The Son of Thunder

Genesis

Shawna lifted the man with her back and threw him over her shoulder. As soon as he crashed to the ground, she plunged in her dagger and was met with a cheer from the crowd. Thundonia was still an infant land, but it was growing and even the Star Children were shuddering at the odd collection of renegades. A smile stole over Shawna's lips as she observed them, her motley riffraff.

Just then, she was paralyzed by the sight of a Star Child. No mistake, this was a Star Child. She possessed every mark of the race. She had hair so pale it was white, she was no more than fifteen, and her eyes were the shade of the sky. She wore white robes and at her neck was a birthcross. Shawna even caught sight of the moon and star symbol on the palm of her left hand, as if the Child was intentionally exposing herself. The Thundonians didn't accost her, nor did any stand next to her. She was shorter than the Thundonians crowding to keep their distance, but taller than the average Star Child. She wasn't the only female in the arena, but nearly so. Shawna knew who she had to be. Even Thundonians respected Constana the Great.

Shawna turned abruptly, climbed the lattice of the Playground and exited through the ruler's box. She used to sit in the loge alone, but since the Warrior debacle, Shawna had chosen Beast to be her advisor and second in command. Beast whooshed to his feet, rushed after Shawna and ignored the cheering people still crammed in the arena.

"Constana the Great, Shawna—" Beast gasped, rushing to keep up with her.

"I know," Shawna said.

"What in the world does she want?"

Shawna sniggered. "What else? To make peace with the savages."

Beast bobbed his head, laughed eagerly with Shawna.

* * * * *

Shawna adjusted the oil lamp on her desk. The guard who'd written this report had poor handwriting. She squinted trying to make it out. She had a heap of scrolls to manage and couldn't waste time deciphering them. Her scrolls included reports on crime, status of the citizens, petitions, proposed law changes and challenges. Those who had an ambition to rule should have seen the amount of paperwork that came with it. She'd had to learn to read just to deal with it all.

One of the guards knocked on the door. His name was Necessity. He was one of the first Thundonians initiated by Shawna. She considered him the most loyal of all the men who had been initiated. It didn't matter that she didn't know his real name. As far as she was concerned, Necessity didn't exist before he was a Thundonian.

"Shawna, Constana the Great wishes to see you."

"Send her away." Shawna went back to her scroll. She expected Necessity to take the hint and leave. When he lingered, Shawna repeated, "Send her away," enunciating each word so he couldn't misunderstand.

Necessity hesitated, then he numbly left the room. But only for a moment. He returned, his face much paler, his eyes large as fists and his lips pursed as though fighting to keep silent. Shawna didn't relish lifting her head from her scrolls again. Her eyes drilled into him.

"She won't leave."

"Then let her stand out there. Push her beyond the gates when it's time to close up the mountain. She may stand there until her legs fall off if she likes."

Necessity's lip quivered. He inched forward. "She says she wants to speak to you about your brother."

"I have no brother," Shawna said, busying herself with a stray scroll, one that was to her left, nothing she'd thought of dealing with. She wasn't sure what she was attacking when she lifted the parchment. It absorbed her attention.

Necessity sucked in his lips, his face turning r****h red and his eyes glistening with tears. "Please, Shawna."

Still she ignored him.

"At least, make her go away."

Shawna glared up at him. The change of her countenance had been so abrupt that he fell to his knees and started apologizing for his disobedience.

"I'll make her go away. I'll do it. Don't trouble yourself. I'll go to her."

Necessity did not return that evening. But the following morning he was at her door again.

"She makes the same plea."

Shawna had slept well, but was going to find that difficult if this continued very long. The badgering was tedious. "Send her away."

For several days, Necessity avoided Shawna. She hoped, rather than believed, that Constana the Great had given up. Everyone in Thundonia (and in Valley of the Star) knew about Coran. Necessity would have been most interested to hear news of this man, but wisely, he had not approached Shawna about it again.

