Ten Crescent Moons (Moonquest) (38 page)

She was
Swiala's only blood kin, and very much the image of Lady Swiala herself as a
young girl.

Adalginza
smiled prettily as her grandmother fondly sorted through boxes filled with
memorabilia from old glory days of modeling and public appearances.

She
passively cooperated when Swiala insisted that her granddaughter's allegiance
be formally changed from the Fifth House to the First House.

Adalginza said
nothing in protest when Lady Swiala assigned a swarm of servants to manage the
younger woman's hair and wardrobe, keeping her dressed as befitted a fine Lady
of the House of the First Crescent Moon. Most especially, a lady with indigo
eyes.

As her
malaise deepened, Adalginza ignored Umbrea's many pleas for her to consider
returning home to the frontier.

"But
Lady Adalginza, The Prophecy says you must go back to your own people." Umbrea
dared to whisper this to Adalginza, in a rare moment of privacy when she
brought tea to the sleep room. "This must happen, if the people of the
tribes are to be saved."

Adalginza
simply smiled indulgently in answer.

"You
are wrong. I am not she of The Prophecy."

"Then
who could you possibly be?"

"It matters
not. My place now is with my grandmother, for as long as she lives."

"And
when she dies?"

"I will
inherit all that she has. I will stay here, on the Prime Continent, to take her
place."

"But
you no longer ride the sturmons. You no longer talk to the animals."

"That
was my old life. This is my new life. Don't you see? I have everything I need."

Adalginza
was sometimes aware of Calasta, who watched her anxiously from a distance. But
she rarely spoke to the child or asked for her services.

She knew
only that Calasta was now a source of painful memories, from which she needed
to distance herself.

In the
meantime, Benfaaro's child had formed a close bond with Umbrea. The two often
were seen in each other's company, whispering together or laughing out loud. The
servant, true to her word, carefully guarded Calasta's wellbeing.

This, too,
was as it should be.

Were
Benfaaro's spies still out there? Adalginza did not care even about that. She
was safe, surrounded as she was by the servants. More importantly, everyone
else was safe from her.

The life she
was living now could not possibly cause anyone anywhere any unhappiness at all.
She was free of all expectations, except for the harmless demands of Lady
Swiala.

Adalginza attended
gatherings of the royal court, in the company of her proud grandmother who
dressed up her stunning granddaughter in the proper masque of the First House.

She wore the
finest clothing representing the very latest in fashion. At Swiala's request, Adalginza
began modeling these same fashions until she became the star in showings by
celebrated designers.

At some
point, Adalginza was aware that the whisperings about her had begun to change.

She was the
envy now of all the women of the royal courts of the Nine Crescent Houses.

She was
docile and beautiful and compliant in every way. Her mysterious past added to
the allure of what she now represented.

Adalginza's smile
was elusive, her manner cool. She was image, not person. And she accepted her
persona gratefully, hiding deep within it as surely as rodents hid in holes.

Some part of
her grieved for Kalos, and for the simple life she once had lived in the frontier.
But she was able to relegate that part of her to a dark place in her mind,
where she vowed no light would ever shine again.

Even the
wanderings in the night had ceased. She instead slept often, day and night.

She had completely
shut off her mind to the voices of the outside creatures surrounding her. And
when mindspeak threatened to intrude, Adalginza would sing softly to herself to
channel her thoughts elsewhere.

But when her
grandmother insisted that Adalginza begin accompanying her to sessions in the
Great Hall of the Prime Congress, disturbed waters sometimes churned beneath
the serenity Adalginza was determined to maintain.

She usually
sat quietly by Lady Swiala's side. And when her grandmother stood to speak, she
would nod approvingly at the eloquent dissertations on different subjects such
as the damage done to prospects of peace by Lady Sagawea's latest publication.

Swiala's
gift of persuasion was great. She condemned the lies contained within Sagawea's
document as an abomination to both the teachings of Medosa and to the
complexities of the tribal way of life.

The eloquent
lady noted that the gnostic, Ginrel, had only recently released an objective
and truly scholarly work that more accurately reflected Medosa's experiences
with the savages who deserved understanding.

She pointed
out that Adalginza herself as a most honored Lady of the House of the Fifth
Crescent Moon, and now an esteemed and celebrated lady of the First House, had
assisted with these very writings.

Swiala
insisted that the savages should be granted rights similar to the citizens of
the Crescent Houses, only with separate status. No voting rights, of course.
Savages were, after all, inferior to the people of the Crescent Houses.

But Swiala
argued that peace could be achieved by including within these generous rights
the ownership of property, so that savages could have territory that they
exclusively could call their own.

The citizens
of the Crescent Houses then could populate the remainder of the frontier without
opposition.

Adalginza
nodded in agreement, sometimes standing to add a demure voice that simply
echoed what her grandmother already had so forcefully stated.

Granted,
some of Lady Swiala's speeches sounded terribly simplistic. Sometimes she
displayed a shocking lack of knowledge about the frontier, because she had
never actually been there.

But
Adalginza assured herself that, by supporting her grandmother, she was helping the
tribes of the frontier in an understated way. She could be redeemed for past
crimes against humanity, and still preserve her own safety and sanity.

Perhaps this
was what The Prophecy intended. If The Prophecy could be believed at all.

And then,
one day, during a particularly wearisome and long session of the Prime
Congress, Kalos appeared. Lady Sagawea  accompanied him, and she was now huge
with child.

