Heart Quest (10 page)

He stripped off his uniform and dressed in new white bloused trous and shirt, then sank into a comfort chair. For a while, he sipped lager and watched the last leaves of the tree outside his window whisk around as the wind tugged its branches. Then sound twined subtly into the quiet—a few rippling of notes now and then, weaving into a simple melody. The odd tune teased his ears; he caught himself straining to hear more. Underlying the music was a beat that sounded a little like footsteps. “Come to me.” “Come to me.”

“Come to me.”

His curiosity roused, he stood and crossed to the doorway, opened the hall door, and cocked his head to listen.

The notes were pure, liquid.

Trif was playing them, calling to her HeartMate, calling him. He'd heard her play before—her tin whistle, her panpipes, her recorder, but this was a flute. He'd bet good money that it was expensive, fine, and Flaired.

More overwhelming temptation. But the music reached down in him, soothing the jagged edges of his bad day, tugging at him.

He shouldn't go to her.

But he wouldn't snap at her now; the music had made that impossible. He leaned against the corridor and found he wasn't the only one listening. Doors had opened all along the hallway and people stood outside. No men seemed drawn in a bespelled trance to her apartment and for that, Ilex was thankful.

He looked toward the lobby entrance, and found doors open in the opposite hall and clusters of folk in the lobby. He smiled. She certainly had a talent here. What was she doing wasting it in her Family furniture factory?

Pretty music,
said Vertic, joining him, seeming nothing more than a shadow just inside Ilex's apartment door.
A heart song
. He nudged Ilex's calf with his head.
It calls to you
.

It was damn near too hard to resist. Ilex's body stirred. He clamped his hands around the doorjamb until his knuckles whitened.

Then Trif stopped and the cold wind of loneliness, of being in autumn, settled in his soul.

Quietly, other doors closed. Sending a tendril of Flair in both directions, Ilex learned that she'd soothed this whole front block of the lodge. Incredible.

While he was bemused, Vertic trotted across to Trif 's door and scratched on it. Ilex's eyes widened—he was careful to keep Vertic out of sight of his fellow residents.

Trif opened the door, a silver flute in her hand, a dreamy expression on her face, and smiled affectionately down at Vertic. She stooped to pet his thick red fur, then looked straight into Ilex's eyes. “Come talk to me,” she said.

He was lost.

H
e walked to her and she stepped back so Vertic and he
could enter her home. “It seemed like a night for the flute.” She made a rueful face. “It's been an odd day.” Sliding a glance toward him, she said quietly, “I'm sorry I went off on my quest this morning.” She shrugged. “It seemed the right thing to do at the time.”

“The area near Landing Park is not thriving with people on the streets at dawn. Those Nobles usually participate in Druida's social season and sleep late. None of the Family members that serve them would be outside either.” His voice was deeper than he liked, resonant with emotions she could read if she dared. “Can you
please
promise me to quest in populated neighborhoods?”

Pink rose to her checks. “It's a little embarrassing going door to door when there are a lot of people around.”

“I didn't think that bothered you.”

“Some.”

At that moment, the kitten Greyku zoomed into the room.
Ah, here is Vertic. Here is Ilex. We can go to the beach now. Fresh fish. Yum.

Trif looked down at her kitten. “You had your dinner.”

You didn't and you must eat so you can play lots of beautiful tunes that everyone loves,
Greyku said virtuously, then spoiled it by adding,
And I want More.
She angled an ear at Vertic.
Vertic Fox kept Me in the garden today. He said I could not go for fish by Myself and that the fish man sells the food.
She looked thoughtful an instant.
Though I think the fish man would give Me free food I am so beautiful.

Ilex laughed and Trif laughed with him. It felt good. She raised her brows at him. “Have you eaten?”

“No.”

She licked her lips. “When was the last time you ate fish from a foodcart on the beach?”

He smiled. “The beach across the road from the garden gate…”

Trif grinned and shrugged. “May as well let Greyku see the beach.”

The fish smelled goo-OOD all day,
Greyku pleaded, watching them with huge blue eyes.

“That means for the last septhour and a half we've been home,” Trif informed Ilex.

Vertic swished his tail.
I would like fish too.
His tongue darted out to whisk around his muzzle.

Greyku pranced to the door.

“Can't we teleport? I'd like to practice,” Trif said.