Instead, Shawna was harassed everywhere she went. Whispers were circulating through Thundonia about Constana the Great, but none of them included conjectures of Coran and Shawna's shame. Necessity had not told anyone her business and probably had been intelligent enough not to ask Constana for more details. Or she was wise enough not to divulge any. Shawna didn't doubt that Constana was still coming to Thundonia, was probably milling through the market, making her presence known, buying from stands of those who were more concerned with profit than tribism. And very likely Necessity had learned to keep Constana's visits from Shawna.

* * * * *

"Shawna," Necessity said, swallowing. Perspiration coated his forehead. It was not because the environment was so sweltering or the torches were all lit.

Shawna lifted her head. They were different scrolls before her, but they were the same matters. It was as if the world had stopped between the last interruption. How quickly two moons had passed. "Necessity."

"Constana the Great has given me a message for you."

Shawna closed her eyes and rubbed her fingers over the bridge of her nose. Torches casted shadows over her face. When it was clear he wouldn't tell her until he was prompted, she asked, "What is it?"

"She said your denials are now correct. You no longer have a brother. She wishes to speak to you."

She bent her head to her work. "Send her away."

"Shawna—"

"AWAY!"

Necessity whirled out of Shawna's office, slamming the door behind him. Shawna tumbled out of her chair, sank to her knees and began to cry. She didn't know why. Coran was no one to her. She didn't even remember him. With all her soul, she hated him. He was the one who announced that he had a sister. He had gotten her and their mother exiled. It was his fault that their mother died in the wilderness, leaving an orphaned Shawna to fend for herself. He deserved no tears or mourning, and yet Shawna crawled on the floor of her office and sobbed. She heaved into the dust. If she could hit somebody—she should go to the Pit, torment the prisoners until this prickling stopped. If only she could get this anger out. She fell back on the ground and looked at the ceiling of her headquarters. By will, she swallowed what was left of her tears. She told Clam that she was unwell and would not be dining, and then she went to bed.

As soon as Shawna rose, she was renewed. She had slept the night through and had been free of dreams. She walked down the streets and in the marketplace and marveled at the stands and the rooms carved into the interior of the mountain. She reveled in Thundonia in a way she hadn't for annae.

Thundonia was Shawna's handiwork. She and a handful of misfits had sought shelter in the cave in the side of this mountain. Before long, more refugees had joined them. The cave was small and cramped. Many gaped at a child alone, but Shawna was part rashaman. At Shawna's order, they tunneled deep in the cave and made rooms and halls. She remembered hammering at the walls with a piece of granite. She was surrounded by others doing the same. Her fingers bled from flecks of rock flying back at her. Soon this band of misfits had carved out the whole of the mountain and Shawna herself was declared leader. Who better to lead them than an innocent child who had been punished by the Star Children for the wrongs of her parents?

Shawna twirled as she walked through the streets. The Thundonians stopped and gawked at her.

* * * * *

"Shawna."

"Go away, Necessity."

How mind-numbing that this ritual perpetuated. Shawna wouldn't miss the piercing headache that started the moment Necessity's voice rang out.

"Shawna, it makes me miserable to distress you, but Constana the Great is most persistent. She says she wishes to speak to you of your kin."

"I have no kin."

"She said to reply that kin has you even if you do not have them."

Shawna made a gruesome growl into the surface of her desk. Was she not deluged with work? Did Constana not run Valley of the Star? She must know the obligations of running a land.

"Please, Shawna, make her go away once and for all." Necessity gazed at her, sympathy writ on his face. It was possible that he found this all as tiresome as she did. "Really, Shawna, could it be so bad to listen to what she has to say?"

Shawna's eyes were cruel, but Necessity was a bystander and didn't deserve the malice she cursed him with. Shawna was learning what all of the enemies of the Star Children had learned. It was easier to yield to Constana than to resist her. After this was over, Shawna could go back to hating the woman and her people.

"Send her in."

