The Infinity Elixir: Part 26 & 27
The Infinity Elixir || Table of Contents & Details
26.
One after another, the storms rolled proudly across the southern state of Pernic, right over Central City on their way east. DG remembered, in the back of her mind, what such a storm would look like on radar, on the screen of a television that didn't exist anywhere except the Other Side. Squall Lines, they used to call them, and they would bow out, east to west, north to south, armed with torrential rains, devastating winds, and that ever-present, egregious threat of a tornado.
In a world where electricity was rather unstable, the slightest angry breeze possessed the ability to knock out the power. DG was armed with a lantern when the lights in the second-story corridor flickered, slipped her into darkness, came back on again, then went out in a calm whoosh of rain against the windows. She squeezed the lantern at the handle, and it suddenly burned with a clear, yellowish light. A few paces ahead, she found the sitting room door ajar, and candles being lit inside. She knew she wouldn't be the only one awake, despite the late hour, that it was almost midnight and they'd had a day as rough as the weather.
Thisbe lit a candelabra on the giant wooden "study table" at the far end of the room. To DG's surprise, she found Tamus sitting crossed-legged on the end of the same table, an ignored book in his hands. But before DG was noticed, she had a chance to watch the elf, and, for the first time, noticed that his eyes were not on the book but followed Thisbe's movements from one candle to the next. Of course, Thisbe going from one end of the room to the other was sometimes an unavoidable sight, especially that night: she tipped over a tea table, then caught her skirt at the foot of the couch, and nearly stepped on Marius's fingers as he sat on the floor. Thisbe's cursed grace often brought DG into a smirk, and she was joined that night by a soft laugh from the desk.
Glitch let his hand flop to the map of study. "Thisbe, dearest, what are you trying to do?"
"Save us from the dark, Teg. Where's that other candle got to?"
She found it and lit a match. DG looked away to search the room for Courtney, and quickly decided he'd gone to bed; he'd had as full a day as the rest of them, even if it was difficult to imagine Courtney fatigable. She spun about with the light bobbing in her hand when a sharp noise and a gasp of breath sent her back to Thisbe. Marius was up, startled and bewildered. Glitch dashed to Thisbe. Tamus stood behind her, one hand at her shoulder, the other holding the candle, wick still smoking. The poor girl was frightened to death, trembling and pale. Glitch folded her into a consoling, cushioning hug, and left a kiss at her temple.
"What was that about?"
Thisbe was too stunned to answer. Tamus replaced the candle in its hurricane holder.
"She tried really hard to set her hair on fire."
Glitch was torn between wanting to laugh and wanting to sympathize. He sighed, rolling his eyes, and shifted Thisbe from him. "How are we not related? My mother used to do that, set her hair on fire all the time. House always smelled like we'd had chicken for dinner, but forgot to pluck it before we put it in the oven."
The magical words soothed Thisbe, and she calmly blinked away the tears.
"She had the most beautiful hair, you know," Glitch went on, half to himself, the rest to the ghosts of his past if not for his friends. "Tumbles and tumbles of curly black hair. She used to wear half of it braided and pinned up at the back of her head, with these U-shaped pins she'd invented-no hairpin back then would've held my mother's hair in place, believe me, the world just didn't make them strong enough. But there would always be a trail of hair falling from the knot, down her back, and would inevitably get in the way of her experimenting." Gingerly, he touched one of Thisbe's red ringlets, let it slip through his fingers until it bounced back to her collar. "Her hair curled just like yours does, but hers was as black as that night out there, and yours, my little one, holds all the highlights of sunset."
The reminiscent mood was replaced with his delightful teasing. He only did it because he remembered her less as a little girl, and more as the young woman who'd somehow taught Azkadellia to smile, who'd garnered the respect of Old Dripplemede, and who made him proud that he'd rescued her, annuals ago, to become a bright star in his heart. She was seventeen, a grownup, and it made him feel old and melancholy, and Wyatt would laugh at him if he knew…
"You might want to thank Elf-boy for saving you just now. Heroes come in all shapes and sizes, and never are what we expect."
Thisbe blanched and crackled a protest that never formed. She heard Tamus growl behind her, though she had wondered how he'd managed to save her so fast. DG smiled softly and lowered her head. Marius laughed openly, and if he'd been closer, he would've received a slug on his shoulder for ridiculing his little sister so terribly. All the same, her silent threat suggested he watch his back from now on. Glitch alleviated her confused ire by kissing her forehead.
"You'd better go to bed. We'll see you in the morning." As she stepped away, Glitch let his hand fall from the top of her head with reluctance. He had a staring moment with Tamus, too, a test of dares and wills. But Tamus let his gaze fall first, giving away nothing, mostly importantly denying nothing, and he shuffled back to the book.
Thisbe passed a brief bow of farewell at DG, still holding to the intrinsic need to revere royalty, and reached the door just as it was knocked upon. She jumped back, startled, certain that it was a knock she'd heard, not just a clash of thunder and lightning. As soon as DG called for the page to enter, she was handed a piece of paper of familiar texture and weight. Puzzled by the page's delay, DG scanned the telegram, and then understood.
"It arrived just before the electricity extinguished," the page explained. "We were unable to acquire the whole message."
DG crumpled Jeb's useless telegram into a fist. "If the power's out, that'll mean the telegram system is down too. Sometimes this place gives me a headache…" She groaned and rubbed a dull twinge above an eye. Recovered, she remembered the page and asked him a series of questions. "How long is the electricity usually, um, extinguished? Does the telegram office have any way of relaying a message without electricity? Do you suppose they're having storms this bad in Caologard? What if it's really important? What if the Grangers won the election? What if they didn't?"
By this point, the page found himself rather overwhelmed. "Do forgive me, your Highness, for my current ignorance. I will discover as many answers to as many of your questions as soon as I possibly can."
"What? No." DG waved her hands. "I didn't mean for you to… No, just go to bed. Don't-don't give it another thought." Still, he hesitated. She tried to sound more regal and authoritative. "Go, go! Go on! Leave! Sleep!"
He bowed and went on his way. DG huffed and, depleted of sufficient energy, spilled to the couch. Out of the gloomy noise of thunder and rainfall came a distinct "ahem" of a clearing throat. DG lifted her head from the cushion and espied Tamus.
