Echoes in the Dark (21 page)

The
enveloping Song diminished and Jikata felt chilled. Earth. It spoke of her
home.

Such
a huge battle! She couldn’t.

“You
can,” Amee said, holding out her hands palm up. “I have learned that the Song
does not give us burdens or tests that we cannot bear.” Again the terrible,
sweet smile that tugged so deep into Jikata that it hurt.

“Your
gifts of voice and prophecy and music were given to you by the Song, encouraged
by Mother Earth and by me. You
can
do this.” There was a slight sigh and
Amee’s face became implacable. “Indeed, you will not be called home until you
have
done it.” Tears overflowed her eyes and ran down her cheeks. “I am sorry for
that, but it is our fate. All of our fates.”

“The
Singer…” Jikata gasped.

“Is
old and has lived longer than your kind to fulfill her own destiny. But you
have doubts and so I come. Your gift is not for interpreting the Song, but you
can
be the Singer.”

“Lladrana
needs those who
hear
the patterns.”

Another
shrug from Amee. “Not now, for the others are more visual, too. And Luthan was
given that gift.” Amee smiled. “The Song bestows blessings as well as
challenges. When you become the Singer, you will share your visions. Your
successors will be blessed with the gift of
hearing
prophecies.”

But
a certainty welled up in Jikata. “Not
when
I become the Singer.
If.
”

Amee
bowed her head. “If. If we survive. For if you fail, I fail, others fail, we
die.”

They
wept together and Jikata awoke with tears on her cheeks and the knowledge that
though she still didn’t want to know more about what was going on, it was time
to start asking questions. Club Lladrana had always been a pretense.

15

Marshalls’
Castle

L
uthan jolted
awake from the trance with Jikata and Amee.

“This
is only watching practice. Sleeping during trials will not win you a top spot
on the invasion force,” his brother Bastien said, elbowing him in the same sore
spot in his ribs that he’d hit before. “If you were meaning to apply for this
suicide mission, that is.”

Drawing
his hand down his face, Luthan wasn’t surprised to find beads of sweat.

Bastien
glanced at him with a smile that snapped into a frown. Then he looked away.
“Sorry, thought you were sleeping, not in one of your trances.” He held up a
hand, face still averted. “I don’t want to know.” He sucked in a big breath.
“It’s best if I think we will die. Thank the Song, I will not live without
Alexa.” His crooked smile came. “I cherish her every moment of every day, just
in case we don’t come back.”

His
expression sobered as he watched young Marshalls and Chevaliers training in the
practice ring, grunting and kicking up a lot of dust. “Who would have thought
it would be my fate to destroy the evil that has been plaguing Lladrana for
centuries.”

Gesturing
to the men and women before them, he said, “Father wouldn’t have expected it.”
Bastien shook his head. “Like them, Father would have wanted to be in on the
fight, for the glory. Me, I’d prefer life stayed exactly the same as it is
now…a few minor horror incursions as we renew the fence and fence posts, a good
life.”

“Father
was a bastard and a fool. Everyone should want a good life over a glorious
death,” Luthan said.

“So
you don’t think living forever in a saga—’cause you know every name of every
person who goes will be celebrated in Song and story for as long as there is a
Lladrana—you don’t think being famous forever is worth the price?”

“Ttho.”

Bastien
turned to face him. “I didn’t ask you, just presumed. Are you going to test for
the expedition force? Will you go with us?”

“Ayes.”

“It
would please me, brother,” Bastien said softly, “if you stayed behind. If you
survived.”

“Can’t
stay. May survive.” He met Bastien’s eyes. “All three of us might.”

Bastien’s
shoulders relaxed in a sigh. “Not one hundred percent death then?”

“Ttho.”

Throwing
back his head, Bastien laughed and the sparkle was back in his eyes. “I’ve
always liked long odds.” He waved to the ring. “Now let’s go show these
youngsters what
real
fighting is. I bet I can take seven of the twelve.”

Luthan
looked down his nose. “I’ll be the one who takes eight of the twelve.”

“You’re
on!” Bastien vaulted over the fence.

“Those
are good odds,” Luthan murmured under his breath. “You have your very long odds
in surviving the Dark.” He saw Alexa running toward the ring, love in her eyes.
She hopped over the fence using Power, not bothering to whip out her jade baton
before she joined the fray. “We three have the long odds.” Then Luthan jumped
over the fence himself, but felt no joy.

Creusse Crest

R
aine let Faucon
take the helm for the trip back to his dock and manned the sails. The duty
didn’t keep her fully occupied and she could truly appreciate the shoreline,
the headlands around the crescent beach, the sand, and the castle sitting atop
in just the right place to look great. The views from the castle windows were
great, too. She’d had glimpses of several land masses that had to be Circlet
Islands. She’d come close during her own sailing, but hadn’t wanted to exchange
the pleasure of being at sea and only with Faucon, who was becoming a friend,
to being on land with Powerful strangers.

Her
soul was quiet, full of serenity.

Enerin,
as a small red bird with a multicolored comb, was hopping up and down on a
piling when Faucon handed Raine off the boat to the dock.

This
is where you are!
Enerin scolded.
You were supposed to be back last night!

Raine
just smiled and shook her head. “I decided to stay.”

Enerin
ruffled her chest feathers.
You were not at your land—

“I
don’t have land.”

And
I tracked you here by your Song all by myself.

“Really
good.” Raine set her cupped palms together so the young feycoocu could jump
into them. Her feathers were as soft as kitten fur.

So
I came.

“Thank
you.”

And
so did my mother and father, Sinafinal and Tuckerinal, and so did
all
the
Exotiques and Luthan and Koz—

Raine
winced, she wasn’t ready for another long briefing on the ship and the
invasion, her spiritual peace was eroding. “A full house, then.”

