Truth - Hidden Truth Part 28

Ignoring Alissa's somnolent form, he strode to Strell, glaring as if it was only curiosity that kept him from tearing the hapless plainsman apart right then and there.

A relieved ambivalence coursed through Lodesh. Thanks to the piper, Alissa was safe. He had known Strell would be the means to bring her sentience back, but that didn't mean he needed to like it.

Allowing himself a heavy sigh, Lodesh buried his feelings deep. Time was on his side. Strell would live out his span in a matter of decades. Alissa was now destined to live ten times that. Thanks to his curse, Lodesh could remain with her until he absolved his guilt. He had only to wait until Strell was gone. Or she remembered him.

But it would be hard. In order to help Alissa, he would have to continue furthering Strell's position.

Knowing Talo-Toecan would never let the piper pursue her was a small consolation. And besides, he thought ruefully as he pasted a pleased expression on his face, he liked the plainsman who had been known to sing lullabies to restless kestrels.

"That wasn't so hard now, was it?" he called cheerily as he came from around Alissa's bulk. Her tail was bent in what was obviously an abnormal position, and he paused to s.h.i.+ft it, straining at its weight.

Nodding sharply at the result, he trod gingerly over the splinters of wood and stone to join Strell and Talo-Toecan.

So dazed and bewildered was Strell, he hadn't seemed to notice Talo-Toecan's outburst. "I heard her-in my head," Strell murmured. "She-she loves me."

"Aye," Lodesh said in bittersweet agreement. "I heard her, too." Seeing a wing pinned, he carefully s.h.i.+fted the unwieldy ma.s.s of bone and hide until it was folded against her properly.

The Master stood stock-still before Strell, his exhaustion barely hidden by his wrath. "Why," he seethed, "did you risk freeing the beast before Alissa had conquered it?"

Strell visibly shook off his wonder, starting at Talo-Toecan's anger. His own eyes narrowed, and he drew himself up, clutching his mirth wood pipe as if it would give him strength. "She was dying," he shouted. "How many times do I have to make the same mistake?"

"What mistake is that, Piper?" Talo-Toecan all but spat.

Slumping, Strell looked to his feet. "Alissa will seldom be forced into anything," he said. "Even if it's something she wants to do." He s.h.i.+fted a shard of stone with the toe of his boot. "Unless given a choice, she will always balk and do what is most contrary."

Lodesh shrugged. As long as Alissa was intact, he would be content. Making a tsk, tsk sound, he surveyed the unmoving raku and began to arrange her to be more comfortable.

Talo-Toecan pointed a stiff finger at Strell. "We're talking of the difference between insanity and a sound mind," he all but hissed, "not whether or not to have cookies with tea today. There was no choice to make."

"There is in her mind." Strell flushed. "I saw her in flight." He shot an uneasy glance at her. "She was vicious, savage, wild, and free. She may have been a beast, but she wasn't insane."

Lodesh smiled quietly as Talo-Toecan's shoulders relaxed. Spying a twisted foot, Lodesh braced himself and pushed, feeling himself turn red. It settled into its new position with a small thunk. Giving her a rea.s.suring pat, he leaned up against her shoulder to catch his breath.

"We," Strell said angrily, "no, it was I alone, tried to force her to choose the Hold and all that wentwith it." He looked up, his dark eyes smoldering. "She remembered, and she refused to return because she had no choice. I took that away. She would die first." Strell looked at the wreckage of the clearing, his face reflecting its destruction. "And I did it to her," he whispered.

Done with Alissa, Lodesh returned, brus.h.i.+ng his clothes smooth. It hadn't been easy, but he managed to keep them unwrinkled through the entire ordeal. "You recognized it, Strell. Even I didn't see. I thought you had betrayed us and Alissa both." Taking on an air of formality, he stood squarely before Strell. "I was wrong," he stated, "and I ask your forgiveness, Strell Hirdune." Lodesh executed an elegant bow, but he was smiling impishly when he finished.

