Guardian of Honor (19 page)

Alexa let out her breath unobtrusively and faced the Marshalls.
Thealia looked dismayed. Reynardus still sneered, as if the entire incident was
of no import to him at all. The glow from doing a good deed evaporated.

Leaning back in her chair, Alexa wished she knew more about yoga
so she could curl her fingers right and chant "om" and look seraphic
as events played out.

Silence unfurled from a seed to a blossom as they all waited.

"Enough of this silliness!" Partis said. "We
Summoned you, Alyeka, and we need you. The events of this afternoon amply prove
that." He slapped a hand down on the table, cocked his head as if
listening to distant voices. "I speak for all of us."

Then there was more quiet.

"I'm tired of this," Partis continued. "Lord Knight
Swordmarshall Reynardus has disapproved of what we've done for months, and in
disapproving, has made everything more difficult. I call for a vote of
confidence to remove Reynardus as Lord Knight of the Marshalls."

Gasps ran around the table.

Alexa thought one of them was her own. But this was interesting,
seeing real law and Power altered before her very eyes.

"Not all of us are meeting. This is not private,"
Reynardus protested.

"I am linked to all of us, and time flees with every second,
letting horrors invade our land. We must ensure our future."

Reynardus flung his chair back to clatter to the floor as he
stood, towering over the smaller man. "The position of Lord Knight is
determined by combat. Who is going to challenge me,
little man?
You? You
aren't even a Sword who fights monsters, but a Shield who provides
defense.
Or
do you plan on letting your wife, your Sword, combat me?" he sneered.

Thealia rose too, her face set in pale, angry lines. "If you
wish to battle Sword to Sword, I agree. If you wish to fight Sword and Shield
to Sword and Shield, both Partis and I agree. I do not see your Shield here to
support you."

This was good. Better than watching a mock trial. Better than
watching some real jury trials Alexa had studied.

She wouldn't have thought that Partis's face could harden, his
eyes go cold, but they did. He gestured to Thealia to sit. She hesitated, but
did as he requested.

Partis smiled widely, not a nice smile. "Combat isn't the
only way to determine the Lord Knight of the Marshalls. There is also Testing,
or have you forgotten?"

Reynardus's expression froze.

"We all have to Test to become a Marshall. Difficult Tests
that few pass. But we can also designate Tests to name a Lord Knight. And who
has been Tested the most the past couple of days? Who has passed Tests to prove
herself a Marshall, who has saved a life and taken one, who has healed, has
braved the jerir
three
times? Who has shown honor, and independence, and
leadership?"

Everyone looked at Alexa.

Uh-oh! This wasn't a play anymore. It had turned personal, and
nasty.

No. No way. Not Joan of Arc. Not right now—maybe never.

"Marshalls choosing a new leader, in a time of war,
which
this is,
can measure the actions of candidates in a three-day period—"

Three days. Alexa jumped on the thought. She was used to winnowing
out important information from an oral argument. She hadn't been here three
days. Maybe she was saved.

Now Reynardus really did snarl, with sound and all. "I will
not be mocked! How can you think to put a
thing
like her in my
place!" His ivory baton was in his hand, pointing at her, a stream of dark
red shooting straight at Alexa.

Sinafin jumped to the table. Barked. The red energy bounced off
her and shot to the crystal lights. She'd shielded Alexa.

Alexa's baton flew to her hand. Without thought she pointed. The
bronze end turned into real flames and sparks of green hit Reynardus square in
the chest. He made a strangled sound. Alexa's arm, palm and fingers tingled.

The silence seethed with emotions—shock, anger, fear.

What would have happened to her if Sinafin hadn't taken the hit?
Alexa's insides chilled. Cold sweat dampened her spine. She had the nasty idea
that she'd have been fried for good.

A minute passed. Reynardus stood as still as stone, mouth half
open, eyes bulging with effort—to speak? To free himself?

What had she done? He appeared trapped. How long could the spell
last? She'd used all her will, but she didn't know the specifics of a magic
spell—such as how long Reynardus would be statue-like.

When it didn't look as if he was going to move, Alexa regained
control of her temper. But she had some points to prove. "Don't anybody
move," she said, knowing she sounded like a character in a bad movie.

She set her baton in her lap, hoping it didn't show that all the
strength had left her fingers. She leaned against the chair. Every muscle in
her body had strained in her self-defense. Even her toes hurt.

Sinafin jumped back onto her lap and Alexa grunted. The little dog
sat at regal attention.

Put your hands on me and I will bring energy from the storage
crystals to you.

Alexa petted Sinafin with both hands.

Hold still.

Alexa did. In a few seconds, she felt a spritzing energy on her
skin that sank into her, revitalizing her. She grinned and said, "Listen
up." She met Reynardus's furious eyes. "I am not a 'thing.' I am a
mature woman. I will not be treated as a thing—manipulated and lied to and
sneered at. This is how it's going to be."

She stared around the table and wished she had pen and paper to
draft a list of demands so she wouldn't forget something. She did so much
better with notes.

"First, Partis says everyone's linked together. How many of
you are there?"

Thealia said, "Presently, not including you, we are ten. When
we Summoned you, we were twelve."

So Alexa had made thirteen. Bad or good luck? A witches coven was
thirteen, wasn't it?

The older woman studied Alexa consideringly. "We have decided
to expand the ranks of Marshall to the greatest number historically,
thirty-eight members—nineteen Pairs of Sword and Shield. When you Pair—uh—
find
your Sword or Shield, that will make forty members of twenty Pairs."

