“Quetzalcoatlus,” Marian said.
“The Aztec plumed-serpent god?”
Alex huffed out a breath. “According to Marian, the biggest pterodactyl-type dinosaur on Earth is called a quetzalcoatlus.”
“Oh.”
“It has a bigger belly, though.”
“Sorta bat winged?” asked Calli, trying to imagine the thing.
“Yes. Clawed front legs and spurred, too.”
“Huh.”
“Marian?” Alexa held both hands out, palms up.
“Oh, very well,” Marian said. She linked fingers with Alexa and to Calli’s amazement a 3-D image formed above the table of a flying reptile.
“Not a dragon,” Calli said, looking at the hideous thing.
“No,” Marian and Alexa said in unison.
Its beak was long and curved. “More sharp teeth. Everything around here has sharp teeth except us and volarans.”
“The teeth are poison, like slayer spines,” Alexa said.
“Of course they are,” muttered Calli. “Regular teeth would be too easy. How big?”
“About the size of a bungalow,” Alexa said.
A short shriek and the clatter of plates toppling onto their table caused Marian and Alexa to break apart. They snatched two meals. Calli saw one plate overturn. “No!” The burger and bun stopped in midair, the plate turned right side up and the food slid back onto the thick pottery. Marian reached out and nabbed it, smiling at Calli. “You saved it.”
She’d used magic! Instinctively she’d stopped the mouthwatering food from falling. She’d even repiled the strange white fries. She looked at one dubiously. “What are these?”
“Turnip fries,” Alexa said, biting into her burger.
“Turnip?”
“They don’t have potatoes,” Marian explained sadly.
“I taught the cook burgers and buns, and they’re all the rage, of course, but without fries…” Alexa shrugged.
“What kind of meat?” Calli bit off the end of a turnip fry. Not even hot oil and salt could make it good. She dropped the fry onto the plate.
“Cow,” Marian said.
“Okay,” Calli said. “We got mustard and ketchup?”
“Something that might barely pass for about a gold coin more,” Alexa said.
“Shoot.”
“I’m working on that,” Marian said.
Since she was working on so many other projects, Calli didn’t think she’d be seeing the condiments soon.
“Ketchup is easier than mustard. They grow plenty of tomatoes here.” Marian peeled off her bun and showed lettuce and tomato.
The burger was plump and juicy and had Calli forgetting about everything except eating. The lettuce and tomato actually had taste, unlike most of the standard stuff she’d had in diners. She bit, swallowed. Breakfast seemed days instead of hours ago.
A man cleared his throat.
Calli looked up to see a tall, somber-looking guy wearing brown cotton trousers and shirt with a sleeveless tunic of dark gray over it. His left temple showed a streak of silver—that indicated he had magical powers, she remembered.
He made a little half bow to Alexa, then Marian, addressing them by name. Alexa gestured that he could join them and scooted over so he could sit next to her. He raised a hand and the waitress hurried over. Calli heard “burger,” and smiled. By the time Alexa, Marian and she were done with Lladrana, the people would sure have some Americanizations in their language.
Alexa put her sandwich down. Calli noticed she’d only eaten a couple of fries. “Calli, this is Sevair Masif, Representative of the Cities and Towns to the Marshalls.”
Another new face. Another guy looking her over coolly. “Tell him I’m pleased to meet him.” Though she really wasn’t much, she inclined her head. “What cities?”
Marian muffled a snort beside her.
“They just aren’t as urban as we are,” Alexa said.
“Castleton is, like, the main city, right? And it doesn’t have mustard and ketchup?”
Alexa sighed.
Marian said, “We did tell you that people would give you presents. This man did me a wonderful favor by sending my teacher and me and Jaquar an excellent cook.”
“He had a spice master send me a gift of tea. Expensive here. You want to ask him for mustard?”
Marian frowned. “Have you asked about mustard, Alexa? I think the southern part of Lladrana might make it, or the country south of here.”
“Haven’t asked,” Alexa said. “How important is mustard to you, Calli? Enough to ask for it as a gift instead of anything else? Tea’s important to me.”
