The Quest for the Heart Orb (2 page)

“Don’t worry about what I’m
not
telling you, Ren.  You’ll learn that soon enough, though not from me.  Instead, think about what I
am
telling you.”

“I will try,
Brai
Sierna,” Ren said. 

“Good,” Sierna replied with an unmistakable air of finality.  Ren’s curiosity raged, but it would do her no good to ask further questions and she knew it.  They walked the rest of the way in silence, reaching an enormous plateau half way down the mountain a little while later.  They crossed through Walshire toward the walls of Sanctuary, and Ren stared wide-eyed at the decorations being put up along the storefronts and houses they passed.  There was a palpable sense of excitement in the air as the villagers prepared a grand celebration for the return of the
Hidden Sister
.  Sierna picked up the pace, returning the occasional greeting but not stopping to talk as she usually did.  That, combined with the summons and the things Sierna had said, began to make Ren nervous.

Once they passed through the ridiculously tall double doors into Sanctuary’s marble halls, Ren fell back a pace so that she was following Sierna, her head up, spine straight, and eyes forward, as though she weren’t at all embarrassed by the new stone in her forehead.  It was just her luck that the halls were filled with children bustling from one lesson to another when they entered.  She considered looking into some of the faces around her just to see if
Brai
Sierna was right about the motivation behind the stares she felt directed at her, but decided to postpone the experiment for another time.  Almost before she knew it, she found herself standing outside Adaya’s private chamber door. 

Sierna knocked lightly, then opened the door and stood aside for Ren to enter.  She’d never been invited into
Brai
Adaya’s private chambers before, and she was relieved to find that it was warm and cozy, with tapestries on the stone walls and handmade rugs scattered around the perpetually icy floor.  Adaya, First
Brai
of Sanctuary, sat in an enormous carved wooden chair that dwarfed her small, bent figure.  Ren had sometimes wondered if Adaya was as old as Sanctuary itself, and would not have been completely surprised to be told that she was.

“Greetings, Ren,” Adaya said, her warm smile increasing the myriad lines on her face.  “Thank you,
Brai
Sierna, for bringing her so quickly.  You may leave, now.”  Sierna bowed and left the room, closing the door quietly.  “Please, sit and warm yourself,” Adaya said, gesturing to a chair apposite her own in front of the fireplace.

“Thank you,
Brai
Adaya,” Ren said, taking the chair, though she would have preferred to sit on the floor.

“Did
Brai
Sierna tell you why I summoned you?”

“No,
Brai
Adaya, she didn’t,” Ren replied while Adaya studied her intently.  Old she might be, but her blue eyes were sharp and bright, missing nothing.  “She said only that you wished to see me, and that changing my robe wasn’t necessary.  I hope that was correct.”

“Yes, yes, of course,” Adaya said, waving a gnarled hand.  “I see you have a new corona stone.  How old are you now?”

“Twenty,” Ren replied.

“That is good,” Adaya said, nodding.  “Yes, very good.  I had feared, for a while, that you would be too young when the time came, but thankfully that is not the case.”

Ren wanted to ask what she meant, but held her tongue.  Adaya preferred to speak in her own time, and didn’t care to be rushed.  Instead, she held her hands out to the warmth of the fire and waited, the only sound in the room the crackling of the flames.  Three full minutes passed by Ren’s counting before Adaya spoke again.

“Ren, you remember the story of the
Braii-
Vatra Pact, do you not?”

Ren frowned.  Everyone at Sanctuary knew the answer to that question, down to the youngest child.  It was required.  “Of course,
Brai
Adaya,” she said.  Adaya nodded expectantly, so she continued.  “In exchange for creating Sanctuary, the original First of the
Braii
,
Brai
Lea, promised Vatra Gariel that all who lived within its walls would watch for the return of the
Hidden Sister
, and stand ready to provide assistance to the Orb Quest if such aid is requested.”

“Yes, that is correct,” Adaya said.  “As far as it goes.  There is more to the promise; secrets known only to a few
Braii
at any one time, and some known only to the First.  I will now share one of those secrets with you, Ren, Daughter of the
Mareon
.”

