I knew that look. Mouth quirked, I asked, “Bands? Pins? Comb?”
“Front pocket,” she answered promptly, smiling.
Standing, I made sure to balance myself against the rocking of the train as I reached into her bag, pulling out a comb and a bundle of hairpins. “How elaborate?”
“Knock yourself out,” she told me generously.
We had nothing but time as it would take two days by train to Foxboro, where we would take the ferry across the channel before we managed to get on the right continent. Njorage sat at the very top of Sira, so it would take a good six days of train travel to get up there from Alyadar. Traveling with people always either made you really good friends or accomplices in murder. It depended on how well the group functioned in a small space for long periods of time. Hopefully we came out of this as friends.
For now, though, no one seemed awake enough for a conversation, so I settled back on the bench, laying the tools aside as Rena plopped onto the floor in between my legs. Doing her hair had developed a certain ritual by this point. Ever since that first day I’d braided it, my routine with her had lengthened as I sought ways to prolong the experience. It was one of the few times that I could touch her, and continue to touch her, without anyone questioning my motives.
It might be a little more awkward with an audience, but I didn’t let it stop me. I started at the crown of her head and pressed my thumbs in small circles, massaging her scalp and carefully working my way down and around. Rena gave a pleased hum, propped her back against the seat, hooked an elbow behind my ankle to anchor herself, and just relaxed into my hands. Smiling, I lingered over her head, down her neck, along her shoulders, reaching what skin I could under her collar without encroaching into what I considered to be ‘lover’s territory.’
Eventually, I had to stop indulging myself and actually do the task at hand, partially because I had a feeling I’d given too much away to the two very sharp men watching me. I didn’t dare look at either of them as I picked up the comb sitting on the bench next to my thigh. Carding the length of Rena’s smooth hair, I took a comb to it first, not finding any tangles, just getting a feeling for what I wanted to do this morning. Perhaps a six-strand plait around her head, like a crown? I liked doing that style on her, made her look regal, but we rarely had the time to spend on it.
Decided, I portioned out her hair and got to work.
Both men watched me in silence at first, curious and interested. Then I got part way around Rena’s head, fingers caught up in different strands, and I could feel their interest sharpening into something like disbelief.
Rena must have caught at least Chi’s expression as she laughed. “I know, you wouldn’t think it to look at him, but he’s really amazing with hair. Almost everyone in Z’gher is, because they all wear their hair in multiple braids. The entire time I was there, it was like one huge hair party, as they all wanted to teach me what to do with my own.”
Not that she had taken well to those lessons. I harbored the suspicion that Rena preferred it when I did her hair. She never seemed interested to try anything on her own. I was just as pleased that was the case.
“I hadn’t thought of this until you mentioned it,” Maksohm’s voice held a timbre of something, I couldn’t quite put a finger on what, “but Bannen, how did your family take your summoning?”
“At first? They were livid. They don’t like having their children out of reach.” I didn’t take my eyes off my hands, because if I lost the pattern now, I would be doomed to start over. “Now they’re so proud of it that I feel like strangling them. They bragged the entire time we were there on our last visit.”
Rena let out a soft laugh. “It actually cut our trip short as we could only stand it for two weeks.”
“I understand that Z’gher’s culture does not easily accept foreigners into a family,” Maksohm offered, a question hovering in that statement.
Shrugging, Rena answered without turning her head, “I’m one of two Void Mages in the entire world. I bring honor into the family.”
I didn’t say the obvious, that my parents hoped that I would marry her sooner rather than later, as it would start a new conversation that I had no desire to participate in. There were days that I could pretend I didn’t want Rena.
Today was not one of those days.
Of course Chi asked the question I didn’t want him to. “They consider you family, then?”
“Daughter,” Rena answered easily. “Which is rather fun, really, to be a daughter to them. It means I have five sisters and another brother, and life’s always more interesting with more siblings. I don’t think we really knew what to do with each other at first—the culture gaps were many and varied, let me tell you—but living with Bannen had clued me in some, and we were all very invested in forming a good relationship, which helped. By the time we left, I honestly felt like I had just spent time visiting with family.”
