Kirlian Quest (14 page)

With an effort Herald removed his hand from her.

"Have I offended you?" she inquired, gently concerned.

"No, Lady, no," he said quickly. "Never that! I must converse with the Witness."

"No need," Whirl said behind him. "Now you comprehend. Now it has manifested for you."

"It has manifested," Herald agreed, amazed.

"What is this?" Psyche asked.

"Lady," Herald said, noting the reverberation of awe in his own voice, "you are possessed."

She laughed without malice. "I am myself! Witness, touch me and know. There is no alien in my body." She glanced at Herald. "
Is
there, Healer?"

"There is no alien—yet you are possessed," Herald said. "I was wrong before; the Enemy Witness was right. I do not pretend to comprehend this."

Now she showed gentle alarm. "How can I be possessed? I am so full, so complete; I am truly myself at this moment."

Herald did not answer. All that she said was true—but so was all that the Witness said. This thing was completely new to his experience.

"It has manifested," Whirl said. "Now you fulfill your mission, and all is well."

"I cannot," Herald said.

"But you must! You are aware of the alternative!"

"Are you then going to deliver me to be burned?" Psyche asked, this time putting her hand on Herald. Again he felt her aura, ten times the strength it had by day, so fine and strong and wonderful that it wrought its deep joy within him too. He called himself a healer—how much more so was she, now!

"No, never that," he said, humbly. Then, to Whirl: "I beg you, Witness, give me time to consider. I have no means to judge the merits of my alternatives."

"Until morning," the Earl said.

"Thank you." Herald turned again to Psyche. She seemed almost to glow with her own light, looking up at him, her face shadowed except for those golden eyes. "And what am I to do with you?"

"Need it be spoken?" she asked, moving into his arms.

He kissed her. This time it was no light extemporaneous effort, but a deep, thorough, enveloping experience. He was not embracing a mere girl; he was immersing himself in Aura. No, it had no need to be spoken!

They went hand in hand to her bed, and they settled into their embrace with complete tenderness and naturalness, their two unique auras merging as their bodies merged. It was the most beautiful thing Herald had ever experienced in any host or in his own Slash body, anywhere in the Cluster. He had never even imagined anything could be like this.

 

* * *

 

In the morning, waking with her hair strewn caressingly across his shoulder, he became aware of three things: The fatigue and soreness of his human body had been healed by the superior aura he had encountered; Psyche's aura had returned to its former level of twenty-five; and he was in trouble.

He got up and dressed, letting Psyche sleep. He suffered a flash of memory-image: Cupid departing from the bed of his bride before the light of dawn came, that she might not see him. But it was necessary, for there would be an irate parent to deal with. "Witness, I am ready," he announced.

The Earl of Dollar accompanied him silently from the room. Downstairs the Duke was up, preparing for the morning repast. The odor of sweet syrup distilled from the sap of trees and of confections formed from the sour rinds of citric fruits drifted through the castle. Kastle Kade always ate in style. "I have difficult news," Herald said.

The Duke's jaw muscles bunched. "I will have it now."

"I have observed the manifestation of which the Enemy Witness spoke."

Kade's face showed his shock. "You are—sure?"

"I am sure it exists. But I am also sure it is not a Possession. At least, not in any sense that we have knowledge of. It is simply a remarkable fluctuation of aura, like none known before. Hitherto it has been believed that the intensity of the aura is fixed from the time of birth or even conception, changing only for the worse during illness or Transfer. But the Lady's aura changes for the better. It should not and cannot be exorcised, and I would not do it if I were able. But that is academic. I am unable, for at its height it is stronger than mine."

Kade considered a moment, and Herald knew he was orienting on the hope he had extended, the rationale for the naturalness of Psyche's manifestation, an explanation that excluded the concept of Possession. The Duke turned to Whirl. "Witness, are you satisfied?"

"No," Whirl said. "I can no longer accept the validity of the opinion of this expert."

Herald had hoped it would not come to this, though he had been sure it
would
. The Enemy Witness was rigorously honest, and he had good reason for his doubt.