Necessity bowed before leaving. He returned with her purest, Priestess Constana the Great. Shawna rose as a matter of etiquette. She had a margin of respect for the woman, but it didn't mean she forgave her for being a nagging Star Child. Necessity escorted her to Shawna's desk, nodded to Shawna, then closed the door as he left.

"So you are here. So I am seeing you. What do you want?" She flopped into the chair.

More carefully, Constana walked to a seat and lowered herself into it. "First and foremost, I wish to apologize to you."

Shawna grunted. Exasperating wench. She had no patience for prattle.

"You should have never been exiled." Shawna glared at the Priestess. Constana didn't flinch. "I have changed the laws because of it."

Shawna chuckled malignantly.

"Really. We now allow impure people to become Star Children."

Shawna roared, the sound too hysterical to be a laugh. "At least, you admit you're prejudiced against us non-Star Children."

"That's not what I meant," she said, her face cracking.

"I don't care what you meant. I want you out of my land. Leave me and my people at peace."

"Then allow me to finish."

Truly infuriating. Constana had stronger rashaman blood than Shawna did, but this pale-faced Child showed her youth and vulnerability like a flash of lighting flashing across the sky. Shawna was in fact only a year older than she and some modicum of sympathy nibbled at her.

Shawna put her hand out to her. Constana was collecting herself, recovering the façade of the dignitary, the woman universally acknowledged as The Great. Shawna began tapping her finger on the surface of the desk.

"Your brother and I became very close over the annae. He was still pure, even though your mother was banished. He regretted exposing you. The guilt that you and your mother had been exiled because of his error aged him."

Shawna wanted to jeer at the woman, the girl, in front of her, but she wanted her to finish and get out, so she kept quiet.

"I myself thought of the horror of what was done. You should never have been exiled. Your mother shouldn't have been either. Love is not wrong, Star Child or not."

But loving a Jesulite was very wrong and Shawna's dusty skin showed that she was definitely not fathered by a Star Child, even though she had pale hair.

"It is why I changed the law. It was a horrible abomination."

Shawna droned, "Your people are elitists. May your god forbid that an impure being ever come to your land."

"We were not elitists in the beginning. We were people of faith."

"Your people have always been elitists. Only the most pale, blue-eyed, blond- haired people were allowed to be Star Children. The lightest follow the light. And you had the Prime Rashaman and the Book, so all revered you as superior to the rest of us."

Constana lowered her eyes, a muscle in her jaw growing taut. "In the beginning, we were a family. All were naturally blond, blue-eyed, fair skin. But once we grew, we should have changed. We should have embraced others. The ways of only fair people is wrong." She swallowed with effort. "I have abolished this law." Her eyes were especially wide and wet. She punched each word out, tried to make Shawna understand.

"And how many impure ones have flocked to Valley of the Star?"

Shawna already knew the answer.

Constana's jaw was looser, but now her lip showed defeat. "Only a few. Jada, Clandellen."

Jada had dark hair and dark eyes, but their skin was fair. The Clandellen were predominantly blond, sometimes brunette, and their eye color varied. Those who could pass most easily as natural born Star Children. Not a great mixture of features.

"This is only a beginning," Constana said stubbornly. "I want to see Star Children as colorful as Thundonians."

"And I want Thundonia to be colorful without Star Children."

"I grew to love your brother."

"Half-brother."

"If you must," Constana muttered.

"I must."

Constana lowered her head. She twisted her fingers in her lap, gazed blindly. "I became his wife."

Again, Shawna burst into laughter, but now it was more smug. "So now it comes out. The secret wedding, never announcing your husband or presenting him at court. May your god forbid that you marry a man darkened by his past."

"That's not it at all. I don't care if all Valley of the Star knows the history of my husband. I embrace him. My husband refused to be presented."

"Well, he's dead now," Shawna said cheerfully, tickled with her new found intelligence. "No reason to keep it secret while he's rotting in the grave."

