Protector of the Flight (60 page)

“You
took the children away from Marian and Jaquar.” Alexa aimed a laser glance at
Luthan. “
You
took them.”

His
face somber, he made a sitting bow. “I apologize once again.”

Alexa
sniffed. “I’ll never let you forget it, brother of my Pairling.” Then she
stared at the old woman. “And you ordered it.”

“I
wanted to see the children, learn their potential, and know of their bonds to
their adopted parents.”

Alexa
hopped down from her chair and paced across the dais and back. “Not fair.”

“And
you still think that life should be fair, Alyeka,” the Singer said.

Doves
flew through the upper windows. Alexa raised an arm automatically and Sinafinal
lit on it. The other circled around Calli and Marrec then landed on Marrec’s
shoulder. He looked pleased.

“Ayes,
everyone manipulates the Exotiques—except the other Exotiques.” Alexa came over
and stood by Calli, but continued to gaze at the Powerful woman. “So, my lady
Singer. Is it true that you had a magic mirror that connected to a crystal on
Calli’s mountain?”

The
shock of that revelation jolted all the way to Calli’s toes, sharpened her
concentration until she could feel the faint stirring of a draft over her skin.
“Is that true?” she asked. Her hand went to Marrec’s, they linked fingers
again, always. Once again she saw the lost crystal hillface in her mind.
Something that had been special to her since childhood, that she hadn’t even
realized until now. It
had
been a portal. She
had
seen images of
Lladrana through it. Because of the crystal, or the Singer?

Outrage
pulled Calli to her feet. “Did you destroy my crystal?”

The
woman lowered eyelids puffy with age and Calli knew something with deep
certainty. “You pushed us through to Earth, didn’t you? Broke the crystal on my
mountain.” The little old lady’s eyelids flicked, but she didn’t meet Calli’s
eyes. Yet she sensed that what she’d accused wasn’t the whole truth.

“Why?”
asked Marrec, cold and softly.

The
Singer tilted her head. “Surely you know the reasons.”

When
they stood and let the silence grow, a silence that sent furious waves of sound
through the atmosphere, she waved a hand and banished the negativity. Then she
met their stares in turn and her musical voice came once more. “I will not
answer your charge, but I will admit that there was a need for you,
both
of you, to visit Exotique Terre and return here. Bringing the horses was one
reason, the only one I’ll tell.”

Marrec
grunted. “Calli wouldn’t have gone back in the Snap.”

“Ttho,”
said the Singer. “She would have stayed.”

“Right,”
Alexa said, fingering her baton.

“You
made me break a promise to my son.” Calli’s voice quivered with pain and anger.

The
Singer’s mouth turned down. “I discovered that too late. I am sorry for the
hurt that was caused.”

“But
you don’t admit responsibility for the deeds,” Marrec’s voice grated. “And I
don’t want to probe these mysteries. I want recompense. No. I
demand
recompense.”

“Ah.”
The Singer gave a little cough. She stared at each of them in turn. None of
them dropped their eyes. Then her mouth rounded and liquid notes of pure beauty
came from her throat. A servant hustled up with two sheets of paper and a bar
of soft gold. The Singer put her lips to each sheet of paper. Before Calli’s
eyes, words appeared as if written in ink on the paper. Then the page was
folded over and the end of the gold liquefied and dripped onto the paper, then
spread out like a seal.

Calli
goggled.

When
it was done, the Singer handed the two sheets to Marrec. “These are my
recommendations to Lady Knight Swordmarshall Thealia Germaine and Lady Hilaire
Hallard that you, Marrec and Callista Gardpont, have fulfilled all your duties
and should be allowed a normal life upon your estate. That all my listening to
the Song says this is best.” Her lips firmed, then she said, “That much is the
truth
at this time.
But I will consult with the Song at moonrise, and
that truth may change. So these letters are only in effect for two hours, after
that the spell ink will vanish. You will find the Swordmarshall and Chevalier
at the encampment.”

Alexa
squeaked. “Two hours! That’s barely enough time to use Distance Magic to reach
the encampment.”

“Sufficient
time,” Luthan disagreed.

“We
can’t even visit with the children for a few minutes!” Calli said.

Marrec
cast a hard look to the Singer, set Tuckerinal aside, put the letters in his
belt pouch and took Calli’s hand. “We’d better go. The sooner we leave, the
sooner we can return and claim our children. We’ll be back.”

They
left the room without another word, though Calli heard Alexa mutter something
to the Singer and Luthan, then her short strides sounded behind them.

Alexa
caught up to them near the entryway. In a cheery tone, she said, “I think that
went pretty well, don’t you?”

Marrec
snorted.

Alexa
raised her eyebrows. “Hey, at least she didn’t grab you and send your mind
spinning into alternative futures here and on Earth.”

“No,
and we guilted her into helping us with this bonus.” Calli tapped her finger on
Marrec’s belt pouch. “In two hours we’ll be free to raise a family.” Then she
wished she’d bitten her tongue. Alexa was a warrior, she’d continue to fight.

As
if discerning her thought, Alexa smiled. “These battles won’t go on forever,
you know. We’ll beat the Dark, and in the next two years.” She opened the large
door and afternoon sunlight painted a bright square on the stone floor. “And
here’s my cowardly Pairling, waiting for us
outside
the Singer’s lair.”

Bastien
immediately began to strip.

“No!”
Alexa nearly shouted. “We
don’t
need to see all your scars.”

He
smirked. “I proved my courage in my Marshall Testing that way.”

“Not
necessary,” Alexa repeated.

Turning
to Calli, he widened his eyes. “Calli may wish to appreciate me.”

