Keepers of the Flame

by Robin D. Owens

  She stroked the satin wood of the desktop, traced the pretty inlay of woods. Yes, this would have been far out of her price range in Colorado. She might never have had enough money to buy museum-quality furnishings. The best of the best. The colorful tatts on her left wrist caught her eye. The colors were brilliant, now. Elizabeth’s caduceus. Zeres’ shield, faded. Alexa’s jade baton, Calli’s volaran, Marian’s book.

  Bri would be adding Sevair’s hammer. Tingles slipped along every nerve. Good thing she was sitting down. A thought snagged and she grabbed the mirror again. Had she seen…? “Abracadabra.” She focused on Elizabeth’s inner arm, her left. Yes! Not as bright as Bri’s, of course, and they might fade even more with time, but Bri didn’t think Elizabeth’s bonding tatts would ever vanish. That comforted her a little. She swallowed. No, she’d never see Elizabeth again, but, the Song willing, they wouldn’t be out of touch for the rest of their lives.

  The length of Bri’s life might only be a few months. If that was so, she’d better go back up and pounce on the man in her bedroom.

  One last thing.

  She and Elizabeth had wanted a mirror in their parents’ home. Bossgond had sent another large mirror for that purpose through to Elizabeth’s place. Their parents had been there last night, during the Snap—and what a blessing that had been, to see them one more time.

  So her folks would have taken their mirror home and activated it. Any one of the Drystans would have done that under the circumstances.

  What had been the spell word for that one? Open sesame? Open sez me? Alakazam? Mirror, mirror on the wall? They’d joked about it. Bri scrabbled in the drawer for the bit of paper Koz had given her, found it, smoothed it from a crumpled state.

  “Laugh.” It said.

  Laugh. That was stupid.

  How could she laugh under these circumstances? Bri muttered “fuck,” under her breath. She settled herself, tried to think of something humorous, touched the mirror. And recalled the startled wonder of seeing Elizabeth flying on her volaran outside the coach window, hair and clothes wild, face rapturous, screaming with laughter at her.

  Bri laughed.

  Her mirror cleared, showed the book-lined family room where they’d celebrated her father’s birthday so very long ago. The night they’d been Summoned to Lladrana.

  The room was empty, and from the view, the mirror hung over the fireplace, easy to see the whole room.

  Breath blew from Bri. She tried to recollect the day or date, but couldn’t. Elizabeth’s day timer would be in her tower suite and turned to the proper day, previous ones marked off.

  She’d get Elizabeth’s stuff. Soon. And take up the habit of knowing when it was on Earth—just to be able to look in on holidays, if nothing else.

  Her face was wet with tears. If this was a work day, and it probably was, her parents would be gone by now. She glanced at the clock, flipped the image in her mind. Seven-thirty. She’d just missed them.

  How she would have loved to have been there when Elizabeth explained everything that had happened!

  Pictures! She hopped up, hurried over to the safe and opened it, took out some of the prints. Her and Elizabeth in their medica robes. Temple Ward of the Castle. Sevair. Volarans.

  Her mirror wasn’t big enough to handle them all. So she picked the one of Sevair.

  “Abracadabra.” To Elizabeth first. Bri turned the pic over, placed it on the mirror, said a sticky spell.

  There! She felt better. She could share.

  A little cough echoed in her mind.

  You should have given them a picture of me, Nuare said.

  I don’t think—

  I am in the cul de sac. You could image me and your tower for your family.

  A good idea. Bri flung on some clothes, got her pack from the window ledge where it was charging her camera.

  She ran down the cool stone steps and flung open the door. There was Nuare, preening. She snapped a shot, three, then lowered the camera. “You look better in the sunlight.”

  True. Then Nuare rocked back on her feet and opened her wings.

  Bri knew an offer for a hug when she saw one. She ran to the large bird, was enfolded.

  I am glad you didn’t leave. I would have mourned.

  Bri stuttered, “Thank you.” Then wept.

  After a couple of minutes, Bri became aware of soft breast feathers sticking to her face, tickling her nose. She sniffed.