"I was just thinking," he began, concerned eyes lingered on each of those in the room, then to DG, "not that I really care what happens to all of you or anything-but I was thinking about it, you know, as if I did care. If getting this message from, er, your-er-whatever-is so important, then you could just send someone to get it. Caologard's not that far."
Glitch and Thisbe raised arguments, one saying that Caologard was that far, and the other saying that the princess wouldn't dare send someone and his brave horse out in a storm like that.
"Well," Tamus wasn't daunted, "Jeb Cain has yet to be informed of your decision to go to Milling Circle. Isn't that correct?"
DG found his taunts more amusing than irritating. "I was going to send him a message in the morning," she defended herself for the decision. "By then, the votes for the Gallentree State Council will be counted, and I just thought… But now I'm worried. He said the Grangers were a threat to Caologard. If something went wrong, they can get pretty violent." She unfurled the rumpled telegram from her palm. It told her nothing but "In Caologard still. It is a." A what? Mess? War zone? A field of butterflies and buttercups? What?
Her fear was absolute by the time Marius sat next to her.
"He could be hurt," she told him. "He could be trying to tell me he's hurt."
"If he were hurt," Marius explained rationally, "he would've started out the telegram: Get here now."
"That's not Jeb's style, Marius, and you know it." She saw him wilt a little, at the shoulders, when he knew she was right. Jeb would rather cover his injuries, and only tell DG after the fact. She had too much to worry about on her own without worrying about him.
"Fine," Marius hopped to his feet, "I'll go."
DG gaped at him. Thisbe raced forward but was unable to object, realizing quickly that she couldn't: brave and stupid Marius would do what he wanted to do. She clenched her fists and turned red in the face, even more rosy in the warm glow of the candles.
"How did you ever get so headstrong?" She pivoted to DG. "Please make him stay! Please, Princess?"
Conflicted, and knowing what would happen if she interfered, DG swung her gaze back to Marius. "She's right to worry. It's a little dangerous out there."
"I've driven through worse. And I know the road between here and Caologard rather well, DG, as you know." He planned it out in his mind, and reached a more favorable conclusion. "It would perhaps be better to ride than drive. I have to cross the Gallamin River, and these torrential rains could swell the banks, and I might have to go north to cross at the bridge. It would be best to take Varrick. He's received more training in bridges and waters, far more than the other horses… I could be there in a few hours. Perhaps by then the electricity will reignite, and telegrams can be sent and received again. Shall I go?"
Still uncertain, DG poised a silent question to Glitch, and he answered with the same reluctant silence. If Jeb were hurt, and they were forced to wait until morning to know for certain, it wouldn't be just her heart that would break, but Wyatt's, too. She trusted Marius. Was there a finer horseman among them?
"You're not much of an assistant sometimes, Marius," DG said. "You're a knight. Remind me to ask Mother to reinstate the knighthood." She recognized the arrogant glint in his eye. To be eighteen again and think the world owed you deference and nobility! "All right. Go. But be careful. And if I don't hear from you by morning, I'm sending the cavalry. And I mean that more or less literally."
Once nodding at DG, Marius patted Thisbe's shoulder, dissolving her dispute. It wasn't his fault he was meant to take on such deeds. He bowed to all then was gone from the room. DG felt wretched, as though she'd just sent Marius to his doom. Glitch smoothed his hair down, and it just sprang back up again. In a slouching heap, he was next to DG and pressed her fingers. Thisbe rubbed her eyes, the emotions of the day finally getting to her at the pinnacle of exhaustion. Tamus was at the door before Thisbe spotted his swift departure.
"Where are you going?"
He stopped and analyzed her, the indifferent smirk replaced by something resonating friendliness. "I thought I might go sightseeing. The road between here and Caologard has some of the finest autumn wildflowers." He didn't wave, just stepped beyond the door and disappeared.
"He's going with Marius," DG said, as though figuring out the riddle. She was not the only one relaxed by the news. She rose to her feet and hailed Thisbe. "You'll sleep all right now, won't you, Thisbe?"
"Maybe." But she was lying a bit, to sound stronger than she felt. "Now I have to worry about both of them. Not to mention Mr. Cain. But I'll try sleeping, Princess."
Glitch blew out the candles in the room, with the help of the girls, and all three of them met at the door. Glitch's soft, inquisitive look passed to DG.
"When you came down here, you were on a mission if I ever saw you on a mission. What did you want?"
DG recalled, in sparkles of thought spinning outward from a whirlpool, that she'd wanted to talk to Courtney about the Winter Lapse, what he remembered from the Queen's quest, and if he had anything stored in his long-reaching memory that might be able to help them now. It was not a task she felt up to just then.
"You know," she uttered dulcetly to Glitch as they sauntered down the lightning-lit corridor, "it can wait until morning."
27.
"So."
"So."
Conversation between Marius and Tamus had gone on in such a way for the last hour and a half. The only time they came close to any sort of banter was a remark or two about the climate. Tamus judged that the storm was moving faster than their horses, even the over-eager Varrick. The bulk of wind and hail had moved on after they successfully passed the slightly flooded and gushing Gallamin River. Marius announced when they reached the halfway point between Central City and Caologard. He recognized landmarks along the frequently traveled route. Tamus supposed that Marius said such things to show he knew the lands, knew where they were, where they'd been, and exactly where they were going; he was boasting, since he found Tamus's presence a gash to his pride.
On the whole, Tamus would've been more than willing to chat with Marius Lindsey. In the pattering of rain and the faint sighs of thunder, Tamus made another attempt. "So."
"So."
"So what's Caologard like?"
"Haven't you been?"
"Why would I have?"
"Don't you travel around a lot?"
"Do you ask that because I'm a Brairnoss?"
"Are you always this abstruse?"
"Are you always such a witty conversationalist?"
This barb of a question momentarily quieted Marius. He listened to the leaves dripping, flopping against each other in the fall of final drops. His mouth pursed as he defined his feelings for the elf, and wondered if he was the last one to hold doubts as to Tamus's willingness to stay with them. Finally, unable to take it, the temper within flared.
"She's like my sister!"
Tamus's mouth twitched, and he stole his eyes from Marius into the tops of the trees. The clouds were thinning, giving life to the light of Sequaitha-her name Trailblazer in the common language-the first moon of the gods. And if that wasn't some sort of sign… "So, you want to talk about your sister?"
