Sorceress of Faith (52 page)

M
arian couldn’t
settle down. She paced the tower suite. It had been decorated for Marwey, who
now lived with her Pairling, Pascal, and reflected the innocence of a gently
bred young girl. Marian didn’t think she’d ever been that young or naïve, so
the room evoked a vague discomfort in her.

Tuck
had found a fluffy white pillow rimmed with lace on the bed and claimed it as
his own. He snored peacefully in the center of the pillow, as if he were a
living jewel or a gift ready to be presented to a dignitary. She smiled
briefly, then drummed her fingers on the windowsill and stared into the maze
below, tracing the path from the Keep entrance to the Landing Field, then the
brithenwood garden. Her mind felt trapped.

No.
Not just her mind.
She
felt constrained. People here had moved her
around at their will. Events had been happening
to
her and she’d
reacted. She wasn’t in control of her life, wasn’t even in control of her pet
hamster, who had turned into an amazing entity.

Was
she such a passive person?

She’d
been learning.

She’d
been developing her Power.

She’d
been changing—she hoped.

Her
will had been strong—at all times she’d acted with the foremost thought of
helping Andrew.

There
were
times when she’d taken an active role. She had chosen Bossgond over
the other Circlets when she first came. She had taken a lover. She had fought
the master.

At
no time had she acted impulsively. Was that a virtue or a failing? Perhaps she
should
have acted impulsively.

It
was her wish to be Sent back to Boulder. It was her wish to return to Lladrana
if at all possible, and with Andrew, too. Surely that wasn’t passive?

Perhaps
she couldn’t sit still because she’d studied so hard that now she felt she
needed to
act
. She prowled each room of the suite, looking out the
windows at the day, scanning the clouds to check the weather. Maybe she could
find a good frink storm to annihilate. She puffed out a breath and shivered when
she recalled the feel of the creatures against her skin—but it would be
something to
do
.

Again
her gaze fell on the maze and the Landing Field beyond. It might be interesting
to have a flying lesson.

At
that moment she heard the strum of her doorharp and everything in her stilled.
It was Jaquar. She knew without stretching her senses to hear and feel his
Song.

She’d
instinctively been waiting for him. Somehow she’d unconsciously understood,
through their shared glances and body language, that he would come to her.

That
she was his last task before he set out on the errands Bossgond had given him.

She
cleared her throat. “Come in.”

Jaquar
entered, closed the door behind him and just stood and stared at her, yearning
and torment in his eyes. “I need to talk to you.” His jaw set and he held his
body tight as if awaiting dismissal or rejection.

Marian
shrugged with more casualness than she felt. Her heartbeat had picked up when
he was outside her door. Her nerves now quivered at the sight of him.

He
took a pace or two into the room. “I know it is too soon for you to forgive
me.” He shuddered. “I can’t imagine what being in the maw was like. I deserve
your disdain.”

“I
will say,” he added in a low tone, “that when the sangvile led me to the nest,
I was mad to get in there, to destroy it.” His mouth curved down. “I tried. I’d
have given my life to do what you did.” He inhaled. “I was ashamed that I’d
started the whole matter, and once I knew you, I didn’t want you to find out
and lose respect for me. So I planned on stopping it and you’d never know of my
dishonor.”

“You’ve
explained yourself. Are you done?” she asked quietly.

Flinching,
he said, “No. I wish to apologize deeply for my part in the ordeal you faced,
to ask your forgiveness.”

Marian
nodded slowly. “I accept your apology.”

He
dipped a hand in his pocket. “This is not a bribe for your forgiveness. It is a
gift. And since I know you are more concerned for your brother than yourself,
it is for him.” He withdrew a small golden stone like a tiger’s eye that shone
with Power. He cupped it in his palm.

“What
is it?”

“Energy,
to help your brother cross with you.” He shrugged a shoulder. “I drew it down
from the Castle Temple’s storage crystals. Just imagine, energy from the
strongest Rituals of the most Powerful team on Lladrana is captured here.” He
offered it to her. “They won’t miss it.”

She
took it without touching his fingers. His face tightened.

The
stone was warm from his hand and the bit of his aura clinging to the tiger’s
eye sank tingling into her skin. He said, “The Medica told me they gave one to
the baby after her dunk in the pool, and it might help with jerir.”

“Thank
you.” She rolled it in her hand. The crystalline structure was full of Power in
every lattice. “Though, I don’t think I can convince a healer on Exotique Terre
to drill a hole into my brother’s skull and pour jerir onto his brain.”

“Whatever
you want of me, I’ll provide. Before you go to Exotique Terre and after you
return.” He hesitated. “You do plan to return?”

She
met his gaze. “Yes, if my brother agrees. I believe I have friends enough here
who have the Power to Summon us back.”

“You
have more than a friend in me.” His voice remained quiet and husky. He took
another step forward, closer to her, just beyond arm’s reach.

Marian
stepped back.

Jaquar
stilled. “What do you think the odds are that you will be able to convince your
brother to come with you?” he asked carefully.

Slipping
the stone in her other pocket, Marian stared out the window. “It depends upon
his disease. If he is doing well, and there is a better prognosis for him, then
we may stay.”

“I
cannot wish him ill, but my life will have lost something precious when you
leave, Marian.”

She
really didn’t want to hear that. Was he trying to win her over because of his shame,
because he didn’t like people thinking poorly of his character? That would be
the basest motive.

“Thank
you for the stone,” she repeated.

“There
was another reason I wanted to speak with you,” Jaquar said.

