"That's very interesting," Jazel said.
"What does it mean?" Tarius asked.
Jazel shrugged. "Damned if I know. I'm a witch, not a dream interpreter."
Tarius made an angry sound and dunked her head under the water. When she came up she realized she was seeing clearly for the first time in days.
She looked at Harris and smiled. "I'm going to live," she said with conviction.
Harris smiled back. "I never doubted it for a minute."
* * *
The king woke screaming, and his favorite wife put her arms around him to comfort him.
Two guards ran in the door. The king looked at the one on the right. "Go and get Hellibolt at once," he ordered.
A few minutes later a bedraggled, half awake Hellibolt stumbled into the room. "What do you want now?" he asked.
"A little respect; I am your king," Persius said angrily as he got out of bed.
"I'm wearing clothes," Hellibolt said flippantly. "What else do you want? Now, what's the problem?"
"I dreamt it was here . . . the Katabull. I dreamt that Tarius was here in my bedchamber. That she killed me by cutting me into little pieces, leaving my head for last," Persius said. "What does it mean?"
"Why did you wake me for this, Sire? You know what it is as well as I do, as does anyone who was there that hateful day. It's the curse which Tarius the Black laid on you."
"Don't tell me of curses, old man! No intelligent person believes is such nonsense! Tell what it is. It's a spell, isn't it? Counter it, I command you!"
Hellibolt shook his head and continued quietly. "No, Sire, it is no spell, and there is no counterspell for what ails you. Did she not say that if you did not kill her quickly she would find a way to live? Have we not had word of a Kartik sailor who was overheard saying that Tarius made passage to Kartik? We have never found a body, so I for one believe that this is more than mere gossip. For one thing, when questioned the sailor knew that Tarius was a woman and Katabull, and was damned proud of both facts. So, she has indeed found a way to live. She said further that she would make you die a thousand times, and that you would have neither a decent night's rest nor any peace of mind."
Persius started to interrupt, but Hellibolt held up a silencing hand, drew himself up to an impressive stance and continued. "Sire, all of these things have come to pass. You forget who you are dealing with. This Kartik woman, this female Katabull, is the one who single-handedly brought you victory in the war. She did it because she is cunning, and because she knows people. She knows you, too, Persius. She knows you better than you know yourself. You acted in the heat of the moment. You allowed your anger and your injured pride to cloud your judgment and you therefore attempted to execute a friend simply because her gender had made you look foolish. Which, by the way, was never her intent.
"The Katabull's curse haunts you with your deeds, and your guilt at what you have done drives you from your bed and robs you of rest and peace. You know you deserve to die at her hands. You know she is capable of doing it. And you know that she has managed to live in spite of you. The power behind that curse was that she knew you wouldn't be able to live with what you had done. She knew you would punish yourself a hundred times better than she ever could.
"Persius . . . the Katabull will never come after your physical person. Don't you understand? Killing you would be too easy. This . . ." he gestured toward the king, drawing attention to his haggard, sleepless condition. "
This
is what she wants. For you to have to live with her blood on your hands. To live in fear of her vengeance till the day you die. She has won, Persius. She has won, and she isn't even here."
* * *
The voyage was horrible. Jena managed to make it with the help of some Kartik tonic, but poor Dustan seemed to throw up all through the entire four-day passage.
The captain helped them learn a little Kartik, but the price of the lessons was that he kept chasing Jena around like a bull in rut. He shipped out with a full Kartik crew, and he kept a home in the Kartik. This was as close as he had been to any Jethrik woman in years, and certainly he hadn't seen any as beautiful as Jena. At least he didn't press the issue. Every one of the hundred times she said no he backed down immediately, shrugged and said, "You can't blame a man for trying."
Arvon walked up beside her. Way in the distance they could see land.
"Soon," Jena said to him.
"Not soon enough for poor Dustan," Arvon said.
"The captain's looking at me again, isn't he?" Jena asked.
Arvon nodded.
"I swear, I can feel his eyes on me."
