Lesser Gods (41 page)

“Not really, but there are a lot more Guardians in New Haven these days.”

“We’ll see,” said Terry. “Now go on back upstairs, Adrian. I can’t be working with you all the time. I want to do some training by myself.”

I did as I was told, and found that Cindy had just returned from a Council meeting where they had discussed the very same topic. As I helped prepare dinner, I asked her if the Council was seriously considering sending Terry to this gathering.

“Terry’s name came up,” Cindy said stiffly, “along with several of our other top fighters.”

“She really wants this, Cindy,” I said.

“I promised her I wouldn’t interfere, and I won’t,” replied Cindy. “But the Council isn’t going to decide anything until next week. We haven’t even formally accepted the Angels’ challenge yet. If it’s even going to happen, it won’t be for a while.”

And that was all we said about it for the next few days. Terry was in the dojo from dawn to dusk, training and sparring with other Knights. Neither she nor Cindy seemed to want to discuss anything more about this sudden turn of events until they heard the Council’s decision. Meanwhile, Cindy put me on double time to catch up in my academic studies, but my mind kept wandering to Terry working out in the subbasement. I knew she wanted nothing more than to get one back for her brother, who had been tortured to death by the Angels, but I feared that even Terry was only human, thus susceptible to death.

I met Laila over the weekend. Outside was warm, sunny spring weather, and I knew that my sister would be furious with me if I were to leave her at home on a day like this, but I did so anyway, carefully sneaking out of the penthouse in the early afternoon. As I strolled through the park with Laila, I really wanted to talk about something more peaceful, but I couldn’t help asking her what she thought of the chances that the Council would accept the Angels’ call for a blood trial.

“My mother is dead set against it,” said Laila, “but hers is just one vote. I’m pretty sure they’ll accept.”

“To keep a virtually nonexistent peace, they’re really going to bet Terry’s life?” I asked, once again disgusted with the Guardians’ complete lack of principles.

“Terry made it perfectly clear to the Council that she wants exactly that,” said Laila, shaking her head. “I really worry about her sometimes.”

I laughed nervously. “Terry has always worried me.”

“You’re going with her, right?” asked Laila.

“Naturally,” I said. “If something happens to Terry because of what I did... Maybe I can’t help her, but I’ve got to at least be there.”

“And your sister?”

I nodded. “She’s coming too.”

I had learned from Terry that the blood trial matches didn’t always result in the death of one combatant, but like the gladiator battles of ancient Rome, death was quite common, and sometimes even victors died of their wounds before psionic healers could save them. Alia wouldn’t be the only Guardian healer at the trial, but the more the better. Assuming that the Guardians would accept the Angels’ challenge, my sister had already insisted on accompanying us, and I knew that Terry trusted her skills just as much as I did.

“Good,” Laila said happily. “Then I won’t be too lonely.”

I asked in surprise, “You’re coming too?”

“If the Guardians are going at all, then my mother will go, and so will I.”

Catching the look of disbelief in my eyes, Laila added, “I don’t think my mother will actually let me see the fights. I’m not so sure I want to see them myself. I may never have fired a gun, Adrian, but I have seen people die, and I... well, I still have to be there. For Terry. That’s why you and Alia are going, isn’t it?”

“I suppose.”

Laila smiled. “I’m sure we’ll have very good security, but I’d still feel safer knowing you’re around.”

“What do you mean?” I asked. “We’re just spectators, aren’t we?”

Laila shook her head and said gravely, “As often as not, a gathering of lesser gods is just an excuse for factions to meet in semi-civil conditions to parley or spy on each other. At least one side will have some secret agenda, and even when it’s a clean event, it’s common for scuffles to break out between the witnesses. The Angels suggested two hundred and fifty witnesses on each side this time, Adrian. That’s five hundred people with grudges all crammed into one arena, and most of them will be psionic. Once, a few hundred years ago, a large gathering escalated into an all-out battle and fewer than ten survivors walked away from it, or so my mother once told me.”

“I never thought of that,” I said, feeling a touch of regret in agreeing so casually to let my sister join us. “But if it’s so dangerous, why is your mother letting you go?”

“For the same reason she lets me be Terry’s friend,” Laila replied stoutly. “Good guys don’t hide.”

