Ten Crescent Moons (Moonquest) (32 page)

Without
asking their permission, Adalginza purposefully walked over to the table to
peer down at one of the scrolls that had so captured their attention.

She saw the
name of Lady Redolo written on the scroll, followed by the name of Lady Sagawea.
The title of the work was:
A Study of the Life and Teachings of Medosa, Gnostic
of the Frontier: He Who Was Murdered by the Soulless Savages He Befriended
.

"Oh."
It was all Adalginza could think of to say.

"Sagawea
is conducting the research on Medosa's life on the Prime Continent," Kalos
explained. "Lady Redolo has provided what she knows of his life in the frontier."

"All
she knows is what I told her," Adalginza said coldly.

Kalos
glanced at Sagawea.

"Well,
not entirely. There are written records in Sola Re, recorded by officers of the
Crescent Knights that once served at the Place of the Circles. I brought these
with me, at Lady Sagawea's request."

Adalginza
scowled down at the writings, causing a look of discomfort to be exchanged
between Kalos and Sagawea.

"Lady
Redolo surely does not know the full extent of this collaboration with Lady
Sagawea," she observed. "Or of the title. Or even the content."

"She
will," Kalos said reassuringly. "I have sent her a communication containing
a copy of these writings."

An
uncomfortable silence prevailed while Adalginza leaned over and skimmed through
the carefully hand-printed lettering.

"These
writings are not objective scholarly work at all. Lady Redolo would call them
propaganda. Designed only to stir sentiment against the savages."

"All
statements are well document!" Sagawea protested. "And what would you
know of scholarly work? You are from the House of the Fifth Crescent Moon."

Adalginza
straightened and looked her rival directly in the eye.

"I personally
knew Medosa. I knew the savages he taught. Who else in this room can make that
claim?"

"Adalginza,
please." Kalos hesitated, then seemed to make up his mind about something.

"You
are right," he said. "This document is not a scholarly work. It is
designed to be presented before the Prime Congress of the Crescent Houses at
their scheduled meeting at the next dawning of three full moons."

"And
for what purpose?"

"We
need more votes. Many in Congress do not approve of the newest orders that were
issued by the High Command of the Crescent Knights. Congress rescinded those
orders. Temporarily. Until the matter could be debated."

"And
those were the orders to slaughter innocent women and children in the villages?"

Kalos held
up his hand to silence Adalginza. An implacable servant stood at the door, her
trays laden with cups of steaming tea.

Behind her,
Calasta stood holding a tray of baked sweet treats. Kalos glanced at the child,
then averted his gaze. But Sagawea eyed Calasta with open criticism.

"This
child is a savage! Why is
she
here?"

Lady Swiala
unexpectedly stepped through the door behind the servants, and gently placed
her hands on Calasta's shoulders.

"She is
here with my full permission. It is, after all,
my
abode."

"Your
sentiments about the savages are well known, lady," Sagawea said. "It
is you and others who lobbied to have the order rescinded in the first place.
For what purpose, I do not know."

"For
purposes of humanity and the greater good," Swiala replied with quiet
dignity.

Adalginza at
that moment regarded her flamboyant grandmother with new eyes. And considerable
admiration.

Sagawea,
however, wore an entirely different expression.

"You
have extensive influence. I salute you for it, even though our views differ so
extremely. But I believe as fervently in my cause as you do in yours. My
motives are of the highest nature."

"Really?"
Swiala lifted a cup of the fragrant herb tea from the tray held by the servant.
She took a sip. "I hear the new School of Minds you founded in Solaria has
suffered greatly for lack of funding — until recently."

"Just
what are you implying?" Sagawea asked.

"I
imply nothing. I simply state the facts. Your precious school was salvaged when
a wealthy merchant gave you a considerable donation."

"And
this is wrong…how?"

"This
same merchant is associated with the secret society known as the Eradicators.
We all know what they stand for. And now you renew your old —
friendship
— with Captain Kalos."

"And what
is wrong with that? We have known each other a long time."

 "Nothing,
except you immediately started using him and the influence of his clan in
Congress to further your own aims. As for your merchant friends, the
extermination of the savages in the frontier will clear the way for a giant
land grab. This means considerable wealth for them and their associated
interests, does it not?"

Kalos took a
few angry steps toward Swiala, and then stopped himself.

"I do
what I do for the security of the settlements in the frontier. If you were
there to see with your own eyes, you would understand the concerns. Our people
are being slaughtered."

Sagawea also
stepped forward, to stand beside Kalos in a most familiar way.

"And how
dare you imply that my opinion can be bought for personal gain?" she
asked. "Your statement is utterly improper."

Swiala took
another cup of tea from the tray, which she handed to Adalginza.

"Then I
must point out it is quite unmannerly of
you
, Lady Sagawea, to attempt
to undermine me and my position in my own household. And we haven't even begun
to explore the disrespect you have shown my granddaughter."

"That's
it. I have heard enough."

Sagawea
walked over to the game table and immediately began to roll up several of the scrolls,
apparently the ones that belonged to her. She tucked them under her arm, as she
turned back to Swiala.

"Just
so you know, our original intent in meeting here together genuinely was to
complete a scholarly work on the gnostic, Medosa. Then Captain Kalos began to
tell me of all that had been suffered — and lost — by our people in the frontier.
This was why we changed our direction. But you do have my apology, Lady Swiala,
and my word that these actions will not be repeated under your roof."

