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Alexa jerked a nod.
Marwey eyed Alexa’s baton.
Alexa sighed and dropped her hands to her sides.
Marwey came close enough that Alexa could smell her scent—girlish and floral, perhaps a prettily fragranced soap. Marwey put her warm hands against Alexa’s face and the image came of soap in the shape of a seashell and the color of moss.
Alexa flinched as butterfly wings brushed her mind. Marwey’s eyes grew big. She shuddered and jumped back.
She swayed and others crowded around her, leaving Alexa standing alone.
Marwey licked her lips. “Leyu exotique,” she said.
Alexa tried to translate. This time “exotique” sounded almost familiar. “Exotique.” French? French for “exotic”? A French-based language? She didn’t do well with languages. She was doomed.
The girl curtseyed to Alexa. “Bar,” she said clearly. “You…haff…passed…the bar.”
Bar? Alexa and Sophie had passed the Colorado bar a couple of months ago.
Marwey made a frustrated noise. “No. You…haff…crossed…le bar.”
That sounded even stranger, but again a little familiar. Alexa shook her head, hoping to straighten out her jumbled thoughts. Crossed—passed…
This had been a test? All this stuff—the monster, the star-ball, the baby, the killer with the knife…had been a test?
Fury built in her, radiating from her belly to the soles of her feet and the top of her head. Again her hair stood straight out from her scalp. She shifted from foot to foot. She’d never been so angry. The baton in her hand began to hum cheerfully. Tiny figures incised in the jade that she hadn’t noticed before glowed and almost moved. Looking at the staff meant she looked at her arm—and the golden aura streaked with red crackling from it.
Alexa angled the baton but didn’t point it. Slowly she turned and, step by step, she looked at each person in the half-circle before her.
Too much. It was too damn much. Alexa whirled to the top nobles—Reynardus with the ivory baton and Thealia.
“This was a test?” she bellowed. The tapestries on the walls shivered. Alexa grinned. She turned back to the pool and pointed her baton, wondering what would happen if she sent a bolt of energy to it. She couldn’t find the urge to care.
“Ttho!” Thealia jumped in front of Alexa. Locked gazes with her. “Ttho.”
Alexa’s nostrils flared.
Partis pulled Thealia aside and took her place. He was protecting his wife. He spoke to Alexa, his voice rising and falling in beautiful lilting notes. She ignored the words—as she thought he meant her to—and listened to the tone, the rhythms, the cadences. Warm yellow light pulsed from him.
The craziness of it all hit Alexa. She was a Marshall. But they all wore swords. And armor.
She wasn’t a savior.
Hell, they had wanted Joan of Arc.
“I think everyone except Partis and I should leave,” Thealia said.
Reynardus snorted and swept her a mocking bow. “As you will, Swordmarshall Thealia.”
Thealia lifted her chin a bit. “Our mission was a success. We now have a powerful new Marshall. With her aid, the plague of evil invading Lladrana will be stopped.”
“You think so?”
“You doubt the Spring Song?” His constant arguing wore on her nerves. She looked him straight in the eyes. “One of the requisites for a Marshall is appropriate visits to the Caves of Melody and a trance with the Singer and the Song. Reynardus, how long has it been since you have undertaken an individual Song Quest to tell of your path?” She knew, but wanted to hear him say it aloud.
A vein throbbed in his temple. “Are you challenging me for the leadership of the Marshalls?”
“I’m saying that I’ve received several Song Quests in the past decade, and most recently when the third fencepost vanished.”
She waited a beat. He didn’t speak. “When was the last time you consulted the Singer and the Song?” she repeated.
He paced with sharp-sounding steps to where his cloak lay. Whirling it around him, he replied. “I’ve been.”
“When you were first confirmed as a Marshall. Before you even knew whether you were a Sword or a Shield,” she pointed out. “Have you been other times?” she ended quietly. He had this coming, but it wasn’t an easy thing to do—to force a Marshall to carry out his duty by shaming him.
“I’ll go to the Singer and endure the Song Quest.” He forced the words through clenched teeth as he clasped the brooch at the throat of his cloak shut. “Tomorrow.” He stared at each one of the Marshalls, lip curling. “I trust you will temper our new little Exotique and make sure she is amenable and Paired by the time I return.” Reynardus spun on his heel, then swept to the threshold and out into the portico in a dramatic exit.
Thealia caught the slamming door with her power and let it gently swing shut.
She turned to face the Exotique—Alyeka, Thealia corrected herself—and found the young woman still shooting out angry energy. Thealia glanced at the huge crystal points at the end of each rafter. Thank the Song such energy could be stored and harvested later.
