Protector of the Flight (28 page)

“It’s
someone in the Castle with strong Power. A Chevalier or Marshall,” Bastien
said.

“Not
necessarily,” Thealia argued. “Others attended the Choosing and Bonding, we
even have some guests still staying, not leaving until tomorrow.”

“But
it’s most likely we have an enemy inside our walls,” Marrec said.

Bastien
took the glove back from Alexa, ran his fingers around the seams, as if
extending his senses once more to discover the culprit. “I don’t like that the
person used Alexa’s glove, as if targeting both Exotiques. The way these traps
were set…more like what a Sorcerer or Sorceress would do…more like how they’d
think…than a Chevalier or Marshall.”

“We
had no one except Jaquar and Marian from the Tower community within our walls,”
said Thealia.

“They
wouldn’t—” Alexa hopped to her feet.

“Harm
Calli,” Thealia finished. “Or I should say, had they wished to harm Calli,
she’d be dead by now.”

“How
Powerful would this person have to be to set such spells?” Marrec asked.

“Strong,”
Thealia said.

Alexa
retrieved her glove. “I’ll courier this to Marian. But I agree. We have a
secret enemy among us.”

20

C
alli woke late
the next morning. Before she opened her eyes, she knew Marrec wasn’t in their
rooms. She sighed and stretched. The sex had been awesome. Her body felt
great…completely in tune. In fact, she’d never felt this good before, as if
mind and body and…soul…Song…Magic?…were completely integrated, all harmonically
balanced. And she was even thinking more in musical terms. Huh.

The
first thing she saw when she sat up was a glowing white crystal ball, with
streaks of milky pink and blue and brown swirling in it. Next to it was a piece
of paper. She picked up the note and saw angular writing that leaned to the
left…Marrec’s left-handed penmanship. She couldn’t read it, of course, and a
little flutter of panic swept through her. She loved to read, to listen to audio
books, and didn’t like being somewhere she couldn’t. A big disadvantage. Guess
she’d better add reading and writing to her list of lessons.

She
drew in a big breath, let it out noisily.

Someone
cleared his throat. Calli stared around.

“Salutations,
Pairling. And…uh…good morning to you—” Marrec’s voice came from the crystal
ball. Fascinating.

“I
have gone down to fetch breakfast for us. I recall that you like croissants and
scrambled eggs.”

Breakfast
in bed, had she chosen a winner or what?

“Please
stay in the…uh…
our
…rooms. If you must go out…uh…Koz is standing guard at
the door and will accompany you.”

Calli’s
eyebrows snapped down. A guard?

“There
are things we must discuss. I’ll see you shortly.” There was a pause, then the
sound of a smooch. “Your bondmate, Marrec.”

She
stared at the crystal. He’d sent her a kiss? She could imagine that small
gesture might have embarrassed him. Yet he’d done it anyway. The sweetie. She
chuckled, and he’d “signed” the message, as if she wouldn’t forever know the
timbre of his voice from one word.

The
crystal went dark. With a lingering smile, Calli used the bathroom, then went
to the long, elegantly carved wooden wardrobe and dressed in bra, panties, a
thin cotton shirt and leggings, a snug tunic and breeches. Her scarred old
ankle boots detracted from the look. When she was dressed she realized that for
the first time since she’d come to Lladrana, she was alone. No Marrec, no other
Exotique, no Chevalier just hanging around her, no volaran eyes watching. It
was a very odd feeling.

She
sat on the bed and let the atmosphere sink into her. There were layers of
herself and Marrec, and them together—echoes of their Songs already woven into
this space which was their home here at the Castle.

A
wide grin spread over her face and she flopped back on the soft bed as she
thought of her new land.
Her
ranch, hers and Marrec’s. It was pretty
land, the house was great and the outbuildings and fenced areas could be
rehabbed into exactly what she wanted. Laughter bubbled up inside her and she
couldn’t lie still anymore. She got up, crossed to the French doors and flung
them open to the beautiful summer day, then stepped out onto the balcony.

