“An abomination?” she offered, beginning to feel her own anger rise.
“That will do, yes,” he agreed and shoved his hands into the deep pockets of his flowing robe while still pacing the room, as if trying to think of a way to redeem his tarnished reputation. She was obviously regarded his charge and her act of abomination, apparently known to everyone now, was considered the most heinous act thinkable. She’d unknowingly, innocently committed the most terrible crime: making love with a
vishna
tree!
“Look,” she said sharply then inhaled to regain control in her voice. She said to his back, “I didn’t know it was a crime to climb a tree and…and…” she trailed, unable to accurately describe her experience. “That joining, as you called it, was special and I certainly considered it that way. It was—”
“Forbidden,” he rejoined, turning to scowl at her over his shoulder. “It is unheard of that one joins with a
vishna
, particularly alone, unaccompanied by another Eosian. They are sacred.” Emotion crept back into his voice. “You seduced its bark with your thighs and your cajoling mannerisms. You fondled its branches and leaves and whispered dulcet nothings. Whatever you did, you took advantage of a sacred life form.”
“I did no such thing!” She felt her anger boil up again. “The
vishna
initiated it!”
He spun around and stared at her in wide-eyed disbelief. “That’s impossible!” Then his eyes narrowed with challenge: “It was you who chose to disrobe before climbing it.”
She blushed. “But I did nothing after first touching it. I simply climbed up and got to the top where I looked at the view. It was only when I started to feel…” she hesitated to share with him, then decided to have it out in the open, “well…homesick and began to cry that the tree reacted. Like it took pity on me or something…” she trailed off, dropping her gaze to the floor. She found that she was trembling uncontrollably.
He said nothing and an oppressive silence veiled the room for a time.
When he finally broke the silence, it was in a low voice, “Eosians are forbidden to join with the
vishna
unless it is with a mate and only within the confines of a holy matrimony…We regard it the highest honour to join, not unlike a wedding ceremony on your Earth, where two Eosians join for life with each other and, through the
vishna
, with the fractal autopoietic network of our universe. It is the first time an Eosian is permitted to have intercourse and one or both of the Eosians is often blessed with a vision of their destiny, which they will fulfill with ardour,” he ended and began to pace again like a panther in a cage.
She ventured in a half-broken voice, “Does this mean that you personally never…eh…joined with…eh…”
“Haven’t you heard what I just said?” he bit out with a scowl, face deepening in colour. “It’s forbidden as part of our pledge to the Epoptes, handed to our people thousands of years ago. It is the one thing we must
not
do.” He fumed. “You have managed to undo, in the short month you’ve been here, what we have loyally adhered to for thousands of years!”
And yet, there they were, the tantalizing
vishna
trees, all around them, the ultimate temptation. Why had the Epoptes brought them here twelve thousand years ago, into a land that commanded such sexual power, only to forbid them to yield to it? It was a paradox, the ultimate torture. The ultimate test. She thought of Genesis,
And the Lord God commanded the man, saying “from any tree of the garden you may eat freely, but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die.”
Why did gods keep doing that?
She fought from recoiling as Azaes, eyes flaming, swiftly closed in on her. His fire pierced into her heart and pulsed in her throat. Was he going to seize her and kiss her or strike her? Definitely the latter, she thought flinching back. But he stopped short, his face so close to hers that she felt his warm breath upon her. “You were expressly told not to venture into the forest. Why did you do it? And why did you climb the tree?” It was delivered as a plea.
“I had a dream,” she stuttered her explanation, unable to stop shaking. “When I was still in my ship, I dreamed about that very tree. So, when I saw it, I felt drawn to climb it out of curiosity.” She forced a shrug, realizing that it sounded bizarre to her too. “What then happened…happened.”
“But you weren’t alone in the dream. You were with another,” he murmured.
Her heart slammed. “How did you know that?”
He averted his gaze. “Because I was there. It was I who was with you, Genevieve.” He exhaled. “As you well know.”
Her mouth gaped open. It was suddenly dry and she couldn’t speak.
He glanced furtively at her and explained her silent inquiry, “I am what we Eosians call a
soul-drifter
. I entered your dreams several times when you were still in your ship.” He sighed. His lips tightened and he dropped his gaze with a rueful shake of his head. “It is what I do at the bidding of the Epoptes. I didn’t intend any harm, Genevieve. In fact the opposite. I’m sorry. No doubt what I did would be considered by your people as much of a heinous crime as what you just did out there.”
He was damn right about that, she thought, letting anger rise inside her again, and finally finding her voice. “How dare you!” she shrilled, suddenly feeling violated. “How dare you presume, you arrogant bastard! You slimy little worm!”
Without thinking, she lunged for him. He backed away quickly and the door irised open. Looking anxious for the first time since she’d met him, Azaes hurried out the door, leaving her alone with her outrage.
Shivering with anger, she stomped around her room and pulled off the robe. She felt violated and abused in the most abhorrent way. He’d entered her most sacred place—her mind—uninvited, and taken advantage of her. God! And he talked about violating a sacred tree! She wanted to kill him! Instead, Genevieve grabbed a cup and threw it against the wall. It crashed and bounced several times before she regretted her impetuous move. All these things were alive and she might have hurt them. After she picked up the cup and traced the small dent in the living wall with murmurs of apology, Genevieve sat on the living bed and put her hands to her face and cried.
So, that was how she’d dreamed everything so accurately, including Azaes himself, because it was really
his
dream. But why had he done that? Why had he orchestrated such dreams of love and passion between them? Didn’t he have his own intended, that Shiva woman? Was he just teasing Genevieve, playing her like a cat with its prey? He’d certainly set her off balance. God! He infuriated her!
