Halcyon

Halcyon Chapter Four

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            Amara
choked back a laugh and eyed Rogue with a bit of doubt.style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  “You’re joking with me, right?”

            “Hand to
god,” Rogue said firmly, raising her right hand in demonstration.style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  “The guys are trying to prove how manly they
are.”  She sipped her orange juice thoughtfully,
her gaze trailing over the grounds and fixing on some distant point that Amara
could not determine.  “At least Lance and
Todd are… Sounds weird to say it but I think Kurt and Scott are secure enough
in their…er…manhood that they’re not going to do
this.”  She drained the juice box and
shrugged, crumpling the cardboard in one hand. 
“You know, I think that summers are the worst here.style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  We *live* at school.style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  Most of us can’t go home.style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  Well, most of the younger ones can but not
us, not the ones who’ve been here forever and a day…”style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  She trailed off, stifling a tiny sigh.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> 

            Amara fell
silent as well, watching the progress of a bright green inchworm across the
lowest branch of the tree outside the balcony’s wrought iron curlicues.style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  “I know where Nova Roma is,” she said
finally.  She felt rather than saw Rogue
stiffen next to her, felt the look of surprise on her friend’s features as she
continued, unbidden.  “I had a dream… class=SpellE>Bellona came to me, told me of the troubles at home…class=GramE>”  she cleared her
throat softly. 

            “Amara…”
Rogue was uncertain how to go on from that revelation.style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  She did not consider herself to be especially
religious and she could understand that spirituality took many forms, but she
had her reservations when it came to things like visions and dreams bearing
messages.  She had supported Kitty
through her own spate of oddities like Amara was describing and had see, with
her own eyes, things that could not be explained, but Rogue was not ready to
jump on the bandwagon just yet.  style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Sometimes, we dream of something we really
want…”

            The Nova
Roman rolled her eyes heavenward for a moment, seemingly beseeching the sky for
help in explaining things to the poor, benighted non-Roman.style='mso-spacerun:yes'>   “I am a child of Bellona,
Rogue.  A daughter of
war.  She came to me.style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  I know it as certainly as you know your god
is in his heaven.”  She paused,
frowning.  “That has always confused me,
a god with no name.  There is so much
fighting over the fellow…”  She shot
Rogue a look of vague amusement, adding, “You’d think you were all too insecure
in your beliefs to accept that someone else may have a valid way of worshipping
as well.”

            Rogue felt
a faint flush creep over her cheeks and heard the wizened voice of her old,
Southern Baptist granny railing in the back of her mind.style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  “It’s not that…” she paused, frowning.style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  “Hey, it’s not like the Romans had a great
track record with allowing their subjugated peoples to worship freely!”

            Amara
shrugged eloquently.  “I am Nova Roman,
dear.  Not simply Roman.”style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  She returned her attention to the creeping
inchworm and seemed to go into a momentary haze, leaning forward, her lips
pursed as if in deep thought, watching the insect.style='mso-spacerun:yes'>   “As I
was saying,” she began again, her words weighted with much consideration, “I
know where Nova Roma is.  There is much
awry there…”  She barely noticed the
shift in her speech pattern, the edging towards formal and stilted English and
the thickening of her usually slight accent. 
“I am needed at home.”

            It was the
first time in a long time, Rogue realized, that Amara had referred to Nova Roma
rather than the Institute as ‘home’.  “Amara,
they tried to kill you.  You were exiled…style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  I don’t think it’s a good idea.style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  Besides, remember what happened last
time?  You tried to go back, tried to
take Lance with you…”

            “It was not
the right time.  The gods provide
obstacles as learning experiences.  I
needed to learn more, to grow more into my status as ruler of Nova Roma.style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  All good leaders must see the world, battle…style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  I have done both.”style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  She shifted, fixing Rogue with a
breathtakingly bright smile.  “I am ready
to assume my role as leader.  My family
needs me.  All have suffered much in my
absence and they are praying for my return. 
They think I have brought down the curse of the gods on their heads…”

            “Yeah,
because I’d want to welcome home with open arms the person I thought brought
down a blight on my people,” she muttered, her eyes
roving over the surface of the lake. 
Todd had disappeared under water some five minutes before and, even with
his increased lung capacity and ability to stay under water longer than most
other humans, she was growing worried.  “I
think I’m gonna walk down to the lake. 
Want to come with?”  Amara hesitated
for a moment as Rogue stood, finally shrugging and joining her.style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  “Amara, look, I know how hard it is to be cut
off from your roots…”

            Amara
silenced her with a look as they began to stroll down the gentle slope of lawn
towards the lake.  “It isn’t the same,
Rogue.  I was cast out because they
feared me.  You left by choice.”

            “What
choice? I nearly killed a boy, Amara.  I class=GramE>couldn’t…can’t…control my powers.style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  If I didn’t leave, they’d make me.”style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  A brief, flickering fear that lived in the
bones of most Southerners, of white hoods and firey
crosses, sprang across her mind before she shook it off.style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  “Just talk to me before going off like you
did last time, okay?  Just let me know…”style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  She trailed off as Amara’s
hand grasped her glove covered forearm.  “What?”

            “I think
the competition has begun,” she murmured, raising her hand to point down to the
far edge of the lake.  Lance was crawling
onto the shore, coughing and sputtering by the look of things, followed by
Todd, who was moving a bit more quickly but nonetheless looking haggard.style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  “What the hell are they doing?”

            Rogue
sighed.  “I don’t think I want to know,”
she said, shaking her head.  “I changed
my mind about the lake.  Let’s go harass
Storm in the greenhouse.”