I sorely wished that I could see the Guardians as the “good guys,” but I couldn’t. I remembered Ralph’s words when he first took me from my home: “There are no bad guys in this war, lad, because there aren’t any good guys either. It’s just survival, see?” I felt that I finally did see. Given the choice, I’d still side with the Guardians, but if they agreed to this blood trial under the Angels’ terms, then they weren’t all that better than the Angels themselves.

Laila gave me a quick peck on the cheek. “So you had better be ready to protect me if something happens, Guardian Knight.”

I nodded solemnly, and Laila giggled.

The Council voted the following Tuesday afternoon, and naturally Cindy was the one who heard it first.

“In two weeks’ time, the Guardians will meet the Angels in a gathering of lesser gods,” Cindy announced over dinner that evening.

“And?” asked Terry, not meeting Cindy’s eyes.

“You’re going, Terry,” Cindy said simply.

Terry remained expressionless, nodding and saying quietly, “Good.”

Cindy turned to me. “Adrian?”

“I’m going too,” I replied. “Alia?”

My sister nodded silently.

Cindy would have to remain in New Haven to maintain her hiding bubble, and I had considered trying to convince Alia to change her mind and stay behind as well, especially after Laila’s warning about how blood trials could suddenly turn extra bloody. But after all that Alia had seen and done already, I knew it would be wrong. Besides, I could see in her eyes that there was absolutely no persuading her to stay at home this time, so why bother trying?

“Who else has been chosen to fight?” asked Terry.

Cindy replied, “The Lancer Knight Ms. Lillian Dallas, and your Mr. Jason Simms of the Ravens.”

I had never heard of Ms. Dallas, but the fact that Mr. Simms had been selected to fight sparked my interest, and Terry shared it too.

“I know Ms. Dallas is an amazing telekinetic and pyroid,” said Terry, “but why Mr. Simms? He’s an above-average pyroid, for sure, but not by much.”

“I’m certain the Council has its reasons, Terry,” said Cindy. “After all, Mr. Simms does have a good deal of actual combat experience.”

“Oh, sure, with guns,” grumbled Terry, still not at all convinced. “I should have been given a say in this. It’s my life, after all.”

I was about to say something in agreement, but Terry quickly asked, “What’s Mr. Baker going to request of the Angels when we win?”

“A ceasefire,” replied Cindy. “Five years of peace.”

“It won’t last that long,” Terry said darkly. “It never does.”

Cindy shrugged. “I’m guessing that Mr. Baker is hoping for a few years to wait out Larissa Divine’s natural life.”

“He’ll be lucky to get a few weeks.”

Terry disappeared into her room right after dinner. These past few days, Terry was always so tired out after spending her whole day in the dojo that she actually went to bed an hour before Alia. While my sister was singing herself silly in the bathtub, I sat cross-legged with Cindy on the living-room floor, but neither Cindy nor I was in a meditative mood.

Looking up out of the living-room window at the cloudy night sky, I asked quietly, “You agree with Terry that the Angels would never give us five years of peace, don’t you?”

“Yes, Adrian,” said Cindy. “The Angels would be bound to their agreement only until they could make an excuse to break it.”

“Such as?” I asked.

Cindy replied grimly, “They might use a puppeteer to take control of a Guardian Knight, make him attack one of the Angels’ own members, and then claim that the Guardians broke the peace. It’s been done that way in the past.”

“And Mr. Baker believes that too, doesn’t he?”

Cindy’s reflection in the glass nodded.

I turned to her. “The Angels want something real, Cindy. They want Terry’s life. What’s Mr. Baker playing at? Why doesn’t he ask for something real in return?”

By “something real,” I meant things along the lines of Cat, and perhaps Laila’s father, but I didn’t want to sound selfish.

“I’m not exactly sure why Mr. Baker made his request, but I want you to be extra careful with Alia and Laila when you’re over there,” Cindy said in a concerned tone. “This whole thing may turn out to be a lot more dangerous than you think.”

“I heard from Laila about the time there was an all-out battle, Cindy,” I said, trying not to make it sound like I was brushing off her warning. “But that was only once in seven hundred years.”

“I know, Adrian,” Cindy said patiently, “but we haven’t had a blood trial in over half a century. And times have changed. Even back in an age when people put greater value on honor, it was a standard part of these gatherings to try to sneak something past the other side. Espionage, assassination... Today, there is no longer any honor in how people behave.”

