Without a Front

by Fletcher DeLancey

  “I would imagine so. You have much better things to be doing, don’t you?”

  “Of course I do. You heard him, the horten crop is nearly ready for harvest.”

  He chuckled. “Your face tells the truth though your tongue does not. The horten crop is the last thing on your mind. So when were you planning to tell me about your date? I’ve waited all morning with admirable patience.”

  “Your patience is neither admirable nor even in existence, and since when is my date your business?”

  “I am the Chief Guardian of the Lancer,” he said in his official tone. “Everything you do is my business.”

  “I suggest you reread your position duties. Tracking the Lancer’s romantic life is not part of them.”

  “Ah, so there was romance!”

  “You’re impossible. I’m finishing my midmeal now; don’t expect me to talk.” Tal took a huge bite of her pastry, and Micah held back a grin. She looked just like Jaros.

  “Let’s review the facts,” he said, ignoring her glare. “According to last night’s duty reports, you and Raiz Opah made a rather stirring entrance to Meadowgreen and were seen thereafter holding hands across the table. You were also holding hands when you returned from your date, and there was a considerable period of time in which Varsi was guarding an occupied transport that was going nowhere. Given the earlier reference in her report to a physical altercation between you and Herot Opah, such…friendliness seems quite significant. Had you punched Herot a few ninedays ago, I suspect Raiz Opah would have sliced you to ribbons and dropped the pieces in the fanten food dispenser. It is therefore my opinion that you were exceedingly wise to wait this long before giving the little dokker what he so richly deserved. I can also draw the conclusion that your romance is proceeding at the usual pace, indicating that you might actually get beyond holding hands sometime next moon.”

  “Enough!” Tal laughed in spite of herself. “I’ll have you know that we got beyond holding hands last night. Though not by much.”

  “Details, please.”

  “Micah, I am not giving you details. I have no idea why you even ask.”

  “Because sometimes you slip. More than holding hands, eh? In the absence of facts, I shall simply turn my imagination loose.”

  “It won’t do you the slightest bit of good.” Tal popped the last of the pastry in her mouth and dusted off her hands.

  “Oh, I’m quite certain I can come up with something. That was a rather eye-opening dress Salomen wore last night. I suspect your eyes were opened considerably. Well, yours and everyone dining at Meadowgreen.”

  “My eyes couldn’t have been opened too far. I didn’t see anyone but her.” Tal leaned back on her elbows and stretched out her legs. “Ah, that’s nice.”

  Micah settled himself as well. “There’s hope for you, I think. True romance has finally hit you over the head.”

  Tal nodded. “Literally. Which is why turning your imagination loose won’t do you any good.”

  “Eh? Are you saying Salomen really did hit you over the head? Damn, she was angry about Herot, then.”

  “No! Good Fahla, she didn’t hit me.”

  “Then what?”

  Tal’s hesitation set off his alarms, but he held his relaxed pose and looked off toward the mountains, giving her time.

  “Remember when I told you that our bonding process was accelerated?” she asked.

  “On the way to Blacksun, yes. And I told you it was clearly a miracle of Fahla that for once you were proceeding faster than the normal rate instead of slower. Which does make the hand-holding issue a bit odd, now that I think of it.”

  “It won’t when you have all the pieces.” She pushed herself back into a cross-legged position, and the story she told made his hair stand on end.

  “I cannot believe you kept this to yourself! Why am I only hearing about this now?” His entire professional existence was built around keeping her from harm, and here was a danger he didn’t know about. Fahla, he’d never even heard of it.

  “Because it’s personal! It has nothing to do with my title or your duty. You cannot protect me from this. Can you tell me one single thing you would change as a result of knowing?”

  No, he couldn’t. There wasn’t a damned thing he could do about it, and that just made it worse.

  “You’re right, you had no obligation to tell me,” he said. “As my Lancer, that is. As my friend, I’d hope that you would confide in me.”

