by C. A. Farlow
Chapter Eight
STRIDING DOWN THE ENTRY hall toward the grand stairs, Alex smiled. Not having to say a word in her own defense was as powerful a message as carrying the Doouglas blade. But it wouldn't stop whatever the Hebridean contingency was planning. Treachery ran deep on that side of the table and would need to be dealt with. Oswein was a puppet, but Gwenhwyfach was another matter altogether.
“Majesty, please wait a moment. Please.” MacDonald chased Alex down the hall.
Alex slowed and turned. “I am tired and must contact McLaran to see where we stand in pursuit of the remaining Comin. The wounded patrolman will be here in the morning, to be dealt with.”
When MacDonald came abreast of Alex he knelt. She frowned. “Get up!”
But he stayed on his knees, head bowed, right arm across his chest. “Not while you wear the tartan and carry the blade.”
Looking down, Alex noticed the tartan still draped over her shoulders. Twirling the fabric off, she handed it to MacDonald. “Here, take this back to the Council Room and then come to my solar. We’ll explain everything there. If you see the others, bring them along, too.”
“Come,” Alex called when a knock reverberated throughout her rooms. She had changed from her formal uniform to soft riding pants and an open shirt. The blade was back in the weapon’s room. A fire blazed on the hearth, and she had arranged finger foods and drinks for her guests.
MacDonald strode into the room followed closely by McLaran the Younger and Newkirk the Elder. Alex was schooled with MacDonald, McLaran, and Newkirk the Younger. The four were the bane to all their tutors. But the bonds formed in childhood had only strengthened over time. Their relationships carried into adulthood, reinforcing those shared between their parents. These four clans formed the core of the Fuar Ćala ruling group.
“Welcome, my friends. The Seneschal will be here shortly. What may I get you to drink?” Ever the gracious host, Alex served her closest allies.
As the Seneschal swept into the room, Snow rose from her place by the fire and hurried over, beseeching her with her eyes. Merilyn pushed her away. “Snow, let me pass.”
“Come here, Snow. We will all discuss what we know together.” Alex reached out to ruffle the wolf’s neck. “Seneschal, where are we with the Comin?”
Sketching a quick bow to Alex, Merilyn dropped into the other armchair. Snow was curled in front of Alex’s chair. Alex looked down at her three friends where they lounged on the rugs. “Before the Seneschal begins, I will ask for your oath that anything discussed here this night will remain here, and never be shared elsewhere.” Alex rose and pulled her dirk from the belt sheath. She drew the razor-sharp blade across her palm. A thin crimson line blossomed, and she held her hand out to the others. MacDonald took the blade and drew it across his palm, the action repeated by the other two. Then each clan member clasped Alex’s bleeding palm in theirs, melding their blood and sealing their oath of silence. They sat back down, and Alex slipped her feet beneath Snow’s warm body, murmuring a quick thank you.
“Well then, let us begin with what we know. A Comin patrol followed Alex back into our world, across a nexus membrane that she opened into theirs.” The gasp that rose from the floor stopped Merilyn’s summary.
Questions tumbled one over the other. Holding up her hands, Alex quieted the barrage. “Let Merilyn finish. She will put everything in context.”
“Thank you, Alexandra.” Merilyn dipped her head to Alex. “As I said, Alex crossed over to the Comin Homeworld. She traveled to the nexus with her animal companions. The purpose of this trek was to recover information about their bioweapon. Information that we hoped would allow our healing technicians to create a cure. As she reached the Keep’s shield boundary on her return, she was ambushed by that same patrol. She was hit by a blaster bolt. They were using molecular disruptors.” The trio stiffened and more gasps rose from the floor.
Merilyn continued through the interruption. “Her blast injury was healed by invoking the Ruler’s Rite. However, Alexandra’s near-term memories were lost during this healing. They should come back, but until they do, we do not know what happened on her trek. The datanode she took across the nexus is missing. And without that, we do not know if Alex found the information we need or not.”
Merilyn paused to sip from her goblet. “We have two remaining Comin alive. One will be here in the morning with the Guardians. McLaran is following the other, and he should report back soon.”
