Protector of the Flight (57 page)

Lipizzaners.
Four mares and a gelding moved around the arena. Separate from them were two
stallions.
Two stallions!

One
was in a large paddock, close to the arena, flirting with the mares. The other
stallion was in a big stall.

How
on earth had Bert gotten ahold of these magnificent animals? Why? Calli’d never
heard that he was interested in the breed. He must be breeding them. Had to be.
Dazed, she stopped, just watching the horses. They weren’t the warm-bloods and
the quarter horses she was accustomed to.

Marrec
continued on.

By
the time Calli clucked to her mount to continue to the corral, Marrec stood
laconically against the fence, with three mares’ noses waiting to be scratched.

She
dismounted, tied her horse to a nearby tree and joined him—to feel tension
humming in his body. Singing from him.

He
wanted these horses.

41

L
isten to their
Equine,
he said.

Clear
mind speech, again more intelligent, more curious than she was used to,
whispered liquidly in her head.
Good-smelling man. Fine. Fine. Beautiful
woman.
Very
fine smell, but whiff of something scary.

They
were wearing dreeth leathers.

Strange
images. Winged equines. Flying us. Wings. Wings. Wings,
whispered from
many mind voices.

Calli
blinked. The Lladranan leathers must give off a subtle scent of
otherworldliness.

“Howdy,”
said Bert.

Calli
jumped. He walked quietly, an elegant man of middle age, still handsome,
wearing ranch clothes, hat, boots. “Good to see you again,” he said to Calli.

Gesturing
to Marrec, Calli said, “My husband, Marrec Gardpont.”

Marrec
bowed stiffly.

“Pleased
to meet you.” Bert opened the gate and entered the corral. “Come on in.”

Calli
and Marrec went inside and the horses crowded around them, curious.

Easy,
little ones,
Marrec soothed.

A
couple tossed their heads, whinnied, sidled backward. They weren’t used to
hearing such perfect Equine.

They
were fabulous. Now they kept a courteous distance from the humans as if they
already accepted them as alphas, due to telepathic Equine and regular physical
cues.

“Thanks
for talking with me about my finances—and the great investments you made with
my money,” Calli said stiltedly. She was finding it difficult to keep her eyes
and mind and hands off the horses. The nearest stallion was rolling a
come-hither eye.

“Like
my babies?” Bert asked.

“Gorgeous.
Are they for sale?”

He
rubbed his chin, glanced up at the low-slung ranch house. Calli thought it had
been spruced up, too. A lacy curtain fluttered. He hadn’t had lace at the
windows before, had he?

Come
say hello,
cooed a mare.

She
did, stroking the horse from top to tail, loving the animal’s conformation.
Compact. Powerful. Fluid. Intelligent.

“Yes,
they’re for sale,” Bert said.

Calli
was jolted back to the here and now. His smile was easy, but his eyes sharp.

She
calculated their expenses. They
might
be able to talk the Montana ranch
owner into renting, or selling a portion of the land—the part that might lead
back to Lladrana and their children. If they lived in that pitiful trailer and
did a lot of the work themselves…and Calli pulled in every favor she might have
in Montana, and spread word she was setting up as a trainer…

Sidling
casually over to Marrec, she brushed her shoulder against his. He glanced down,
face expressionless.

She
quoted a figure. “That should buy them all,” she said in Lladranan.

His
dark eyes lit, softened. “I thought only two.”

Her
smile was easy. “You want them all.”

His
glance flicked to the horses, back to her. “Ayes.”

“We’ll
put our money in the horses. Less house.”

He
nodded.

“Now
you bargain. You’re better at it.”

The
smile she loved formed slowly on his face. “We’ll do it together.” Once again
he glanced at the horses. “I think we’ll have to walk away, then come back. You
can nail him down at the end.”

Bert
said, “You really interested in buying them? They’re all registered and I have
official pedigrees.”

That
sounded like an opening to negotiate to her.

Marrec
stepped forward, eyes gleaming. He kept his voice slow, but as the men
dickered, Calli realized that Marrec had changed his strategy…and showed much
more respect for the man than he had her father. Her Pairling did indeed
gesture her to leave and she let out a long breath and drooped a little as she
untied her mount, Marrec walking slowly to the arena gate before Bert
impatiently called them back.

Finally,
Bert pushed his hat back on his head, took a straw and twirled it. Though he
was a big-city guy, there was just enough rancher in him not to make him look
too stupid doing that. “We’ll even throw in the fancy saddles. Millana and
Pluto won’t be ridden without them.” He gestured to saddles resting on the top
fence rail. The tack was the strangest and fanciest getup Calli had ever seen
and she stared from one to the other. The stallion’s saddle was midnight-blue
leather worked in gold, with edgings of scarlet. Squinting, she thought she saw
suns, moons, stars and…the spiral of a tornado? The mare’s saddle reversed the
colors, being mostly scarlet and gold with blue facings—and symbols of musical
notes? Her heart picked up a beat and she couldn’t tear her gaze away from the
tooling that
almost
made sense, until she heard the slap of hands and
she looked over to see the two men shaking on the deal.

“Why
don’t you ride ’em back to the Rocking Bar T, try ’em out. Take the rest on a
line. Looks like they’ll follow you. I’ll keep Will’s horses here until you can
pick them back up,” Bert said.

Calli
looked at the Lipizzaners. They were gorgeous. Her whole body
itched
to
get on one.

“Yes,”
said Marrec. She sensed he wanted to put her past—and Will—behind them and ride
out on their future. Then he cleared his throat. “One moment,” Marrec said. He
strode over and picked Calli up, brought her back to the arena and set her down
before Bert.

“What?”