It
was sturdy stone and where the curve of the outer wall of their suite met the
straight Castle wall, an enclosure, like an open horse box, had been included.
A stall for a volaran. She smiled. Had she landed in clover, or what? Eyeing
the bare box, she decided that she’d stock it with hay, make it ready for
Thunder or Dark Lance.

This
apartment was at the top of the hall and she wondered if there was a chute or
something to take the volaran waste away. Would they actually expect her to
dump it down the outside Castle wall?

She
went to the edge of the balcony and leaned over to look.

A
ball of energy struck her from the side. She stumbled sideways, jammed against
harsh square edges of the wall. Another jolt hit her, this time Power that
lifted
her, spun her out over the wall. She grabbed for it, fingertips abraded the
stone, slid away.

Free-falling.

Shield!
someone
snapped.

The
volarans shoved knowledge into her mind, backed by Marrec and Bastien. Her
Power whipped into a
Shield.
That wouldn’t help her when she hit the
ground.

Two
beaks caught her wrists. She screamed. Jerked.

The
sound of flapping wings, more, Songs of the feycoocu, deafened her. The Power
she’d formed around herself melded with theirs, boosting all.

Her
descent slowed into a controlled glide, past the five stories of the Castle,
the cliff it was built upon, the rising ground of the dirt road circling it.

She
bent her knees. The birds let go. As her feet touched the ground, she tucked
and rolled. Then she just lay there, staring at blue sky and her heart pounding
so hard she thought it would jump out of her body.

Shouts
filled the air, distressed trumpeting of volarans, even frightened neighing of
her horses, as if her hearing had sharpened preternaturally.

Wow.

A
minute later Dark Lance and Thunder had landed near her and were standing
close, heads up and watching, aggressive. A war hawk settled on each volaran
back.

She
figured she should sit up. Running footsteps and yelling came her way. She got
the idea that
others
who were close to her had felt her peril. Marrec,
the volarans, Alexa and Bastien, a Shield, some of the other Chevaliers, the
feycoocus. The little magical beings had been able to act the quickest.

Well,
yeah, if they were more magic than anything else, that would make sense,
wouldn’t it?

Nothing
made sense. Her mind grappled with what had happened.

What
had
happened? Lightning from a clear sky?

Alexa
was the first person to reach Calli. The little Marshall had her baton out and
did a pivoting sweep of the area. “Who did it?” she demanded.

“Did
what?” asked Calli.

Frowning,
but not taking her eyes off the countryside, Alexa said, “Attacked you. And
from where? We thought you were safe. What were you doing?”

Calli
got a bad feeling about this. Her brain hadn’t wanted to let her know she’d
been attacked. Not in her new home. Not in the Castle. Somehow she’d accepted
that her life would be in danger when she fought on a battlefield in the
future, the price for everything else. She thought she was safe in the Castle.

Apparently
not.

She
shoved to her feet, a little shaky like after she’d had a rough tumble from a horse.
Looking up, Calli saw the jutting of the balcony around the top story of
Horseshoe Hall.

It
looked
really
far up. She frowned, checking out the Castle wall about a
story below her apartment and to the north. Didn’t the wall have a walkway?

“Calli!
Tell me what happened,” Alexa said, following Calli’s gaze upward.

“It
must have come from there.” Calli pointed. She rubbed her side, which felt a
little singed.

“What
possessed you to lean out over a wall, unprotected?” Alexa demanded.

“Why
shouldn’t I be able to take a damn walk on my own damn balcony?”

“Maybe
because twice someone’s tried to hurt you?”

“What!”

“Shit,
he didn’t tell you.” Alexa snapped her baton in its sheath.

“Who?
Tell me what?” But Calli’s gut churned. “Who” was running in front of a stream
of others. Marrec.

He
swung her up into his arms.

“Marrec!”

“You
need fuel. My wife. My woman.” He held her closely.

