Keepers of the Flame

by Robin D. Owens

  Marian finished pouring coffee all around except for Alexa and stared pointedly at the Swordmarshall. Alexa chewed and swallowed, drank some water, met Elizabeth’s eyes, then Bri’s.

  “I’m the background person, since I fight the horrors every week.” An unamused smile flashed, then was gone. “I was originally Summoned a year ago to help defend Lladrana, that’s this country, from invading evil. Centuries ago some warrior-mages made a boundary of magical fenceposts with an energy field strung between them to keep the horrors—inhuman monsters—out. The fenceposts started falling and the desperate Marshalls consulted the main oracle-prophetess here, the Singer. The oracle said that if the Marshalls Summoned someone from the Exotique Land, that’s Earth, she’d re-discover the method of making fenceposts and re-powering the boundary.” Now her smile crinkled her eyes. “To everyone’s surprise, it worked.”

  Bastien leaned over and kissed her cheek. “Not surprising.”

  “Yeah, it was.” Alexa’s face hardened. “I was the first Summoned in a century. Alone with the Marshalls. Tested immediately to prove I could handle the job.” She swept a gaze around the table. “You weren’t there. None of you.”

  Marian sighed sympathetically. She pushed back her chair and went to the sofa where Calli’s guy, Marrec, had placed the books he’d carried in. Dividing the stack in two, she put one on the table beyond Bri’s plate, then one set near Elizabeth. The top cover was dark black hide Elizabeth didn’t recognize, with a green wand topped with flames embossed on it. The spine said, in English, Lorebook of Exotique Swordmarshall Alexa Fitzwalter. Underneath was a dark purple book showing sheet lightning on the spine with the words Lorebook of Exotique Circlet Marian Harasta.

  “Circlet?” murmured Bri.

  Alexa answered as Marian resumed her seat and drank the excellent coffee. “The society here is fragmented. The Circlets are the Sorcerers and Sorceresses of this place. They usually live in Towers they raise by magic as their final test on islands off the coast. Lladrana has one coast, the west.”

  Alexa sipped her water, set the cup down, and smiled again at Marian. “But like all academics, the Circlet politics were vicious—”

  “We simply did not cooperate well before Marian,” Jaquar said, haughty brows raised over blue eyes.

  “Blue eyes,” Elizabeth said.

  He inclined his head in a nod. “Yes, there has been some interaction between our cultures. Somewhere in my bloodline there was obviously an Exotique ancestor.”

  “I understand the Lladranan people are golden-skinned and dark-haired with dark eyes,” Elizabeth said, observing the silver waves of hair that Jaquar and Marrec had at their temples, “but aren’t there other cultures here with lighter coloring?”

  “Excellent observation,” Jaquar said. “Yes, occasionally we have traders, and it’s true I spent my formative years in the south, but blue eyes are most indicative of Exotique blood.”

  “Okay,” Bri said. “So most people look like Marrec and Bastien.”

  “Ttho,” said Bastien in a mock-offended tone, bridling back and staring down his nose. “No. I am a black-and-white.” He indicated his striped hair.

  Alexa pinched a bit of buttered croissant from his plate, waved it. “Black-and-whites are those whose Power—that’s magic—is fractured, and they usually have mental problems.” She grinned and popped the croissant into her mouth.

  “Bastien has been irritatingly brilliant all his life, but…” Jaquar said.

  “A loose cannon,” Alexa said with relish. “I still like using English idiom. Most people look like Marrec.”

  Elizabeth and Bri stared at Marrec, his golden skin, black hair with silver streaks over the temples, dark brown eyes set at a very slight angle. He sat stoically under their gaze.

  “Yes, our patients had the same cultural features,” Elizabeth said.

  “I fixed Bastien,” Alexa said, stretching to plant a noisy kiss on his jaw.

  “Ayes,” Bastien said. A side of his mouth quirked up. “Well and truly,” he said in English. His eyebrows lifted at Marian’s and Jaquar’s stares. “I have been practicing.”

  “Me, too,” said Marrec.