Faucon
glanced up at his castle and slanted her a smile. “Not very full.”

Sighing,
Raine put Enerin on her shoulder, welcomed the little scratch of claws as the
birdling dug in. Her companion. She was glad of the loyal friend. A being of
pure Magic; even as a youngster, Enerin’s Song was awesomely beautiful.

Enerin
swivelled her head to look at Faucon.
Your cousin came, too. They are all at
the large pool where you have made a miniature model of Amee. Raine’s Ship is
there, too.

Raine
tried to imagine a model of the northern continents of Amee in proportion to
her own ship and couldn’t.

With
a tiny peck-kiss, Enerin said,
Even though it’s too big, it’s ready to sail
to the Dark’s Nest.

All
Raine’s peace vanished.

T
he “large pool”
made Raine’s eyes widen. It
was
a map of the northern part of the world,
land carved and set into the pool from the north pole to the southern border of
Lladrana.

But
Raine’s gaze arrowed to the island of a single volcano that was the Dark’s
Nest. She stared, then realized it didn’t match the maps she’d seen. That had
been Calli’s task, to map the island. There weren’t any good harbors,
especially not for a ship the size she’d designed. So the invasion would take
place on volaranback, God help them all—beautiful winged horses and the crazy,
determined people who flew on them.

Then
Raine noticed that the pool and the growth looked
old.
She glanced at
Faucon, who was using a long stick as a pointer to indicate his northern
estate. “How is it that you have this?” A tingle went down her back. It was so
very much what she needed.

He
shrugged. “I had a couple of Circlets in my ancestry. One of them made this. He
said never to fill in the pool and was respected enough that we didn’t.”

The
group of the Exotiques were standing around the north end of the pool, staring
at the ovoid shape of the island. A man who looked a lot like Faucon, except
thicker around the waist and shorter, stood tugging at his lower lip. From his
roughened face and hands, Raine recognized him as someone who’d spent time on
the sea, a fisherman once if not now. A Seamaster now. One of the loose
guild-masters of that calling.

“You
really think we’ll raise the Ship at our northern place,” Faucon’s cousin
asked, obviously uneasy.

“I
do,” Faucon said. “It’s the best place.”

Raine
looked at the tiny U-shaped building sitting on the northern edge of the
easternmost peninsula of Lladrana, Creusse Landing—the manor house where this
man and his family lived. He had a new baby, didn’t he? No wonder he was
concerned.

“Not
one of the Circlets’ islands?” the man persisted.

“We’ll
discuss this later,” Faucon replied with an underlying tone of command.

Alexa
swaggered around the west of the pool, hand tilting her baton sheath. “Don’t
worry, Seamaster, we’ve replaced all the northwestern fence posts. No horrors
will come through.”

“The
monsters can manifest the farthest south any one of them has come with Power,”
he said doggedly.

Alexa’s
brows lifted. “We have not experienced that phenomenon of
retrousse
since the old master of the horrors died and a new master took his place. We
believe it was a skill of the old master’s and either the new one doesn’t know
it, hasn’t learned it yet, or doesn’t have the Power to do it.” Her words were
clipped and carefully enunciated. Though Alexa was the first, she was still the
one who had the most difficulty with Lladranan.

The
man reluctantly nodded.

“Where’s
my ship model?” Raine asked.

Faucon’s
cousin jerked straight from his slouch and aimed a penetrating look at her. He
bowed. “Seamistress.” Raine nearly smiled at the respect in his voice,
something he hadn’t shown Alexa, who was so much more dangerous than Raine.
“Your Ship is brilliant, absolutely brilliant.”

Warmth
washed through Raine. “Thank you.”

“Raine,
Exotique Seamistress,” Faucon said formally, “please let me introduce you to my
cousin Corbeau.”

Raine
dipped her head, “Pleased to meet you.”

“And
I, you,” he said fervently.

Alexa
rolled her eyes at Raine, stepped back into the group of Exotiques.

“Your
Ship’s over here, on the estate pond.” Faucon moved to the left of the
continental pond, to the north.

Raine
followed. “Estate pond?”

“Ayes.”
His smile curved, reaching his eyes, and once more she was distracted by his
charisma. Then she saw a long rectangular pond that showed a portion of the
western coast of Lladrana. She caught her breath. The southernmost edge was
Seamaster’s Market, where she’d been Summoned. She swallowed. She saw the tiny
village where she’d lived and nearly died.

Then
Faucon was by her side, hand under her elbow. “Easy,” he said, and Raine
realized she was hyperventilating. She steadied her breathing with a long
inhale.

Her
ship was there, rocking in the pond, massively out of proportion.

“It
belongs in the Creusse Landing pool,” Faucon said.

“Hmm,
a series of ponds showing Lladrana and your estates,” Jaquar, the Circlet
Sorcerer and Marian’s husband, said. “Wonderful.” The rest of them had followed
Faucon, and Jaquar glanced back at the other pool. “All the islands are
correct, and the largest, Bossgond’s, has good detail.”

“Should
have, one of our female forebears lived there,” Faucon said.

His
cousin stood tall. “Our family has contributed members to every segment of
society.” His voice took on a note of awe. “We even had a Singer, once, ages
ago.”

“The
second of the Creusse name,” Faucon said. “He was Powerful in Song.” Faucon slid
his gaze to Alexa. “Which is another reason I should be allowed to go on the
expedition. We know our responsibilities to Lladrana, have contributed much to
the country. We love her.”

“You
test and are in the top twenty and you go,” Alexa said absently as she studied
the new pond. Then she shrugged. “We should be studying the other pond, the one
that shows the Dark’s Nest. It helps a lot to see it like this, in land and
water to understand the dimensions.”