"Uh-yes, of course," Strell stammered, awkwardly tucking his pipe away. "She wanted to remember but refused until given a choice. I thought her awareness might return if I freed her." He gestured helplessly. "I guess-I lost."

"Lost!" exploded Talo-Toecan.

"You didn't lose." Lodesh grinned, clapping the confused man across the shoulders. "You won!"

Strell's mouth fell open. For a moment nothing came out. "But-she's a raku," he finally managed. "I thought..."

Talo-Toecan chuckled. "You thought she would return to her original form as if a matter of course?"

Smiling at Alissa, he harrumphed. "No, not yet, but she's Alissa. She named you in her last cry. She's returned to us, thanks to you."

Lodesh frowned at the old raku. It was his turn to apologize, and under Lodesh's watchful eye, Talo-Toecan would do it correctly. There were forms to be observed when one saved the sanity of another's student. The Master grimaced. He cleared his throat and s.h.i.+fted, sending a dark look to Lodesh. "Your decision to free her," Talo-Toecan began, "was correct. In hindsight, I can see there was no other way, and I ask your forgiveness for my harsh words."

"'S all right," Strell said as he rubbed the stubble on his face, clearly ignoring how hard it was for the Master to admit he might have been wrong. "Who could have guessed it would be her ability to choose that would allow her awareness to return?"

"Indeed," Talo-Toecan said dryly. "I've never heard of such a thing."

Strell's smile went soft. "And she loves me." Abruptly his face went ashen, and he glanced at Talo-Toecan who was, in turn, scowling. "Wolves," Strell swore. "I never meant to tell her. It just slipped out! I know I can't stay."

"That's correct," Talo-Toecan said. "You can't."

"Talo-Toecan?" Lodesh interrupted. He held his face in a careful balance of neutrality, hating himself for having to strengthen Strell's position. "He heard her."

"Only Keepers are suffered to live in the Hold," Talo-Toecan continued, lecturing the hapless musician as he looked miserably at the ground, clearly aware of how badly he had complicated his life with those three words, no matter how true they might be.

"Talo-Toecan, he heard her," Lodesh repeated patiently.

"Keepers and students, and Masters, of course, whenever they're under obligation or the mood strikes them," Talo-Toecan said. "Anyone else wouldn't last a week, what with all the touchy tempers and lethal wards lying about. Just get on one Keeper's bad side, and poof! No more minstrel!" His eyes were distant, lost in the pleasures of imparting doom and gloom.

Lodesh gritted his teeth. "Talo!" he shouted. The insult of his name being shortened broke through Talo-Toecan's fascination of his tragic predictions, and he looked up in annoyance. "The piper heard her.We all did," Lodesh said into the sudden quiet.

Talo-Toecan waited with arched eyebrows, not making the connection.

Lodesh shot an apologetic look to Strell. "He has no proper tracings? And I? I've never heard a Master of the Hold before. No Keeper I can recall ever has." Finished, he glanced at Strell, and together they faced Talo-Toecan.

"Ah ... M-m-m." The figure of an old man winced under their combined scrutiny. "I don't know," he finally admitted. "Keribdis would have. Perhaps because of Alissa's upbringing she will be able to converse freely to Keeper and Master alike. Lodesh hearing her I might understand. But you, Strell?"

Talo-Toecan turned an appraising eye upon him. "How she can get through to you is beyond me."

"She loves him," Lodesh said softly, biting back a wash of jealousy as bitter and sharp as last year's fallen leaves. "Love s.h.i.+fts impossibilities into maybes."

"So you say," Talo-Toecan said sourly as he cast about the demolished clearing. "I must sit," he whispered, searching for a spot that wasn't covered in chips of stone or splinters of wood. Finally, in what must have been utter exhaustion, he consigned himself to the bare ground, not even bothering to make a cus.h.i.+on.

