“Calm yourself, Kalena. No one will force you to take the Key. It is not our place to try. The decision must be yours, and only you will know how and when you must act. All we can do is tell you what we have learned over the years through studying the legends and the shreds of ancient manuscripts that have come into our possession.”
“You have many such old manuscripts?”
“A few. What do you think we use Quintel’s grans for? It costs money to pursue old legends.”
“You speak of the days of the Dawn Lords,” Kalena said slowly. “Are you telling me that they really existed?”
“We believe so. It was they who discovered the Stones of Contrast and buried them in fire and ice. No one knows where they are hidden. But we believe the Keys to the Stones, both of them, were hidden in these mountains. The Light Key we know for certain is here. The ancient documents hint that the Dark is also.”
“Who were the Dawn Lords?” Kalena asked, completely fascinated now. “Another race that inhabited this planet before us?”
Valica answered cautiously. “We don’t know for certain, but it is possible the Dawn Lords were as human as we ourselves are. Some students here in the valley,” she glanced around at the faces of the other women, “think that the Dawn Lords were our ancestors and that they arrived on this planet from a world that turns about another sun.”
“They brought the Stones and the Keys with them?” Kalena asked.
Valica shook her head in denial. “No. At least, we don’t think so. We believe they discovered the Stones and the Keys here when they arrived and recognized them as sources of power that were beyond even their comprehension or ability to handle. Such things of power could not be destroyed, so the Dawn Lords hid them, hoping, no doubt, that they would stay buried forever, or at least until we were capable of controlling them.”
“What became of the Dawn Lords?” Kalena demanded.
Valica shrugged. “There appear to have been only a few of them, but they fitted themselves to this new world. They seem to have been trapped here, but they were determined that they and their children would survive. They did what was necessary, creating a new society that has proven viable and has flourished. I can tell you little else, Kalena. We simply don’t know much more than that. A great deal of what I have told you is speculation and intuition.”
“And now your speculation has convinced you that I must take up the Light Key and carry it out of the valley?” Kalena finished warily.
“So we believe.”
“You are wrong,” Kalena said resolutely. “You have set your lures for the wrong woman. Surely if I were called to such a destiny, I would know it deep inside.”
“Who can say?” Valica smiled again. “We are almost as ignorant as you about your fate. Perhaps matters would be clearer now if Olara had brought you here years ago when she found herself in charge of you. Or perhaps it was not meant for you to grow up here at all. In any event, Olara’s notions of vengeance and House honor were stronger than the part of her that was drawn to life here in the valley. She tried to twist you to her own ends, and in the process perhaps she succeeded in suppressing your own inner knowledge and instincts too far. Or perhaps it was meant for those things to be temporarily suppresses. Who can say? The ways of fate are often exceedingly complex.”
Kalena was feeling desperate. “How long have you known that I was the one you sought?”
“The woman who held my position in the valley before I did first sensed the truth. She was gifted with the ability to slide deep into a Far Seeing trance. That particular gift is very rare, and the results of such trances are often difficult to interpret. My own trances have proven remarkably frustrating at times. Her name was Besting, and her intuition was astonishing. It was she who named the one who would take up the Light Key. Before she died she summoned Olara and informed her of what she had learned. But by then it was too late. Olara was already started down the path of her choice and she made it clear she was taking you with her. Besting could do nothing more. But when she told me that I was to take her position here in the valley, she gave me some advice.”
“What advice?”
“She said that something stronger than your aunts training in vengeance was destined to break through the barriers Olara had raised within you. A new bond between you and another would be formed, one that would be stronger than the bond between yourself and your aunt, stronger, perhaps, than even your sense of honor.”
“You knew I would form a trade marriage?”
Valica smiled. “Years ago we began insisting on dealing only with married women traders. It was a way of ensuring that the women Quintel used received some legal protection and the right to retain a portion of the profits of the Sand.”
“Quintel got around your edict by inventing the institution of trade marriages,” Kalena pointed out. “Such marriages are little more than business arrangements. The bonds between men and women in a trade marriage are slight, to say the least. It is a business association.”
“True, but marriage agreements serve the purpose of providing the women involved with some legal status. Since we had decided to deal only with such women, it was reasonable to assume that somehow when you came to us it would probably be as a trade wife. We didn’t know for certain, of course. Fate could have chosen another way to bring you here, but it was a logical assumption. None but Quintel’s traders climb the trail to this valley.”
“I understand.”
“Several months ago,” Valica continued, “when we began to grow anxious about what we sensed was happening with the Dark Key, we decided it would be necessary to give fate a small push. We began informing Quintel’s traders that we would deal only with a woman who was truly married, emotionally as well as by contract. We said we wanted a woman with at least a touch of the Talent although she needn’t necessarily be a Healer. Between the information gained from Bestina’s trances and my own, we knew that much about you. We could not ask for you directly.
“Why not?”
“For one thing we had lost track of you. We did not know where Olara had taken you to live or under what new House name you were being raised. I was forced to rely on logic and hope to locate you.”
“The logical part being that Quintel wouldn’t rest until he’d found a way to reopen the Sand trade route. He’d keep searching until he found a woman you would accept through the mist.”
