The Days of the Golden Moons (The Two Moons of Rehnor, Book 5) (11 page)

Chapter 22

Katie

I
was back on Rehnor for the first time in ten years.  Mother and Allen and his
family had gone on with Luci to Mishnah, but I had been deposited on the
landing strip in the Valley of Karupatani.  It appeared to be mid-afternoon.  It
was grey and warm, and everything around me was damp though a spectacular
rainbow shown just above the river, each end disappearing into the Blue
Mountains.  I set foot on the ground and my shoes immediately soaked in the
wetness. 

“MaKani,”
Rekah said, coming forward and bowing low.  I gave him my hand, and he held it
for a long time.

“Is
this a sign?” I asked, pointing at the rainbow.  He looked at me with his deep
brown eyes, so dark they were nearly black.

“Merely
a prism of light and water, MaKani,” he replied, a small smile upon his lips.

“Too
bad.  I think we could use some Divine Intervention.”

He
studied me curiously still tightly holding my hand.  “Why?” he asked after a
time.

I
pulled my hand away.  Maybe he thought invading Rozari was perfectly rational behavior. 
“Where to, Rekah?”

“This
way, MaKani.”  He held out his arm and led me toward the village and past that
to the little house nestled in the trees. 

The
people in the village watched us.  Some I vaguely recognized, but it had been a
long time since I had been here and I could not recall any names.

“Is
Sorkan here?”

“Ay
yah,” Rekah replied.  “He will greet you later.  He is working in a distant
field this day.”

“Sorkan
working?”  That in itself sounded like an oxymoron.  “And Tuman and…”

“They
have not yet arrived,” Rekah said, holding open the door to the same little
house I had stayed in before.  “We expect them after sunset.”

I
went inside and looked around for a moment.  I had always liked this little
house.  It was built from logs with a clay tile roof and had a large wrap
around porch that circled the entire structure.  Inside it had wide open beams
of polished wood and a great room that combined the fireplace, kitchen, dining
and living areas.  Upstairs were two more rooms and a bath.  A fire was already
started in the hearth, and someone had left a fresh bowl of fruit on the
counter in the kitchen. 

“You
have heard about Rozari?” I asked, taking off the jacket of my silk suit and
tossing it on the back of a sofa.  I went into the kitchen and found a bottle
of naturally sparkling water in the refrigerator.

“Indeed
I have, MaKani.”  Rekah followed me.  I offered him a bottle as well, but he shook
his head, still gazing at me with his dark unnerving eyes.  I glared back at
him, thinking how much more I preferred blind men who could not see me at all
rather than stared as if they could see right through my clothes.

“What
do you think about it?”

“I
think Rozari belongs to the MaKennah.”  His eyes drifted from my own to settle
somewhere upon my silk blouse.

“How
many children do you have now, Rekah?”  I turned away from him and finished my
water.

He
laughed, a deep and throaty sound.

“I
have a better question.  How many wives do you have now?”

“Too
many,” he replied.  “And how many husbands have you?”

I
coughed up my water.  "Maybe too many as well.”

“You
are gone nearly ten years, yes?  My cousin did not come for you.  Surely you did
not wait for him?”

“I’m
afraid that’s not really your business,” I said and headed back to the living
room.  I grabbed my jacket and started to go upstairs to the bedroom.  He
followed me.  Maybe that was a bad choice. 

“You
have been with my father,” he stated.

“And
now you think it's your turn?  Sorry, but I have not been with your father.  I
met him only briefly.  It was purely a coincidence that we were on the same
planet.”  I turned to shut the door, but he blocked it.  I looked him over and
calculated my options.  I hadn’t worked out in a long time, and he was a big
guy, as big as the rest of them.  His arms bulged with muscles from working in
the fields.  That wasn’t all that was bulging.  I quickly looked away.  “I’m
not going to be with you.”

“Your
eyes speak differently than your words,” he said.

I
backed across the room toward the window.  “You are misreading my eyes,” I said. 
“My eyes are telling you to get the hell out of here.”

“You
will fight me?  I like how you fight your men.”

“My
men?”  I wondered if the window would open.  “What do you think my man, the
Emperor will do about this?”

“My
cousin is insane.  He cares for nothing.  He wishes only for his own death.”

“So
you think he wouldn't be angry with you.  You think he wouldn't kill you?”

He
laughed.  “You are just a woman, MaKani.  A Human woman he has not touched in
ten years.”

“Do
you ride his horse too?”

“I
am not that crazy,” he scoffed and came closer. 

Scooting
along the wall, I realized there was no place for me to go except out the
window, which now I could see was locked and splattered with rain.  I had left
my shoes downstairs by the front door, and my feet slipped in my nylons on this
polished wood floor.  My skirt was narrow, so much so, I would never be able to
get a kick off or even raise my knee high enough to inflict any damage.  If he pinned
my arms, I was done for.

“For
many years now I want you,” he declared, placing his hands on either side of my
head, trapping me against the wall.

“Rekah,
go away,” I ordered as he pressed himself against me.  “Don't make me hurt
you.”

“You
do not wish to hurt me.”  He lifted my arms above my head and pinned my wrists
in one hand.  “You want me.  You are not his anymore.  Too much time has
passed.”  He pushed hard against me as I cursed myself for reacting too slowly
and missing my opportunity.

“I
want you because you are beautiful,” he said.  “I can see how the light turns
your hair to gold and your eyes to the color of the sea.”  His hands were in my
hair, and he was pulling my face up to him.  “He never told you this, did he? 
How pale is your skin and how red are your lips?”  He kissed me and tried to
put his tongue in my mouth.

“Rekah,
please, don't do this,” I hissed and tried to twist away.  He pressed me
harder, his dark hand so different than Senya's unbuttoning my blouse and
slipping inside my bra.