“Then, when you’re done with everything, where will you live?” Maksohm did not sound as if he asked that question casually, although on the surface it appeared to be just making conversation.
Rena picked up on it but she strove to match that casual tone. “No idea. Not Z’gher.”
“We love my family,” I informed them, mouth quirked in a smile. “Preferably, we love them from a distance.”
“Ah, one of those families,” Chi said in complete understanding. “My family’s like that as well. So’s Vee’s. We love them, they love us, but we’re too independent and they’re a little too smothering, so it’s best we love each other elsewhere for most of the year.”
It occurred to me I knew nothing about anyone’s family situation. “You have a large family, Chi?”
“No, not really. Older brother, younger sister. I have a lot of extended family, though, as both of my parents have five siblings each. Holiday get-togethers are a complete crush. Not as bad as Vee’s, I grant you. Giants have unusually large families, no pun intended. Vee only has eight siblings and that’s considered to be a little on the small size.”
My eyes crossed at the mental image of even ten people in one family, all Vee’s size or larger. “How can they possibly afford to feed families of that size?”
“There’s a reason why giants tend to be the most productive work force ever,” Chi answered forthrightly. “They can’t afford to be anything else, and not keep everyone fed and with a roof over their heads. I’ve gone to Vee’s hometown several times, visiting, and it’s intense. Fun, too. Giants are good hosts, they certainly know how to throw a party, and the kids are hysterical. The first time I went, they kept wondering if I was sick as a kid, or if I’d been injured somehow, because I was their height. They assumed something had to be wrong with me.”
I could somehow picture this even though Chi wasn’t really a short man. Not tall either, more average height, but he was a foot shorter than Vee and she’d mentioned in passing that she wasn’t anywhere near as tall as a full-fledged giant. Chi must have seemed like a dwarf to the kids. I laughed at the image. “Did you convince them the rest of humanity is just short on average?”
“Sards no, that would be boring. I gave them a different sob story every time someone got up the courage to ask about why I was so short. The adults eventually cottoned on, but the kids never compared notes, not ’til the end. Some of them were smart enough to double check my story with Vee and she just played along with a straight face.”
Vee, still with her eyes closed, murmured, “You have no idea how hard it was to keep my face straight. Some of your stories were patently ridiculous.”
Blinking down at her, Chi asked, “Are you awake?”
“No.”
“Alright,” he agreed equably, smiling down at her, still idly stroking her hair. “Anyway, if you get a chance to go into giant country, take it. I always have a great time when I’m there.”
“We’ll keep that in mind,” Rena agreed, sounding perfectly sincere. “What about you, Maksohm?”
“I have more
family than I know what to do with. In my immediate family, though, I only have one brother. His wife and I were actually work partners for several years before they got married, so if I do have to go home, I choose to stay with them. My parent’s house tends to be the focal point for the extended family, so my brother’s house is more sane.” A wistful note entered his voice. “I haven’t been able to go see them for a while. Not since the shards starting popping up. It pulled us in all different directions.”
Sensing he’d lost us, Chi volunteered, “The Maksohm family are all barrier specialists. If trouble like the shards occur, they’re our first line of defense.”
Ah, now that made sense. I focused on the tail end of the braid, tucking it into the beginning and putting pins in to keep it in place.
Rena, now free, patted her hair in exploration and gave me a delighted smile. “Oh, you did the crown again.”
“It’s your favorite,” I responded with a shrug and tried very, very hard not to look besotted.
“It is,” she agreed happily, then turned to Maksohm with a gentle smile. “I promise to vanquish the evil shards as quickly as possible. Maybe you can manage to see your family for the winter holidays.”
