This Fierce Splendor (49 page)

“You are kind.” Rising Star’s voice was suddenly brisk. “But it is I who must make the decision on this. In time I will rid myself of this sorrow and make a fine life for myself. You will see, I will be content again.” She walked quickly across the chamber toward the table on which they’d placed a number of objects. “Dominic and Patrick will be here soon and you must choose which of these is most important to you so that I can put them in the knapsack.”

Content but not happy, Elspeth thought as she gazed at Rising Star, wanting to give comfort and having none to give. She smiled with an effort. “The compass, I think.” She pointed to a small wooden container. “And that box of white powder. I have an idea it might be gunpowder. Some scholars believe that Atlantis invented gunpowder even before their colony in China. And perhaps that strange amulet with the cross …”

Dominic and Elspeth stood on the top step of the temple watching Patrick and Rising Star lead all the pack animals up the winding trail to the pass. They had reached the halfway point when Dominic smothered a smile as he saw Patrick tugging at Azuquita’s lead rope. The mule had stopped and plopped down stubbornly in the middle of the trail. It was too far to hear, but he’d bet Patrick was swearing a blue streak.

“Why did you send them away so soon, Dominic? They didn’t even have a chance to look around the city.”

“Kantalan doesn’t have the same meaning for them
as it does for you.” Dominic’s gaze was still on Patrick and Azuquita. “Did you talk to Rising Star?”

She nodded. “She wouldn’t discuss her future. Oh, Dominic, she’s so unhappy. What will she do?”

“I wish I could say I knew. Maybe Patrick—”

“Patrick?” Then as she grasped his meaning her eyes widened in surprise. “But she thinks of him as a child. He’s much younger than she is.”

“That’s not unusual in Rising Star’s tribe, and he loves her. In time she might come to love him in the same way.”

“And you could accept that? Joshua is your brother.”

“And I love him,” Dominic said wearily. “But I love Patrick and Rising Star too. Why should all three of them be miserable?”

“Patrick would have to leave Killara, and I think he loves it almost as much as you do, Dominic.”

“Yes.” His gaze left Patrick and shifted to Elspeth’s face. “Sometimes we must choose to give up what we love.” He turned back to the entrance of the temple. “Have you found anything else you want to take with us?”

“I tied a few artifacts in a knapsack and fastened it on Nina’s saddlehorn,” she said absently as her gaze returned to the figures on the trail. “How strange. Dominic, look at Azuquita.”

Dominic turned to see Azuquita leap off his haunches, his long ears laid flat against his head. The mule lunged forward, tearing the lead rope from Patrick’s hands. He shouldered Patrick’s horse aside and passed Rising Star at a gallop.

“Damn, I’ve never seen him move that fast,” Dominic said with a grin. “I wonder what’s gotten into him? I bet Patrick—”

The stone steps suddenly jerked beneath Dominic’s boots, throwing him to his knees! “What in—”

The steps were splitting, great jagged cracks gaping like hungry mouths in the stone.

“Dominic!” Elspeth screamed. “What’s happening?”

Dominic’s gaze flew to the Sun Child. A thin wisp of black smoke belched into the air. Poisonous smoke?

“Oh, my God!” He leapt to his feet and caught Elspeth’s hand. “Come on.” He pulled her down the steps, tossed her on Nina’s back, and slapped the mares rump. “Get going! Follow Rising Star and Patrick. Don’t wait for me.” He jumped on Blanco and turned the stallion to follow Elspeth.

“Of course I’m going to wait for you.” Elspeth had reined in Nina a few yards away. The streets were shivering, undulating as if they were alive. It was like riding on the back of a giant serpent flexing in the sun. “It’s the Sun Child, isn’t it? Do we have time to get out of the city?”

“How do I know?” Dominic yelled as he grabbed Nina’s reins and put both horses to a run. The balcony of the house they were passing suddenly shattered and fell to the street. Blanco reared, pawing the air. “Lord save me from an obstinate woman. Do you want to get yourself killed? My saddlebags are heavily loaded and Blanco may not be able to move as fast as your horse. Get
going
, dammit.”

“I’ll wait for you.” Elspeth was pale, but her lips were firmly set. “But I think we’d best hurry.”

Dominic cast her a glance that was a mixture of desperation and exasperation. “If we get out of this alive, remind me to tell you about the virtues of wifely obedience.” He turned down the street leading to the trail to the pass.

