Protector of the Flight (45 page)

“Ayes.”
He shrugged a shoulder. “I just don’t like this S-snap idea.”

“We
won’t let it concern us. I don’t want to go back to the Exotique Land.” Like
Alexa and Marian, she never thought of Earth or Colorado as home anymore.

Marrec
sat next to her, draping an arm around her shoulders and now the fragrance of
his skin teased her. Man. Lover.

“Calli
isn’t going anywhere.”

She
tensed a little at his words, kept a smile aimed at her boy. “I have to go back
to the encampment, but your father will stay here with you. Flying lessons
every day, and I’ll come back as often as I can.”

“Maybe
I should go with y-you, so you’ll stay safe.” He nodded.

Oh,
the dear child. “I like thinking about you here, at our home.”

Jetyer
stood straight, looked Marrec in the eye. “Th-then Papa should go with you. I
will look after Diaminta and…here. Someone m-must be with you.”

Just
that easily the huge, black canyon of their differences opened between them.
Marrec stiffened.

“You
should go,” Jetyer insisted.

Calli
rubbed her temples. “Jetyer, I haven’t finished my duties to Lladrana yet, and
your father and I love you. We want you and Diaminta to have
good
lives.
And both parents.”

“B-but
that c-can’t happen just yet, can it?”

Why
couldn’t Marrec help her out? She swallowed. “No, not quite yet, but soon,
within a month, I hope.”

Marrec
frowned at her.

“I
feel it…that everything will be settled in a month.” Calli put her hand on her
chest. Just for that instant she had
known.
She only hoped she could
hold on to the memory of the feeling in hard times.

After
a quiet lunch, she kissed her children and husband and walked with back
straight to the Landing Field and they went to an arena for another flying
lesson. She waved then soared high and sent Thunder toward the camp. Her volaran’s
sympathy eased her rigid seat, made her concentrate on what was ahead, not
behind her.

C
alli fretted
through the next couple of days, giving volaran-partnering lessons, teaching
Equine, flying patterns. She even helped with the final testing of a Chevalier
class and handed out newly won reins. Nothing fulfilled her. The only place she
wanted to be was home—continuing to learn about her new family, bringing
them
together as a unit.

Raoul
Lebeau had appointed himself her companion and was occasionally amusing, but it
didn’t take the calculation in his eyes for Calli to know he kept her company
because he wanted to get ahead. She also reckoned that he was a spy for Lord
Veenlit, who was courting a happy Seeva. That woman seemed much more content in
managing the camp than she’d ever been in attempting to become a Chevalier.

The
battles continued, and though Calli didn’t fight without Marrec, she spent
hours with the Marshalls and noble Chevaliers over battle maps, listening to
strategic plans and planning warfare, which she loathed.

Chevaliers
and volarans were lost and Calli grieved—more, she took the suffering of
volarans who’d lost their fliers upon herself, serving as a counselor. This
depressed her spirits even more, though she won praise from Bastien and the
other volaran mind-speakers for being able to save three that would have pined
to death at the loss of their human partners. She even determined where those
volarans would survive best—one went to her estate, one to Bastien’s and the
third returned to the great herd in Volaran Valley.

When
Marrec showed up for his rotation the fourth day, he was still remote, their
PairSong suppressed, unhappy that they were not together. Calli watched his
every gesture, drank in his stories of their children, but did not apologize
for doing what she thought was right.

No
battle alarms sounded, but midafternoon Thealia Germaine’s Head of Chevaliers
strode up to them. “There’s a meeting in the Lady Knight Marshall’s tent. Now.”

Calli
and Marrec looked at each other. He reached for her hand, the first time he’d
touched her.

T
healia glanced
up from an unrolled map on the table in her magnificent tent. Her face looked
pale, her eyes set deep in worn skin. At first Calli thought it must be the dim
light, but then understood that it wasn’t. This campaign was grinding on all of
them. She made a tiny sound in her throat and Marrec’s arm came around her
waist. She savored the feel of it. Strong. Reliable.

Then
she noticed Marian and Jaquar and stilled. They’d been absent from camp for the
last couple of days. Something was definitely up.

Thealia
nodded at the two Chevaliers at the tent flaps. “Close the entrance.” They did
and a thick atmosphere darkened, gloom draping the space. A potent spell of
secrecy.

With
a short whistle, Thealia lit the lamps until light glowed. It might have been
cheery and comfortable if everyone wasn’t so tense. Gesturing to Jaquar,
Thealia said, “Report.”

Jaquar
cleared his throat. “The Dark has been more vicious, more active because it is
searching for a new human Sorcerer or Sorceress to become a new Master of its
horrors. We believe the attacks on you must be an attempt by someone great in
evil Power to prove himself or herself to the Dark.”

Alexa
blinked. “Are you telling us that the Dark might be
less
aggressive if
it gets another Master?” She sounded incredulous.

Shrugging,
Jaquar said, “Perhaps, for a short amount of time. It
is
less
organized.” He waved a hand. “The continual retrousse of monsters here instead
of spreading them across the northern border where other fence posts remain
fallen—and we can’t raise fence posts without killing horrors—the spending of a
lot of dreeths—” He shared a glance with his wife. “We think the fire-breathing
ones are all gone.”

“That’s
good news,” Marrec said.

“All
point to some
thing
that is not human, clumsy with detail,” Jaquar
ended.

“We
must carry this battle to the Dark before it finds another Powerful minion,”
Thealia said, her voice harsh.

Silence
throbbed in the tent. Calli found herself licking her lips as everyone stared
at her. “I thought there was no way to get to the Dark.”

Marian
said, “The Circlets have endeavored to penetrate the maw of the Dark’s nest on
all other planes. To no avail.”