“I’ve
seen you naked in the baths,” she said drily.

Marrec
stared down at her. “You noticed another man?”

She
touched his fingers wrapped around her waist. “Only vaguely. And he compares
poorly to you. You fill my senses with your Song.”

Bastien
clutched at his chest. “Oh, the terrible wounds a woman’s words can inflict.”

Alexa
snickered, then her expression froze as Luthan joined them. He bowed stiffly to
Marrec and Calli. “My apologies for any concern I caused you.”

Alexa
punched him on the arm. “You should apologize to Bastien and me, too. We were
worried. And you owe Marian and Jaquar
more
than a verbal apology for
what you put them through.”

Luthan
winced. “I will discuss that with them,” he said stiffly. “The Singer has
requested
you and Bastien join her for dinner.” He turned to Calli and Marrec. “Your
volarans are saddled and ready to go. Thunder came with me from the Castle.”

Since
Marrec kept quiet, Calli said, “Thank you.”

“You’ll
be fine,” Alexa said. “The camp is perfectly safe. Actually, since you were
gone, there have been no battles, and the camp is still a fair way behind the
line of previous fighting.”

“Good
to know,” Marrec said.

“This
is Thealia and Lady Hallard’s regular inspection day.”

“Ah.”

“Excellent.
It’ll be efficient, catching them together,” Calli said.

“Try
and arrange that you confront them outside a tent, in public,” Bastien advised.
“Then they can’t manipulate you as easily.”

“Good
idea,” said Marrec.

Bastien
smiled and bowed, waving them on their way. “I try my best.”

Luthan
hooked his arms with his brother and Alexa. “The Singer’s private dining room
is in this direction.”

“Private,”
muttered Alexa. “
Private.
I don’t want to be private with her.”

With
a sigh, Calli took off her wedding robe and carefully folded it, handing it to
Alexa. “Will you find a bag and keep this for me?”

“Of
course.” Steps dragging, Alexa followed Bastien and Luthan.

A
hawk cawed and they looked up to see Sinafinal perched on a gargoyle-laden
drainpipe attached to a building a few yards to their left.

This
way. Faster. Tuckerinal will lead you inside, through buildings. I will lead
you outside.

The
small greyhound standing in front of the entrance barked. Tuckerinal.

They
hurried to the door.

A
few dizzying minutes later, they were approaching the gate. Calli glanced back
in the direction where she sensed their children.

44

“W
e can’t see them
now. There’s no time for greetings, let alone explanations and goodbyes,”
Marrec said.

She
swallowed. That was the very reason she kept her link to them very quiet, so
they wouldn’t notice she and Marrec were back and become overexcited. It would
be only a couple of hours before they’d all be together and at home.

Marrec
was keeping his bond with the children low and thin, too. She nodded. “Jetyer’s
Song contains a darkness. He thinks we betrayed him, abandoned him.”

Marrec
took time to stroke her back. “By the end of this night we’ll be home
together.”

“Ayes.”

The
gatekeeper opened the gate and watched them jog through.

Following
Marrec, Calli moved fast. Her greetings to the equines were brief, her reunion
with Thunder abbreviated. Within fifteen minutes they were rising to the sky.

Calli,
you’re back?
Marian’s voice came strong and clear in Calli’s mind.

Ayes!

Marian
laughed with her.

Jaquar
and I attended a meeting on Parteger Island and we want to see you!

Fly
to our home.
Too much to explain about the Singer and everything else, though Calli sensed
Marian’s curiosity.

Marian
sent,
All right, we’ll leave immediately. See you later.

All
too soon, Marrec was gesturing for Calli and Thunder to engage a Distance Magic
bubble. She sighed, she’d barely gotten a taste of true flying.

Marrec
glanced at her.
I feel the yearning in your heart. Soar and play, Pairling.
I will go ahead.

I
should not.
But she yearned to fly.

His
chuckle came to her mind.
I will give you an excuse. All the volarans are
linking with Thunder, to hear whether their Volaran Exotique has taken any harm
from her days away. How she has changed. Give them the reassurance they need.

Calli
found herself grinning.
Very well. We’ll catch up.
She watched Marrec
and Dark Lance waver as the Distance Magic orb engulfed them, then set Thunder
climbing steeply into the sky.

The
sheer delight of being back, being
home
and
flying
was something
she wanted to savor with her entire body, feel the movement of the volaran
beneath her as his wings flapped, the amber scent of him. It felt good to
stretch muscles used in flying, her mind in telepathic communication, her
Power.

Thunder
whinnied, matching her joy. He paused to do some spirals upward, catching
rising thermals. She shrieked in glee, leaned close and said,
Loop de loop!

Tucking
his legs in he soared, whipped over, extended his wings on the downward circle
to catch the wind at just the right angle to glide.

She
saw the first star wink into the evening sky.

Perfect.

Since
she was alone, she raised her voice in Song. She sang an old Chevalier flying
song, enjoying the Power that buzzed around her, the deepening blue of the sky
bowl around them.

She
grew cool, and added this observation to the rest—the seasons were changing.
They’d reached the edge of summer and would soon be into fall. Autumn would
have its own Song—
Songs
—and she relished learning them.

She’d
just finished a breathless dive and spin when she caught sight of a small
blue-gray volaran coming her way—with two even smaller forms mounted on it.

Her
heart lurched in her chest.
Marrec!
she called.

What!

The
children are here!

The
children?

They’re
riding Sapphire.

He
cursed.
I will return.

No,
you go on.

I
will
return.
Nothing is more important at this moment than the children.

He
reached her just before the children flew the last few lengths up to them.