“Look
how white you are,” he said.  “Like the snow.  Your nipple is like a red berry
waiting to be plucked.”  He dropped to his knees and took it in his mouth.

This
was wrong.  This was so wrong, and I was getting really pissed off.  Even more,
I was furious with myself for not staying in shape and feeling too weak to take
him out.

His
hand unzipped my skirt.  It fell to the floor with a swish of silk.

“You
want me.”  His mouth was on my belly, moving lower.  “You are warm and wet, and
you want me.”

“No,
I don't!” I snapped, glad to be free of the skirt.  With all the force I could
muster in my creaky old knee, I lifted it up and slammed it into his chin. 

“Ah!”
he cried and fell back on the floor.  Before he could turn away, I launched my
best kick at his groin, hoping not to break my foot by connecting with a bone. 
Then I ran for the bathroom and locked the door.  I could hear him moaning in
the bedroom, probably cursing me up one side and down another.  Good, let him
curse.  Go to hell, Rekah and take every other de Kudisha prince with you,
except my Shika of course. 

Eventually,
I heard his footsteps gingerly leave the room and trod down the stairs.  I
guess eighteen children were enough for him.

I
showered for a long time and used an entire bar of soap yet still felt dirty. 
I was thinking and planning how I would get out of here before the Evil Emperor
arrived.  I could disappear into the forest.  He won't send them after me.  He
didn't last time, he wouldn’t this time.  He would let me go wherever I wanted.
 

When
at last I came out of the shower, wrapped in a towel, I found Sorkan standing
in my bedroom.

“Why
doesn't this damn house have any locks on the doors?” I screamed.

“Daughter,”
he said and bowed formally.  I held the towel tight around me.

“Sorkan,
what are you doing in my bedroom?”

His
gaze has the same piercing dark look of Rekah’s.  Every one of the de Kudishas
were cut from the same mold.

“My
son is en route now from Mishnah.”

“Great,”
I cried.  “I am so looking forward to seeing him again.  I'm sure I'll have just
as much fun with him as I did with Rekah.”

Sorkan
narrowed his eyes, and he frowned.  “I will wait for him downstairs.  You may
join me if you wish.”

“Thanks,
but I think I'll leave instead.”

“I
will not allow this,” he replied.  “You will stay in this house.  We have all
had enough of your trifling with the emotions of the Emperor of All Rehnor.”

“I'm
trifling with his emotions?” I gasped.  “I'm the one he locked away for 8
years!”

“Do
not be as this, Daughter,” Sorkan said.  “This is not the time for your anger.”

“Really? 
And what is it the time for exactly?”

“Forgiveness. 
We are all sorely in need of each other's forgiveness.”

“You
wanted him to take over Rozari?” I demanded.  “You wanted him to own half the
galaxy?”

“No,”
Sorkan shook his head.  “I only want for him as you want for your own son,
health, peace, happiness.”

I
stared at him.  Was this really Sorkan?

“Be
forgiving, Daughter.  My son's burdens are not of his choosing.  He is at the
mercy of The Creator.”

“I’ve
heard that too many times before,” I sighed.

Sorkan's
dark eyes grew weary.  “I forgive you, Daughter.”

“For
what?  What did I ever do to deserve this?”

Sorkan
smiled sadly.  He reached for my hair.  I stepped away.  After all, I was still
dressed in a towel.  “I forgive you for breaking my son's heart because you
have returned and I know now that you will mend it.”

“Don't
be so sure of that,” I retorted.  “And for your information, the selfish
bastard broke my heart, not the other way around.”

Sorkan
went to the door.

“You
will think differently when you see him,” Sorkan replied.  The door shut behind
him.

“Not
likely,” I called.  “And I'm not going to hang around and wait for him.”

Tossing
the towel, I grabbed one of the suede dresses hanging in the closet and slipped
on some shoes too.  One thing about Karupta clothing, you could move freely in
it although with all the shells and beads, everyone could see and hear you
coming and going.  It was still raining though, and the pitter-patter against
the windows and the roof would masquerade the clicking and jangling of my beads. 

The
window opened easily once unlocked, so I stuck my head out and looked out at
the side of the house and the roof line.  As I mentioned, the house was made of
logs and near my window was a corner with end posts at angles from each other. 
I reached out and touched the end post.  It wasn’t far.  I could climb out the
window and from there up the posts.  I couldn’t swing myself up to the roof
though.  The overhang was too deep. 

If
I could get around the corner of the house, I would be able to sidle over to
the roof that covered the front porch.  Somebody might notice me there though,
as there were no trees in the front.  I needed to get to the upper roof to hide
behind the chimney until dark.  If I could climb across the porch roof, I could
probably lift myself on to the upper roof.  The clay roofing tiles were wet but
otherwise should have been easy enough to walk across.  I would cross the upper
roof and then what?  Unless I could come up with a good size rope and manage to
loop it around the closest tree limb, I would be stuck up there until Sorkan left. 
Then I could climb back down to the lower roof and drop onto the front porch.

I
went back into the bedroom and looked through the closets and drawers for
something that was or could be made into a rope.  One closet had Senya's
clothes in it, leather leggings and tunics, ceremonial robes, two sets of Dress
Blacks and accessories.

Leaning
inside, I looked for something I could use.  I smelled him, his scent, the
wind, water and pines of the forest, a hint of tobacco. 

For
a moment, I was struck by longing so sharp and fierce, I briefly lost my
resolve.  Then I heard voices downstairs, Sorkan and Rekah, and my
determination to leave came back with a vengeance.  I slipped on one of Senya’s
tunics over my dress and hunted quickly for something to make into a rope.