"I want to talk about you liking my sister. It doesn't sit well with me. Because I don't like you, and I wouldn't trust you with her. I trust you with me since I know how to take care of myself."
"I don't really have any interest in-"
"Thisbe is a smart girl; she's no fool, you know. As far as I know, she's never tipped her cap toward anyone."
"Tipped her cap?"
"I never really thought about Thisbe ever having feelings for anyone-feelings-feelings, you know the kind I mean."
"You're such a pompous prickleleaf, Marius."
"And you're such a rude, arrogant, big-eared elf, Tamus."
"At least I don't pretend to be something I'm not. That just makes you all the more pompous. Don't feel bad: It's a trait of men whose names end in the letters 'U' and 'S'." He went on before Marius could defend himself, or save him the embarrassment of cracking a smile. "And since you wish to know so terribly, Marius, I tell you that I have no feelings for her either way."
"So… You can honestly tell me that you can turn around right now and go back to Brairnoss for good? And forget about all of us-including Thisbe?"
Tamus's wicked grin brightened in the increasing light of two lanterns and a hundred unscreened stars. "Oh, absolutely. Wouldn't faze me a bit." He clicked his tongue, tapped the reins, shifted his weight, successfully sending the horse in the opposite direction. He flicked a salute in Marius's direction.
Marius stopped Varrick, watching the elf slip away in the bobbing of illumination and a rakish set to his torso. "All right, you've proven your point!"
"See you later, Marius! My best wishes to Jeb and Garrett!"
Uncertain if Tamus was going to turn about, but not having the time to waste playing ruses, Marius spurred Varrick into a canter. Every eighth of a span saw him turning about, head to shoulder, to see if Tamus had returned. Darkness was behind him, nothing else. Marius found himself more amused than vexed by the elf's fickleness, and shook his head with a smile. To be that honest and that sincere, to the point of offensiveness, what must it be like? Tamus's characteristic ability to shred all rudimentary social customs, particularly of harmless lying in the banalities of everyday discourse, was either incredibly admirable or incredibly vain.
But, if Tamus did like Thisbe, at least it showed some sound judgment of character. Marius had always thought her of the highest quality, even if he had pulled her pigtails when they were kids. And that one time when he'd left crickets in her bed… Had she ever really forgiven him for that? But he'd taught Thisbe to ride and care for horses, picked up teaching her to read and write when Teg went away, taught her first aid, taught her how to defend herself when the Longcoats were thick and their friends began to disappear.
Varrick's hooves plashed and distorted the waters of the Treigekka, a noisy ravine that twisted its way from the Gallamin all the way into northern Sanvidell. The hamlet of Treigekka had once thrived as a stop along the Old Road, though now it was nothing more than a bunch of empty shops and eerie houses that tipped and sagged, a victim of the War, the Lapse, and the Resistance-a troika that realm citizens called the WLR, as it had happened more to smaller towns than it should have.
The woods of Treigekka were ancient, solemn, hushed. The wind shifted as Varrick sloshed up the muddy banks and back to the path. Marius caught a strange scent, like that of a new campfire snuffed in the rain. He asked Varrick to pause. Both waited, listening, unsure if it was imagination or reality that had caused the sudden increase in anxiety. Marius scanned the circumference, wishing for a handlight to flash into the black woods around him, for he felt evil eyes calculating his presence, ready to strike.
The galloping of a horse along the dirt and stone path was mistaken for another grumble of thunder. As soon as Marius knew it was a horse, he commanded Varrick, and his steed took off. Behind the rush of wind in his ears, Marius heard another horse from behind, a crash of runners in the underbrush, and shadows of men materialized.
The limited light of the lantern threw them into dimensions but very little else. They were grizzly, features bleared by the madness of fright and confusion that overcame Marius-and they were heavily armed. The second rider stayed motionless in the saddle, and Marius barely had time to notice him beyond taking him for one of the bandits.
Wailing and ululating cries and shouts, the bandits took to formation and charged. Marius slid from saddle to feet and focused on all the defensive and offensive techniques he'd ever learned during his mastery of hand-to-hand combat.
A wild-haired beast of a man, round and stocky, charged at him with no weapon but a stout stick. Marius put that out of commission fast, hurled the stick into the verdure, and taunted the man into punching him. His opponent too slow, Marius wrestled him down and left him writhing in puddles.
He heard other clashes going on around him, but in the dark it was difficult to see who fought whom.
By then, his observation ended when another came at him, this time with a dagger. Marius jumped back to avoid a swipe aimed at his midsection. The wielder, startled that he should miss, froze in delay long enough for Marius to tug at the wielding arm so hard that the knife dropped and the man's face met with Marius's waiting palm. A crunch, some warm dark stuff that could be nothing but blood, a broken nose, and the man collapsed.
The three remaining bandits fled into the surrounding woods, heading separate directions. But two others remained in the clearing, the two who'd arrived on horses. Enemies or friends? Or merely two bandits determined to successfully devastate the last standing defender? Had the runaway thugs been injured and afraid of their failure?
A click of a hammer locking on a revolver explained part of the story. Marius raised his hands to cede quietly. But then came the sounds of blades whooshing in the air, and into the lantern light came a sharp edge to the gunman's neck, while its master stayed in a shadowy silhouette.
"Drop it," the swordsman said. "He's on your side. As am I."
Marius sighed in tremendous relief. That voice belonged to Tamus. The blade was half of the elf's twin short swords, a heritage and culture worn at his back-for use rather than decoration.
The revolver's hammer unlocked and the arm fell. "Sorry, I didn't realize we were all fighting on the same side."
"It's dark," said Tamus.
"Hard to tell," added Marius.
"It happens," concluded Tamus.
"I heard them coming, and thought… The two of you got names?" He reached around to his horse and relit the lantern extinguished during the gallop into the fray. As soon as the light glowed, he lofted a black brow at the sight of Tamus. "Not what I was expecting."
Tamus crossed the swords in front of him as he glowered.
Marius soaked in the young man's presence, the tell-tale green cloak, the standard issue revolver, the ammunition belt. But he ripped his eyes from the mechanical arm. "You're in the SGAG."
"What? He's a what?" demanded Tamus.
