Keepers of the Flame

Harp strings came at her door. Bri blinked.

“The doorharp is bespelled so you can hear it anywhere,” Sevair said. He went to the bedside table and picked up something that looked like a real horn and spoke. “Who’s there?”

“Geraint.” Bri heard the answer.

Sevair said, “My assistant.” Then into the horn, “Ayes?”

“The other citymasters request that you accompany the farmer home after market.”

Eyebrows winging up, Sevair said, “Come in,” and set the horn down. He hummed the unlock spell on the front door. His expression had gone serious again. “We citymasters had intended a dinner in your honor this evening, then decided after you healed the child that you should rest. Will you be all right here on your own?”

Bri blinked at him. She’d traveled the world over and had been all right on her own. She’d been careful—mostly. “Ayes.”

A young man wearing gray walked toward them. He bowed.

“My assistant, Geraint, who attends to my office, will be available to you for anything.”

“Salutations,” Bri said.

Sevair turned to Geraint and spoke of reassuring the countryside that their concerns were not overlooked. Bri drifted toward the creamy-yellow painted bedroom. Cheerful and sunny, especially on this gray day, she liked it, though it was a trifle too fussy with lace.

Earlier she’d set down her pack on the desk. It looked totally out of place here. High-tech materials against silk and brocade and lace, gender-neutral in a very feminine room. The citymasters had obviously expected their Exotique to be female.

Again harp strings sounded. Bri looked around and found a shell-like horn on the bedside. She picked it up. “Who’s there?” That was what Sevair said.

“The tailor, my lady,” said a female voice.

“Is that the right greeting?” Bri asked. “Who’s there?”

A little cough on the other end of the horn. “Ayes.”

“Thank you,” Bri said. “The door is unlocked, please come in. I’ll meet you in the parlor.” There was a parlor.

She turned and found Sevair at the door, Geraint hovering behind him.

“Unless you want me to stay, I’ll leave now.” Sevair’s voice was matter-of-fact, but his gaze was warm with a touch of curiosity. When she listened, she thought the vibrations of his Song expressed interest—personal—in her.

He smiled. “Citymaster Nu will take care of you. She’s an excellent tailor and already has a wardrobe planned.”

Bri glanced around. “So all my needs will be provided by citymasters?” That didn’t come out the way she’d intended.

His gaze lingered on her face. “Ayes, anything you wish for will be provided.”

“Ah, how about lunch?” Her mind went back to the potato casserole and her mouth watered.

“Of course.” He looked at a water clock set on an beautifully sculpted table made especially for it, smiled again. “The clock is understandable and acceptable?”

“Ayes, we know that time passes the same here as at home. The clock is charming.” The rush of water soothed her.

“I’d heard that time is the same and so are clocks,” Sevair said. “And the table?”

The intensity of his glance clued her in. “You made it? It’s beautiful.” A short pillar with a delicate stone floral vine covering the underlying flutes. Bri thought she even saw a fairy face peeking out between leaves.

He nodded. “Thank you.”

She wondered how much more of his work she’d find in the house. Something to look for.

“As for lunch,” Sevair said, “it should have arrived and been placed in the kitchen for you. We have cold and hot boxes to keep the food at the proper temperature. The other Exotiques—all three of them—planned the menus.” Amusement laced his tones. “There was lively discussion.” He sobered again. “However, the tailor is here…”

She suppressed a sigh. The woman was probably a busy person and Bri was taking up time. “Yes. The tailor first. And I’m a little tired. I’ll rest.”

“Everything okay?” Alexa asked.

Elizabeth looked around. The extra bed and wardrobe had been removed, the furniture rearranged. Bri’s fragrance, more, her Song, still floated in the rooms, reaching Elizabeth’s heart. She’d only had the company of her sister for a few brief hours before they’d been separated again. Not their choice this time. Or perhaps it had been too easy to accommodate the wishes of the Lladranans and they should have thought more of themselves. But they hadn’t been given the time.

Going back out to the sitting room, Elizabeth checked the potatoes and went to the chest. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw the clean empty serving bowl that had held the fruit salad. Her mother’s special-occasion china.

What would her parents think when they discovered their daughters were missing? Elizabeth’s car was in her allotted apartment parking spot, but…. She shut off that line of thinking. There was nothing she could do about it right now, and it would only muddle her thoughts when she needed all her wits to deal with the current situation.

Her mind went back to what Alexa had said before. Elizabeth asked, “Any idea what this item…the Dark wants…is? Is it physical?”

“No, we don’t know what it is. Yes, we know it’s physical. We think the Dark originally came to this planet through the dimensional corridor and landed in Lladrana, then left and settled in the north on its own cozy volcanic island. But it either lost this object or didn’t realize it needed it.”

“Hmm,” Elizabeth managed.

Alexa said, “So, the Dark wants this item, and we think it’s somehow sent this sickness as a plague to wipe the Lladranans out. The monsters haven’t been able to penetrate the northern border and take the thing. So killing us all with an epidemic might be an alterative plan.” Her steps slowed; she studied Elizabeth with cool eyes. “That’s your task, your’s and your sister’s. To find a cure for the plague.”

“Nothing like a little pressure,” Elizabeth said.

Alexa shrugged. “That’s life on Lladrana. You, what, just got certified as a medical doctor? Did internships and residency? That ain’t exactly a walk in the park.” She’d switched to English again, and Elizabeth’s head began to ache.

Elizabeth said in Lladranan, “No, my training to be an E.R. doctor wasn’t easy.” ‘Training” was a word she’d already learned. “But it was a long ordeal, now over.”

“Ah, and now I’m asking you to gird your loins for another long ordeal.”

“If most Exotiques fulfill their task within two months for the Snap, Bri and I can do it, too.” Elizabeth was feeling overwhelmed, but wouldn’t admit doubt to anyone other than Bri.

Blinking, Alexa said, “Fulfilled their task in two months?”

“You said that the Snap averages two months, and one of the prerequisites for the Snap is the fulfillment of a task.”

“Excellent deduction.” Faucon, the elegant Chevalier said from the door. He looked around. “All is as it should be.”

“You did your task in two months,” Elizabeth said.

Alexa pinkened. “A little over.”

“Marian succeeded in a month,” Faucon said, and grunted when Alexa elbowed him. “And Calli—”