Harvest of Dreams (The Gods' Dream Trilogy) (27 page)

“Straw figures. Very sturdy. Helps with your basic strokes. If we ever are in one place long enough, I’ll set one up for you.”

She elbowed him. “Get on with the story.”

“Thaddis came in with a woman I’d never seen. Her name was Sadie. Brown hair like yours.” He gently tugged a strand. “But not as dark. Brown eyes. Oval face. Pretty. I could tell Thaddis was smitten, so of course I had to make a play for her.”

She rolled her eyes. “Of course.”

He dropped a kiss on her lips. “Not as pretty as you, of course. Had two strange swords. Long, thin, like this.” He made a small circle with his thumb and forefinger. “She and Micfal went at it with those stingers. I’ve never seen anything like it. I’d never seen a woman that good, although Micfal’s daughter is…” He caught himself. “Was…quite a warrior. And my sister can beat me right now. Daria’s perhaps Sadie’s match if they’re fighting with regular swords.” He rubbed his chin. “Now that’s a bout I’d like to see.”

She elbowed him again.

“The dream was all in color—” his voice softened. “Seeing Daria that way after only having black and gray memories of her as a child. Micfal, those sharp blue eyes…. Even Thaddis. It was so good to be with them all, feel my love for them. Except Sadie, of course, since she’s a stranger.”

“Sounds wonderful.”

“Jasmine, how long before I believe what I’ve heard about Thaddis? My heart still feels he’s my brother. Yet, when I think of my father and brothers dead, they who loved him too, I want to run him through.” Grief clogged his throat, and he couldn’t speak.

She pulled him close, making soothing noises, and rubbing his back.

“Daria says Withea turned him into a withered, bed-ridden old man. So I can’t even have the satisfaction of hunting him down and killing him.”

“That wouldn’t satisfy you, Indaran. Killing Thaddis would only make you feel worse.” She kissed his forehead.

Indaran allowed her love and warmth to comfort him and gave thanks to Arvintor that they were together.
My sister’s alive
.
She’s married, happy in her choice of husband.
He started to tally up his blessings.
We’re free. We…
His optimistic thoughts stuttered.
But for how long? The nightmare of helplessness, the years of pain and confinement—these plagued him still.

~ ~ ~

The next morning, three pairs of newlyweds stepped out of their gruptas at the same moment, causing silly smiles to break over their faces at the sight of each other. Indaran glanced at Jasmine, delighted to see the pink blush spreading over his bride’s dusky cheeks. But before he could tease her, she straightened, her eyes widening. Khan and Daria had a similar reaction.

He exchanged bewildered glances with Roe-al and Jora. “What?”

“Withea,” his sister said cryptically.

Not liking being left out of whatever was going on, Indaran crossed his arms over his chest. “Withea what?”

Jasmine placed her hand on his arm. “Withea summons you to Her.”

Unease rippled through him. He glanced at Roe-al and Jora, who were holding hands. “Just me?”

Daria nodded and sent the two nomads an apologetic glance.

The monkey-bats swooped down. The bigger one landed on Khan’s shoulder and tugged his hair in an obvious greeting. The smaller one hovered in front of Daria, chirping until his sister held out her arms, and the animal flew into them.

Roe-al released Jora and stepped back, raising his arms and spreading his fingers. “That’s for the best. One encounter with a God changed my life.” He shook his head. “I can’t imagine what a second such experience—with a
Goddess
—would do to me.”

Jora laughed, her dark eyes dancing with agreement.

Indaran wasn’t sure what an encounter with a Goddess would do to him either. “Why does She want me?”

Daria exchanged a glance with Khan then looked back at her brother. “Because you haven’t had a chance to bond with Her.”

Images of Yadarius rose in Indaran’s mind. He felt a sudden longing for his God. “I don’t need to bond with Her. Besides, I don’t have time. There’s too much to do to prepare for the battle.”

Khan laughed, gently tugging on Daria’s braid. “It must run in the family.”

Everyone stared at him.