“Father will find the bastard and take care of him.” McLaran the Younger stated with the absolute assurance of a proud son.
“He will, and when he does, we may begin to understand more of this disaster. Until then, we must maintain a state of calm and quiet authority. The Hebrideans will not rest until they have usurped the throne. This information about Alex and her trek would only fuel their cause.”
The group continued their discussion, but Alex remained stoic, lost in the fog of her silent mind.
Snow rose suddenly. She barreled across the room, jumping over the three on the floor, scattering drink and food in her wake. Stopping at the door she spun around.
“Snow, for the love of all that’s holy, sit down and quit interrupting, or get out!” Merilyn barked at the anxious wolf.
“She is trying to tell us something.” Alex coaxed the wolf back over. “What is it? Will you focus for me? Maybe together we can understand.” Alex placed her hands on either side of Snow’s ruff, grabbing the fur beneath her ears. She lowered her forehead until it rested on Snow’s broad brow. “Focus on one thought at a time. What do you want to say?”
Closing her eyes, Alex focused on Snow, trying to pull her thoughts in. Glimpses slipped in. “Going…Ice running…cold…hunting.” But hunting what? “One at a time, Snow. Slow down your thoughts.”
A huff blew across her face, as Snow released some of her frustration. And then things began to clear. Images of blowing snow, and running through the woods brushed against her consciousness. Searching for something, no someone. “Is Ice looking for McLaran? Is McLaran hurt?” Fear curled around Alex’s heart.
The spoken questions brought the other four in the room to their feet. Alex looked up at them and made a snap decision. “I need your help to connect. I cannot do this by myself.” Alex felt her mental energy declining. But she needed to hear what Snow was trying to say.
Merilyn knelt beside Alex’s chair and instructed. “Place one hand on Snow and one on Alex. Try and send only energy to strengthen their connection. Do not send thoughts or let your anxiety seep through, these will only confuse Snow, and complicate the connection.”
Once they all touched Snow and Alex, the four were pulled head over heels into a kaleidoscope of jumbled images. Alex couldn’t stop the cascade from hitting them. She fought to sort out Snow’s thoughts, but they were coming too fast—a swirl of snow in her mind’s eye.
Snow called out mentally, “There Alex, hear Lauren! Ice is with her and McLaran. They are in the Teton cache. We must go now!” But Alex remained deaf and blind, hearing only Snow’s mewling and seeing only swirling snow in her mind.
As the group’s combined mind energy built and continued to strengthen the connection, a blue laser light lanced through the room, blowing the five apart. Snow dropped to the floor as Alex was thrown backward out of her chair. Merilyn was tossed to one side, partially sprawled over Snow. The three others were scattered throughout the room.
Lauren cradled Ice’s head and cried into her fur. Ice howled and rose. The cave filled with blue laser light as the sword’s sapphire sprang to life. The gem pulsed, projecting streaks of blue and green across the cave walls. Lauren grasped the hilt and pulled the blade to her. “Hear me. Alex! Why did you ask me to go? Tell me why.” Lauren’s soul couldn't rest, all she could ask was why, but she never got an answer. Now she had reached her limit.
McLaran was pulled from his sleep. He covered his eyes against the intense light emanating from the stone. He crawled back toward the entrance. “Ge
t back, the gem is gathering energy. Drop the blade! It is going to destroy itself.”
Lauren held Ice close, as she grasped the sword in her other hand. “No, it won’t hurt me. It’s trying to reach Alex. Ice, can you feel Alex? Can you feel Snow? Ice you gotta try and help me reach them.” Burying her head in Ice’s fur, Ice combined her mind energy with Lauren’s. Lauren screamed for Alex to hear her. Blue plasma energy exploded from the sapphire, filling the cave, Ice, and Lauren with its energy.
Pounding rang through the solar. Roused by the noise, Merilyn was the first to recover. Rising from her place on the floor, she surveyed the damage. Tapestries dangled from their moorings, burn marks still smoldered, the walls were streaked with blue and green. Laser energy had melted the gray stone walls in places. The low table lay in pieces beneath MacDonald and McLaran. Newkirk was heaped on a pile of broken furniture against the far wall.
