The Mountains Rise (31 page)

Helen smiled, proud to hear that
,
and the two of them questioned him for some time about the nature of his life with
the forest gods. For much of it he simply gave them the truth, hiding the terrible
parts. He let them know he had been forced to live naked for a while, and that the
food had been terrible, but he made no mention of the arena or the slavery that was
the only existence humans knew
living with the She’Har.

He made no mention of the fact that his life was likely to end shortly after his return.

Once their questions began to dwindle, Daniel had many of his own, “How is Kate doing?”

Their eyes met for an instant before his father replied, “Much has happened since
you left…”

“She’s married now,”
interrupted Helen, cutting to the heart of the matter.

Daniel nodded. He had expected that. It had been five years after all. Kate would
be twenty one, an age at which most women had already started their families. “Did
she marry Seth?”

Alan resumed talking, giving his wife an irritated look. “Yes, they live in the same
house she grew up in. They just had their first child, a boy, last year.”

For some reason the thought of Kate having children with someone else stung more than
the fact of her marrying. Seth was a good man, Daniel knew that, and if it had to
be someone else, that was who he would have chosen, but the thought of her having
children…

I’ll never be a father,
he thought, glancing at the man he respected more than any other.
I’ve probably sired some children, but I’ll never be a true father.

“What about her mother?” he asked, breaking away from the dark turn of his thoughts.

“Ahhh…,” said Alan uncomfortably. “She and Kate don’t get along well anymore. Seth’s
mother died
,
and she married his dad
. She lives
with Owen
at the Tolburn place now.”

Daniel’s jaw dropped, “So Kate married Seth
,
and then Brenda married
Mr. Tolburn
?”

“Well it sounds strange when you say it like that,” admitted his mother, “but things
happened at different times.”

“I don’t think there was anything improper about it,” said Alan, “but Kate took offense
anyway.”

Daniel echoed that sentiment, but he held his tongue. “What happened?”

“She told her mother she didn’t want to see or hear from her anymore,” answered Helen.
“She hasn’t spoken to her in years. Seth and his dad still get along fine, though.”

“Do you think I should visit them?” he asked. Until that moment he hadn’t given the
question any true thought, but now that he knew Kate had married
,
it struck him that he might be inconsiderate to intrude by reappearing now. Maybe
it was better for the dead to stay buried.

His mother dispelled that notion immediately, “Don’t be silly! Of course you should
visit them. They’ll both be relieved to find out you are alive. Don’t overstay your
welcome
,
and don’t even think of trying to rekindle anything, but a visit is something they
will definitely be glad of.”

“Getting back to what you said earlier, Son,” interrupted his father. “You said that
you are being allowed to visit briefly. Do you really have to return? Can’t you
stay?”

Daniel glanced down at the floor, uneasy. “I’m sorry, Dad. I do have to return.
I’ve only been given a week.”

“But you can come visit again, right?” insisted his mother, “In the future some time…”

He swallowed, “Maybe. It could be years…”

She patted him on the shoulder, “As long as I have something to look forward to, I
can wait. I just need to know you’re safe.”

“I’m safe, Mom,” he answered, trying to get the words past the lump forming in his
throat.

“Is there a girl?” she continued. “Any chance you’ll give us some grandchildren?”

As she asked he spotted a subtle hint of annoyance in her aura, as if she had left
something unspoken, something that obviously irritated her.
Perhaps she left out the word ‘legitimate’ when she mentioned grandchildren.

“Well, there was one, a lady named Amarah,” he told her, using the only name that
would come to mind. “I think she liked me, but it hasn’t worked out.” It wasn’t
hard to act sad when he said her name, although the reason was very different than
what he was implying.

After that he began trying to divert their attention. “Dad, why don’t you let me
take the sheep for the rest of the day? I miss my old chores. You and Mom can take
care of whatever needs doing
,
and we can talk some more tonight.”

“Well, that’s a fine offer Daniel, but Lacy doesn’t know you yet,” Alan said, reminding
him of their new dog.

“Then come introduce me,” returned Daniel. “Can I borrow your instrument, Mom?”
He nodded at the cittern hanging on the wall.

