Warren Murphy: Master's Challenge

"She carries your child."

Remo stopped dead. "She told you that?"

"She did not have to. 1 have seen pregnant women before."

"Well, I've seen her, too," Remo said skeptically. "And at closer quarters than you."

"It was her manner, not her body. Ever since you arrived in Sinanju with her, I have observed her. It is true. I thought you would leave with her."

Remo stepped back, his face pale. "I would have. I wanted . . . I've got to get back to her." He turned back toward the dock.

"No, my son," Chiun said. "It is not what she wishes. When she came back to the cave to fetch Griffith, I confronted her with my knowledge. She made me promise never to tell you."

Remo was trembling. "Why?"

242

"Because she understands more than you what you must do. What you will become."

"Well, I don't give a rat's ass-" He tried to pull away from Chiun, but the old man gripped his arm tightly.

"Think, Remo! For once, will you think? Jilda is of an ancient people. They would never accept you as one of them, and so you would live apart, as outcasts. She would bend her ways to yours, because she is a woman, and that is their nature. But she would miss her home, and her people, and the old ways in which she was reared.In time, she would grow to resent you. Perhaps even hate you."

"Nope," Remo said. "Not that one. She wouldn't care. Besides, I'd make up for it. For God's sake, I'd do anything for her."

"It would not be enough. And you, my son, who are so eager to throw off your responsibilities to Sinanju. Without you, there will be no Master of Sinanju after me. Except ..."

Suddenly Remo understood. "The Dutchman," he said.

"And while the Dutchman wields his power, unchecked, your abilities will have diminished beyond help through lack of use. Why do you think I have you work for Emperor Smith? You are still growing in the ways of Sinanju. You must work for many more years before you may take my place as reigning Master. But after even one year of idleness-or what you think of now, in your dreams, as happiness-all 1 have taught you will be gone. You cannot rest, any more than the Dutchman."

Remo could still hear the distant waves lapping on the shore. "Did you talk Jilda into leaving me?"

"I said nothing. She is not stupid. Nor am I willing to force you to accept the destiny of Shiva as your own. But you must know the truth. That is why I have broken my

243

promise to Jilda. If you go to her now, at least you will go with some understanding of the consequences." He released Remo's arm and walked away.

Remo stood very still. The sea called to him. Green and blue and gray, the colors of Jiida's eyes. Soon there would be a child, Remo's child, with the same strange, unworldiy gaze. A beautiful child, born of a love and passion that would never be duplicated.

A child for the Dutchman to find and kill . . .

Remo covered his face with his hands, it would happen, he knew. The Dutchman would never be sane. In his search for death, he would surely come for Remo, because he understood now that their lives were permanently enmeshed. And Remo would have weakened. Even if he practiced the exercises of Sinanju every day, he would not have Chiun to guide him.

It would be so easy, with Jilda and the baby, to forget the Dutchman altogether. A peaceful life, quiet, comfortable. But one day the Dutchman would come_back for him. And Jilda. And the child. The beast inside him would see that Remo had no heirs.

He whispered, "Jilda, I can't do it."

But she had known that all along, he realized.

He turned, cold inside, from the sound of the waves and walked back to Chiun. The old man was waiting for "him.

"I wonder if I'll ever see the baby," he said.

"Do you think you could bring yourself to part with them then?"

Remo thought. "No. No, I guess not." They walked a long way. "Never, then."

"Jilda is a fine woman. She will raise a good son."

"Or daughter," Remo said. "I've always wanted a daughter.''

244

"A son," Chiun said simply.

"What makes you so sure what it'll be?" A thought occurred to him that made him feel as if his heart had just shot into his throat. "Not another one of your crazy legends."

"Some traditions must be continued," Chiun said, walking ahead.

"Oh, no. No kid of mine is going to go through this. I won't let it happen."

Chiun turned and smiled. "Then you do believe, after all."

Remo scowled. "You old conniver," he said, strolling beside him.

Jilda. Oh, Jilda, how I'll miss you.

It was a clear night, a night of beginnings and endings. Somewhere on a starlit sea a child was growing. And here, a world away, Remo was alone. Again. It broke his heart.

"I wish ..."

"Yes?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Go ahead. Sometimes it helps to talk."

Remo swallowed. "I wish things didn't have to turn out the way they do."

Chiun put his arm around him. "I know, my son," he said gently. "I know."

Remo felt in his pocket. His carved jade stone from the Master's Trial was still there. He clutched it tightly. It was all he had to remind him.

His eyes filled. "Go on without me," he said. The old man walked ahead. When Remo was alone, he turned his face to the trunk of a tall tree and wept,,For himself, for Jilda, for the child he would never see. The Golden Lady would never be his until the day he died. All he had left of her was a cold jade stone.

245

A breeze cooled his face, carrying with it the faraway scent of the sea. He looked up. Not all. He had something else, after all. For among the thousands of stars gleaming in the summer sky, one shone above all the others. GuIlikona, with its golden fire, burned only for him.