The sisters rose. Then, with Mara between them, they made their way to the front of the room.
Reigna spoke first. “Actually, Eden and I don’t have anything for now, but Mara has a request she’d like to make,” she said.
“Yes, thank you.” She faced the crowd. “There are a couple of things that have come up, with which we need your help. First, we’ve decided to leave a small group behind—here at the compound—in the event that Carlie escapes from Chiran and finds her way back. Are there any volunteers?”
A few Oathtakers raised their hands.
“Very well, Georgiana, thank you. I’ll feel better knowing there’s a healer here. And thank you too, Macall,” she added turning to the other volunteer before glancing back at Nina. “Will that be acceptable to you?”
As she nodded, Jules reached for her hand.
“Second,” Mara said, once again addressing the crowd, “I’d like to send a couple Oathtakers into Chiran again.”
“What’s this about?” Lucy asked, sitting up straighter.
“Suffice it to say, it’s necessary.”
“Honestly,” Jerrett spoke up, “I don’t recommend it.”
“Nor do I,” Marshall added.
Chaya, to his right, whispered something to him. When he nodded, she raised her hand.
“Yes?” Eden responded.
“May I speak?”
“Certainly. This is an open forum.”
She cleared her throat. “Then I must say that I highly recommend against that plan.”
“Excuse me?” Nina said as she got to her feet. “You’ve no—”
“Hold on, Nina,” Mara said, “let’s hear her out.”
Nina glared at her, then turned back to Chaya. “Fine, then. What is it?”
“It’s just that they’re such . . . barbarians,” Chaya said. “Honestly, I don’t think—”
“You think I don’t know that?” Nina cried. “I’ve been a victim of their savagery—their brutality. And now they have our daughter!”
“I understand, but—”
“No. Someone needs to go for her, or . . . or I’ll go in search of her myself!” As Nina spoke, she glared at Mara, as though defying her to rise to the challenge of taking a trip to Chiran.
Jules, now standing at her side, encouraged her to take back to her seat.
Chaya bit her lip. “I understand,” she said. “I’m sorry for interrupting.”
“That’s quite all right,” Mara said. “You should always feel free to share your thoughts in these meetings. We don’t all agree on everything, every time, but we value one another’s opinions.” She looked the group over. “Are there any volunteers then?”
Marshall raised his hand.
Chaya shook her head at him and whispered, “You can’t go back there. You know what it would mean. Besides, I can’t do this without you. I need you.”
He turned her way, his brow furrowed.
“She’s right, my friend, you can’t go,” Jerrett said to him. “If you’re caught there and they discover you’re responsible for Cark’s death . . .” He glanced back at Mara. “I suppose I could go,” he said.
“No,” Jules said to him, “you’ve done your turn there.”
Nina scowled at her husband.
“It’s all right,” he told her. “We’ll find someone.”
“We’ll go,” said someone sitting in the back of the room.
Mara looked up. “Thank you, Liam. And you too, Rafal. I suggest you meet with Marshall and Jerrett to learn what you can before you set out.” She paused, tapping her fingertips together. “Now, as you all know, once the twins gained Ehyeh’s favor, a few things changed—not the least of which is that any current or former Oathtaker to a seventh of the Select now has the same attendant magic power to travel that I have—although with only a single additional person at a time. So, tomorrow morning, the twins and I will oversee things here while Lucy and Dixon take Liam and Rafal to see Ezra.”
She turned to the volunteers. “It won’t take you long to get to Chiran from there.” Then, glancing at Nina, she asked, “Will that be acceptable to you?”
Her lips pursed, her arms folded, Nina tipped her head, signifying her agreement.
Lucy stood. “Liam,” she said, nodding his direction, and then “Rafal,” she added, turning to his companion, “I’ve been working on a trinket you can use to communicate with us.”
She approached them, then handed Liam a case. Similar in appearance to the compact that she’d created years ago, and that any Oathtaker to a seventh of the Select could use to send messages back and forth, it was a small, silver thing.