He frowned and looked at windows painted with the weakening rays of the sun. “Evening and dawn are the
worst
times to teleport. Visualizing the light can be difficult. Don't you know that?”

Her smile was quick and charming. “Yes, but I'd like to spend time with you.”

Words he shouldn't have been pleased to hear, but was. “I'll buy everyone fish at the vendor's cart. Greyku can see the beach and Vertic can play in the waves.”

“Yesss,” Greyku said, the tip of her tail twitching with excitement. “I have never seen the ocean.”

Fish are good to eat,
Vertic said.

Trif stared down at him thoughtfully. “I can hear you too.”

Greyku smiled a little cat smile.
That is because he is clever as a fox.

They laughed again. Trif scooped Greyku up and arranged her on her shoulder. Ilex offered his elbow to her and she curled her hand around his arm, tingling every nerve in his body. Vertic slunk out the door and donned his shadow illusion.

Pleased at the sheer happiness of the moment, Ilex said, “We'll eat and walk and talk until full dark, then teleport back.”

“Yesss,” Trif said, in perfect imitation of her kitten, and did a little dance step as well, and the moment became burnished with gold.

 

T
rif finished eating before Ilex and they stood on the small
stretch of beach and watched the sun go down.

Greyku looked up at him and twitched her whiskers.
I am sleepy and your shoulder is bigger than Trif's. I will nap on you.

“Running up and down the beach, teasing the waves, and screeching defiance to the ocean takes a lot out of a cat,” Ilex commiserated, finishing up the last bite of flaky fish wrapped in seaweed.

Yes.

So he arranged her on his shoulder and kept her cradled there with an “encompass” spell. She blinked sleepy blue eyes at him a couple of times, then stretched out and slept.

“I want to show you something,” Ilex said to Trif. He started off to his favorite place in Druida.

“What?”

“Wait and see.”

They walked for some minutes on the firm sand of the beach until they reached the rocky outcropping that defined the northern limits of the beach. The tide was out, and Ilex led Trif along the narrow slice of sand into a small cove no more than two meters across. He picked her up and sat her on an extruding ledge, then joined her.

With a gesture, he motioned to the cove. “Look. Just look. See how the waves have made patterns on the sand, how the seaweed and shells lie, arranged perfectly by nature.”

He wondered if she'd appreciate this place as he did, and waited. Would she be bored by this place? All his nerve endings prickled in anticipation of rejection.

One minute. Two.

“It's ever changing, isn't it?” She pointed a finger. “See how the foam is sometimes wide, sometimes narrow? And the empty shells roll as the waves pull them back into the ocean.”

“Yes. And though it is always changing, the ocean and the sand and the rock remain the same over the days, transforming in small increments.”

“It's lovely. Peaceful.”

“I think of it as a garden.”

“A garden!”

“A sea garden designed by the Lady and Lord.”

She tilted her head. “I suppose. Ah! There's the last flash of Bel as it sinks beyond the ocean.”

Once again they lapsed into silence, and their breathing matched the swish of the waves. The whole world seemed to pulse inside Ilex, the sea his blood, the rock his bones…waiting for Trif—her touch or her words or her music.

Finally, he noted the tide turning and jumped back onto the beach. Before he could lift her down, Trif was beside him. She laughed. “We'll have to hurry or we'll get wet.” She grabbed his hand and sped back down the beach.

When they reached the place where they'd started, Trif stopped, whirled around, then heaved out a breath. “My friend Lark Apple loves Maroon Beach to the south but I just don't have the time to go down there.” She shrugged. “Too impatient for the carrier ride down and back.”

Ilex glanced up and down the beach. “Not much of a beach here in the city…the docks are just around a curve to the south.”

“Yes, whatever prime beach land Druida has was settled by the FirstFamilies. Maroon Beach is the closest nice one, and glider can get you there faster than the public carrier. Do
you
have a glider? You're a Noble, aren't you?”

Heat crept up his cheeks. “I'm the second son of a GrandLady, a distant relative of the Hollys. I won't ever inherit the title. No, I don't have a glider.” As far as he knew, his mother had sold it. He smiled slightly. “I am a Druida Guardsman, and I rarely leave the city. And in the city, I can
teleport.
”

“I'm working on that,” Trif said.

Greyku, sat up on his shoulder.
I want FamWoman now
.

Ilex transferred her to Trif 's shoulder. As soon as the kitten was settled, she revved up her purr.
We are helping you learn to 'port.