Alexa
rolled her eyes.

Sinafinal
clicked her beak.
No harm done.

Tuckerinal
preened.
We saved Calli.
He shifted feet on Dark Lance.
We are the
best.
Then he flew up as Marrec put Calli on Dark Lance, mounted behind
her. Gestured to Alexa and Thunder. “Let’s take this private. The Marshalls’
Dining Room.”

Alexa
stared at Thunder. “I’m not getting on that volaran. He doesn’t even have a saddle!”

“Good
thing Bastien is right behind you,” Marrec said.

Bastien
grabbed Alexa and tossed her onto Thunder, jumped on behind her. “Let’s go.” He
said it and sent it mentally to the volarans.

Thunder
snorted.
You did not ask my permission to ride. I am Calli’s volaran.

You
want to stand on propriety or do you want to see if we can find out who tried
to harm Calli?

Thunder
took off like a shot, angling up toward the wide walk on the Castle wall below
Calli and Marrec’s apartments. Alexa shrieked and grabbed at his mane.

Landing
Field,
Marrec ordered Dark Lance. He rose with more dignity.

A
few minutes later they had landed and the new squires had appeared to take care
of Dark Lance. Marrec grabbed Calli’s hand as if he was afraid to let her go,
then strode toward the Castle keep. He flung open a door and Calli tensed. He
looked down at her.

“I’ve
never been in the Assayer’s Office,” she said. She’d heard the place was where
Chevaliers and Marshalls brought their dead monsters to be tallied…and
processed.

“You
want to go through the maze?” Marrec’s tone was impatient, but he didn’t pull
her into the room.

“No.
I can do this,” she said, and stepped into the charnel house.

It
wasn’t as bad as she’d expected. There was the smell of death, strange odors
that she thought must come from the dead monsters. One flayed…something…was
arranged on a long counter, and she jerked her sight from it. The room was
higher than it was wide or long, and held a lot of mounted trophies, like the
Nom de Nom. Render paws. Soul-sucker tentacles.

Her
gut shivered, but seeing the monsters again almost calmed her. These she was
preparing to face, to fight. An unknown human enemy with free rein of the
Castle seemed much more threatening. Today.

“Salutations.”
Marrec nodded to the assayer.

He
stared at Calli, a small man with a gray goatee and a round paunch. “What’s she
doing here?”

They
didn’t answer and were across the room and into a keep hallway in a couple of
minutes.

“Did
he seem suspicious to you?” asked Calli.

Marrec
grunted. “Everyone seems suspicious to me.”

Calli’s
blood chilled.

B
reakfast wasn’t
in bed. It wasn’t an easy meal at all. She and Marrec were surrounded by some
Marshalls, Lady Hallard, Koz and Faucon. Everyone watched her like a
hawk—including the two hawks—to make sure she was eating, and she managed to
swallow some eggs. Even the flaky croissant didn’t have much taste to her, and
she caught herself peeling the layers and eating in little bites.

A
grim Thealia Germaine detailed past events for her. Calli got the idea that
Thealia herself had swept through the Castle, including Horseshoe Hall, the
home of the Chevaliers, investigating everything, demanding answers, and
nothing had shaken loose. Lady Hallard sat stiffly, radiating displeasure that
the Lord Knight Swordmarshall had made this a matter for the Marshalls and not
just the Chevaliers.

Looking
at Calli with darkly piercing eyes, Thealia said, “We will find this miscreant
and punish him.” She sent a chill glance at Marrec. “Your bondmate will guard
you, and everyone close to you—your new squires—and the volarans have been
cautioned to keep an eye on you.” Her lips thinned. “These attacks won’t remain
secret for long, unfortunately.”

Thealia
looked at Lady Hallard. “The Chevaliers insist you remain with them in the
Hall.”

“I’m
the Chevalier Exotique,” Calli said. “Of course I must live in Horseshoe Hall.
I love our rooms there.” Lady Hallard eased a little.