Kalena yawned and stretched her arms high over her head. She felt good this morning, strong and renewed and full of life. “What things?”
“The Key...”
“Ah, yes, the Key. When do I get it?”
“You must go into the ice and retrieve it yourself, Kalena. None of us can touch it.”
“Ice? So it is hidden in ice just as the legends say. Does that mean that the Dark Key is hidden in fire?”
Arona dismissed Kalena’s curiosity. “Probably. The damn legends seem to have been more or less accurate so far. Pay attention, Kalena, please. I don’t think you should do this. The Keys are dangerous. Everyone knows that. If you don’t feel you are the one to handle the Light Key, then you may be right, in spite of what Valica says. You shouldn’t take the risk. No man is worth it.”
Kalena thought for a moment, trying to come up with a reason Arona could accept. “There is more to this than a man’s life, Arona. There is a matter of honor involved.”
“Honor!”
Kalena drew up her knees and rested her chin on folded arms. “I’m afraid so. I am a married woman, Arona. A married woman does not desert her husband unless the alliance between them has been officially ended. I have been somewhat lax in matters of duty lately,” Kalena went on with a sigh. “I wonder if Aunt Olara knows yet just how poorly I’ve done.”
“Kalena, you have a right to think of yourself!”
“I know. I’ve been telling myself that for a long time.” She smiled wryly at the other woman. “I know what you’re thinking, Arona. I understand what you’re trying to say. But you must try to comprehend what it’s like to grow up as a member of a Great House. You can never really escape the obligations imposed on you. The honor of the House must always be upheld. From the cradle onward, children are taught that they hold the House honor in their hands. They must protect it. The burden is on the women of the House as well as the men. Under normal circumstances, a woman’s obligations are carried out in traditional ways. She is obedient to her father when she is living under his roof and faithful to her husband when she marries. As a wife she respects her House lord’s authority, bears his children and is responsible for instructing them in the ways of honor and responsibility. Usually it’s all very simple and straightforward, if rather dull.”
“Kalena, you are not bound by the traditional obligations. You are the last of your House,” Arona argued.
“Yes, well, I’m afraid all that means is that my obligations were a little untraditional. They didn’t just fade away into thin air. Since the summer of my twelfth year, Arona, I have known exactly what was required of me. I failed in my duty. Because of that failure I find myself married and surrounded by a whole new set of responsibilities. I’d prefer not to fail my responsibilities a second time. It is hard enough to live with the knowledge that I failed once. I am bound to Ridge. I cannot abandon him.”
“Even if what you are going to do will get you killed?”
“If I don’t succeed in freeing him, then I myself will never be free. Think about it, Arona, for you are no freer than I. You would die to protect this valley and your friends here, would you not?”
Arona blinked once in abrupt understanding. “Of course.”
“You see? There is precious little freedom once the basic choice has been made. I’m beginning to think that freedom isn’t the important issue. The crucial thing is that we are all given some degree of choice. After we have made our decisions, we must live with them.” Kalena grimaced and decided to change the subject. “Are you sure I can’t have something to eat? I really am very hungry.”
“Oh, Kalena, I wish I could bring you a meal, but…” Arona’s anxious voice trailed off as Kalena grinned at her.
“But you can’t because you have a sense of honor and duty, too, Arona. You owe yours to the women of this valley and especially the one you have chosen to lead you. Valica says I don’t eat this morning so you can’t possibly bring me any food. Sometimes life is very simple and straightforward.”
Reluctantly Arona smiled. “Sometimes it is. I imagine it gets more complicated when there is no longer a clear-cut knowledge of duty to guide us.”
The silence that fell between the two women was broken by another knock on the door. When Kalena called a welcome, Valica appeared on the threshold. She glanced at Arona, her eyes softening slightly in unspoken understanding and then she turned to Kalena.
“You are ready?”
Respectfully, Kalena stood up. “As ready as I will ever be.”
