Jeanne G'Fellers - Sisters Flight (27 page)

"My
sister looks beautiful." I winked at Olitti, who giggled.

"She
does look good, doesn't she?" Kaelan returned to the table. "All my daughters
look good this evening." She touched Olitti's cheek and the little Autlach
giggled again.

"You
look good yourself," I said. Kaelan looked far younger than when she'd
emerged from the slave pens. Her hair was once again short, her eyes bright,
and a contented smile, the one I remembered from earlier times, threatened to
break from her mouth at any moment. "Say, where'd My get off to?"

"She's
talking to Evangeline." Kaelan pointed to one of the side tables where the
Master Kimshee had been sitting with a gentlewoman trooper. The table was empty
now, and Myrla and Evangeline were advancing on our table.

"Good
news!" Myrla passed over her chair in favor of my lap, leaving the chair
open for Evangeline, who turned the seat and straddled it. "Your petition
to the Barrier to train under Evangeline part-time has been approved!"

"Really?"
I looked to Evangeline.

"It
is true." Evangeline nodded slowly. "The Barrier had no problem as
long as I understood that you are a Trooper first, Kimshee second." Her smile
was slight. "For now, anyway."

"Come
on, Olitti." Kaelan held out her hand. "Let's leave the serious talk
to others." They swung out onto the floor, and Abbyegale soon joined them,
Kaelan spinning the gentlewoman and then Olitti as the trio swayed to the
music. Where Kaelan and Abbeygale had met, I didn't know, but I was glad to see
them both happy.

Evangeline
strummed her fingers idly on the tabletop to get my attention. "I want to
reiterate to you, Rankil, that my not taking you on full-time is not my
decision. I would have preferred to take on both you and Myrla full-time, but
as your commitment with the Barrier runs deep ..." She shrugged.

"I
understand, Master Evangeline." I hugged Myrla's waist. "I'm just
glad Myrla was released from her duties to study under you."

"As
am I." Evangeline reached out, bringing our hands together under her own.
"And you two must understand that I am training you to work as a unit. You
each have unique talents that I intend to foster into the skills necessary for
a Kimshee." She peered hard at us. "And the level of intimacy that I
will obtain with the both of you, either collectively or separately, will
always be in the realm of teaching. I have no wish to trifle with your
relationship. You are first and foremost a couple. My presence is not to
interfere."

Myrla
laid her head against my shoulder. "I don't believe you could."

Evangeline
squeezed our hands then withdrew. "No, I don't believe I could, but if I
ever should—"

"You'll
be the first to know," I said.

"Good."
Evangeline seemed genuinely pleased. "Your training shall begin in the
morning. Your phases are on different levels, but you both need an introduction
to the basics. That is where we will begin." She rose from the table and
peered across the dance floor to the trooper she had been sitting with earlier.
"I shall meet you at your apartment at dawn." Evangeline slid between
couples, crossing the floor to stand beside the gentlewoman trooper who held
her hand as they made their way through the crowd.

"Maybe
we should do the same." I nibbled at Myrla's ear.

Myrla
pulled her head around until our lips touched. "I can think of other
things you could be nibbling on."

I
gently pulled her bottom lip between my teeth then released and leaned back
with a smile on my face. "Is that an offer?"

"A
request." Myrla pushed back from the table. "Let's go home, dearest,
before it turns into begging." We were hand in hand, heading away from the
dance floor when Archell called out to us.

"Leaving
already, Rankil roo?" His arm was fast around Laszlo's slender waist.
"Going home, both Myrla and you? Stay for a drink with Laz and me."

"You
and Laszlo?" I raised my brows at him. "You two know each
other?"

"Since
we met up a few hours ago." Laszlo grinned then blushed. "I never
knew we had so much in common."

"I
had my suspicions," I said with a grin. "I'm glad you two finally
met. Now if you'll excuse us, My and I were just, uhm—"

"Oh."
Laszlo's blush became bright.

Archell
chuckled and waved us away. "Night, Rankil roo. Myrla too."

I caught
Myrla full around the waist, hoping to whisk her toward our grotto. "See
you in the morning, Archie."

"Yes,
yes," he said and led Laszlo onto the dance floor.

We
made it to the edge of the gathering before we were interrupted again. The
lights blinked and the music stopped, prompting us to turn around. The
musicians cleared the bandstand, and the clan leaders and colony mayors began
to straggle onto the stage. "If we could have everyone's attention."
Medrabbi stood before the speech cone so her voice would carry. "Please,
everyone, settle down."

We
turned around so we could take in the importance of the moment.

"As
you are aware, the clan leaders and colony mayors have all been tucked away for
the last half cycle, deciding what will happen next." She waited for the
general murmur to ease before she continued. "It was difficult at first,
deciding in which direction lies the fate of the clans, but, in the end, it was
simple. The fate of the Taelach is bigger than any of us, bigger than any one
colony or clan." Medrabbi shushed the responding whoops of clan solidarity
that rolled through the crowd. "I'm not talking about dissolving our clan
ties, I'm talking about combining them. We came together to fight a common
enemy and were victorious in a way none of us has been before. There is
strength in numbers, in solidarity, in oneness. When we stand shoulder to
shoulder there is nothing we can't do." The clan leaders rose and joined
hands to demonstrate what Medrabbi was saying. "When we recognized this
the solution became clear. It is time the Taelach were one. But to become one
we need a common leader, so a common leader was chosen."

There
was silence as Medrabbi relinquished the cone to Harlis.

"I
didn't go into this wanting to be leader of the Taelach." She glanced down
at Wikkib, who positively glowed with approval. "But the Taelach need a
leader, and as you people have seen to it I am the one . . ." Harlis
grinned sheepishly. "I am humbled by my contemporaries' decision."