It wasn’t long before her thoughts travelled to the troubled dreams of every crew member that had journeyed to Eos and she made the logical deduction
—
Azaes had interfered with them all. Was Azaes responsible for driving them all crazy, leaving them vulnerable and unprepared for the onslaught of the Epoptes? If that was the case, then Azaes was also responsible for murdering Dan and his crew. She surged to her feet and made for the door, commanding it open with her thoughts. It irised obediently and she stormed out, murder flashing in her eyes.
There was no sign of Azaes, much less anyone else, in the rest of the house. Her anger emboldened her to even check in Azaes’s own private chambers, where no one was permitted.
When she signaled for the door to open, to her surprise it did. She quickly stepped inside only to take in a halting breath and stare. Azaes was not in his room, but the room demanded her attention. First off, it was in the shape of a pyramid, with his
zoch
to one side. From the apex of the pyramidal ceiling hung a brassy metallic-looking rod with a brilliant many-facetted red gem, tapered to a point at its end. Directly below, sitting on a table of carved stone nestled inside a pair of bronzed hands was a crystal sphere. Something snapped into place in her mind, yet remained elusive. Azaes was a healer who obviously used crystals… there was something more significant to this.
But she had no time to let strange objects distract her, and stomped outside. When she realized that she’d forgotten to put on her robe, she decided to dispense with it
—
it encumbered her movements and she was too mad to care about being naked in front of people. Besides, no one else wore clothes here and, despite her unique skin colouration, she felt more conspicuous with the robe on.
She searched the immediate grounds and could not find Azaes.
Instead, she found Diaprepes in the barn, tending a young scree. He turned with a swift glance down her body and smiled approvingly at her. Recognizing it as a mixture of youthful lust and open admiration for her lack of shame, Genevieve sighed out a smile in return. Obviously he wasn’t ostensibly annoyed with her for her transgression with the
vishna
tree. “Hi, Diaprepes,” she said. “Have you seen Azaes?”
“Yes.” He stroked the scree to stay it and stood up, appraising her further. “You are of uncommon beauty, Genevieve. I am glad you have decided against humility and shame and now show us your splendid body as you were made. As you were made to be seen.”
She blushed, despite her mood, and felt renewed self-consciousness briefly. Then, commanding it to the back of her mind, she said, “Where is he, Diaprepes? I must speak with him.”
Diaprepes frowned slightly, recognizing the urgency in her voice. “He left for the town. Said he had an urgent meeting with the
Sthanu
Circle.”
No doubt about her, she thought.
Diaprepes shrugged and tilted his head to one side. “Is this about your joining with the
vishna
?”
She firmed her lips and dropped her gaze for a moment to study the ground. “Yes.” When she looked up, she searched Diaprepes for a sign of compassion and asked,: “Are you angry at me too?”
He looked suddenly uncomfortable. “What you did is forbidden. We—that is the
kushus
and
kushas
—only take the
vishna
flowers that drop from the tree as gifts of sustenance. No one has ever…well…”
So, Azaes was right. Not only did everyone know, but the entire community felt betrayed. Even young Diaprepes. Her transgression was as serious as Azaes had suggested. Abruptly, her mind shifted from thoughts of confrontation with Azaes to getting to her ship and leaving. If she returned to Earth with the information she’d gleaned, at least her mission here would not be an utter failure. She could instruct Earth’s scientists and politicians not to bother with future missions to Eos, and she’d have good reasons. She’d save her fellow explorers from sure death. There was no point in coming here until the Eosians—and the Epoptes, if they really existed—were good and ready to receive them. It would take years to repair the diplomatic ties between humans and Eosians, though. For that she was utterly and abjectly responsible. But there was nothing she could do to repair her actions, Genevieve thought. She’d already apologized. Apparently, that wasn’t enough.
“I didn’t know, Diaprepes,” she said ruefully. “But two Eosians, when they…I mean when they…” she began to defend herself then trailed, unable to express what she was trying to say.
He studied her for a moment before speaking gravely. “It is not just the
vishna
that is sacred, Genevieve,” he began, as if understanding what she was trying to put into words. “It is the very act. Sexual intercourse is sacred to us and reserved for the sanctity of a covenant in marriage between two dedicated Eosians.”
“You mean you never otherwise…” she let the sentence trail, astonished at this revelation. Then she remembered Azaes himself telling her that sexual intercourse was forbidden except within a marriage vow. Like nineteenth Century Earth, she thought.
“No,” Diaprepes confirmed with a wizened smile. “We never do…until that first time with the
vishna
.”
God! What a way to start a relationship. With a bang! But how strange and archaic this edict was for people who were so far advanced culturally. And what an oxymoron, having to exercise such sexual restraint when they all paraded naked and daily breathed in the pervasive erotic smell of the
vishna
forest.
“We do it to keep true to the code of conduct to which we were pledged since we came here twelve thousand years ago. To keep our genes pure, and our population down, we must not have intercourse with anyone other than our intended. And then, only when all is ready for a joining.”
“But you’re all, eh, pardon my saying it, naked, exposed.”
“Yes, it seems like a paradox to you? It is one of the ways we can prove our worthiness and honour. When you appear naked before another, you are truly exposed, as you said, before them, both humble and splendid at once, as we were made,” he ended with a wonderful smile. “There is less chance of mendacity and deceit this way.”
“But you all look at one another with…” she stumbled over the words, yet she was sure in her observation and pushed on, “with appreciative eyes, even lustful passion.” She couldn’t help remembering the lecherous looks she’d received from both men and women on the streets of Uruk. Or the rapt gazes Diaprepes laid on Shiva, Azaes’s betrothed.