Valica came into the room and closed the door behind her. “In a little while we will go to where the Key is hidden, but first we will burn some Sand.” She removed the delicate brazier from her belt and held it out to Kalena.
Kalena stared at the object in surprise. “But I am not a Healer.”
“Only because you lack training. As I told you, I believe you have the Talent. We will find out soon enough when you burn the Sand.”
Confused, Kalena took the small brazier from Valica’s hand. “But why? What will this prove?”
The older woman raised an eyebrow in mild amusement and lowered herself to sit cross-legged on a pillow near the small table. She waved Kalena to a seat beside her. “It is not meant to prove anything, only to give you some confidence and understanding.”
Kalena sat down slowly, staring at the brazier and remembering all the times she had longed to test herself with the Sand. “My aunt told me she was certain I didn’t have the Talent.”
“Olara lied to you because she had other goals for you. It is very difficult to turn a young girl with the Talent into an assassin. She could not risk exposing you to the Sand. If you had been allowed to develop your Talent, you would have become a very poor instrument of revenge.”
Kalena touched the brazier, captivated by the fine workmanship of the device. “I allowed her to keep me from trying the Sand, but I disobeyed her on another matter. I slept with my husband. Afterward, I knew at once that I had been weakened in some way. I hope that weakness will not affect what I must do now”
“You were not weakened by the act of sharing the pallet with the Fire Whip. The bond you established with Ridge was one involved with life. It countered the bond of death Olara had placed on you. It made you stronger, not weaker. Burn the Sand, Kalena. You will see just how strong this new bond has become.”
Kalena hesitated, uncertain for the first time since she had awakened that morning. “I’m afraid,” she heard herself whisper.
“There is nothing to fear, Kalena. Not yet, at any rate.” Valica took a small, embroidered pouch from her belt, untied the thong that held it closed and handed it to Kalena.
Kalena’s fingers shook slightly as she accepted the pouch. In spite of what her aunt told her, she had always been drawn toward the Sand, had always been very curious about it. She remembered the fierce resentment she had experienced over not knowing exactly what to do the night the woman in the inn had given birth. Now, at last, she was about to find out for certain if she did, indeed, possess some measure of raw Talent.
“Only a pinch,” Valica instructed softly. “Too much of the Sand at once can be dangerous. Ignite the firegel in the brazier and then throw just a bit of Sand into it. When the smoke rises, inhale it and look into yourself. I cannot explain the process more clearly. It will explain itself.”
Carefully, Kalena set the brazier on the low table, moved the tiny lever that let the catalyst into the gel and waited for the glow of heat. When the tiny pool of firegel flared with the light and warmth, Kalena took a pinch of the white Sand and cautiously dropped it into the brazier. At once a tiny plume of white smoke appeared.
“Now,” Valica murmured.
Kalena leaned forward and took a deep breath. The smoke stung her nostrils the way hot spices sting the tongue. She closed her eyes and inhaled again.
“Enough.” Valica touched Kalena’s shoulder and pulled her away from the white smoke. “Only a very little is required. Remember what
I said. Too much can be dangerous, not only to you but to those around you.” She reached out and snapped the cover over the tiny brazier. The firegel died and the smoke disappeared.
Kalena sat perfectly still, kept her eyes closed and waited. She wished she knew exactly what it was she waited for. Perhaps there would be a light-headed sensation or maybe she would feel unusually alert. The truth was, only a trained Healer knew what to expect. If she had no real Talent after all, Kalena knew she would feel nothing.
“Yourself, Kalena. You are the patient. You must look into yourself.”
Valica’s voice seemed to come from a great distance. Kalena obeyed, turning her attention inward, trying to focus on the last daughter of the House of the Ice Harvest.
There was a timeless moment during which Kalena felt as though she were standing on one side of a curtain. Mentally she put out a hand to sweep the veil aside. The barrier seemed to disintegrate even as Kalena touched it, and she saw what had been hidden.