  “That’s what I just did.” She was still nettled.

  “There is one thing I would change, though. Now I’m regretting teasing you about it. This is not a laughing matter.”

  Tal shook her head. “Don’t you dare. I’m so used to your teasing that I wouldn’t know how to function without it. And I certainly won’t stop teasing you.”

  “I never give you anything to tease me about, so that’s not an issue.” He looked at her closely, seeing the tension in her eyes. “There’s more.”

  She sighed. “Yes, there is. And this part has everything to do with your duty. Lanaril said that there are stories about tyrees like us, in which the link we share is so extraordinary that both show the same symptoms when only one is ill. There are even stories of both tyrees dying from a mortal wound sustained by one. I had Aldirk do a records search for that data, and he sent me the results last night. He could find no confirmed cases of physical injury or death being transmitted across the bond, but he did find cases in which there seemed to be a shared immune system. So that much is fact. What worries me is the mere existence of the other stories. Lanaril can’t be the only one who knows them.”

  Micah’s realization eclipsed any concerns about empathic shocks. “Great Goddess above. She’ll be targeted.” And Salomen had no idea how to protect herself.

  “I need you to start strategizing. Her security has to be trained and in place before our Sharing. It would be marvelous if we could keep the true nature of our bond a secret, but you and I both know we can’t conceal it forever. And I’d rather be prepared for the inevitable than simply hope it won’t happen.”

  “Agreed. I’ll start looking at possible Guards today. And I’m sorry, but your Sharing just became my business.”

  “I know,” she groaned. “It’s bad enough that our first kiss was in front of Guards, I had to take four Guards with me on my damned date, and you have an entire duty report detailing everything we did outside my transport. And now we can’t even—” She stopped, her jaw clenched shut, then continued in a calmer voice. “I’ll tell you as far in advance as I’m able. But I’ve had little control over this since the moment it began. It’s like riding a winden bareback—holding on is the best I can do. Steering is out of the question.”

  “Hold on as long as you can. For her sake.” He needed time they might not have.

  “Believe me, I will. But I have to tell you, it’s pulling us together. I can’t believe how much has changed in just four days.” She put her elbows on her knees and her chin on her fists. “It’s ironic, though. With Darzen I put off Sharing because I was worried that the truth would end us. Salomen and I have based our relationship on nothing but truth, and we still have to put it off. I can’t seem to win either way.”

  “Fahla has a twisted sense of humor. But she has also given you a precious gift. Do not complain too loudly, or she may think you ungrateful.”

  “Actually, I was considering a visit to her temple in Whitemoon. I want to thank her, and I’d rather do it with some modicum of privacy. If I walked into Blacksun Temple to burn an offering, the whole city would know before I left it.”

  He clutched her knee in pretended shock. “You would darken the door of a temple? What is the world coming to?”

  “According to Darzen Fosta, the end of our culture as we know it.”

  “Well, that’s just about what I thought it would take to get you into a templ
e. Not even invading Voloth could do it.”

  “We all honor Fahla in our own way.” She removed his hand from her knee and ostentatiously dropped it. “You light oil bowls and pray for female companionship; I go to the woods and allow her message to reach me directly.”

  “I do not pray for female companionship. I pray for my good friend Andira to be shown the true worth of her loyal Chief Guardian.”

  “You’d better light a few more oil bowls, then. Clearly the offerings have been too small.”

  “I’ve also prayed for her to give you your dream. If you don’t mind the company, I’d like to go with you in Whitemoon. I have my own thanks to give.”

  His sincerity caught her by surprise. “There you go again, ruining a perfectly good tease,” she said, but the sudden shine in her eyes gave her away.

  Micah held out his hand, palm up. Without hesitation Tal clasped it, and he absorbed her grateful affection with a smile.

  “Above all else,” he said quietly, “you are my friend.”

  “Above all else, you are mine.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “And friends tell each other everything, right?”

  “Oh, give it up, Micah.”