"The Gallentree Guards," Marius repeated automatically. He stepped closer to the guard, a Fourth, as told by the cloak toggle at the throat. "We were on our way to Caologard to make sure Jeb Cain is all right."
"Full Cain is just fine. So the princess didn't receive the telegram."
"The power extinguished before the message was entirely relayed."
"That's why I volunteered to go to Central." He chose not to utter the message he'd been sent to bestow, for that was, as he saw it, only for Princess DG, and the business of no one else. He flickered a gaze to the elf. "You have to be Tamus. Full Cain's mentioned you."
"Consider me sufficiently flattered," emitted Tamus. He returned from the verge after cleaning his blades, and sheathed them at his back with a great roll of his eyes. "I'm going back to Central. Only came around to save your Realm-Dweller hide from drying to a crisp in the suns, Lindsey."
"Thanks for nothing, elf. I know how to fight."
Tamus considered this with a cockish tilt to his head, the haughty gleam in his eye, the irascible smirk returning. "I took down three fit and able men to your two fat and slow ones. That means I win. Goodnight."
"They're still out there," the Fourth said in a calm, logical tone.
Tamus flipped about and set an evil glare on the guard. "Who are you, anyway? Full Cain this, Princess DG that, and I don't know you from Dancing Marius the Jump-kicking Book Worm over here. Got a name, Guardsman?"
Marius wedged his way between the Fourth and the elf, holding his hands up to both. He'd grown used to mitigating, having done it frequently between members of Vicivi staff, and once or twice DG and Jeb, even once Teg and Papa Wyatt. "Let's just relax for a moment, OK? We're all friends-well, we're all associates, and we all have the royal family in common. We're gentlemen."
"Some of us had better act like it," spat Tamus, regard fierce on the Fourth.
"Some of us are just waiting to be introduced like proper gentlemen," countered the guard.
That ruffled Tamus, and he pushed towards the Fourth, throwing Marius off balance, and causing the Fourth to slip on a patch of mud. Tamus was able to keep on his feet, but Marius and the guard tumbled together into the watery sludge. Marius bumped his head into the guard's, each giving a painful groan. But they caught their breath when realizing the nearness of the other, a mere inch away, and an accidental understanding ignited when their eyes met. If Tamus hadn't been laughing, he would've noticed. As it was, Marius was aware of it, a burst of attraction he rarely felt for anyone on a genuine level, and scrambled to get as far from it as he could.
"Introductions, fine with me," grumbled Marius. Now he wanted to know the name of the Fourth, and wasn't it something how five seconds of nothing transformed into five seconds of eternity? Casually, holding to his indifference, he brushed the grime from his sleeve. There was nothing to be done about the mud on his trousers, and felt a pang of remorse as the Fourth had taken the brunt of the fall, his whole back a sheet of black silt. "My name is Marius Lindsey, and I am personal assistant to Princess DG. I am on this road to deliver a message to Full Cain of the SGAG. This is Tamus of Brairnoss-and to tell you the truth, I have no idea what he's really doing here."
"Oh, I'm merely a sightseer," added Tamus. "I'd show you my guidebook, but I forgot to-care."
"Right," said the Fourth, an air of sarcasm. But he shifted under the elf's intense ogle, and found more comfort in Marius's awaiting look. "My name is Andy Rome. I'm a Fourth with the SGAG. But you knew that part already."
"Which brings me to the point I was about to make before… Why don't I recognize you?" Marius asked. "I know all the Guards."
"I just joined two weeks ago, when I turned eighteen. And, anyway, I know you-or of you, more accurately. You'd probably recognize me if I was serving you dinner at The Clever Cow."
The light of knowledge flickered in Marius. The floppy, curly black hair and startling, pale blue eyes, not to mention the mechanical arm, suddenly fell into place. He had seen Fourth Rome in the Cow before. The bristling thought strengthened a sense of self-awareness and misery, that Andy Rome hadn't become anyone to him, really, until the green cloak changed him, until a descent into a mucky path. Marius supposed it was possible that Tamus was right, that he was a bit pompous.
"I remember you now," Marius explained, feeling like an idiot and thirteen annuals old again. "Master Glitch fixed your arm once."
Rome nodded at this acknowledgement. "That he did. Well, now that we know the names of the other, I say that makes us associates no longer and new acquaintances. As for our ultimate destination, I vote we go to Caologard. It's much closer than Central. Tamus, you come along, too. You can finish your sightseeing tour. I'd hate for you to cut it short on account of your bad personality."
"Bad personality," repeated Tamus in a flagrantly harsh manner. "Pah! As if I-! Oh, wait, yes I have one of those! Almost forgot in the gentlemanly behavior going on here. All right, to Caologard. May as well, like I have anything better to do."
Grudgingly, Tamus mounted the horse and asked for a trot. He pulled along beside Lindsey and Rome, the three of them quiet for a moment, thoughtful and uncertain and awkward-and exhausted. Tamus, usually just becoming more energized with the rise of the moons, began to feel the long day: the excitement at the Tower, the long trek through the rain, the fight with the bandits…
"So," started Tamus, "anyone want to tell me who those guys were? I rather enjoyed fighting them. Pity a few of them were blessed with spry legs and ran off. If I'd known, I would've broken their ankles first and then laughed hysterically when they tried to run away."
Andy's sharp features rounded into a concoction of horror and disbelief. "Who are you, really? You can't be a Brairnoss. I had no idea they were so violent."
"I don't think they are," Marius said. "Just him." He eyeballed Tamus with stark disapproval that eventually took on the hue of amusement. "You're a real piece of work, you know that?"
"So," Tamus said gruffly, "we're going to spend the entire trip talking about me? Wow, won't that be a change."
"I can't wait to see how you and Full Cain get along," Andy confessed to Tamus. The elf ignored him. "He's always swift to hand out orders, and while he's kind to the Guards, and we're more friends than colleagues, the whole group of us, he makes it pretty obvious when he doesn't trust someone. And from what he told me about you, Tamus, I don't think he trusts you very much-but I get the sense that he likes you, and just finds you confusing." Andy fished for a look from Marius, and when Marius answered, the two of them pretended not to notice.
"Oh, I'm not worried." Tamus's fair eyes darkened and he cracked a knuckle. "I know how to handle the Cains. So-who were those men? You never said."