She smiled, “I’m glad you still take your music seriously. I thought I saw a cittern
tied to your saddle.”

“I made that one myself,” he said. “It’s been such a long time it would be nice to
compare it to a real cittern. I’m not entirely certain I made a proper instrument.”

“You made it?” she said, raising her eyebrows. “That takes a lot of woodworking skill.
What do they have you do, there in the forest?”

That is an excellent suggestion, Mom, thank you,
he thought to himself. “I stay busy doing carpentry and other woodworking,” he lied,
“but I don’t use traditional tools.”

She frowned, “Then what do you use?”

He tapped his forehead, “I can shape wood more smoothly with this than with any carpenter’s
plane.”

His father caught up the cittern from the wall as they walked to the door. “I wouldn’t
mind seeing that.
Didn’t
occur
to me how practical your abilities might be in some ways.”

Daniel hugged his mother one more time and followed him outside, “I’ll be glad to
help. Just figure out what you need done
,
and if I can accomplish it
,
I’ll do it for you. I can probably split wood, shape posts, plane boards, or any
other woodwork you need doing.”

Alan winked, “You shouldn’t have told me that. I’ll keep you busy all week.”

They chatted amiably all the way back to where Lacy was keeping watch over the sheep.
It took several minutes for Alan to introduce his son to the new sheep dog, but like
her grandsire, Lacy was very smart
,
and she caught on quickly. It helped that
Daniel had been raised using the same commands that Alan had taught her.

It was a tossup whether that was more of a benefit to him, or to Lacy, she was an
extremely intelligent canine.

Before his father left, he embraced his son one more time, “It’s good to see you again,
Son.”

“I’ve missed you,” he told his father.

“You promise you’ll come home? If you vanish it’ll break your mother’s heart,” said
Alan Tennick with a thick voice.

“I’m home, Dad, for a week. I won’t disappear before then, and I’ll say good-bye
when I do. I promise,” he answered solemnly.

“See that you do,” said his father, wiping his nose again.

After his father had gone
,
Daniel began moving the sheep. The pasture they were in still had plenty of excellent
grazing, but it wasn’t the one he wanted. He couldn’t see Kate’s house from there.
Not that he had any intention of going to see her, but still, he wanted to be as close
as possible.

An hour’s work, with Lacy’s expert assistance
,
and the sheep were on the lower southern slope, the one that was closest to the Sayer
house. Daniel’s eyes were still
knowledg
e
able
enough to see that it had already been grazed recently, but there was enough
forage remaining
to keep the sheep happy.

Settling into what had once been his favorite spot, Daniel put his back against a
smooth boulder and began to play. His mother’s cittern felt warm and comfortable
under his fingers, like an old friend. The bronze strings were more responsive than
the horse-hair strings on his own
instrument, producing a louder note with greater clarity.

Maybe I’ll have time to get some strings before I return.

He played for half an hour, but despite his location
,
he kept his eyes away from the Sayer house, preferring to see it in his memory.
In that place, within his heart, Catherine Sayer sang and walked, forever young and
carefree. She listened from her porch, keeping quiet to hear the faint strains of
his cittern in the distance, and sometimes, if he was lucky, she joined him for a
picnic.

She only brought you a lunch once,
noted his more analytical side.
Shut up,
retorted his inner dreamer.

Playing on the
hillside, hoping she would hear,
and im
agining her visits;
those were the subjects of his fantasies for the past five years. When life had
become too much for him, when the darkness of his tiny room had closed in, it was
there that he had retreated within his mind. He felt the wind caress his face while
the soft notes of the cittern danced across the meadow.

Some part of his mind saw her approaching, carefully walking up the steep game trail
that led from the river, but he never faltered in his playing.
With each step she drew nearer
,
and he felt his heartstrings winding tighter, gaining tension.

His eyes remained closed. Daniel knew he would lose his concentration if he saw her
in the afternoon sunlight. It had a tendency to set her hair afire with red and gold
highlights. Instead he waited, until she stood no more than twenty feet away.

As the last notes drifted from his fingers
,
he lifted his head and gazed on her. The woman
who
stood there was older, taller, more worn, than the one he remembered. The sun still
caught fire in her hair, though. She watched him with still, quiet eyes that were
hidden in shadow. He couldn’t see their color, but he felt them on him.

