Walk On Mountains - Chapter Six

“Marienda?” Grydin called out as he made his way to the top of the mountain.  He heard her before he saw her, and stopped to scan the area.  “Marienda?”1

“I said ‘go away’!”2

Grydin looked to the voice, and saw her glaring at him as she sat by a large rock.  “I’m sorry,” he said as he approached.3

She sighed angrily.  “No one listens to me,” she muttered and turned away from him as he stopped in front of her.  “No one wants me here.”4

“I want you here.” Grydin placed a hand on her shoulder, frowning as she shook him off.  “Talk to me…please.”5

“How could I have been so gullible?” she asked.  “I’ve spent my life following a lie.”  She inhaled raggedly before continuing.  “When I found the books telling how people used to live, I should have known then.  All the signs were there. Rumors of other people like us.  I thought they were talking about our ancestors who originally settled here a millennium ago.”6

She stood and faced him.  “But I believed what I was taught…and now I find out that my life is a lie.”7

“I’m sorry,” he said as he stood, “But you had no way of knowing that…”8

“Don’t patronize me,” she hissed.  “Just…don’t.”  She ran her fingers through her hair, rubbing her scalp slightly as she tried to think.  “I came out here because the pull was so strong that I doubt I could have stayed in the dome any longer.”9

Grydin stared at her.  “What do you want me to say?” he asked tightly.  “That I’m sorry we are connected somehow…That I am sorry I asked you to come here?”10

“You didn’t ask,” she muttered.11

Grydin blinked in surprise, and stopped himself before he could respond with what had immediately sprung to mind.  “No, I didn’t ask,” he said instead in a low voice.  “In fact, you are right.  I called you here to be with me because you are my energy mate.  You are someone who can see my inner self, as I can see yours.  I am ever so sorry that I took you away from the security of your life inside the dome.”12

“Don’t,” she warned.13

He shook his head slightly.  “In fact, I apologize for taking you away from a life of dealing with people who wouldn’t care if you lived or died…or cared that you spent all your time alone in a prison you called your room.”14

Marienda’s face was devoid of emotion as he spoke, then without warning she struck out, her fist connecting with flesh.15

Grydin barely had time to move as he saw the blur coming towards him, and felt her hit as it landed just below his shoulder.  The blow knocked him off balance and he stumbled a few steps backward.16

“Get one thing straight, Grydin,” she said dangerously.  “Don’t you ever treat my life like it was nothing.”  She walked towards him, fists clenched at her side.17

The amulet around his neck glowed a soft white as he brought his hand up.  Marienda stopped walking and looked at him, confusion peeking through the anger on her face.  “Calm down,” he said.18

Try as she might, she was unable to move in the invisible grasp that held her.  It wasn’t a tight grip, but a soft one that seemed to caress as it held her. The anger she had felt was slowly bleeding away, only to be replaced by sorrow.  He had been right, she had led a less than fulfilling existence.  She had no real friends except for the ones she had worked with, and that rarely ever spilled over into her personal life.  Days off had been spent alone, either walking through the entertainment centers to keep her mind occupied, or in her small room.19

She closed her eyes briefly as she felt the grip leave her.  “I can’t think,” she whispered.  “This is too much.”20

Grydin reached her in one step, lifted her into his arms and held her close.21

~~~~~~~~~~22

Grydin leaned back and closed his eyes, momentarily blocking out the site of Marienda as she lay on her right side on the bed, not moving, staring at nothing.  He had brought her to his quarters two days previous from the mountaintop, and she had not moved since he placed her on his bed.  Her light breathing and occasional blinking were the only indications that she was still alive.23

He concentrated, reaching out for her much in the same way he had done nearly every day for the past few years, but could feel nothing.  He opened his eyes and looked at her as he leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees and thumbs under his chin.  He folded his fingers in front of his mouth and sighed into them.  He heard the curtain move aside, but didn’t look as Yanuia entered.24

“Any change?” she asked.25

He shook his head slightly, leaving his hands where they were.  “I can’t find her,” he said. 26

Yanuia put a comforting hand on his shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Take a break,” she said.  “I’ll sit and watch her while you get cleaned up.”27

Grydin ran his hands over his face with a sigh.  “I don’t want to…what if she…”28

“You’ll be in the room right there,” Yanuia said as she pointed to the curtain that covered the bathroom door.  “Go.”  She watched as he took a longing look at Marienda, then stood with a nod and grabbed a few articles of clothing before walking into the facilities.  She waited until she heard the shower start, then sat down beside the bed and leaned in close.29

"If you want to leave here," she whispered, “let me know.  I can lead you to the short way, and you could be half a day home before Grydin finishes his shower.”  She waited for a sign, then frowned as Marienda remained the same, staring blankly at nothing.30

“You don’t belong here,” she said.  “I know it, you know it.  Grydin only thinks you’re his energy mate because he desperately needed one, and somehow found you instead.”  She sighed.  “The only thing your kind knows is how to hurt.  And that is what you’ll end up doing to Grydin…you’ll hurt him.  If you leave now, he’ll be upset, but he will get over you.”31

~~~~~~~~~~32

Marienda stared blankly as the woman spoke, her mind cataloguing every word, every facial expression.  Part of her wondered why Yanuia didn’t like her, while another part knew why.  It was obvious when one thought about it, but she had two theories that both fit into place if she thought about it.33