Maksohm’s expression softened, a not atypical reaction to Rena, as she often sought to comfort people if she felt they needed it. “Thank you.” Inclining his head toward the window, he added, “It seems we’re about to arrive at the station. Let’s get ready to change lines, shall we?”
The ferry ride over took two hours, a quick jaunt in comparison to the rest of the journey. I found that being on the water made me slightly nauseous, while of course Bannen thought it invigorating to have a hint of sea air ruffling over us. Then again, he had practically grown up on boats. While I had lived near a sea port, I’d been on a ship only twice before in my life, and neither trip had been calm or pleasant. Both times storms had rocked it back and forth. Maybe my lack of sea legs had to do with the previous traumatic experiences.
The ferry landing in Alyadar was almost the size of Corcoran’s sea port, a bustling place that saw thousands of travelers a day, hosted multiple docks, and witnessed people going every possible direction as they either loaded on or came off; it only missed the warehouses to make it a carbon copy. Fortunately a string of hotels sat on the opposite side of the street and we didn’t have to exert any energy to find a room that night. As hotels went, it was nice enough, and I spent a leisurely eight hours sleeping like the dead before rising early the next morning.
Everyone met more or less at the breakfast table, bags already packed, and after a quick meal we struck out again, heading westerly along the street toward the train station. I stuck close to Bannen and Maksohm, afraid to be lost in the crowd, and felt relieved to spy the sign to the train station pointing off to the left. Apparently we didn’t have long to walk. Good.
Normally, I would have grabbed Bannen’s hand, and if we were back home I might have indulged a little and done so. But that seemed the wrong tack here. People already looked at us sideways, wondering, and I didn’t want to pressure Bannen into responding to me like that. Not until I found some sign that he wanted to be romantically closer. Feeling a little cowardly, I grabbed the back of his shirt instead.
Turning, he caught my wrist, pulling me around and in front of him. “Walk where I can see you,” he instructed, keeping a hand on my shoulder.
Feeling a little better about this position, I did so, faithfully following Maksohm. The MISD Agent knew how to cut through a crowd without losing people, I granted him that. He didn’t need an imposing height or figure to make a marvelous trail blazer.
It took no time at all to stop by the ticket booth and board the train, again in a luxury car that would give Vee the most available space. I held onto my bag long enough to pull out a book, as this part of the journey would not be over quickly. We had a good six days in this train car before we made it to Njorage. I was selfishly looking forward to getting some good reading in.
Maksohm paused just inside the door, going sideways so Chi and Vee could squeeze past. His hand cupped his ear and a perturbed look crossed his face. “I’m sorry, sir, say that again?”
My eyes flicked up, taking in the communication spell wrapped around the MISD crest pressed to his ear. Magic active, with a strong connection and steady pulse saying this spell connected over a long distance. Whatever had put that look on Maksohm’s face didn’t bode well. I sensed we had another diversion for our trip coming up.
“Understood, sir. Tell her to hold on, we can be there in a little over ten hours. Thank you, sir.” Disconnecting, he put the badge back into his pocket and addressed us in a clipped, strained voice. “We have a new objective. Agent Nora Maksohm with three junior agents is currently pinned down in a location near here, with a hostile bandit force nearby.”
I sucked in a breath, hearing it echoed.
“How bad?” Vee demanded.
“She’s pinned, has a shield up and holding, but the three junior agents are injured and down. She’s requested immediate aid. We’re the nearest ones to her.”
“How defensible is her position?” Bannen asked calmly. My eyes cut to him, reading that expression, almond shaped eyes narrowed in a mixture of professional calm and assessment, and I was reminded that he had been in situations like this before. Both as rescuer and rescuee.
“Nora claims she can hold out until tonight but can’t promise good results after that.” Maksohm’s face twisted as if some part of him wanted to kick and rage but had ruthlessly shoved down the urge. “The junior agents are not in a position to fight or move under their own power.”
No wonder she needed help. “Of course we’ll go to her. Maksohm, I assume she’s a relative?”
