Keepers of the Flame

by Robin D. Owens

  As soon as he finished, the medica launched into speech before Elizabeth could ask for a translation. The woman tapped her chest, gestured to the whole Castle, was impassioned. Elizabeth thought she spoke of facilities and training, or an exchange of training, while the man had spoken of need and duty.

  The medica paused for a breath and Marian interrupted. “You’re not understanding much of this, are you?”

  Bri said, “I lived in Cannes for two years and Elizabeth studied French and visited me.”

  “But it’s not quite French, is it?” Marian said.

  Everyone stared at them.

  Bri looked at Sevair and the medica, inclined her head, and said. “Je ne comprehends pas.”

  The medica sighed, looked at Marian.

  “Just a drop of language potion,” Jaquar wheedled, drawing a tiny bottle from a pocket of his robe. It sparkled. “A drop would let you test it for a couple of hours.” He flashed a “Trust me, baby,” smile. “You’d be able to speak and understand Lladranan well.”

  Elizabeth decided to let Bri handle this and kept her mouth shut.

  Bri said, “How many medicas are there?”

  “Five here at the Castle,” Alexa said, “the best in the country. The Marshalls can form a healing circle, too.” She shifted, appearing disgruntled. “Though none of us have been able to cure those with the sickness, like you did.”

  “They are the Exotique Medicas,” Calli said. “They will have skills that the rest of us don’t. Like I can speak with the volarans, or you can handle that baton.”

  Jaquar had strolled over to Bri, lifting a small cork from the bottle. Blinking, Bri could see that the pale lavender liquid inside sparkled a little, even in the tendrils that rose from the bottle. Really odd.

  Jaquar waved it under her nose. It smelled wonderful, floral, like all the spring blossoms of a tree. She wanted another sniff, but since it was more like a craving, decided against it.

  “Say something, Sevair,” Jaquar ordered—and it wasn’t in English, but sounded perfectly clear and not the mangled French Bri had had to concentrate to untangle.

  “We,” Sevair gestured to the medica behind him, “have come to discuss matters. Since there are two Exotique medicas, it is only reasonable one stay here at the Castle and one come with me to Castleton.” Though he sounded as if he was reporting a compromise that didn’t please.

  “Split us up!” Bri said, and realized she was speaking French—sort of.

  The line between Sevair’s brows dug deeper as if he tried to understand what she said.

  But Elizabeth was frowning, too. “What did you say, Bri?” she asked.

  “They want to split us up. Send one of us away.”

  “Yeah,” Alexa rolled her eyes. “All the way to Castleton. Two miles downhill.”

  Bri felt her cheeks pinken. “Oh.”

  “Two miles downhill from a Castle on a hill means walking two miles uphill for someone,” Elizabeth said.

  “True,” said Bri.

  Jaquar waved the vial near Bri’s nostrils again. Wonderful scent. She clenched her teeth, then said, “How much would give me language skills for the day?”

  Marian’s gaze met Jaquar’s. She cleared her throat. “Language skills, ah. You might be interested to know that during sex there is a definite transfer of the language with your partner. That is to say, you’ll get Lladranan. They get English too, but there’s not much chance to practice it.”

  Bri moved until she was shoulder to shoulder with Elizabeth. “We look like the easy types to you?”

  Marrec shook his head. “No Exotique is easy. Not a one.”

  “Pity,” said Bastien.

  Jaquar said, “Two drops for today lasting perhaps until tomorrow noon.”

  The medica stepped farther into the room and said something that escaped Bri. You understand that? she asked Elizabeth.

  No. “Please translate,” Elizabeth said. She’d tensed up again.

  The other Coloradan women shared a glance, grouped together and murmured a bit, then Marian looked at the twins and said, “She speaks in words and concepts that we are not sure of, even though we have done Song healing. Something about wanting to consult you about the rhythmic cycles of each energy point-pulse.” Marian didn’t look pleased that she didn’t get it.

  Bri turned a little to Elizabeth. If I try, I can hear each chakra tune. Can you?

  Elizabeth squinted, then a corner of her mouth lifted. Not really, but I can “see” different colors of swirling energy. I definitely see auras now, more than I ever did on Earth.

  Chakra auras.