  Alexa huffed. “Let’s get my part over with. Marian was Summoned by the Marshalls for the Circlets to help battle the Dark—that’s the really bad entity running the show—making the monsters and sending them here for some physical object that we still haven’t figured out.” She smiled winningly at Elizabeth and Bri. “In addition to curing the sickness, that could be your task for the world, Amee. And the Snap doesn’t happen until you fulfill your task, usually about two months. The Snap is the way back to Earth.” Alexa shook her head. “We knew it would take six to fight the Dark in the ultimate battle at the end of this summer. Didn’t think of twins. Thought of three more Summonings, the City, the Seamasters, the Singer. With us—” she gestured to Calli and Marian “—that represents the six core factions of Lladranan society.”

  Bri said, “I’m not sure I followed all of that. But we certainly can’t stay until the end of summer. That would drive our parents mad.”

  Silence shrouded the table.

  “You assume that time passes on Amee at the same rate that it does on Earth,” Marian said.

  Fear squeezed Elizabeth’s heart. “No! Don’t tell me we’ve already been here years!” Bile rushed up her throat, her stomach contracted.

  “Marian!” Calli scolded. She was sitting next to Elizabeth and put an arm around her shoulders in a tight squeeze. “Yes, time passes the same.”

  But Elizabeth was trembling. Bri shoved back her chair with enough force to knock it over, marched with unsteady steps to Elizabeth, stood beside her chair and flung her arms around her. She turned into Bri and grabbed her hard in return.

  “That was nasty,” Bri said thickly. “Get out.”

  “I didn’t mean—” Marian said.

  “Marian, sometimes you’re just too clueless in that smart brain of yours,” Alexa said. Another chair thumped and Elizabeth felt stroking on her head from small hands, and a strong feeling of calm coming from both Calli and Alexa.

  “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Marian said, a sob in her voice. Elizabeth sensed the woman hovering around Bri and her, as shaken as the rest.

  “We women from Earth have one major rule around here,” Alexa’s voice was soft, but steely. “We don’t hurt each other. That means we don’t manipulate each other and we support each other. We stick together. There are enough problems here for us all without infighting.”

  “I didn’t mean to,” Marian whispered.

  “I know,” Calli said. “You were just saying that when a person finds themselves in a new dimension, old rules might not apply. The academic approach. That wasn’t what was needed.”

  “I know,” Marian said.

  “You owe them for scaring them,” Alexa said like a judge laying down the law. “Big time.”

  Elizabeth was breathing easier, the aftereffects of a strong adrenaline rush fading so she could act normally.

  I notice that we are all girls in this group hug. Elizabeth heard Bri’s light tone and knew her twin was settling down.

  Jaquar and Bastien have gone to the windows. Marrec has his hand on the door knob, Marian’s telepathic tone sounded shaky. Her hand had closed over Elizabeth’s shoulder as if to steady them both.

  Men, Alexa’s voice, the first time Elizabeth had heard it in her head. Had the other women been courteously holding back, or was it because they were all touching?

  Because we are all physically connected, Bri said.

  “This isn’t unexpected,” Alexa said. She stopped smoothing Elizabeth’s hair and Elizabeth missed it. She heard the sound of furniture moving. Lifting the chairs back, probably.

  Alexa continued, “Live here long enough and you begin to believe in fate—in the Song. The Marshalls and Circlets and Chevaliers and the Cities all had requirements for the people they wanted to bring to Lladrana. Being able to mesh with the individua
l group and the culture was the primary one. Since we previous Exotiques have assimilated well with the culture, it’s only logical that we’d be friends.”

  Elizabeth wanted to see. She drew away from Bri, straightening in her chair and Bri let her go. Both of them back on an emotional keel.

  Alexa cleared her throat loudly, stared at the cooler once more. “Anything perishable in there?”

  Bri met Elizabeth’s eyes. The fruit salad. You handle this. You’ve always been better at negotiations, at haggling in the local markets, than me.

  “Fruit salad,” Elizabeth said. “Leftovers from our father’s birthday party. Melon, papaya, grapes, kiwi, pineapple…” She waved.

  Bri strolled over to the cooler, opened it and took out a big plastic-wrapped bowl. She blinked rapidly. “Mom’s bowl,” she said, placing it on the table and removing the clingwrap.

  “Wedgwood,” Marian murmured.

  “A special celebration,” Elizabeth said.

  “Well, the fruit won’t keep,” Bri said. She dished servings out to everyone.