“We knew Quintel couldn’t get a trained Healer to agree to the kind of contract marriage necessary for a trading venture. He had to come up with a new arrangement a Healer would agree to, which was unlikely, or find an untrained Healer, like you, willing to enter into a trade marriage. There aren’t many untrained Healers like you Kalena, so we knew that once we exerted the maximum pressure on Quintel and closed the trail entirely to everyone but you with the mist, we would find you, sooner or later. There was another angle of logic involved, too. Don’t forget we were aware that Olara, wherever she might be, was looking for a way to get to Quintel. With Quintel searching for a woman who came from a family of Healers and Olara waiting for an opportunity to use you against Quintel, the results were inevitable.”
“It’s all very twisted and complicated, full of what-ifs and had it-not-been-fors.” Kalena shook her head.
“There is a logic to it, however. There is always a hidden logic behind all that happens. We call it fate, but in reality that word means nothing more than the inevitable conclusion of forces that have been set in motion. Once in motion, all such forces must eventually play themselves out.” Valica quoted a tenet of the Philosophy of the Spectrum with the certainty of a true believer.
“It was only supposed to be a trade marriage,” Kalena said softly. “And it was never meant to last more than a day. You specified a woman who was well and truly married, not just one involved in a business arrangement.”
Valica looked at her knowingly. “Would you say that the bond between you and your husband is based only on business?”
Sudden
heat burned in Kalena’s face. “It’s hard to explain my arrangement with Trade Master Ridge. There are times when I’m not certain I understand it, myself. But I am certain it is not my task to take up the Light Key. You have drawn the wrong woman to your valley.”
“None of us here tonight can fully explain just why and how you are here, Kalena. Nor will we try more than we already have. It grows late and we are farming women who must rise early. I think it is time we went to bed.” Valica’s tone of voice announced that the session was at a close.
“Farmers are not the only ones who rise early. So do trade masters,” Kalena muttered, getting to her feet along with the others. “Especially when they are anxious to complete a journey. Ridge will want to leave as soon as possible in the morning.”
“I will walk with you to your cottage,” Arona said, moving close to Kalena as the others filed out of the room.
“That’s very kind of you.”
“Not at all. My cottage is only a short distance beyond yours.” Arona’s blue eyes were very deep and intense in the light of the lamps. She touched Kalena lightly on the arm and turned to lead the way out of the dining chamber.
Kalena walked beside her new acquaintance in silence, thinking of all that had been said in the dining hall. But soon she grew uncomfortable, and searched for casual conversation.
“How does the valley floor stay so warm and balmy even though it’s surrounded by snow-covered mountains?”
“There is a source of heat hidden deep in the heart of the mountains. Perhaps the remains of an old volcano. We don’t understand exactly how it works, but the waters that bubble to the surface nearby are hot and there is always warmth in the air.”
“Some of the water flows out of the mountain into the pools of Hot And Cold, and even beyond, doesn’t it?”
“Yes.” Arona said nothing more for a while, and when she spoke her words surprised Kalena. “You are a woman who seeks her freedom.”
“You are perceptive.”
Arona’s mouth curved faintly. “Not particularly. But I, too, once went in search of freedom. Perhaps now I simply recognize the desire in others when I see it.”
Now Kalena was curious herself. “You did not find your freedom in the outside world, did you, Arona?”
“I don’t think I could ever have found it in a world of men,” she said simply. But I am happy here in the valley.”
“I understand.” They were nearing the cottage. Kalena saw the glow of the lamps through the windows. Ridge would be waiting, just as he had said.
Arona halted and turned to face her companion. She put a hand on Kalena’s shoulder. “You, too, could be happy here, Kalena. Do you understand? There is a freedom to be found here that does not exist in the kind of relationship you have formed with your husband.”
“I know,” Kalena said gently. “There is very little freedom in marriage.”
Ridge stood in the shadows near the cottage and listened to Kalena’s words. His restlessness had made him walk out to check the creets for the second time that evening. He had seen Kalena and Arona approaching in the moonlight. Something within him had tightened into a cold knot as he sensed all the lures of the valley reaching out to take Kalena from him.
“Here in the valley you are free, Kalena,” Arona said softly. “You can make your own choices. There is no need to be guided by the wishes of a man.”
Ridge sucked in his breath and stepped out of the shadows. In the moonlight he faced the two women. “Kalena, I’ve been waiting for you.”
“I know, Ridge.” She turned to him with an unreadable smile on her lips.
Ridge stood very still, every part of him prepared to fight, but he was unsure of how to go about it. He could easily imagine himself protecting his wife from the attentions of another man. But this sort of situation was totally outside his experience. What did he have to offer that could counter the valley’s lures? He sensed that his only hold on Kalena at that moment consisted of the tenuous bonds of a trade marriage. The fact that he could make her respond in his arms might stand as nothing compared to the exotic kind of freedom the valley offered her.
“It’s time to go to bed, Kalena.” He could think of nothing else to say.
“Yes,” she agreed and turned back to Arona. “I wish you good evening, my friend. There is much for me to think about tonight.”
