Aessa's Children13

AESSA'S CHILDREN: BOOK ONE -- THE LAST BORDER
By V. A. Watts
(c) 1993

NOTE: This work is under a registered copyright and unauthorized distribution is prohibited and will be prosecuted. All characters are fictional and of my own invention. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental.
Note on pronunciation: Proper Names and nouns within the language most commonly used on Aessa, Lliyassean, allow that each letter have its own sound. The first vowel in each word is long, the following vowels hold the short sound. Therefore, the name Thana is pronounced: T-HAYN-AH. Maygra is MAY-IH-G-RAH, Kieri is KI-ERR-IH, and Jael is JAY-EL. Diminutives such as Jai and Mag are pronounced as written, so Jai would be Ji (long "I") and Mag would be Mag with a short "a". The use of glottal stops is pervasive. Words ending in "I" are masculine gendered, "a" indicates feminine gender, "n" indicates plurals. Partial Glossary is at the end of each chapter.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Jael anticipated a variety of reactions from Maygra to his words, but her sudden collapse was not one of them. He moved to catch her but Rhys was better prepared and caught the woman deftly, lifting her into his arms in a fluid, graceful movement as if she weighed no more than Kiva.
That she was so light surprised Rhys. She was easily as tall as he but he had suspected no weakness in her, given the ferocity of her attack on his companions. He settled her more comfortably against his chest, arms supporting her back and knees. Her ribs, each one pronounced beneath her leathers, jutted pitifully against his arm.
"Kevyn, get a fire going so I can release this light," he ordered then waited until the youth had spread a pallet before setting his burden down, Jael hovering anxiously at his shoulder. Maygra made no sound as he laid her against the rough wool. Wisps of pale hair covered her dirty face. She was younger than Rhys had originally estimated. He did not miss the scars on her face and arms as he brushed the errant hair away, but he was startled by the fine beauty of the unmarked side of her face. He touched her forehead briefly, reassuring himself that the faint was due to nothing more than shock and exhaustion, then stepped back to allow Jael to tend her.
"Is she all right?" Kevyn asked. He set Kiva down next to Jael and the child crawled into his lap. Renn followed with the baby, warily watching Kevyn and Rhys with wide eyes. At Kevyn's signal, two of his men began rigging a rough tent over the little group.
"Well enough for one half-starved," Rhys replied and led Kevyn back to where Mikayl was still sprawled in the dirt. "Maric!" he called to a stocky guardsmen and knelt beside the youth. "Be ready, both of you. I'm going to bring him out of it and if he's anything like the woman, he'll most likely come up fighting."
"She's a hell-cat, right enough," Maric said, voice full of respect, as he and Kevyn knelt on either side of Mikayl, ready to restrain him if necessary. "Took out Rayin and Hela with nothing but a yell and a broken axe -- luckily for them or they'd both be dead. I'd not like to be opposite her when she's full-well and armed,"
Rhys ignored the older man's praise as he concentrated on bringing Mikayl out of his induced trance. He probed the youth lightly first, trying to read beyond the surface anxieties and exhaustion and found a wonderfully trained and well-ordered mind. Even unconscious the youth was blocking some things and Rhys did not press too hard. The little group of fugitives were far too physically incapacitated to try such a technique without risking further harm. He was able to pick up on some images that were worrying the youth; the injured Healer for one and a foggier impression of the enemy the group so feared as to have chosen a suicidal attack on Rhys' folk rather than risk capture.
Sighing, Rhys released Mikayl. As he expected, the moment the youth was aware of his surroundings he began struggling. He dislodged Kevyn but Jael suddenly shouldered Rhys aside and spoke sharply to the youth.
"Mal! Easy cousin! The battle's over but not lost, we're among . . . friends," Jael said and met Kevyn's eyes. Kevyn nodded and released Mikayl's arm, motioning for Maric to do the same. Freed, Mikayl accepted Jael's arm and pulled himself to his feet, green eyes still watching his captors.
"They're kinsman, of sorts, Mal," Jael said, "Kieri from . . . ?"
"Ravon," Kevyn supplied, smiling tentatively. "At the base of Arris Grae. Kevyn," he added offering both hands, palms up. Jael reciprocated the gesture.
"Jael. This is Mikayl. The little ones are Renn, Kiva and my son, Kion. Maygra is your hell-cat and that is Damyn," Jael said, indicating the Healer. "From Rhema, southern tip of Itheron Graen."
Rhys swore at the last and stepped between Kevyn and Jael, eyes narrowed. "There is no Rhema!" he snapped, a motion from his hand bringing the rest of the able-bodied patrol to wary attention. "Not for five hundred years!"