  “Bri! Bri! Bridgid Elizabeth!” Sevair’s fearful roar reached them. “No. She didn’t go. She stayed with me. Not a nightmare.” He ran from the tower buck naked, plucked her from Nuare, lifted her to sizzle a kiss on her lips. Holding her up against him with one arm, he brushed her hair from her face with a trembling hand. “You’re here. You’re with me. You’re mine.”

  “Ayes,” Bri managed. It was good to feel his arms, stopped the anxiety lingering in the back of her mind.

  Ayes, she is Amee’s, said Nuare smugly.

  “Giving the neighbors a show,” Bri said.

  “I don’t care,” he mumbled into her hair, but belying his words, he backed inside and slammed the front door shut with Power.

  Murmuring soothing reassurances to himself and her, he carried her back up into the bedroom, then stood near the bed and went to the dresser.

  “I love you,” Sevair said. He stared at her.

  Well, she was here, and with him. “I love you, too.”

  He came back with the little box that held the small, fancy knife. Bri’s throat closed again. A lot of that happening this morning. Last night. The whole damn time. Too many huge decisions driven by huge emotions. Or vice versa. And her mind was chittering.

  Setting a strong hand on her shoulder, he gave a push and her knees obligingly buckled and she was back to sitting on the bed.

  “Please pairbond with me, in a coeur de chain.”

  Bri avoided looking at the open box and the knife. Her breath came fast. “That’s the really big deal, right? The if-I-die-you-die thing.”

  He sat beside her, took her hand. His fingers were steady, hers trembled. “Ayes,” he said.

  She met his gaze, equally steady, very determined. “I don’t know if I can.” Her breaths became pants.

  His strong hand flattened above her breasts. “Breathe slowly. The ritual doesn’t hurt.”

  “I read about a bloodbond in Marian’s lorebook, and the coeur de chain in Calli’s. I don’t think I can.”

  “You can do anything.”

  She peeked at him. He looked the same, utterly confident of himself and of her. Wow.

  “You accepted the Song inside you, taught others, me, to do the same.”

  “You weren’t sick!”

  His solemn face broke into a laughing grin. “During loving.”

  “Oh.” She felt better now he wasn’t so serious, bit her lip.

  “Watch.” He put a hand over his heart, closed his eyes. When he pulled his hand out, the image of a bubble came with it.

  Bri stared. He’d obviously worked on it. It wasn’t a clear bubble, no. It was a round sphere that looked like thin stone—layers and layers of stone carved in moveable balls, like those she’d seen as souvenirs in Chinatowns the world over. She found her tongue. “Wow.”

  But a little crease was between his brows. “There’s a roughness here—”

  “No! Do not mess with that right now in front of me. I’m glad you’re One With The Universe, but I don’t need proof.”

  He chuckled again, stared at her. “You showed us all how to do this, make a sphere of our Song tuned to the universe.”

  “Yes.”

  “It’s no wonder I love you.” He offered the box and knife.

  “Can you put that away, it makes me nervous,” Bri said.

  He let it sink back into his chest. “I can see that. Let’s consider this matter rationally.”

  “Huh.”

  “I love you.” He leaned over and pressed a kiss on her lips. Waited, again with the patient look.


  “I love you,” she admitted.

  “Good.”

  “You returned here to Amee, to Lladrana, to me after the Snap.” His voice was rich with satisfaction.

  “Ayes.”

  “I want to live here with you, in this wonderful tower.”

  She eyed him. He looked sincere. His Song sounded sincere.

  “Okay.”

  “Do you want me to live with you?” he prodded.

  “Ayes.” No hesitation there.

  “Good.” His hand enveloped hers. “We’ve established the fact that we love each other and want to live together. Our Songs have already entwined in a pairbond—”

  “That should be enough. Living together, loving each other. Certainly enough for now.”

  “I want it all,” he said.

  She was flapping her hands. “This bloodbond, mind, heart, soul thing. It’s too much, I think. We don’t have stuff like that on Earth.”