“And let me tell you, that cook has been a lifesaver…or at least made my crotchety old mentor into a reasonable human being,” Marian said.
The waitress set down Masif’s plate and curtsied.
“Gifts. No strings attached?” Calli asked.
Alexa said something apologetic to Masif. He nodded and began eating, a little awkwardly, as if he wasn’t used to eating with his hands, concentrating on making sure the bun’s contents didn’t slip. For some reason Calli found that endearing.
“No strings attached.” Alexa grinned. “The thing is, everyone wants to get on our good sides, and since we’re virtually inexplicable, no one expects anything in return…at least not for the first gift.”
“Huh,” Calli said. “No strings? Ask the guy if he intends to put something on my Choosing table.”
Eyes dancing, Alexa did. All three Exotiques stared at him. A faint redness appeared on his cheekbones under his golden skin. He seemed to grit his teeth around his bite of burger. Glancing at her, then away, he swallowed and said something that sounded flowery.
Alexa coughed. Marian turned to Calli and said, “He asked if you’d be unhappy if he did so.”
“Unhappy.” She looked at Marian. “What’s the word for ‘no’?”
Alexa laughed. “I learned the word for ‘no’ within an hour here!”
Calli could believe that.
“Ttho,” said Marian.
Stomach fluttering with butterflies, Calli met Masif’s gaze and said, “Ttho.”
His eyes went big and he looked as if he was having second thoughts. Since she sensed he was a very serious man, she liked the fact she made him nervous. She didn’t see that they had much in common, but he looked like a stand-up guy, and the more choices she had, the better.
They all ate in silence. When they were done, Marian said, “Speaking of the Choosing and Bonding, we’d better get back.”
“There’re hours until evening,” Alexa grumbled. “Marian—”
“Back,” Marian said firmly. “You can’t prepare for something this life altering too early.”
Calli’s burger turned to lead in her stomach.
“Just gonna dump Sevair?” asked Alexa.
“If he’s going to put a token on the Choosing table, he’ll have to prepare, too,” Marian said. She gestured around them. “The place is almost empty. Most of the Chevaliers are probably up in Horseshoe Hall meditating and bathing and Singing.”
“Singing?” asked Calli.
“Praying,” Marian said.
“Oh.” It would probably be a good thing to do a bit of that herself. Calli didn’t consider herself a very spiritual person. Her dad certainly didn’t truck with any sort of religion, so she wasn’t quite sure who she’d pray to. The closest she’d come to a spiritual experience lately was flying on Thunder. That decided her. “I’d like to see the volarans again.”
“Shoot,” Marian said, digging into a pocket of her gown and dropping a couple of gold coins into Alexa’s outstretched hand.
Alexa winked at Calli. “I won the bet that you’d want to fly again before this evening.”
Calli stared at Marian. “You’re the one who was there when I took off and landed yesterday. You like volarans better than Alexa, why would you think I wouldn’t want to fly today?”
“You fell off yesterday. You don’t have
the tack you like. You should be thinking of the Choosing and Bonding ritual and preparing for it.”
“I won’t fall off. Thunder wouldn’t let me. Bastien’s bringing a variety of tack for me to examine, so I’ll find something acceptable. As for preparing for the Choosing and Bonding, I’d rather keep my mind and hands occupied. Furthermore, I think the most spiritual experience I’ve had in my life was on the back of that volaran yesterday.”
Marian’s expression softened. “I understand.”
“So do I,” Alexa said, smiling.
“I am the volarans’ Exotique,” Calli said.
Masif wiped his mouth and hands with a napkin, then stood. He’d eaten very efficiently. All his turnip fries were gone. Without ketchup. There was no hope they’d link up together. He stood and slid from the table, offered Alexa a hand.
Alexa opened her fingers and picked out a gold coin. Masif curled her fingers back over the money and said something. He nodded to Marian and Calli.
On the other hand, the guy was obviously treating them. A gentleman. She could go for a gentleman.