“Run in the…” Khan repeated before making a negating gesture. “Never mind. I meant that Daria had a similar reluctance to bond with the desert Goddess.”

Jasmine moved to face him. “Withea must think it’s important for you do so,” she said in an earnest tone. “The journey is not difficult, Indaran, I promise. And it won’t take long. I’d go with you, but I wasn’t invited.”

“You are to bring Ontarem’s spear and helmet.” Daria raised an eyebrow. “What does She mean by that?”

Jasmine made an expression of distaste.

Indaran covered her hand with his while meeting his sister’s gaze. “When we first escaped Ontarem’s temple, I had to kill one of the Evil One’s priests. He was wearing an unusual helmet and carried a spear. Jasmine sensed the two evil objects were very powerful, and she warned me not to touch them directly. We hid them. But one of my men, you remember Mastin?” He glanced at his sister.

She wrinkled her nose. “He was always dogging your heels.”

“
You
were always dogging my heels,” he teased.”

Daria elbowed his side. “Finish the story.”

“I gave them into Mastin’s charge. Against orders, he wore the helmet when we fought Ontarem’s guards. Doing so made him go berserk, and he slew many of the enemy. But the helmet turned on him in the end, and he was vulnerable. He ended up being killed.” Indaran frowned remembering the pain and fear of that day…Mastin’s death…Jasmine’s kidnapping.

Daria briefly bowed her head. “I’m sorry to hear of his death, brother.”

His shoulders slumped. Indaran didn’t want to remember that time—how the helmet and spear had impacted Mastin’s personality, turning him bitter and jealous…how they’d fought.
If only I’d realized what was happening to him…
One more regret to add to the many he carried.

Jasmine squeezed his arm. “We brought the evil objects with us.” She tilted her head to look up at him. “Where did you stash them?”

“Near Arvintor. He’s making sure they do no harm.”

“Go get them,” his wife urged. “I’ll escort you to the entrance of Withea’s shrine.”

“Did Withea say to hurry?”

Daria shook her head.

“Then I’ll clean up, change, and grab something to eat. He flashed his sister a grin. “I’d prefer to be at my best when meeting with a new Goddess.”

~ ~ ~

Indaran walked behind Jasmine, pack on his back, as she led him through the forest to the entrance to Withea’s shrine. Their path twisted through stubby trees, which dangled coin-shaped leaves appearing like multi-colored stained glass. The muted sunlight reflected the vibrant hues around them. Sometimes he had to duck under branches to avoid catching the wrapped spear he carried thrust through a strap on his pack on any overhanging limbs.

A breeze clinked the leaves together like chimes. Spongy cobalt moss cushioned their feet. The gaps between the trees widened enough for them to walk two abreast. He took a long stride and caught up with Jasmine.

Jasmine waved her hand in a circle. “This was all gray when I first came here. Moss, trees, leaves, sky, which totally suited my mood at the time.” She gave him a faint smile, but her eyes held a haunted look. “I didn’t want to live. If not for Withea, I would have walked into the desert until I could go no farther.”

The picture those words conjured hurt his heart. Indaran stopped abruptly and pulled her into his arms. “I didn’t know that. I mean, you’d told me about…” He couldn’t even put Jasmine’s horrible experience into words. “If Khan and Daria hadn’t killed them, I would tear the savages who violated you from limb to limb.” He brushed a finger across her cheek. “And now,
habibti
?” he said, borrowing the endearment he’d heard Khan use with Daria.

Jasmine’s face was too thin for classical beauty, but watching her expressive mouth tremble, then bloom into a smile, and the way her dark-lashed blue eyes shone with love, made her the loveliest woman in the world to him. He cupped her cheeks with his hands and pressed a kiss to her lips. “Thanks be to Withea for preserving you, healing you, and sending you to me.” He brushed the hair back from her forehead and dropped a kiss there. “I don’t like leaving you even to visit the Goddess.”

“The time with her will be worth our short separation, I promise.”

Indaran wasn’t so sure.