“Yes?”

Jaquar
shifted. “I haven’t had many women in my life. But you are the most amazing,
and I deeply regret what has happened between us. The Song between us was
extraordinary. It developed so quickly, was so strong and complex.” He braced
himself. “I want…I want a bond between us again. Even if it is only
acquaintances, only friends, I need that link.” Once again his cheeks took on a
darker color. “Please?” Then he stepped forward, stretched out his hand, palm
up.

Marian
swallowed. No one had ever said such things to her. She wanted to believe him.

“Please?”
he whispered.

She
lifted her hand.

He
reached out and touched her fingers—and the Song between them mended
instantaneously. Not a tiny link of affection, but a full-blown symphonic poem
of respect, deep friendship, like minds, hearts that beat in tune. It echoed
like fate along her nerves.

Then
it happened.

Fog
enshrouded her.

He
started fading.

She
saw him start to grab for her, then curl his fingers into fists and step back.

The
Snap.

She
let it take her.

Suddenly
she was in the Dimensional Corridor with fierce winds whistling around her. She
had no idea of the reason for the winds or what would happen if she calmed
them, so she formed a forcefield around herself, using the Power that swept her
around.

For
a moment she let herself spin. Her life had just altered again. Her mind
scrambled to keep up. She needed time to think!

On
one of her spins, she saw a flash of bare flesh. She stopped her turn just in
time to peer down the corridor and see her past self pulled by a red ribbon
through the door the Marshalls had opened with their Summoning.

Shock
hit her.

She
was seeing the past! Those doors behind her opened on the past!

Marian
wondered if she could go farther back than her own original experience in the
corridor. Could she travel to where Alexa was being Summoned? Would there be
some way for Marian to help Alexa defeat the monster who had attacked her? And
if she did, would she change history for Alexa and even herself? Scary idea.

She
moved away from the shining portal to current-day Earth, opposite the one she’d
exited. She turned into the dimness of the past.

Marian
hurried to the old door that had opened for her previous self, but it had
closed. Marian-of-before was gone—now landing on the stone floor and meeting
Jaquar and the Marshalls.

Her
heart remembered the fear and pain and confusion. The door to her right—to
Earth—closed into a small black crack, then vanished. A few feet into the
future there was still a door.

A
tiny rattle attracted her. Tuck in his hamster ball! She had to concentrate,
focus if she was going to achieve her goals.

She
scooped up Tuck, looked at him through the clear ball.

Bright
unintelligent animal eyes gazed back at her. If she kept him now, would he
develop as she had? She didn’t dare change the past.

The
wind whisked her gown around her ankles.

She
had no time!

Always,
always she was distracted and missed the optimal moment to act. She turned to
the “Lladranan” side of the corridor and stared at the next door.

A
passage she hadn’t understood in the notes of the interdimensional traveler
finally made sense, echoing in her mind. “One can never go through a previous
door. An opening is available for only a single use.”

Beat.
Beat. Beat.
She heard the rushing in her head and didn’t know if it was her blood, the
winds of the corridor or the pulsing of many world-Songs.

Perhaps
it was time itself.

She
pressed against the door and it opened on a bright rainbow. Why the rainbow?
Because it was the past? Was it an omen for her? Would the rainbow appear just
to her, or for certain Powered people? Or for everyone?

Focus!

She
stood on the threshold, drew in a deep breath and felt as if fizzing champagne
entered her body—what would it do to her?
Focus!

Her
hands gripped the plastic ball, relaxed.

Blowing
on it as if it were a bubble, she set it gently wafting on a small breeze,
watched as the ball—and Tuck—settled into the flowered meadow where she’d found
him. A kaleidoscopic twist of her sight and she saw her former self speaking
with Sinafin.

The
door snapped closed.

Marian
pivoted, fought against a huge wall of pressure that constricted her lungs,
forcing air from them. Five steps into the past. Her eyes stung. Squinting, she
saw that the door to her apartment had closed. The next dark door began to
shrink.

She
jumped at it, was struck with hard blows. She kept the image of her Earthly
home strong in her mind. She slipped. Fell.

Into
her apartment.

32

G
asping for air,
Marian lay still, pulse thundering in her ears. Her senses dimmed and panic
overwhelmed her for an instant as she viscerally recalled the grayness of the
Dark’s lair where she’d also lost all sensation.

“Uh,
uh, uh,” she moaned. Her limbs convulsed and she curled into a fetal ball.

Smell
returned first—the scent of lily-of-the-valley incense.

Distantly
she heard her clock chime, her phone ring.

She
blinked. Haze parted before her eyes. All the colors were brighter, more vivid,
yet sounds,
Songs
, came faintly, were muffled. All except dear Mother
Earth’s Song.

Marian
rocked to her hands and knees. Shook her head to clear it. The phone rang on
and on. She stood and staggered until she reached it. The receiver felt odd in
her hand—plastic, alien.

Bracing
herself, she answered it. “’Lo.”

“Marian,
what are you doing still home!” her mother, Candace, shrilled. “You should be
on your way.
Must
you irritate me at every turn!”

The
sweep of innate love she’d had at the sound of her mother’s voice vanished as
Candace’s words sank in. Marian leaned against the kitchen wall and stared at
the calendar, the clock, the moon chart. It was only a couple of hours—no
later—from the time she’d left.

“Marian,
do you hear me?” Candace persisted.

“Ayes,”
Marian said.
“Mais oui.”

“That’s
not funny,” Candace said. “I don’t appreciate you being snide.”