"He's a nice fellow," Arvon said. "Not a brutish sort of man at all. He really seems to like you. You do well at sea, he makes a decent living, he owns his own ship, and he's very handsome."
"What are you getting at?" Jena asked suspiciously.
"Only that any normal woman would be happy to have him as a suitor."
"I prefer the dark Kartik men like that one over there," Jena said pointing.
Arvon laughed heartily.
"What's so damn funny?"
"Jena . . . That's a woman," Arvon said.
Jena looked closely. "Oh! So it is." She laughed at herself then. "They're Kartik. There just really isn't all that much difference," she said with a shrug.
"So you still haven't decided?" Arvon said.
"It's not really a decision, is it, Arvon? I mean, I know what I want. I want Tarius. But I don't know if I can live with the kind of crap you and Dustan live with."
"Oh that's right. Your new motto. No more crap!" Arvon said with a smile.
"That's right. Anyway, it's all immaterial if Tarius is dead . . . I must be getting better; I can say it now—even think it without crying."
Two weeks had passed, and Tarius was starting to feel like her old self. Helen and Jazel had treated her well, given her the right herbs and powders and diet, and the baths had soaked all the poison out of her system.
"Just do it!" Jazel pleaded.
Tarius laughed, splashing Jazel with water. "No, I will not. It's insane."
"Come on! My life's a living hell, and it's only going to get worse now that she's actually spent time with you. Just do her, and do a really horrible job. Then she won't lust after you anymore," Jazel pleaded.
"You're sick, Jazel," Tarius said. "It's just a game she plays with you to make you jealous. She doesn't want anyone but you."
"See now, big, worldly, sword-wielding woman, that is where you would be wrong. She loves me, and I love her, but that doesn't mean that we don't occasionally lust after other people. I would just as soon she bed you and get it over with, but if you're better than me, then it will only make things worse. So all I'm asking is that you do a really rotten job."
"Sorry," Tarius said with a shrug.
"What the hell am I supposed to do?" Jazel asked.
"Work harder at it, I guess." Tarius stepped out of the pool and started to dry herself.
"Can't get her out of your mind, can you?" Jazel asked carefully.
Tarius shook her head sadly.
"And I know just the thing to take your mind off of it . . ."
Tarius gave her a look that burned into her.
"Or not."
Tarius put a robe on and walked out of the building the hot spring was in and into the courtyard that was between the bath and the main house. Jazel and Helen's spa was no more than a fenced in area with a shack built over the top of the hot spring and a house that had grown as they needed the rooms. They had five people staying at the spa, which meant all their rooms were full. Tarius, Harris and Elise had been sleeping on pallets on the floor in the dining room.
Some people came in just to bathe. Some people also came in for potions, herbs, powders, spells or readings.
The courtyard was usually filled with people going to or coming out of the baths, but it was early morning, and the courtyard was empty. It was filled with the heady scents of flowers, reminding Tarius of her childhood. She had spent days out here in the sun, relaxing, healing, and sewing a new cloth over the Jethrik kingdom colors on her gambeson. She covered the blue and white with Kartik colors of the brightest reds, greens, blues and yellows she could find. Her hair had grown almost to her collar, and she would let it go. She would be a woman again. She would be Katabull again. She would be Kartik again. She would embrace all that she was, immerse herself in her purpose, and forget about Jena.
She sat on one of the benches and just took it all in.
"You're leaving, aren't you?" Jazel asked.
"Yes. You heard what that man said at lunch yesterday. The queen is paying for Amalite scalps. For me, getting paid for killing Amalites is like getting paid to eat my dinner. It's something I want to do any way," Tarius said. "I'm well and my body is healed. It's time for me to get back to work."
"I understand," Jazel said.
"When next I come here, I will pay for your services," Tarius said.
"Good, because I consider us even now. Of course, if you could see fit to do my mate . . . badly, I would let you stay again for free."
"I'll pay, thank you," Tarius said with a laugh. She stood up. "Time to ride."
"Good luck . . . with everything, Tarius."