He stared back at her, not trusting himself to speak.

Eventually she relented and moved
closer, sitting down close beside him. She left no space between them, taking his
hand in hers before resting her head on his shoulder. They sat that way without speaking
for what seemed like an hour
,
but the sun told Daniel it was only a few minutes.

“You aren’t dead,” said Catherine Sayer.

“Somehow I’ve survived,” he answered.
‘Til now.

“I waited a long time, Daniel.”

“You shouldn’t have,” he returned, “I couldn’t come back.”

“You’re here now,” she observed.

He sighed, “Only for a few days, a week at best. I won’t be able to come again.”

She turned her head, putting her cheek against his chest and inhaling. Her free hand
rose to explore his beard. “You smell terrible,” she noted.

He chuffed at that, not trusting himself to laugh. “No one cares much about that
in the deep woods.”

“I’m married now.”

“My parents told me,” he said softly. “They
said
your
son
is
a year old
.”

“His name is Aaron,” she answered. “Aaron Tolburn.”

“I’m happy for you—and for Seth.”

Her face was hidden by a shadow
,
but he felt her smile, “I love him, I love both o
f them, Daniel. Being a mother
has changed me. I’m not the girl you once knew, but she’s still here, inside. I
like who I’ve become, but I haven’t forgotten who I was.”

“I’ve changed too,” he replied, but his tone was less joyful.

Her fingers traced the line on the outside of his left arm, sending involuntary shivers
up his spine. “
How did you get this?” she asked.

“I did that to myself,” he confessed. “I needed it to help me stay alive.”

“What did you find in the deep woods?”

Daniel closed his mouth, thinking. “People,” he said at last. “Humans, like us,
but different. My abilities are normal there.”

Kate sighed, “So you found a place you belong?”

He understood then what she wanted. She wanted comfort. She wanted to know that
he was alright, that he wasn’t suffering. Just like his parents, she still loved
him
,
and she wanted to find reassurance that he was prospering. He hadn’t meant to lie
to her, but at that moment he discovered he couldn’t do otherwise.

“Yes.”

“Did you find love? Is there someone waiting for you?”

A vision of Lyralliantha flashed in his mind
,
and he couldn’t help but compare the coldness of his relationship with her to the
warmth of just a moment with Kate. It made him painfully aware of the void that had
replaced his heart. The memory of Amarah’s dead body followed
,
and his chest tightened.

“Yes,” he said, “There’s a woman waiting for me.”

“Is she beautiful?”

He paused, “She is.
More beautiful than any woman has a right to be, with hair that reminds me of the
moon on a river.”
A cold moon,
he thought,
your hair reminds me of the warm sun on a spring day.

“I still love you, Daniel,” she told him suddenly. “But, I can’t, I won’t betray
my marriage.”

“I don’t want you to, Cat. Seth’s a good man,
and
he was a good friend to me.”

He felt her relax slightly, “I’m glad. I wondered if you thought you might steal
a night’s pleasure from me.”

“I wouldn’t want to betray my promises either,” he said, half-lying.

“Tell me about your life there. What are the people like? Are the forest gods real?”

That was dangerous ground, but he did his best. “They keep people like me, those
with a gift for magic, isolated. Life goes on, but keeping us separate helps to protect
ordinary people from, well—you remember what I did.”

She nodded.

“The wardens are sent to hunt for others, to make sure they aren’t allowed to do harm.”

“Is that what you’re here to do?” she asked. “Is that what the one
who
came for you was sent to do?”

“Yes,” said Daniel. “When he came across Ronnie’s body
,
I think he decided I was too dangerous to try
to
bring back. That’s why he attacked me,” he explained, sounding reasonable. “I kept
what happened to him a secret when I went to the deep woods.”

“Couldn’t the forest gods see into your heart?”

“No, not like that,” he told her. “They are powerful, and wise, but they aren’t true
gods. They’re more like shepherds, watching over humankind.”

“I see,” she acknowledged.

They sat quietly for a few more minutes before she restarted the conversation. “What
happens when you go back?”

