Nalor motioned to Valmir. "I'll introduce ye to the men who will go with ye. A half tenday from now, the rest of us will meet ye outside the desert town near the formations of white rock."

Valmir nodded. "Anything I need to know?"

"Beware the Guards though they seldom give a Desert Rider trouble. The reputation of your people deters them."

Valmir grinned. "We've a reputation for always winning our fights."

Brader rose. "Liara, are ye sure Andalor must go on the desert journey? Could we not free him and let him go his own way?"

"Aye, we could," Liara said. "But if he leaves, Disa will follow him and that would mean disaster."

"And if he finds a way to warn the Queen of our route?"

She wanted to shout at Brader but held her tongue. "We must give him the chance to do just that. She needs to know where we go."

"I think ye are foolish," Brader said.

"She's right," Stilenta said.

Nalor nodded. "I'll arrange for him to slip away when we're camped near the town. Then he'll be recaptured." "'Tis good," Liara said.

CHAPTER 26.

Sayings of the People Fear can be a spur or fear can be a grave. 'Tis ye who must choose to act or to bury yourself.

Disa watched Andalor slip away from the camp near the market town. He'd left his lute behind and she didn't feel compelled to follow. Another dark-clad figure slipped after him. She touched her Jewel. Nalor had promised no harm would come to the minstrel, but there were always mishaps and accidents. Should she go or stay?

She heard a sound and turned. Brader came to sit at her side. His presence quieted the anxiety enough to allow her to settle into her blankets.

In the morning, they would cross the river, once wide and deep but now a mere trickle down the center of a trench. Did Andalor understand the Black Jewel was responsible for the river's state? No matter who held that gem, the result was despair for the people and destruction for the land. According to Liara's book, the Black had ruled for nearly ten decans and each year conditions grew worse.

She drifted to sleep and woke to the pre-dawn light. A glance toward the place where the men slept showed Andalor had returned. Her hand brushed the Yellow. She felt safe for now. Mayhaps he didn't know that if he left, she would be drawn after him. If that happened, she might fall into the Queen's hands and be forced to serve the Black. Then the fight for Earda would be lost.

Begone, dark thoughts. She rose and joined the others at the fire, sipped chakla and ate flatcakes of ryn flour. Once she finished, she donned her pack and followed the others down into the gully carved by the once mighty river. Ere long, they emerged from the trench into a brown landscape. White rocks jutted from the barren earth that had once been a gra.s.sy plain. Just beyond a rock formation that resembled a woman weeping, Valmir waited.

Laughter spilled from her throat when she saw the creatures called balalas. Great s.h.a.ggy beasts with fur in shades of brown, long sinuous necks and great round eyes. One by one, Valmir tapped the beasts behind the knees. They knelt. Disa mounted one with a coat the color of cream.

"Pull back on the reins and she'll rise," Valmir said.

"Does she have a name?"

He shrugged. "Desert Riders name none but those females that are kept for breeding."

"Only females are used as beasts of burden?" she asked.

"'Tis but one male born for fifty females. The males are kept to insure the lines. Most riding and pack

balalas can't breed."

He left her and a.s.sisted the others. Once everyone was mounted, they bid Nalor's men farewell. Disa

pulled on the reins. The balala rose. She swallowed. 'Twas much higher than the back of a horse or a pony. She prayed she would keep her seat. Surprisingly, she soon adjusted to the swaying movements.

They traveled until the sun reached mid-day, then Valmir called a halt.

Disa frowned. "Why do we stop? There are still hours of daylight."

"The sun will heat the sands and suck the fluids from your body," he said. "'Tis the way of desert

dwellers to rest by day and travel by night."

Brader nodded. "Ye are the leader here."

They erected tents of smooth white cloth. Disa joined Liara and Stilenta. They both slept, but she

couldn't. She felt hot and confined. Finally, she left the tent. Valmir sat beside a small fire.

"How do ye stand the heat?" she asked.

"'Tis hard, dressed as we are. I would have bought desert robes in the market but the only ones there

were clan marked."