"I know
these actions will never be repeated, because you are not welcome to return to
my abode." Lady Swiala placed her half empty cup on the tray still held by
the servant. "Allow me to escort you outside to your carriage. Captain?
Perhaps you have some matters you would like to discuss with your
wife
. I
will leave the two of you to your privacy."

With Lady
Sagawea's arm now firmly in her grip, Swiala instructed the servant and Calasta
to place their trays upon the table and return to the kitchen. Calasta,
however, lingered a few extra moments to glance down at the writings.

Then, as she
left, she cast a curious glance over her shoulder at Adalginza before the other
servant pulled the heavy metal door shut behind them.

Kalos swung around
then, to face Adalginza.

"You had
no right to be so confrontational. You embarrassed me in front of Lady Sagawea."

Adalginza
placed her untouched cup of tea back down on the tray. She regarded Kalos
irately.

"You
were conspiring against Lady Swiala's interests, at the same time you were
accepting her hospitality."

"Adalginza,
your interests cannot possibly match those of Lady Swiala." Kalos held out
both hands in appeal. "Not after all that you have seen and suffered for
yourself at the hands of the savages."

"My
interests are for peace, not slaughter. And there is another way, if you would
but listen to me."

She spoke
with such clarity of thought it was as though she had suddenly awakened from an
extended nightmare orchestrated by others. She knew now that lies were no
longer necessary. Lies had never been necessary.

She was
about to tell him the truth — all of it — when Kalos interrupted her.

"It was
not you who pulled the head of Luzicos with all its gore and grime off the
spike of that tree limb."

"That
must have been a terrible day for you," Adalginza said quietly.

"You
became gravely ill after that, and we have never spoken of it since. But what I
saw of the slaughter at the Mountain of Treasures changed me, maybe even as
deeply as it changed you. If this disturbs you, then I am sorry."

She reached
out and gently touched the sleeve of his tunic.

"Kalos,
I am sorry, too. And I wish to speak of that day with you, at an appropriate
time. But right now I have something very important to say to you."

Kalos did
not hear. His eyes were distant now, and he seemed determined to relive the horror.

"Luzicos
was my friend. He was my father's friend. He was loyal to my clan in every way,
and more like a father to me in some ways than my own father was."

Kalos put
both hands up to his eyes and rubbed them vigorously, as though to erase the nightmare
visions that still haunted him.

"I
cannot close my eyes at night, without seeing his dead eyes staring back at me.
Almost like they accuse me for not being there at his side when the attack
came."

"You
would have been dead, too. There was nothing you could have done."

"And
then there was the caravan."

"I
know," Adalginza said, knowing full well that this guilt was hers alone.
"I saw."

"This
proves beyond any doubt that the savages are heathen by nature. They are
primitive. All of them. They never evolved, as we of the Crescent Houses did. This
world will be better served once they no longer exist."

"Kalos!
Are you listening to yourself?"

Kalos slammed
the side of his fist into the adobe wall of the parlor.

"I tell
you, I no longer have doubts. It was the decapitated body of my friend Luzicos
that finally convinced me. You have no idea all that was done to him, and I
will never tell you the details."

If ever
there was a time to right a wrong, it was now.

Adalginza
desperately reached out and took her husband's hands in hers as though to
anchor him against a violent wind vortex that threatened to tear him away from
her.

"I
suffered deeply from what I saw," she said. "But you, also, are full
of scars that cannot be seen. You also need refuge and healing. You need
someone to listen to your pain, Kalos. And you think you have found a
sympathetic ear in Sagawea. But I think
she
has found a fool so vulnerable
and devoted to her that she can use him to promote her own interests."

'Enough!"
Kalos yanked his hands away from hers. "This is not about your petty
jealousies!"

"Maybe
not. But she is clearly one of the Eradicators. She has convinced you that
savages are less than human. She has radicalized you. Don't you see? You have
been listening to her and her supporters for far too long, because I do not
recognize any of these words as truly yours."

"No?
Have you forgotten my sisters also were ravished before my very eyes and then
murdered? Do you think I can ever forget that? Am I not entitled to
vengeance?"

"Yes!
Against the man responsible!"

Adalginza,
once again, found herself speaking with a peculiar clarity of her own mind that
she had never experienced before.

But Kalos
regarded her with the haunted, distant eyes of someone who had become a
stranger even to himself.

"My own
wife, who lived as a neighbor and friend to Benfaaro, was taken as a child and
mutilated in such a way that her bloodline — and now mine — has been forever
extinguished. I blame this act upon Benfaaro as well. Who else could have done
it? For all the pain he has caused me and mine, he will die. But those who
follow him must die, too. They are all the same. They are worse than animals. Can
you not see that?"

Adalginza
felt a growing horror, as she realized just how much Kalos had changed.

"We
have been apart for far too long. You are far away from me."

"It is
not I who left! It was you who left me when I needed you the most!" Kalos
gave her an apologetic look, then lowered his voice. "Forgive me. But even
as I speak with you, I doubt that you are really back with me."

"I am,
Kalos. I swear by all the moon gods I am back."

"Yet, I
must always question your sanity. Because nothing you say makes sense any more.
You tell me you had a child. And now I learn that you never had a child. That
it is impossible for you to even conceive."

"I am
sorry for this lie."