The Best of All Possible Worlds Page 4

  “Very well,” Bradford growled, “you may continue with…the bo…D17, but Dawkins will be receiving a sample before the end of the week. Have her begin the altering…sequencing, whatever the hell you call it, straight away. I assume she can work on two projects simultaneously?” Bradford questioned and began moving toward the door before receiving an answer.

  “And in eighteen months the boy dies. Jesus Christ Crane, he could be anybody!”

  III

  “Religion is a creation of Man, not God.”

  Galen Dawkins

  May 12th 3217 Noble Island

  They arrived on Noble in the middle of the great square in Herra. As the twins stepped through the bridge, the High Tarina Nystrom nodded and glided forward to greet them.

  The High Tarina was old, but she still moved with fluid grace. She welcomed the twins with a warm smile, for she was no stranger to either Arnot or Avigail. For as long as the twins could remember she’d been a frequent visitor to their home on the King’s Island, though neither had spent much time with her.

  “Welcome Arnot,” Nystrom said reaching out both hands in greeting. “We’ve been anxiously awaiting your arrival.”

  Arnot immediately stepped up and took the High Tarina’s hand.

  “A pleasure,” he answered all smiles and then glanced around the square, which was packed with the citizens of Noble.

  Avigail moved forward a bit more slowly, bowing slightly, before taking the woman’s free hand. “High Tarina,” she said with a small curtsy then turned and watched as the bridge dissolved silently behind the Traveler Gaston, sadly taking Lato with it.

  “Welcome Avigail,” the High Tarina repeated. “Master Renault speaks very highly of you,” she added.

  Avi smiled. “I’m glad. I would like to return to Lato someday.”

  Nystrom nodded. “And perhaps you shall, but not until we’ve completed your education here on Noble.”

  With great effort Avigail refrained from frowning. ‘Education!’ She thought scornfully, but even at the tender age of seventeen she knew enough to keep such thoughts to herself.

  “With that I would like to introduce you to your true teacher. She will guide you for the next three years,” Nystrom said and motioned to the woman standing next to her. “This is Tarina Valencia.”

  Both twins stood silently side by side, their mouths slightly agape. The Tarina Vio Valencia’s name was nearly legendary. Not only had she fought beside their father in the Just War, but she was also the youngest person ever to be elevated to the rank of Tar. Her fighting skills were renowned and in her early teaching career a great many of the students in her quarter also went on to graduate and become Tars. Her record was unmatched throughout history, though she’d taught for less than a decade. In recent years, she lived and studied among the Solitaries at the base of Mount Erato, and it was thought that despite her youth, she would soon join them permanently.

  Tarina Valencia moved forward, looking stern. “You’ve both grown since the last time I saw you.”

  Arnot frowned.

  “We’ve met?” Avigail asked, also confused. As far as she knew Tarina Valencia had never been to the King’s Island despite yearly invitations from their father. Her rejections were something of a scandal, but their father never seemed to notice the slight.

  Vio smiled for the briefest moment. “Long ago, when you were mere babes,” she answered and then turned to stare at Arnot. At first she said nothing, just looked at him with an intensity that caused the boy to blush and look down at his feet, obviously flustered.

  Avigail was surprised and intrigued by the brief encounter. Arnot was seldom out of control, especially when the opposite sex was concerned, and for the first time Avigail decided that perhaps she just might have something to learn on Noble.

  “I trust you’ve learned your lessons well from Weapons Master Bethany Tremain,” Vio stated. Arnot was now grinning again, already back in control and reasserting his cocky manner.

  “Yes, as well as from our father,” he answered.

  Vio turned her steady gaze on him once more. “Very well,” she added and began to walk off. “Come,” she commanded without looking back. The twins hesitated for a moment and looked quickly from Traveler Gaston to the High Tarina and back, but they both nodded and smiled.

  “Come on,” Arnot whispered and hurried after their quickly retreating teacher, all the while pulling on Avigail’s hand.