  “Perhaps you only need a little time,” he said indulgently.

  “Maybe.” She wasn’t so sure.

  A squeeze of the hand, another tender kiss. “Just leave all the arrangements to me.”

  Irritation snaked through her. “You think you know me better than I know myself.”

  “Ayes, I do.” He stood, pulled her up, took her mouth until she melted against him. Then he stepped away. “I must work. I’ll take care of everything. All you need to do is show up.”

  “When?”

  “When you’re ready. I’ll give you a week or two to settle.” He smiled. “And I’ll make sure the other Exotiques bring you.”

  “I don’t know that I like this.”

  One of his dark brows raised. “If you would prefer to plan the ritual….”

  She crossed her arms, stuck out her chin. “I’m not sure.”

  Another brief kiss on her forehead. “I am.” He tapped her heart with his forefinger. “And you are, here.” On that last word, he left the room.

  41

  What had she done! Bri kept the cheerful smile on as she closed the door of the house on her last patient the next afternoon.

  The people in the class on Aligning Your Song with the Music of the Spheres—a New Age title if she’d ever heard one—had been nearly wild with enthusiasm. Everyone had heard of the Snap. How Elizabeth had left and Bri had stayed, and Bri was the recipient of effusive gratitude.

  She hadn’t had a minute to herself all day. She, who’d ordered her life exactly how she wanted it for as long as she could remember.

  Not to mention the Exotiques had sent a note down saying that there’d be a Girls Night In at Calli’s suite this evening. The Future of Lladrana would be discussed as well as men. That meant the invasion of the Dark’s nest and that final ritual spell—untying the weapon knot.

  She wanted to run, but where? She was well and truly stuck. Here in an alternate dimension.

  She sank onto the floor of the entryway and crossed her legs and brought her head low to the floor. A hiding-thinking position she’d developed when stressed to the max.

  It had seemed to be the right thing to do at the time, but she was way beyond second thoughts now, coming up on hundredth.

  She’d followed her heart, her gut, her own damn Song. But like every other certainty in her life, this had vanished. Now it was her head that said she was right to do what she’d done, and currently her gut said run, run, RUN.

  The door opened and closed. Sevair’s Song enveloped her. Strong, steady. She resented it. What happened to Bri who was the free spirit?

  “Ah, I suspected this would happen.”

  Smug, too. He was strong and steady and smug.

  His large hands settled around her waist, lifted her. Bri, beloved.

  She flinched.

  You are not trapped. You are free to go anywhere. Nuare will take you.

  “Oh, yeah, that’s great. Free to go anywhere in a world I don’t know.” She let her feet down, but still couldn’t reach the floor. She didn’t meet his eyes. He toted her into the parlor, set her down and she watched as he opened a wall safe she didn’t know was there, disguised by paneling.

  He took out a clinking leather pouch. Then he went to the table and spilled out…gold and silver and jewels. “This would last you a lifetime anywhere on Amee,” he said. He scooped the valuables back into the pouch and handed it to her. “Running money.”

  She set her mouth and lifted her chin. His expression was serious, as usual. “Merci.”

  “It was supposed to make you feel better.”

  Pressing a hand to her heart, she said, “I forsook everything I knew. Everything I was in the past.” She was just beginning to understand the ramifications. They didn’t even have ice cream, did they?

  “We need you,” he said. He put the pouch down, took her hands. “I need you. I will cherish you.”

  Her breathing slowed; the anxiety attack backed off.

  “I love you,” he said.

  “I love you, too.” Solid, steady. He’d get her through this if she let him.

  She couldn’t run anymore, even if she wanted to. Now she had to trust herself and this man and her new life. “But I think I moved too fast.”

  He inclined his head. “You weren’t given much choice.”

  Quiet fell between them. She wanted him to say that he wouldn’t press for the pairbonding thing.

  He didn’t.