Diagnosing this patient was no trick at all. Nor did she need any Healer’s training to evaluate what she saw. Kalena of the House of the Ice Harvest, temporary trade wife to a man who could claim no House or respectable heritage, was pregnant.
Pregnant. The raw energy of a new life burned within her. A life she had created with Ridge, the Fire Whip.
The shock of it brought Kalena out of her small trance as abruptly as if she had been doused with ice water. Her lashes lifted quickly and she found herself gazing directly into Valica’s understanding eyes.
“I’m pregnant.” The stark words hung in the air.
“I thought it might be so.” Valica nodded in quiet satisfaction. “But how could it have happened? There was only one night when I failed to take the selite powder.”
“One night is all that is required, as a great many women have discovered to their everlasting amazement.” Amusement tinged Valica’s words as she carefully resealed the Sand pouch. “Don’t chide yourself. I think it was meant to happen.”
Bewildered, Kalena glanced at the unlit brazier. “But why?”
“Because you are about to take up the Light Key. And even though you are the one born with the heritage and the Talent to do so, it will not be an easy task. You must be as strong as it is possible for a woman to be.” Valica touched her hand. “Kalena, you must know that right now you are at the height of a woman’s power. You hold the future within you. It is a direct counterpoint to the chaos and darkness that marks the opposite end of the Spectrum. It is time to take the Key from its hiding place.”
Kalena nodded once, accepting, even welcoming the inevitable. She knew herself ready in a way she couldn’t explain. “It is time.”
In silence Valica led the way out of the cottage. The first, faint gray of dawn was just beginning to touch the peaks that guarded the valley. Kalena followed the older woman unquestioningly. Arona fell into step behind her, and as the three of them made their way through the gardens and rich, planted fields, other women joined the silent procession.
Valica took a path that climbed out of the valley into the biting chill of the coming dawn. The trail was different than the one Kalena and Ridge had followed in and out of the valley. This path was steep, rising swiftly into snow and ice. The women climbed for over an hour, Valica in the lead. No one spoke.
When Valica at last came to a halt, the gray of dawn was giving way to the first tinge of color. The older woman stood with her cloak wrapped around her and nodded toward an opening in the ice.
“The ancient manuscripts say the Key is hidden in there, Kalena. No one I know has ever been inside the ice cave. I cannot tell you what you will find, only that the time has come to discover it. Go and bring it forth. We will wait for you.”
Kalena hesitated, waiting for some last words of wisdom or guidance. None were forthcoming, and she knew that she was on her own. Valica and the others could not help her. Slowly, she turned and walked toward the yawning entrance carved of ice.
The white tunnel was not pitch dark. As the sky overhead continued to lighten, so did the interior of the ice cave. Light filtered dimly through the ice, providing a shadowed path. Kalena followed that path, stepping carefully on the icy floor. As long as she was careful she did not feel in any real danger of slipping. The floor of the cave seemed to have been paved with small blocks of ice. The tiny ridges between the blocks gave her feet a purchase.
A few meters inside the cave the tunnel curved. When Kalena rounded the bend she found herself in a large white cavern. The interior was still shadowed, but it lightened steadily as dawn came to the mountains. The promise of light was everywhere in the ice chamber. It was reflected in the elaborately carved formations of frozen crystals that hung from the ceiling. It danced faintly on the white floor and gleamed from the surface of the high table that stood in the middle of the room. It hinted at a dazzle that could blind. It was energy and power and life waiting to be released.
Waiting for her touch, Kalena thought in sudden realization. She would release it and give it focus. It was her destiny. The knowledge went through her with brilliant clarity, touching all her senses.
Kalena’s gaze fell on the table and she went toward it slowly. It was carved out of a single block of opaque ice that had been hewn into a strong, powerful design. It didn’t rest on legs, but was solid from the floor to the surface. Kalena came to a halt in front of it and found herself looking down into a pool of clear ice that filled the interior of the structure. At the bottom of the ice rested a case made of silvery white metal.