"Your history is a little off," interrupted a hoarse voice and Rhys turned again to face Maygra's flashing eyes as she took an unsteady step forward, Kion in her arms and the children clinging to her legs. "But not by much."
Under other circumstances Rhys might have laughed at the defiant attitude of the ragged little group. Jael and Mikayl flanked Maygra on either side, Kiva between the brother and sister and Renn holding Jael's free hand. But defiant they were, Maygra glaring at Rhys as if he were some foul creature that had crawled out of her reach before she could kill it.
"Rhema was very much in existence until a year ago -- but perhaps you already knew that?" There was a challenge in her voice that surprised Rhys.
"Rhema was abandoned five hundred years ago when the Madrai began moving again and the Kieri moved westward across Irrekas," Rhys said. "The border watch left behind was never heard from again."
"That Border Watch was five-hundred strong," Maygra said flatly. "They stayed and raised their families, who raised their own. Something you would know had you ever bothered to send someone to find out what happened to those you abandoned."
"They were supposed to follow," Kevyn said, confused. "And there were patrols sent -- they never returned either."
"For five-hundred years your folk have held Rhema against the Madrai? Now why do I find that hard to believe?" Rhys said, openly skeptical.
"It never came," Jael said. "It has never been seen. We've ridden east for years, and never encountered anything even suggestive of the power and enormity of the Madrai," he added more softly, glancing at Maygra.
Maygra kept her eyes fixed on Rhys. "It doesn't matter what you believe. From Rhema we came -- as fugitives. It has taken us a year of running and hiding to get this far -- to find safety," she laughed without humor. "No doubt you plan to tell me we are safe?"
Rhys returned her humorless smile. "From us you are -- for now. You weave a remarkable tale, Rhema. Four adults and three children -- one an infant -- travel on foot across an expanse that took our ancestors nearly the same amount of time by wagon and on eihn-back? You must admit it sounds improbable at best," he said.
"There were four more when we began," Jael said softly and glanced down at the children. "But it's a lengthy tale."
"I see," Rhys said affably. "It can wait a bit longer then. Kev --?"
The younger man grinned. "Done. Vaena picket the animals. Maric, see if you can get us a meal of sorts," he said and had the rest of the patrol at task within minutes. His own wounded were brought closer to the fire, a tent set over them and another over Damyn while others saw to the mounts and two took the watch. Blankets were spread out for the children and Jael saw to getting them settled until Maric brought them bowls of hot broth and bread. Kevyn produced shirts for the children, far too large, but warmer and cleaner than anything they had worn in months and Maric, with permission from Jael, had Kion cleaned and wrapped in yet another clean shirt. He was deft with the babe and cooed and talked with experience.
He winked at Jael as he finished. "I've two of my own -- one younger. The lady, she's his mother? He favors her."
Jael shook his head. "No, Maygra's sister Maia was his mother. She's dead."
The stocky guardsman dropped his head. "I'm sorry for that, lad. But he's a strong one and there's mothering arms enough in Ravon for such a one."
Jael smiled faintly at the man's optimism, watching him walk away into the darkness until his eyes fell on Maygra. She was crouched by the fire, ignoring Mikayl's softly voiced conversation.
"Jael," Maygra's soft-voiced summons was barely audible but he heard her and moved to crouch beside her near the fire. "When they begin asking questions, see if you can read beyond the words," she murmured. "There is something about this I dislike."
"So I noticed. What is it, Mag?" Jael asked in an equally soft voice.
"I don't know," she said shaking her head slightly, "An uneasiness, especially about that sorcerer, Rhys."
"Sorcerer?" Mal interrupted, glancing at where the man was rising to his feet from Damyn's side.
"What else? Wings! Did you see the light he summoned? What Kieri, what mortal, do you know that can summon light from nothing? And what has he done to Dami? Kiva and Renn can sense nothing from him and he's still under Sura's geas -- they should feel something," she said then hushed them as Rhys approached, Kevyn beside him. They sat by the fire, Kevyn closest to Jael.
"Your friend should be all right once a Healer can tend him. The wound is not that bad," Rhys said.
"It's not the wound I'm worried about," Jael commented before Maygra could stop him.
Rhys studied the trio for a long moment before speaking and then his eyes drifted to where the Healer lay, still enshrouded by the hazy misting of light. "There is something . . . unusual . . . about his condition," he agreed. "I had no time to probe deeper. The field should keep whatever it is dormant as well, but . . . ," he hesitated then looked at Maygra. "Did you inflict the geas?"
