Heroes at Odds (16 page)

No one invited me to join the circle, so I stood to one side, feeling awkward.

They started humming, in harmony. It was a strong sound. I could practically feel it, and it hovered over the edge between attractive and disturbing. It wasn’t quite music, it was something more than noise. I didn’t know how, but it somehow felt welcoming. I almost wished I could participate.

They continued to hum as the sun crept up from the horizon. In my fancy, I imagined that the humming was calling the sun into place. My mind felt clouded and for just a moment, I believed that was what was actually happening.

I shook my head. Clearly I hadn’t had enough sleep.

When the sun was fully in the sky, the humming stopped, and my ears and mind felt empty for a moment or two. Everyone moved closer together and Browne gestured at me to stand beside her.

And what followed was a list of names for everyone in the circle, a rush of introductions I had little hope of remembering.

Everyone joined hands, except for me. Although I stood next to Browne, she and the person on my other side reached around me to join hands. I still stood outside the circle.

“By what is this woman called?” an older man who had been introduced as Farmer Trudeau Mitloehner demanded.

I looked at Browne with a frown. Surely she hadn’t brought me without asking the others first? Surely I wasn’t the only one who distrusted those who inflicted surprises on others.

“Shield Dunleavy Mallorough,” Browne answered a little loudly. “She is a caster seeking guidance and wisdom.”

Hm. I didn’t know about that. That was presumptuous of her. I was just interested in what they were doing. I really didn’t trust them to guide me. I’d gotten in trouble with that sort of thing before.

“What does she bring before us?”

“Intelligence, curiosity, and goodwill.”

“What will she take from us?”

“Knowledge.”

“What must we fear from her?”

“Nothing.”

“Shield Dunleavy Mallorough,” Mitloehner said to me. “What do you bring to us?”

Ah, damn it to hell, why hadn’t Browne warned me? “The desire to learn.”

“What will you take from us?”

“Wisdom.” I hoped. I was making this up as I went along.

“What have we to fear from you?”

“Nothing.”

“And what if we should do what you disapprove?”

“It is not my place to interfere.”

At that, the old man really stared at me. Really. It was hard not to look away, and I wondered what he saw, if he saw the rest of my incomplete answer, the fact that I would interfere if I thought they were doing something horrific. It didn’t matter whether it was any of my business or not. Sometimes people had to stand up for things.

But apparently he saw none of that in my face. Maybe I wasn’t a total loss as a Shield.

The man nodded. Everyone sat down, except for him, and I followed suit. The old man came to me and upended the contents of a pouch onto the grass in front of me. “Make a blade of grass into a rose,” he said.

“Excuse me?” I said.

“You heard me.”

“Why?”

“Because we ask it.”

I looked at Browne. She nodded.

A test, then. One I would fail. “I don’t know how to do that.”

Mitloehner frowned. “I thought you were instructing her,” he accused Browne.

“I never said that. She asks me questions from time to time, but she is largely self-taught.”

“Those left to learn in the dark tend to stumble away from essential ground, leaving it undiscovered.”

Well, that sounded pompous.

“I wouldn’t presume to instruct another,” said Browne.

“But you presume to bring this woman to join our circle.”

“I didn’t come here with the intention of joining anything,” I objected. “I have obligations.”

“So do we all,” said Mitloehner. “Nab has her patients. We all have families. We have shops or farms. You think these are not just as demanding?”

I didn’t know how to answer that. “I am not able to balance obligations as you are all able to do, apparently.” That was surely the safest answer.

“And you have no interest in trying?”

I didn’t know yet, so there was no point in talking about it. “I can’t create a rose from grass.” That, at least, was the truth.

What a worthless spell. Not that I had anything against worthless spells. The first spell I had successfully performed had had no value. It just seemed to me an odd choice for a test.

“Take a look at what we have. There are many spells possible from these supplies.”