A cold knot formed in Ren’s stomach.  “I am honored,
Brai
Adaya,” she said, though the doubt in her tone was unmistakable.

“One of our sworn duties to Vatra Gariel, and the people of Rathira, is to keep and shelter the Maiden of the Heart Orb here, on
Nu Senna
, until the
Hidden Sister
returns.  Upon that event, we are to provide her with all she will need to take her place with the Orb Quest.”

Ren stared questioningly, but
Brai
Adaya’s silence confirmed her suspicions.  “You must be mistaken,
Brai
Adaya,” she said, outwardly calm, though inwardly she was struggling to remain in her seat rather than run straight back to her mountain top.  “It cannot be me.”

“Why can it not be you, Ren?”

“Because I’m…I’m too different,” Ren replied, hardly able to believe that this subject had come up twice in one morning.  “I’m cursed,
Brai
Adaya.  You know this.”

“How many times have I told you that what you see today as a curse, you will one day acknowledge as your greatest blessing?”

“Many times,
Brai
Adaya,” Ren admitted.  “But…are you certain that you haven’t made a mistake?”

“Yes, Ren, I’m certain,” Adaya said.  “You alone bear the corona stones.  That is why you were brought to us.”

“My mother didn’t intend to bring me here,” Ren argued.  “It was only luck that we found this place before she died.”

“Not luck, Ren,” Adaya said, shaking her head slowly.  “It was Fate, as foretold by Vatra Gariel himself.”

For long moments Ren could only stare, too stunned to form any coherent thoughts.  Finally, one question arose in her mind.  Perhaps not the most important question, she knew, but one she wanted an answer to.  “Why did you never tell me this before?”

“Because a secret told is no longer a secret,”
Brai
Adaya said.  “And because I wanted you to grow up without the weight of that knowledge.”

“I cannot see how it would have made much difference,” Ren said, dropping her eyes to her hands.

“I know that it hasn’t been easy for you here,” Adaya said gently.  “But you’ll soon discover that there are many people who think much differently than those you’re used to.”

“I prefer to stay here, where I know what people think of me, and how they feel,” Ren said.

“That’s understandable,” Adaya said.  “We all want to stay with what’s familiar, whether it’s good for us or not.  But the return of the
Hidden Sister
marks a new destiny for you.”

“I thought my destiny was to remain here, on
Nu Senna
,” Ren said desperately.  “That’s what you told me.  You even made me swear to never leave this mountain.”

“Your destiny
was
here, Ren.  Until the Return.  Now, it lies along a different path.  The promise I asked of you, as you well know, was not to leave
without my consent
.”

Ren opened her mouth to protest further, but could not find her voice.  It took three tries, and then the words that escaped were not the ones she meant to say.  “I’m frightened,
Brai
Adaya.”

“Of course you are,” Adaya said sympathetically.  “I wish that I could tell you there is no reason to fear, but I cannot.”

Ren tried to swallow, but her mouth was too dry.  “What if I refuse this destiny?”   

“No one will force you, Ren.  Like all of us, you must make your own choices, and abide by the consequences of them.”

Ren’s shoulders slumped.  “According to the stories, the consequences of my refusal will be the end of Rathira and all who live here.”  Adaya’s only response to that was silence.

Ren turned toward the fireplace and stared into the flames.  She did not want to do this.  She did not want to be the Maiden of the Heart Orb.  She didn’t need one more thing to mark her as different from everyone else.  She wanted to return to her warm, safe cabin and stay there for the remainder of her days.  Yes, she was shunned by nearly everyone in both Sanctuary and Walshire, and no, she could not claim to be happy with her life.  But she was safe.  The people here knew her differences and while they didn’t accept her into their homes or hearts, at least she knew that being shunned was the worst they would do.  Who knew what strangers might do when all of her differences became known?

But
, she asked herself silently,
what is my fear compared to the lives of every living creature on Rathira?

Ren straightened her shoulders and lifted her chin.  She’d been called many names over the years.  Freak.  Fish.  Snake.  Monster.  Names she didn’t like to think about.  But the word
coward
had never been applied to her.  Nor would it be, if she could help it.

“When shall I leave,
Brai
Adaya?”