"And why not," Kade demanded, "since you selected him?"

"I can answer that," Herald said, deciding not to force the Earl into this unpleasant chore. "Last night the Lady Kade and I made love."

The Duke's whole body stiffened. "Witness?" he demanded tightly, and in that instant it was evident that the prefix "enemy" had been shifted from Dollar to Healer.

"True," the Earl said. "Voluntary by both parties, however. No force or coercion was involved."

The Duke turned rigidly to Herald. "And what do you propose to do now?"

Herald spread his hands. "I don't know. I am afraid the Witness is correct. I am no longer an objective party, and cannot exonerate your daughter of the charge against her. I will naturally waive my fee and depart..." But
could
be depart? He had met Aura, and he was in love, however complicated the circumstances.

"Then accept this." And stepping forward, the Duke of Kade struck Herald across the face smartly with his pair of gloves. The material was soft, but it was a stinging impact.
 

Herald stumbled back, perplexed. He was conversant with feudal customs, as heraldry derived from them, but this was confusing. "You challenge me to a duel, sir?"

"To the death, sir. Choose weapons."

"I am not certain I can accept such a challenge. May I inquire your reason?"

"The honor of my daughter."

Oh. Herald had thought the Duke would want to be rid of him as quickly as possible, by having him Transfer out. But that would not alleviate the political ramifications. Because any liaison between the Lady of Kade and the Scion of Skot would now be problematical; a creature from another Galaxy had preempted initial honors. "This I understand. But before I accept your challenge, there is something you should know—"

"Choose!"

Herald shrugged. "Laser swords, of course."

"Come this way," Kade said curtly, stalking from the room.

Herald paused to address the Earl. "It seems the personal matter has preempted the business matter. In the event I am not available to testify, I hope you will bear in mind the qualifications of my observation when you report to your authorities. The Lady Kade suffers from no ordinary Possession, and there seems to be no relation to what befell her mother. I believe another expert will confirm my findings. The Lady deserves this chance."

"I will so note," Whirl said.

"Thank you." Herald turned and followed the Duke out.

In the arms room the Duke opened a chest to reveal a fine pair of laser swords. Each was no more than a handle. "Do you wish to inspect?"

"No need," Herald said. "I am certain they are uniform."

Each man lifted a handle and walked to the open court that was adjacent. Here a shaft of sun came down, for this was in the outer castle where the walls were lower and the spaces larger. Herald squeezed his unit, and the blade appeared; a double laser band, the twin beams merging and phasing out about an arm's length from his grasp. He was careful to keep the blade and point out of the way of the furniture. The Duke did the same.

"Do you require a second?" Kade inquired.

Herald considered momentarily. A second would be better, but it would be awkward to set this up now. "In the circumstances, I believe we can dispense with this. Your servants are watching covertly from the embrasures."

The Duke made a snort almost of mirth. The two advanced to the center of the defined court, where lines set off the dueling range. "As ready," Kade said, striking his pose, sword elevated.

"Ready," Herald agreed, bringing his weapon to bear somewhat negligently.

Instantly the Duke struck, and Herald parried expertly, his point touching the other blade near the handle to interrupt the beams and snuff them out. The Duke jumped back, then promptly lunged—and Herald nullified his beams again with a seemingly offhand flick of his wrist.

"You are conversant," Kade muttered.

"I tried to advise you, sir. I am of Sphere Slash, Andromeda, a natural laser culture."

"Sol is also a laser culture!"

"Certainly." Herald nullified a third attack, this time flicking his point across the Duke's hand as he disengaged. His seeming negligence was merely complete confidence in his own competence; he could spot a laser anywhere he wanted, regardless of the host. It was inborn.

The pain of that swipe had to be intense, for the laser of these formal swords did not burn, but stimulated the nerves of the flesh it touched, overloading them until they could not respond. A touch of an instant hurt; a longer touch would stun the nerves so that it was as though the limb had been severed. But the Duke retained his grip. "Do you mock me?" he cried, his face reddening.

