* * *
The sun was setting beyond the western hills as Zadar eased the autocar to a stop along the shoulder of the road. Opening the window, he called out cheerfully to the woman standing near. “I had not expected to see you here. Are we still on, or can I give you a lift somewhere?”
Darla leaned down, resting her hands on the door of the machine. “My dear little brother, I fear your visit is not a social one. Before you bring the storm, I wish for you to see the fruits of my labors. Now leave with me on foot for the village. There’s someone I must have you meet.”
Zadar hopped out of the carriage, reaching out to give Darla a hug and kiss. Darla stopped him up short, holding up a hand, palm out. “Whoa! We’ve got other things to do!”
Throwing his hands up and jumping back a step, Zadar expressed his surprise.
Grinning, Darla pointed to a small duffle bag slung over her shoulder. “Get out of those things and into these. I need you to look presentable for my girl.” She grabbed the bag and pushed it into Zadar’s arms. “Hurry up!”
As Zadar dumbly stood there, astonishment growing on his face, Darla, her eyes twinkling, reached out and pulled him close, placing a tender kiss on his lips. She cooed, “Please hurry. The child’s not ready for our world yet. I need you to slip into hers for a while.”
Zadar obliged his sister, good-naturedly carrying on about the sacrifices he was making, how uncomfortable and uncomely the clothing was, and the need to leave a climate-controlled machine to go for a laborious walk on such a hot, humid evening. By the time he was finally ready, Darla was nearly in stitches with laughter, the fellow’s ranting usually affecting her so. At length, the two headed down the road, hand in hand, Darla all a chatter, describing her darling prize to this trusted companion.
When they came near their destination, Darla stopped, the illumination from the mellow glow of the street lamps revealing serious concern. She warned Zadar, “The child is a delight to be sure, but please do be careful.”
Holding up a hand to show a healing wound, she explained, “I do bleed, I don’t have wings, I can’t fly, and… and there are so many other things I can’t do that the child believes I should if she is truly in Heaven. Do be careful or you might get stuck to see if you bleed, too!”
Zadar was concerned. “So the girl is dangerous. Not mean, is she?”
Darla shook her head denying it was so. “My child is innocent of heart, and she cares greatly for me, but I do believe her carelessness with the kitchen knife was not entirely accidental. You see, she has not yet come to fully accept that she’s…she’s died and come back…back to a world far from her old one. All the time, she’s putting things…me to the test, trying to satisfy a curious mind, I suppose. Ishtar does not understand our physical limitations yet, that we’re ordinary mortals and can be damaged. She so much wants me to act like the angels of her fable tales.”
Zadar asked cautiously, “So…?”
“So…” Darla pulled Zadar close. “I want you to be careful and on your guard. Drorli is the only other male of our kind that she has come to know well at all, and he has kept his distance for the most part...out of her reach, sort of. I want you to get up near to her, touch her and let her touch you, but do be careful.”
Zadar puzzled. “Why? I won’t let her stick me with a knife.”
“No. That’s not it at all.” Darla fussed. “Look, she and I have… well, we have been close. She knows what I look like, feel like, my touch and smell. Drorli informed me that the girl’s manly feelings have not yet waked, won’t for some time. Still she’s very curious, and might well… you know… wonder what’s under your clothes. I leave it up to you to decide what limits she’s allowed. But please don’t think she has any amorous ideas. If you respond to her assumed advances with flirtatious actions, well I just don’t know what might happen, but I doubt it will be pleasant. She doesn’t speak highly of men at the moment.”
Zadar promised that he would be careful to act only in a properly noble manner.
Darla thanked him, and then added one additional warning. “Oh, and she has tired me out pressing to have an audience with God. Please don’t give her any false hopes, or fill the poor child’s mind with any whimsical tales that have no place in reality. I doubt she will be able to separate fact from fantasy.”
Zadar chuckled. “Mother warned you about this one! Said you’d have your hands full. If I recall, she said the girl reminds her a lot of you. I guess she’s getting her revenge.”
Darla smiled, taking Zadar’s hands. Looking into his face, she confessed, “I’ve shared with her in the celebration of the blood.”