“Cousin,” Maksohm responded and the way his eyes went bleak and worried told me that she was a favorite cousin, not someone he barely knew.
I gave him my best smile, the one that spoke of confidence and dependability. “Good thing we’re so close, then, that we can help her quickly. Do we know what she’s up against?”
Maksohm gave me a look so patently thankful that I almost blushed under the force of it.
The train vibrated, a whistle blowing, signaling that we would be underway within the next few seconds. The conversation paused as we quickly threw bags up in the overhead bins. Maksohm held up a hand toward us, already edging out the door. “I need to speak to the engineer, inform him of where to drop us off, and then I’ll brief you.”
As I sat, Chi caught my eye and asked curiously, “Is there anything that really fazes you?”
“Of course,” I answered honestly, thinking back to those days when my body had been falling apart, and the one thing keeping me alive had been ripped from me, and what I would ever do if I lost Bannen, “but danger is not it.”
We arrived at the midway station with two hours of daylight left. We knew her to be in this general area but not her exact location, which meant hiking in. It made me a little nervous, even though we had two mages capable of creating mage lights with us, because even those artificially bright orbs of light couldn’t replace sunlight. Would we be able to find her before darkness fell? I didn’t like striking off into the woods with no knowledge of the terrain, even with this group of highly capable fighters. I could tell from the look on Bannen’s face he didn’t either.
I had no intention of staying behind, though. Not with people injured and the possibility of things going very, very wrong if—when—Nora’s shield failed.
We left our bags behind, taking only weapons and medical supplies, and headed away from civilization into gently rolling hills and mountains, populated with thick undergrowth surrounding massive trees. I felt like a dwarf striding through here, as some of these trees could house a small cottage inside their trunks. I’d never been in a primitive forest so virgin before. When they’d laid down the railway, had they literally carved a path through and left the rest of the area untouched?
Taking a deep breath, I took in as
much information as I could, the way Bannen had taught me to. Pine, cedar, running water—spring, probably—smoke? “Campfire,” I said softly.
Bannen, striding at my side, gave me a nod and smile of approval. “Yes. A little ahead. See anything?”
I strained my eyes, looking forward, although it took several strides before I got around several trees and finally had a line of sight. “Yes. Dead ahead, a little to the right. Two men and a fire.”
Maksohm threw up a closed fist, bringing us all to a halt. “How far ahead, Rena?”
“Five hundred feet, more or less.” I drifted up a little further, standing directly next to him, head leaning forward as I strained to see even more. “Maksohm, do you have any details of where exactly your cousin holed up?”
“No, why?” Maksohm’s dark eyes intently focused on me.
“I see a shield. No, barrier. It’s flickering, not quite stable, planted in the side of that hill.”
Chi drifted up to stand directly behind me, his head lowered to rest his chin on my shoulder so he could share my line of sight. “I see it. Just a bare line inside the cracks. Smart, to take advantage of a natural defensive position.”
“Yes, it is,” Maksohm agreed thoughtfully. “Rena, you said you see only two men?”
I nodded, frustrated that the trees blocked my view. “At the moment.”
“If we’ve got injured people, I want them out sooner rather than later. Perhaps we can divide and conquer.”
“Let Rena tunnel them out the side,” Bannen suggested.
Now there was a good thought. Why hadn’t I thought of that? Maksohm’s head canted, slightly thoughtful, and I piped up encouragingly, “I can do that easily. It won’t be a drain on me, or loud, and we might be able to get them out safely and back toward help before the bandits even notice we’re here.”
“I’ll climb up one of the trees, keeping an eye on them, start shooting if they do notice,” Chi offered.
Maksohm liked this plan. He grinned, a fierce and tight expression that belied his nondescript looks and made me suddenly realize he had gained the rank of senior agent for more than one reason. The man was as much soldier as mage. “Good. Do it. Vee, be ready to move to his aid if he needs it, but I want you to help carry the injured out first.”
The Void Mage (The Familiar and Mage Book 2) Page 7