One, Yanuia was from the same dome, and had obviously had to deal with someone from Rules Enforcement before.  Marienda was guessing that it had not been a pleasant event since many people from her dome had, in the past, been subjected to horrendous handling by her department.  In fact, the complete system had been reworked a year or two before she had been assigned her life occupation, in an attempt to stop rampant corruption.  Entire districts had been redesigned, and nearly everyone involved had lost their job.  Perhaps Yanuia had been caught up in the pre-changed system.  It made perfect sense…so did the other theory Marienda had.34

If one thought about it enough and caught all the signs, then it was obvious…and Marienda was trained to catch all the signs.  Yanuia was in love with Grydin.  Although she had her own energy mate, she had been the one to find Grydin when he journeyed to the mountains to claim his heritage. She had helped nurse him back to health, and teach him about his energy…both of which would form a strong connection.35

Dorran never seemed to notice, or if he did, never showed that he noticed.  Grydin didn’t seem to notice either.  Marienda mentally rolled her eyes at the blissful unawareness that men seemed to have at times.  Then again, she could be wrong on both counts, and it would be just one more thing to think about in her self-imposed silence.36

Everything that had happened to her in the past three weeks had been too much for her to handle, and she needed silence to think things through.  The need to cut herself off from everything and everyone had somehow placed her in this semi-awake state.  She could see and hear everything, but she wasn’t ready to acknowledge it yet by reaching out.37

Grydin had tried numerous times to reach her, and though she was severely tempted to let him in, she needed an unoccupied mind at the moment.38

She saw Yanuia look up, and then stand.  “No change,” she said in a detached voice.  “Feel better?”39

“Some,” Grydin replied as he came around and sat in the chair Yanuia had just vacated.  “Thank you for sitting with her.”40

“My pleasure,” Yanuia muttered.  “What if she stays like this forever?”41

“She won’t.”42

“But if…”43

“Stop.”  Grydin looked at her.  “Everyone who arrives here has to work though their personal issues differently, you know that.  This is Marienda’s way.”  He looked back at the form on the bed and smiled.  “She’ll come back when she works it out in her mind.”44

Yanuia started to say something, but patted Grydin on the shoulder instead, then turned and left through the curtained door.45

Grydin leaned back and stared at the smooth rock ceiling.  “Please let me help you,” he whispered.  46

Marienda stared at him for a long time, feeling the feather soft touch of him trying to reach her through meditation.  She pushed the feeling away, concentrating instead on one last issue that might interfere with her life here.  She stopped, puzzled that there was only one thing left to think about.  No, there must have been more. She mentally went through the invisible list, examining each one again, and taking another look at the decisions she had come to regarding each one.47

Some had been easy to solve, like the issues of wanting to return to the dome.  She knew there was nothing there for her, and to return would be akin to having a death sentence placed on her soul…returning would kill her spirit.  Other issues she had set aside to deal with at a later time.  She didn’t have to know all about inner energy at the moment, and would invariably find out when and if she ever discovered her amulet.  She also wanted to know if she could get Grydin to show her the testaments that he had mentioned, so she could compare them with what she had remembered from reading the books of her own dome’s history.48

Other issues had their own solution, while some she decided to let go of.  If Yanuia had a thing for Grydin, then she would handle it in her own time.  She had also had a couple of strange dreams that she wanted to find out more about.  For the first few nights here, she had been assaulted with images of Grydin and another woman in the throws of passion.  She did not recognize the woman, and thought for a moment that she might have been his first mate…a perfectly reasonable explanation for her imagining him with another woman…but that didn’t feel right.  Neither had the dreams.  In fact, they had not felt like dreams at all, but something she couldn’t put her finger on…yet.49

The remaining issues she didn’t care about, except for one.  And to get the answer to that, she would have to find her way out of the solitude she was in, and face up to some facts that she might be better off not knowing.50

~~~~~~~~~~51

“Why does he want to see you.”52

Grydin blinked, not sure if he heard the quiet voice or merely imagined it.  He sat straight and looked at his mate. “Marienda?” he asked.53

“Why does he want to see you?”54

Grydin smiled in relief.  He knelt by the bed and ran a finger slowly along her cheek.  She blinked and looked at him, waiting for him to answer.55

There were a hundred and one lies he could have told her, but he knew that he couldn’t do that. He had to tell her the truth, as much as it might hurt.  “He thinks I betrayed him.”56

“Did you?”57

He stared at her.  “Yes.”  Something in his eyes made her not want to press the question.58

She nodded slightly.  “Do you want me to leave?”59

Grydin felt his heart catch in his throat as he looked at her.  “No,” he whispered.  “No.”  He got up, sat on the edge of his bed, and slid down so he was lying next to her. “The only one who can decide whether you leave or stay is you.”60

She nodded and moved so her head was laying on his chest.  “I’m sorry about on top of the mountain.”61

He wrapped his arms around her.  “It’s all right.”62

“No, it is not all right,” she replied calmly.  “I lashed out at you when all you wanted to do was help me.”  She sighed.  “I’m trained to look at things objectively.  I failed to do that.”63

He kissed to top of her head.  “When I first arrived, I didn’t talk to anyone besides Yanuia and Dorran for at least a month,” he said.  “They tried to explain to me about the amulet and energy…about how I was called here by something other than my despair over…”  He stopped for a few moments. “I did not want to believe anything they had said, and I lashed out…emotionally, physically…I ended up slamming Dorran against a wall with energy…broke his arm.”64

“What happened?” she whispered, transfixed.65

“Yanuia slammed me back, then let me walk away.” He rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger.  “You have to take time to think…to absorb it all.  Don’t fret, don’t stress…it is what it is.”66