Frowning, Zadar was surprised and troubled by Darla’s revelation. “So unpredictable it is! We’ve been warned about doing such a thing with our new arrivals. You know how little control a person has over the dreams of a blood share - dangerous to flood her unlearned mind with our overwhelming knowledge and life’s experiences. Are you sure the girl wasn’t struck dumb by the dreams she witnessed?”
“Please, little brother.” Darla rested her hand on Zadar’s chest. “You know I would do nothing with my charge until conferring with Mother. Indeed, I believe she put me up to it in a way, or at least encouraged it by reminding me of the blood grape wine curing on the dregs in the caves deep under Palace City. Both Drorli and Eurawha thought it an acceptable thing to do, considering…”
“Considering what?” Zadar asked, curious.
“Considering the child’s obstinate refusal to accept where she is and the things that have happened over the ages.” She sighed, glancing down while slowly stroking Zadar’s arm. “We’re running out of time. Gradian’s Clock has already struck the midnight hour and there is no returning. War is upon us as I speak, and that child of mine must be ready for the part she is to play in it.”
She looked back into Zadar’s face. “You need not have worried about that child’s mind being overwhelmed. It is I who was nearly bowled over from the vision she pummeled me with. Mother has revealed secrets to Ishtar that few, if any, other than the most ancient of our kind have knowledge of, let alone crystal clear dreaming visions.”
As a flirtatious smile grew on her face, Darla added, “One day I may share them with you if you’re a good boy and tease me properly.”
Zadar assured her that he would do just so, a dark shadow of guilt covering his heart because of the evil he feared Darla must pass through if he was to succeed with his current plans. He said nothing, regretting his mission.
They walked on until arriving at their intended destination. Looking down the walkway toward the humble building, Darla sighed with longing dismay. “I love her like no other soul I’ve known! My heart burns to be at her side as it does for my Lord Euroaquilo. We now share one blood, one heart, and one mind, but…”
“But what?” Zadar asked, curious.
Looking back into his eyes, she mourned softly, “But I know we must part soon, for I have seen it in dreams, dark and foreboding. When we do meet again, we both shall have been changed, into what I am not sure, yet the restless Spirits warn me that this night is the last hour of our sweet innocence. Tonight you shall see to the murder of my heart, and before I return from my dying days, the child will have grown into the demon monster of prophecy and I forever changed by my monster within. Then, at a future day, on the blistered plain in front of Legion’s City, shall we both join ourselves together in our demon love, drinking up the blood of the king of Memphis.”
She placed a finger over the lips of a distraught Zadar. “I knew of your coming arrival earlier this very day. As I lay wrapped in the arms of the child I love so much, the Whispering Spirits came to me in my dreams, asking me to obey your voice. Those same Spirits have shown me the dark and troubling distress that awaits me should I obey you, but there is nothing else for it. You bring the light by causing the darkness. By your foreboding revelations shall the universe be save
d, shall our mother regain her honor.”
Zadar could only silently nod, he fearing that even a tear might ruin his darling sister. Who was there braver than this woman, more willing to sacrifice everything out of love or, who was more misunderstood, more maligned, more estranged? Darla was special. It cut at Zadar’s heart to know that he wielded the knife that would destroy what innocence remained in his sister’s life, that he was cursed to bring the little peace she had found in the arms of her child to a finish.
Darla grinned. “We have a bit of time before that hour, and I want to live it to the full. Wipe that frown off you face. Put on your happy smile. Come, so much I want you to see the fruitage of my belly, the product of my virgin birth. Celebrate with me my renewed coming of age.”
The evening went well as Zadar had expected, even if not as he anticipated. Hanna and Symeon had occupied Ishtar’s time while Darla went in search of Zadar. They were just finished baking some sweet bread pastries when she and Zadar arrived. While everyone sat about the table eating the delicious treats, Drorli and Eurawha stopped by for a chat. It was late into the evening before the company retired, Eurawha promising to return a little later.
It pleased Zadar to have so many people about when he made acquaintance with Ishtar, allowing him opportunity to politely observe the girl in a more formal setting. He found it interesting that the child took well to Hanna and Symeon, yet still held her feelings in check, he imagining that a little doubt still lingered regarding whether the two were really who they claimed to be.
