Reaching deep, gathering the greatest amount of self, and Power, and sheer will, she yelled at the top of her lungs, SINAFIN! FEYCOOCU!
Very, very faintly she heard a whisper. Too quiet to understand. Perhaps even imaginary. Marian collected herself again. Screamed again, putting an extra punch of Power—she hoped—behind her call.
SINAFIN!
Another tiny…echo?
Marian built an image of Sinafin in her head as the feycoocu had taught her—but unlike that time at Jaquar’s Tower, she didn’t see Sinafin as a fairy. No, this time, the shapeshifter was the warhawk, sitting on Jaquar’s shoulder in the Nom de Nom.
Marian “closed” her eyes and brought back every sensation, physical and emotional, of that scene. The smokiness of the bar, the red leather of the booths beneath her, Jaquar’s warm and tender arm across her shoulders—The image faded. Damn it!
Again she built—this time from the emotions out. Now she realized Jaquar had an aura of a man well satisfied with sex and the anticipation of more. Alexa sat across from Marian—quivering with curiosity and yearning to ride the lightning, deep green eyes alight with interest. The Song between them flowed with Alexa’s pleasure that Marian was there as well as friendliness, affection. Alexa was solid in the vision. For a moment their Song filled Marian’s mind, and she held it close, worked to remember it.
Jaquar—do the breathing exercise even if you can’t feel it—Jaquar had been a man throbbing with sexuality, a Circlet radiating Power. A lover, a man who’d weathered and come to terms with his grief. An underlying, innate note in his being had matched hers—an Earth tune, from the last essence of Earth blood he carried. The Song they had made together—passionate, wary, inescapable, tempting. Marian remembered that tune too well. Before it could hurt her, she gently, gently drew away, but kept it in her mind.
She recalled other portions of the scene—the twisting and twining notes of the individual Chevaliers standing at the bar. The lower, duller strains of the bartender and barmaids.
The intense emotions of the couple in the booth behind her that Marian hadn’t noticed at the time, came back—love, desperation, shock at Alexa’s offer, thrilling hope and acceptance. Incredible relief. The Song between the two Chevaliers.
The Song of Marwey and her lover Pascal. Deep, abiding love with knowledge of their past, commitment to each other and a shared future.
The Song of Marian herself. Bright with Power, intricate and weaving chords from Earth into a Song of Lladrana—or vice versa. She knew that Song now—Song of her bones and blood—though she couldn’t feel them. Song of her heart and mind. Song of her soul.
All these twisted like strands of harmony into a thick rope that Marian used to gather her Power and send it forth in a great shout that rolled from her, taking everything she had. SINAFIN. SINAFIN. SINAFIN.
Marian? The voice was muted but clear. Relief rushed between them.
Help! Marian thought she should be weeping buckets with the word.
Hold on. I have your Song-rope, Alexa said grimly.
An instant later Marian felt a surge of Power come to her. She imagined a warm embrace from the smaller woman—ephemeral, but true.
And her wrist burned. She could feel it, feel the pattern of the heat—Alexa’s jade baton.
Where are you?
In the nest. In limbo. In the larder. Marian suppressed a wild surge of black laughter. The evil Sorcerer called the Master who serves the Dark cast me here. Whatever happened, Alexa needed to know what was going on.
Wait to tell me. Call again. You are not alone. Send ropes to your friends.
Help! The word shot from her. Was caught.
I have you, said Jaquar.
Again she felt desperation—this time from him. Rage. Her whole body heated with warmth. She felt the curling of her toes, the very lifting of hair on her scalp. She didn’t want the warmth. But she wanted to go back.
I have you, he repeated.
She didn’t reply, but used her turmoil of emotions to send another call. BOSSGOND!
Here! His voice was deep and old and solid.
Alexa said, I am joined with Jaquar and Bossgond, hand-to-hand. Bastien is arriving momentarily. The Marshalls are here in the Castle Temple. We will bring you back.
Marian shuddered, felt the tremor through her body.
Marian! It was Tuck, warm fur rubbing against her neck. I have been talking and talking and you didn’t say anything. He sounded fearful.