Partis looked at the girl with his usual compassion. “She’s not happy with us,” he murmured.
“Who would be, enduring such Tests?” Marwey spoke up—out of her place.
Thealia frowned at her and the teenager faded back from the Marshalls. Then Thealia scanned the rest of her companions.
“What went wrong with Defau? He wasn’t supposed to try to kill her. He was only to test her courage.”
“Why ask, when we all know?” Shieldmarshall Faith said, rubbing her hands up and down her arms as if she were cold and didn’t have the strength for a warming spell. Her skin showed an underlying pallor. “He hates Exotiques beyond reason. A flaw we didn’t know and he didn’t reveal. Perhaps he didn’t know himself.” Faith glanced at Alexa. “She is odder than I anticipated. Her coloring—the ebb and flow of her Power, the rhythm of it.” Faith shook her head. “I don’t know whether to be repulsed or fascinated.”
“Obviously Defau was repulsed,” Thealia said dryly.
Faith’s eyes clouded and she tilted her head as if straining to use her Power. “His lifepulse is thready. I doubt he will live.”
“We all knew there could be casualties among us,” Thealia said. She felt the weight of their gazes.
“And you sent Reynardus away,” Armsmaster Swordmarshall Mace said. His wife and Shield set her hand on his arm and squeezed. He shut his mouth.
Thealia passed a hand across her eyes, caught small beads of perspiration. “You only say what everyone thinks.” She looked at them all. “We can’t afford to have a negative influence in our Circle. We lost her for a moment. We could have lost her for good. Reynardus has challenged every step we took. I listened to the Spring Song and underwent a personal Song Quest.” She nodded to a couple of friends. “So did some others of us. Reynardus won’t listen to the Spring Song or believe our personal Song Quests.” She shrugged. “He’s always been a man who will only trust what he himself knows to be true—what he sees, or touches or perceives. Let him undergo trance with the Singer and hear his own Song. I only wish his results would be different and more hopeful than the rest of ours have been.” Others nodded.
“Marshall Alyeka is about to fall into the pool again,” Mace said. “Who knows what immersion in jerir twice in one night would do to her?”
Thealia hadn’t seen any movement in her peripheral vision, but when she faced the woman, Alexa was swaying.
Straightening her shoulders, Thealia said, “Let’s finish this business. Those who want to stay, can. Partis, call in all the unmated noblemen and women.”
Marwey tensed as Partis went to the gong and hit three notes around the rim.
“Marwey?”
The teenager pressed her lips together. “You’re including Chevalier Raston?”
Empathy for the girl’s attraction to the knight touched Thealia. “I must,” she said gently. “Alyeka must be able to choose from everyone eligible. Including Raston. Including you. The Song knows there isn’t a good choice of quality available bedmates, just those courtiers usually here at the Castle and the Chevaliers assigned to us.” She clicked her tongue. “I don’t think our widespread call for a mate for an Exotique was taken seriously.”
Marwey’s mouth set; she looked strained about the eyes.
“And,” Thealia said gently, “if Alyeka chooses a bedmate tonight she won’t have to go through the formal Choosing and Blood-Bond Pairing ritual tomorrow. You’ve been the closest to her of us all. Surely you’d like to spare her that wrenching experience.”
Marwey grimaced and dropped her gaze. “Yes.”
“You’ve been linked to her to experience her world and help us communicate. Do you think she will want you or Raston?”
The teenager narrowed her eyes, recollecting and exploring her brief bond with the Exotique. Marwey shivered again. A dimple peeped from her cheek. “She likes men only. And older ones than Raston.” Then Marwey sobered and glanced around the group of Marshalls. “Her world is completely different! They don’t even believe Power exists!” She blinked rapidly. “I can’t tolerate the glimpses of her world. I hope she can fit in here. ’Cause she can help us, a lot. She will make new fenceposts for us. I felt it.” She pressed both hands to her chest.
They looked skeptically at her. She drew herself up to her full height—almost as tall as the Exotique. “I have not come into my full range or aspects of my Power, but I know what I know,” she said with dignity, and walked to the bench beside the door and sat.
“Teenagers,” Mace sighed.
“They can be dramatic,” Faith agreed. “But Marwey is the only one who’s linked with our new Marshall, and the Exotique chose the Jade Baton of Honor.”
There was silence as they all thought of the ancient legends of blazing energy woven around the Jade Baton of Honor.
The gong sounded as the door opened and people trooped in.
3
Alexa jumped at the deep tone of the gong. She gathered her wits from the daze she’d fallen into.
More people. Now what? Was she going to have to weather more “tests”? Anger spurted through her and gave her energy enough to stand straight and glare at the newcomers. They brought a riff of music with them, individual notes, most of which weren’t interesting to Alexa. Weird.