  Vio walked rapidly through the town toward the north, her mind in turmoil. For the last sixteen years she’d purposefully stayed completely away from Gwaynn and the King’s Island in the hopes of healing her wounded heart. She had succeeded to a degree but in space of a few seconds all the scar tissue that had built up was ripped away. When Arnot first stepped through the bridge Vio suffered a moment of deep confusion.

  ‘Gwaynn!’ She thought before quickly realizing her mistake. ‘No not Gwaynn, but the resemblance was remarkable. Well he’d better be as good as his father,’ Vio added to herself. She had no intention of making life on Noble easy for either twin.

  Without pause, they marched straight through Herra, all three ignoring the curious looks they were getting from the citizens they passed on the way. As royalty, the twins were quite accustomed to unwarranted attention being lavished on them and paid it no mind.

  “Master…master,” Avigail spoke up as they moved through the outskirts of the largest town on Noble. They’d been walking now for nearly half an hour. “Master Valencia, aren’t we headed for the student quarters?”

  Vio shook her head and continued to walk. “No, you will not be training with the other students,” she replied briskly and as if on cue two women emerged from the trees in the distance. Both were on horseback and they were leading another three horses behind them. As Arnot and Avigail approached the strangers broke out into wide smiles.

  “Arnot and Avigail Massi,” Vio said simply, “meet the Solitaries Nyx and N’dori.”

  The twins looked at the two Solitaires with awe until the women began to softly chuckle.

  ‘You can always tell a Solitary because they giggle like school girls,’ Avigail remembered her father telling her one summer day a few years back. Apparently he was not teasing her, as she’d suspected at the time.

  Vio climbed aboard a striking pinto, while Arnot took a dapple gray mare, leaving Avigail with a large roan gelding.

  “You look like your father…both of you,” the Solitary N’dori said to them and they both smiled at her.

  The two Solitaries laughed again, causing Vio to scowl, much to the bewilderment of the twins. And they did look like Gwaynn, too much for Vio’s comfort. The boy, though taller, was nearly an exact copy of Gwaynn at his age, same dark complexion, same long tousled black hair, and same dark eyes smoldering beneath the ridges of his thick black eyebrows. The girl had her father’s look as well, though her complexion was on the fair side, undoubtedly coming from her mother. But her eyes were also very dark and her hair was just as black. Even the soft fine hair on her arms was dark and visible. Yes, it was very obvious she’s was Gwaynn’s child as well.

  With a wave from each, N’dori and Nyx turned their horses and headed off toward the lone mountain on the island, but Vio made no move to follow.

  “See you at the Competitions,” N’dori added and the two were soon lost in the foliage.

  Both Arnot and Avigail remained quiet, each wondering just where they would end up on the island.

  Vio did nothing to enlighten them. “Come,” was all she said and led them down a narrow path that ran to the north before being lost in the deep forest.

  They rode in silence through much of the morning, Avigail thinking of Lato and Arnot having fantasies about fighting the woman who rode before him. The Tarina Valencia rode with her back straight and her head high, her long black hair hung down to the middle of her back. Her shoulders were narrow and small and her body thin and lithe for an older woman. Arnot wondered how fast she would be…word had it that
she was very, very fast.

  Sometime in the early afternoon they stopped next to a small stream to water the horses and share a bit of fruit Vio carried in her bag. The twins were both a bit tired of riding; the path they were on was very narrow and the forest was thick with tangles and heavy branches, making travel difficult, but once they started out again the pathway opened up and the trees began to thin. Arnot and Avigail chatted idly about their surroundings and asked a few questions, but Vio remained taciturn so they soon stopped their questions. Near sundown they finally emerged from the trees and rode out onto the sandy beaches of the northern shore. Still Vio said nothing and turned immediately to the west. They rode only about a mile farther before a group of cabins appeared around bend. Outside there was an elderly man standing alone, seemingly waiting for them.