“Sorry, Tuck,” she said, and her tongue felt thick, her throat clogged with tears—of panic and hope and relief. She cleared her throat and said, weakly, “Could I hear a little Beethoven? The Ninth, please?”
Tuck vibrated against her and the orchestral piece rumbled from him. She breathed deeply, enjoying the sensation of her lungs filling, expanding, emptying, shrinking. Blessed sensation.
She still saw nothing but fog.
Time to Call for Sinafin again, Tuck said. He chuckled in her mind. You Call and I will broadcast Sinafin. Soon we will be Summoned to the Castle Temple. Then we can go home.
Home. She didn’t know where that was—her first thought was of Bossgond’s Tower, then her apartment. She didn’t ask Tuck where he meant.
Power roared to her from Alexa, strong and wild.
Alexa? Marian asked.
Bastien is here. So is Sinafin. Call her again.
Sinafin! Marian shouted.
I am here. You did very, very well, Marian.
Marian gulped at the praise, lifted her arm and saw the deep emerald velvet. She wiped her eyes on the sleeve.
Alexa broke into laughter. Beethoven’s Ninth! We can all hear it! You should see the Marshalls’ faces. Stopped them in their tracks.
I have Called Circlets I trust as well as those who hurt you, Bossgond added. My friends will link with me. And Jaquar. With the Marshalls’ help it will be but a puff of breath to bring you back. You are bringing us together, the Castle and the Tower, this day. Well done, Marian. It will be only a few moments….
I’ll hang in here, Marian sent to Alexa, and her friend laughed again.
One by one new Songs were sung to Marian, drowning out Beethoven, so Tuck stopped the Earth music.
Songs of people were so much more fascinating. As each Pair of Marshalls was added—Swordmarshall and Shieldmarshall—three Songs enriched the links between them, each individual and the Pair Song.
In her mind, Marian saw the Circle gather and expand as others joined. After Alexa, Jaquar’s Song was the strongest—cruelly familiar, though she’d cut the bond between them.
She knew she had, she’d felt the whiplash of it, then the empty place inside her where it had sung.
Jaquar hadn’t spoken to her after those first words, and she hadn’t talked to him. It was hurtful enough to realize that he was the second person who’d heard her. If they’d had more time together, he probably would have been the first one her Song would have flown to.
Would he have ignored it? Would he, could he have brought in the strong force that Alexa had to save her? Marian didn’t know, but she dreaded facing him and the other Circlets, trying to be civil.
When all the Marshalls had joined the Circle, the rainbow brightness, the incredible Power Marian sensed amazed her. It was far greater than the Power the Circlets and Scholars had used to Send Marian to the Dark nest. Even Bossgond’s and Jaquar’s Powers looked puny.
The Marshalls’ individual Power might not have the depth and breadth of a Circlet’s, but they were used to working as a team. No wonder the Tower Community had given the task of Summoning Marian from Earth to the Marshalls.
Marian’s shoulders sagged in relief. She knew she’d be saved. The change in her body caused her to spin slightly in the nothingness. She lifted her hands as if she could paddle as she might in water, and caught sight of the weapon-knot wrapped around her finger like a fancy ring. Bloodred and pulsing, as if it, too, soaked in Power from the Song-web that wove around her. Though, that imag
e wasn’t quite right for sound instead of sight. She was more like a solo performer surrounded by a huge and mighty orchestra. She smiled at the notion.
Now her immediate fears were banished, Marian had time to truly think. She laughed shortly. Atavistic fear had banished thought, the physical triumphing over the mental as usual in a human being.
She was deep in the Dark’s nest. Dare she try to destroy it with the knot? She sensed the knot had several spells woven into it and each, when loosed, could do damage.
No, said Bossgond. I will demand all Lorebooks of weapons or knots to be sent to me. We will study them together.
Another wisp of relief. Marian swallowed hard. She’d be going home with Bossgond, not staying at Jaquar’s.
Tuck sniffed in her ear. I love my house.
Two jolts swept her as familiar energy, tainted with guilt and shame, came into the Circle. Venetria and Chalmon.