  I suppose. Elizabeth held out her hand, and Bri clasped it. They looked at Marian. The sounds Bri heard merged with Elizabeth’s sight. Each chakra had a series of notes, a color, spun in a different pattern and to a different beat.

  Now that you help, I CAN hear the notes. Probably what the medica was talking about, Elizabeth said.

  For sure. And with our link I can see the chakras better than I ever could on Earth. The seven main ones and all the way to the thirteen. Bri felt Elizabeth scrutinizing the medica. We could learn from them, and teach them, too!

  You got the parents’ teaching gene, Bri said. I think I’ll take a chance.

  You always do, Elizabeth said.

  Dropping Elizabeth’s hand, Bri went to Jaquar, who still held the small bottle. Now she wasn’t physically connected with Elizabeth, sounds were amplified and her aura sight dimmer. She reached and drew Power from the atmosphere, boosting her sight. Yep, easy to see auras. Jaquar had a shadow in several of his energy pulses, as if a lingering sickness was finally passing.

  “What made you sick about a year ago?” she asked him.

  He stilled, straightened to his full height. “I lost my parents. A Dark monster drained their Power and killed them.”

  The room suddenly seethed with sorrow, anger, determination.

  “He was sick with grief,” Marian said. “Almost mad with it.”

  Jaquar grimaced.

  “Those particular monsters, sangviles, especially like to kill people strong in Power,” Alexa said. “Like Circlets. Or Exotiques.”

  Bri looked back to Elizabeth. They do need our help.

  And they aren’t about to let us go before they get it.

  “Two drops only,” Bri said, and stuck out her tongue.

  Plink. Plink. Oddly enough, the taste wasn’t nearly as good as the smell. Bri wasn’t sure what she expected, a sweet honey like columbine perhaps, but she didn’t get it. She turned to the medica.

  “Say that again.”

  The medica nodded. “We believe this sickness was sent by the Dark in some way, but the symptoms are not the same for every patient. It affects the rhythm and Song of the different energy pulses of a person—chimes—but not the same chime.”

  You get that? Bri asked Elizabeth. And they call a chakra a chime. Bri shrugged. Only natural in such a culture, I suppose.

  But Elizabeth was staring at the medica, then Jaquar. Bri could feel her waves of curiosity. She stared at the vial. He offered it, and she sniffed, wrinkled her nose. Overly sweet, she said to Bri. But I know you liked the scent.

  Elizabeth held up two fingers. “Two drops only.”

  Jaquar nodded.

  The tip of Elizabeth’s tongue peeked from between her lips. Jaquar carefully poured one drop, then a second.

  I like the taste, Elizabeth said.

  Speaking of taste, what do we do with the spuds? Bri went to the bags of potatoes and pulled out three of each, then said to Sevair, “Do you have botanists who’d study these? They’re a very good crop on Earth, called potatoes.”

  She thought she heard Alexa moan.

  “They are a delicacy,” Marian said to Sevair.

  Sevair had pulled a folded bag from his pocket, snapped it, then opened it. The man was prepared. How depressing.

  With a smile, Bri carried the potatoes heaped in her hands over to him and dumped them in the bag, then drew one
back out. “You germinate them by the eye.” She pointed to one on the Idaho potato. “These are better baked, the others are better boiled.”

  “That one is excellent fried. Deep fat fried,” Alexa said.

  Now Marian whimpered.

  Sevair lifted an eyebrow, took the potato from Bri, weighed it in his hand, glanced at Calli. “Your opinion?”

  Calli smiled. “What you have there is about a thousand times more tasty than turnip fries.”

  He looked surprised, then pleased. Nodding to Elizabeth, then Bri, he said, “Then you have something to barter with. However, I assure you that the Cities and Towns who Summoned you abide by tradition. You will receive property—an estate in the city or town of your choice—and enough money to support you for the rest of your days. Both of you.” He slipped the potato into the bag. “You will also receive a bounty on every plant that is developed from this po-ta-toe.”

  He bowed to each of them. “I thank you both for accepting the language potion. It will make our tasks much easier. With your permission, I would like to adjourn to Temple Ward.”

  Alexa was staring at the cooler and the potatoes.