"What do ye mean?"

"Six are the clans of the Desert Riders. One for each Jewel. The line of descent is through the mother. I

don't know if my mother is willing to acquire so many children and we do not have time for the rites."

He handed her a cup, "This will refresh ye. 'Tis mintos."

Disa sipped the fragrant beverage. Though hot, in some manner, the drink made her feel cool.

One by one, the others joined them. As soon as the sun set, they dismantled the tents; by the time First Moon rose, they were ready to ride.

The rocking gait of the balala lulled Disa to sleep. She woke and found herself sliding toward the ground. With a shake of her head, she sipped from her waterskin. Silver sand glittered in the light of the moons and stretched in a flat plain in all directions. How did Valmir know they were headed toward the Screaming Hills and not moving in circles?

One night slid into the next. She lost track of how many they'd spent on the desert. Once they had stopped to refill their large waterskins at a well where a few scraggly palma trees provided a bit of shade. Since then, there'd been no change in the scenery.

In the distance, she saw trees. She blinked. Were there tents as well? Imagination, she decided. Several times at sunrise, she'd seen shimmering pools of water just out of reach.

Valmir waved for a halt. "'Tis my clan's watering place. Let me ride ahead and see if they will share a tent with us."

A short time later, he returned along with a man who had the same silver hair and sharp-edged features. The man held up his hands and touched them to his forehead. "Well come, travelers. Dener, Desert Rider and father of this young one. My wife bids ye to stay this day in the tents of the women of the Blue Clan. Tonight when the sun dwindles, we will feast and hear your tale."

As they entered the camp, Disa marveled at the size of the tents. Children darted about. Some carried water and others tended the blue and white silk-sheep and the balalas.

The faces of the men and women were as darkly tanned as Valmir's. They wore loose robes of creamy white banded at the hems and sleeves with stripes of blue. The men's robes flowed free while the women's were bound at the waist by intricately woven sashes.

Several young men led the balalas away. An older woman embraced Valmir. "My son, your friends are truly welcome." She smiled. "Ye were sent for one and have come with three. Which woman is the Lady of the Blue?"

Stilenta bowed. "I am Stilenta. Valmir has told me of your plight. Though I would help ye, the time is not yet. The Blue's power must be saved for an important battle. Thus, Disa, Lady of the Yellow and Liara who will be Lady of the White beg your patience."

The older woman bowed so low her head nearly touched the ground. "Ye do us honor. Now, come, sip some mintos and rest. Valmir, take the men to your father's tent and tell him the time we have awaited is at hand."

"Yes, Mother."

Inside the tent, Disa accepted the cup a young woman handed her. Valmir's mother opened a chest and removed three creamy white robes. She presented them with belts braided from the six jewel colors. "For ye. Since the robes are sashed yet unbanded, should ye encounter another clan, ye will be welcome."

"Ye do us honor," Liara said. "Your gift will protect us from the heat of the sun and the cold of the moons." Disa and Stilenta added their thanks. They finished the mintos and were shown to sleeping pads. Soon the women of the clan entered and lay down. For the first time, Disa found sleeping during the day easy.

* * * The sound of laughter and the aroma of spices woke Disa. She stretched and reached for the desert robe. As she pulled it over her head, a young woman with dark brown hair stared at the Jewel. "Ye are a Lady of the Jewels," she said. "I am." "What is it like to have one?" Disa finished dressing. "'Tis hard to explain but with the Jewel, I feel whole." "I've dreamed of being one of the Ladies. The others laugh and make fun of me." "Is Valmir your brother?" "Nay. I am of no clan. 'Tis why my sash is white. My kin fell to some disease and I alone lived. I was abandoned on the sands with them. I was too young to know what clan is mine. My kin's robes were all stripped and no one could tell where I belonged. I am little more than a serving girl who dares to dream." Disa touched the girl's hand. "I was a tavernmaid and my uncle by marriage was not a kind man. He would have forced me to work abovestairs so I ran away. Do not give up hope."

