Ten Crescent Moons (Moonquest) (7 page)

"I am
sorry," Adalginza said, and meant it.

"Zartos
is now an orphan, because of me. This weighs heavily upon my shoulders. And
yet, may the moon gods forgive me, I still cannot release the thirst. The
whisperings are many on the Prime Continent that it is here, in the frontier, where
answers about the lost Seventh House can be found."

"Then
your quest of the forbidden has brought you bad fortune." Adalginza answered
as she thought a real Crescent House lady might.

"In my
House, we do not believe in poxes and ill winds." He held his rugged hands
out in front of him. "We believe in our own wits, and in the labor of our
hands and hearts. Knowledge is the treasure I seek, dear lady. That is all."

"But
why take all these risks just for the sake of knowledge?"

"Because
I am a scholar, and I must know the facts behind the myth. How could a light
from the sky shine down upon the Seventh House, and lift up all who lived
there?"

"It
does make one wonder about the nature of such a light."

"You
see? I have tantalized even you into curiosity about that which is forbidden
for us to know. We need only to look up, however, to be reminded of questions
begging for answers."

Kalos gazed
up at the sky, at the farthest crescent moon the invaders had named as the
symbol of the Seventh House. In its present position, it seemed to be frowning
down at them in disapproval at the illicit mention of its name.

Adalginza
felt a slight shudder. "Perhaps we should speak of this no more."

Kalos
ignored her suggestion as he continued peering up into the sky.

"Every
time I see the moon of the Seventh Crescent House, I burn with desire to know. What
really happened to those people more than two thousand seasons ago?"

"I know
very little about the legend."

"It is
no legend." The captain of knights looked straight at her, his dark eyes on
fire. "It is truth. I have been examining all the records I can find in
the Dome of Archives back on the Prime Continent. The story itself is simple. In
the long ago, clans of the Houses were still small enough for all to live in
the same compound. When the light came, it took all who dwelled inside the palace
of the Seventh House and the surrounding dwellings."

"Are
not stories sometimes just — stories?" Adalginza asked dubiously.

"No.
The eyewitness accounts are indisputable. I have convinced myself of that. But
why only the Seventh House? It was a very small and isolated community,
granted. But why were all the other Houses spared?"

 He pointed
at each crescent moon, ritualistically naming the houses for which they stood.
From the First House, each subsequent house had arisen. The tenth moon had
never been claimed. Now, of the nine honored Houses, one was missing.

"In
only a moment, hundreds of people were gone in a burst of light," Kalos said.
"And no one knows why."

"That
is
most peculiar," Adalginza agreed. She, too, stared up at the sky.
"And why do you suppose no clan in the long ago ever claimed the tenth
crescent moon?"

"It
waits," Kalos replied mysteriously.

 "Perhaps
the tenth moon is for those who do not yet belong to any of the Houses."

Adalginza
regretted the idle words, for Kalos eyed her oddly.

"A
strange notion," he said. "One I have never heard spoken before.
Indeed, I cannot conceive of a being alive today that is not currently allied
with a Crescent House."

"What
about the savages? Were there no savages on the Prime Continent at the time the
Houses were formed?"

"Yes,
of course. At one time there were. But not for the past thousand seasons."

Adalginza
tried to swallow, to coax out her voice for the next question. "What — happened
to them all?"

"There were
no blood ties with the savages, who kept to themselves. They were not accepted
into any of the Houses, so they did not have the protection of any of the
clans. Eventually they were all killed."

Genocide.

Adalginza
felt the cold spread across her face, as though icy hands were laid upon her to
remind her of who she was. And who this man was.

A killer. A
murderer.

She wanted
to scream at Kalos, the scholar, to ask if he had bothered to consider that all
the beings of this world had the same origins. That all humans had been created
equal and the same, before his precious Crescent Houses with all their
pretensions were formed.

Unaware of
her reaction, Kalos continued to stare somewhat dreamily at the sky.

"There
was a time, when I was younger and full of idealistic notions, that I thought of
savages as civilized human beings. Does this disgust you?"

"The
matter of the savages is — complicated."

"For
you, yes. The Fifth House values the savages, because they can be used as
slaves. In this way, labor is free and wealth can be hoarded. Even the
liberated savages work cheaply. This will change in time, though. When the
frontier is conquered, more commoners from the Crescent Houses will arrive.
They will take over as laborers, and the savages no longer will be needed."

"What
will become of them after that?"

"I do
not know. Or care."

"Will they
all be killed, as they were on the Prime Continent?"

"Maybe."
Kalos took a deep breath, and squeezed shut his eyes for a moment. "Once,
I thought they should have the right to exist. Fully and as equals. My clan
even openly championed the savages who were petitioning for freedom at South
Port. We believed savages were human, as we are. We believed none of them
should even be enslaved."

"I have
never heard of such a thing among the Crescent Houses."

"We were
not alone in these beliefs. Just more outspoken."

Kalos moved
his hand to the hilt of the sword, its crescent emblem glittering from the
scabbard, before continuing.

"My
father especially showed great kindness to the savages of South Port."

"He was
kind to them?" Adalginza asked blankly.

