The Two Sides of a Sword

Chapter Fifteen

Lindka waved at him, then turned to smile at the other two, switching her language to Valicara. "Welcome to my garden. It's so good to see you again, Kofi. How have your travels been?"

He grinned at her. "Wonderful. You look as beautiful as ever, Lindka. You know, it's never too late to go on an adventure with me." His tone was playful, almost flirty as he winked at her. "It got lonely out there."

She giggled. "I'm sure it did. It seems you have this sweet girl too keep you company though." She nodded at Rocki.

I don't think anyone has called me that besides my grandparents. It sounds weird coming from someone who looks to be about my age. I think I should just settle on the fact that aliens are weird to me.

"Rocki? No, I don't think she enjoys my company very much. I had to practically drag her away with me." Kofi bumped her arm with his elbow teasingly.

"You did kidnap me," Rocki muttered behind her mask, taking a half-step away. She turned her speaking translator Valicara to fit in with the other two.

Lindka raised her eyebrows and glanced at him expectantly. He cleared his throat. "I mean... technically, yes. But it wasn't out of any sort of malice, so does it really count?" He grinned. "She's a savioress, Lindka. I brought her here because we were hoping now that we have one perhaps something changed—maybe there is something you can tell us about how to end the war?"

Lindka's breath caught as she looked at Rocki. "Truly? Oh!" She picked up Rocki's hands to squeeze them. "I thought I would never be able to see you again. It's almost time for me to move again and I didn't know if the valicara or sariun would be able to find me. It's not safe for me to visit them, but I was tempted to do so if it meant I would get to meet you and your sister. Where is your sister?"

Rocki tried not to feel too uncomfortable with her hands in Lindka's, but she couldn't help feel awkward as she stole one of her hands back to lower her mask. "The sariun have her. They grabbed her when Kofi grabbed me, and we couldn't get to her."

Her face dropped solemnly, but her eyes drifted distantly somewhere over Rocki's shoulder. "Oh... one savioress on each side..."

Kofi waited for a long moment to speak. "Any visions?"

She blinked and smiled at him. "I'm afraid not, just lost in thought. But I can see if I can dredge up something for the two of you." She drifted over to a spot in her garden and sat on the ground, patting the dirt in front of her invitingly.

The ground here is softer. I wonder if that's natural or if she did something to it. Rocki followed Kofi's lead and sat in front of the seer.

"Let's talk about your parents," Lindka said to her. "Maybe that will put my abilities into the right mood. What do you know about them?"

She shrugged. "I don't know anything about my biological parents other than one is valicara and one is sariun. Aley and I were adopted when we were babies, so we don't remember anything."

Lindka nodded slowly. "I see. Well, I didn't know them very well, but I saw many visions about them. Your father, Malinkshi'Juriosh'Lorennep, was a valicara through and through. He loved medicine—always trying better ways to heal people and fixing them up. Mal was scientific and straight-forward. Nothing was more important to him than his discoveries. Your mother, however, was a fire-hearted sariun. Her name was FyneVeeaKrea. She was passionate about her family, her species, and her animals. She was always avoiding weapon training by being in the forests with her pets because she sought the peace of the wild rather than the war of her people.

"They met where the wood ends and the desert begins. Mal was about to enter sariun territory to find plants for his next venture and Krea was out playing with her daekee—a big four-legged creature that one can ride if tamed.