VirtualHeaven (30 page)

Maggie waited impatiently for Kered. Each hour without him
dragged. But it was Vad who appeared at the door just as twilight painted the
indigo heavens with streaks of red. She shooed Anna away.

“What is it?” Maggie asked, a small frisson of fear running
down her spine.

“I came to bid you goodbye. The council has selected me to
lead the escort for the ice shipment. It is a great honor—one I have waited for
my whole life.”

She embraced him. “I’m so proud of you. I know everything
will be well now.”

He preened and Maggie momentarily saw the small boy that
Kered had described.

“But where is Kered?” Maggie asked. “Why didn’t he come with
you?”

Vad paced the room. “Kered was called into a special meeting
of the council.” He turned and faced her. His military stance made her think of
someone facing a firing squad. “They have great news for him. News I feel you
should know,” Vad finished.

“What is it? Tell me!” Maggie begged, half-afraid to hear
what he had to say.

His expression was kind, his words devastating. “It seems
that in reward for Kered’s service in securing peace without bloodshed—a
lifemate has been chosen for him.”

Maggie reeled away. She staggered to the low window and
leaned on the cold stone sill. The shutters banged softly in the wind. “A
lifemate. Einalem?” She could barely say the name.

Vad touched her lightly on the shoulder. “No. The council
sees a means to make a peaceful alliance, a more valuable one than that of
Samoht’s house and Kered’s. It is rumored the mate will be the daughter of the
Selaw chief—an equal to Kered in status.”

Numbly, Maggie shook her head.
Lifemating
. The
thought destroyed her hope of happiness but, at the same time, preserved
Kered’s precious peace.

“We both know you would not do well taking orders from
Kered’s mate.” He cleared his throat. “I know you once asked me to take you to
Nilrem’s mountain, and I am sorry I may no longer perform that service.”

She had no answer, could not answer, as myriad thoughts
clamored in her mind for attention.

“If you wish it,” Vad cleared his throat again and ducked
his head, “I will offer to buy you from Kered—”

Her gasp interrupted him. He raised a hand as if to ward off
her anguish and finished in a rush. “Not for my bed, for my household. I do not
think you would last here. I could give you a worthwhile life.”

Maggie sank to a stool and tried to take it in. How could
she have forgotten so easily the world in which they were living? A slave
society. Where she could be bought and sold. His next words brought the goose
bumps out on her arms.

“I have seen the way Samoht looks upon you. I believe he
will eventually challenge Kered for you. My new duties will take me from the
capital. You could go with me—”

“Thank you, no.” Maggie offered him her hand. “I understand
what you are doing, and it is very sweet of you.”

He squeezed her hand. “Think what your life will be as Kered
rises in power.”

She squeezed back. “I know what my life will be.”
Agony
.
How could she have thought she could come and go at will? Or believed that
Kered needed her? The Shadow Woman was no longer necessary. She squared her
shoulders and forced a bright smile. “Is there a way I might get to Hart Fell
by myself?”

“Alone?’’ Vad scratched his chin and wandered about Kered’s
quarters. “Hm. The best I can offer you is safe conduct—of a kind.”

“Safe conduct?” Maggie watched him rummage in one of Kered’s
chests. He held out a small silver square about the size of a credit card. It
was gilded and engraved with the symbols of the Tolemac moons in alignment.

“You may show it to anyone who challenges you. It will stand
as guarantee that the horse I am giving you is yours. I cannot provide an
escort. ‘Tis not done to offer such to slaves.”

Maggie stared at the smooth, metal plaque, cold and hard as
her decision. She gripped his hands. “Take me to Hart Fell, Vad. Come with me.
The world is different beyond the ice fields. You will find it more home than
this place,” Maggie begged.

Vad shook his head. “I have worth here. I will be a
councilor one day. I see it in my dreams.”

Impulsively, Maggie ran to the bed. She swept her hand
beneath it until she found the small wooden box that held her pendant. She
extended the box to Vad. “Take this. You could teach a few of your friends to
play cards.”

He opened the box and withdrew the deck of cards. “I am
grateful for your tutoring.” He dug out the pendant and held it up. “What of
this?”