The Guardians were trying to enter by destroying the door, something that couldn’t be done even with molecular disruptors, when it was sealed from within. Another blast hit the door.
Shouting above the noise, Merilyn called, “Enter!” The analyzer recognized the Seneschal’s voice and unlatched the door. It swung open. Four Guardians tumbled into the room in a tangle of arms and legs, adding to the chaos.
“Your Grace, there’s been a terra-tremor. We must evacuate everyone from the Keep. The foundations are ringing with discharged energy. Hurry now so we can help the others.” The Guardian leaned over Merilyn and reached out to help her up.
“No, it was not a terra-tremor. The Keep is safe. See to the others, and pass word to the communications center that everyone will be fine.”
The Guardian moved closer. “But, Your Grace, the Keep walls around the western tower are deformed. This energy came from without, not within.”
“I appreciate your concern but the engineering technicians will tell you that the Keep is sound, and all is well.” Merilyn continued to deflect the Guardian’s concern.
Snow whined.
“Snow, are you hurt?” Merilyn reached out to the disoriented wolf. As she placed a hand on the ruff, the wolf spun around and growled. “Easy, little one. I understand you are confused. Easy.”
Alex groaned and rolled off the remains of her chair. Kneeling up on all fours, she shook her head, trying to clear the fog from her brain. Her mind was filled with disjointed images and sounds. Perhaps they were image-remnants from her earlier journey. A throbbing, deep in her head, began to erase the images. No, I cannot lose those. They are important. Focus on those images.
Snow came over to lean against her. The physical contact added Snow’s energy and strengthened her focus. Her head began to clear. Little by little the images sharpened, and she was able to sort through them in some coherent manner. The trek to the Comin Homeworld, finding the information and recording it in a datanode, her escape but near-fatal injury, being found and treated by…Lauren? Yes, Lauren found me and healed me. The journey back to Fuar Ćala and the ambush. It was all clear. A smile stretched across Alex’s face as she was finally able to fill in the missing pieces of her memories. Turning, she buried her face in Snow’s fur and cried. “Oh, Snow. Where is Lauren? Snow?”
But Snow didn’t answer her. Nothing but silence. An absolute silence rang in her mind. By all that is holy, I cannot hear. I am deaf. And her smile faded, as the reality of what the silence meant seeped into her psyche. But some of my memories are clear.
Shaking her head slowly, Lauren glanced around the cave, surveying the damage. Stasis crates lay in jumbled piles, the sandy floor was rippled in concentric rings, and the walls were tinted a green-blue. A cloying odor lingered in the air—ozone. Lauren still grasped the sword and had an arm wrapped around Ice. McLaran moved back into the cave, shook his head at the destruction. He sat, staring at them.
Ice nudged her. “Lauren, I am speaking with Snow. You made a connection back to the Keep. Merilyn wishes to speak with you. Speak with you through me, it seems.”
Lauren grinned. A connection? Finally. Excitement coursed through Lauren. I might get some answers. Lauren overrode a connection through Ice and spoke directly to the Seneschal. “Merilyn, this is Lauren Beckwith. I’m with McLaran and Ice. I wish to speak with you too. I can’t get Alex to hear me.”
Lauren sat back on her heels and waited. From a great distance Lauren heard a voice mellowed with age but edged with the whip of authority. “I hear you. This is Merilyn, Seneschal of Fuar Ćala. I am in the solar of The Ruler. Her Majesty is here with me, as are three of her allies. You may speak.”
“I need to speak to Alex, now!”
“Child, I know not who you are, but we have neither the time nor the requirement to speak with you. Say what you have to say and do it quickly, I am much too busy sorting out things here.”
A third voice entered their mindlink. Lauren recognized the deep voice instantly. McLaran. “Seneschal, please give m’lady Lauren a chance to explain. You will find her information a revelation.”
“What? I can barely hear you, McLaran.”