“You think the Angels will try something? You think they called for this trial just to...”

But Cindy shook her head. “The Angels are the superior force, Adrian. They have less reason–”

“You mean the Guardians!” I cut across her. “You think the Guardians will break the trust!”

“I don’t attend every Council meeting, Adrian, so I can’t be sure, but I find it hard to believe that the Council would agree to this blood trial if there was nothing under the table. The Angels know that too. They’ll be expecting it, and so should you.”

I took a moment to steady my breathing, and then asked, “Assuming the Guardians do try something, what should I do?”

Cindy gave me a hesitant look. “Would it be too much to ask, Adrian, that you stay out of the way and keep the girls safe?”

“Don’t worry, Cindy,” I said quietly. “I’ve learned my lesson more than once. I’ll be a good boy this time, okay?”

Cindy smiled sweetly. “That’s all I ask.”

That didn’t prevent me from being curious, though. During that week, between her daily physical training sessions in the subbasement, Terry made several visits to individual Council members’ homes and twice had dinner at Mr. Baker’s place on the thirty-ninth floor. Whenever I could, I pestered her for information, but Terry always answered, “It’s all need-to-know, and you don’t.”

Our departure from New Haven was scheduled for the last day of April, and there were only three days left till then when Terry finally decided that her muscles hurt too much and she needed a half-day break from her training.

Playing nine-ball with Terry before dinner that day, I asked, “You’re really looking forward to this trial, aren’t you, Terry?”

“They wouldn’t allow me to go if I wasn’t,” Terry replied evenly. “Ms. Dallas is no different, Adrian. She has a personal score to settle too. Both of her parents were killed by the Angels.”

“What about Mr. Simms?”

“That’s his business,” said Terry, hinting at another need-to-know issue.

I asked worriedly, “Do you really think Mr. Baker will hand you over to the Angels if we lose?”

“If we lose, Adrian,” Terry said slowly, “I probably won’t be alive to find out. But the trial is two out of three, so there’s a chance I’ll still be breathing. Then we’ll know.” Terry chuckled, and then continued lightly, “Think positive, Adrian. I’ll win my round, and Ms. Dallas has a good chance of winning hers. Mr. Simms is the weakest link, and if he gets himself killed, you won’t have to worry about little what’s-her-name anymore.”

“I don’t care about Grace and Charles right now, Terry,” I said, feeling genuinely insulted. “I’m worried about you.”

“Well, don’t be!” snapped Terry. “I’ll be fine. You just make sure Alia and Laila stay safe.”

This was the third time I had heard that line. “Cindy already told me the same, Terry. What is going on here?”

“You don’t want to know, Adrian.”

“Yes I do, Terry!” I said angrily. “Cindy thinks that the Guardians are planning something dangerous. And don’t give me that need-to-know crap either. If I’m really supposed to keep anyone out of danger, I need to know what we’re up against.”

Terry faced me across the pool table, giving me a long and hard look. Then she grinned, saying, “Alright, Half-head, but I can’t tell you everything. For starters, I don’t yet know everything, and I can’t tell you half of what I do know. I’m only going to say this once, so keep your ear open and your mouth shut.”

“Just tell me what you can, Terry,” I said, annoyed at the ear remark.

Terry smiled slyly. “Cindy’s right, of course. There’s plenty under the table, but for once, I actually know more about it than the Heart of New Haven. Blood trials have been going out of style for a while, and including the last one, which was more than fifty years ago, there have been only six in the last two centuries. Why would the Angels call for one now?”

I shrugged. “Queen Divine must have liked Riles a lot.”

“It was a rhetorical question, dummy!” said Terry, shaking her head. “First off, Riley O’Neal was never all that important to Larissa Divine. She’s lost closer people and didn’t ask for a blood trial. Think about this, Adrian: Blood trials are usually called for by the lesser of two factions because they’re the ones who stand to gain more from winning. Yet the Angels called for this trial. If the Angels really wanted to avenge Riles, they could have dealt us proportional damage without risking public exposure. There was never any real need for all this theater.”

“Then why?” I asked.

“Larissa just wanted an excuse to call for a trial.”