Patting
her on the shoulder, he went to the horse he’d ridden and opened the saddlebag,
withdrew the fabulous white beaded scarf she’d seen in the store window and
draped it over her shoulders. He jumped over the fence and stood by her side,
taking her hands.

Marrec
stared at Bert. “I’ve heard that you are one who can listen to marriage vows.”

Calli’s
heart beat hard.

Bert’s
brows rose. He straightened, his voice deepened. “In Colorado you can exchange
your vows yourself.”

“I
do not have the papers, but I would like to say the vows with Calli before
you.”

“You
have any objection to this, Calli?”

“No,
he’s my husband.” Her breathing came a little ragged. Acknowledging that was a
step toward common law marriage, too.

“We
have shared a Bonding ritual in my land,” Marrec stated, “but I want Calli to
have a—some sort of—a ceremony, here, too, again.”

He’d
never been so inarticulate. Calli bit her lip. A wedding. The man was trying
his best to give her a wedding. The pretty, long scarf that draped over her,
glittering like shards of the crystal, hanging to her calves. She blinked and
smiled at her Pairling. “Thank you.”

“You’re
very welcome.” He smiled.

Bert
rocked back on his heels. “I think I’ve conducted enough civil ceremonies to
know the words pretty much by heart.”

Calli
didn’t doubt it a bit.

“We
are here to unite Marrec Gardpont and Callista Mae Torcher in marriage, which
is held in honor among all people. As they pledge their constant and abiding
love to each other…”

The
old words, so familiar, spoken by an authoritative, honorable man. The scarf as
her wedding dress. More, the sturdy, reliable man standing in front of her with
love in his eyes, his Song rising loud to her ears, merging with the heart
rhythm of her own personal Song, twining together, now on Earth as it was on
Lladrana—a perfect wedding.

Marrec
said his vows strongly and clearly.

Calli’s
were a little rushed, a little loud.

“Here
is where I’d say something like ‘by the authority vested in me by the state of
Colorado,’ but I’ll just say, ‘You are husband and wife, blessings upon you.’”
Bert winked at Marrec. “You may kiss the bride.”

Her
husband’s mouth brushed her own.

“Right,”
Bert said, “that’s done. The horses are restless.”

They
weren’t really, they’d observed with some curiosity, even hearing part of the
Songs, Calli thought. She should take off and fold the scarf, wrap it in the
tissue paper stuffed in Marrec’s saddlebags. She didn’t.

Marrec
kissed her again, harder. Calli slid her arms around his neck and kissed him
back.

Bert
carefully stepped away from the bunch, folded the check Marrec had given him
and stuck it in his back pocket, then grinned. “Good doing business with you.
I’ll make sure the excess is invested for you.”

“No,
thanks. Please deposit it in my account. You know the number.” Calli was caught
for an instant by his smile. For an older guy, he sure was attractive.

A
head butt brought her back to the here and now, and the group of horses—a small
herd—that was the basis of her new life. She swallowed. She could almost
see
Jetyer and Diaminta mounted on these lovely beasts. She had to look away and
swipe her sleeve across her eyes.

Marrec
murmured, “Marian and Jaquar, Alexa and Bastien will care for them like their
own, until we find a way back.” Their rote comforting phrase, but his voice
broke. He set his shoulders, made one corner of his mouth turn up. “These are
our children for the moment.”

Calli
still wanted children but didn’t know if her heart could take the strain. How
long would it be before they gave up hope? If they adopted in the future, would
that be giving up on their intention to return to Lladrana? Could they possibly
take children back with them? Would more lost orphans break her heart further?
Ease it slightly? No other children could replace her own.

But
Marrec was ordering the horses so that they could ride back to the Rocking Bar
T. Bert saddled the alpha stallion and Calli hurried over to saddle the mare.
There were leads to tie the rest so they would follow…though Calli sensed their
fascination with her and Marrec would make the task much easier.

Marrec
swung onto the stallion. His face scrunched a little.

“What?”
Calli asked.

He
just shrugged, gathered up the lead lines and looked back at his string of
three. “I like this type of saddle,” he said, tapping the horn.

Calli
hadn’t introduced the western saddle to Lladrana. She wondered if that might
have been a mistake. Her mare’s pretty ears flicked forward. She licked her
lips. Calli smiled. The saddle was western and she put her foot in the stirrup,
grabbed the horn and swung up. Her butt tingled all over when she settled into
it, and it was warm, especially for being outside in this cloudy gray morning.

Bert
finished tying the rest of her line, dodging a kick from the smallest mare, who
matched Thunder in size. Then he went to the gate and held it open, nodded at
Marrec. “Montana, eh?”

“Ayes,”
Marrec said.

The
older man cocked his head.

“Yes,”
Calli said.

Bert
nodded. “Good country. Let me know where you settle. Good luck to you.”

“Thanks.”
Calli shifted the tiniest bit in her seat, as she would have on Thunder or a
horse she’d trained for years. Millana moved out, smooth and easy.

“Good
luck to you, too,” she said to Bert.

He
grinned again. “I’ve had plenty of it, but am always happy for more.”

“Fare
well,” said Marrec. His stallion caught up with the mare and Calli.

The
gate was wide enough for them to leave side by side, with slight mind control
from Marrec and Calli, suppressing urges. The road beyond was much wider. More
clouds darkened the day and Calli shivered. She should have brought a heavier
jacket. Fall was approaching. It would come even earlier in Montana. She let
her gaze travel over her beloved mountains, the view not much different from
her own ranch’s.

No,
not hers.

Despite
the fact that she’d returned to Colorado, had been ready to fight and claim her
ranch, it truly was no longer her home. She swallowed.

Riding
with the ease of a top cowboy, or an Equine-speaking Chevalier of Lladrana,
Marrec held the reins in one hand and reached out to her with the other.