  Vio pulled her horse to a stop before the man who reached up and took the reins from her.

  “You had a pleasant ride?” the man asked, his bright eyes shining with happiness as he looked from the twins to the Tarina.

  “Yes Nolan. The ride was fine,” Vio said dismounting and stretching her back.

  “And the young Master and Missus. How do you like Noble?” Nolan asked and shuffled over to help Avigail from her horse.

  “It’s beautiful,” Avigail answered. Arnot said nothing, and just stood watching Vio.

  “We need food,” Vio told Nolan, who nodded. “Cara has the meal ready,” he answered then turned to the twins. “Cara’s my wife,” he added in explanation.

  “That’s good,” Vio answered, already feeling better now that she was at home. “Our guests need to eat and be shown to their quarters. We’ll start their education very early in the morning.”

  Nolan chuckled and looked at the twins with just a trace of sympathy. “This way,” he added and led them toward the largest of the three buildings.

  †

  Vio stood on the beach in the dark of the early morning and listened to the waves gliding gently up onto the shore. She’d spent a relatively restless night meditating and trying to understand her body’s reaction to the arrival of the twins…most notably Arnot. As usual there were no easy answers forthcoming, but long after midnight she finally decided that the boy was not his father and she would not treat him as such. She knew she’d been cold and distant to her new pupils the previous day and determined that such behavior from a Tarina of Noble was not acceptable. Today she would begin to make amends, after of course, she ran the twins like dogs.

  Nolan was inside waking the children as Vio waited outside, slightly impatient. She had her back to the cabins, but turned as the door squeaked open. Through the backlight of the lamp inside, she could tell neither twin carried katas and was gratified. Gwaynn had no doubt told them a few stories of his own experience on Noble, so they probably had a good idea of what was coming.

  “Good morn,” she greeted them standing in the cool sand, her figure lit by light cast from the doorway. She offered the twins a tentative smile, but if they smiled back she could not tell for their own faces were obscured by darkness. The sky to the east was well into the transition from the black of night to the purple of breaking dawn, but it would still be a quarter of an hour before it was light enough to run and another equal measure before the sun topped the horizon.

  The door to the cabin slammed shut, very loud in the still of the morning.

  “Sorry mum,” Nolan commented as he shuffled back to the cabin he shared with his wife. Vio knew they would have a large breakfast waiting for them on their return.

  “Time to stretch,” she said simply and motioned for the twins to sit in front of her while she sank into the sand, her every movement studied and refined.

  Vio began with a series of stretches. She concentrated mostly on their legs, in particularly on the thigh muscles front and back, but also on the calves. The twins copied her movements with little difficulty and with an air of boredom and Vio smiled. She remembered how such things seemed to be a waste of time when she was their age, but the exercises would give them time to fully wake up. Their youthful bodies were naturally limber and elastic…but they would not always be so; as they aged, stretching would become vitally important if they wanted to stave off injury.

  She led them through a host of sitting exercises and then gracefully stood. The twins followed suit with an air of expectation and Arnot’s stomach growled loudly in quiet.

  Vio chuckled. “We will eat after our run,” she commented and bent over to stretch out her calves. The twins followed suit.

  “How far will we run?” Avigail asked tentatively.

  “Not far,” Vio answered. “We’ll run west along the beach to the mouth of the Parm River and then back…about ten miles in all.”

  Neither twin made any comment. They were both used to running long distances. From a very young age they ran with Master Bethany and sometimes, when he wasn’t busy with matters of state, they ran with their father as well. By his manner, Avigail could tell Arnot was anxious to be on the go.

