Bri smiled as her hand circled Raine’s wrist, sent heat there. Raine gritted her teeth against the pain.
There was a whisk of feathers and a short, melodious but threatening whistle. I like men guts, said the roc as it landed, forcing others to move aside as it took up much of the deck.
Raine distantly noted a splash as if someone went into the sea. Good riddance.
“Another’s gone,” Bastien said.
“The water is cold here,” Jean commented. “He may not make it to shore, or once there, die of hypothermia.”
“We can only hope.” Alexa fingered her baton.
“The volarans won’t help him. They won’t attack, but they won’t help,” Calli said.
“Not even volarans accept what these mutineers have done,” Alexa’s voice rang out. “Their names will be noted for all time as betrayers, creatures of the Dark.”
Raine’s attacker thrashed. “Ttho! We are more loyal to Lladrana than you. More! We do not incite the Dark to kill us all!”
Alexa squatted next to him. “Tell us everything.”
He hesitated.
The roc clicked her beak in what sounded like anticipatory smacking for food.
Words rushed from him.
The Echo, Strait to Doom
The attack on Raine had slowed their pace. They’d stopped at the mouth of the strait while she slept and healed, and they’d sent her attacker to shore with a few supplies.
Midmorning when she awoke there was a council of war. All the Exotiques and their men crowded into the main cabin. It was a well-run meeting, and Alexa had the names of the two men who’d left, and Luthan had checked each and every person for any innate revulsion. There was one female medica who had had it, but like Luthan, had overcome it. So she stayed.
The general consideration was that there were no more betrayers on the Ship and that they’d lost two good sailors who would have been with the invasion force. That was the outer conclusion. From the glances Raine got, everyone was worried about how it would affect her.
So, to lighten the mood—her own as well as others—Raine revealed her secret.
With a smile she raised her arms, and Sang.
The Echo disappeared.
Not really.
She was a twenty-first-century woman and had worked on many metal-hulled ships. She hadn’t stopped learning once she came to Lladrana, had studied Koz’s mirrors.
The Ship was nothing but reflective surfaces. The sails the same, thin mirrored fabric.
So the people in colorful Lladranan clothes were shown in an eternity of images, but the Ship itself—masts, hull, even ropes—seemed to have vanished.
And as she Sang that spell, as all the others wondered at her skill, The Echo silently pushed through the Dark’s shield.
Raine and Jikata and the Ship were not totally of Lladrana.
Then she simply concentrated on sailing. In itself, the Strait to Doom wasn’t difficult to navigate. It was narrow and twisted and turned between great cliffs, and when sailors Sang, or Raine and the other women practiced, the reverberation was incredible. They went through it fast, the wind from the southwest filling the sails. Lladrana was left far behind as they sped toward the Dark’s Nest.
The last full day before the invasion was a short one. Circlets gathered in a group listening to the Dark and the Master through the spy eye, making sure the Ship went unnoticed. A pall of silence fell on the Ship and people spoke in whispers and orders became telepathic instead of shouted out with cheer. The “fun” part of the adventure, the forging of new companionship and community, was done.
The “hard” part of the adventure, the fighting and dying, was about to begin.
Tomorrow.
Though Raine thought some fighters were looking forward to it, like Koz, to her surprise. They were checking their weapons for the umpteenth time, planning on going out in a blaze of glory. The Chevalier Representative to the Marshalls, Lady Hallard, and her Master of Volarans were like that.
Raine wanted to stay on the Ship and feel the swell of the ocean under her feet, Faucon’s arms wrapped around her from behind and sail away beyond the horizon and forget war.
Trouble was, the outcome of this war, this battle, affected every living thing on Amee, and the planet herself. Not something that could ever be forgotten.
Night fell and Jikata sensed an outrush of relief from everyone.
“Of course the Dark or the Master or the horrors can still sense us and attack at night,” Alexa said quietly.
“But they attack fifty percent less at night than during the day,” Marian pointed out. “We’ve studied the horrors and their eyes aren’t that good.”
“Now we move the Ship to within striking distance,” Raine said.
She’d Captained the Ship so efficiently that it amazed Jikata, not even the toughest sailor, or her brilliant second-in-command, hesitated when she gave an order.
Probably because Raine listened to the ocean all the time, her head slightly tilted. She heard tones and undertones and low notes that no one else did. Jikata and the others knew that. When they’d linked to practice Songs, they could sense what she heard clearly. She’d bring the might and force and Power of Amee’s oceans, waters that surrounded the island to the City Destroyer spell. A huge benefit.
With little noise, everyone moved to their accustomed duties and the Ship was under full Power—both magic and wind. The sails caught the wind and bellied out, full. Sailors spared a glance at each other, a look Jikata now understood. The wind was being unusually accommodating on this trip. Having a planet on your side in a fight was a good thing.
Too bad it couldn’t get rid of the Dark itself. But the huge, evil alien being had insinuated itself into the volcano, latched onto Amee’s life force before she’d known it.
Marian eyed the sails of reflective fabric with a critical eye, nodded, held out one hand for her bondmate, Jaquar, and the other for her brother, Koz, the mirror magician. She turned and gazed at Jikata with an encouraging smile and Jikata felt her stomach dip with more than the smooth ocean roll.