Alexa's mind reeled. Only forty People of this status! This was a
real high-stakes game. She'd thought to work up to the big leagues __

"Only three of you are here," Alexa said.

"The others in the Castle are all linked with me,"
Partis said.

She tried to remember all the faces, and recalled the Pairs had
been color coded. Reynardus wore fox red. Alexa didn't recollect seeing his
partner. What woman would put up with him? Thealia and Partis were in malachite
green. At least she didn't have
too
many new people to learn to work
with. About the size of the law journal staff. Her mouth turned down. That was
all gone. Before.

"We are all linked," Thealia agreed.

"Right. Good. Well, then. I don't want a leadership position.
In fact, I doubt that I can stay a Marshall. There would always be bad blood
between Reynardus and me. Working in a small group with such friction is
impossible. The group could never come together in a cohesive whole."
Feeling major disappointment, she took her baton from her lap and shoved it
into the center of the table. The wand had become so important to her in such a
short time. That smacked of unnatural magic, too.

Everyone frowned.

Thealia looked between Reynardus and Alexa. The Swordmarshall's
jaw tightened. "You are right. We
must
be unified in our actions
and goals. But you miss a point. Reynardus has been a source of discord all along
the way. It does not appear that he will change his attitude. One reason that
your spell was so strong was that it used his own negative energy focused on
you, another Marshall, against him. This is against our rules. If we choose, we
can dismiss him from our ranks."

Very interesting.

A chair scraped the floor as Luthan stood and gazed at his father.
"I have consulted with the Cloister of the Singer regarding Reynardus and
his recent Song Quest. I would remind us all that most Song Quests show differing
life courses and melodies for a person, based on crucial choices. This seems to
me to be a time of decision for him."

The crystal lights dimmed. A wind whisked around the room, as if
gathering an element of the atmosphere—magic—and drawing it to Reynardus. He
was trying to free himself from the effects of her trapping spell!

She hadn't liked Reynardus standing like an evil statue and
glaring at her, but hadn't had a clue how to break her own spell. She
would have lost a lot of face before the Marshalls if she'd
tried to release him.

Reynardus glowed yellow, his face contorted in a rictus, every
muscle of his body strained.

The wind whipped again. Alexa ducked her head and closed her eyes,
gathering all her strength and will, and every scrap of memory of fantasy
movies to help her.
Release!
she chanted in her mind to the wind. It
pulled at her, plucking the command from her, and thundered toward Reynardus.
She opened her eyes to see that he glowed white, blue-hot. Then the heaviness
of the storm inside the room broke and he was free.

From his teeth-snapping grin, Alexa knew he thought he'd broken
free on his own. Had he?

Sinafin turned big brown eyes on Alexa.
You were the one who
forged the spell to bind him. You freed him. He merely showed you how.

"Don't tell him that," Alexa murmured in a pointy ear.

Thealia stood and addressed Reynardus. "Do you wish to remain
a Marshall or not?"

"Of course."

"Alyeka has Tested to become Marshall and has shown her
valor. We need her in our ranks. I will remind you of our Oaths as Marshalls to
respect and support one another."

His nostrils flared. He turned and strode to the door.

"Running away?" asked Partis softly.

Reynardus's spine stiffened. He spun, baton in hand.

"As the Representative of the Singer, I need to report
whether the Marshalls continue to be a viable body of leadership for the rest
of Lladrana. Do you cooperate with each other or not?" Luthan asked.

The question hung in the air, fully as ominous as the wind that
had zoomed around the room a moment before.

Thealia murmured, "The evil wins if we are not united."

Reynardus took his seat, placed his baton on the table so gently
it didn't make a sound. He steepled his fingers and looked over the tips at
Alexa. A series of emotions flickered in his eyes— anger, pride, triumph... and
finally, acknowledgment and resignation.

Alexa sensed his feelings. He wanted to continue to resist the
will of the rest of the Marshalls because she was an element out of his
control. But he'd have to bend his pride if he wanted to keep his leadership
position.

"Welcome to Lladrana, Alyeka," he said in a melodious
voice that she'd never heard from him, a tone that rivaled Partis's. Reynardus
smiled wolfishly and separated his hands to tick off points. "We will need
to explain our Oath and Rules to you. You must learn to control your magic,
master our language, and fight with us as a team. We will start your training
immediately."

She just leveled her gaze at him. "No."

10

S
hock ran around the inn's table. Reynardus sat up straight. She
thought she could see how his mind was working. He scanned the others and his
mouth soured. He must have realized that he would have to truly modify his
behavior toward her or leave the Marshalls.

"I will not have you dictate to me." She looked at
Thealia. "I will not allow you to manipulate me further. If you wish me to
do something, you will request it of me, and you will explain until I
understand your reasoning. I will then follow your request or not. I agree that
there are many things to learn. Magic—" with a snap of her fingers her
baton leaped to her hand "—your language—" she stroked Sinafin's head
"—fighting." She kept the frown from her face. "But I will work
out a schedule for that with you. I will have final approval of my
teachers."

She stood and lifted her chin. "You Summoned
me.
You
must trust yourselves and this Song of yours that you chose the right
person. If you don't, we can part company. I passed your
Tests. I killed with magic." She hurt just saying the words, still had
trouble acknowledging it to herself. "I saved a life." Now that was
an achievement. "So I think I have proven myself to you. You, however,
have not proven yourselves to me."

They gazed at her. Partis broke the silence with a chuckle. He
lifted his left hand and clasped Thealia's, then offered his right hand to
Alexa.

"Sit
and feel
us, then. Learn us through your
senses." He winked. "A good first real lesson in the Power."