by Kya Lind
Reya refilled Captain Traven’s cup again and offered him the plate of cookies. “Silver insulates magic. If a person has magic, the silver causes the talent to be repressed. If Magic is used around the person wearing the silver against their skin, the magic is spread out and weakened.”
Traven ate another cookie. “So sleeping with silver wards off Dreamweavers, and the others?”
Reya nodded. She wanted to add,” and uninvited visitors that won’t stay on their side of the stupid door!” But she didn’t.
“It was once thought that all the magic gifts were unique and separate in their function. But when the University of Magic was built by King Rayland, they discovered that all magic is really only different facets of the same gemstone. They are all just different degrees of two abilities: one to hear thoughts, and the other to change other’s thoughts.” Reya took a sip of her hot tea. “Originally, Magics were believed to be able to only do their one talent. But the masters found that with training Magics could learn to use more than one talent.”
Traven sat forward in surprise. “You are saying that Magics can be taught to be Persuaders and Minders at the same time.” Dread coursed through Traven’s mind. The implications of what his DreamLady had said ricocheted around in his brain.
Reya nodded solemnly, “And that is why King Roylan had the university destroyed and killed as many Masters as he could. The fear of strong Magics is a threat the ones in power know is real and ever present.”
“So the Nobles wear silver, and shun children born gifted?”
“Yes, a gifted Noble raised in a position of power would be a threat to the crown. It is considered an act of treason.” They both fell silent. The sky echoed with snippets of conversation. Echoing different voices, different phrases that Reya had heard over the years condemning those of the gifted. The sounds faded. Reya quickly stood up and moved toward the door. “I really must not stay - so if you would be so kind as to excuse me.”
Traven caught her before she reached the door. “Not so fast, My Lady. There is still the matter of the tribute.” Reya, who had been staring down at his black boots, jerked her head up in panic. She froze unmoving. Traven picked up her arms and slid them around his neck, pulling her closer until their bodies touched from shoulder to knee. He smiled into her eyes. He slowly leaned forward placing several light kisses on her lips. She allowed this. Traven chuckled and moved his lips to her ear and nibbled lightly. Reya squirmed. He couldn’t tell if it was to get closer or to get farther away, but he liked it. He growled a low sound in his throat and pulled her closer. He breathed in her scent, roses mixed with vanilla. Traven moved his mouth to within a hairsbreadth of hers and waited. She was breathing in jerky gasps. He stroked one hand down to the sweet curve of her bottom and caressed it through the silk of her skirt. Reya jumped and sputtered, “You said a few kisses, Sir.”
“Yes,” Traven agreed chuckling against the smooth skin of her throat. “But the kisses are a tribute from you to me.” He paused dramatically, “you must give the kisses. The ones I give don’t count.” He pulled his head up to watch her reaction. He was not disappointed. Shock mingled with outrage raced across her beautiful face. She gasped in protest and stiffened in his arms. He raised an eyebrow, his eyes issuing a challenge, daring her to rise to the occasion. “You ask for my life, and all I asked is for one simple kiss, My Lady.”
She scowled at him, but he seemed undaunted. She squirmed, but he did not release her. He smiled and lowered his lips back to the smooth curve of her shoulder.
“All right, All right,” Reya agreed. He picked his head up and looked into her eyes again. She rose up on tiptoe and pressed her lips quickly against his before withdrawing.
He chuckled, “That wasn’t a kiss worth a champion. Here let me help you.” And then he kissed her lips fully. The sensations were delightful, exciting and comforting at the same time. She gasped for breath and Traven deepened the kiss. She melted against his chest and returned the kiss. Her mind buzzed with pleasure. After several minutes, Traven groaned and jerked his mouth away. She realized that she had slid her hands up under his shirt again. He pulled her hands out to hold them against his heartbeat. It beat as wildly as hers did. He smiled into her eyes. “Thank you for the tribute, Lady Beth, I gladly accept.”
Reya smiled back. He leaned forward and gently kissed her lips again, before moving her to the door.
Reya looked up at him with worry in her eyes. “Not too many people, Captain Traven, . . . . don’t let silver touch. . . the boy . . . . and you promise a hot bath.”
