The Twisted Way (Champions of the Crystal Book 3)

Chapter 27.1

Half an hour later they were toiling up a steep path to a small cavern at the top of a cliff. They'd had to obtain permission from the planetary leader, Fyshanna, to come here. Fortunately Fyshanna, who had tutored Mara after her link with Tirqwin was formed, remembered the Devons well from their sojourn among the Allyrians and granted their request. She was of the opinion that, having so little telepathic ability, they were unlikely to be seriously harmed by Nllata's presence, though she cautioned them not to touch the Deltarran.

"Nllata?" Scotty called out, panting, as they reached the cavern entrance.

There was a rustling noise, and Nllata appeared, her expression brightening as she recognized them. "Scotty! Sabrina! Welcome!"

She extended her hands, but drew them back quickly when she saw how they hung back from her. "I am sorry. I forgot. It is dangerous enough you are here; I must not make it worse by touching you."

"I'm glad to see you looking so well," Sabrina said, with a warm smile to make up for the lack of contact.

"And I am delighted to see you well again," Nllata replied.

"We wanted to come before, but they wouldn't let us," Scotty said.

"I know. I am grateful for your thoughts. But there must be a reason besides compassion for a lonely person for you to have come all the way up here at such a risk," Nllata said. "Tell me what you need of me."

"In the Way back from Pharo, did you notice anything funny?" Scotty asked.

Nllata frowned. "Why, yes. I am not sure what it was." She tilted her head to one side and thought. "It was going along smoothly, and then suddenly...it was almost as if there was a drain on me, or the matrix. I had to increase the power to hold the Way stable."

"And you don't know what it was?" Sabrina asked.

"Mm." Nllata closed her eyes and remembered. Then she blinked. "I heard someone speaking. In my mind. It was a cry for help. Like a lost child."

Sabrina shivered. "From within the Pharon crystal?"

"No. No, this was different. It was more like a telepathic contact." She frowned. "It said, 'Live.' And something about coming back. And then the drain started."

Sabrina put a hand to her mouth. Scotty said, "What, Rina?"

"Just before the jolt...I remember I was thinking...." She broke off and swallowed. "I was trying to will Tirqwin to live."

Nllata stared at her. "It was you? Yes...now that I think of it, it was like your voice. Strange. The crystal must have augmented my telepathic abilities; they are not normally that strong."

Scotty snapped his fingers. "So Rina thought that to you, and then you somehow drew on the crystal to make Tirqwin live, and that's why you nearly lost the Way."

"I suppose it must have been like that," Nllata said. "I do not remember consciously thinking of the Tirqwin, but I did feel a need to quiet that voice, to comfort it."

Scotty looked at his sister with a wry grin. "So you willed Tirqwin to live, and Nllata shot him full of Pharon crystal. No wonder his brain's shorting out!"

Sabrina was aghast. "But what are we going to do about it? Not more Pharon crystal!"

"No," Nllata said. "But if that's true, then it's the resonance of the Pharon crystal interfering with the resonance of the crystal he carries from his link with Khediva."

"And the Great Crystal," Scotty said. "Nllata, what do you think the odds are of him corrupting Khediva if she tries to heal him?"

"I don't know," Nllata said. "The power of the Pharon matrix and Khediva's should be about equal. It's hard to tell which would prevail."

"But," Sabrina said, "the Great Crystal is far more powerful."

"Yes," Nllata said. "But the risk, if we're wrong, is too great."

Scotty said, "That's for Mara to decide. C'mon, Rina."

_______________

Mara frowned at them on the comconsole screen. "So that is what happened. I had wondered."

"I'm so sorry, Mara," Sabrina said.

"Do not be, my friend," Mara said, shaking her head. "He would have died but for this accident." She gave a little smile. "Well, if you can make peace between Praxatillus and Homeworld, I should not be surprised to find you snatching Tirqwin back from the brink of death—or beyond."

"So, whaddya think, Mara?" Scotty asked. "Are you gonna try?"

"I know what the Council of Trême would say," Mara grimaced. "And yet I have a duty to retrieve Tirqwin and thus save Khediva, for her sake if not my own. It would be a shame to have concluded this agreement for their sakes only to have it become moot." She drummed her fingers on her console. "I will come tonight," she said, suddenly resolute. "I will try. Until then, my cousins."

"Wait!" Sabrina cried, and Mara refrained from cutting the connection. "If you're coming, you'll want to bring a bodyguard."

"To Allyria? Whatever for?" Mara replied. "Besides, Major Darice is not yet returned to full duty."

Sabrina bit her lip. "I had a second bodyguard. Tassan Nikolar."

Mara raised an eyebrow. "I do not need a bodyguard, Sabrina, but if you wish to see him, I will bring him with me."

Sabrina hesitated over a denial, then said simply, "Thank you."

Mara signed off, and Scotty looked at his sister curiously. The house was too small for him not to know that Sabrina had had frequent communication with Tassan, and frequent arguments. "Well," he said. "I thought if you were gonna ask Mara to lift the embargo on Praxatillians comin' here, it'd be for Therenden."

"I owe Tassan a great deal," Sabrina said. "And he wants to come. He's not Miahn, so it shouldn't be risky for him." She didn't add that he had been urging her to ask the Queen to grant him an exception to the travel ban since the first time they had talked, as soon as she was released from the hospital. He'd been puzzled and eventually angry over Sabrina's hesitation to do so. But Sabrina thought it better not to call attention to Tassan, or her relations with him.

She missed him, ached for him in fact, but in hindsight she was dismayed at her indiscretion. She didn't regret it, precisely, but she realized what a risk it had been. If they had been caught it could have resulted in her removal as Regent, seriously endangering the peace process. And Mara would have been disappointed and disillusioned. Sabrina found that she wanted very much to keep that from happening. No, she did not ever want anyone to know that she and Tassan had been lovers—even if they eventually married.

And that was another problem. It had become clear during the past month that Tassan assumed their marriage was only a matter of time. Part of her welcomed it, but the rest of her had doubts. They needed to get to know each other under normal circumstances first. And to do that, Sabrina had to get herself back. The enormous pressures of the regency had changed her, distended her in ways she was still discovering. She wanted to get back to normal, or at least figure out who she was now when she wasn't dodging assassins, before she contemplated any permanent relationship. She suspected she needed to go home to Earth, to look at her past again, perhaps tie up some loose ends, before she could do that.

"Scotty," she said, "what would you say if I said I was going back to Earth?"

"Huh?" he said, startled. "Oh. Well, hey...you need a vacation. And it's been kinda nice here, but it's not a lot of fun, is it? Sure, if you want, we'll go back, see Aunt Euphrasia, and hang out for a while before we go back to Praxatillus."

She smiled gratefully at him, but said, "You're sure you wouldn't mind? It wouldn't mess up your promotion prospects?"

"I can study on Earth," he shrugged.

"No, Scotty, you can't. If we go, we can't take anything from Praxatillus with us. You know that."

"Yeah, well, okay. But I can do it when I get back. I don't mind. I'd like to see home again." He grinned. "Might as well wait for the nightmares to go away there instead of here. And I can get some decent food! I been waitin' two years for a Big Mac!"

Sabrina smiled and shook her head.