Chapter One

Princess Kapia of the House of Feenis, Maiden of the Moon Orb, stood watching the afternoon sunlight fade, her heart heavy with worry and indecision.  She absently fingered the retracted Moon Orb in her skirt pocket which was, among other things, her sole means of communicating with Bredon, the man she’d loved for as long as she could remember.  She’d never prayed for anything as much or as hard as she’d prayed for Bredon’s safe return.  Now that her prayers had been answered, it was frustrating to have her happiness tempered with doubt and worry.

“Penny for your thoughts,” Karma said from behind her.  Kapia looked over her shoulder at her brother’s wife, who stood with Nikura the Sphin close beside her.  Karma was too thin and too pale, but her eyes were bright and free of pain.  This was the first time Kapia had seen her outside without Zakiel hovering anxiously nearby--a good sign, Kapia thought. 

A couple of weeks earlier Karma had been gravely wounded by a harpy.  There had been some very tense and scary days for the members of the Orb Quest as they waited to see if the all-important Lady Techu would recover.  The day her fever broke was a joyous day for them all, though there was still some concern for the twins she carried.

“What is a
penny
?” Kapia asked.

“A small copper coin once used on Earth as a means of exchange,” Karma said as she moved to stand next to Kapia.  “And no, I don’t have one.  It’s just an old expression.”

“I see,” Kapia said, arching a brow in the same manner Karma often used.  “Then you’ve just made an offer that you cannot make good on.”

“That’s true,” Karma said solemnly.  “Do you think the Prince will imprison me for my deception?”

“Zakiel can be very strict, as you know, but I have a feeling you can convince him to pardon you,” Kapia said.

“Yes, I think you might be right,” Karma said, grinning.  Kapia’s answering smile was so faint Karma nearly missed it.  “Will you speak with Bredon tonight?”

“No, tomorrow night,” Kapia said.  “I would like to ask you something, if you don’t mind.”

“Of course I don’t mind, Kapia,” Karma said, hoping her younger sister was about to tell her what was bothering her.  Kapia hadn’t been herself for days now, and she and Zakiel were becoming worried. 

Kapia looked away and took a deep breath.  “What would you do if Zakiel told you that he didn’t like something about you?”

“I’m not sure I understand exactly,” Karma said slowly.  “Do you mean something superficial, like my perfume or a hairstyle?  Or something deeper?”

“Something deeper,” Kapia replied.  Then she gave her head a little shake and decided to be frank.  “Specifically, that you join in battle instead of hiding with the other women.”

“I see,” Karma said.  “That’s a difficult question for me to answer.  By the time I met Zakiel, I was who and what I am now.  I haven’t changed in any significant way, so he hasn’t had to learn to accept anything new.  Your situation is different.”

“You’re right,” Kapia said, nodding.  “When we began this journey I was shy and awkward, with no confidence and no skills.  Now, thanks to you, that’s changed. 
I’ve
changed.”

“It doesn’t have all that much to do with me,” Karma said.  Kapia stared at her in such open mouthed shock that Karma laughed.  “Oh, I taught you things that I doubt anyone else would have thought to teach you, but you were born with battle instincts, Kapia.”

“I don’t know about that,” Kapia said doubtfully. 

“Kapia, you know and accept that Tigren blood is strong in Zakiel, but did it never occur to you that you have the same parents, and therefore the same blood?”

“I know we have the same blood, of course,” Kapia replied.  “But I’ve never displayed signs of the Tigren like Zakiel does.”

Karma considered telling Kapia about the Jasani and the lost clan of the Tigren, but decided to keep things simple.  “Females usually don’t,” she said.  “But there
is
Tigren in you.”  When Kapia continued to frown, Karma went on.  “Consider your skill with the staff, and how quickly it developed.  Consider your ability to stand fast in battle without benefit of the training that Hunters and Knights receive.  In just a couple of months you’ve gone from a sheltered girl to a seasoned fighter and that’s only because it came naturally to you, and you embraced it.” 

“Why didn’t I think of this myself?” Kapia wondered, shaking her head slowly.  “It’s so obvious now that you point it out.”  She fell silent for a few moments, then turned to face Karma.  “I like the changes in myself, and I’m proud of my abilities, regardless of the reasons behind them.”