Traven smiled reassuringly. His DreamLady stepped through the door and closed it softly behind her. Traven leaned his head on the closed door and sucked in a deep breath.
The next morning dawned bright and clear. The air was crisp and cold. Traven woke up singing. He kicked the kid on the boots and started a fire before the kid ever moved a muscle. “Come on, sleepyhead.”
The boy sat grumpily up, poked his head out of his dirty coat and glared at the Captain. Traven made breakfast and packed camp while the kid moved in slow motion. After they had eaten breakfast, Traven mounted up and pulled the kid up behind him. Barn set out at a good steady pace, with Traven whistling a merry tune. It was going to be a beautiful day.
Reya sat sulkily behind Captain Traven. She resented his good mood. He thought he had won. He had gotten her to agree to the gypsy and the tribute kisses. Was she crazy? Maybe he was persuading her. She snorted an unladylike sound. She knew better. She was the only one having problems with this whole situation. Reya glared at Captain Traven’s back as he whistled happily. He certainly wasn’t having any problems at all. He wasn’t going to have to dance in front of all those strange men. Well, not dance exactly, she didn’t actually have to dance, just the mirage danced. She would just have to walk back and forth so the mirage moved around the room since the image had to stay in direct contact with her body. Reya frowned. She wished she had learned to “wiggle her ears” then all she would have to do in sit in the back and watch the image do all the work.
Captain Traven leaned forward and patted Barn on the neck. Now he was humming softly to himself. Reya wanted to choke the happiness out of him. Him and his tribute kisses. Who did he think he was? He was too arrogant even for a Noble’s son. Reya couldn’t believe he expected her to kiss him. She laid her clenched fist against his back. She thought about turning into a dragon and scaring him to death. That would serve him right.
Reya huffed out a cold breath. He was so bossy and demanding. Him and his tribute kisses. Reya breathed in his scent; even if they were the most remarkable kisses. Well, really they were only dream kisses. She shrugged to herself. Real kisses might not be like that at all. Real kisses must be dull compared to dream kisses. Reya turned this thought over in her head. Or were real kisses even better than dream kisses. Reya frowned. Her curiosity was peaked. She had nothing to compare the dream kisses to. Well, it wasn’t as if she could just kiss him for real. Reya imagined his shock at this occurrence. She smiled behind his back, and then she reminded herself that she was furious at him and went back to worrying about the expected performance. Her hands that she had spread against the back of his coat trembled. She didn’t know if she could do this, even if it were what they needed to get them safely to White Dragon Tower.
Late in the day, Traven wove them around to a trading post, where he evoked kingdom law and acquired several sets of new clothes. They rode on in a westerly direction. As night fell, Traven set up camp in a grove of thick trees. The kid quickly gathered wood for the fire and made dinner.
Traven sat staring at the blaze for a long time, and then he looked at the kid.
“Lady Beth said you would agree to mirage Benette or someone like her so we can get the coin we need. Are you agreed?”
The shape of the boy changed into the luscious curves of the beautiful gypsy maiden. She was an exact replica of the lovely Benette. Traven gasped. The young siren solemnly nodded her head and then changed ba
ck into the boy.
“All right, that’s good. . . . We need to practice some so you wouldn’t be so nervous when we get to the inn.” Traven stood up. “I will sing and you practice dancing like you plan to do tomorrow night,” he instructed.
The boy stood up awkwardly and changed into the Benette again.
Traven started singing a song about a lovely maiden who longed for her beau that was off to war. Reya thought his voice was lovely. It wrapped around her like warm summer night. He took her hand and pulled her forward, still singing. Reya moved gracefully as he moved her in twisting circles. “Now,” he instructed. “You need to smile. You are supposed to be happy to see everyone remember?”
Reya smiled and so did the mirage.
“Good, good. . . now you need to flirt just like you saw Benette do at the gypsy camp.” Captain Traven continued to intersperse his instruction with more singing.
Reya and her mirage swayed to the music, but she wasn’t sure she liked the idea of flirting.