  Alexa sat, took a bite and hummed in pleasure. She scooped a portion of Bastien’s off his plate, swallowed and said, “You really shouldn’t eat this. You might develop a taste for it, then where would we be? Not sure any of this grows here.”

  “Grapes do,” he said, and left them on Alexa’s plate as he took more back, and they all dug into the food.

  As soon as she took her last bite, Alexa stared at the cooler again, licking her lips. “Two sacks of spuds, white and red. Pretty big cooler. What else is in it?”

  Bri wiped her hands on a napkin and went back to the chest. She lifted the plastic-wrapped casserole out and set it aside.

  “Oh, man. Oh, man,” Alexa breathed. “Is that what I think it is? Potato casserole?”

  “With sour cream and onions and loads of cheese,” Bri returned sweetly.

  Alexa’s moan was nearly orgasmic. Bastien’s eyes gleamed. “I know my woman and her tastes. Whatever that is, it is wonderful.”

  “That can go pretty bad if not eaten quickly, too. Probably really excellent for breakfast,” Alexa pointed out.

  “Yes,” Elizabeth said. She lifted her brows. “There’s no refrigeration available?”

  Marrec said, “There is a keep-cold twiddle-spell and we have ice.”

  Jaquar said, “We can bespell the cooler free of charge.”

  Bri said lightly, “Then we might invite you to eat the casserole with us at a later time. You have to talk to Elizabeth about that. It’s her cooler.” Then Bri lifted out the large dome-covered plate. She smiled, cocked an eyebrow at Elizabeth. “Chocolate cake with vanilla frosting.”

  The words caused a lengthy silence. All the women’s gazes locked on the plate. The three once-Earth-now-Lladranan women nearly quivered.

  “I know this choc-lat.” Marrec rolled the word on his tongue. “It is good.”

  “Damn right,” Bri said. “Homemade birthday cake. Now we’ll talk about returning to Denver.”

  7

  Elizabeth waited for reactions. Marian sighed, shared a glance with the other women. Alexa dabbed at her lips with a napkin, folded it and stood. “We always go through this.” She cleared her throat, looked tentative. “I don’t want to step on toes, I only want to understand.” Her chin lifted. “I didn’t have much to go back to, so I settled here after the initial shock. Lladrana’s been good to me.”

  Elizabeth felt her eyes widen. Bri’s mouth fell open. The woman had a long scar on her cheek. She’d said she fought monsters every week.

  Bastien snorted, stood and stepped behind Alexa, wrapping his arms around her. His gaze was fierce. “She is beloved. She has a good estate, wealth which she did not have on Exotique Terre. She is,” he glanced at Marian and Calli, “you all are, the crème de la crème.”

  “We’ve found our places in life.” Calli went to stand beside Alexa, took her hand. “I hadn’t planned on going back with the Snap, either, not after I bonded with Marrec, and certainly not after we adopted our child, children.” She smiled softly at her man. He lifted a shoulder and moved to hold her like Bastien held Alexa.

  Alexa angled her chin at Marian. “That one was the one who kept saying she had to go back.”

  “For Andrew, my brother with multiple sclerosis. And I did.”

  “But you’re here,” Bri said.

  “I brought him back with me. And he’s still here. After a fashion.”

  Cold curled inside Elizabeth. She kept her voice mild. “After a fashion?”

  Alexa grinned. “Since you’re both medicas you’ll be interested. His mind and, um, soul—” she glanced at Marian, who nodded “—were transferred to a Lladranan body.”

  Wow! Bri’s thought echoed Elizabeth’s. Incredible. Bri said, “I’m not a medical doctor. Elizabeth is.”

  Marian raised her eyebrows, obviously back to normal. “We saw you save last night.”

  “She has a unique gift of healing hands,” Elizabeth murmured.

  Blinking at Bri, Marian said, “So I would postulate that you studied alternative medicine. As I studied New Age subjects.” She crossed to the other side of Alexa, and still watching the twins, held out her hand. Alexa took it. Jaquar strolled behind her to stand with the other men, rested his hands on Marian’s hips.

  “Choose an end,” Alexa challenged with a smile. “You’re supposed to be here.” Then her humor faded. “Bottom line, we need you. We’re sure the Dark is sending this disease somehow and we need you to find a cure.”

  Elizabeth shook her head. “It isn’t that easy.”