Continue
26.
One after another, the storms rolled proudly across the southern state of Pernic, right over Central City on their way east. DG remembered, in the back of her mind, what such a storm would look like on radar, on the screen of a television that didn't exist anywhere except the Other Side. Squall Lines, they used to call them, and they would bow out, east to west, north to south, armed with torrential rains, devastating winds, and that ever-present, egregious threat of a tornado.
In a world where electricity was rather unstable, the slightest angry breeze possessed the ability to knock out the power. DG was armed with a lantern when the lights in the second-story corridor flickered, slipped her into darkness, came back on again, then went out in a calm whoosh of rain against the windows. She squeezed the lantern at the handle, and it suddenly burned with a clear, yellowish light. A few paces ahead, she found the sitting room door ajar, and candles being lit inside. She knew she wouldn't be the only one awake, despite the late hour, that it was almost midnight and they'd had a day as rough as the weather.
Thisbe lit a candelabra on the giant wooden "study table" at the far end of the room. To DG's surprise, she found Tamus sitting crossed-legged on the end of the same table, an ignored book in his hands. But before DG was noticed, she had a chance to watch the elf, and, for the first time, noticed that his eyes were not on the book but followed Thisbe's movements from one candle to the next. Of course, Thisbe going from one end of the room to the other was sometimes an unavoidable sight, especially that night: she tipped over a tea table, then caught her skirt at the foot of the couch, and nearly stepped on Marius's fingers as he sat on the floor. Thisbe's cursed grace often brought DG into a smirk, and she was joined that night by a soft laugh from the desk.
Glitch let his hand flop to the map of study. "Thisbe, dearest, what are you trying to do?"
"Save us from the dark, Teg. Where's that other candle got to?"
She found it and lit a match. DG looked away to search the room for Courtney, and quickly decided he'd gone to bed; he'd had as full a day as the rest of them, even if it was difficult to imagine Courtney fatigable. She spun about with the light bobbing in her hand when a sharp noise and a gasp of breath sent her back to Thisbe. Marius was up, startled and bewildered. Glitch dashed to Thisbe. Tamus stood behind her, one hand at her shoulder, the other holding the candle, wick still smoking. The poor girl was frightened to death, trembling and pale. Glitch folded her into a consoling, cushioning hug, and left a kiss at her temple.
"What was that about?"
Thisbe was too stunned to answer. Tamus replaced the candle in its hurricane holder.
"She tried really hard to set her hair on fire."
Glitch was torn between wanting to laugh and wanting to sympathize. He sighed, rolling his eyes, and shifted Thisbe from him. "How are we not related? My mother used to do that, set her hair on fire all the time. House always smelled like we'd had chicken for dinner, but forgot to pluck it before we put it in the oven."
The magical words soothed Thisbe, and she calmly blinked away the tears.
"She had the most beautiful hair, you know," Glitch went on, half to himself, the rest to the ghosts of his past if not for his friends. "Tumbles and tumbles of curly black hair. She used to wear half of it braided and pinned up at the back of her head, with these U-shaped pins she'd invented-no hairpin back then would've held my mother's hair in place, believe me, the world just didn't make them strong enough. But there would always be a trail of hair falling from the knot, down her back, and would inevitably get in the way of her experimenting." Gingerly, he touched one of Thisbe's red ringlets, let it slip through his fingers until it bounced back to her collar. "Her hair curled just like yours does, but hers was as black as that night out there, and yours, my little one, holds all the highlights of sunset."
The reminiscent mood was replaced with his delightful teasing. He only did it because he remembered her less as a little girl, and more as the young woman who'd somehow taught Azkadellia to smile, who'd garnered the respect of Old Dripplemede, and who made him proud that he'd rescued her, annuals ago, to become a bright star in his heart. She was seventeen, a grownup, and it made him feel old and melancholy, and Wyatt would laugh at him if he knew…
"You might want to thank Elf-boy for saving you just now. Heroes come in all shapes and sizes, and never are what we expect."
Thisbe blanched and crackled a protest that never formed. She heard Tamus growl behind her, though she had wondered how he'd managed to save her so fast. DG smiled softly and lowered her head. Marius laughed openly, and if he'd been closer, he would've received a slug on his shoulder for ridiculing his little sister so terribly. All the same, her silent threat suggested he watch his back from now on. Glitch alleviated her confused ire by kissing her forehead.
"You'd better go to bed. We'll see you in the morning." As she stepped away, Glitch let his hand fall from the top of her head with reluctance. He had a staring moment with Tamus, too, a test of dares and wills. But Tamus let his gaze fall first, giving away nothing, mostly importantly denying nothing, and he shuffled back to the book.
Thisbe passed a brief bow of farewell at DG, still holding to the intrinsic need to revere royalty, and reached the door just as it was knocked upon. She jumped back, startled, certain that it was a knock she'd heard, not just a clash of thunder and lightning. As soon as DG called for the page to enter, she was handed a piece of paper of familiar texture and weight. Puzzled by the page's delay, DG scanned the telegram, and then understood.
"It arrived just before the electricity extinguished," the page explained. "We were unable to acquire the whole message."
DG crumpled Jeb's useless telegram into a fist. "If the power's out, that'll mean the telegram system is down too. Sometimes this place gives me a headache…" She groaned and rubbed a dull twinge above an eye. Recovered, she remembered the page and asked him a series of questions. "How long is the electricity usually, um, extinguished? Does the telegram office have any way of relaying a message without electricity? Do you suppose they're having storms this bad in Caologard? What if it's really important? What if the Grangers won the election? What if they didn't?"
By this point, the page found himself rather overwhelmed. "Do forgive me, your Highness, for my current ignorance. I will discover as many answers to as many of your questions as soon as I possibly can."
"What? No." DG waved her hands. "I didn't mean for you to… No, just go to bed. Don't-don't give it another thought." Still, he hesitated. She tried to sound more regal and authoritative. "Go, go! Go on! Leave! Sleep!"
He bowed and went on his way. DG huffed and, depleted of sufficient energy, spilled to the couch. Out of the gloomy noise of thunder and rainfall came a distinct "ahem" of a clearing throat. DG lifted her head from the cushion and espied Tamus.