  “Where’s that guy who guarded them last night?” asked Bri.

  “That would be my brother, Luthan,” Bastien said. “I don’t think we’ve spoken of Luthan.”

  “Or Faucon for that matter,” Marian said.

  Something else, here, Elizabeth said mentally to Bri as she walked over to stand in front of the chest, blocking it from everyone else.

  Alexa’s wistful look turned into a pout. She speared Bri with a disgruntled gaze. “Luthan Vauxveau is a Chevalier, a knight who rides the flying horses, so flies into battle with us. He’s a wealthy nobleman with his own estate and the representative of the Singer, who is the prophetess of Lladrana, lives to the south in an Abbey, but meddles in our affairs.”

  I don’t like that, said Elizabeth. We have enough to worry about with the people in this room.

  I don’t either, Bri replied.

  Alexa cleared her throat. “Some people have instinctive reactions to Exotiques. Either an instinctive revulsion or an instinctive attraction.”

  “I’ll go for the attraction,” Bri said.

  “That can be a problem, too,” Marian said.

  Bri waved that away. “Better than the alternative. I’ve suffered from prejudice before. How nasty is this repulsion thing?”

  “Bad enough to get you killed,” Bastien said. His usual optimistic expression had faded and turned grim, making him look like the warrior he was. “Alexa had to fight for her life.”

  8

  I saw him, Luthan, shudder last night when he looked at us, Elizabeth said.

  Now that you mention it…

  “Luthan has the instinctive repulsion,” Alexa said, her voice cool, her manner lacking any playfulness. “He is deeply ashamed of it. He would die before he hurt any of us.”

  Must be difficult to have a brother-in-law who thinks you’re repulsive, Bri sent to Elizabeth.

  “Ayes,” said Alexa, reading body language or energy or Bri’s mind. “Ayes is ‘yes.’ ‘Ttho’ is ‘no.’ And Luthan has long since gotten over his first problem with me, as well as Marian and Calli. It’s only when he has to meet and interact with a new Exotique that the problem surfaces again.”

  “But you must be aware that others might have this reaction,” Marrec said. “If they have never met an Exotique before, they may not know they have this flaw and may act on it instead of thinking how important you are to us.”

  “We understand,” Elizabeth said. Bri could feel her need to leave the suite and get out into fresh air, someplace not as crowded with others. Bri felt it too.

  “Okay, so there’s a repulsion and Luthan has it and hates it. I still sensed he was the most honest of all of you.” She enjoyed saying that. “Will he watch our goodies for us?”

  Marian sniffed, took out her finger length wand again. “I can bespell the chest to keep the food cold. And Jaquar is very good with lock spells. He can put one on the door and all the windows.”

  “What about Faucon?” Elizabeth asked. “Since Luthan has the revulsion, I would imagine that he has the attraction?”

  “Ayes,” Alexa said cheerfully. “He’s sexy, rich, noble, a good Chevalier and a good guy. He’ll want to Pair with you.” She shook her head. “Twins. He’ll go mad at the choice. I’d advise you to take him up on any offers.”

  “We aren’t staying,” they said together. Bri continued, “Our parents—” The thought of their parents grief at the disappearance of their daughters clutched at her gut.

  “It’s difficult,” Marian said. “I couldn’t leave my brother Andrew.” Then her voice softened, held a wrenching undertone. “He came with me, but was badly wounded, and dying. We transferred his mind and soul into a dying Lladranan, Koz. Now Andrew is Koz.”

  That still sounded weird.

  “There’s a cure for MS here?” Bri asked.

  Marian grimaced. “We didn’t know. We hoped. But my place was here, with Jaquar and the Circlets.” She took her husband’s hand. “With my mentor, Bossgond, and the school we wanted to found, did found.”

  “I don’t believe it.” Elizabeth shook her head.

  A smile lingered on Marian’s lips. “Come meet him, then.” She nodded to the medica who was waiting patiently by the door. “Jolie was the main medica to make the transfer, if you’d like to talk with her.”

  Jolie said, “You did it yourself, Circlet Marian. That procedure is a matter of the soul and the Song. We medicas only kept the receiving body alive.”

  All Bri’s nerves shivered at the thought.

