Sorceress of Faith (33 page)

“I’ll
have lager,” Jaquar said.

Though
the barmaid looked like the type of woman who enjoyed flirtation and male
attention, she smiled superficially at Jaquar and hurried away.

Jaquar
lifted Marian’s hand to his lips and kissed it, then linked fingers with her.
Alexa tilted her head and her eyes unfocused. Marian sensed the Marshall was
studying their auras and listening to the Song surrounding them—a Song that
clearly rang of recent sex.

Her
eyebrows dipping, Alexa sent Marian a questioning glance.
Do you realize
you’ve formed a sex bond with Jaquar?
She said mentally to Marian.

Hard
not
to
realize that
, Marian said.
I know what I’m doing.

Alexa
appeared doubtful but didn’t contradict Marian.

At
that moment the server bustled up with a wineglass she deftly slid to Marian,
and an ale mug for Jaquar. A silver coin appeared on the table near Jaquar’s
mug and the woman squealed and scooped it up.

Marian
smiled as she hurried away, then took a gulp of mead that tasted of spicy
herbs, wine and honey. She tilted her head back and saw them.

Heads.
Mounted on the wall.

Monsters.

Her
hand holding the glass went limp and crashed to the table. She forced herself
to swallow instead of spew the drink.

She
couldn’t tear her gaze away from the awful creatures. These were the real thing
of the holographic images Alexa had shown her. Render—black, bristly fur, wide
mouth opened in a snarl with awful, sharp teeth. Two paws were mounted, too,
each with six curved razor-sharp claws. Slayer—yellow head covered with spines,
wicked tiny eyes. Soul-sucker—reptilian gray skin, round sockets for eyes and
nose, a torso sporting two arms with two tentacles framing each arm. Her gaze
went to Jaquar’s hat, which he’d put on the table. Definitely made of
soul-sucker.

Gulping
again and again to keep her mead down, Marian tried not to think of them
attacking the humans here. Attacking and killing.

Her
stomach rolled. She put a hand on her throat to force the sickness down, but
still tasted the “tassy water”—as a young Andrew had named bile—preceding
nausea.

Alexa
gripped Marian’s hands hard, and a soothing balm sifted through Marian from
her.

Jaquar
scowled and said, “What is it?” He set an arm around her shoulders.

“Just
keep your eyes from the upper third of the room,” Alexa said in English. Marian
got the idea that she was upset on Marian’s behalf, and slipped into the
language for that reason. Lladranan would never be Alexa’s first language—but
if Marian had the chance to stay, her English would dim.

Marian
took a couple of deep breaths, redolent of beer and fire smoke—oddly, the
latter comforted her, too. The smoke carried the tang of fire and Marian drew
it within her. “It’s the heads,” Marian said.

“Whose
heads?” asked Jaquar.

Another
thing that Alexa from Earth understood and Jaquar didn’t.

Alexa
grimaced. “Sorry, I was appalled when I first saw them, too.” She shrugged.
“But now I face the real things often enough that they don’t faze me.”

The
fire smoke that had warmed her blood turned cold. Alexa battled these things.
Marian wanted to hug the woman, wrap her close, take her home. But Alexa had
found a new home and a new destiny and it seemed to suit her—she was truly a
warrior woman at heart.

Their
eyes met and Marian saw wry wisdom in Alexa’s. “I’m happy here,” she said
softly.

Marian
forced a smile and a nod. “I can see that,” she replied in Lladranan.

Alexa
wrinkled her nose. “Okay,” she said in English, then switched to Lladranan. “I
could use a better skill for the language, and an easier time of riding
lessons, both horse and volaran. Do you ride?”

“Ayes,”
Marian replied in Lladranan.

Looking
at Marian with narrowed eyes over her mug of tea, Alexa sipped, then put her
cup down. “You have it easy.”

“I
was an Apprentice and am now a Scholar, still studying to become a Circlet.
You
became a Marshall that first night.”