Jasmine tilted her head. “The shrine is just a little ahead.” She took a few steps forward and pulled him down the path.

They wove through a stand of trees into a clearing where stood a small, round building. Jasmine went up to the wall and placed her hand on the worn surface made of tan brick, her fingers splayed. With a tilt of her head, she invited him to do the same.

He set his hand next to hers, pinky fingertips touching.

The wall slid aside to reveal a darkened tunnel.

Jasmine stepped back. “There you go. I’ll be eager to hear what she has to say.”

Indaran kissed her, then took a deep breath and stepped into the cool interior. The door stayed open, casting enough illumination to see, even though the farther he walked, the darker his surroundings became. Just as the last of the bit of brightness from behind him vanished, a tiny glow appeared in the space ahead of him, growing bigger the closer he moved.

He picked up the pace, eager to meet this Goddess who’d rescued his beloved, and thus saved him, and his people.

The sound of trickling water beckoned him forward. He emerged into a circular room, with a round pool taking up most of the space. A large statue of a veiled Goddess stood on a pedestal in the middle. Water dripped from one extended hand.

Withea nodded at Indaran.
Welcome, brother of Daria, mate of Jasmine.

He swept Her a deep bow. “I have heard stories, Goddess Withea. I thank you for healing my sister and my beloved, for saving me and my people.”

I, too, was powerless for a long time, Indaran of Seagem. Khan, Daria, and Jasmine made a great difference to me as well. Now I am powerless no more.

“I’m glad we’re both free.”

You must bathe in my pool, but first, set down your pack. Ontarem’s abominations cannot touch my healing waters. You will leave them here with me when you leave my shrine. I will give them into Ocean’s Glory’s keeping.

Indaran didn’t think to question whether Seagem’s recent enemy was the proper holder of the “evil abominations.” He just slid off the straps of his backpack, pulled out the wrapped spear, and set the weapon on the marble floor and dropped the pack next to it. He yanked off his boots and stripped the clothes from his body. Naked, he stepped into the pool, which felt warm like bath water, and he wondered if Jasmine had done the same thing.

I allowed Jasmine to keep on her clothing. She’d been violated and to bare herself would have been too vulnerable for her.

Indaran clenched his fists, wishing he could pommel Jasmine’s abusers, then forced himself to uncurl his fingers. He knelt and ducked under the water, the pushed off the shallow bottom into a face-down glide.

Immersion in the liquid soothed him, and Indaran relaxed muscles he hadn’t realized were tight.

You were young and impetuous. A little spoiled as any handsome prince would be…
Her mental tone changed, hinting at disapproval.
Yadarius, too, was at fault, Indaran. Too involved with life under the sea to pay attention to anything happening on land unless it involved the peninsula of Seagem. Therefore, you’ve carried a burden and paid a price for your choices far greater than you deserved. Lay down the guilt and regret you bear.

Indaran flipped over to his back and floated, allowing the healing water to soothe his body and soul. He had a vague othersense realization of the importance of this moment...of freeing himself from some of his shame and blame. All too soon he’d have to return to the world…and the battle.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Sadie drifted awake from the othersense dream, the salle in Seagem so vivid in her mind, she didn’t realize she’d transitioned. Her hand was wrapped around the grip of her new sword, and the sting in her thigh remained from the last smack Micfal had given her with the flat of his blade.
Better than cutting off my leg, which would have happened in a real battle.

She blinked, looking up at the arching dome of Guinheld’s temple ceiling, inhaled the scent of citrus, and realized she wasn’t in Seagem anymore. As Sadie became more aware of her surroundings, the aches and bruises acquired from her bouts with Micfal faded. She flexed her empty fingers, already missing the feel of her warrior queen sword, and thought with longing of the weapon she’d left behind in the dream world.

She turned her head to see Tharon already sitting up.

Briefly, he dropped his face in his hands. His shoulders moved as he took a deep breath.

He was just with people he loved…who are gone now, except for Daria.

Tharon straightened and studied her. His golden eyes, which had blazed with excitement in the othersense dream, now looked bleak.