“A compact,” Liam said, grinning. “Won’t this be rather odd for two men to carry?”
“Open it,” Lucy said.
He did. “Ahhh, a compass,” he said.
“Yes, but it works the same as the compact—except of course, that you won’t be able to see the person with whom you communicate. As with the compact, you just open it and voice your message. Then I’ll retrieve it from my compact when I can.” She frowned. “I’m sorry. I know the flits can get word back and forth between us, but as they require travel time, their communications are not quite as ‘instant’ as I’d like. So this, I’m afraid, is the best I can do considering that neither of you ever had a seventh for your charge.”
“It’ll work,” Rafal said.
“Very well then,” Mara said, once again addressing the crowd, “this meeting is adjourned. Now, let’s all plan to get an early start come morning. Fall is already well upon us, and our goal is to reach the palace before winter sets in with a fury.”
As Bane howled in the distance, Mara, standing on the porch of the cabin she shared with Dixon and the twins, watched the second moon rise. Its light emphasized the cloud cover moving into the area. Likely, it would rain overnight.
Dixon approached from behind, then wrapped his arms around her.
Melting in his embrace, she breathed in his scent of cedar and leather.
“It’s good to be home,” he said, his mouth to her ear.
“Yes.” She turned to face him. “Just in time to leave again.”
He kissed her, slowly, sweetly. Then, “What was all that with Nina?” he asked.
Mara explained the conditions Nina set before she’d leave the compound. “She said I didn’t understand—that I couldn’t understand—because I’ve never had one of my own.” Tears sprang to her eyes.
Releasing his hold, then taking her hand, Dixon guided her to a chair. Sitting next to her, he patted out a rhythm on his thigh. “We’re in uncharted territory here, you know,” he said. “The rules provided a way for us to be together. They never said anything about children. You know that’s what I want.”
Nodding, she met his gaze, then said, “Shortly after the Council hearing, Lucy caught up with me.” When a tear rolled down her cheek, she brushed it away brusquely.
“Oh? Was there something she said that’s troubling you?”
Shrugging, she frowned. “She handed me a packet of barrenseed tea, telling me that she thought I might be needing it. And more recently, she reminded me that I can’t go on using it forever. Soon, its effects will be . . . irreversible.” She choked back a cry.
He got on his knees before her. “Mara, you know I want a child, too.” He took her hands. “I say we should do it.”
She sighed. “Dixon, it’s not the right time. I mean—”
“It will never be the right time. Let’s face it, there’s always—”
“No, I mean with Zarek about to invade . . . I think we have to beat back this threat first.”
He sat back down, then resumed patting out a rhythm. “I understand.”
She reached for his hand. “I know it’s what you want, Dixon—and I do too. But these are very dangerous times. It’s one thing to think of protecting the twins now that they’re grown, but quite another to think of protecting an infant. I’m . . .” She looked in his eyes.
“Afraid?”
“Yes.” She stood and then, still facing him, leaned against the deck railing. “But I’m equally afraid that soon, I’ll have no—” Looking down, she paused. “Well, it’s one thing to choose not to have a child for a time, it’s quite another to have no say in the matter.” A shiver ran through her.
Dixon approached. He took his cape and draped it over her shoulders, then took her hand. “I wish I could take on that burden, but to date, Lucy’s found nothing that would work.” He sighed. “Aren’t there any other options for us?”
“Lucy says the others would be even more dangerous to my health—with the possible exception of using a cassus tincture, but . . .” Pausing, she pulled the cape more tightly around her shoulders.
“But what? Maybe we should try that for a time.”
She bit her lip and shook her head. “I’m sorry. I just . . . can’t bring myself to do it.”
“Why?”
She wrung her hands. “Because Lucy says she doesn’t know if it prevents pregnancy, or if it actually acts as an abortifacient.” She held his gaze. “I— I can’t do that.”