Alexa and Marian murmured thanks in Lladranan. Calli waited and said, “Thank you,” matching his serious expression.
He set several gleaming silver coins on the table, bowed once more and walked away.
“Nice guy,” Alexa said.
“Very serious,” Marian said.
“Yes, we seem to prefer the rogue and charmer types, huh? How about you, Calli?”
“I’d like a man who’d love me.”
Again those warm smiles. “That’s what’s important,” Marian said. She stood and Calli followed her, glancing around the place, not looking at the trophies. Not many people lingered. Two gay couples, one male, one female, all of whom smiled at her, and a grizzled old man, stood at the bar. The other booths were empty.
“One moment,” Alexa said. She went toward a door on the wall.
“I’ve never been in there,” Marian said, following.
Feet slow, Calli asked, “More trophies?”
“Not exactly.” Alexa pushed open the door. The room was dark but the minute she walked in, light came on. She waved to roughly faceted quartz crystals sitting in brackets.
“An older lighting system, interesting,” Marian said. She stopped and looked up.
Calli entered the room and looked up, too. It wasn’t a large room, but it was high-ceilinged and held hundreds of flags in several rows from the top of the room to just above a tall Lladranan man’s head.
“Heraldic banners of Chevaliers and Marshalls who’ve died the last two and a half years fighting the Dark,” Alexa said.
Looking closer, Calli saw many were ripped and torn, showed brown stains of earth and blood. A couple were burnt and eaten away as if acid had spilled on them. Other colored stains, green, yellow or black, also decorated the flags.
Calli gulped.
Alexa stared at a big maroon banner edged in gold except where a chunk was burnt. Her expression was inscrutable. “That one belonged to Lord Knight Swordmarshall Reynard Vauxveau, Bastien and Luthan’s father.”
Swordmarshall Thealia held that title, Calli knew, the greatest title in all the land. So the most powerful man in the country had died.
Marian said, “We must return to the Castle.” She walked back into the barroom. Alexa did, too, leaving Calli alone.
Calli stared at the flags, hanging still and solemn. Her heart tightened in awe and fear. All these people had fought against the monsters displayed in the other room, and lost. Died.
Soon Calli would bind herself to a man who’d fight. She’d be expected to fight, too. Or defend with magic, Shield to the man’s Sword. Risk limb and life and volaran. Volarans must have died, too. She put a hand to her throat.
She wanted a husband and a family and a ranch and beautiful volarans.
This was the price.
11
As they were leaving town, Calli heard the worst thing in the world, horses’ terrified cries. She ran in the direction—more by feel and the screeching notes of mental noise than by ears. It was farther than she expected, through the town to the outskirts. There she saw a small round pen where a man flailed at two horses, a black and a bay, with a snapping whip, raising blood.
A protective force field rippled around the man with the whip, but Calli could see his aura beneath—a nauseating yellow-green color. In the shadows of the building another chartreuse glow pulsed with meanness and excitement as he watched the abuse.
“Stop!” Calli shouted, running fast. Fury burned in her so hotly she thought her hair crackled out from her head.
The men turned to her, sneers on their face. Then they froze. The guy with the whip dropped his arm, openmouthed.
Alexa, breathing hard, caught Calli’s arm. “You slow down. Calm down. I’ll translate for you, but watch yourself. Your Power is out of control, shooting off sparks!”
Alexa’s strong grip gave Calli pause. Her words penetrated the red haze. Then she blinked, seeing what Alexa said was true. Little fire-bright sparks rose from her skin.
The man in the shadows bolted.
Alexa’s baton flew into her hand. She pointed it at the men and yelled, “Arret!”
This time the men really did freeze, midmotion, their eyes rolling as wildly as the horses’. Satisfaction surged in Calli. Super powers at work. Excellent. She found herself grinning and knew part of the assholes’ fear was because of her. Really good.
She reached the paddock where the horses still circled in fright. “What do you think you’re doing?” she said softly to the men. Alexa translated the question, her voice full of threat.
The men said nothing. Calli got the impression they couldn’t speak. Alexa waved. “Parly.”