They begged to add their Power to Summon you back, Alexa said acidly. And Sinafin agreed. Hardly anyone goes against Sinafin. Know this, Tower Community. Alexa’s voice reverberated and Marian knew that she spoke in a loud voice to the whole Tower, as well as sending her speech mentally. When a community Summons an Exotique, they must provide her or him with an estate and life-stipend. That is true of this Tower and Exotique Marian. You will gift her with an island and zhiv—or you will pay zhiv to the Marshalls in return for an estate on mainland Lladrana, should she choose to stay with us. As for those who sent Marian to the Dark nest, you all owe her a life.
That stunned Marian. She was owed a life—by about twenty-five people.
Emotions roiled through her.
Anger. They had sent her to her death.
Vengeance. She would make them pay, each and every one.
Then glee! Did she have a bank of favors to be sent home and bring herself and Andrew—God willing—back, or what?
She’d let Bossgond and Alexa and Sinafin collect for her. Marian giggled. She figured no one was going to set themselves against Alexa or Bossgond, either. Good.
And she had repaid the Tower for all the teaching Bossgond and Jaquar had given her. She could go back to Boulder with a clear conscience in that area, free of any emotional debt.
Ready, Marian? asked Jaquar.
Ready, Marian? said Alexa an instant later.
Yes!
You know where the nest is. Situate yourself in the coordinates. Then visualize the Castle Temple and come to us! Jaquar said.
Marian shut her eyes, glad she’d spent some time exploring the Castle Temple—that morning? She pictured the huge open space, the wooden screens, the rafters with Power crystals glowing. The altar with the chakra lamp-chimes of precious stones filled her mind, as did the great silver gong. She’d never forget the details of the pool where she’d mastered Water.
Her memory harkened back to her previous Summoning there, the Marshalls in colored robes wearing batons at their sides. Bossgond and Jaquar, Venetria and Chalmon in their formal robes, with circlets gleaming on their brows. She brought Tuck from her left shoulder and cradled the hamster in her hands, curving her fingers around him. She held him tight to her breasts. He huddled down inside the protection of her fingers.
The music rumbled, surrounding them, encasing them in a sparking sphere of lightning! Marian lifted her foot to touch the arcing energy, and she and Tuck rode the lightning that rippled with chimes.
Crack! Bong!
Her feet thudded against soft carpet and her knees bent, absorbing the shock.
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Choking, Marian opened her eyes to see a circle of sixty people still enveloped in an aurora borealis undulating with Power. All had hands linked and raised over their heads.
Gaze locked on hers, Bossgond lowered his arms, softened his voice, drew the chant to the end. The circle broke hands.
Tuck wriggled and Marian opened her fingers. The hamster flew to Alexa’s shoulder, where Sinafin sat. He started chittering as if telling all their adventures.
Propelled by the need to feel another person, Marian flung herself into Bastien’s arms, and he and Alexa cradled her close.
Marian felt enveloped in life, in…in…honor. All the slimy horror of the Dark nest and the master faded. The underlying evil intelligence that lurked there had seeped through her pores and down to her core like malevolent oil. This, too, diminished when surrounded by Alexa and Bastien. Good people, dedicated people.
“Marian,” Jaquar whispered.
She didn’t take her face from Bastien’s shoulder.
“Don’t touch her!” snapped Bastien in a cool and deadly tone that Marian hadn’t heard from him before. “You may return to your island.” He spoke over Marian’s head. “Venetria and Chalmon, you leave a list of those who perpetrated this wickedness upon Marian, then return to your islands, also. You are not welcome here. Consider how much your life is worth. That is how much each of you must pay to Marian for this grievous wrong. Every Circlet and Scholar who took part in the Sending will forward to the Marshalls a statement of what they owe Marian—the value of their own life. They will pay—forever, if necessary. We Marshalls will keep the accounts.”
“My life is worth anything I have, everything I have,” Venetria whispered.
“I, too, will pay anything she requests from me,” Chalmon said. “But I will point out that the plan succeeded. The maw did not disgorge monsters. It was harmed by her presence. It does not appear as if the nest will send out horrors for an unknown amount of time in the future. All is quiet—”
“Watch!” Tuck shrieked. He opened his mouth and held up his little pink paws tipped with white claws.