Adalginza pretended
not to notice, though she could hear the murmurs behind her.

Was the
captain married to Lady Adalginza still? If so, why was he with the
oh-so-pregnant Lady Sagawea? Wasn't the lady of the Ninth House once his lover?
Was she still? Was he the father? Was this not a most delicious scandal?

Somehow, across
the dozens of rows of bench seatings in the orators' section that separated
them, her eyes met the captain's.

Adalginza
watched Kalos without expression, determined to maintain the frigid cold she
felt inside at the sight of him.

Good. She
had locked her heart safely away. There was no way he could hurt her now. Or
she him.

Lady Swiala
reached over, and briefly squeezed her granddaughter's hand.

"Courage,"
she whispered.

"I am
fine," Adalginza lied.

She smiled
prettily in the captain's direction and for the benefit of all the curious eyes
that now gaped at them both.

The
parliamentarian of Congress then stood, and made an announcement:

"Captain
Kalos has arrived from the frontier..."

His words
were followed by polite, extended applause.

So her
husband had also found time to visit the frontier since she had last seen him
at Sagawea's estate? Had it been that long?

Adalginza
realized, with a small start, that it had indeed been more than a half season
since she last had laid eyes on her husband.

"...and
he has a most grave announcement."

Captain
Kalos stepped up on the podium, and in only a few short sentences explained
what had transpired. Simply stated, the major southwest coastal settlement of
Dinta Ruj had been attacked in the frontier.

Fortifications
had failed, and only a few survivors had managed to flee to the safety of Sola
Re. Sola Re was now the only significant Crescent settlement left in the frontier,
other than a few well-fortified military posts.

"Because
of the lack of support from the Prime Congress, and the unending debates
resulting in stalemate, we have lost a crucial settlement as well as many more
lives," Kalos said. "Because you have not seen fit to provide the
additional soldiers and armament we continually requested, we offer an
alternative plan."

The
parliamentarian interrupted at this point, his tone indicating that he had
taken offense at the harsh criticism.

"Captain
Kalos, I remind you that our success at warfare in the frontier has been
limited at best in these past few seasons. We have not yet seen the rationale
for sending more of our knights to be lost, nor do most of our private citizens
have a wish to be slaughtered and maimed in futile attempts at settlement."

"Then
you are handing Benfaaro a victory that will serve only to increase his
bloodlust," Kalos answered crisply. "Even the islands and our own
shores are now at risk. Trust me when I say the enemy wastes no time on debate
about the right and wrong of killing Crescent House citizens. They are brutal
and without mercy."

This time,
it was Lady Swiala who stood to answer.

"If
memory serves me correctly, Captain Kalos, it was our own Crescent knights who
first brutalized the savages."

"This
is ancient history which cannot be rewritten!" Kalos snapped. "We
must live with the present truth. If Benfaaro is not stopped now, he will continue
to grow in strength until he takes over the Prime Continent itself."

This
declaration created murmurs of alarm among spectators seated in the galleries
of the Great Hall. In response, Lady Swiala stepped onto her own podium.

"Captain
Kalos, it is beneath you to create unnecessary hysteria. I say the savages are
not a threat to us, as long as we treat them humanely."

Lady Sagawea
then pushed her way beside Kalos to answer.

"Is
this why Benfaaro has now targeted our trading ships? Is this why he has taken
control of two of our islands, and murdered the peaceful Crescent House
citizens who lived there? Because he is no threat?"

"And meanwhile
we ourselves maintain our own armed strongholds within the frontier. Can this
not be, in turn, seen as a threat?" Swiala retorted. "My point is
this. Who will be the first to speak of peace? Or will these matters escalate
until none of us are safe in our own abodes?"

The
parliamentarian held up one hand. "Regardless of the opposition expressed
here, Captain Kalos, you have our full attention. You spoke of a plan?"

Kalos and
Lady Sagawea exchanged a brief look of triumph before the captain spoke.

"As
some of you know, Lady Sagawea and I were sequestered at her estate for some
time."

At the murmurings
of speculation that greeted this declaration, he glared around the room. Then
he allowed his eyes to linger a few extra moments on Adalginza before
continuing.

"
Solely
for the purpose of consulting with the many great scholars who gather there,
attending classes at the School of Minds that Lady Sagawea has worked so
diligently to establish. Lady, would you like to address the
congregation?"

Kalos
stepped aside to make room for Sagawea on the podium.

Moving a bit
awkwardly with the advanced state of her pregnancy, Sagawea smiled warmly at
Kalos before turning to face the Congress.

"With
the cooperation and expertise of many of the greatest thinkers of all the
Crescent Houses, we have developed a new weapon."

The
murmurings in the Great Hall now increased in volume, and Sagawea paused
briefly for effect.

"It is
a weapon so powerful that it will help us fortify our own defenses on the Prime
Continent. This weapon, in fact, will give us a decisive victory on the high
seas — and, ultimately, in the frontier."

A collective
gasp could be heard throughout the chambers.

In the hushed
silence that followed, both Kalos and Lady Sagawea alternated commentary to explain
how they had gathered many scholars together near the Dome of Archives to
search the scrolls for clues about the Ancients and their methods of waging
warfare.

After the
passing of many eves, a crumpled piece of parchment discovered in an
overlooked, rusty iron box appeared to contain the information they sought. It
was an intricate formula for a weapon developed from alchemy.

The formula itself
was described in an elaborate code created from what at first appeared to be
nonsensical mathematical equations.