Metal and Flesh (The Rohvim, Book 1)

19.5 Greater

They spent hours milling about the hall, pondering in the face of the water, walking the steps, watching Rupert sleep, talking to each other in hushed tones in the now sacred space. In time, they left, returning to the grey world, seeing that but a few minutes had passed in that arrangement. Betha covered Rupert's cold, white face, and the three boys covered his body with earth and stones, a cairn raised up to the sky.

   They returned to the camp, where the fire Darla had started was just now starting to roar. They gathered around the fire, sitting on logs or stones or earth. Aeden asked, "Those words, I had not heard them."

   Lady Ellen replied, "Long ago, in the first years of the society, they were found by Clara and a few others as they searched the land for guidance to our rohva past. They were found etched on an ancient gravestone, and were adopted as our funeral rite."

   Aeden asked, "Usually the funeral rites I've seen are set to music. Has this?"

   Lady Ellen answered, "Not that I know of. I've only heard the rite itself repeated a few times."

   They sat in silence for several minutes. Aeden started humming, and then raised his voice in song. He repeated the words he had heard, but sang them out clearly, in a wandering, aimless melody, slow and thoughtful. The others remained and listened. After a few minutes, he finished, and his companions nodded their approval.

   The master healer announced, "While you were preparing the burial, I entered the minds of several of the soldiers that Rupert had slain before he fell. One was barely alive when I found him, and I looked to see his memories of the past few days. We are very close. We shall arrive at Lord Shiavo's compound tomorrow evening or the following morning. We should get our rest to prepare."

   With that, most of the company retired to bed. Aeden and Betha remained, transfixed by the leaping and crackling flames. After nearly half an hour, the flames died down to a smoldering smoke rising from glowing embers. Betha broke the silence, "Why didn't you help him?"

   Aeden couldn't answer.

   He closed his eyes. "I..." he stuttered, "I don't know. I wanted to hurt Priam. He betrayed us. He was with those soldiers and he attacked the others."

   She shook her head, "He hasn't betrayed us. Darla told me that when he appeared, he had the blank look of a drone soldier. He was captured, Aeden. Lord Shiavo must have overthrown his mind and turned him into a drone."

   Aeden replied, "You didn't see his face when we were dueling. That was Priam alright, but he looked angry. He was not a drone."

   "Drone or not, why didn't you leave him and rescue Rupert?"

   Aeden stumbled again, searching for words. "I know. I should have. If I could go back ..." He trailed off.

   Betha held his arm, "Never mind. You are you, Aeden, and you can't change that."

   "But I want to. I don't want to be the me that let Rupert die, or that let Priam be captured, or that won that tournament. I want you. I want to be worthy of you."

   Betha squeezed his arm. "I love you." Aeden looked at her, rather stunned, before she quickly added, "Like my brother. I never had a brother, but you have become dear to me..."

   "But I don't deserve your love. What have I done?"

   She softly replied, "Would deserving it make it any greater?"

   He had no answer. She continued, "And you have changed. I saw you in Rupert's mind there at the end. You looked different. I've never seen you like that. You know you can't hide your feelings from your face when you're in a mind. You've never looked like that. You were almost glowing with... something ... I don't know."

   Aeden spoke, "About that. I could feel all of you. When I saw Rupert's memories I could feel him too. I mean really felt him-I could feel what he was feeling and what all of you were feeling."

   Betha nodded, "I can as well, but only some of us can. We'll explain later. For now, just be here."

   And the two of them rested by the fire, her arm around his, his head resting on hers.

   An hour passed, the two of them holding each other by the now dim coals, before Aeden spoke again. "So, you love me?"

   She turned her head to face him, their noses just inches apart, and replied, "I love Frederick, and Darla, and the master healer, and Rupert. Don't get any ideas."

   "Right." He answered softly, yet still enjoying the closeness of her presence. "I thought I had some mysterious rohva power over you to make you fall head over heels for me."

   "There's only seven, and that's not one of them. So sorry." She patted his arm, even as she held it close.

   "I've heard you all talk about the seven rohva powers. But I can't account for all of them."

   She gathered her breath, "Well, there's talking to another's mind, there's entering another mind, there's healing, there's transforming into anything in another mind, there's shocking, and then the wide area shock that you've been learning with the master healer, with limited success apparently."

   "And the seventh?"

   "The seventh is very tricky. I've only seen a few do it. It's like a defense. You store up as if you're going to shock someone, but instead of releasing it at a target, you aim for the air around you, and somehow it forms a barrier that nothing can get through. Momentarily, of course-it takes vast amounts of energy to sustain."

   "So no one uses it in combat?"

   Betha looked over at him again, "Aeden, we've never had combat. We've been a society of healers, not warriors."

   "Right. I keep forgetting, what with all the blood and killing."

   "It won't be like this forever."

   "When do you think it will end?"

   She sighed. "When all has been set aright. Much evil has been done-by one who knows his true nature. When will it end? Maybe when the Creator himself intervenes. I don't know."

   Aeden flashed her a lop-sided smile. "Well I hope it doesn't come to that-then we'll know we really screwed things up."