Lodesh joined him, looking up at the pine boughs rocking in the breeze. "Their bond is strong," he warned. "It saved her. You or I couldn't have brought her awareness back like that."

"I can see that," Talo-Toecan replied dourly, his eyes shut in the sun's glare.

Strell sank down uneasily between them. His gaze never left Alissa.

Pulling his sight from the heavens, Lodesh brushed at an immaculate sleeve. "You may lose her anyway," he said softly.

"She may turn wild again?" Strell gasped. Eyes wide, he began to stand but hesitated at Lodesh's rea.s.suring smile. Even Talo-Toecan opened his eyes and raised a restraining hand. Clearly relieved, Strell sank back down.

"No, she's forever Alissa," came Talo-Toecan's reply. "She merely sleeps."

"When will she wake?" Strell asked.

"Before sunset."

"How long," he continued wistfully, "until she s.h.i.+fts back?"

Lodesh smiled in understanding. Talo-Toecan, however, frowned. "So eager are you?" he grumbled.

"It depends." He regarded Strell as if trying to decide how much he should divulge. Then he grimaced.

"Unless Alissa has a bit of her old form about to joggle her memory, it can take some time. With young rakus, there's a shed tooth or shard of nail set aside before the first transformation for just this reason.

We could have done something similar with Alissa, but we weren't prepared. She will have to wait until her system calms down and she can recall her primary cellular pattern."

"You mean her tracings?" Strell guessed.

Talo-Toecan roused and looked from Strell to Alissa. "No," he said with a sigh. "Her neural pattern is entirely unchanged. I meant the form she was born into."

Strell was silent for a long moment. Frowning, he asked. "How long?"

"Not long. Maybe a decade," was Talo-Toecan's answer. "Give or take a few years," he finished apologetically as Strell went pale.

"Uh-huh." Strell winced. It seemed all he was capable of at the moment.Lodesh's smile at Strell's confusion faded. A stirring in him as faint and compelling as a hidden child's sob prompted motion. His city needed him. Not yet, but soon. "I must go," he said, rising to his feet to rock restlessly on his heels.

Talo-Toecan slowly rose. Strell hastily followed suit. "Already?" the Master asked. "I would have thought you would enjoy watching Alissa realize her new position."

Lodesh arched his eyebrows knowingly, but then quite somberly said, "No, I must return to my city.

It's a long walk."

"You must walk?" Strell stared at him in astonishment.

"I know what you're thinking," Lodesh said ruefully, "Don't ask. I'm still learning the rules of being a revenant myself. It's not much different than being alive. I get cold. I must eat. All the drawbacks of life,"

he grinned, showing his teeth, "and possibly all of the blessings."

Talo-Toecan raised a circ.u.mspect eyebrow as he a.s.sessed this newest bit of information.

"But you showed up so quickly," the confused man said.

"Ah." Lodesh wisely set a finger to the side of his nose. "I knew when to leave."

"His timing has always been impeccable," Talo-Toecan said. "It's practically legendary."

Lodesh's hand went to his pendent, fingering the worked silver. As he did, he felt his posture droop, and his manner become grave. Feeling like the overburdened Warden of the prosperous and difficult population that he had been, he sighed. Somber and tired, he knew he appeared not only capable, but exceptionally so, despite his apparent youth.

"Bailic is in my city," he explained. "I don't like it. He has the First Truth. It's Alissa's now, regardless of what you may wish to believe, old friend, and it can be considered a token of Bailic's authority to act in her stead, to claim due allegiance."

Talo-Toecan nodded uneasily. He glanced from Alissa to Strell. The piper had turned to the young raku as well, an almost hungry look in his eyes. "If time permits," Talo-Toecan asked Lodesh pointedly, "I would have a small word with you?"

Lodesh inclined his head graciously, and together they moved a short distance away. Strell took advantage of their absence to examine Alissa closer-now that he wasn't in danger of being bitten or crushed. He picked a tentative path around her, his hands safely behind his back.