"I was just thinking," he began, concerned eyes lingered on each of those in the room, then to DG, "not that I really care what happens to all of you or anything-but I was thinking about it, you know, as if I did care. If getting this message from, er, your-er-whatever-is so important, then you could just send someone to get it. Caologard's not that far."
Glitch and Thisbe raised arguments, one saying that Caologard was that far, and the other saying that the princess wouldn't dare send someone and his brave horse out in a storm like that.
"Well," Tamus wasn't daunted, "Jeb Cain has yet to be informed of your decision to go to Milling Circle. Isn't that correct?"
DG found his taunts more amusing than irritating. "I was going to send him a message in the morning," she defended herself for the decision. "By then, the votes for the Gallentree State Council will be counted, and I just thought… But now I'm worried. He said the Grangers were a threat to Caologard. If something went wrong, they can get pretty violent." She unfurled the rumpled telegram from her palm. It told her nothing but "In Caologard still. It is a." A what? Mess? War zone? A field of butterflies and buttercups? What?
Her fear was absolute by the time Marius sat next to her.
"He could be hurt," she told him. "He could be trying to tell me he's hurt."
"If he were hurt," Marius explained rationally, "he would've started out the telegram: Get here now."
"That's not Jeb's style, Marius, and you know it." She saw him wilt a little, at the shoulders, when he knew she was right. Jeb would rather cover his injuries, and only tell DG after the fact. She had too much to worry about on her own without worrying about him.
"Fine," Marius hopped to his feet, "I'll go."
DG gaped at him. Thisbe raced forward but was unable to object, realizing quickly that she couldn't: brave and stupid Marius would do what he wanted to do. She clenched her fists and turned red in the face, even more rosy in the warm glow of the candles.
"How did you ever get so headstrong?" She pivoted to DG. "Please make him stay! Please, Princess?"
Conflicted, and knowing what would happen if she interfered, DG swung her gaze back to Marius. "She's right to worry. It's a little dangerous out there."
"I've driven through worse. And I know the road between here and Caologard rather well, DG, as you know." He planned it out in his mind, and reached a more favorable conclusion. "It would perhaps be better to ride than drive. I have to cross the Gallamin River, and these torrential rains could swell the banks, and I might have to go north to cross at the bridge. It would be best to take Varrick. He's received more training in bridges and waters, far more than the other horses… I could be there in a few hours. Perhaps by then the electricity will reignite, and telegrams can be sent and received again. Shall I go?"
Still uncertain, DG poised a silent question to Glitch, and he answered with the same reluctant silence. If Jeb were hurt, and they were forced to wait until morning to know for certain, it wouldn't be just her heart that would break, but Wyatt's, too. She trusted Marius. Was there a finer horseman among them?
"You're not much of an assistant sometimes, Marius," DG said. "You're a knight. Remind me to ask Mother to reinstate the knighthood." She recognized the arrogant glint in his eye. To be eighteen again and think the world owed you deference and nobility! "All right. Go. But be careful. And if I don't hear from you by morning, I'm sending the cavalry. And I mean that more or less literally."
Once nodding at DG, Marius patted Thisbe's shoulder, dissolving her dispute. It wasn't his fault he was meant to take on such deeds. He bowed to all then was gone from the room. DG felt wretched, as though she'd just sent Marius to his doom. Glitch smoothed his hair down, and it just sprang back up again. In a slouching heap, he was next to DG and pressed her fingers. Thisbe rubbed her eyes, the emotions of the day finally getting to her at the pinnacle of exhaustion. Tamus was at the door before Thisbe spotted his swift departure.
"Where are you going?"
He stopped and analyzed her, the indifferent smirk replaced by something resonating friendliness. "I thought I might go sightseeing. The road between here and Caologard has some of the finest autumn wildflowers." He didn't wave, just stepped beyond the door and disappeared.
"He's going with Marius," DG said, as though figuring out the riddle. She was not the only one relaxed by the news. She rose to her feet and hailed Thisbe. "You'll sleep all right now, won't you, Thisbe?"
"Maybe." But she was lying a bit, to sound stronger than she felt. "Now I have to worry about both of them. Not to mention Mr. Cain. But I'll try sleeping, Princess."
Glitch blew out the candles in the room, with the help of the girls, and all three of them met at the door. Glitch's soft, inquisitive look passed to DG.
"When you came down here, you were on a mission if I ever saw you on a mission. What did you want?"
DG recalled, in sparkles of thought spinning outward from a whirlpool, that she'd wanted to talk to Courtney about the Winter Lapse, what he remembered from the Queen's quest, and if he had anything stored in his long-reaching memory that might be able to help them now. It was not a task she felt up to just then.
"You know," she uttered dulcetly to Glitch as they sauntered down the lightning-lit corridor, "it can wait until morning."
27.
"So."
"So."
Conversation between Marius and Tamus had gone on in such a way for the last hour and a half. The only time they came close to any sort of banter was a remark or two about the climate. Tamus judged that the storm was moving faster than their horses, even the over-eager Varrick. The bulk of wind and hail had moved on after they successfully passed the slightly flooded and gushing Gallamin River. Marius announced when they reached the halfway point between Central City and Caologard. He recognized landmarks along the frequently traveled route. Tamus supposed that Marius said such things to show he knew the lands, knew where they were, where they'd been, and exactly where they were going; he was boasting, since he found Tamus's presence a gash to his pride.
On the whole, Tamus would've been more than willing to chat with Marius Lindsey. In the pattering of rain and the faint sighs of thunder, Tamus made another attempt. "So."
"So."
"So what's Caologard like?"
"Haven't you been?"
"Why would I have?"
"Don't you travel around a lot?"
"Do you ask that because I'm a Brairnoss?"
"Are you always this abstruse?"
"Are you always such a witty conversationalist?"
This barb of a question momentarily quieted Marius. He listened to the leaves dripping, flopping against each other in the fall of final drops. His mouth pursed as he defined his feelings for the elf, and wondered if he was the last one to hold doubts as to Tamus's willingness to stay with them. Finally, unable to take it, the temper within flared.
"She's like my sister!"
Tamus's mouth twitched, and he stole his eyes from Marius into the tops of the trees. The clouds were thinning, giving life to the light of Sequaitha-her name Trailblazer in the common language-the first moon of the gods. And if that wasn't some sort of sign… "So, you want to talk about your sister?"