“Seneschal, I am in the Teton storage cache with the young lady who brought The Ruler back from her trek. She healed her wounds, and with the companions got her home. You should hear her out.” Lauren felt urgency coloring McLaran’s words.
“All right, Lauren Beckwith, speak.”
“I need to speak to Alex.”
Lauren waited for Merilyn to answer. When none came, she glanced at McLaran. The man had a glazed look on his face. They were talking without her. Her anger rose. She concentrated harder and was able to break into their conversation.
“What is going on there, McLaran? We have suffered an energy blast of unknown origin, and things are a bit of a mess here.”
“Lauren is not unknown to Alex. It seems that they traveled together. She healed Alex of her initial wounds, and somehow a bond of tremendous strength has formed between them. She and Ice can converse. I gather Lauren can speak with all the companions. The sword responds to her. We experienced an energy-discharge here from the sword, as well. I think that Lauren’s emotions generated it. That may be what you experienced. I think Lauren was trying to contact Alex and projected her emotions through the sword back to the Keep.”
“Would you ask Lauren if I may speak to her again? Please let her know I appreciate all she has done, and that I will attempt to answer her questions once I myself understand what happened. Also, ask that she return here. If she carries the sword, we need it back.”
Finally, Lauren couldn’t take being ignored any longer, and she broke into their conversation. “McLaran, I can hear you both. I don’t appreciate you two talking about me as if I don’t exist.”
McLaran blanched. It seemed he didn’t realize she could hear them. “I am sorry. Please, let us go back to the Keep. Merilyn will be able to answer your questions better in person.”
Lauren grew silent for a moment, considering her options. It sounded like Merilyn wanted to help. It made sense they’d want the sword back, but did they have to be so rude about it? She hated that they talked about her as if she wasn’t there. Her anger spiked. “Of course she does. But she also wants the sword. Since you can’t touch it, the only way to get it back is for me to return it to the Keep. I’m only a courier, nothing more.”
Merilyn’s voice rang in Lauren’s head. “I apologize for my harsh words, but we are in a dire situation here. With the energy discharge you created, we have another incident to explain. We need you and the sword back here. As you are able to wield the Ruler’s sword, you are able to return it to Alexandra. If you are bonded to her, I do not know how this would occur?” Lauren felt Merilyn draw a mental breath before she continued. “What I am about to tell you is known only by Alexandra’s closest allies. Lauren, she has lost her ability to mindspeak. She can hear neither you nor her companions. But more grievous, she also lost her near-term memories. She does not remember what happened during her trek.”
Lauren knew how much trust Mer
ilyn was placing in her by sharing this news. She knew how much Alex cherished her mindspeaking abilities. And all her anger dissipated. “Will she recover?”
“Yes, she is recovering from her injuries. The healers think she should recover her memories. But in the meantime, certain members of the Council are trying to usurp the throne. We were able to hold them off today, but I do not know how long we can continue to do so, if a true challenge to the throne was made. If that occurs, Alex must have her sword back.”
Lauren shook her head. Poor Alex. How is she coping with all of this? And here I am acting like a spoiled brat. Lauren looked across the cave to where McLaran sat with his head in his hands. “I’m sorry, McLaran, I didn't know.”
To Merilyn she projected, “And, Merilyn, I apologize for my words as well. We’ll head back at first light. I don’t know how fast we can get back. It took me five days to come this far. In the new snow and with the cold, it could be awhile.”
“McLaran, is Gríobhtha not with you?” Merilyn asked.
“Yes, he is. I have not invited him into the cave. As upset as Lauren was, I did not want to frighten her more. He can get us back in a day or less. I’ll call my companion.”
With his invitation to Gríobhtha, Ice rose and growled deep in her throat. Lauren circled Ice’s neck in a warm hug and tried to settle her hackles. “Easy, Ice.”
“You do not understand. Gríobhtha is just another horse to me, and I tolerate him because he is the bondmate of Ffrwyn. But he did not treat her well when we left on Alex’s journey. He tried to break their bond by refusing to allow her to go with us.”