  “It was a matter of faith in herself,” Jaquar said, kissing his wife’s cheek. “She knew her Power was strong, and fashioned to be more of use here than on Exotique Terre.”

  A definite prod at them, Bri thought. She said, “I have always used my healing hands.”

  Jaquar switched his gaze to Elizabeth. “And you? You both have great Power here, otherwise the Song would not have reverberated in your mind—the gong, the chimes.”

  Bri jerked in surprise. “How did you know that?”

  “It is the way Exotiques are Summoned.” He nodded to the books on the table. “You can learn much from the others’ experiences.”

  “Later.” Alexa walked to the door, sent the twins a challenging look. “Can’t hide in here all day.” She snorted with laughter as if at a secret joke. “Come along. Your new life awaits. If you dare.”

  Bri spared one last glance around the room, then watched carefully in the hallway when Jaquar bespelled the door.

  As they walked down the stairs the medica, Jolie, began asking Elizabeth questions. Soon they were deep in a conversation about medical techniques. Bri blinked. She didn’t want to face another new day in another new place. She was supposed to be in Denver.

  When the outer door opened onto the wide courtyard of the Castle, they all hesitated.

  “One of the twins should come with me to Castleton. We have a house prepared,” Sevair said. “The Exotique Summoned was for Castleton and the other cities and towns.”

  “Sounds like traveling,” Elizabeth’s voice was strained. She met Bri’s eyes. A bad feeling slicked Bri’s gut.

  I don’t want to leave the Castle. Elizabeth was even more hesitant.

  Bri couldn’t resist the plea. She pasted on a smile and jutted a hip. Looks like it’s me, then. Think this telepathy thing works across two miles?

  Elizabeth’s eyes sharpened. An interesting experiment.

  Yeah. Bri straightened her shoulders. “I’ll go.” She sent a glance around the cluster of people. “For a while. We aren’t chessmen to be pushed around.”

  “Of course not,” Bastien said. “No Exotique can be pushed far.” His smile was crooked, his gaze admiring.

  Alexa said, smiling, “We get to Castleton often, usually to the Nom de Nom.”

  “A worthy establishment,” Sevair said, but some
thing about the way he said it made Bri think he didn’t really mean it.

  Bastien laughed. “A Chevaliers hang-out.”

  Of course he hadn’t really said hang-out. Had he? Bri could hardly distinguish the English words from the Lladranan, especially since she realized that the Exotiques had already had a definite effect on the language. “Okay” was commonplace. Maybe Bastien had said hang-out.

  “Lodging, food, and clothing is a priority. We will shelter and care for our Exotiques.” Sevair’s broad hand with scarred fingers gestured to Elizabeth and Bri.

  “Merci,” said Elizabeth. “It’s comforting to know we have a place here at the Castle and in Castleton.”

  “Not only there,” Marian said. “If you prefer Circlet Towers you can live with me or Bossgond.”

  “Marrec and I have a big house at your disposal, too,” Calli said.

  “Exotiques are valued,” Sevair said, “but I think you will find that no one values their Exotiques more than the Cities and Towns.”

  At that moment a couple of women strode up to the group. The older one was the Marshalls’ leader, the other wore expensive leathers. Bri vaguely remembered them from the night before.

  The Marshall bowed brusquely to them; she wore Authority like a surgeon’s coat.

  “I’m Thealia Germain, Lady Knight Swordmarshall.”

  Okay, make that the Authority of the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

  Thealia jerked a nod at the woman beside her. “Lady Hallard, representative of the Chevaliers.”

  Bri thought it sounded like the two top warriors in the world. She stepped back. She’d avoided war zones on her travels. Poverty and disease of third-world nations was bad enough without being caught in a struggle between vicious groups.

  Elizabeth nodded at them. “Ladies.”

  Well, Elizabeth had served her time in emergency services and ICUs; she’d have seen plenty of wounds inflicted on people by others.

  “Exotique Medicas,” Hallard said.

  Thealia continued, “It’s time for the morning briefing about last night’s battle. My husband and Shieldmarshall noticed a different pattern in the fighting, as did other Shields. We also received a message from the horrors, or perhaps I should say from the new Master of the Horrors and Servant of the Dark.”