"I want to talk about you liking my sister. It doesn't sit well with me. Because I don't like you, and I wouldn't trust you with her. I trust you with me since I know how to take care of myself."
"I don't really have any interest in-"
"Thisbe is a smart girl; she's no fool, you know. As far as I know, she's never tipped her cap toward anyone."
"Tipped her cap?"
"I never really thought about Thisbe ever having feelings for anyone-feelings-feelings, you know the kind I mean."
"You're such a pompous prickleleaf, Marius."
"And you're such a rude, arrogant, big-eared elf, Tamus."
"At least I don't pretend to be something I'm not. That just makes you all the more pompous. Don't feel bad: It's a trait of men whose names end in the letters 'U' and 'S'." He went on before Marius could defend himself, or save him the embarrassment of cracking a smile. "And since you wish to know so terribly, Marius, I tell you that I have no feelings for her either way."
"So… You can honestly tell me that you can turn around right now and go back to Brairnoss for good? And forget about all of us-including Thisbe?"
Tamus's wicked grin brightened in the increasing light of two lanterns and a hundred unscreened stars. "Oh, absolutely. Wouldn't faze me a bit." He clicked his tongue, tapped the reins, shifted his weight, successfully sending the horse in the opposite direction. He flicked a salute in Marius's direction.
Marius stopped Varrick, watching the elf slip away in the bobbing of illumination and a rakish set to his torso. "All right, you've proven your point!"
"See you later, Marius! My best wishes to Jeb and Garrett!"
Uncertain if Tamus was going to turn about, but not having the time to waste playing ruses, Marius spurred Varrick into a canter. Every eighth of a span saw him turning about, head to shoulder, to see if Tamus had returned. Darkness was behind him, nothing else. Marius found himself more amused than vexed by the elf's fickleness, and shook his head with a smile. To be that honest and that sincere, to the point of offensiveness, what must it be like? Tamus's characteristic ability to shred all rudimentary social customs, particularly of harmless lying in the banalities of everyday discourse, was either incredibly admirable or incredibly vain.
But, if Tamus did like Thisbe, at least it showed some sound judgment of character. Marius had always thought her of the highest quality, even if he had pulled her pigtails when they were kids. And that one time when he'd left crickets in her bed… Had she ever really forgiven him for that? But he'd taught Thisbe to ride and care for horses, picked up teaching her to read and write when Teg went away, taught her first aid, taught her how to defend herself when the Longcoats were thick and their friends began to disappear.
Varrick's hooves plashed and distorted the waters of the Treigekka, a noisy ravine that twisted its way from the Gallamin all the way into northern Sanvidell. The hamlet of Treigekka had once thrived as a stop along the Old Road, though now it was nothing more than a bunch of empty shops and eerie houses that tipped and sagged, a victim of the War, the Lapse, and the Resistance-a troika that realm citizens called the WLR, as it had happened more to smaller towns than it should have.
The woods of Treigekka were ancient, solemn, hushed. The wind shifted as Varrick sloshed up the muddy banks and back to the path. Marius caught a strange scent, like that of a new campfire snuffed in the rain. He asked Varrick to pause. Both waited, listening, unsure if it was imagination or reality that had caused the sudden increase in anxiety. Marius scanned the circumference, wishing for a handlight to flash into the black woods around him, for he felt evil eyes calculating his presence, ready to strike.
The galloping of a horse along the dirt and stone path was mistaken for another grumble of thunder. As soon as Marius knew it was a horse, he commanded Varrick, and his steed took off. Behind the rush of wind in his ears, Marius heard another horse from behind, a crash of runners in the underbrush, and shadows of men materialized.
The limited light of the lantern threw them into dimensions but very little else. They were grizzly, features bleared by the madness of fright and confusion that overcame Marius-and they were heavily armed. The second rider stayed motionless in the saddle, and Marius barely had time to notice him beyond taking him for one of the bandits.
Wailing and ululating cries and shouts, the bandits took to formation and charged. Marius slid from saddle to feet and focused on all the defensive and offensive techniques he'd ever learned during his mastery of hand-to-hand combat.
A wild-haired beast of a man, round and stocky, charged at him with no weapon but a stout stick. Marius put that out of commission fast, hurled the stick into the verdure, and taunted the man into punching him. His opponent too slow, Marius wrestled him down and left him writhing in puddles.
He heard other clashes going on around him, but in the dark it was difficult to see who fought whom.
By then, his observation ended when another came at him, this time with a dagger. Marius jumped back to avoid a swipe aimed at his midsection. The wielder, startled that he should miss, froze in delay long enough for Marius to tug at the wielding arm so hard that the knife dropped and the man's face met with Marius's waiting palm. A crunch, some warm dark stuff that could be nothing but blood, a broken nose, and the man collapsed.
The three remaining bandits fled into the surrounding woods, heading separate directions. But two others remained in the clearing, the two who'd arrived on horses. Enemies or friends? Or merely two bandits determined to successfully devastate the last standing defender? Had the runaway thugs been injured and afraid of their failure?
A click of a hammer locking on a revolver explained part of the story. Marius raised his hands to cede quietly. But then came the sounds of blades whooshing in the air, and into the lantern light came a sharp edge to the gunman's neck, while its master stayed in a shadowy silhouette.
"Drop it," the swordsman said. "He's on your side. As am I."
Marius sighed in tremendous relief. That voice belonged to Tamus. The blade was half of the elf's twin short swords, a heritage and culture worn at his back-for use rather than decoration.
The revolver's hammer unlocked and the arm fell. "Sorry, I didn't realize we were all fighting on the same side."
"It's dark," said Tamus.
"Hard to tell," added Marius.
"It happens," concluded Tamus.
"I heard them coming, and thought… The two of you got names?" He reached around to his horse and relit the lantern extinguished during the gallop into the fray. As soon as the light glowed, he lofted a black brow at the sight of Tamus. "Not what I was expecting."
Tamus crossed the swords in front of him as he glowered.
Marius soaked in the young man's presence, the tell-tale green cloak, the standard issue revolver, the ammunition belt. But he ripped his eyes from the mechanical arm. "You're in the SGAG."
"What? He's a what?" demanded Tamus.