“Not much,” he told her. “I’ll go back to my woodworking. Others handle the yearly
patrols, so I won’t be able to visit again. This trip was special, a gift, to allow
me to say good bye properly.”

“And you’ll be happy?” she asked.

He nodded, swallowing in an attempt to make the frog in his throat go down. “As much
as I can be.”

Her eyes were searching his face
,
and he saw her aura light up with sparks, indicating a surge of anger. When she
spoke
,
her voice was soft, giving no hint of the flames simmering beneath it, “That’s a
lie.”

Daniel didn’t respond.

“Five years has changed you Daniel Tennick, but it hasn’t made you a better liar.”

He snorted, “That’s true.”

“Are you afraid the truth will hurt me? I’m stronger than that, Daniel,” she stated
calmly.

“No good can come of the truth here, and a fiction would be much kinder,” he argued.

She caught his beard in her fist, twisting his face painfully toward her. “I’m not
the girl you left behind, Daniel. I’m a mother now
,
and I have different priorities. I won’t be chasing after you or trying to save
you.
But I deserve to know what’s happened to the man I loved, the man
who
taught me to love. Give me that at least.”

Daniel’s jaw clenched. “I’m a slave.” His fingers touched the necklace at his throat.
“This ensures my return.”

“And the scars?”

“That was the truth, I made them myself. They help me to kill more efficiently.”

She frowned, “What sort of slave are you?”

“There’s an arena,” he explained. “People like me are used to fight there, in games
to amuse our owners.”

“Why did they let you come here?”

“Because I’m the best killer they’ve ever had. I’ve slaughtered hundreds over the
past five years, men, women, and children. Eventually I killed so many that my owner
allowed me to retire, after a fashion. She keeps me as you or I would keep a pet,
but I wasn’t happy.”

“And she cared enough to let you visit your family?” Kate’s face was incredulous.

“In all honesty, I do not hold any grudg
e against her. She
and her ‘family’ were mostly innocent of the doings of the arena. She was the one
who
asked permission for me to come here,” said Daniel.

Kate watched him carefully, waiting, and when he didn’t continue she added, “But…?”

“But what?” said Daniel, “That’s all.”

“I already told you, Daniel, you’re a terrible liar. Tell me the truth
,
and I will tell you a secret,” she offered.

“A secret?” he asked
,
raising one brow curiously.

“Something I think you will be grateful to know,” she said in a serious tone.

He felt his frustration rise and then fall away. He wanted to tell her, and he was
tired of secrets. “Very well, but I doubt you will find the trade worthwhile.”

“I’ll decide that,” she retorted. “Now spill it, you first.”

“The price for this visit was a return to the arena,” he told her.

“You’ll have to kill someone else?” she asked. “Was seeing us that important?” Her
aura held a complex mixture of emotions
,
but as she spoke
,
her eyes were reading his face. “No, that’s not it. You don’t think you can win.”

He remained silent.

“Was this visit worth your life?!”

“Yes,” he answered simply. “Now that I am here, I can honestly say that. This visit
is the only thing of meaning left to me.
” He stopped as a thought struck him. “I think she was trying to ask me the same
question.”

“Who?”

“Lyralliantha,” he replied, “… my owner.”

“But she made the offer didn’t she?”

Daniel shrugged, “She asked for permission to let me come, but it was the elders and
the other groves that added the requirement. I don’t think she was happy about it.”

Kate’s eyes widened slightly, “She loves you.”

He laughed at that. “If you met them
,
you would not say that. We are no more than animals to them. She feels no more
for me than a man would for a prized horse.”

“Didn’t you love Blue?” she pointed out.

He stared at her oddly, “I don’t think that’s the same thing.”

“Of course it is,” she replied. “You’re mistaking love and lust. Just because she’s
female
,
you think it isn’t love if she doesn’t want your dick in her, but love isn’t about
that. Sex is just something nice that gets added sometimes.”

“Every time I think I know what you might say
,
you say something like that
,
and I realize that I have always underestimated you,” he answered admiringly.
I’ve been looking down on the She’Har because they don’t understand love, and now
she teaches me that I was just as ignorant.