“So
now we must carry the battle—or at least survey the nest here on this physical
plane. Marian gave us the location,” Thealia said. She gestured them around the
table, then stabbed at the map with her finger. “Here, Funeej Island.”

It
was far to the northwest.

Marian
stepped closer to Calli. “From old Lorebooks, it’s one large volcano.”

“Great,”
Calli said. “Active?”

Shrugging,
Marian said, “We don’t know.”

“It’s
a long distance. It will take the strongest and most Powerful volaran and flier
to scout for us.” Thealia met Calli’s eyes unflinchingly.

“Calli
will not go alone!” Marrec insisted.

Thealia’s
eyelids hooded her gaze. “It’s probable that on this physical plane, as in
many, only an Exotique can penetrate whatever Powerful Shield the Dark has
placed.”

“Neither
Alexa nor Marian can go. They have been here on Lladrana long enough that the
Dark knows them and has Shields against them,” Jaquar said.

Well,
that was that. Calli’s stomach clenched.

“And
while she scouts, she may have a chance to harm or destroy it. That fancy,
blood-red knot you found, Marian, the weapon knot—” Thealia said.

“Calli
doesn’t have a four-octave voice,” Marian said. “It needs a trained Singer to
use the weapon knot.”

Thealia
scowled. “I thought the requirement was perfect pitch. From what I’ve heard,
Calli has perfect pitch.”

Calli
just stared at the two women. She’d never had singing lessons, never much sang
before reaching Lladrana, so how would she know if she had perfect pitch or
not?

“A
mistranslation,” Marian said stiffly. “I made a mistake.”

“Did
that admission hurt?” asked Bastien.

Marian
smiled. “A little, but I have rationalizations all prepared.” The tension in
the room lessened. “Besides, I think that more than one person must release the
knot.”

“Some
other weapon, then. A bomb,” Thealia said.

“Ever
think what the backlash might be to a volaran Pair from a bomb against the Dark
so Powerful it sucks the life from our very planet?” Marrec’s arm tightened
around Calli until she could barely breathe—at least that’s what she thought
was causing her panting. Not sheer terror.

“Calli
doesn’t go alone,” Marrec repeated. He stared at Jaquar and Marian, swung his
gaze to Thealia. “This is all speculation. We don’t know what Shields the Dark
might have. We mount a
large
force.”

Sometimes
a sacrifice of one must be made for the good of all. Calli opened her mouth to
say so, when Alexa punched her shoulder.

Alexa
said, “We should also consider the fact that the Dark would love to get Calli
in its clutches. To destroy an Exotique that has great potential to make the
partnership between volaran and flier so Powerful that it threatens the Dark.”
She smiled fiercely. “Like all of us Exotiques, Calli is more important in the
long run than using her as an expendable sacrifice. We of the Marshalls
will
not
consider Calli disposable. Absolutely
no
bomb.” She shot a
glance at Marian. “That weapon knot. How many people does it need to Untie it
with Power?”

“Six.”

Alexa
jerked a nod, set her hand on the hilt of her baton, angling it forward. “And
that’s the number of times an Exotique can be Summoned in the next couple of
years, right? Coincidental? I don’t
think
so.”

32

M
ingled Songs
surged in unspoken consideration, agreement.

“We’ll
mount an expedition to survey the island and find an entrance where we can
invade,” Thealia said.

“Great,”
Calli whispered.

That
evening, as Marrec was once more mining Faucon’s brain for experience in
running an estate, Calli reluctantly accepted Marian’s invitation for some
after-dinner wine.

She’d
gotten into the habit of spending time with Alexa or Marian or both in the evenings
when they were in the encampment.

Alexa
and others had flown to battle. Calli and Marrec had been relieved from their
fighting shifts until the scouting trip was over.

Though
Marian, too, had adopted lush Arabian Night decor, Calli couldn’t get comfortable.
Kept having to unclench her jaw to drink ale. Jaquar was nowhere to be seen.

“I
suppose you want to talk about my task,” Calli grumbled. Her ale sat sour in
her stomach. “You think this flyover of the Dark’s nest is my task.”

“It
rang true to me, Calli,” Marian said, and Calli knew that was the simple truth.
When they’d spoken of it earlier, Marian had heard the same sound of Rightness
as she had. Damn.

Calli
rubbed the back of her neck, met Marian’s sympathetic eyes. “Yeah, I heard it,
too.”

“Calli…”
Marian’s voice was almost a whisper. “I thought I’d remind you that both Alexa
and I had to fulfill our tasks alone.”

There
were several heartbeats of hard silence. “Alexa was in battle!”

“But
she’d lost her Shield, all her other support.”

“So
you believe I’ll have to do the scouting alone.” Her chin lifted. “I can do it
if I must.”

Marian
set her empty glass aside and came over to kneel by Calli, took her in soft
arms and hugged her tight. “I’m sorry.”

J
ust before dawn,
Marrec slipped away from their bedroll, dressed and left the tent quietly. Even
the rise of Dark Lance’s wings into the sky as they flew away home was nearly
silent.

And
Calli hurt. He’d thought he’d left her sleeping, and she supposed she was
grateful that he tried to come back at night as often as possible. Of course,
that might just be for the great, driving sex. Now that they didn’t discuss
things as often, that they kept their feelings to themselves and were apart as
much as they were together, the passion between them had taken on a dark
sensuality that ravaged Calli. She’d never done such things with a man before,
been taken to so many edges, had returned the exploration of sexuality.

She
should have been exhausted, but she always knew the instant he left their bed.
She rose and put on a loose gown, went to a nearby pool and dunked, efficiently
bathing. The sun was just sending the first shafts of light into the sky from
behind the hillocks by the time she returned to her tent. To see Thunder
standing in front of the flap, waiting for her, fully caparisoned in his
fanciest black-and-silver tack.
Time to go,
he sent mentally.