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hand. After a moment, she began to weep.
"Afraid of what?" Lyota asked, surprised.
"I... I don't want to give up my hope, Lyota. None of us do. That's all we
have, is hope that someday... Someday, perhaps... Things will be better,"
Pelia replied, and sobbed. The other women with her nodded, some sighing, some
weeping.
"I... I don't understand, mother," Lyota said softly.
Pelia sighed, sniffling. "Do you remember he said... Like a birth, the early
stages of our new civilization's life will be painful?"
"Yes, Mother."
"For us, these birthing pains are literal. We discussed this years ago, when I
was pregnant with you, and we discussed it even before then... When there were
still men among us. There is little choice - each of us of the White Mountain
Healers must give birth to one child about every five years for the next
several centuries. This is necessary just to give the new Hyperborean race a
large enough population to be able to survive on it's own. We refused the men,
because we did not like the idea of becoming merely millstones they used to
grind out the next generation. Lyota, we... We were still trying to come to
terms with the shock of it all... Everything we knew was gone, destroyed, and
crumbled to dust. The men grew desperate, and tried to abduct some of us, to
simply rape us over and over to produce the next generation. Eddas saved us
from that... And we are eternally grateful. Yet... Perhaps... Perhaps if we
had not refused them that first time... Perhaps they might not have become
Eddas' enemies. Perhaps they might have eventually adjusted to the shock of
the devastation... Perhaps they might not have become desperate... Perhaps...
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Perhaps..." she said, her voice trailing off into sobs.
Kylae nodded. "Lyota, you live here, and accept the lands of Hyperborea you
see around you as being normal. Your mother, your father and all the rest of
us remember it differently. You've seen Wilanda city... It was once a vast and
beautiful city teeming with a quarter of a million people, not just a few
stones poking out from among the grass of the forest. The village of Dohbari
was a quaint and beautiful little place, not just a few scattered stones
surrounded by the huts of giants. There was a whole civilization, Lyota, not
merely a few hundred humans living among ruins."
Yoria and Hala nodded, while Pylota comforted Pelia. Fylass looked up to
Lyota, and sighed. "I suppose we've all been afraid, Lyota. Afraid that if we
truly acknowledged your father's change was permanent... That we would have to
admit everything was gone. It's as your mother said, we've all been living on
the hope that somehow... If we could just hold on... Things would be better,
someday. Yes, we refused the men. And I still think we were right to refuse
them. And when I think about how I was taken away by force, stripped and
geased to remain silent, and then tossed in a cell to be used at their whim
once they had figured out how to capture the rest of us..." Fylass shook her
head. "No, we made the right decision. And yet..." Fylass said, and sighed.
Pelia sniffled, and wiped her eyes. "And that is how it is for all of us, my
daughter. We wait and hope and pray that perhaps, someday, your father's
rightful form will be restored. Perhaps, someday, if we can just hold on long
enough, things will be alright again."
Lyota sighed. "Things will be alright again, someday, mother. Someday, we of
the Second Generation and all those who follow will build a civilization
again. We talk about it, you know."
"You do?" Pelia asked.
"Yes. We talk about it a lot. We have many plans. Nice, comfortable houses,
raised with the power of sorcery, cooled in summer and warmed in winter with
sorcery... Gardens tended by cute little golems - Myota can't wait until she
is able to make golems, you know. She wants to make a scarecrow that can run
around the fields and scare off the birds properly. She's only eight, but she
has a head full of dreams," Lyota said, and smiled. "We all do, really. Your
dreams, your hopes, given to us."
"That would be wonderful," Pelia said, smiling, and the others nodded.
"Yes, but... Mother, Father will never change back into a man. Ever. This is
his form, from now until the end of time. Without him, all of you would be
dead, sleeping in your tombs. Without him, I and all of us of the Second
Generation would never have been born. Without him, our people would be
nothing more than a brief note in a history book, and a quiet song sung by
Auntie Joy's people over silent, broken stones. Don't leave him alone, and
miserable. We owe him better than that. I..." Lyota said, her voice trailing
off into silence.
I sighed. "Enough. Go now, all of you. Go back to Iolo Mountain, and tell the
others I am alright. Spread the word to all that I am alright, so all the
giants and elves and dwarves and gods-know-who-else you got to help you find
me will stop worrying. The rest of this discussion is probably one you should
have among yourselves, without being embarrassed by having me listen in on
every word. Tell the children what I've decided - when each of them achieves
the rank of Master, I will teach them the spell they need to know to produce
their own children. You'll have to explain it to them, and judging by Lyota's
feelings you've a lot of explaining to do. Go. Now."
"Yes, Eddas," Pelia said, bowing her head.
"Farewell, Father," Lyota said, hugging me tight. I gave each of my courtesans
a hug, and after a few more brief farewells, they joined hands, and Pelia cast
her spell of returning. In a moment, only Joy and I remained.
I sat down with a sigh, pouring myself another cup of byallar, then looked to
Joy. "Would you like a cup?"
"Yes, please," Joy replied. After taking a moment to fetch a cup from the
cupboard, she sat next to me at the table. I poured a cup for her, and we sat
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together in silence, sipping at our cups.
"By the gods, Joy," I said, and sighed. "My heart feels like it's been wrung
dry with all that's happened this evening."
Joy nodded. "I know. Kiriin told me a bit about what had happened while we
waited for your courtesans to ready themselves. They wanted to be perfect for
you, you know."
"I suppose they would."
Joy smiled. "Since you seem to be giving birth to a new race of people, I'm
glad I was able to midwife a bit, and help it go a bit smoother. I've had a
feeling for years your original idea wouldn't work, you know - and I told you
that before. To the children, you are their father, whether you wish it or
not."
"You were right, Joy - and I thank you for your help, this evening. Things
were said that needed to be said. I thank you."
Joy smiled from behind her cup. "You are welcome. Tell me, though..." Joy
said, pausing to sip at her byallar. "What happened with the mirror,
exactly?"
I sighed, and told Joy what had happened, including what I realized about my
relationship with Dyarzi afterward.
"She's right, you know, Old Man. You should let her go, and move on with your
life. And you were right, too. Your memories of her were colored by time and
love. She probably wouldn't have been happy as your wife, had she lived." [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]