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Chap 26: Ice and Fire

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Ice and Fire

Chapter 26: Time Passages.

An hour later, while watering the plants in the courtyard garden back in their quarters, Amanda pondered on the strange encounter. Abhijnansakuntala Sahasunaka Ihosy, (or, for convenience sake, and the inadequacy of the human memory and tongue, Ihosy for short) had proven to be an individual of impeccable manners. With T'Naoui acting as interpreter, the Sanhyangde-minangkabauan had expressed regret at being the cause of distress to the Terrans. In response, the Terrans apologized for disturbing Ihosy's sojourn on the lake bottom. They all parted the best of friends.

Amanda did not believe for one second that the meeting was a coincidence. Sarek had engineered the event. Not as a joke, though she began to appreciate how much quiet humour was part of his personality, but almost certainly to emphasize that unlike Earth, Vulcan was a dangerous place for the unwary. They needed to keep their wits sharp and their eyes and ears open. Even when something appeared harmless, or innocent, caution was still necessary. Next time it might not be Ihosy in the water but something far less friendly. Nor had he lied to them about the inhabitants of the lake. He had spoken the exact truth. Though Ihosy did resemble a rock, camouflaged s/he was not, nor had s/he wanted to eat them. It was a salutary lesson, one best learned before the training reins came off and they were free to wander on their own.

A melodious chime rang within her apartment. The sound heralded not the door as she first thought but the com. Amanda turned the watering system to 'seep' and went to answer it. On her first night at Sar-e-Kahr, she had implored T'Naoui to instruct her on the com controls so that she might put a call through to her father. While she was on Vulcan, Charles Grayson had also taken the opportunity to travel. If his schedule had gone to plan her call should have located him in the Rigil Kentaurus system. Kentauri V was a beautiful and peaceful world, a paradise just made for the energetic outdoorsman. Together and apart, both father and daughter had visited the planet several times.

Amanda was only slightly disappointed however when instead of seeing Charles' blond good looks appear on the screen, it was T'Naoui's features that formed there.

The Vulcan girl inclined her head in response to Amanda's salutation, "Greetings, Miss Grayson. It is Kula'at Sarek's request that I inform you of the itinerary for this evening."

"Thank you, T'Naoui. He mentioned something at lunch about a concert."

"Indeed. Chamsat'ash-ur is a traditional ceremony that culminates in the ancient drama of the ash-ur'i. The performance is long. It lasts through the night. Ash-ur'i requires patience. Conservative dress is a requisite. You must be certain to eat and rest before Saran's arrival at the seventh hour. He will convey you to Sar-e-Kahr's main amphitheatre via maglev. Kula'at Sarek will meet you there."

With another brief nod, T'Naoui closed the connection. Almost instantly, the com chirruped again.

This time it was Charles, "Hello darling. Sorry I didn't get back to you straight away. I was up in the mountains. You remember our last visit here together? It did nothing but rain. It's a different story this time…."

His message was brief. Electronic voice mail from planet to planet was still extraordinarily expensive, but at least Amanda knew that he was far from moping over her sudden desertion. In fact, she had never seen him look so rested. His features fairly glowed with health and enthusiasm. For just the briefest second, Amanda felt a pang of resentment, then mentally shook herself. She could not deny her father the same fulfilment that she now experienced. It was time for him to throw off the concerns of a parent and enjoy the pleasures of the single life again. And maybe, without her there to distract him his thoughts might even start to ponder the notion of romance…

That idea sparked another and summoned up an image of Sarek in Amanda's mind, which in turn reminded her of the command she had given the computer earlier that day. She accessed the programme with a quickening of her pulses but just as the information began to scroll upon the screen footsteps approached from the court outside. Mike called her name.

A single command in Vulcan saved the data for later perusal as Amanda welcomed him in. She ordered a flask of riman fruit wine and a bowl of Kaferian apples from the wall selector before they wandered outside to join Tara and Romani. Newly watered, the garden steamed with moisture redolent with aromatic fragrance from the many plants.

Once again, they sat in the little pavilion the sudden humidity a balm in the afternoon heat, and picnicked on foods from half a dozen different worlds. Amanda had heard about Kaferian apples but never eaten them before. Unlike the malus of Earth, the fruit resembled a golden-skinned tomato with a peachy bloom – but however it looked, ambrosia could not have tasted any less satisfying. With the customs of Vulcan in mind they munched on the food mostly in silence, only a moan or two of sheer gratification disturbed the quiet from time to time.