"Yes.
And, in the end, many of the very savages he helped were among the mob that
massacred my family. They tortured my father and my brother. They raped my brother's
wife and my two sisters — before killing them as well. I saw it all, from my
hiding place in the loft. My mother was there with me. As was Zartos. We
shielded the boy, hiding his eyes so that he could not see what was happening
to his parents."

"A
terrible thing," she whispered.

"I
could do nothing then, except take a blood oath of revenge." His face
reflected agony mixed with rage. "It happened just last season. Never will
I forget Tremasto."

"Tremasto?"
Adalginza whispered. "Your family was killed in Tremasto?"

He did not
answer. He was lost in hideous memories, not hearing her distress.

"Please
excuse me for a moment," she said. "I must go check…something…in the
kitchen. Help yourself to more drink while I am gone."

Adalginza
stood and half ran into the interior of the house. She took refuge in the kitchen,
out of sight of the open door leading into the courtyard.

She stood
above the wood stove and clutched her stomach, nauseated with guilt that
prompted her to shut her eyes.

When she
opened them again, she was mesmerized by a few of the embers still burning hot
and red in the stove. Then the red glow slowly transformed itself into the
image of a flickering campfire from her past…

***

It had been
more than a season ago when Adalginza had visited the back country near Sola Re
to join her brother at his rebel camp.

On that night,
even the usually bright crescent moons were sobered by high, thin clouds
drifting across their faces.

The darkness
was broken only by the flames of the fire, reflected back at her in the hard,
green eyes of Benfaaro.

Dressed for
war, he had tied his hair back in the ceremonial sash that covered his forehead.
Colorful, intricate patterns were painted across his brow and cheeks.

 "I
salute you, sister, for the information you have brought us," Benfaaro
said.

Beside him,
Bruna sat with one arm around him. She stared malevolently at Adalginza.

"She
wishes you to show mercy."

Bruna spat
the words like they tasted bad, and her hateful voice blended with the hissing
bursts of flame from the fire.

"There
will be no mercy," Benfaaro declared.

"If you
would just hear me, there might be a better way," Adalginza argued weakly.

She regarded
Benfaaro fearfully. In the fierce face paint he wore, he no longer resembled
the noble brother she remembered. He sounded cruel and distant when he
answered.

"We
have no time to consider alternatives. Because of your report, we now know the
Crescent knights have chosen to leave Tremasto unprotected. This gives us great
advantage. But only if we move fast."

"The
settlement is unprotected for a reason," Adalginza reminded him.

"Our
enemy foolishly thinks that those they call savages of that settlement are
peaceful and welcoming? We will show otherwise. We will attack from within and
without. The survivors we spare will quiver in terror as they tell what they
saw. We must make those of the Crescent Houses fear us so much that they will
never wish to return to the frontier."

"Or
they will never rest until they have had their revenge," Adalginza
muttered.

She locked
eyes with the child, Calasta, who sat huddled in a blanket near the fire. The
young girl's eyes widened with fear and dread…

***

"
Adalginza?
Lady Adalginza!
"

She slowly opened
her eyes, to find Kalos standing next to her in the kitchen. She had been
unaware of his entry into the room. And he was now staring at her curiously.

"Are
you ill?" he asked. "I thought my company was invigorating, but
instead I find you in here hiding from me."

She gave the
captain a weak smile. "No. I am not hiding."

"You
look faint."

"Forgive
me. I am — tired. Let us go back into the courtyard where the air is fresh."

Captain
Kalos gave her a look of genuine concern, and hooked his arm into hers for
support as they walked outside together.

"It is
I who must ask for
your
forgiveness."

"No.
Not necessary."

"But it
is." He stepped away from her and placed both hands upon her shoulders.
"First, I bring up a subject forbidden even to speak of. Then I end our
conversation on talk of bloodshed and sorrow."

"All is
well. Really."

Kalos
dropped his hands to his sides.

"No. It
is not. You have my apologies. And you need not fear a repeat of such bad behavior.
Let us make our way to the stables to find my mother and my nephew. Then we
will say our goodbyes, and you will be rid of me for the duration of my
assignment here in Sola Re."

"But
surely I will see you again?"

"Not
formally. I have too much to do."

"You
will be planning the slaughter of the savages?"

Adalginza
felt faint again at the thought. But she kept herself from swooning as they
made their way along the path.

"First,
I will see to the defense of Sola Re."

Kalos was
his wary self again. His eyes darted endlessly as he checked each shadow under
bush and tree.

"But,
sir — I would like to see you again."

"If you
are lonely, I can arrange for you a liaison with Luzicos — my first officer. He
is of the Fifth House, and was much taken with you from the first sight of you
upon the street. Granted, he is not of royal blood. But he would make a fine
companion for a woman like you."

"So I
am good enough for your first officer, but not for you."

The anger in
Adalginza's voice was real. She was unaccustomed in the world of the Crescent Houses
to such utter and total rejection from one of its males.

"Lady
Adalginza, offense can be taken in two ways." Kalos gave her a look that
did not seem flattering. "My mother's observation of you was astute. You
will have naught to do with any man, other than the captain or someone of his
clan. I do not take this as a compliment, for your head turns my way only
because of the officer's symbol I wear."

 The sting
of his words was more painful than Adalginza expected. And she could think of
no answer. So they kept walking in silence.

Had she not
been pretending to be someone else, she could have assured him that she would
have looked his way had he worn only an unadorned snakeskin breech and tunic.