They continued to dance and spin around the fire for several more minutes before he tried again. “All right, maybe that idea is too hard to understand. . .” Traven continued singing, “let’s try this . . . pretend you are starving, I need you to have the same look on your face the little girl had when she begged for the cabbage rolls.”
They continued to dance with Traven twirling her around to the music of his voice. Reya puckered her brow. He wanted her to look hungry? She remembered Benette dancing around the fire. Had she looked hungry? Reya had just known she did not like Benette looking at her Captain like that, not hungry exactly, more like she was going to eat him up. Like she wanted dream kisses. Reya relaxed and smiled at her Captain. Her mirage reflected her expression. She knew what it meant to look like she wanted dream kisses.
Abruptly, Captain Traven stopped, dropped her hand and moved away from the fire. He muttered, “Ah, that’s perfect, remember that expression for tomorrow night,” and then stomped off into the woods away from camp.
Reya stood there baffled by his behavior. Had she done something wrong? And then she remembered she was a boy, miraging as a beautiful gypsy who she knew attracted her Captain, and her expression had asked for a kiss. Reya chuckled; that poor man.
She settled down in her bedroll, and drifted off to sleep listening for the knock on her door. But it never came.
Chapter 18
Reya awakened the next morning to Traven kicking her on the boots. “Get up.” He barked. Reya rolled over adjusted her mirage and poked her head out of her coat. The morning sun was high in the sky. Traven was growling and throwing sticks into the fire. He barked for her to get up and find more firewood. The boy stumbled to his feet and went to get the wood.
“And good morning to you as well, grumpy toad,” she said under her breath, “at least when I was in a bad mood yesterday, I didn’t take it out on you.”
She returned shortly with a handful of sticks. The captain growled at her pitiful offering and shoved a plate into her hands. She ate while watching him through her eyelashes. That man was ready to take someone’s head off, and she realized hers was the only one around.
They packed camp and mounted up. Late in the afternoon, they arrived in a sheltered grove across the ways from a small inn. The cluster of buildings contained a large house and a wooden corral. Reya recognized that it was very similar in style and structure to the inn where Captain Traven had been arrested. Reya tried not to think about that night and concentrated on now. She hoped they didn’t run into the same kinds of trouble here.
Traven changed into his new clothes while they watched the inn for several hours. He noted that only locals were at the inn. About sunset, they mounted up and rode directly toward the settlement. Reya slid her hands up under his shirt in response to her inner misgivings. Traven stiffened and jerked away. He frowned back at her. “You need to mirage into Benette now. So, we can advertise we are here.”
Reya glared at his back, but complied with his order. Once at the inn, Traven made a big show of introducing Benette to the owner in the big room, and asked if it would be possible for Benette to provide entertainment for the guests that evening. The owner was overjoyed when Benette batted her eyes at him suggestively, and turned in a circle taking in the room. All the men in the room were struck silent. Benette smiled at them mischievously, and waved at her audience as Traven demanded a room and a bath for the lady. A time was announced for the show in two hours. Traven thought that length of time should give the locals time to find their buddies, but not too long. The owner showed Traven and his lovely companion to the best room and a bath was delivered. Benette glared at Traven when he didn’t leave immediately. He glared back at her and stomped out of the room. Reya locked the door and stripped out of the worn dirty sweat stiff clothes she had worn continually for almost an entire month. She sighed. This bath had better be worth dancing in front of strange men. She stepped into the steaming hot water and sunk up to her neck in bliss. She picked up the rose scented soap Captain Traven had bought. She smiled. Oh, she thought maybe it was worth every moment. She unbraided her long hair and frowned at its matted appearance. She hadn’t had it unbraided or even out of her coat for ages. She ducked her head in the tub and started scrubbing off the layers of grime.
Traven frowned at the few men still in the common room. This was a bad idea. This was seriously the worst idea he had ever come up with. Oh, he had thought it was a great idea, right up until the kid had turned into Benette last night. He had thought he had been attracted to her when she was that fat, old lady and he didn’t know any better. But that kid had knocked his socks off. He knew with his head that she was pretend, but watching Benette move so gracefully made it hard to concentrate on getting the kid ready to face a big room full of men. He had known that would be a problem from the start. Benette needed to flirt if they were going to get enough coins in one night. He knew this was the biggest mistake of his life when he had told the kid to look hungry. He remembered Benette’s expression of confusion and then understanding and then the invitation. Gloryland, he had almost swallowed his tongue. He felt like Barn had kicked him in the stomach. He had not handled it well, and had lectured himself all day. He thought he had gotten a handle on the whole situation just about the time the kid had slid his hands around his bare middle. Traven cursed in confusion; the kid’s hand had felt just like Lady Beth’s hands had two nights before. He was losing his mind.