  ‘If Vio was not careful she would be beaten on her first run with her new student,’ Avigail thought and was surprised that she was actually rooting for her brother. Arnot was fast. He was a natural at everything physical, with a spirit that refused to accept defeat. And while Avigail was nearly equal in ability, she’d found early on that she had to cultivate the drive to win. In most physical endeavors, she found she just didn’t care, or at least care enough to challenge Arnot. Oh, there were times as they were growing up that she wanted desperately to put her brother in his place, and on occasion she could surprise him, but without the sustained yearning to win she could not hope to do so repeatedly. Arnot was just too good.

  When the light of the rising sun finally became strong enough to run safely, Vio led the twins closer to the water’s edge.

  “Please run your best,” she said and was suddenly struck by how much Avigail resembled her mother. While her hair and eyes were dark like her father’s, her cheeks and facial structure was much more like Samantha’s. Somehow this calmed Vio’s nerves. The two were not all Gwaynn…there was a bit of the Fultan’s in them as well. “I want a fair evaluation of your abilities,” she added and without another word they started off.

  They ran side by side for nearly the first mile before Vio slowly began to pick up the pace and the twins began to fall back. Arnot took up position directly behind his new teacher, while Avigail slowly fell farther behind, but as the sun rose behind them Vio could still make out two elongated shadows, the first was nearly as long as her own, though the second was just a head. The trailing shadow held its position for a time, then Vio again picked up the pace and there were only two.

  Along with the accompanying shadow, Vio could hear the breathing of the twin who was following closely behind. She purposefully did not look back and was not sure exactly which twin was trailing so close, though she was beginning to have her suspicions. Whoever it was, she was surprised; she was setting a very fast pace. She was even more surprised when at the turn her shadow was still directly behind her. It was Arnot!

  Vio immediately spotted Avigail running toward her. The girl was trailing but not by much, only perhaps fifty yards. Vio was shocked at the performance of both the twins. ‘Well let’s see if they can continue to surprise on the way back,’ she thought and once again increased her pace.

  Running into the sun, Vio could no longer see the shadows but she could still hear Arnot behind her. She picked up the pace again until she was running just as fast as she was able, but how long she could keep it up she did not know. As she raced down the beach toward home, incredibly Arnot continued to hold his position directly behind her. It did not seem possible. Ever since her younger student days, Vio had been the preeminent runner on the island. She’d won the long run during her last four competitions and had not been beaten since, in fact, she was rarely even challenged. But as the cabins came into view perhaps a half a mile away, Vio realized she was being seriously challenged and for a brief moment
Arnot actually pulled even with her, but with an effort she’d not needed in a very long time, Vio surged ahead and ended up winning by a mere ten feet. Directly after reaching the finish, she collapsed into the sand…utterly shocked. She took no satisfaction from the fact that Arnot dropped nearby breathing heavily and retching up the bile from his empty stomach. For several long minutes neither was able to speak. Avigail joined them a few moments later; she’d been trailing only by a hundred yards or so. Even the girl’s performance was more than Vio could have anticipated and she had little doubt Avigail’s time would have won many a past competition. Vio was beside herself as she finally caught her breath enough to roll over. She looked up to find Nolan hovering above her, clearly concerned.

  Vio started to laugh at his expression, but then erupted in a fit of coughing which continued for several moments, then on shaky legs she stood, gratified that at least she did not throw up like each of her new students.

  Nolan handed her a cup of water and after a moment Vio began sipping at it. She moved first to Avigail and offered the young girl a drink.

  “Slowly,” Vio said and Avigail obeyed, then Vio moved to Arnot who was now sitting and staring up at her with awe. She took another cup from Nolan and bent to hand it to Arnot.

  “You’re fast!” He said and took the water from her.

  Vio laughed. “So are you…both of you. Faster than your father anyway…and he was fairly fast.”

  Arnot smiled. “I beat father for the first time when I was twelve. I haven’t lost a race since…at least until now.”

  “I believe it,” Vio commented and reached out a hand and helped the boy to his feet. The two moved toward Avigail and both helped her up. They walked back down the beach together cooling down and as they drank their water while Nolan shadowed them, always anxious to give more.