I looked them over. I picked vislock powder, a dried hinen leaf, and a human tooth. I took up the mortar and pestle and ground the ingredients together. I poured the powder into my palm and knelt behind Browne, who either knew what I was doing or trusted me a whole lot more than I deserved, as she didn’t turn around to face me. “Darken the eye, blanket the mind, let thoughts go to rest, and silence all voice. Wait for my call.” I blew the powder into the back of her head.

She slumped to the side and rolled onto her face, asleep. I shifted her so she wouldn’t be breathing in dirt.

“Can she be roused?” Mitloehner asked.

I shook Browne and her eyes immediately blinked open. She rubbed them and looked at me. “Excellent work, Shield Mallorough.”

“How do we know she didn’t pretend to fall asleep?” a young woman, Maid Faye Berlusconi, demanded.

Browne sat up. “What have I done to make you think I’m a liar?”

“That’s not what I meant,” the woman stammered.

“Well, that’s what you said.”

“Enough,” said Mitloehner. “Shield Mallorough, when did you start studying casting?”

“When I moved here.”

“What spell did you first successfully perform?”

“An illusion, changing the color of a blade of grass.”

“What is the most complicated spell you have ever performed?”

I didn’t know how to answer that. The most complicated spells I had performed had been while channeling or controlling the wind. Even those weren’t as complicated as other spells I’d found in various books, they just required a lot of focus. And I didn’t want to tell anyone that I was doing it.

So, another spell that was complicated. “I’ve been able to make things rise in the air.”

“Levitation,” the old man said. “That requires a great deal of concentration.” He pursed his lips. “When did you decide to become a Shield?”

How was that for a change of subject? “I didn’t decide. I was discovered to be a Shield when I was four and I was sent to the Shield Academy.”

“So you had no choice in the matter.”

“Correct.”

“Do you resent this?”

“No.” I never seriously thought about doing something different. I was grateful to be a Shield. I loved doing it. I couldn’t imagine being anything else.

“You must know a great many secrets. Because of your position as a Shield.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” I hedged. I probably did, but not because I was a Shield.

The old man smiled. “Even now, you keep them.”

If he wanted to believe I was discreet, that was fine with me. Discretion had always been a characteristic I admired.

“Shield Mallorough, please leave us.”

“You mean, go home?” Then this had been kind of a waste of time, hadn’t it? I could have slept in.

“No, just stand away so we may talk.”

Oh. “All right.” So I stood and walked until I couldn’t hear them. They seemed to trust that I had gone far enough, for I could see them discussing something with great animation.

I supposed they were discussing whether I should be asked to join their group. They hadn’t bothered to canvas my opinion on the matter. That was arrogant of them, and I thought I might refuse to join for that reason. I already belonged to a fairly exclusive group. I had no need to join another.

I didn’t even know if I wanted to work with them. They hadn’t shown me what they could do. I didn’t know if I could learn anything from them. And I wasn’t comfortable showing strangers what I had already discovered on my own. They might talk to others about it.

But I stood there and waited. I could be wrong. They might want something else entirely, and I might as well find out.

It was taking them a long time to come to their decision. The sun rose higher. I was glad Browne had insisted we drink the tea before we left her cottage. I was getting hungry.

In time, I was called back to the circle, and I sat down with the others. I looked about the circle and saw some expressions of disapproval. None of them knew me. Of what could they disapprove?

Of course, the reverse was true as well. They didn’t know me, so of what could they approve?

“We may invite you to join our circle,” Mitloehner announced.

He paused, and I gathered that I was expected to say something. “I am honored.” I wasn’t, but that was a safe, polite response.

“Would you, if you became part of this circle, hold your loyalty to this circle above all others?”

“Of course not.” My first duty was to my Source, my second to the Triple S. They had to know that.

Berlusconi said, “Then you can’t join our circle.”

“I see.” That was annoying, but not unexpected. “I understand.”

My mild reply seemed to irritate them. “Why did you bring her here?” Berlusconi demanded of Browne.