Stomachs full, heavy-eyed after their day of wandering none of them, least of all Amanda, needed any urging to return to their rooms and sleep away the rest of the afternoon. She carefully removed her gown, and kicked off her sandals. A quiet order to the computer turned the air conditioning up until a cool breeze circulated in the stifling room. Dressed only in pantalon and camisole, Amanda curled up on the sleeping dais and within minutes descended into slumber.

Only her subconscious heard the soft chime from the ska-plak. She stirred on the dais but did not rouse. Soon after, an intricate reminiscence played out within her mind.

Unlike the previous ska-plak memory, when Amanda spoke with the child from Vulcan's past, her personality now seemed to blur. There was a rush of identification, of melding into one until she was the girl. Several years had passed since the betrothal ceremony...

She had been dreaming but now she woke fully and turned on her pillows in sleepy wonderment as a voice spoke within her psyche. He conversed in the symbology and picture-talk of the mind: T'sai, are thee awake?

It was the eve of her Koon-ut-kal-if-fee. At dawn on the following morn, she would traverse the Sas-a-Shar with her kinsfolk to the place of marriage or challenge. After a short ceremony, the link forged when they were seven years old would bind her irrevocably with the boy chosen at that time to be her future adun.

That boy had since become a man. Even over the distance that separated them, she felt the burning of his blood, his need of her: S'haile? Where hast thee been. I would help thee in thy anguish.

The preparation for just such a moment, initiated as soon as she could walk and talk, came to her aid. So ingrained was the training, that almost by instinct she added her strength to his. Together they smothered the conflagration that threatened to consume him. Eventually, the flames diminished though they did not die completely. Only the Joining could accomplish that.

She controlled her own concerns, secure in his regard for her. Starlight washed through the filigree screen that guarded the terrace archway. The patterned brightness illuminated the platform that she rested upon, but within her inner sight, the face of her k'diwa remained shadowed. Only his eyes gleamed hauntingly out of an ambiguous haze that otherwise shrouded him in the darkness of his disgrace.  

Yet, she did not need light to reveal his features. She knew them better than she knew her own. She called forth the image of his lithe form crouched beside the dais, dressed in his habitual robes. She saw distinctly the broad forehead, the exotic face, with its high cheekbones. Green eyes peered keenly from beneath upswept brows, expressive lips parted in a knowing smile. Dark, wayward hair hid pointed ears, and brushed his shoulders in the typical style of the S'kanderai tribesmen he resembled, unpredictable as a wild sehlat or perhaps a desert storm looming on the horizon. Truly they were k'hat'n'dlawa, each of them part of the other's heart and mind, two halves of the same whole. Even before their bonding as children, her soul recognised his. Their katras had converged before. So it had been from the Beginning, a'Tha knew.

Distance had no meaning in the country of the mind. Though separated by custom – and the width of the Sas-a-Shar - they continued their acquaintance by telepathy, attuned like only a few before them to one another's thoughts.

While still a child, his nocturnal visitations had a mysterious air, as if her loneliness had called him up, an imaginary companion, a make-believe ally with whom she shared everything. With the passing of the years, his reality gradually acquired more substance; no longer did she regard him as a product of adolescent fantasies. When her parents had her attend the hall of learning in Ta'vistar Province, far from home, he became her closest companion.

Lately, because he came to her only at night, just before she slept, she had named her mystical S'kanderai tribesman Anarchya, the ancient term for Daemon. But he accepted the impudence with that same quiet enjoyment and jousting as he accepted 'S'haile' or, in unguarded moments, 't'hy'la'.

Although he had never asked it of her, instinctively she knew that he wished their mind-talk to remain a secret. Afraid of the consequences she never spoke of him to anyone.

Where hast thee been k'diwa, she shut her eyes, the better to see the image he projected. I have been lonely without thee.

Insubstantial fingers encircled her wrist. At the feather-light touch, her heart jolted. The pulse point in her throat throbbed erratically, shocked by the electricity of even that tenuous grip. Anarchya raised her hand, brushed soft lips over the tender skin of her wrist. He planted a ghostly kiss in her open palm. His skin, scented with the faint but distinctive cinnamon fragrance of the Sas-a-Shar, made her head spin. His glamour, emphasized by the onset of pon farr engulfed her, fired passions she hardly understood.

Beloved, he breathed beside her ear in a low, brandied tone, sweet Ha'lei'ha, my Lady of Flowers. Will thee be kind on the eve of our Joining? Walk with me for a time as thee used to do when we were children. I would not be alone at such a time.

She recalled earlier trysts with wondrous delight; they had conjured a world made especially for the two of them. Now, with the blood fever running through her veins, the desire for him escalated beyond any reason. With a thought, he created a portal. Hand in hand, oblivious to anything but their need for one another, they stepped through.
Chapter 26 of Ice and Fire
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