Watching his hesitant inspection, Talo-Toecan scowled. "I would ask a favor of you," he began.

"Of course." Lodesh, too, was watching the piper, but his thoughts were of patient understanding, laced with more than a touch of envy.

"You're wiser than I in the foibles of men," Talo-Toecan said. "I haven't studied them as diligently as you."

Inclining his head again, Lodesh acknowledged the compliment. "It's my second craft," he modestly admitted.

"M-m-m." The old Master arched his shoulders painfully. "Ashes, I'm tired. I haven't flown like that since Keribdis and I-in some time."

Lodesh smiled. "Just wait. Tomorrow you will be sore."

A smile flashed over Talo-Toecan. Then he sighed, his attention going back to Strell. "I'm fairly confident if the piper leaves, this infatuation will fade and free Alissa to find a more suitable match, especially now that she is caught in her raku form. Unfortunately, you may also be correct in that Alissa might abandon her new standing to follow him. Her will is even more obstinate than mine. It may be," heconfessed slowly, "in everyone's best interests to make an exception of Strell so as to keep a watch upon her."

"By the light of the Navigator!" Lodesh exclaimed in mock surprise. "Break your rules?"

"Please," Talo-Toecan said, obviously pained, "if it ever got out-well, there's no one left to bring me to task, is there." He paused, his eyes lost in memory. "But before I open my Hold to any not of the Keeper's persuasion, I must know the makeup of his character."

Lodesh felt the comers of his mouth quirk. "Talo-Toecan! You take your parental duties seriously."

"Lodesh," The Master rebuffed gruffly. "She is my student. I'm only concerned. She's young, and if you're correct, her affections may be in danger of being gifted to a man who will live a fraction of her time."

Lodesh didn't like this at all. "You wish for me to pry?"

"No. I wish for you to evaluate." Talo-Toecan turned and watched Strell shudder as he ran his fingers lightly over one of Alissa's clawed talons. "Talk to him," he said, his eyes unwavering from Strell as a slight rumble of warning escaped him. "You're a better judge of the character of men then I am. I'd do it myself, but he is understandably wary of me."

Lodesh ran a hand behind his neck. "I know already he is worthy of her," he said shortly.

"Yes, it's unmistakable," Talo-Toecan admitted, and Lodesh eased. "I want to know if he can endure the rigors of acting as a Keeper without a functioning set of tracings, without a Keeper's skills to protect him." Talo-Toecan's eyes went distant in recollection. "It's a rough existence," he said, "tagging along behind a raku. One is likely to get into the most interesting of sc.r.a.pes and acquire the oddest of scars and ailments."

With a nod of understanding, Lodesh looked to Alissa slumbering in the sun. "You're worried about her losing her temper and accidentally burning him, and you want to know if he has the fort.i.tude to stand up to her regardless, knowing the fatalistic tendencies of such actions?"

"That's about it."

"No problem, old friend," he said. "I will find out if the lad is courageous enough to court your daughter." Terribly pleased with his jest, he laughed.

"Lodesh," Talo-Toecan grumbled.

Giving a last guffaw, Lodesh strode across the shattered clearing. "Strell!" he called, his voice ringing with a companionable sound. "Come with me. We have an unfinished task."

Strell straightened from beside Alissa, his face awash with surprise. "But..." He gestured, apparently unwilling to leave.

"These two oversized lizards need their rest," Lodesh quipped saucily.

"But Alissa-" This time he got a bit further.

"Will be fine," Lodesh finished. Turning, he asked, "Talo-Toecan, will you catch us up when she wakes?"

"Aye," he replied heavily. "But it may take a while. She will need to learn how to fly."

Astonishment flooded Lodesh, and Talo-Toecan laughed. The rich sound of it filled the clearing, seeming to wash away the last ugly remembrances of the afternoon. Even Strell smiled. "Ha!"

Talo-Toecan said. "You don't know everything yet, do you?"