  Over the next week and a half all the Castle and Castleton were busy implementing the training of ordinary people to link with their pattern in the universe. It wasn’t easy, but all Lladranans cherished the Song and were willing to try anything to beat the illness. A recognition and connection with the Music of the Spheres, a legacy of Elizabeth’s, was a concept the people could accept. As well as the idea of a stronger, reciprocal bond with their home planet.

  If this had been the States, everyone would have been in big, big trouble. Bri left the town square to stroll home, which, oddity of oddities, would also become Sevair’s home. Time for him to leave the house of his family, though he’d dealt with that abandonment issue. Her heart twinged as she thought of the pain she’d put him through. Relatively short, but intense none the less.

  On impulse, she stopped in at the Nom de Nom. Sevair was probably already home by now. She tried not to think about a ritual bonding, soul-melding ceremony with Sevair, because panic nibbled at her nerves. She didn’t want to run away. Not really. And her feet didn’t itch. Even if they did and she did run away, where would she run to on Amee?

  But it was hard sticking it out when she thought of being completely and totally committed to Sevair.

  So she’d moved from running away to avoidance. Hey, a step up in coping strategies. She told herself that she’d be ready when the ritual came, somehow, and believed it. Sometimes.

  It was odd not to see Koz lounging against the counter, but now that he’d become a mirror magician, he hung with a different crowd in a different part of town.

  Chevaliers looked up at her entrance, smiles lit their faces and Bri sniffed back tears. She’d miss Elizabeth and her parents forever, but she’d found her own place in a different world. She whipped out her camera and took a flash shot. Elizabeth would like seeing this. With a little tinkering by Koz, all the images could be sent home—no!—back to Earth.

  She slipped the camera into her bag, a new leather healthy back bag that had been a gift from Sevair, and scanned those before her. They looked wearier, worn, thinner, and tougher than when she’d taken that first step inside this tavern. The month and a half had been hard on them. Bloodier battles, greater losses, the fear and anxiety that each would be the next one to fall to the Dark’s evil sickness.

  Sevair’s ex-assistant had much to answer for. Suppressed fury roiled within her. She’d make him pay.

  She walked to the Exotiques’ booth and found Faucon drinking in the shadowy corner, watching her. Oh, man! She closed her eyes for a moment, braced herself.

  He scowled when she joined him. Instea
d of taking the bench across from him, she slid in next to him. His eyes looked bleary, his clothes rumpled. His Song lingered in the low register, sad. She rose a little and kissed his cheek, feeling stubble.

  “Go away,” he said.

  “No. I want you to continue to be a good friend.”

  “Seeing you hurts me.”

  That hurt, so her voice was rough. “Sorry, but I don’t entirely believe that. You, more than anyone, always saw us as different.”

  “Yes, but memory fades.” His mouth stretched in an unamused grin. He patted his heart. “I hope. You’re all who is left of her.”

  Bri sniffed. “Elizabeth would have given you gifts.”

  He raised his cup and drank. “Ayes. But she did not find pleasure in mine. Perhaps that was my mistake. I didn’t know her well enough. Didn’t have time to.”

  Bri laid a hand over his. “You made no mistakes. It just wasn’t meant to be.” How stupid she felt uttering such banalities. “Lladrana wasn’t for her. She had too much waiting for her at home, a career she’d worked very hard and very long for, our parents.” Her voice trembled.

  He turned his hand over, squeezed her fingers, then looked aside. “And that other man. I believe she thought of him, sometimes, when she was with me, or tried to make me him. She just didn’t know it, and neither did I.” He stood abruptly, swayed a little. “No offense, but I’m leaving.”

  He nudged at her and she reluctantly slid out of the booth, but blocked his way, curving her hands around his face. “You’re a little drunk. I can take that away.”

  “Please don’t.” He picked her up and set her aside, took a couple of careful steps. Another twisted smile from him. “Unlike those machines in your and Elizabeth’s minds, volarans don’t need to be steered home.”

  His heartache wasn’t easing. Faucon had stuck it out nearly two weeks, but being in the Castle, in Castleton, wasn’t helping. Alexa had forbidden him to fly to battle and fight and his teams and volarans were obeying her.