  CHAPTER 55

  Debate points

  Evenmeal was a noisy affair, with Jaros eager to share what he had learned in school that day and the adults discussing the upcoming caste house meeting, the imminent rain and potential crop damage, and Tal’s speaking tour. Only Herot was quiet, picking at his food and excusing himself as soon as was marginally polite. After the meal, Shikal, Nikin, and Micah retired to the parlor with a bottle of spirits, Salomen left for her meeting, and Jaros and Tal went upstairs to do homework.

  Tal wished she could trade with Jaros; algebra would have been far more enjoyable than checking Miltorin’s notes and finalizing her speech. Judging by the emotions she could sense down the hall, Jaros did not share her opinion. She stopped for a moment to focus on him, smiling at the indignant color to his emotional presence. He was clearly put out that a calculation hadn’t worked properly. She knew exactly how he felt.

  A hantick later, she gave up. She had honed that speech until her eyes were crossing; it was good enough for now. Her subsequent efforts to read through the day’s reports and dispatches were also of limited success, until finally she tossed the reader card aside. She was done being Lancer for today. Of course, throwing over her work left her with little to do except think about Salomen, and though that was normally a pleasant occupation, tonight it left her unsettled. No sooner did she let her mind wander than she felt glimmers of Salomen’s emotions, frustration and irritation being the strongest. It wasn’t surprising—Salomen had anticipated a loud and difficult meeting—but it made relaxation impossible. In an effort to banish the tickling emotions, she fetched a cup of shannel from the kitchen and began perusing her bookshelves for something to read. One title caught her eye; she remembered Aldirk referring to it as “dreck and drivel.” Figuring that was precisely what she needed, she sprawled out in the window seat with the book in one hand and her shannel in the other. Aldirk was right: the book was indeed dreck. She was guiltily enjoying it.

  Focusing on the adventures of the warrior protagonist enabled her to shut out external emotions to such an extent that she didn’t feel anyone approach. For the first time since Tal’s arrival at Hol-Opah, Salomen had to knock.

  “Enter,” she called, sitting up and looking around for a place to put her empty shannel cup. She was just tucking it onto a bookshelf when Salomen opened the door.

  “You must be preoccupied. Still working on your speech?”

  “Ah…no.” Tal shamefacedly held up the book. “I was sick to death of it, so I found something to take my mind to a more interesting place.”

  Salomen walked across the room, plucked the book out of Tal’s hand, and smiled. “This is a classic! Mother must have read this nine times. She had a soft place in her heart for strong, adventurous warrior types.”

  Tal accepted the book back. “And how many times did you read it?”

  “I shall never have any secrets again, I can see that. All right, I may have read it once or twice.”

  Tal cocked an eyebrow and waited.

  “Fine. I think I’ve read it four times.”

  “Four, really? How interesting. One might think you have a soft place in your heart for strong, adventurous warrior types.”

  “One might,” Salomen agreed. “Do you know any? Perhaps you could introduce me.”

  “As soon as I meet one, I’ll be sure to tell you. In the meantime…it’s good to see you.”

  “Did you miss me?” Her tone was teasing, but she sobered when Tal nodded.

  “I felt you, and it just reinforced the fact that you weren’t here. This is the first evening we haven’t been together since I arrived.”

  Salomen sat beside her in the window seat, and Tal shifted over to make room. “You felt me in Granelle? It’s getting stronger.”

  “I know. How did the meeting go?”

  “Not good.” Salomen rested her head against the window and sighed. “Nothing I said convinced them. I was counseling patience and trust and pointing out that the mechanics of the transition are far more complicated than we’re seeing, so we shouldn’t draw simple conclusions. But Gordense was counseling anger and righteousness, and that’s always more attractive. He said that even if I could convince them that we are not seeing all the complexities of the transition, the economist coalition certainly is, and if they’re saying it will be the catalyst for a global economic meltdown, who are we as simple producers to question that? I said that we simple producers were capable of thinking for ourselves, and not only that but we had a moral obligation to do so. He said he was thinking for himself, and the conclusion he’d drawn was that you would lead Alsea into destruction and our moral obligation was to stop you.”