The girl's eyes widened. "No one here would treat me that way, but I will never have my own tent. Without lines of heritage, no man will want me. 'Tis... I want to belong and so I dream of the impossible."

"Nothing is impossible." Disa smiled. "What is your name?"

"Mara."

Brader appeared in the tent opening. "Disa, I feared ye would sleep until time to leave. Valmir told his

mother about your love of chakla. They have made a dish from banta, scallions, and a vegetable I don't know. 'Tis flavored with chakla leaves."

"I'm on my way." She turned to Mara. "Keep your dreams." She joined the others beneath a canopy that shaded them from the late afternoon sun. A young woman brought her a plate of food. Disa bit into a rolled flatbread filled with the spicy banta Brader had described. Beneath the piquant flavor, she tasted chakla. "'Tis wonderful. I would have the recipe. I fear I will eat so much the balala will not hold me."

A group of young men began to dance, using spears like the one Valmir carried. They pantomimed a hunt. Several men strummed larger versions of Andalor's lute.

Valmir's father and mother sat with them. "So ye travel to the Screaming Hills," the older man said. "We were there a lunar ago and the Hills were silent."

Liara frowned. "Mayhaps they wait. They will scream again."

"Beware, for the waterholes along the way have been fouled by sand and poisoned. Winds whip across the desert, stirring great clouds of sand."

"And the ruins of the Palace of the Seven Jewels?" Valmir asked.

"'Tis still a place of refuge and the pools remain pure."

"And have mages been seen?" Nalor asked. "Have they ventured among the clans?"

"The dark ones avoid the clans for they find no one to follow them here."

"When the Queen is secure in her rule, she will rid the land of the Brotherhood," Andalor said.

The older man nodded. "When she who holds the White destroys the Black, the land will thrive again.

The mages who created the evil gem will be driven out. That is what our seers say."

Disa saw anger creep into Andalor's eyes. She grasped his arm. "Keep your thoughts secret. I have no desire to give my life for ye this day."

CHAPTER 27.

From The Queen's Diary She failed and I have won. My sister reached the place where the White awaits. She could not touch the gem for she had been tainted by the Black during the brief time she served as Queen. They say she lives. I called the mages from her trail. I heard what happened to those who followed her into the cavern. They no longer see or hear. If that is her fate, so be it. How long can such a one survive the desert sun? They say she fled across the sands with her infant daughter. How can she be a threat to me? Now I go to the man she stole from me.

Reena prowled her bedroom with the fluid movements of a lyrcat. She grasped the Black. A tenday and more had pa.s.sed since the com-crystal had been shattered. She smiled. This morning, a Guard had brought a message from Andalor. Would that he had come himself, but the Guard had said when he went to meet the minstrel to help him escape his captors, the men had vanished. Now she knew where her cousin was headed, and soon, an army would leave for the Screaming Hills.

Tendrils of ice flowed and enticed her to enter rapport with the Jewel. She pulled her hand away. The Black sought to control her but she would not be tricked. Why did her attempts to merge with the Jewel end with her strength sapped, instead of energized? As she left her suite, she thought of the women who awaited her arrival in the throne room. Their complaints about the coming journey stirred her anger. She struggled to a.s.sume a veneer of calmness. Guards fell into step around her. She smiled at young Timir. He'd brought Andalor's message and as a reward had been made part of her personal hand. She entered the throne room and mounted the dais. The Holders stood at the foot of the steps. "Are ye ready to leave tomorrow?" she asked. "So your cousin has her Jewel," Waika said. "Pity your mother was so weak." Reena wished she could seize the Red but that would weaken her power base. One untried Holder was enough. "Speak not of my mother for ye did not know her or what she did. What is past cannot be changed."

"Why must we leave Pala? Let her come to us." Waika crossed her arms in a defiant manner.

"And ye would have her come in full power rather than destroy her while she is weak," Reena said. "Ye are a fool."

"Why all this talk of destroying her?" Gila asked. "Should ye not ask her to work with us? Still, I don't