Could you please save the ends for me, they can still be useful. We reuse, and repurpose everything in the Keeps.”

This got people studying me but they did as I asked with amusement on their faces. By late afternoon, my fingers were starting to ache with the fine work I was doing, and I was getting pretty passable at weaving. My net on one end looked like a drunkard from the Trough had weaved it but it got progressively more consistent. I tied off the small net and held it up with a silly grin on my face and everyone laughed, which got my smile to grow even more.

Ranelle gave me a smiling smirk and held hers up. It looked just like the masters work. To her giggling pleasure, I mumbled, “Showoff.”

Then Bolan took my net from me and explained as he started tying small weighted burlap sacks on the corners of it as he explained, “This is a throwing net. Rope will be attached and a fisherman will fling it into the deeps of a river or Great Sea, then reel it back in using the rope which will also close the net like this.”

He demonstrated on a finished net to show how it would constrict into a loose sack. As he explained, I started dipping into the bucket that the end pieces were in and started deftly braiding them into a thin rope. Bolan paused when he was explaining what a drag net was, and he watched me. A little girl, who was the daughter of one of the net weavers sat right next to me and looked at the small rope I was making.

I got nervous when I realized all eyes were on me. I swallowed and held the rope up that was now as long as my forearm. There were enough scraps that I could make it perhaps four feet long. It could be useful for a lot of things. I looked over to Rain, who was cocking her head with interest.

I looked down as I blushed with so many eyes on me. “We repurpose everything in Wexbury. Resources are too valuable to waste. My little brother Jace and I would collect all the strings and papers that purchases of food in the market were wrapped in. We'd make these small ropes to use around our little farm. They are good for tying the chicken wire to the posts, or even to hold your britches up.”

This got a chuckle and I looked down to grin. The little girl had grabbed some of the clippings and was attempting to braid them. I stopped her and tied off five together then told her, “No like this. Just like you would braid your hair. When you get near the end, overlap another piece by two fingers width and twist like this and continue braiding.”

“What is your name? Mine is Laney,” I asked

She got really bashful and squeaked out, “Natasha.”

I smiled down at her and continued to show her how to braid the rope.

She was nodding as I explained, “You may think that the overlaps would be weak and would unravel, but once braided, they are actually the strongest portions of the rope.”

I watched as everyone was silent until she wove in her first overlap. She smiled up at me and held it in front of her. I nodded with pride and said, “Very good! You can be the bands master scrapper in your travels now.”

The girl looked over at one of the women with a blush and held up the start of her scrap rope. “I'm a master scrapper, mama.”

Everyone chuckled and grinned at the girl then they finally started talking as they went back to work.

I took my leave and Ranelle walked beside me with her hands clasped behind her back. “An Altii warrior with skills of peace. What a contradiction you are Sora Laney. You do know that now you've started a new craft for their caravan? As well as teaching that what we view as waste can be useful.”