But neither was hers to claim. “Oh, Colene, I would never—”
“I know you wouldn’t. Seqiro showed me how you feel and how you are. You’re better than me in every way, especially decency. You have the kind of honor Darius has, and I don’t. But the choice may not be yours to make. It may be theirs.”
Nona felt the tears on her face. “Colene, I—”
“I dreamed you married Darius, and I’m not fool enough to think it can’t happen.”
Nona stared at her, stricken.
“So I guess you can see why I don’t want you on the Virtual Mode,” the girl continued relentlessly. “Because if you go there, I’m doomed.”
“Of course. I will remain here. I will be queen.” But it was grief, not joy, in the decision.
NEXT morning they reached the next rad. This one they would be able to traverse in minutes. It was only, according to Colene’s alien measurement, about one mile in diameter. It seemed to be roughly parallel to the hugely looming grandparent rad, /R3, which was itself in a similar relation to R1, the Body of Oria. But their feet pointed straight down toward the center of /R5. Colene seemed to be adjusting, mainly by not looking up.
There were trees and brush here, the same size as on the main planet. The sizes of things were in scale with their worlds, but this was not a separate world, only a projection of a world. They stayed under the trees when they could, avoiding exposure. Then, as they approached /R6, which was about the size of the despots’ castle at home, they paused. For there, circling lazily above it, was a buzzard.
“That may be a despot familiar,” Nona whispered.
“Well, they have to be watching the sites,” Colene said. “Probably just one despot each, so as not to use too many personnel and give away the fact that there’s something important there.” Nona was having very little difficulty understanding her now, because during their close association of the past day and night their mental rapport had been enhanced. The girl saw them as rivals for a man, but Nona liked Colene as well as she liked Darius or Seqiro. She wished she could have them all for friends. She knew Colene would not understand that, however.
So she addressed the external problem instead. “Yes, of course. But one despot male will be enough to counter me. I had thought at first that Darius would be here to conjure him away, or Seqiro, to give him a bad mind. Alone, I fear I can not accomplish my mission.”
“Well, you aren’t exactly alone, you know.”
Nona looked at her. “I apologize; I did not mean to disparage you. But you lack the magic of the others, and I fear that only strong magic will suffice.”
“I have a little magic, remember,” the girl said. “We’re talking, aren’t we?”
“Yes, of course; you are getting the mind-magic. But my mind is open to you, and we know each other; we are attuned. Can you communicate with a strange despot?”
Colene grimaced. “I don’t think so. And I sure couldn’t stop him, anyway. So maybe I’m not much use. But maybe I can do something. If worse comes to worst, maybe we can get Darius back in here to take out that despot.”
“If his coming doesn’t bring other despots.”
“Yeah. Let me try.” She concentrated, evidently reaching out mentally.
Meanwhile, Nona made a new spell of nothingness to cover them. She could have changed her own appearance somewhat, using the magic Keli had taught her, but that would not conceal them. The familiar would be able to smell them, so invisibility wouldn’t be effective long either, unless she took out the bird, but it might help against an inattentive despot.
“Good God!” the girl exclaimed. “It’s Naylor!”
Nona was surprised. “The knave?”
“I must’ve tuned in to him, some, before, without realizing! That’s one joker I’ll never forget. He tried to rape me!”
Nona remembered the memory-vision of rape Seqiro had shown her. “That is horrible, Colene! Then you are afraid of him.”
“Afraid, hell! I want his ass on a burning-hot poker!”
The images were obscure, but the emotion came through. It was not fear but anger the girl felt. Unfortunately anger was not sufficient. If Knave Naylor saw Colene again, he would surely use his magic to incapacitate her, and then he would finish what he had started before. And Nona still would not be able to complete her mission, because he would be able to stun Colene and then turn against Nona. “We dare not approach him,” Nona said.
Colene was quiet for a while. Then she spoke with a grimness that was almost frightening. “The way I see it, we have to get this job done. Because otherwise you won’t be queen, and the rest of us won’t be able to get away from this reality. We’ll be stuck forever in the universe of Julia, and you will take my man and horse from me, no matter how hard you try not to. So I’m going to have to use my nerve.”
“Your nerve? Colene, you may have courage, but that will not stop a despot! And this one—surely he lusts for you yet, and is angry. You must not let him see you.”
“You got it backwards, sister. He must not see you. So he won’t know you’re here. He must see me. I’m perfect to distract him, because of his grudge against me. I’ll be the last decoy. I’ll lead him off the site, so you can go there and do your thing while he’s trying to do his thing with me.”
“But Colene! He will rape you!”
“I’ve been raped before,” the girt said. “If I can fight enough to take his whole attention long enough, you can finish. Then the power will be yours, and you can destroy him. I won’t say it’s a way I like, but it’s our best bet.”
“I could not ask you to do that!” Nona protested. “It was bad enough when Stave undertook my breedings, and he—he really wanted to be with those women. You don’t want it at all. You hate rape. Your loathing and rage are coming through to me. It is the worst possible risk for you.”
“That’s why it takes nerve,” Colene said. “Suicidal nerve. The truth is, I have a deathwish, and it drives me to flirt with death and destruction. And rape. Same thing, maybe. I don’t like it, but I can’t help it. I’m not nice like you. I’ve got to try this. But you’d better be quick with your mission, because after I lose, you lose too. He won’t stop with one—not when the other looks like you. Not when it’s the fate of all the despots on the line.”
“But—”
“Make me visible. You stay invisible. When I get him off the point, you go there. You don’t need me to count off, any more. /R7 will be the seventh around /R6, the way we’ve been counting, and it’ll be only the size of your two hands splayed. /R8 will be smaller than your little fingernail. /R9 will be too small for you to see. But you’ll know where it is. Get on it, woman.”
Nona liked no part of this, but was helpless against the girl’s determination. It was a possible solution, and if she could act quickly enough, she might succeed.
Colene, visible, walked to the crevice between /R5 and /R6, stopping at the edge of the little ring-sea there. She reached up and touched /R6, then drew up her feet. In a moment she was standing on /R6, her head pointed toward /R5. She had learned the way of it.
Nona, invisible, flew up toward /R7, landing a short distance from it. Colene was right: there was evil Knave Naylor, sitting on /R7 and looking supremely bored. He was using his magic to make ants float away from their nest, struggling, to land in the puddle circling the base of the rad. Every so often his eyes would go vague, and she knew he was drawing instead on the vision of the familiar, searching for anyone who might be approaching. He was hardly working at it, not expecting anything to happen. But the moment he did spy anything, he would be formidable. The knave might not be a nice man, but be did have passions.