With his thumb, Dixon wiped away a tear slipping down her cheek. Then he gathered her in his arms and kissed the top of her head. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I understand. Truly, I do.”
He pulled back, then tipped her chin up, forcing her to look at him. “The truth is that I have all I’ve ever needed. I’d love for us to have a child, but if it’s not to be, then at least I’ll get to spend my days knowing that I got the one thing that was the most important to me.” Drawing her closer again, he said, “I got you.” Again, he kissed the top of her head.
“You know, when I thought I couldn’t be with you all those years ago, when you nearly sent me away—I thought my heart would break. Then, when you were injured and didn’t even know who I was, I thought I’d lost you all over again.”
Once again, he pulled back to look at her.
Her eyes met his.
“Truly, Mara, all I need is you.”
She sat up with a start, ramrod straight. Her breath caught in her throat. Her hand to her chest, she breathed in and out in short, quick gasps.
Dixon stirred at her side. He opened his eyes and then, with the bedding rustling beneath him, reached for her. He rubbed her arm. “Are you all right?”
She covered her face with her hands, and took in a deep breath. “Y—yes.”
He sat up. “What is it?”
“Just a nightmare.”
“Want to talk about it?”
“I—”
“You’re shaking. Come on now, tell me. It’ll take away its power.”
“Right.” She inhaled deeply and then exhaled slowly. “Well, it was strange. It was like I was dreaming that I was someone else.”
“Who?”
“Rowena.”
He pulled back. “Oh? What happened?”
She bit her lip. Then, “It was . . . odd,” she said, “but so real. It was almost like it happened and I was re-living it.”
He took her hand.
“I dreamed that I was carrying the twins and that some grut chased us. I was so afraid I’d lose them and—” She fought back a sob.
“Mara, it was just a nightmare. Rowena died when they were born. You know that. She never carried the twins and ran from the grut. They didn’t show up until she was already in the wayfarers’ hut where I left her. And besides—”
“No, when I said I was ‘carrying’ them, I mean that I was— You know.” She patted her abdomen. “Carrying them. I was pregnant with them.”
“Ahhh, I see.” There was a smile in his voice.
“What?”
“We were talking of children earlier. It seems your dreams took that into account.”
“But I was so afraid I’d lose them.”
He rubbed her back. “What happened?”
“The grut chased me. I ran through the forest. Branches reached out and snagged at me, as though trying to hold me back. Then I saw a place of refuge—like the wayfarers’ hut where Rowena birthed the twins.” She shook her head and closed her eyes, struggling to recollect further details.
“Then what?”
“Then, I—” She turned to him with tear-filled eyes that sparkled in the scant moonlight coming in through the window. “I had these pains—these contractions, I guess they were. The next thing, I saw blood—lots and lots of it. It was what happened to Rowena, you know. Anyway, that’s when I awakened.”
“Shhhh . . . Shhhh, now.” He put his arms around her. “You’re fine. You’re safe. The twins are safe.”
“All that blood, Dixon,” she said, shuddering.
“You’re all safe,” he repeated.
“I don’t think I ever really considered things from Rowena’s perspective. How awful for her.”
“Yes,” he agreed. As he rubbed her back again, her breathing slowly returned to normal.
“Come on now,” he said, patting her pillow.
When she was comfortable, he stroked her hair and kissed her forehead. “Get some sleep now,” he said as he snuggled around her and held her closely.
Chapter Four
Before dawn broke, painting the eastern horizon in glorious pink strokes, Dixon and Lucy whisked Liam and Rafal off to find Ezra at The Clandest Inn in the City of Light. Then, immediately upon their return to the compound, the caravan set out.
Jerrett and Velia were amongst those in the lead. Nina’s sister, Erin, rode in the wagon designated for their family, to watch their four boys, Aden, Drew, Jedrek, and Carlow. The eldest was eight years of age, the youngest, just under a year.