She pressed it on him. “Keep it. If you ever change your
mind…” She hoped what she was about to say would be true. “If you ever change
your mind about crossing the ice fields, take this to Nilrem. He’ll know what
to do.” She folded his hand about the silver piece.

“I am honored.” He lifted their hands and kissed her
knuckles.

Maggie hugged him about the waist. “Tell Kered I love him.
Tell him—” She bit her lip and swallowed hard on her grief. “Tell him I know
how important he is here. But tell him I had to go. He’ll understand.”

With a brisk nod, Vad set her aside. “It is doubtful he will
understand, but this is best for you, Maggie—and for him. I cannot imagine that
you would be content to serve Kered’s mate. Oh, he would always see to your
care, for he is an honorable man. Your children by him would be given
meaningful work, might even have status above other slaves, but—”

“Stop.” Maggie felt the tears hot on her cheeks. “We both
know I cannot live with the idea of Kered and another woman. I cannot live in
your world.”

And she knew that outside the orbs were rising, moving
closer together.

Tol stepped forward. He placed his hands firmly on Kered’s
shoulders. “I wish that Leoh had survived to see this day. You and your
lieutenant have crafted a plan that will see us into a new age of prosperity
and peace. Who would ever have dreamed we would make peace with the Selaw? And
without so much as a drop of blood?”

Kered solemnly acknowledged the compliment with a bow.

The councilor’s heavy hand held him in place. “It is with
that in mind that we have searched for a suitable lifemate for you. One who
will be worthy of a man who, I am sure, will one day head this council.”

His mind reeled.
A lifemate
. It was all he could do
to hold himself still and not roar with the pain of it. Reality and all its
many thorns and pricks wrapped around him.

“Aye,” Samoht said from his place. “The council has selected
a worthy mate for you. The daughter of the Selaw chief. The contracts are being
drawn as we speak. We shall benefit greatly from the alliance, and so shall the
Selaw.”

Kered tried in vain to force his way through the crowded
palace corridors. He had to get to Maggie. He had to break this news to her in
just the right way. Together they would think of a solution. After all, had not
Maggie been there and helped him along each step of his quest? At nearly every
turn of the cool stone hallways, someone pulled him to a stop to congratulate
him or to ask for confirmation of details on the next day’s convoy to fetch the
ice. The good wishes he could brush off, the concerns for the morrow he could
not. So he ground his teeth in mute agony and answered with a patience he did
not feel.

Surely, if the news of his marriage alliance had reached so
many, so soon, Maggie would hear it as gossip—hurtful gossip. Finally, unable
to pretend any longer, he put a man aside and raced the length of a corridor,
then burst through the doors to his quarters.

Torches lit the chambers and wreathed the ceiling with
smoke. He searched the many rooms for Maggie. Her neatly made bed, her small
chest of possessions, might mislead another man to believe she’d stepped out
for a moment. But he knew her better than he knew himself. After all, how could
he not know the woman who linked him to another world, who was bound to him
heart and soul?

He could smell the bleakness of her chamber. Beneath his bed
he found the empty box that had held Maggie’s pendant and Vad’s cards. With a
roar of grief, he flung the box away.

He raced to the barracks and hauled Vad from his bed. “Where
is she?” he demanded, his desperation shredding his composure.

“What makes you think I know where Maggie has gone?” Vad
wrenched himself from Kered’s grip, then hastily drew on his clothing.

Kered raked his fingers through his hair and stomped in a
circle. “Why do I think you know? Who else would help Maggie? Einalem? Anna?
She has no one else in this world!”

“Control yourself,” Vad ordered as he pulled on his boots.
“And lower your voice. Ears are everywhere. You have need to see your awareness
master. Maggie is a slave. Nothing more. By all the gods, you have lost your
heart to a slave—one who will cause you naught but grief. It is best you
lifemate now, before you do something foolish.”

Kered clenched his fists against the grinding reality of
Vad’s words. “She is not just a slave.”

Vad slammed a hand against a nearby table. “No, my friend.
You are wrong. She is naught but a slave. You can sell her. You can lie with
her. You can breed children off her, but still, she will be a slave. Your
children will be slaves. There is nothing you can do about it.”