She looked up, startled. "No, his mother, Sura, did, before she died. I invoked it just before . . . before your damn patrol decided to haul us out by our hair," she finished, her voice hardening.
"That was never our intention," Rhys said calmly.
"No? Did you ever think to hail us before you drew weapons?"
"Would you have responded? I think not."
"You might have tried -- we were certainly not looking for a fight," Maygra snapped.
"No, you sought escape. Which brings us to your lengthy tale," Rhys said evenly. "You don't strike me as the type to run from an enemy, Masyra."
"I'm not fool enough to fight an enemy I cannot hope to defeat," she said. "And my only rank is -- was -- Makyera Gen, First Sword of Rhema, not Masyra. Damyn is the only one of Gift-rank among us. Makyeri Ki'Yajir, First Healer."
It was Rhys's turn to be startled and he leapt to his feet, crossing to where the Healer lay beneath the protecting field of energy. Alarmed Kevyn and the Rhemans followed him, standing a pace back as Rhys knelt and mentally probed the unconscious man. After a moment he rose to his feet, his face a grim mask in the uncertain firelight.
"There's not trace of healing Gift in him," he said flatly, glaring at Maygra. "So much for your tale. What else have you lied about?" he demanded and in a movement so quick none could react, he had drawn a long knife, pulling Maygra close to him, the flat of his blade against her neck.
Any fear Maygra might have felt was not revealed in her face or body. She ignored his tight grip on her injured arm, eyes locked with his, face impassive.
Kevyn had drawn his sword as well, using it to keep Jael and Mikayl from interfering, but with far less certainty. Around the little group, the patrol came to an uneasy alertness, some simply standing, others with their hands on their own swords. Maric had notched an arrow from where he sat watching the children, but his lined face reflected the same uncertainty as Kevyn's.
"Safe from you, are we?" Maygra said softly and with deadly sweetness. "You're safe and I'm a liar. No, damn you!" she hissed wrenching away from him, drawing her own knife with a movement that nearly sent Mikayl sprawling and Jael perilously close to Kevyn's sword. "Damyn was a Healer until some beast of Kairos crawled inside him. One of your pets, Masyr Rhys?" she taunted and feinted. Caught off guard, Rhys countered only to find himself Maygra's prisoner. He had underestimated her weakness. Undernourished or not, she was quick as a cat and had him from behind, her knife at his spine, her good arm locked around his neck, nearly strangling him.
"Kevyn, give Mikayl your sword -- Now, damn you! Or your sorcerer friend will spend the rest of his short life being carried from place to place," she ordered and pressed the blade into Rhys's skin just far enough to make him draw a sharp breath.
<> Rhys' voice spoke softly in Kevyn's mind. <>
Kevyn gave the blade over to Mikayl and was not surprised when the younger man took him prisoner as well, his own blade pressed painfully against his throat.
"Mag, don't . . . ," Jael began but she cut him off with a curse.
"Get the children, Jai -- don't argue! Take five of their mounts. Maric -- If you harm those children it will be the last thing you do before the Dark Maiden eats your heart!" she warned as the archer moved to intercept Jael.
"I would'nae harm the babes," Maric said, much affronted. "But you're making a mistake, Masyra. We've no cause to harm you."
"Maygra, " Rhys said in a hoarse whisper, "Maric speaks truly. I acted hastily. We mean you no harm."
"You've an odd way of showing it," she purred in his ear.
"If we wanted you dead, we could have killed you already. This is foolish, Maygra," Kevyn said then gasped as Mikayl drew blood. Around them the guardsmen tensed and Jael, who had roused the sleepy children paled and took a step toward his kinsman.
"Don't, Jael," Maygra warned, her voice icy cold. "We didn't endure the past year to be taken in by sweet promises."
"Mag, kira'sai, they are Kieri -- kinsman," Jael pleaded softly.
"Are they? Will you give up so easily, little cousin?" Maygra tightened her grip on Rhys neck. "Have you forgotten Maia and Kuris? Or how your own brother died -- how his death sent you screaming into madness? Damn you, Jai! I won't fight two enemies -- and you are either friend or foe, Jael. Decide!"
Jael stared at her, his face going pale under his dark hair. He could see the frustrated tears fighting to emerge and knew she meant what she said. He shifted his gaze to Mikayl who watched him anxiously, but did not ease his grip on his prisoner. Suddenly Jael locked gazes with Kevyn, who met the look warily, blue eyes wide and as anxious as Mikayl's. The thin line of blood trickling down the youth's throat made Jael vaguely nauseous.