“That’s very true. Go to bed and dream of freedom.”
“I’m not sure any of us are ever completely free,” Kalena murmured.
“You are a wise woman. Too bad you were not allowed to become a Healer. I wish you good evening, Kalena.” Arona disappeared into the balmy night, her long tunic swirling gracefully around her ankles.
Ridge exhaled slowly, but none of his tension diminished. He moved to stand in front of Kalena and caught her face between his rough palms. Her eyes were wide and luminous as she looked up at him.
“Sometimes you scare me almost to death, lady,” he rasped.
“Do I?”
“I won’t let you go easily, Kalena,” he said thickly as his mouth hovered above hers. “I can’t let you go. You belong to me. Somehow I must make you understand that.” And with that he picked her up and carried her into the cottage.
Twelve
The lamps cast a warm glow that was pale in comparison to the brilliant glow of Ridge’s eyes. Kalena was vividly aware of the leashed strength in him as he carried her across the tapestry rug and lowered her to the narrow pallet in the far corner. The warmth of the fire was nothing compared to the heat she sensed in Ridge.
He came down on one knee beside her and released the band that held her hair. Freed, the wealth of sunset colored curls tumbled over his fingers.
“I want you to find your freedom in my arms, wife.” He twisted his hands in the depths of her hair and bent his head to kiss her heavily.
His mouth fastened on hers with an urgency that flowed over Kalena the way a fire flowed over dry kindling. She wasn’t sure there was freedom to be found in Ridge’s embrace, but there was a heated excitement that was unmatched by anything else she had ever known.
Tonight there was something else, too. Kalena knew. She was aware of a great sense of readiness on her part. She felt as though she had been waiting for this lovemaking for a long time. Ridge had barely touched her, but already she was warming with the same heat that fired his passion. Her arms went around his neck, pulling him down to her.
“This is where you’re supposed to be, Kalena. Whatever fate the Spectrum has decreed for you, you must share it with me.”
“I know,” she heard herself respond. “I know that tonight.” The knowledge was flooding her bloodstream, bringing with it a clear certainty that she could not escape.
Ridge’s hands moved impatiently on Kalena’s clothing. Her tunic was thrust aside and then the narrow trousers fell to the floor. She writhed naked in his arms and began to fight him for the embrace, driven by an urgency she had never felt before.
“By the Stones,” he breathed as he held her still long enough to rid himself of clothing, “tonight you’re like the free fire that burns in the mountains, How could you even think of leaving me?”
“I wasn’t thinking of leaving you tonight,” she told him as her nails sank into his shoulders. “I couldn’t leave you tonight.” It was the truth and she accepted it unquestioningly. She had to have him inside her, filling her completely. Kalena’s breath came quickly and she stifled her soft cries against his skin.
Ridge’s face was set in lines of stark passion as he loomed over Kalena. His fingers trembled with the force of his need when he touched her breast.
“Come to me,” she whispered achingly. She lifted her hips against his in open invitation. “Come to me, Ridge. I want you tonight.”
“Soon,” he promised thickly. “Soon.”
“No, now” Possessed of an overwhelming need to complete the union, Kalena pressed against his chest with the palms of her hands.
Surprised by the force o
f her desire, Ridge allowed her to push him onto his back. Instantly, she was climbing astride him. Her hair formed a nimbus of golden red against the glow of the lamp behind her. Ridge’s eyes glittered in fierce anticipation as his big hands settled on her flaring thighs.
“Finish it,” he grated, lifting her slightly so that she could fit herself to him. “I can feel the liquid fire in you. It’s going to consume both of us, so finish it.”
Her fingers closed delicately around the hard length of his manhood. Ridge groaned and pushed himself abruptly against the damp core of her body. Kalena gasped and fell forward as he entered her deeply. She braced herself on his shoulders and felt her body tighten around him. Slowly, she levered herself upward again until she sat him almost the way she would a creet.
“Now you’re fine, my sweet Kalena,” Ridge murmured as he stroked himself into her body. “Go ahead and fly. But you’ll have to take me with you.”
Kalena’s whole body arched with sensual tension. Eyes closed, head thrown back in wild abandon, she rode Ridge with a passion that matched his own. The fire that blazed between Ridge and Kalena threatened to consume them, but neither cared. Kalena flew on a creet that still retained its wings. She soared the skies on a great muscled bird who responded to her slightest whim. Dazzling light and deepest shadow swirled beneath them as Kalena rode Ridge to the heights of the mountains. When at last he folded his wings, enclosing her completely, and plummeted back toward the ground, Kalena called his name in a voice that reached into both the shadow and the light.
Ridge’s hoarse shout was as vibrant with life as her own. He seemed to burst inside her, spilling the essence of himself into the deepest part of her body. Then he held her so close she could hardly breathe as the tremors that shook both of them ran their course.
Afterward, there was only dampness and warmth and peace. It was a long time before Kalena finally found the energy to open her eyes. When she did, she found Ridge studying her face in the lamplight. His legs were tangled with hers and one of his hands was resting on her hip. His golden eyes still burned faintly with the lazy aftereffects of passion.