The girl treated Drorli with a cool politeness that warned him of her lack of trust, Drorli possibly representing to her the authority in this land. On the other hand, the girl was very affectionate with Eurawha, Zadar feeling that the two had developed more than just a casual friendship, at least emotionally if not physically. During this time, he and Ishtar had few words other than polite salutations.
Ishtar walked Eurawha to the door, the girl’s disappointment having been swaged by the woman’s promise of return. After a tender kiss, Eurawha departed, leaving the three alone. Darla wasted little time acquainting her treasure with Zadar. Much to Zadar’s surprise, Ishtar took quickly to him. Although remaining polite, the girl’s continues glances and undue attentiveness made him wonder if Darla was correct regarding Ishtar’s feelings. Still, Ishtar treated him differently than she had Eurawha, and especially Darla.
Before the evening was over, Ishtar had taken to Zadar like an adoring younger sister does an older brother. She finally sat down, resting her head in opened hands as she leaned forward on her elbows, staring into Zadar’s face. Eyes twinkling, she dreamily commented, “You remind me so of my father.”
Pleased, but surprised, Zadar asked, “How so?”
“Oh...” Ishtar rolled her eyes in thought. “I think it must to be the way you play with your words, always finding just the right tune to make them fun to listen to. Father could dance a tune as he talked, just making you listen to everything he spoke.”
Darla leaned over, wrapping an arm about Zadar’s and kissing him softly on the cheek. “See, I said my child would take well to you.”
Ishtar, who had been observing closely Darla’s amatory tone with Zadar during the evening, finally asked, “Is this man your husband, or husband to be?”
Unprepared for such a question, Darla stammered, attempting a reply. Zadar interrupted, answering, “This woman and I are bonded by heart and bed, for that is the custom of our people, but marriage is not a curse we cast upon any man or woman. Do I love this person? Oh yes, more than most! But never shall I chain her to me by vow or command such as your kind has done, to the ruin of many lives.”
Ishtar sat upright in surprise, disturbed. “So to the wolves one can be cast by a mere whim since no power binds you here? What of children or poverty? Should evil find the woman through sickness or old age, with no protection through law, what comes of her? Is she cast away to fend for herself?”
Zadar’s answer was kind, but pointed. “Your kind, even with binding laws, through conniving ways, cast the tired, aged and sickly out into the street. Often those who hold sway over the people will resort to murder when they tire of an unwanted mate. No, my dear, laws are for the lawless, which your kind has proved to be all too often.”
He pointed at Darla, who sat there concerned at where this conversation might be going. “No more could I hurt this woman than I could destroy my own flesh. Nothing there is that I would not do for her welfare. I need no law to bind her to me, yet for many women I do feel the same. It is the way of our people. The righteous children in this world need no laws, for they are already inscribed upon our hearts.”
Then he pointed a finger at Ishtar, smiling. “You must step into our world and leave the foolish ways and dreams of your old one behind. Dead you did become. I know it for a fact, and brought back from the dead by the machines and machinations of our kind you have been. No mortal of your kind may enter our world until first passing through what you call ‘death’, at least not at this hour - maybe never. It is not my call to make.”
“In this world, we do not make babies or become old and feeble. Like a maiden wife of your kind with her husband, seduction and flirtation are also common practices among our kind. As for binding law… through the union in celebration of the first two of our kind have all the men and women of this world have been delivered into marriage and obligation, bound by the oath of heart to care for the wellbeing of another unto death.”
He frowned. “This same would also have been true of your kind had your father, Adam, not rebelled against all that is good. The rape of Eve to produce your race was no bond into freedom but one into slavery. Yes, rape I say, because no love did Adam any longer feel toward the woman gifted him. Only to satisfy his carnal desire did he approach her. So what good did marriage serve the woman other than to enslave her to a lifetime of suffering, a gift that has been handed down to so many of the women of your kind clear to this day?”
Lifting a hand, Zadar closed his finger and thumb until they almost touched. “I tell you this: If your kind had love the size of a mustard grain, no laws would bind your kind, no long garments of fur would cover your hearts to protect the innocent. Even with childbirth, old age and sickness, the love like we share in our world would be same way in yours.”
Ishtar sat there, mouth agape. She exclaimed, “I perceive you to be an angel of the Most High! Is it really so?”