Then they had arrived at the inn, and Benette had played her part to a tee. All he wanted to do was punch every one of those saps in the nose.
He needed to breathe. He needed to get control of his wayward emotions. He needed to have his head examined. He was so confused. Why were his emotions about Lady Beth, all mixed up with Benette? He felt like they should be the same person. They weren’t. Benette, he knew for a fact, was an illusion. Lady Beth, well, he prayed she was real. She felt real. She smelled real.
“Yeah” he snorted to himself, “in my dreams.”
Traven groaned. He needed some serious help if he was going to get through tonight.
Traven cut the bedroll into four pieces, and forced his mind to concentrate on the task at hand. His father had always said the first rule was to avoid trouble. And the second rule was if you couldn’t avoid trouble, then plan your exit before you head into it. Traven wrapped Barns hooves in the material, making each hoof look like he was wearing booties. Traven knew they needed to find time to have Barn re-shoed but there was never enough time. They were always running or hiding.
That was why he was losing his mind, he told himself. He was running on adrenalin and exhaustion. He spent his days dragging a kid across country and his nights kissing on a figment of his imagination. Who could blame him for being a little nuts? Satisfied that the booties would stay on, Traven returned to the inn. It was almost showtime. He sucked in a deep breath and straightened his shoulders. He could do this. He went to check with the piano player he had found.
When Capta
in Traven knocked on the bedroom door, Benette opened it wide and smiled up at him in delight. The smell of roses filled the room. Traven stiffened. “Come on,” he barked and marched down the stairs. He whipped his hat off his head and slapped it against his leg. He shifted his weight and looked at the good turnout of men, all locals. Traven felt naked without his sword. He glowered; one cannot be a gypsy and walk around with a Kingdom sword strapped to your hip. He still had his two concealed blades if there was trouble.
The men quieted and looked at him expectantly. Traven looked up at the top of the stairs where Benette stood undecided.
Yup, this was the worst idea he had ever had.
The music started and Benette stepped hesitantly down the stairs. When they were eye level, her eyes begged him to call this whole thing off, but they were already committed. He took her hand and led her down the stairs.
“May I present, Benette.” He announced in a loud voice. The room thundered with applause. Benette moved away from him and started dancing. Her movements not like the first Benette, but more the graceful swirling motion of a freed soul. Her movements caused the men to sway and nod. Traven couldn’t tear his eyes away from her beautiful form.
As the first song came to an end, Benette snapped her eyes to his. She then marched over to him and snatched the hat from his head and shoved it into his hands. The audience roared with laughter. The music started again, a bit faster this time. Benette whirled away, her silk scarves of her skirt flying a bit higher, all the men whistled and stomped. Traven glared and started demanding coins. The coins were dropped in happily by the men. Traven scowled, but he kept demanding coin and they kept giving. As the next two songs crept by Traven’s mood became black.
By the fourth song, Traven had had enough. When a big man reached out to touch Benette as she danced past smiling at him, Traven grabbed the guy and decked him with one punch. The music stopped. There was a suspended silence and then the big man got back up. He charged at Traven, but the Captain side stepped and the man plowed into the audience on the other side. Then chaos reigned. The entertainment had become a free for all. Benette stood in the middle of the confusion holding the hat full of coins. Traven grabbed her arm and dragged her toward the back door. A bottle broke just above their heads. Traven spun around prepared to fight when the front door opened and in marched the same Royal guards that had arrested him weeks earlier. Benette squawked in alarm. Traven quickly shoved her through the door and out into the side yard. He swiftly mounted Barn, pulling her up behind him and kicking the horse into a full run as the door was thrust open by the royal soldiers.