They had to stop twice to avoid falling columns, but they were finally climbing, leaving the city behind.

The billows of smoke had increased but there was still no sound except the shattering cacophony that came from Kantalan itself as the earth quaked and shivered, bringing houses, palace, and temple alike crashing. The trail was also shaking, and Dominic could feel Blanco trembling with fear.

“Patrick and Rising Star have reached the pass,” Elspeth called back to him. “Does that mean they’re safe?”

Dominic shook his head. “With the mountain shaking
like this, there are bound to be landslides. We just have to hope there’s not too much loose rock. There’s a chance the—”

The world exploded
.

Elspeth’s mare fell to her knees and Dominic had to jerk Blanco aside to keep him from stumbling over the fallen horse. Then Nina struggled to her feet and Elspeth had time to glance at the Sun Child.

“Merciful God,” she whispered.

A third of the top of the mountain had blown away in the explosion and a thick stream of orange-red lava—like an obscene tongue of fire—poured down the mountain toward Kantalan.

“Not very merciful at the moment,” Dominic muttered. “Lets hope for more leniency in the next ten minutes or so.”

The sky was raining fireballs of lava, some as large as a mans torso. It was no longer early afternoon but night, the entire valley shrouded by black smoke. The only illumination was the fireballs being hurled into the air and the stream of lava rushing toward the city in an invincible tide of destruction.

“Cover your nose and mouth,” he shouted, tying his bandanna over his lower face. “Even if the fumes aren’t poisonous the smoke could still—” He broke off as a small fireball hit Blanco’s left flank. The horse gave a shrill neigh of terror and then bolted. Elspeth’s mare followed in a flight of panic, straight up the trail, ignoring the trembling earth and tumbling rocks, desperately fleeing from the fire falling from the sky.

Dominic managed to rein Blanco in as they reached the pass. The trail was straight down, and a misstep could cause the fragile bones of the horse’s legs to snap. He cast a hasty glance down the trail as he waited for Elspeth to reach him. There had been no slide yet as far as he could see, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t a blockage farther on.

Elspeth was now beside him, her eyes streaming above the handkerchief tied over her nose and mouth. “Patrick and Rising Star—”

“They should be almost down to the waterfall by now if they …” He didn’t complete the sentence, there was no use stating the obvious when Elspeth was frightened enough as it was. “Let me go first and keep a tight rein.”

“Oh, Dominic.” Elspeth was looking back at the city with shocked sorrow. “Kantalan.”

Dominic’s gaze followed hers. The lava that had entered the canal at the foot of the Sun Child had flowed into the other canals and there was now a flaming cross intersecting the smoke-shrouded darkness of the city. Elspeth and Dominic were breathless with wonder at the sight. Slowly the canals began to overflow and the lava spilled out to begin to cover the city.

“We have to go,” Dominic said gently. “Now, Elspeth.”

“I know.” She closed her eyes. Good-bye Kantalan. Her eyes flicked open and she turned to face the trail leading through the pass. “I’m ready to follow you.”

He nodded and began the downhill trek.

The way was clear for the first few hundred yards, then they ran into a minor landslide but nothing the horses couldn’t pick their way around. Three quarters of the way down there was a more serious blockage, and they were forced to get off the horses and climb over the four-foot-high pile of rubble, tugging the leads of the horses until they managed to clamber over the obstruction.

The ground was still shaking, but Dominic was allowing himself to be more hopeful. He caught sight of the lake a few hundred feet ahead of them and turned his head to call back to Elspeth. “Just a few minutes more.”

She nodded silently.

He turned back to the trail.

Another explosion rocked the mountain
.

“No!” Dammit, not when they were so close.

“The Sun Child.” Elspeth’s gasp behind him. “Another eruption.”

Huge jagged cracks were appearing in the stone on
either side of them. A cool rush of air, pocketed for perhaps a million years within the bowels of the mountain, touched their faces. “Run for it!”

Huge chunks of rocks dislodged from the cliffs, hurtling down behind them, in front of them, all around them. They plunged into the cold water of the lake at the same time. The horses swam frantically. A boulder the size of a tree plunged into the lake behind them. Crashing, roaring noises assaulted their ears; shards of smaller stones were flying through the air.