At Thealia’s wave they stood in a line before Alexa.
Again they were all taller than she, a couple of the men far more than six feet tall. They were an attractive people.
Only a few had streaks in their hair, silver or gold. Several—men and women—were dressed in soldiers’ uniforms, some with heraldry on their chests. The women wore long gowns of cotton or linen with wool surcoats in layered, bright colors that wouldn’t have been matched together back home. None of the newcomers dressed like the Marshalls.
Definitely a class system here. Alexa wondered where an orphan who grew up in foster homes like herself would fit in. Lowest of the low, no doubt. A serving woman.
Ha! She’d climbed from poor beginnings in her own world, she could do it here too. After a little rest. God, she was tired! It was all she could do to keep her chin up. A warmth pulsed in her hand and she looked down to see her baton. Right, she thought fuzzily. She was already a Marshall, whatever that was.
A woman in the line squeaked as the jade staff glowed, then crumpled to the floor. Someone else snorted.
“Deshouse, Alyeka,” Thealia said.
Alexa stared blankly at her.
Thealia tapped her foot and her eyebrows drew together as if she was figuring out how to communicate.
“Alyeka,” said Marwey.
Alexa turned her head to the girl. Marwey ran to one of the young soldiers and threw herself into his arms. He flushed and stiffened until she pulled his head down and whispered into his ear. After a second, he kissed her with enthusiasm.
“Deshouse, Alyeka,” Thealia repeated.
Alexa got the idea. They wanted her to choose a lover. So, they’d “tested” her to check if she would let a baby drown. Was this another test, to see if she’d have sex with someone she just met? Or was it more complex than that? Would her choice of lover reflect on her?
She didn’t know what it meant that she had chosen the jade wand. Who had it belonged to, what traditions or history might it have?
What would it mean if she chose a person? Surely they didn’t expect her to have sex tonight! She didn’t even know if she could put one foot in front of the other to walk to the wall and collapse on a padded bench and sleep.
“Alyeka!” Thealia was stern.
After licking her lips and clearing her throat, Alexa called. “Marwey.”
The girl said something to her boyfriend and patted his cheek, then ran over to Alexa, who could only admire her energy.
“Marwey,” Alexa croaked. “Bar? Test?”
Marwey’s brow furrowed, then her face cleared. “Ttho, Alyeka. Ttho bar.”
“Huh,” Alexa said.
Both Thealia and Marwey said it together now. “Deshouse.”
With great precision, Alexa turned her back on the line of people. More than one sigh of relief came from behind her. She faced Thealia, met the gaze of every other Marshall. “Ttho. No.” She felt like a two-year-old who only knew one word—no. Not exactly true—she knew baton and Marwey and Thealia and Reynardus…. Her mind numbed into a daze of weariness again. She wondered if she dared sleep. Maybe when she awoke she’d be in her apartment and this would all be a vivid dream.
The jade in her fingers hummed and drew a faint chime from the jewel-toned rainbow crystals.
While Alexa’s mind floated, Thealia dismissed the others and only the Marshalls and Marwey were left to stare at her. Then Thealia was holding a purple cloak. It looked brand new. Embroidered on the left side was an impossible-looking fuchsia flower. Alexa touched a finger to the silken threads and stroked it, letting the texture of something beautiful soak into her—easing the rough edges of the night.
“Exotique,” Marwey said.
Alexa understood. The flower was exotique. She was called “exotique.” She didn’t have enough energy to shrug.
The huge man appeared before Alexa’s narrow range of vision. He held a belt with a tube-sheath that was green with silver traced around in an intricate, leafy pattern.
He bobbed his head, and with extremely deliberate motions, set the belt around Alexa’s waist, buckled it, then faded back beyond Alexa’s sight.
Thealia settled the cape on Alexa’s shoulders and fastened the clasp. The cloak dragged on the ground. Sighing, Alexa tucked the baton in its sheath and gathered the excess material in her hands.
Marwey put the strap of Alexa’s fanny pack over her arm, then grasped Alexa’s elbow. “Ven, Alyeka.” Marwey tugged.
They went slowly from the room. Someone opened the door and the chill of a humid night hit Alexa. Mist curled over her skin and brought with it an unpleasant odor of sulphur.
The walk seemed endless, up a curving ramp or two, down long corridors, then finally Alexa found herself dragging up an interminable set of narrow, twisting stairs.
She paid no attention to the rooms or furnishings around her, except to get the impression of great age and great wealth. At the top of the stairs was a half-circle room with a door straight ahead that had a little table next to it, and a door to the right. Evidently they were in a large tower.