Zadar frowned, thinking. He finally stood. “I am the same in spirit as my sister here, as are you. Is she an angel? If so, then so are you. Yet, in this world are all the angels considered as men and women of flesh. Look and see.”
At that, Zadar disrobed, standing naked in front of a rather embarrassed Ishtar. “As your father was, so am I, a man of flesh and blood. Our kind see ourselves as only human, the same as your father and mother were, only human. Oh yes, we do not grow old and die, but mortal we are and die we do when war or violence comes upon us. For our part, the gift of conception is not yet ours, but manliness and womanliness are as strong among my kind as any of yours.”
He quickly dressed and sat back down at the table. Extending an opened hand, palm up, he explained. “Your king of old spoke of being conceived in sin, and yes, as children of Adam you all were, but my kind were not conceived so. You have been reborn into our world and are now like us, even more so, being born a new creation with an incorruptible heart. It is your kind, the ones reborn here that we call angels. Our expectation is that your kind will live up to that name for us.”
Ishtar now frowned. “I do wish to believe what you say is true, yet, if it is so, then what of God? Here I live, trapped in a strange, bewildering empty village with only a few souls visiting me. I am to believe I am in Heaven, but so far I have only been imprisoned, chased by wild monkeys, arrested by an officer of the governor, and…and so many other unpleasant things. If this is really Heaven, then show me Go
d and His great throne of power. Then I will believe.”
Darla was caught up speechless. Zadar smiled, nodding in thought before he replied. “Do be careful what you wish for. You might just receive it.”
Ishtar slammed her fist on the table. “That is what I wish for! Deliver it and I promise, I will believe.”
Zadar confirmed her statement. “Yes, you will believe then.” He shrugged, “I will see what can be arranged. God is very busy, you know, what with dusting the stars off of the winter snows and seeing to keeping their lamps aflame.”
Darla poked Zadar, signaling that was enough.
He was not quite ready to stop, not just yet. “I have friends in high places who might be willing to set a date for a visit to God’s court. Mighty busy those fellows are, and don’t like to be bothered needlessly, you know. I suggest you think up a good reason for such a visit. God doesn’t take lightly to annoying little creatures out just gawking about. It should be something important for you to get an audience with the Almighty. Can you do that?”
Darla was beside herself, unable to decide whether to cry or laugh. Ishtar nodded her head in serious thought, promising that she could come up with something important to ask God. Zadar assured the girl that he would do his best to obtain an audience in the near future. Darla finally came to her senses and rustled up a little cheese and wine for a late evening snack. Soon everyone was chattering away about other less complicated subjects.
It was nearing the midnight hour when Eurawha returned as she had promised, helping to lift Ishtar’s spirits after having been informed that her companion, Darla, must depart for a few days. It had been a tearful experience, what with Darla attempting to explain her need to leave and Ishtar’s fruitless attempts to have her stay “at least until the morning. Just one last night together, please!”
Eurawha’s gentle touch and soft, cooing reassurances that the night need not be spent lonely and alone helped with the girl’s mood. After Darla retrieved an aged shoulder bag hidden in a corner, and had offered several generous hugs and rather passionate kisses, along with many tears of endearment, she and Zadar were off and down the road, heading out of the village.
The stars twinkled bright in the warm night sky when Darla and Zadar arrived back at the carriage, the moon already gone to rest behind the hills. The walk back was quiet, Zadar contemplating what evil he might possibly be delivering upon his sister, Darla lamenting being without the embrace of her darling child.
It was Darla who finally broke the silence. “Just before your message arrived this day, Crilen called, warning me that you might be up to something that could be rather unpleasant, saying I might do well not to take you up on your request. Puzzling, to say the least... Crilen and I get along well enough, but he’s never really paid me much heed, and has avoided me completely since the Shikkeron incident before leaving for the Prisoner Exchange.”
She took Zadar’s hand. “If it weren’t for the Whispering Voices in my dreams, I’d not think to accept your offer this night, fearing that some hidden dread might befall me. I’ve suffered greatly from my demon, as you already know. I do fear it’s waking, should I not be able to control it any longer. What we do this night might release it to my waking world.”