“Speaking of which,” Trif said, “I understand why 'porting during dusk or dawn is hazardous, but you said you could teleport back home.” She looked around. “There isn't anyone here, not that it would matter. Vertic is gone on foxy business, and I'm getting cool. Can we try 'porting back?” An uncertain expression flashed in her eyes. “I haven't ever tried it at night.”

“We'll be fine,” Ilex said.

She shook her head. “You are so certain sure, it's amazing. So solid. I feel so safe with you.”

Ilex winced inwardly. “You are completely safe with me.”

He wrapped his arms around her loosely. “Stretch your mind and your Flair toward the landing pad in MidClass Lodge lobby. Envision it. Can you sense whether the light is on or off?”

With an automatic flick of his Flair, he knew it was on.

“Yes!” She quivered in his arms, her voice lilting with joy. “Yes, I can see the light. It's on.” She looked up at him, lips curved and eyes bright, and it took all his willpower not to tighten his grip, turn her, and kiss her.

Her smile faded. “What's wrong? You look…hurt.”

Gas pain,
Greyku said, making Ilex choke.

Trif turned her gaze to her kitten. “I didn't think you knew what a gas pain is.”

It is a belly pain, My sire Zanth says. He gets them a lot when I am around.

Ilex chuckled. “Perhaps he gets them because he eats sewer rats. Even Vertic doesn't eat sewer rats.” He squeezed Trif lightly around the waist. “I think you've lost the image of MidClass Lodge. Check the light again, and visualize it once more. Greyku, if you're going to help, you think of it too.”

An instant later the odd image of the enormous lobby from a kitten's point of view melded with Ilex's, then Trif 's vision. Ilex studied it. “I think you could fine-tune your perspective.” It was skewed, flattened, and not because of the difference in their heights.

“Practice your breathing and sharpen your focus, see if you can actually connect with the place in the here and now.”

For a moment Trif 's picture sharpened; then Ilex felt her Flair whip out of control and a different vision came.

It was daylight and the ground was roughly the same as where MidClass Lodge stood, but it and all the buildings of the city were gone. A group of oddly dressed people tramped over the land, the beach was visible, and so was only one other structure, the Ship,
Nuada's Sword
. It seemed a few centuries newer, but not as…whole…as it was now. It had just landed, Ilex realized with shock as his ears were assaulted by a language only vaguely Celtan. They were looking more than four centuries into the past!

“Incredible. Fascinating,” he said, wanting to see more, but any link with his HeartMate would strengthen the bond between them.

Trif gasped and trembled in his arms. No use for it. He linked with her, took control of her unruly Flair, shaped it into the image of MidClass Lodge lobby, and held it without faltering.

Her Flair went straight to his loins, hardening him until he ached with need. One step would bring his yearning flesh against the sweet softness of her bottom. She would turn and welcome him, they would fall on the beach….

No!

He clenched his teeth against the hot rush of passion. Concentrated on the rock-solid visualization that he could make appear in a hologram, the Flair cycling between them was so great, instead of the iron readiness of his sex. But he couldn't fight lusty desire, the sweetness of her scent, hold the image and speak at the same time. So he spoke to her mentally, with forced calm.
Don't just look. SEE. Observe all the details. Calm your breathing into the proper pattern.

I don't think I can—

No! Stop that thought. Most of all, you must BELIEVE you can do this. I know you can.
She'd said he was certain sure and he was, of himself and his abilities. Of her Flair and that she could tame it, force it to do her will.
Belief is EVERYTHING.
He sent her his own certainty.

The next breath she took was steadier. Her confidence rose with the solidity of the link between them, the knowledge that she wouldn't, couldn't, fail while he was here—and that he was waiting for
her
to teleport them home. That he was confident she could do so.

Trif 's vision of the past had overwhelmed Greyku too, and she had lost her own unique perspective of the landing pad in the lobby. “Greyku, give us your visualization again, please, so Trif can integrate it.”

The kitten obeyed, and Trif grabbed onto the mental picture with near-desperation, and suddenly all three ideas merged and snapped into one firm focus—Trif 's.

Ilex waited patiently as she went through another round of the breathing cycle, and Greyku held very still too.

“The landing pad light says it's clear. On three,” Trif said evenly, though her muscles held the fine tension of rising Flair. “One, Guardsman Ilex; two, cat Greyku, three!”