“Trudeau told me to,” Browne retorted.

“A Shield would be a positive addition to our group,” said Mitloehner.

“And it’s our duty to teach her,” Browne added.

“Not if she doesn’t want to be taught,” Berlusconi insisted.

“I don’t object to being taught,” I protested. “But I’m not going to make any oath of loyalty to this group. I have obligations that can’t be superseded by anything else.” And nothing they said was going to make me feel badly about that. They didn’t understand what it was to be a member of the Triple S. They couldn’t. Having a Source was different from having family or a regular work partner. Those could be left. It would take a dishonorable dog to do it, but they could. I could never leave my Source, and I neither could nor would place anything above him.

“She needs appropriate instruction,” said Browne. “It’s our duty to make sure she doesn’t cause damage in her ignorance.”

“Either she joins our group and shows this circle the honor it’s due,” said Berlusconi, “or she swears not to cast.”

“I’m not going to do either,” I said. “You don’t seem to understand. I’m a Shield. I can’t let anyone have control over me. You wouldn’t like it if I could, because you aren’t the first person to try, and the first person who did was not a nice man.” Before I could decide against elaborating on that last statement, I realized they weren’t listening to me. Heads turned and when I followed their line of sight I saw six riders approaching at a gallop.

Something was wrong. Obviously. But something about their charge struck me as odd. They seemed to be racing right toward us. Surely, if there were some sort of emergency, they would be heading toward the village or the manor.

Unless they needed medical aid, and knew Browne would be there. Perhaps this circle wasn’t as secret as I had been led to believe. Perhaps it wasn’t a secret at all, and residents in the area were snickering at the self-important casters sneaking about in the predawn with their yellow robes.

Ah well. It wasn’t as though I’d ever had any dignity.

I stood as everyone else did.

The riders were getting close. They weren’t slowing down. No greetings were called out by anyone. I looked around at the members of the circle. There were no expressions of recognition.

I felt a trickle of alarm.

Were they going to run us down? Should we scatter? Would moving be more dangerous?

I didn’t know what to do. Neither did anyone else, from the looks of it.

At what felt like the last moment, the riders veered off just slightly. They didn’t leave us, though. They rode around us, again and again. They said nothing. It was eerie.

“Who are you?” Mitloehner demanded, his voice loud and commanding. It was, unfortunately, completely without effect.

I noticed the riders reaching into their purses. That couldn’t be good.

Pulling their hands from their purses, they threw fistfuls of something at us. I couldn’t see it, but something landed against my cheek. It felt like coarse sand, except when I rubbed my cheek, the sand didn’t come off. Then the riders began to shout in unison. I couldn’t quite understand what they were saying, but I heard the word “slumber,” and a couple of other words that rhymed. I felt the strange buzzing sensation that meant a spell was being cast. At us. I had no idea what to do.

They were casters, but no one those in the circle recognized. So who were these people? Where had they come from?

I was suddenly dizzy, the ground spinning around me. It was hard to stay balanced, hard to stand. I had to take a step or two to stay upright. What the hell?

I couldn’t see anything; my surroundings were moving too quickly.

Damn it, I was getting nauseous. I closed my eyes, but that only made the ground spin faster and harder. I was forced to open them again.

I watched the ground tilt and slide and wheel about. It hurt my eyes. A roaring filled my ears and I couldn’t smell anything. I collapsed without really feeling it, I was so involved in what was going on in my head.

Then everything went black.

When I could open my eyes again, the sun was considerably higher in the sky and I felt awful, the area behind my eyes tight with pain, nausea clenching in my throat and coiling in my stomach.

Everyone else was stretched out on the ground, too, and all of them were just beginning to rouse.

And then I saw the knives planted in the ground, blade down, in front of every member of the circle, including me. The knives were perfectly straight, leading me to believe that they hadn’t been thrown, but that the riders had gotten off their horses and walked around us, thrusting the knives into the ground.