Sorceress of Faith (38 page)

Better
not. Stepping back, she didn’t release her entwined fingers until she was far
beyond temptation. She looked at the pool. She knew it had once contained the
famed healing-liquid, jerir, but now it definitely held herbal water. She
glanced at the door to the Temple. No way was she going to bathe in full view
of anyone who walked in.

So
she returned to the little octagonal pool to wash and shampoo. The moment she
stepped from the bath, the bottom opened and the water disappeared. Wow. New
water, with flecks of plant matter she hadn’t noticed, flooded into the pool
from eight sides and it was full again in minutes.

Marian
rolled her shoulders, shook out her arms and legs, testing her limbs. No doubt
about it, she felt
good
from the bath. Efficacious herbs and minerals,
as Alexa had said.

As
she walked back to the door, she paused by the large pool and considered it.
She hadn’t done any lessons today and maybe working with water inside,
here
,
might be easier.

Go
ahead
,
Sinafin said. She was a frog again, sitting by the pool.
The Temple is for
all human endeavors. Bathing, eating.
The frog grinned.
Practicing Water
lessons
.

“Will
the Temple and the pool
help
me? I don’t want to succeed in lessons here
if I can’t duplicate them elsewhere.”

The
frog let out a reverberating
crooaaakkk
that raised the hair on the back
of her neck.
Now any advantage is neutralized. I will watch but will neither
guide nor add my Power.

“Thanks.”
She guessed. She stepped into a wide shaft of sunlight, settled into her
stance, called her Power. It was easier now, as if she could sweep all the
latent sparks of static electricity from the atmosphere, as if she could
process sunlight flowing through the windows into sheer fiery energy. With
complete concentration, she followed Jaquar’s instructions step by step, not
daring to modify any of his Songs of Water Power.

She
stared at the pool, tried to evaporate some water. As with her first lesson,
she used too much. Sighing, she let the cupful fall back into the pool and
began with a droplet.

It
worked. She held it, dispersed it into the air, could find it and reform it if
she wanted! Yay!

The
sun glinted in her eyes, so she closed them. She felt the rays enveloping her,
the warmth of the light, the very yellowness. There were other colors in the
spectrum, other stars adding their signatures to the light, and she gathered
them all, used them on the pool.

She
opened her eyes. She’d done it!

Congratulations!
croaked
Sinafin, glowing green.

With
a whoop she danced over to the feycoocu and patted her cool frog head. “I did
it!”

You
will not forget this lesson, either
.

Marian
didn’t want to think of her previous one with Sinafin. She much preferred
Jaquar as a professor.

“One
more time,” she said, rolled her shoulders and stepped into the shade, keeping
her eyes open. This time she tweaked the Songs Jaquar had given her. She held
her breath as she collected the slippery water, kept it suspended in the air
with her mind, evaporated it—dispersed it into the air—then lifted it to the
ceiling, forming a rain cloud. With exquisite precision, she let the misty rain
pour down, missing both Sinafin and herself.

The
feycoocu hopped over to the rain and wallowed. The little shower ended quickly
and Marian punched her arms in the air and shrieked, “Yes!” Then she whirled
around, stopped. If she
had
let the rain fall on her, she could have
dried herself easily with a warm breeze, intensified sunlight on her clothes
and not her skin. Oh yeah!

Now
dry the stones
,
Sinafin said.

Grinning,
Marian did.

I
will see you later
.
With complete dignity the frog leaped to the door and through it.

Exclamations
came from outside the Temple. Marian chuckled. She skirted the altar and gong.
Despite her recent success with water, she didn’t trust herself to keep her
hands from poking into Powerful instruments that were best left undisturbed by
a foolish student—strains of “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” ran through her mind.
She surely didn’t want to explain any dancing brooms or gong rolling off its
stand or gemstone lamp-chimes cracking, or a strange Song emanating from the
Temple.

Her
imagination ran riot at all the havoc she could cause. She supposed it was an
honor—the amount of trust everyone placed in her that she wasn’t being watched.

She
left the Temple humming, and walked through the courtyard and gate and down to
the Lower Ward. There she lingered a moment, observing people train in a
circular area with swords and shields and staffs. They were good, and as
exciting as any historical movie. Better choreographed, too.

A
scent came to her nose that she recognized as volaran and she found her way to
the Landing Field. There she observed a couple of Chevaliers depart, one Sword
and Shield Pair of male lovers land.

She
gave them privacy and turned away to the maze that linked the Landing Field and
the Keep and Alexa’s brithenwood garden.

Wandering
through the maze, Marian knew that she liked this place. Oh, the Castle could
never be home to her as it might be to Alexa—though Alexa had her own estate,
too. But Lladrana, the world of Amee, resonated inside her. Just walking on the
soil was an experience; she seemed to draw a bit of energy into herself at each
step. Even water now answered to her Power, left her a bit of fluid strength.
Dancing with the wind energized her, too, not to mention riding lightning!

She
couldn’t imagine herself doing any of those things at home. Not in Boulder.
Maybe, if she was very, very careful, she could find some deserted mountain
meadow in which to practice. If she even had enough Power on Earth to summon a
wind. Her stomach tightened. Somehow she didn’t think everything she learned
here would work there. How much more effort would she have to use to do magic
on Earth?

One
more thing she didn’t know.

But
she did know that she was greedy. She wanted to be the Powerful woman she was
becoming, the woman who could play in storms, dance with the wind, ride
lightning. The woman who could cook and clean and
create
with magic. Yet
Earth held Andrew, and her mother. Perhaps, with the perspective she’d learned
here, the new experiences, somehow she might be able to bond with her mother,
love and be loved as family should. She could hope.