At least in this world
, Kered thought.

“You are wrong. I can do something.” Kered strode past Vad.
He took the barracks’ steps two at a time.

Vad caught up with him, breathing hard, half running to keep
pace with Kered’s long strides. “Do not be foolish, friend. Accept what is
inevitable. She has.”

Kered jerked to a halt in the wide thoroughfare. “She has?
What does that mean?”

“I spoke to her. Told her of the great honor the council
offers you. She agreed it would be best for you both if she left. I gave her
safe conduct.”

“Safe conduct!” Kered cried. “There is no such thing for a
slave. By Nilrem’s knees, can you not understand? I love her. All this,” he
swept his hand out to encompass the sprawling capital, “is meaningless to me
without her.”

Kered looked up at the sky.
As purple as an ancient
king’s robe.

The moons silvered Vad’s hair as he, too, looked about. “I
cannot understand. There is no place I would wish to be besides Tolemac. We are
about to enter a new age of peace. Peace you brought about. How can you throw
it away for a slave?”

Kered placed his hands on Vad’s broad shoulders. “Come with
me. Help me find her. Tol will see our work is carried out. Another may guard
the ice shipment.” He could barely contain himself. “By the sword, let Samoht
mate with the Selaw daughter! We will cross the ice fields and see this place
Maggie describes, a place without slavery!” But Kered knew that all his words
would not make a difference. Vad knew only this world and this reality. “I am
sorry, my friend,” he said softly. “The council will have to find another mate
for the Selaw daughter. I am going after Maggie.”

He studied the sky. He would need to ride both day and night
to reach her in time. Swiftly, he embraced his friend. Tears ran unheeded down
his cheeks. He had wondered at his friend’s fate for more than twenty years.
This leave-taking was more painful, more final than he’d ever imagined.

Vad shook him off. They cleared their throats and looked
everywhere but at each other. Kered tried a final time. “I must go. Come with
me.”

Vad shook his head, his own eyes alight with the gleam of
emotion. “Go with the gods, my friend,” he said.

“Aye,” Kered returned. “You, too, go with the gods.” He grasped
his friend’s hand and, as he had twenty-odd years before, he let it go.

Kered tore through his cupboards, tossing garments aside as
he searched for certain articles of clothing—buff breeches, his leather jerkin.
He wasted precious time hunting for the turtle Maggie had made for him. As he
held it in his hand, he paused a moment to consider the remarkable woman who
had used her skills to aid him. With great care, he slipped it inside his
jerkin, where the cold metal and glass could rest against his skin. Finally, he
sheathed the sacred sword of his ancestors. Time was flying—and so must he.

An hour later, mounted on Windsong, he cantered across the
meadow that overlooked Tolemac. He had known she would not be standing in the
center, awaiting a conjunction still a day and a half away. One did not need
safe conduct to a meadow on the outskirts of the city. But still, he had come.

He gripped his reins and wheeled his mount in another
direction, toward hostile country. Windsong sidled beneath him, turning and
objecting to the direction his master seemed determined to take. Overhead, the
heavens told him he would be too late. He gripped the hilt of his sword and
vowed to try anyway. He leaned forward and whispered in Windsong’s ear, “Get me
there, my fine friend. Give truth to your name.”

She journeyed as quickly as her mount would allow,
frightened at every turn by the slightest noise or hint of humanity on the
horizon. She rather doubted that her small metal pass would protect her from
anyone who wished to claim an unescorted slave. Even Kered’s boot knife, which
she touched frequently to reassure herself, would be of little use against a
Wartman, or even a determined beggar.

Occasionally, she imagined that the dagger grew warm against
her thigh, but she shook it off as imagination—and desire for what could not
be. Still, in those moments, she looked over her shoulder at the barren land
behind her and kneaded the spot where the metal hilt lay warm against her skin.

Nilrem expressed no surprise when she appeared on his
doorstep. He asked no questions, just set a wooden cup of water before her and
offered her a thin broth from a pot set over the flames. They spoke little of
anything save the coming conjunction.