"I'm with you, Mag, but there's a better way," Jael said raggedly, shifting his gaze to Rhys who regarded him coolly and unafraid, as if daring him to probe his intentions. But it was Kevyn Jael suddenly and ruthlessly forced a rapport with, shattering his mental Shields with a savagery that surprised even him. It never occurred to him to try the same thing with Rhys -- if even a portion of what Maygra thought was true, he would gain nothing and might deprive his kinsmen of a much needed ally.
He vaguely heard Rhys shout, and felt the mental warning he tried to send Kevyn, but Jael was adept enough and had enough of an edge to block Rhys out before locking minds with the younger man. Kevyn tried to resist, crying out in pain as Jael broke his feeble and too-late defense.
He had meant only to search Kevyn's mind for any sign or hint of treachery -- it took only a flicker of a moment to know the youth was innocent of any dark motives and believed his companions to be innocent of any such thoughts as well. Jael was relieved but he had not anticipated the sudden loss of control of his Shields and was helpless to stop his own memories from flooding into Kevyn's mind. Like fresh wounds, memories he had buried, hidden from and fought against poured out into the open gate of the youth's mind. Jael found himself a spectator of all the recent events of his own life. Caught unawares he could not even ease his own grief as the past year unfolded between them like some vivid storyteller's tale. Terror clutched at both of them as the two men felt/saw the attack on Rhema . . .

. . ."Where's Laric?" Maia had asked but Jael already knew his brother was approaching, some anxiety tugging at his carefully ordered thoughts. "What is it, Laric?" Maygra quietly demanded, Laric's hostility toward the swordswoman a painful division in loyalty the Jael did not know how to resolve...
. . .he received Maygra's dire command, jerking his head around to find her in the confusion. She did not meet his eyes, her face and body bloodied, her head held up as she willed Damyn to relay the order. He had hated her at that moment -- hated her in such a way that Laric's later reaction was like a red hot lash of shame across his soul. . .
. . . his arrow found its mark and tears streaked his face as the wavering, terrified, mind-voice murmur stopped abruptly. He needed no sight to tell which children died, which were rescued, who was injured. It became a litany of faces and voices until one shrieked through him more urgently than before -- Kuris! He knew that touch, that playful, Maia-echo, that was as dear to him as Kion's baby images . . .
. . .his arms felt extraordinarily strong as he held Maia through another contraction. Her arms encircled his neck as she tried to assist their new son into the world. He dropped his consciousness into hers, helping her push, sharing her pain and her joy as Damyn coached gently at the foot of the bed. Maygra stood at his shoulder, hands full of fresh warm blankets for the new arrival, her eyes wide in joy and awe and a hint of fear. . .
. . . Maia's mind screamed against his as her first-born fell from the sky and Jael found his mind locked into Maygra's as the boy died. Shock held him immobile even as he saw Maygra try to dodge the swordsman and his scream echoed hers as he felt the blade shear through flesh and bone. He started forward then only to stumble as nausea washed over him -- his thoughts twisting and twining with Maia's as she drove her sword into the Hai'Karin twisting the shaft, her mind rolling with a hatred so strong it made Jael ill. . .
. . . . He barely recalled setting Maia and Kion in the dark hole before reentering the fight. It was a savage fury -- hardly able to discern between friend and foe. When he had come to himself it had been dark. There was no movement in the Keep. Terrified he was the last he called silently. The only answer he received came from the cellar. . .
. . . .and madness gripped him as he felt Laric dying, the beserker rage that he thought he had left behind in Rhema surfaced again and this time he could not tell friend from foe -- his knife cut through Mikayl's side as easily as if he had been a trapped long-ear -- and there was no remorse as his friend's blood spilled out over his hands, as Maygra wrestled with him for the blade. . .
. . ."Have you forgotten Maia and Kuris? Or how your own brother died -- how his death sent you screaming into madness? Damn you, Jai! I won't fight two enemies -- and you are either friend or foe, Jael. Decide!" Mag's voice challenged him to fight but Jael no longer had the will. The blood had to stop somewhere. . . the blood trickling down Kevyn's neck, from Maygra's arm, Damyn's blood, Sura's, his own. . .

He had no idea how long he and Kevyn held the rapport, nor did he care if Kevyn hated him and called for his death for forcing such a thing on him when Jael knew him innocent of any dark designs on his captives. He had exhausted himself in the effort, had pushed himself far beyond the limits of easy recovery. He dropped the rapport without warning, not hearing his own cry of pain, or doing anything to halt his sudden collapse.