  “Stop me? Do I need to send Micah and Gehrain to question him?”

  “No, no, no.” Salomen shook her head. “He didn’t mean it that way. I misspoke. He meant, stop you from releasing the matter printer technology without taking the steps outlined by the coalition.”

  “Are you certain? If that’s an assumption, it’s not one that I can safely accept.”

  “It’s not an assumption. I’m not yet good enough at blocking to keep out the stronger emotions, and Gordense’s emotions tend to be strong regardless of what he’s feeling. He’s a pompous fanten, but he’s no danger to you. He just loves the sound of his own voice. The only thing he loves more than that is a good crowd to listen to him bloviate, and tonight was a good crowd. He was in his element. I was not.”

  Tal reached for her hand. “You’re tired.”

  “Dead tired. Do you suppose I could rest my head on your shoulder without killing both of us?”

  “I’m willing to risk it if you are.”

  Salomen scooted up next to her, and Tal pulled her in close. Resting their heads together, she projected serenity and calm. She could sense Salomen relaxing as she gently brushed the hair away from her face. “Safe so far,” she whispered.

  Salomen nodded, her eyes shut. “Just so you know, I can feel exactly what you’re doing.”

  “Touching your hair?”

  “Don’t be obtuse.”

  Tal smiled. “You’re such a sweet-talker.”

  “Only with you. And thank you; it feels wonderful.”

  “It’s my pleasure.”

  “Do you know what the best part of this is?”

  “What?”

  “I can actually feel it. I mean, that doing this is making you happy. And that feels almost as good as the rest.”

  Tal dropped a soft kiss on the top of her head. “Then we’re both happy.”

  “Mm-hm. Which is an enormous improvement to my evening, I can assure you.”

  They sat together in silen
ce, enjoying the closeness. Tal lightly caressed Salomen’s arm and side, feeling her gradually slumping even further, and thought she could stay here for a very long time.

  “It came up,” Salomen said.

  Tal pulled her head back. “What came up?”

  “Our relationship. Before I could utter a word about it. Gordense was on the offensive from the moment the meeting began. He asked me what would possess me to risk my good name just for the thrill of being your local entertainment.”

  Tamping down her first reaction—which was to look for her disruptor, Micah, and a transport—Tal asked, “What did you tell him?”

  “That the only reason my name was still good was because I’d had the sense to reject his bond offer.”

  Tal grinned; her tyree could take care of herself! “Ouch. That must have hurt him right where he’s most sensitive.”

  “Oh, it did. He sputtered a bit. It went downhill from there.” She sighed. “I had such good intentions of taking the higher path, but…I’ve never been very good at turning away from a fight.”

  “Did Bilsner walk out under his own power?”

  Salomen lifted her head. “You’re enjoying this!”

  “Well…” Tal tried to tamp down her grin without success. “I’m proud of you. You don’t back down and you don’t let anyone else push you. It’s what attracted me to you in the first place—you have the heart of a warrior and the soul of a producer. I think Gordense Bilsner saw the warrior tonight. In fact, I’m willing to bet that’s all of you he’s ever seen.”

  “You’d be right about that. He does seem to bring out the worst in me.”

  Tal frowned. “The warrior part of you is the worst part?”

  “Did I say that?”

  “Quite clearly.”

  “Hm.” Salomen leaned forward and kissed her with a slow, soft touch, pulling away before any possibility of a flash. “Which part do you think is the best?”

  “Oh, no. I’m not getting trapped by that. You forget you’re talking to the woman who runs Council sessions; I recognize verbal baiting when I see it.” She pulled Salomen in and reclaimed the kiss, then nibbled across a smoothly curving jaw before releasing her. “I also recognize diversion tactics. This is a very good one.”