The
applause was deafening.

"The
hardest part," Harlis continued at the first wane in the noise. "The
hardest part was deciding on a name to call this united people we have become.
We are so alike, but at the same time so diverse. We come from different
beginnings and traditions, yet our appearance ties us together. We are family.
Kin. Kin whose blue eyes and silver hair set them apart from anyone who might
have come before." Harlis's voice became mighty, ringing above the
celebratory gunfire being set off in her honor. "We are one, my sisters,
because we are the Silver Kinship."

"The
Silver Kinship." Myrla grasped my hand. "Can you believe it?"

"Why,
yes. Yes, I believe I can." I awed over our fortune as I swept Myrla
toward home before the pathways became crowded with revelers. We were free,
strong, possessors of a large, happy family, and, of course, we had each other
and the ever-deepening love we shared. And now we had become a part of
something we'd never dreamed possible. We were part of a new force, a new
power. We were sisters in the Silver Kinship.

Afterward

I
leaned against the hearth as I watched Laura and Grice play on the freshly
scrubbed floor. M'ma, a few passes older and a bit grayer, sat nearby in her
rocker, gently rocking just as Granny Terry once had. She held the scroll I had
brought her as if it were a priceless gift. She didn't understand the Taelach
symbols or the Autlach translation beneath them, but she knew what they meant.

"So,
I'll be allowed to stay?" M'ma pushed up her spectacles and looked to me.
"The cabin is really mine?"

"I
convinced Leader Harlis to grant you lifelong occupancy." I caught the
small ball that bounced from my nephew Grice's grip before it could roll out
the open door. The boy smiled and extended his arms.

"Please,
Aunt Rankil?"

I
returned his jovial grin and bounced the ball back to him.

"Why
don't you and Laura play outside?"

"Yea,"
said Laura in Taelach-accented Autlach. "Kaelan is outside. She'll play
with us!" The twins skittered out the door, giggling, tussling and
tumbling over each other the way they always did when together.

M'ma
remained silent until the children were out of earshot. "What happens to
the land after I die?" She let the scroll close around her fingers.

"It
reverts to the Kinship."

"I
was hoping your nephew would get it."

I
shook my head. "Grice will have to make his own way in the world whether
it be inside or outside the Kinship. The choice is his."

"I
see." M'ma came to the hearth and placed her spectacles and the scroll on
the mantle. She peered at me for a moment. "You've grown your hair out
more." My hair was now waist-length and greased back in a tight braid that
complemented the battle and life braids dangling from my right temple. I was a
far cry from the frightened child M'ma had once sent to the cabin we were in
now. "How far down the mountain does the Kinship claim these days?"

"We
have Two Fish Bay and Railings. That's as far as we plan on expanding for the
foreseeable future."

"What
of the family compound?"

"The
barns and pens are still standing, but the houses and outbuildings have been
taken down and reverted to pasture." I could see the anguish in my
mother's eyes, feel the heavy concern in her heart. "Sallnox was the only
one left when the clearing crew got to the compound, and he took the resettlement
offer too when he was shown the alternative." I pointed to the revolver
strapped to my leg then held up my hand when M'ma gasped. "We wouldn't
have shot him, but we would have shackled him until he was off Kinship
land."

M'ma
nodded. "And Danston's grave?"

Why
should you care
—I almost said, but I
stopped and took a breath instead. "I paid for it to be fenced off, just
as you asked. No one will touch it or the others."

"Thank
you." M'ma's shoulders slumped as she returned to her rocker.

"What's
wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Come
clean, M'ma," I said. "You know I can pick your head if you won't
tell."

"No
need for that." M'ma straightened and attempted a weak smile. "I am
simply at a loss what to do with myself these days. I'm not used to this way of
life. I've nothing to worry over. It's almost too easy."

"Grice
doesn't occupy you?" The children's giggles drew their eyes to the door
just in time to see Kaelan streak by with the twins on her back. "He seems
every bit as lively as Laura."

"Oh,
he is." M'ma's spirits seemed to lift at the sight. "I suppose it's
the way my life has simplified during the last few cycles. I can understand why
Terry lived up here instead of with the family." She sighed and began to
rock. "It's a peace."

"Master
Evangeline to Kimshee Rankil." The com unit on my hip buzzed for
attention. I apologized for the interruption as I brought the unit to my mouth.

"Rankil
here."

"Kimshee
Norlynn's attending a birth just over the bay," said Evangeline. "The
birth mother is phase blind, and Norlynn is having difficulties with
translation. Are you available to assist?"

"Give
me her position."

"Two
kilometers past the village of Terr at the Dizmousch compound."

"On
my way, Master Evangeline."

"Kimshee
Myrla will meet you at the bay crossing. I'll dispatch another hover to bring
Kaelan and her daughter home. Evangeline out."

I
belted the com and retrieved my cloak from the hooks by the door. "Duty
calls."

"I
guessed as much." M'ma touched my arm when I passed the rocker.

I
stopped to return the touch, covering my mother's hand with my own. "I'll
be back in a cycle or so, M'ma."

"I
know you will, daughter." M'ma's hand slid down my arm to squeeze mine and
was rewarded with a return squeeze. "Be safe."

"You
too." I alerted Kaelan to the situation, said a quick good-bye to my
nephew then, with my helmet tight over my head, I climbed aboard my hover and
powered up the engine. Dust and leaves rose behind me, and I swore I could hear
the sound of a bell—the bell behind Granny Terry's shed—ringing above the engine's
drone. The familiar clang followed me down the slopes, ringing me away, begging
me to return as it toned in the birth of another sister in the Silver Kinship.

Taelach
Words, Groups, and Slang Defined

Adner
Colony
—small colony in the Tekkroon
clan named for Andrea Adner, an early Tekkroon clan leader