"The Gallentree Guards," Marius repeated automatically. He stepped closer to the guard, a Fourth, as told by the cloak toggle at the throat. "We were on our way to Caologard to make sure Jeb Cain is all right."
"Full Cain is just fine. So the princess didn't receive the telegram."
"The power extinguished before the message was entirely relayed."
"That's why I volunteered to go to Central." He chose not to utter the message he'd been sent to bestow, for that was, as he saw it, only for Princess DG, and the business of no one else. He flickered a gaze to the elf. "You have to be Tamus. Full Cain's mentioned you."
"Consider me sufficiently flattered," emitted Tamus. He returned from the verge after cleaning his blades, and sheathed them at his back with a great roll of his eyes. "I'm going back to Central. Only came around to save your Realm-Dweller hide from drying to a crisp in the suns, Lindsey."
"Thanks for nothing, elf. I know how to fight."
Tamus considered this with a cockish tilt to his head, the haughty gleam in his eye, the irascible smirk returning. "I took down three fit and able men to your two fat and slow ones. That means I win. Goodnight."
"They're still out there," the Fourth said in a calm, logical tone.
Tamus flipped about and set an evil glare on the guard. "Who are you, anyway? Full Cain this, Princess DG that, and I don't know you from Dancing Marius the Jump-kicking Book Worm over here. Got a name, Guardsman?"
Marius wedged his way between the Fourth and the elf, holding his hands up to both. He'd grown used to mitigating, having done it frequently between members of Vicivi staff, and once or twice DG and Jeb, even once Teg and Papa Wyatt. "Let's just relax for a moment, OK? We're all friends-well, we're all associates, and we all have the royal family in common. We're gentlemen."
"Some of us had better act like it," spat Tamus, regard fierce on the Fourth.
"Some of us are just waiting to be introduced like proper gentlemen," countered the guard.
That ruffled Tamus, and he pushed towards the Fourth, throwing Marius off balance, and causing the Fourth to slip on a patch of mud. Tamus was able to keep on his feet, but Marius and the guard tumbled together into the watery sludge. Marius bumped his head into the guard's, each giving a painful groan. But they caught their breath when realizing the nearness of the other, a mere inch away, and an accidental understanding ignited when their eyes met. If Tamus hadn't been laughing, he would've noticed. As it was, Marius was aware of it, a burst of attraction he rarely felt for anyone on a genuine level, and scrambled to get as far from it as he could.
"Introductions, fine with me," grumbled Marius. Now he wanted to know the name of the Fourth, and wasn't it something how five seconds of nothing transformed into five seconds of eternity? Casually, holding to his indifference, he brushed the grime from his sleeve. There was nothing to be done about the mud on his trousers, and felt a pang of remorse as the Fourth had taken the brunt of the fall, his whole back a sheet of black silt. "My name is Marius Lindsey, and I am personal assistant to Princess DG. I am on this road to deliver a message to Full Cain of the SGAG. This is Tamus of Brairnoss-and to tell you the truth, I have no idea what he's really doing here."
"Oh, I'm merely a sightseer," added Tamus. "I'd show you my guidebook, but I forgot to-care."
"Right," said the Fourth, an air of sarcasm. But he shifted under the elf's intense ogle, and found more comfort in Marius's awaiting look. "My name is Andy Rome. I'm a Fourth with the SGAG. But you knew that part already."
"Which brings me to the point I was about to make before… Why don't I recognize you?" Marius asked. "I know all the Guards."
"I just joined two weeks ago, when I turned eighteen. And, anyway, I know you-or of you, more accurately. You'd probably recognize me if I was serving you dinner at The Clever Cow."
The light of knowledge flickered in Marius. The floppy, curly black hair and startling, pale blue eyes, not to mention the mechanical arm, suddenly fell into place. He had seen Fourth Rome in the Cow before. The bristling thought strengthened a sense of self-awareness and misery, that Andy Rome hadn't become anyone to him, really, until the green cloak changed him, until a descent into a mucky path. Marius supposed it was possible that Tamus was right, that he was a bit pompous.
"I remember you now," Marius explained, feeling like an idiot and thirteen annuals old again. "Master Glitch fixed your arm once."
Rome nodded at this acknowledgement. "That he did. Well, now that we know the names of the other, I say that makes us associates no longer and new acquaintances. As for our ultimate destination, I vote we go to Caologard. It's much closer than Central. Tamus, you come along, too. You can finish your sightseeing tour. I'd hate for you to cut it short on account of your bad personality."
"Bad personality," repeated Tamus in a flagrantly harsh manner. "Pah! As if I-! Oh, wait, yes I have one of those! Almost forgot in the gentlemanly behavior going on here. All right, to Caologard. May as well, like I have anything better to do."
Grudgingly, Tamus mounted the horse and asked for a trot. He pulled along beside Lindsey and Rome, the three of them quiet for a moment, thoughtful and uncertain and awkward-and exhausted. Tamus, usually just becoming more energized with the rise of the moons, began to feel the long day: the excitement at the Tower, the long trek through the rain, the fight with the bandits…
"So," started Tamus, "anyone want to tell me who those guys were? I rather enjoyed fighting them. Pity a few of them were blessed with spry legs and ran off. If I'd known, I would've broken their ankles first and then laughed hysterically when they tried to run away."
Andy's sharp features rounded into a concoction of horror and disbelief. "Who are you, really? You can't be a Brairnoss. I had no idea they were so violent."
"I don't think they are," Marius said. "Just him." He eyeballed Tamus with stark disapproval that eventually took on the hue of amusement. "You're a real piece of work, you know that?"
"So," Tamus said gruffly, "we're going to spend the entire trip talking about me? Wow, won't that be a change."
"I can't wait to see how you and Full Cain get along," Andy confessed to Tamus. The elf ignored him. "He's always swift to hand out orders, and while he's kind to the Guards, and we're more friends than colleagues, the whole group of us, he makes it pretty obvious when he doesn't trust someone. And from what he told me about you, Tamus, I don't think he trusts you very much-but I get the sense that he likes you, and just finds you confusing." Andy fished for a look from Marius, and when Marius answered, the two of them pretended not to notice.
"Oh, I'm not worried." Tamus's fair eyes darkened and he cracked a knuckle. "I know how to handle the Cains. So-who were those men? You never said."
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