Alexa
cheered. “You’re right. It was awful passing those Tests, but I did get them
all over with.” She sighed. “But it took me a while to Pair, and until then no
one considered me a full Marshall.” She shrugged again. “That’s over with.”
Leaning forward with a renewed light in her eyes, Alexa asked, “Can you really
ride lightning?”

“Ayes.”

Wriggling
in delight, Alexa said, “That’s so cool. Could you teach me?”

20

J
aquar squeezed
Marian’s shoulder and his attention was pulled back to Alexa and Marian. From
the corner of her eye, Marian had watched him play male eye-and-attitude games,
warning other men away from the table.

He
said, “No, Alexa, Marian can’t teach you how to ride lightning. She hasn’t
mastered the technique herself, and you may not have Power that’s linked to
Fire to learn.”

Alexa
pouted, then cunning crossed her face. Without a word, her jade baton appeared
in the center of the table standing on end and the bronze flames burst into
fire, both real and magical.

An
instant of silence, then came sounds of scraping chairs and rustling garments.
Marian glanced around to see the Chevaliers—both male and female—who had been
casually leaning at the bar now studiously faced it. The sharp whispers from
the booth behind Marian stopped. No one looked at Alexa’s table.

Only
Marian felt Jaquar tense, otherwise he kept an impassive expression.

“Point
taken,” Jaquar said.

“Very
impressive,” Marian said.

With
a wave of Alexa’s hand, the baton disappeared, probably back under the table
and into its sheath. Since Alexa didn’t peep, Marian deduced no fire had burned
her, nor was the baton hot. Definitely impressive.

Relief
seemed to ripple through the room, voices wove back into normal conversation.
Alexa gazed around thoughtfully. “They still think I’m an unknown quantity,
ready to go off like a rocket.”

“They
aren’t the only ones,” Jaquar murmured. Marian agreed.

“Two
Exotiques and a Circlet Sorcerer, all strange folks, and the place is still
full of Chevaliers.” Alexa nodded in satisfaction. “Goes to show how tough they
are.”

Marian
thought anyone that could hang around in a rough place like this with a bunch
of monster heads decorating the walls had to be tough.

Jaquar
said, “I think about a quarter of the room emptied when we joined you.”

Shrugging,
Alexa scanned the men and women again. “The crème de la crème of the Chevaliers
remained,” she said.

Marian
decided Alexa personally knew everyone who was left. “I know I can’t have a
baton like yours without becoming a Marshall,” she said, “but do you think I
can have a magic wand or something?”

Alexa’s
eyes opened wide. “You’ll get a magic telescoping staff. All the Circlets of
the Fifth Degree have them. Didn’t they tell you?”

“No.”

“They
never realize the holes in our knowledge.” Alexa shook her head.

“I’ve
figured that out,” Marian said.

At
that moment the outside door opened. Alexa heard it, looked up and narrowed her
eyes. The door shut, and a new, strong Song approached them. It was the most
intricate, Powerful and potent Song Marian had heard since coming to Lladrana.
The sheer richness of the music overpowered her for a moment. She realized it
was the Song of a married couple—soul mates.

A
few seconds later the young woman Marian and Jaquar had passed on the way in
stopped at their table. On her shoulder was a warhawk. The girl was followed by
a young man who wore bright purple Chevalier leathers. These were the two with
the wonderful Song.

Eyeing
the hawk—Sinafin—warily, Marian addressed her. “Salutations, feycoocu,” she
said.

Sinafin
preened, then nodded.
Salutations, Scholar
.

“Salutations,
feycoocu,” said Jaquar.

To
Marian’s surprise, the bird stepped from the girl’s shoulder to Jaquar’s. He
blinked as if also amazed.

The
girl gestured to Alexa to scoot over. With a frown, Alexa moved to the corner,
muttering about people taking advantage of a small person. The girl sat next to
Alexa and the young man seated himself next to the girl.

“This
is my personal assistant, Marwey, and my Chevalier Pascal,” Alexa said.

Marian
noticed a bright purple badge on Marwey’s cloak, and once again looked at
Pascal’s tabard of purple. She couldn’t help staring at Alexa. “You like
purple.”