  “We know it isn’t,” Marrec said, his accent thick. “None of the Exotiques’ tasks were easy. But they prevailed.”

  “We’re sorry for your problems, but we have loving parents who will miss us in two weeks,” Bri said, lowering the cake back into the cooler.

  At that moment a long lilting strum came from the door. “Sevair Masif here,” said the deep voice of the city man.

  Alexa hurried to answer, obviously glad of the interruption. “He’s been very patient, but he’s waiting for you two. The City and Towns were the ones who Summoned you.”

  Marian and Jaquar did a little chant and the dishes and cutlery cleaned themselves and were stacked on the table. Elizabeth and Bri watched wide-eyed, then Bri hurried to put the casserole back into the chest and set the top back on it. She smiled. “Plenty of ice.”

  “Bri, you can’t go out looking like that!” Jaquar sounded shocked.

  All the women looked at him.

  Marian said, “I would never have thought you to be a prude.”

  He glanced at the other men as if for support. Bastien smiled blandly and replied in simple Lladranan that Elizabeth was beginning to understand, “She looks wonderful.”

  Marrec leaned on the sofa and said in accented English, “I was in Co-lo-ra-do. In the summer. I saw bare legs.” He smiled reminiscently.

  Calli blinked at him. “Oh, yes, I left you in the park when I went to the bank.”

  Bri said, “Before I was in Denver, I was in Sweden, before that, Spain. But I’ve traveled a lot, I should have realized.” Now she smiled at the women, not nicely. “Can you do an instant clean on my clothes? The blouse is silk. Or do you have clothes for at least one of us?”

  “Yes,” said Marian drawing herself up.

  “Yes, what?” asked Bri.

  Marian withdrew a finger-length stick from her pocket and with a flick of her wrist it turned into a wand. She pointed it at Elizabeth. A hot breeze hit her, rippled over her, shaking her clothes and leaving them with a fresh scent. Her panties had dried. But Elizabeth wasn’t too sure about the efficacy of magical clothes washing.

  “Both,” Marian said. “I can cleanse your clothes, even while they’re on you, and we have clothes for you. Both of you.” She went into the bedroom and came back with two robes of dark red with white crosses on them. Medica tunics, one knee length, the other mid-calf. The shorter one buttoned tight around t
he wrist for several inches, so the sleeves didn’t get in the way of anything. The longer one had wider sleeves that came to the elbow.

  Another heavy ripple of noise came from the door, obviously impatient. The knob turned and Sevair Masif strode in, followed by a hesitant person wearing the shorter medica robe.

  “What is taking so long?” The tone more than his words held meaning. He stopped and stared at Bri. Blinked. Swallowed. A hint of red came to his cheeks. Bri sent him a grin, then slipped the tunic over her head and wiggled into it. The robe fell past her knees and she looked—marginally—like the other medica. Since the tight lower sleeves didn’t fit well over the thinner silk shirt, Bri rolled up the red sleeves and let the white show. It was a very Bri look: casual, rakish, elegant. Proclaiming to all that she leaned toward New Age. Elizabeth couldn’t imagine Bri in a proper nurse’s uniform. Meanwhile the medica was eyeing Bri’s style.

  Elizabeth wasn’t about to add to the show. She looked at the remaining heavier robe with short sleeves. “Not one for each of us at all,” she said. “Two different robes.”

  “One for each of you,” Marian said easily, “but in the two different styles that the medicas wear. This one is for traveling.”

  Bri took the long tunic, and tossed it over Elizabeth’s head before she could protest, pulling it down over her Earth shirt and slacks, twitching it so it fell smoothly. The hem was long but the sides were cut high for easy movement.

  Bri hummed in approval. “Looks good.”

  Elizabeth had worn a cream-colored silk shirt and dark blue slacks to their father’s birthday party while Bri had worn stylish jeans and a turquoise shirt.

  “It suits both of you,” Alexa said.

  “Prie introd moi,” said Sevair.

  “This is Sevair Masif, a City and Townmaster, a stonemason and excellent architect of Castleton,” Marian said.

  He bowed. “Call me Sevair,” he said. Those were the last words Elizabeth understood of the long stream of sentences, except that the gist was splitting her and Bri up. One for the Castle medicas and one for the City? When she glanced at the medica, she had her hands folded at her waist and was nodding.