Constana's mouth turned down, souring her features.

Shawna announced, "Your precious Star Children would reject the match, and thus, reject you." Victory swelled her chest.

"They would come to the truth," Constana said. "One day it will be announced, but not now. Not while I'm still suffering so from his loss."

"Are you expecting pity from me?"

Humor flashed in Constana's eyes. "You must truly think me a moron."

Shawna belted out a great laugh.

"Coran said many times that he wished to heal the lesion between you and come to know you as his sister, but his spirit was weak. By the time his spirit was strong enough to act, he no longer possessed the physical strength. I am most sorry that I was unable to compel you to come with me to Valley. I wanted Coran to die in peace."

"He didn't deserve peace."

"It was an error of a child. He didn't know."

"Don't preach at me," Shawna roared. She refused to agree with this imp who appeared as a lamb. Too many seasons had passed. She would not let her present station be an excuse to forgive the Child who had done this to her.

"I am with child."

Shawna snapped to attention. She searched Constana's lean figure. She obviously was well-fed. Her form did not exhibit distress or famine. The robes were flowing. Shawna couldn't see any signs of child in her abdomen.

"I will bear Coran a son in a little under three seasons."

"A male heir?" Shawna was startled. She leaned back in her chair and goosebumps sprang to the surface of her skin. The prophecy, she thought.

"I know as much about the prophecy as you do," Constana said, a hand on her abdomen. "The first male heir of Valley of the Star. Predicted to reunite the clans. I have seen visions of my son, flashes when I sleep or when I'mworking."

Rashamen had married into the purest family multiple times over the generations. All members of the purest family had some rashaman blood. However, Shawna never got visions and was impressed that Constana did.

"The rashaman blood is vigorous in my veins," she confirmed as if she could read Shawna's mind. "I shall bear a son and I will call him Rasha. It means hope, ruler of the sun. He will be the greatest ruler to ever live and I am here to ease his way."

Through a chuckle, Shawna said, "Greatness comes from adversity."

"You say that if you like," Constana returned, unruffled. "I want my son to know his aunt. I want him to grow up in a world where he has no enemies and Thundonia and Valley of the Star are allied. I want him to be a great bringer of peace."

"If you have already brought peace, what will be left for him?"

Constana reposed in the hard wooden chair. "I am ambitious, but plenty of work will remain for him."

The pair of women talked long into the night. Clam had made a meal of pheasant and greens, brought it directly to Shawna's office. He finished the meal with a thickened cream that Shawna barely touched, but Constana devoured. Shawna offered Constana her leftover and Constana was happy to oblige. Shawna ate the untouched pheasant off of Constana's plate. A strange bond developed in those few hours, a new alliance that Shawna would have never conceded to another day. Laughter had taken over their communication. They shared popped corn and joked. Mostly about Eternity. Constana hated her as much as Shawna did.

"The old bat is the definition of dogma. She resists the new Star Children tenaciously." Constana groaned. "In Father's heart, he resists them too." Father was not her parent, but was the current Prime Rashaman. "He keeps his opinions to himself, but my veins are on fire with his opposition. It's hard to move a people forward when they are unwilling to follow."

"Like an ass content to stand still," Shawna said, sipping a goblet of wine. Constana drank juice.

Constana steadied her gaze, turned her eyes up to Shawna. She was a head taller than her. "You will welcome me back?"

"Of course!" Shawna said, thrusting her goblet into the air and spilling wine.

"Then tomorrow I will see you again."

"Be sure it is Necessity at the gate when you come."

"Oh yes, I know Necessity well. You understand why we should be discreet about our alliance?"

Shawna sobered. Her eyes narrowed. "Yes."

"But I'll announce it—we'll announce it soon enough."

Shawna took a great gulp of wine. This Constana b***h was not so bad. She was stubborn, but Shawna was too drunk to care about the Wolfdrums. She'd let Constana deal with that angry little tribe of terrorists.