Alexa
growled. “It’s the traditional color for Exotiques. Be glad you aren’t dressed
in it and that everything around you isn’t purple.”

“You’re
kidding, right?” Marian blurted in English.

Alexa
buried her nose in her large mug. “Tho.” The Lladranan “no” echoed hollowly.

Staring
at the young couple sporting the hideous color, Marian shook her head.

Pascal’s
eyes fired. “It’s a perfectly good color!”

Marwey
pinkened and nodded.

“Maybe
they don’t see the exact shade we do,” Marian said weakly.

Alexa’s
eyebrows rose. “They are an aural society.”

Interrupting
Jaquar’s stare-down with the bartender, Marian addressed him. “What do you
think of Alexa’s…livery?” She thought “livery” was the word for what a noble
person dressed the subordinates in their household in.

Jaquar
glanced at Pascal’s purple leathers. “Bright. Interesting.”

Marian
and Alexa shared a glance.

“I
have purple clothes, purple bed hangings,” Alexa said gloomily. She glared at
Sinafin, the feycoocu. “A purple
muff!
”

“Really?”
Marian couldn’t believe the being who’d frightened her so badly the night
before could be anything as innocent as a muff.

A
crash of breaking glass diverted everyone’s attention to the bar. Then a streak
of purple caught Marian’s eye as Sinafin—a muff—rolled off Jaquar’s shoulder
and across the table to land in front of Marian.

My
visit last night was necessary
, said Sinafin. Her mental voice was
soft as a whisper, meant only for Marian’s ears.
I am sorry, but it
was
necessary
.

Marian
figured that was the best apology she’d get from the creature. The thickly
furred muff rippled, exuding comfort. Hesitantly Marian petted the muff and it
warmed under her fingers, sent her a few bars of “Over the Sea to Skye.”

With
a sigh, Marian gave up her anger and continued stroking Sinafin. Lovely animal,
ugly muff.

Marwey
glanced at Pascal. He studied Jaquar and Marian, shrugged.

“Alyeka?”
Pascal said.

“Yes?”
said Alexa.

“I
have something of importance to ask and think it must be spoken of now,” Pascal
said. He squared his shoulders, discreetly nodding toward the booth behind
Marian and Jaquar.

Jaquar
straightened and gazed at the younger man. The muff rolled away from Marian and
off the table to the bench beside her, then onto the floor.

“What
is it?” Alexa had set her mug down and had tilted her head as if trying to hear
any Songs coming from the booth.

Marian
herself heard erratic, harsh rhythms. Two Songs inextricably melded together,
both hopeless.

Alexa
frowned. “I don’t understand what you want.”

Marwey’s
lips tightened. “Koz and Perlee Desolly. They’re friends of ours. They’re—”

“Desperate,”
Pascal finished. “They Paired against the wishes of the noble they flew under
and both were dismissed from his service. They’re independent now and
penniless.”

“Reynardus,”
Marwey said flatly.

Glancing
at Marian, Alexa explained, “Bastien’s father. The former Lord Knight of the
Marshalls.”

In
urgent tones, Pascal said, “The Desollys need support. A helping Song.
Knowledge that they’re good Chevaliers, good people.”

Hands
wrapped around her mug, Alexa nodded. “I understand. Most of Reynardus’s fliers
are now with Luthan or Bastien and me.”

“The
thing is—” Marwey wet her lips, swallowed “—we’re not sure how Luthan and
Bastien feel about Koz. He’s antagonized them both in the past. And—uh—Bastien
and Perlee—well, they played together for a while.”

Alexa
scowled.

Marwey
continued. “But only for a month or two, and they both moved on. It was a long
time ago.”

Alexa
was shaking her head.

“Please,
Alyeka,” said Marwey. “Take them on. We will—”

Holding
up a hand, Alexa stopped the girl’s tumble of words. “I can’t believe you
hesitated to ask. Of course they can fly under my banner,” she said. Then her
tone sharpened. “They’re good, and will fit in with my team?”