Marian
laughed when she reached the door to the brithenwood garden. It was small.
She’d have to duck, but Alexa could open it and walk straight through. No wonder
Alexa liked it. Marian opened the door and hunched her back as she entered the
garden. It was one of the most beautiful places she’d ever seen.

The
tree that gave the garden its name, the brithenwood, stood tall and willowy
with white bark and deep green, narrow spearlike leaves. The scent was floral,
but unique as if the perfume comprised several “notes” instead of just
one—perhaps the leaves and the bark exuded fragrance as well as the blossoms.
Looking up, Marian could see that the top of the tree still held a few white
blossoms.

Around
the brithenwood was a bench, and two tracks of stepping stones wove through the
tangle of garden that was lush with textures and colorful flowers.

Something—the
tree, the walled garden itself—dispersed serenity like a scent. The Temple had
been serene, too, with an underlying muscle of Power—a place that had seen
sanctified Rituals for ages. This garden brought the peace of nature. The tall
gray stone walls emphasized the blue of the sky, the low wooden door seemed to hold
the world at bay.

As
she crossed to the bench, Marian spied a twig about five inches long and half
the width of her finger that had fallen from the brithenwood. It was a pretty
thing, so she picked it up and slid it into her pocket. Then she sat beneath
the tree.

Since
the morning was so peaceful, Marian decided to meditate. She drew her legs up
and crossed them, rested her hands on her knees and emptied her mind. When a
thought or observation occurred, she let it drift by, fade.

The
Songs around her helped. Not only the individual Song of the tree, but the
sprightly notes of the flowers, the buzzing of bees, the rustling of grasses
and leaves in a small breeze, all combined into a lulling melody.

Until
a horrible screech jolted her. Her eyelids flew open and she saw a peacock
strutting around the garden, tail fully unfolded. Marian choked.

“Sinafin,”
she said. “Peacocks are male. Peahens are not nearly so colorful.”

A
beady eye turned in Marian’s direction. Sinafin sniffed and continued her
progress around the garden.

Marian
closed her eyes again, but this time couldn’t settle. Which was just as well,
since a minute later the door banged open and Alexa tromped in.

Meeting
Marian’s eyes, Alexa winced and flushed. “Meditating, huh? Sorry.” She slammed
the door shut.

“I
take it the meeting did not go well?” Marian said.

“A
couple of the Marshalls put Jaquar’s back up and he danced around what the
Tower Community was doing about the Dark. I brought up establishing a Tower
presence here and you’d’ve thought I proposed razing the Castle!”

Marian
frowned. “Well, I was Summoned for some task, I know that. It’s probably
rallying the Tower Community,
making
them a community instead of
individuals. Then having them integrate with the Marshalls. But that doesn’t mean
the effort will be welcomed by the Marshalls.”

“I’ll
work on them,” Alexa said grimly, fingering her baton in its sheath as she sat
next to Marian. Then she saw Sinafin parading around, opening and closing her
feathers. “A peacock again.” Alexa snorted.

“I
told her that peacocks have the pretty plumage and peahens are subdued, but she
ignored me,” Marian said.

Alexa
said, “By the way, word has spread that you’re here, and a Scholar of the
Fourth Degree—”

“Fourth!”

Alexa
raised her brows, and her smile widened. “That’s what Jaquar told us.”

“Wow.
Just one more degree—”

“And
Finals
, probably worse than your doctoral exams. Mine sure were worse
than the Bar exam.”

Marian
subsided. “You’re probably right.”

“Anyway,
people will be coming to meet you.” No sooner had Alexa said that than a loud
knocking sounded at the garden door.

“Who’s
there?” shouted Alexa.

“Luthan
and Faucon,” called a man’s voice.

“Bringing
gifts for the new Exotique,” said another voice, rich and cultured.

“A
moment,” Alexa called, but she turned to Marian with a smile. “One really
amazing thing about being an Exotique is people give you stuff to make you
remember them, like them. And—” she raised a forefinger “—since Exotiques are
inscrutable in their thoughts and actions, those gift-bearers don’t necessarily
expect a return on their investment. The trick is not to be greedy.” She pulled
a dark red stone out of her pocket and showed it to Marian.

Marian
stared, open-mouthed. “That looks like the ruby in one of England’s royal
crowns.”

“The
Black Prince’s ruby. It’s really a spine.” Alexa flushed a little. “I like
jewels.”

“Who
doesn’t?” They shared a smile.

“I
earned
this. I’m sure you will soon have skills to trade.”

“We
are still out here,” the first voice called.

“Just
a minute,” Alexa shouted. “I need to tell Marian about you two.”

“That’s
a few words for Luthan, but I would take much longer,” said the second voice,
which Marian decided was Faucon.

Alexa
bit her lip, shot a glance at Marian. “I don’t know if you’ve run across this
before—”

“Across
what?”

Shrugging,
Alexa said, “Some of the Lladranans instinctively like or dislike us. I think
it’s a visceral thing.”

Marian
blinked. “No, I haven’t experienced that.”

Alexa
nodded. “You’re about to meet two handsome, sexy and honorable Chevaliers.
Luthan is Bastien’s brother and the Representative of the Singer to the
Marshalls. Faucon is a high-ranking noble.”

“I
take it one of them has this instinctive like-dislike reflex?”

“They
both do. Try not to think badly of the one who has the revulsion. He’s
embarrassed by it.”

“Revulsion?
It’s that bad?”

Alexa
wiggled her eyebrows. “And the opposite is the
attraction
.”

“Oh
boy,” Marian said under her breath.

“Come
on in!” Alexa called, before Marian had time to really think on all the ramifications
of Alexa’s words.

The
small door opened and two men ducked under the lintel and entered. They carried
scrolls.