Calli leaned against the wooden rail, waiting until it was safe. The man in the pen gauged the horses’ gallops and ran to escape when they were on the far side of him. He scrambled over the fence.
“Well?” asked Calli, lacing menace into her tone. The guy in the shadows cringed back, tumbled into speech, gesticulating.
Alexa looked at Calli, disgust on her face. “He said the horses wouldn’t go.”
“They’re goin’ now.”
“That’s for sure,” Marian said, joining them. She sent the men an icily aristocratic look that had them bunching together.
“What’s the law about animal abuse?” Calli asked.
“Don’t know,” Alexa said, “but I’ll find out.”
“Tell ’em that I want ’em gone. Now,” Calli said.
That didn’t go over well. The men raised their own voices, waved their hands. Calli thought they were using the old “these animals are my property and I can do whatever I want with them” defense. Mid-tirade she swept an arm out toward them and banged them up against the outbuilding wall.
Alexa grabbed her arm. “Don’t do that again. Your Power is out of control.”
She was right. Calli trembled from more than her anger. Power rushed through her like a flooding river. She had to dam it, use it. For good. Not to whup some stupid asses who had skulls too thick to ever learn how to treat a horse, egos too solid to ever think that someone else could teach them. Even a lesson in fear wouldn’t last with them very long.
But, oh, how she wanted to give them that lesson in fear. Terrify them until—Sparks jumped from her skin again, and gave her a quick, shocking backlash, sizzling a few of her nerves.
“Wow,” Alexa said. “Lock it down, Calli.”
Dam it. Right. She sucked in a deep lungful of summer air.
Marian had been coolly watching. “I think it would be best if we paid them off for the moment. Bought the horses. Are you all right with that, Calli?”
“Yes, but I don’t have any money.”
“We’ll take care of it,” Marian said, keeping her eye on the men. She said something, sounded like a price. The men shook their heads, their voices becoming louder again.
Marian looked down her nose, gestured to the horses, o
bviously telling the guys the animals weren’t in good shape.
They argued more.
“Arret,” Alexa said, crossed her arms and glared. “Take it or leave it, but get away from here.”
The man who’d been in the ring spat in the dirt.
“Too stupid to live,” Marian said in a tone of wonder. “Facing the three most Powerful women in the country and arguing over a few coins.”
Calli turned to the two men, considering what else she might be able to do with magic.
Marian touched her arm. “You’re very Powerful. You’ve proven your point, you don’t need to intimidate them further.” She handed Calli three small gold coins.
Sending a scalding look at Marian, Calli shook off her hand. Motioning to Alexa, she strode up to the men. “You tell these…turds…that they had better not ever treat another horse this way or I’ll skin their hides.”
With a smile that showed all her teeth, Alexa fingered her sheathed baton and repeated the words. The men paled. Calli’s smile matched Alexa’s.
“Bastien and I will make sure they pay,” Alexa growled. The two weren’t looking happy now. In fact, their eyes had gone wide and round as they looked from Calli to Alexa to Marian.
Calli threw the gold coins at the men’s feet. “Go.”
They scooped up the gold and scrambled away without a backward glance.
Now she was faced with the task of transporting two terrified and abused horses up to the Castle. She didn’t know how she’d manage. It usually took her a minimum of two and a half hours to work a green horse into trusting her, let alone a mistreated one. “We need to get the horses to the Castle.”
“Or stash them somewhere until you can come back to them,” Marian said.
“That could work.” Calli’d rather have them close. These animals she understood. The familiarity of horseflesh, even their scent, reassured her, reminded her that she was a damn good horsewoman.
“Try whispering to them,” Alexa said.
“I’m not going near them just yet.”
“With your mind, Calli,” Alexa suggested gently.
Shit, what did Alexa think Calli could say? “Here, horsey, horsey,” like some tenderfoot? Calli leaned on the rail and closed her eyes. She brought the equine language she’d learned a bit of yesterday to mind and mentally reached for the horses. She heard fearful shouts. Men. Will kill me. Will eat me. Run. Run. Run.
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