Perplexed at this reaction to first blood, Herald stepped back. "I merely show you my capability, lest you be unaware. Though this host is clumsy and weak, laser is my inherent weapon. Do you wish to withdraw your challenge?" This was a bit insulting, but Herald had no wish to kill the Duke. Since it had been defined as a duel to the death, the only way he could spare the man was by convincing him to have a change of heart.

For answer, Kade hurled his sword point-blank. This unorthodox and dangerous maneuver caught Herald by surprise. He tried to dodge aside, but the sword penetrated his abdomen. There was an instant of sharp pain in his gut, then nothing.

Astonished, he found himself standing unwounded. "Your sword is defective!" he exclaimed.

"My sword is tuned to half power—like yours!" the Duke retorted. "You mock me with a play-duel!"

"I did not know of this," Herald protested, turning off his blade. "How could I detune the swords when I neither touched nor inspected them?"

"
I
did it," Psyche said from the doorway. "When Whirl woke me and told me what was happening, I ran to turn the weapon-circuit down, lest someone be hurt."

"You foiled my defense of your own honor!" the Duke cried, exasperated.

"My honor!" she flashed, in that manner reflecting the laser-culture aspect of her kind. "Did you suppose I did not heed that honor last night? A Lady needs no defense; she does what is proper in the circumstance. I
love
him!"

"And I love her," Herald said. "I would not have taken her, had it been otherwise."

"Then why did you not offer to marry her?" Kade demanded.

Surprised, Herald spread his hands. "It did not occur to me that such a thing would be in order."

"Not in order! You, a leading heraldic artisan, expert in ceremonial arms and manner, you did not know the custom?"

"I regret if I overestimated your own knowledge of custom on the Cluster level," Herald said. "I am of Sphere Slash, Andromeda, and the leading Kirlian entity."

"So you have said!"

"We of Slash labor under what is called the Curse of Llume, reflecting an episode of the Second War of Energy. Thus we are deemed the lowest culture of a subject galaxy. It is no honor to marry a Slash, even were my natural form not the very serpent abhorred by the mythology of Psyche's name. I forgot myself last night, in the ambiance of the most remarkable aura of all time and space. But in the morning I knew it could not be."

"Why could it not be?" Psyche demanded, her eyes glowing orange like her father's.

"Had I presumed to demand your hand in marriage from your father, he would surely have declined permission."

The Duke of Kade nodded, agreeing. "Still you should have made the offer, providing me the occasion for that formality."

"
Formality!
" Psyche blazed. "Have
I
nothing to say about it?" She had become a creature of fire, absolutely lovely.

Herald turned to her. "Would you, like your namesake, dress in mourning clothing to marry a serpent?" he asked her gently. "Though I appear to you in human form, I am in reality as ugly to your perception as the monster I banished yesterday. I have sharp cutting disks, and deadly lasers, and the shame of a thousand years. That form is invisible to you at the moment, as it were in the dark of night. Overwhelmed by your enhancement, I thought it did not matter, but—"

"I would not dress in mourning to marry you," she said with a rebellious expression.

"This was my realization of the morn," he said. "Therefore—"

"I would dress in celebration, in the finest bridal gown of Keep, and I would carry living flowers and walk in eternal sunlight by your side."

"Therefore the Duke does have grievance against me, for—" Herald paused. "You would marry
me
, a Slash?"

"Oh, my love," she said passionately. "Did you not suppose I knew your origin? It was never secret! What meaning do you think the Curse of Llume has to us of the Galaxy Llume saved? She made no curse; she made a blessing that your species should be proud to honor! But for her,
I
would not exist at all!"

Herald was amazed and deeply gratified by her expression. But now he remembered his forced betrothal to Flame of Furnace. How could he explain to adoring Psyche and her suspicious father that in order to marry her, he would first have to sire offspring by an alien female? "I cannot—"

"Pardon the intrusion," Whirl said. Herald had not seen him enter the courtyard, but of course he had had considerable distraction. "It is not precisely my business, still I feel concern. Did the Healer love the Lady for her demon aura alone, and now that it has phased away no longer has interest in the host? In that case a ready solution offers—"