Marian stared as a hologram appeared, recalling that her PDA had video- and sound-recording capabilities. Tuck could report everything to the Marshalls. What an incredible show-and-tell!
“No!” Marian whispered. Her face was pale and set, hair wild and looking as if it glowed red. Her eyes were wide. She trembled.
“Yesss.” The mutant Sorcerer’s voice was sibilant, snakelike. His fingers curled, claws sprang from the tips, swiped at Marian’s neck, severed a swath of her hair, missed Tuck. The image bobbled.
“No!” Marian cried. A green-brown stick sparking with Power shot from her fingers. It struck the master’s eye and pierced it!
A shudder rippled through everyone in the room.
Alexa cleared her throat. “Nice shot. Excellent weapon. What did you use?”
With one last squeeze for Bastien, Marian stepped away from him and Alexa.
Marian flicked her robe, trying to remove dirt. “A brithenwood twig I found in the garden here.”
“Interesting,” one of the female Marshalls said. “I would say it had special qualities. We must investigate this.”
“Yes,” Chalmon said, a little too loudly. “The information Marian sent back about the Dark’s nest will be invaluable in our fight against it.”
Jaquar’s right fist slammed into Chalmon’s jaw, knocked him to the ground. Venetria hurried to his side.
Jaquar looked straight into Marian’s eyes. “I swear, Marian, by my most solemn word of honor, by my parents’ lost lives, by the keystone of my Tower, I did not participate in this action.”
Anger fired inside her. “You set me up.” Her voice was shrill—and accented with French.
Apparently he understood, because he lifted both hands, palms out. “I swear, Marian, I did not betray you.”
Sinafin clicked her beak.
She steadied her nerves and spoke slowly and clearly. Marian met Jaquar’s dark sapphire eyes and said, “You knew. They said it was your plan.” She shot a glance at Chalmon and Venetria, who had withdrawn to one of the screens that partitioned the Temple.
Marshalls flowed between her and the Circlets, as if protecting her.
He reached for her, stopped. “Long ago.”
“You gave me this.” She held up her hand, fingers spread to show the dark bloodred weapon-knot encircling her finger, wide enough to reach her firs
t knuckle.
“For defense. I arrived too late.” His mouth twisted.
Too many feelings whirled inside her, like storm clouds shaking with thunder and lightning.
Bossgond stepped forward, gently embraced her, kissed her on the forehead—and all that gesture did was remind her of Jaquar’s tender habit of talking to her with his brow against hers.
When Marian didn’t hug Bossgond back, he dropped his arms and took a step back. She glanced at him. He looked older than when she’d last seen him.
“I knew, too,” Bossgond said. “I heard rumors but did not act. Did not tell you about them.”
She had sensed he was avoiding her, hiding secrets from her. His dark brown eyes filled with grief; his shoulders slumped.
Marian drew in a deep breath. “Maybe tomorrow I can forgive you.” She didn’t look at Jaquar when she spoke to him. “I don’t know if I can ever forgive you.”
From the corner of her eye, she saw him flinch, incline his head in acceptance. He walked into the shadows near the circular walls of the Temple, out of her range of vision. Since she didn’t hear him open the large door, she knew he stayed.
Bastien draped an arm around her shoulders. “Come have a late dinner.”
Another surging fear swamped her, made her lean against Bastien. “How…how much time passed?”
Alexa took one of Marian’s limp hands, squeezed it. “You were gone for about six hours.”
Marian nodded, moved away from Bastien and withdrew her hand from Alexa’s. Much as she’d like others to fight her battles, they were her problems and she had to deal with them.
She scanned everyone in the room. Many she didn’t know—Chevaliers and the Circlets whom Bossgond had called. But she recognized all of Alexa’s and Bastien’s household that she’d been introduced to. She saw the Chevalier’s Representative, Lady Hallard, and her staff; the Singer’s Representative, Luthan Vauxveau. The sexy noble Chevalier Faucon.
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