Marshall rode at Jerrett’s other side. “Where’s Bane?” he asked.
Jerrett laughed. “I was going to have him ride with Erin and the little ones, but he’d have none of it. He’s roaming around somewhere.”
“You sure that’s safe?”
“Ahhh, I’m not concerned with Bane. He’s a good one.”
“For a wolf,” Velia offered, chuckling. She looked at Jerrett, shaking her head. “I still can’t believe you thought he was a dog.”
“Well,” he responded, in mock surprise, “how was I to know?”
“You might have looked at him a bit more closely,” she teased.
Just then, Chaya approached. “Good morning, all.”
“Good morning,” Velia said.
Jerrett tipped his head her way in greeting.
Silent, Marshall watched the landscape ahead. After a long minute, he turned to her. “I was thinking, Chaya,” he said, “that you might want to find things that interest you here—things you could assist with.”
“But I want to be with you.”
“I know, for example,” he said as though he hadn’t heard her, “that Adele needs help keeping us all fed.”
She glanced his way, her eyes narrowed. “Sure, Marshall. I’d like to do whatever I can. If you want me to help Adele, then—”
“No, I didn’t say I wanted you to help her, I only suggested it. There are other options. You could . . .”
“That’s fine, Marshall, I’ll check with her.” She turned her horse back.
Velia, watching the exchange, bit her lip. Then, “Is there something wrong, Marshall?” she asked.
“Wrong? No. Why do you ask?”
She shrugged. “I just— Well, it seems Chaya would like to stay as near you as possible. You rescued her from a terrible situation in Chiran, and I know how you feel about her. I can see it. So it seems odd that you’d be so short with her—that you’d send her away.”
Glancing her way, his brow dropped. “I didn’t send her away.”
“Very well then.” She turned to Jerrett. “You two got in late last night,” she said. “I take it that you filled Liam and Rafal in on what they’re likely to find in Chiran?”
Jerrett patted the neck of the gelding he rode. “Yes, it was a long night. I hope I didn’t wake you when I got back.”
“No.” She smile
d at him. “But I wouldn’t have minded if you had,” she added in a whisper.
He grinned at her. Then, “We suggested they start with the camp near Darth, Chiran,” he said, “as that’s where Zarek was when Marshall and I left there.”
“That sounds good.” She stole another peek Marshall’s way. “Listen, since you two have things covered here, I’m going to check in with Mara. I’ve seen so little of her since she left the compound all those months ago.”
“Sure, love, we’ve got this,” Jerrett said.
Velia turned her horse around, then headed back to the middle of the pack where Mara and Dixon rode near the twins. When she drew near, she patted Mara’s arm. “Would you ride with me for a minute?”
“Certainly.” She followed Velia off a distance. Then, “What is it?” she asked.
Velia’s brow rose. “I hesitate saying anything, but . . . Well, I noticed this morning that it seems something is bothering you. I thought you might like to talk, and— Well, the truth is that I missed you terribly while you were away. I’m so glad you’re back. I just wish I’d known what had happened. Maybe I could have helped.”
Mara offered her a half-hearted smile. “I appreciate it,” she said, “but I’m fine—just not feeling all that well. I’m still so tired from all the former traveling—and now, here I am, doing it again after such a short stay at the compound. Anyway, I’m sure there was nothing you could have done when I was injured.” She glanced her friend’s way. “Really, all is well, Velia. It’s just hard saying ‘good-bye’ to the place I’ve known as ‘home,’ for longer than any other of my life. Especially after having just returned there from so long a journey.”
Velia made her way around a puddle of rainwater left behind from the night before, then returned to Mara’s side. “Are you sure there isn’t anything more?”
“I’m sure.”
“All right then. So . . . what do you make of these new powers the girls have?”
“Uggh. I’m sure glad I didn’t get saddled with them. The power of life and death? At a word and touch? No, thank you!” Mara grimaced.
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