Then they were climbing onto the rock-strewn bank behind the waterfall, the mist bathing them in a soothing balm. In another moment they had made their way under the waterfall and around the rocky ledge to the grassy bank.

Elspeth’s breath was coming in little gasps, her chest hurting, her eyes burning. “Are we safe?”

“I think so.” Dominic was in little better condition than Elspeth. He pulled the bandanna from his face. “I don’t know.” He slipped out of the saddle, crossed the short distance separating them, helped her off the mare, and swiftly untied the handkerchief from her face. “Are you all right?”

She nodded, her gaze returning to the waterfall. “Kantalan’s gone, but we saw it,” she said softly. “And it was as beautiful as I knew it would be. We were there, Dominic. I’ll remember that for the rest of my life.”

“Then maybe Kantalan won’t be gone after all. Not as long as it exists here.” Dominic touched the center of her forehead with a gentle fingertip. “And here.” His hand brushed her left breast lightly.

“Perhaps.” Her lips were tremulous as she smiled at him.

“I think we’d better find Patrick and Rising Star and make camp. We need to build a fire and dry out.” He continued in a deliberate, matter-of-fact tone. “It may turn cool when the sun goes down.”

It didn’t feel cool now, she thought. A suffocating heat pervaded the air and there was a haze of smoke even here on the other side of the mountain. Still, it
was important that they locate Patrick and Rising Star. Her boots were squishing uncomfortably as she shifted from foot to foot. “I’d imagine they would stay near until they knew we were safe. Shall we—”

Patrick burst through the underbrush at the side of the bank. “Come quick.” His hair was water darkened to deep brown and formed a spiky helmet around his pale face. “Rising Star’s horse fell in the pass. I think she’s going to have the child right away.”

Rising Star did not have the child right away.

She underwent nearly eighteen hours of agonizing labor before her son struggled from her tortured body. He was immediately followed by a tiny girl child.

“Twins.” Rising Star laughed huskily as Elspeth put the second tiny blanket-swathed baby in the curve of her arm. “The Delaneys wouldn’t do things in the ordinary way, of course.” She looked at Patrick over Elspeth’s shoulder. “I suppose I should have expected it. Twins run in the Delaney family. You and Brianne …” She trailed off, her eyes closing. “I did not do this well. Indian women are supposed to be much better at having babies. I may have become too much of a white woman.”

“You’ve done splendidly.” Elspeth brushed the sweat-dampened hair from Rising Star’s forehead with a cool cloth. “You have a fine strong son and a beautiful little girl.”

A faint smile touched Rising Star’s lips. “I shall call the boy Kevin, a white man’s name, but the girl I will keep for myself. I will call her Ko-Do, the firefly.”

“They’re both fine names,” Dominic said gently.

“Yes.” Rising Star was almost asleep. “Fine names …”

Dominic’s hand clasped Elspeth’s shoulder. “You need to rest too. Patrick and I will watch over her.”

Elspeth shook her head. “You haven’t had any sleep either. I’ll go change my clothes and wash up. Perhaps she’ll wake again and can take a little nourishment. She seems very weak.”

Patrick was staring down at Rising Star, his features drawn with fear. “She’s going to be fine now.”

Elspeth stood up and turned to walk away.

“She’s going to be fine,” Patrick repeated sharply. “It wouldn’t make any sense for her to suffer like this and not get well. No woman should have to go through what she has.”

“None of us is a doctor,” Dominic said wearily as he rubbed his stubbled cheek. “We can only do our best, then pray. She seems to be sleeping well now. After what she’s gone through it’s probably the best medicine for her. Why don’t you make some coffee? We need it.”

“You make it,” Patrick said jerkily, falling to his knees beside Rising Star. “I’m staying here.”

Dominic hesitated, his gaze on the boy’s tense face. Then he nodded and turned away. “I’ll make the coffee.”

Two hours later the tiny girl child, Ko-Do, died peacefully in her sleep. First she was there, life burning brightly, then she was gone like the firefly after which she was named.

“What the hell are we going to do?” Patrick asked, looking down at the child. “We can’t tell Rising Star it’s all been for nothing. What if the boy dies too?” His hand clenched into a fist of impotent rage. “What can we tell her?”

“Nothing.” Dominic took the baby girl gently away from Rising Star. “For now. If we have to lie to her, we will. The boy seems healthy enough.”

“Seems,” Patrick echoed. “He’s
got
to be all right.”