On a breath, she set her expression in the one she used just before performances and stepped into the circle as everyone except the working sailors did. They were going to shroud the Ship in illusion and move it as close to the island as they could with the Power they had tonight, and bring energy to keep it cloaked all night.
She waited until everyone linked hands and looked to her, then set the first note high, only three voices followed her to that sound. Then she scaled down and people joined as they came within their range. When she’d gathered all the voices, held them on a sustained note in a mighty chorus, she met each person’s eyes and began the spell chant.
It was different than Singing with the Friends, or a small group, or even her experience with all these people before. The Song cycled around, and each time a tiny bit of the energy stayed with her. She understood with a shock that these people were not only Powering the illusion spell, but they were also each giving her their magic—and their blessing, their confidence—for the terrible spell she would Sing tomorrow.
Emotion flowed through her as well, the predominant one was of determination, but there was affection, caring, love. Even a trace of passion from Luthan, who stood on her right.
She’d never felt so connected with friends, humanity, the universe itself.
A sphere of shadow, blacker than the night, rose as a bubble in the center of the circle, lifted to the tip of the highest mast, and draped itself over it like the folds of a huge cloth. Stars blinked out as it settled over the Ship, flowed over the sides and brushed the waves, ended a few inches into the water. Inside the “tent” sounds were hushed, the vague outlines of the island and the far shores were blurred into barely seen smudges against the night.
Jikata could only hope that the Ship had become one with the night, too.
43
The Echo, offshore the Dark’s Nest
Jikata ended the spell an
d people folded onto the deck. Though she might feel energized, she knew the others had used much to move the Ship and cloak it. She let her own legs loosen and take her onto the planking.
Sailors brought sleeping bags up from below, for everyone, Jikata noticed. They’d all bunk here for the night, not separated by any distinctions of Power, or rank, or status or whether they were sailor or Exotique. A community.
No one wanted to forgo the fellowship before battle? That spoke of deep connections. Connections that Jikata dimly remembered from her parents. They hadn’t been a demonstrative family, but Jikata had loved her mother and father, known she’d been loved in return.
She listened to the background music, the soundtrack, and could not tell sailor from townsman from Friend.
No matter how many survived, and Jikata knew some of each segment of Lladranan society would survive, they would take that sense of community back to their lives and spread that feeling of community to others. Whether the Dark was destroyed or not, Lladrana had come together, and she had had a part in that great undertaking. Something to be proud of, and a good thought to fall asleep on as she snuggled into Luthan’s double bag and smelled the scent of the sea and her lover…and utter determination.
Alexa was the first one to stir in the chilly dawn. Since she’d been softly snoring every time Raine jolted out of sleep, Raine figured the Marshall had slept through the night. Must be nice.
Raine had a terrible feeling about this day, her insides were gnawed by fear and cowardice, and she wondered again if she would be able to stay the course, if she’d drop out at the last minute, her fear too huge to bear. No one would blame her for it, and the spell might be all right without her. They’d practiced with people gone, all the way to only three—and different trios—all with Jikata. Just in case.
Discreetly she stretched. She should have gotten more sleep, she knew it, but that was easier said than done and she was taut as a rigging cable under full sail. Nerves. They’d probably last all day and get her through…whatever she had to face.
Steadying her breathing, she didn’t move, just scanned the heaps around her. There was a gray veil between her and the sky that she blinked to penetrate, then realized it was the cloaking spell. Closing her eyes, she listened to the currents of the ocean against the shore, the eddies of water across shoals. From her last glimpse of land the night before, they were very close to the island, no more than a few hundred yards, closer than any had anticipated. A good omen. Since she was waking on a creaking deck instead of in heaven or hell, they must have been overlooked by the Dark, the Master and all the horrors.
The feycoocus as birds were perched on the railing, staring at the island that they could see, muttering among themselves.
Sevair rose and started the tai chi exercises that Jikata had taught them. He and Luthan seemed to like them the most—Earth element people. Of course Alexa was too impatient for them, would rush the movements and preferred other exercise. Raine had seen her dance.
For herself, Raine sought the long, low, tones of the depths of the ocean and it soothed her.
She turned her head and looked at Faucon’s aristocratic profile, the handsome lines of his face. He was the reason she’d never back out. He wouldn’t. He’d go on and fight. It would be terrible if he fell and she didn’t. She knew he felt the same about her, and would actually prefer her to live without him.
He opened his eyes and she jolted.
Touching her face with his warm hand, he said. “Anxieties are always worse just before the battle.”
“I’m not going to stay on the Ship.”
His eyes softened. “Of course you won’t.”
“You knew that.”
His smile was the sweetest she’d ever seen. “Of course. You love the rest of the Exotiques. You’d never leave them to meet their fate alone.” He paused. “As they, and I, and any of their men would never desert any of them.”