Kalena knew beyond any doubt that for untold generations nothing had penetrated the clear ice in which the case was imbedded. How long it had lain in this cave was anyone’s guess. The Healers had protected it well, although Kalena was not sure the case had ever really needed much protection. There was something forbidding about the simple case frozen in ice. If her need had not been so great, if her inner knowledge had not blossomed forth with such fierce certainty, she could never have brought herself to even attempt to retrieve it.
She examined the surface of the ice, wondering what it would take to melt it. Perhaps she would need to go back outside and ask Valica for a pot of firegel.
Kalena was tentatively considering that action when she lightly put her gloved hand on the ice. It trembled slightly beneath her fingertips, startling her. Hastily she removed her hand. A faint indentation had been left where she had touched the clear, crystal hard surface.
Cautiously, Kalena removed her glove and tensed herself. Then, very slowly, she let her bare hand rest on the ice.
The frozen liquid quivered again, sending a shudder through Kalena as well as the ice. She nearly jerked her hand away as the jolt went through her whole body. But it was too late. The pool of ice trembled, fractured and splintered beneath the touch of her warm palm. She felt nothing more than a slight coolness that was far from the burning cold of solid ice. Even as she stared down into the crystal clear pool, it dissolved completely. Her hand was immersed in transparent water.
“By the Stones!” Kalena’s gasp of amazement echoed softly in the cave as she yanked her hand out of the water. The liquid should have been icy cold, but it was only pleasantly cool, just as the ice had been. She wondered if it was not really water at all, but some other clear medium used to shield the silvery case.
Kalena gazed down into the liquid, examining the object at the bottom of the pool. It was only an arm’s length away. All she had to do was roll up the sleeves of her cloak and tunic, reach into the water or whatever it was and remove the case. Simple.
Perhaps a little too simple.
Kalena paused to gaze speculatively around the ice chamber, but she saw nothing that would aid her in removing the casket. Reluctantly, she pushed up the sleeve of her cloak and then rolled back the long sleeve of her tunic. Her bare arm felt the cold of the chamber until she immersed it cautiously into the crystal liquid.
A few seconds later her fingers closed around the metal casket. Kalena waited fo
r the world to crumble around her, but nothing happened. She took a deep breath and pulled the case out of the water with a quick movement.
A sweeping sense of power washed over her. It was unlike anything she had ever known. Life, energy, the future was hers to command.
Excitement sang in her blood. The Key was hers. She was indeed the one meant to wield it. She no longer felt any doubt. It was part of her, an extension of herself. It belonged to her in a way that was impossible to describe. She was the one meant to command the Light Key.
Dazed with the heady, dazzling thrill, Kalena tried to examine the case she held.
It was obvious the object in her hand was very, very old. As old as the legends of the Dawn Lords. Kalena looked at it wonderingly. The case was about three quarters of a meter long and not particularly heavy. It was thin and chased with an elaborate pattern that might have been the characters of an alphabet. If so, it represented a language as old as the case itself, certainly no modern one. When Kalena looked at the individual marks very carefully she thought one or two seemed oddly similar to the common alphabet of the Northern Continent, but she couldn’t really identify any of the curving, angled shapes.
She realized as she stood staring at the casket that she was merely assuming she held the Light Key. Perhaps this wasn’t the object of her quest. The only way to know for certain was to open the case.
Kalena wondered just how she would know the Light Key if she saw it. Would it be shaped like the tiny key she wore at her throat? Like a door key? The key to a jewel box? Her fingers fumbled eagerly with the silvery case, seeking a way to open it. What a devastating joke if she had come this far only to discover she couldn’t open the box in which the Key was held.
Kalena stood with the casket in one hand, prying at it with questing fingertips. She was quickly becoming impatient. She had come this far, and she would not abandon the task. She had already failed in her duty to her House; she would not fail in this. Ridge was waiting. Her future was waiting.