* * *
Tarius, Harris, and Elise started for the coast. Since they had lost the war with the Jethriks the Amalites had once again focused their attention on the Kartik. They had been raiding Kartik ships at sea and then using the ships to sneak into the country. They were trying to build up strongholds along the seacoast. Tarius hoped to stop them there before they got a chance to get inland. Before their numbers could grow.
The Amalite presence in the Kartik now fueled Tarius's hatred for the Jethrikian king. It was his fault that their were still Amalites in the world.
When they camped at night, Harris and Tarius took turns training Elise with sword, spear and staff. Tarius was happy for Harris, he seemed to have found his perfect match in Elise. However it left her odd man out, and she found herself getting more and more attached to her horse.
It was warm, and there was no threat of rain, so they slept in the open. Harris and Elise were having sex, which was what they usually did as soon as they were sure she was asleep. As if their noisy love-making wouldn't have awakened the dead.
As the sound of their ecstatic groans filled the night, she felt more alone than ever. She looked up at the sky through the trees and smiled at the stars. It was good to see her own night sky again. Good to be back in Kartik with all the familiar sights and sounds. She caught a scent on the wind—one that did not belong. She got up and carefully snuck out of camp, although she doubted Harris and Elise would notice if a horse went galloping past them at that moment.
She called on the night as she walked. Her senses became keener, and the scent became stronger. She ran through the brush making hardly a sound. Now she smelled smoke, too, and in a few minutes she saw them through the trees. She stopped abruptly and looked down on the camp.
Amalites. From the size of their encampment, there must have been at least twenty of them. They appeared to be armed to the teeth, and they had at least ten horses.
They slept in six tents with two guards. From the looks of the camp and the manner of those she observed, these men were accomplished at war, but they were no match for her and Harris. Not with the element of surprise on their side.
She went hunting, and then she went back to camp.
* * *
They had a hell of a time breaking the language barrier. They just didn't know nearly enough Kartik. They wound up with a job waiting tables and washing dishes in a pub for room and board. They had finished with the dinner rush and had just sat down for a meal.
"Well, how did you do?" Arvon asked Jena as she sat across from him and Dustan.
"I made twenty coppers in tips," she said. "I only messed up five orders, so I think my Kartik's getting better."
"I just made fifteen coppers," Dustan said, "and I only messed up two orders, so that hardly seems fair."
"Well, I only got a whole
two
coppers in tips, and I didn't mess up
any
orders, so I think this stinks," Arvon said making a face.
"At this rate we'll be here the rest of our lives," Dustan said pulling a face. "We'll never make enough to buy horses, and I'm getting tired of the three of us living in the same tiny little room."
"I don't know what you're bitching about. You have the bed. I'm sleeping on a bedroll on the floor," Jena said.
"Where you listen to us," Dustan said.
"I'd have to be deaf not to hear you!" Jena protested.
"You could pretend not to," Dustan said hotly. "At the very least you could contain your urge to laugh."
Jena laughed. "All right, I'll try."
"Any word about Tarius?" Arvon asked.
"I still don't even know if I'm asking the right questions," Dustan said, "and I can only understand about half of what they say."
"Same here," Jena said.
Fact was, Arvon was picking Kartik up quicker than either of the others. "Everyone I ask says they have neither heard of nor seen a Katabull fitting Tarius's description. Nor has anyone seen Harris, and Harris would be more likely to stick out in their minds. I think the three of us are the only Jethriks I've seen since we've been here. But catch this, there are about fifty ports where boats dock. She and Harris could be anywhere."
"Or nowhere," Jena said with a sigh.
"When we get a little better with the language, we'll be able to understand more, and when we get a little more money, we'll buy horses and go looking for her," Arvon said. "Shouldn't be to hard to find a Katabull woman in Jethrik colors and a tall, thick, blond-headed Jethrik lad."
"Unless they don't want to be found," Jena said. "We're talking Tarius. She doesn't have to come into a town unless she wants to."
"But what's to keep her in the field? She'll have to find work teaching at an academy or in the king's army . . ."