Zadar squeezed Darla’s hand, brushing her face with his other. “Then we should do nothing at all. I, too, fear, even more so since your informing me that what I ask may be very dangerous. No! The gamble is not worth it.”
Darla argued to the contrary. “That’s not true! If it’s for Mother’s sake, then it is well worth it…at any cost! I only mention Crilen because our relationship has always been rather estranged. Rare have been our dream shares, I always getting the feeling of silent disappointment when our heated rush was over. Yet, today, he hinted at his desire to be with me again, his flirting words attempting to awake my passionate desires as we spoke.”
She looked into Zadar’s face. “Smooth his speech was, too, and so rare it has been that a man asks for my bed. I nearly surrendered and ran off to be with him. Only the haunting call of the Whispering Voices and my desire to remain with my child for a few more moments halted my leave, and going off to him.”
Saddened, Zadar quietly replied. “Crilen is much older, yet he has always seen to my best interests. After our discussion earlier today, he may have wanted to show you some special attention. He is a good lover, has a way with the women, makes ‘em swoon over him, or so I’ve seen in my own dream shares with them. I’m sorry I messed it up for you.”
Darla disagreed. “You make me feel warm and fuzzy. I know that you love me. A poor night of loving in your arms is better than the best even in one as ancient as PalaHar…though that I wouldn’t know. Still…you are so honest and caring with me. Whatever you must do is only because it must be done.”
Turning away and looking up at the sky, Darla asked, “So you want to pick my brain, do you? Well I doubt there’s much there to find. Hidden walls, locked doors, and empty chambers are about all you’ll discover. Little use I’ll be in revealing any secrets, my iron will as strong in my dreams as in my waking hours.”
“Then it is settled.” Zadar stood back, resting his weight upon the carriage. “I shall go my way this night, doing you no harm, and you can return to your girl.”
Spinning about, Darla shook a finger, threatening, “You’ve dragged me out here, away from my child, and now Eurawha is enjoying her warmth. You will not forsake me to the cold in order to salve a guilty conscience over your intent. You will take me up into those distant hills, and we will explore whatever adventures that may come together.”
Zadar shrugged defensively. “But you said my probing would be useless. I…”
“So...” Darla replied curtly, “a probe is all you wanted, and if that could not be delivered, you had no interest in some rutting with a roe in heat?”
Standing there dumbfounded, Zadar made no reply.
Darla turned away, wrapping her arms around the ancient leather bag she was carrying. “Mother is worth more than a casual conversation, or remorseful poetic prose. I have offered everything up to her, the same as you have.”
She turned around, facing Zadar. “Does war ever end? If it is not the body being torn and ravaged in combat, does not the Worm still attempt to destroy the mind? Yes, my little brother, we are still at war, in the middle of it. Our Mother’s heart is at stake here. If you believe I might carry within my twisted, tormented mind a possible cure, then I am willing to risk all for you to obtain that cure.”
Looking toward the road, she sighed. “One day, when the universe is freed of this present evil, generations will arise that have no memory of this hour, not having experienced its effects on spirit and soul. In that day, there will come ridiculers claiming that Mother’s actions were harsh and inappropriate. It is our responsibility, our obligation, to settle in the court of public opinion our Mother’s innocence. Whatever that takes, I am willing to do.”
Looking into Zadar’s eyes, she lifted the bag in her hands. “The cure... The cure may be just one sip away, or at least the unlocking of my sealed chambers. Ripe and powerful is the wine of the blood grape secreted here, and plenty there is to conjure the most vivid of wild, unchained dreams. Search my soul this night. To its very ending, I open to you the treasures never given to any man or woman. Do this in search of a cure for our Mother’s defense.”
Cupping Darla’s face in his hands, Zadar thanked his sister for her sacrifice. After a tender embrace and passionate kiss, he assisted her into the machine, musing “I know of a place not far from here, a moss-covered glen hidden deep in a forest of heather and evergreen.”
Darla cooed, saying it sounded wonderful.
The autocar sprang to life, its engine humming merrily as the machine zipped away. In the sky, stars twinkled as the warm breeze welcomed countless winged night creatures. Tomorrow? Well, tomorrow would come. To the carefree little creature
s skipping about, it mattered little. For two hearts beating as one, it was oh, so very important...