She searched his face. Her fear now had a thin lid of resolve, keeping it from shooting into full-fledged panic. She could do that now. The months at the Open Mouthed Fish had taught her that. If she’d had to face this battle, this man, before, she didn’t think she would have been able to control her fear. Not that she was grateful for the experience, or cherished it or anything. She still wished she’d learned whatever lessons she’d needed to in a gentler way. That was probably impossible, but so it was.
She rolled close to him, hung onto him, buried her face in his chest and smelled the man, the wonderful lover she had, through his shirt. He’d discard that, take a quick dip in the ocean before changing into new linens and dreeth skin leathers that would mask his scent from her. “If only I knew,” she whispered. “I think I could face the known better than this awful unknown.”
His arms clamped hard around her, brought her into his body and rubbed his chin on her hair, brought his mouth to her ear. “I asked Luthan.” His words were barely breath. She wondered that he spoke aloud then realized she needed to hear it formed into words, would oddly question it less than if telepathically spoken. “Luthan said that the future was still too changeable to know which of us would live or die or survive broken.”
Raine stifled a gasp. She hadn’t thought of the last alternative. It was always live or die.
Faucon put his hand under her chin, tilted her head so her eyes met his flinty gaze. “I think I would rather die, too, than live broken, remember that.”
Raine shuddered.
“What, you think one of us is going to take a sword and finish you off if you’re flopping around like a fish?” Alexa said harshly and both Raine and Faucon flinched.
The small Marshall was standing, hands on hips, her gaze equally hard. “Think again, dude. We’d want you in our lives despite anything.”
Smoothly rising to his feet, Faucon pulled Raine to hers, made a bow to Alexa, smiling, and it was almost carefree. “I am delighted to hear that, Alexa.” He kept an arm around Raine’s waist, looked at Bastien, who was irritably flinging away covers and grunting, hair in his eyes. “But that opinion is about a year and a half too late.”
“Raine fits you better than I ever would anyway,” Alexa said with a sniff, then walked over and yanked Bastien to his feet. The two Marshalls scowled at each other, then kissed so deeply Raine turned away.
“They know,” she murmured. “At least they know that if one of them dies, the other will not survive alone. Faucon—”
“Ttho.” He framed her face in his hands, kept his eyes matched with hers. “If I fall, I want you to live. As magnificently as you can.” He cleared his throat. “I’ve left everything except Creusse Landing to you.”
Raine opened her mouth. He put a hand over it. “Please, this is what I need to do.”
She huffed out a little breath.
He scanned the stirring company, bent close and whispered in her ear, again with just the slightest sound. “I overheard Luthan and Jikata once. Calli will survive, and since he’s bound to her, so will Marrec, with few injuries.”
It wasn’t her own good future, but somehow it eased Raine. Two would survive, the two with children. Her muscles relaxed infinitesimally. She leaned against Faucon, muttered into his chest, “Does she know?”
“Ttho, neither she nor Marrec. Jikata said they should not be told. They might become too reckless and change the way events should unfold. That would be disastrous.”
“Huh.” Raine frowned. What would she do if she knew she’d live? She looked into Faucon’s brown eyes, at the other women. She’d try and save whomever she could. But she didn’t accept that they would all perish. She didn’t.
And they wouldn’t. Calli and Marrec would survive.
Taking a deep breath, she let it go slowly, listened to Chasonette warble at the sun’s rising.
Enerin came and settled on Raine’s shoulder, Sang Jikata’s morning Song. It is a good day to live. She rubbed her soft bird feathers against Raine’s cheek and Raine felt the love. “Ayes, a good day to live.”
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br /> With a smooth move, Sevair scooped up two hammers, one large and one small, and moved from meditation pattern into fighting pattern. His hammers whistled through the air, deadly as blades.
Then it was full light and people were coalescing into battle groups.
Raine strode to a muttering sailor who had to stay behind and man The Echo.
“Line up!” she barked to her crew in a tone she hadn’t used before and that she hoped worked.
They fell into ranks she didn’t quite understand—according to their duties on the Ship, their previous career, their birth status. No changing that at this late date.
“Those who tested for battle and are with the invasion force to the right.” She gestured. More moved there than were supposed to.
Raine studied the sullen faces of those remaining, including Jean and Madam Lucienne. “You were chosen for the skeleton crew.” She turned her head, speared her gaze at several to the right who also had been chosen. They shuffled their feet but didn’t move back to the lines.
Quiet crept over the Ship as everyone watched. Raine’s neck heated. There were at least ten better leaders on this boat than she. But she was Captain and it was the seamen that she had to order.
She looked at the discontented expressions of the men and women who would sail the Ship to a deep harbor safe from an explosion and tidal wave.
Slowly she shook her head. “Don’t you all know that you have the most necessary job of everyone here?”
The quiet became intense, not a cough, not a whispered aside, everyone riveted on her. Her throat tightened and she went on. “You will save the survivors.”
She let that sink in. “We may be wounded, in need of rescue. Who will save us except those who stayed behind? How will we get home?” Home. Faucon’s Castle. Lladrana was home now and how fiercely she loved it!
“Who will take the helpless from the shores or the sea? Who will heal us and tend us and return us to our lives if not you?”
People began to walk back to the ranks of the crew before Raine, those who now stood tall with sternly determined expressions.
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