He was equally unaware that it was Kevyn who caught him. With a sob, Maygra released Rhys, shoving him away as she ran to kneel beside the youth who now gently eased Jael's semi-conscious body to the ground. With Jael's head against his knees, Kevyn turned a tear-streaked face to his friend.
"They have every right to be afraid, cousin," he said with a choked gasp and offered Rhys what Jael had forced.
"Maen Rhys?" Maric said hesitantly, not sure if he should disturb the stunned silence in the camp.
Rhys stared at him blankly for a moment then rose to his feet and stood over the three on the ground. "I beg your forgiveness, Maygra. What your folk have endured is out of my worst nightmares," he said and Maygra looked up, a rare sparking of her Gift recognizing his words to be the exact truth. "Mikayl, that blade is no longer necessary," Rhys said, turning his attention to the youth. "You are free to go if you wish or return with us to Ravon. If you leave now, take mounts, food, whatever you need. I wish it were more."
Maygra rose to her feet, leaving Jael to Kevyn's care with a worried glance then looked at her brother. Her face was weary and unsure, her voice shaking. "Mal? I don't--" she began and her voice broke as she looked from her brother to Damyn to the children to Jael and back again, like a trapped animal. She stumbled toward him and he reached out to pull her into his arms, the sword dropping, forgotten, to the dirt. Mikayl had never before seen his sister look so despairing, so lost. For months whatever grief she felt she had hidden away, driven by the need for her family to survive. She embraced him only briefly before breaking away, staring out into the darkness.
Unsure of how to respond, Mikayl tentatively reached out to Jael, fearful of inflicting more pain, but the response was surprisingly steady, though weak, and he relaxed a little. He laid a hand on Maygra's shoulder, gently turning her to face him
Even Maygra was capable of receiving such a message. She wiped her eyes, brushing her hair from her face and turned, unconscious of her reddened eyes and nose. Her voice faltered only a little, but she met Rhys' waiting eyes steadily.
"We can run no more. If death waits us at Ravon, it is kinder than this living death. Jael trusts your Kevyn, and through him you. I can do no less," she said quietly then moved until she was eye-to eye with Rhys. "Should you prove false or clever, Rhys," she added in a low murmur that only he could hear, "may the Goddess deal with you as she has us, and the Dark Maiden wait more hours at your side than she did for my kin."
"I swear it will be so, Maygra of Rhema," Rhys said and offered his hands to her, palm up.
She hesitated then covered them with her own and could not explain the sudden combination of both dread and relief that flooded over her.

Chapter 14
GLOSSARY
A'del'eva:..............Literally: "By your oaths to Aessa" A war cry and a summons. (think au secors)
A'Ki'Ka................A binding Oath of will, heart , soul and mind...reserved for the Goddess.
asa:........................Literally: Truth. an affirmative as in, "yes" or "is it not so?"
Graen:....................pl. Mountains, (also Grae; Mountain)
hait:........................ "To Me" or "Here", imperative, a summons.
Ien Ki'Ka............... Soul Oath. An oath of binding.
ka'kiira...................f. Daughter of...
kira'sai:...................f. sister, little sister, beloved sister, [familial]
kira:........................f. little one, child (diminutive)
kiri:........................m.little one, child (diminutive)
kiri'nai:...................m.brother, little brother, beloved brother [familial]
ki'ta.........................f.heart sister. Not quite a lover.
Makyera:................f. First, as in a title.
Makyera Gen:........as in First Sword a title, overall commander of the Watch (also: gen... sword, shield, defense)
Makyeran Gyeld......First Born. A title of respect applied to no other peoples but the original five Oathtakers who birthed the Kieri race.
Masyra-Maena:......f. title of rank for females, equivalent of Lord-Master, title for a member of the Elder Council (or Lady-Master)
n'gari:.......................large lizards, desert scavengers, about the size of a rhinoceros, but looking more like komodo dragons.
N'yris.......................Oath Breaker...a broken oath. A fatal transgression
Shadrai:...................Literally, Shadow Speaker.
shan'nai:.................m.Wise man or brother, an affectionate term of respect. Used between equals.
shan'sai:..................f.Wise woman or sister, an affectionate term of respect. Used between equals.
theris:.......................fruit bearing tree native to Elerak and the Eastern Plains, rather like a pulpy pomegranate
uralen:.....................pl. Ural; a large cliff dwelling bird, average wingspan is about 20 feet, scavengers mostly.
varin:........................a breed of extremely stocky, sure-footed horses, powerful bodies but small heads. (pl. varinen)
vegen:........................historically they were small leather-winged creatures, not unlike bats, but with elogated snouts and long flattened tails used as messengers for the gods. (pl. vegenen)