The last time I had been in a garrison was in Dornel, two weeks before, and that didn't really count as we had spent most of the time under guard. I was surprised at how much the Royal Garrison felt like home.
The captain led me past the sentries into the main building (I glanced up but there were no paintings on the ceiling, just a honeycomb pattern), and down a series of halls and passages on the main floor until we approached a door with more guards. At that point my stomach growled so loud that I looked down at it, half expecting to see it snarling back up at me.
"I was going to introduce you to the commander before you ate," Suiden said. "But by the sounds you're giving off, he may think you have a wild animal with you." He beckoned a passing trooper and told him to show me where the officers' mess was. "I will come for you when I'm finished, Lieutenant. Don't wander off.”
The officers' mess was empty, the morning rush being over and the midday one not yet starting. I was able to snag porridge with honey, two soft-boiled eggs, toasted bread, butter and blackberry jam, a pomegranate, something called yoghurt, and a large pot of tea. I sat down by one of the open windows (facing away from the stables) and applied myself to making it all disappear.
"You're Lieutenant Lord Rabbit, aren't you?”
I looked up to find a major looking down at me, teacup in hand. I finished chewing and swallowed before I answered.
"Yes, sir.”
The major sat down facing me, setting his teacup on my table. "Have you been transferred here?"
"No, sir. I'm with my captain.”
The major lifted his cup and took a sip, looking around. "Who adds invisibility to his no doubt many talents."
"He's in a meeting, sir."
"I see. You're with that magical, aren't you?”
I put my spoon down to answer. "We are assigned to the Border embassy, sir.”
"I see." The major kicked the chair next to me out from under the table and propped his feet up on it, and waited until the spoon was almost in my mouth. "It's kind of strange, isn't it, all that?”
I put my spoon down again. "I wouldn't know, sir." My stomach rumbled, wondering why the gravy train had stopped.
The major took another sip of tea. A fly buzzed in one window and out another, while a wave crashed loud against the promontory's cliff. Just to make sure, I reached for one of the toast slices, buttered it, slathered it with jam, and raised it to my mouth.
"You're from the Border too, aren't you?”
I put the toast back down and folded my hands on the table. "Yes, sir.” The major went back to his tea, and I sat there while my food got cold and soggy. My palm began to itch and I scratched it.
"I'm sorry, sir, but we have to close the mess now to get ready for lunch.” I looked away from the major to see a trooper there with apron and towel.
"Oh, too bad, Lieutenant. If you were a captain or higher, you could stay and finish but since you're not, you have to leave." The major took a long sip of his tea, his eyes gleaming over the rim of the teacup at me. "And they don't allow food outside the mess.”
The itch spread over my entire hand. "I see." I stared back at the major. "As my captain is meeting with the commander, I'll just go to his office and tell them both why I had to leave the mess before I'd finished eating. Sir." I flexed my hand a couple of times and tilted my head so that I could see the server too.
The major lowered his cup onto the table. "Do not be insubordinate, Lieutenant."
"No, sir." I flexed my hand again.
The major said nothing for a few moments; then he smiled and stood up. "You know, I'm sure there can be an exception made for you, Lieutenant Rabbit. Stay and finish your meal." He nodded and, moving fast, headed out the door. The server made to follow, and I grabbed him by the arm, smearing butter on his uniform.
"A moment please, trooper.”
"Uh, I really have to help get ready for lunch, Lieutenant—” I shoved the rest of the cold toast in my mouth and started to work on my solidified porridge. "There is no rule that lieutenants have to vacate the mess, is there?"
"Uh—”
"My captain is really with the commander and I will ask them both."
"No, sir. It was just a joke, sir.”
I'd been hazed before and shrugged it off as a part of life in the barracks. And this was mild compared to jokes played on me in the past. Yet I wasn't tasting anything I was shoveling in my mouth and my stomach felt leaden from anger. The trooper watched me, nervous.
I nodded. "Dismissed.”
He rose and went through the mess to the kitchen doors, moving so fast that he created a breeze. I finished the rest of my meal and then stared out the window, watching soldiers cross in front of it going about their business. No one came to clear the table and I moved the dishes off to the side. Soon I heard steps behind me and turned, as Captain Suiden approached. His eyes narrowed as he saw my face.
"What happened, Lieutenant?"
"Nothing, sir."
Suiden sat down across from me. "Nothing?”
I scratched at my still itching palm. "Just a practical joke, sir.” Suiden was quiet, watching my fingers dig into my hand. I stopped and flexed it again, stretching it wide. The kitchen door opened and the same trooper came out, saw me, then dove back in before the door closed. I heard a muffled curse and a slight smile touched my lips.
"Lieutenant.”
"A major interrupted my meal, kept me from finishing, and then told me that I had to clear the mess as lieutenants weren't allowed in here past a certain hour." I nodded at the door. "One of the duty cooks backed him up.”
Suiden, still looking at my hand, raised a brow. "That's an old joke, Lieutenant, and relatively harmless."
"Yes, sir.”
Suiden's eyes shifted to my face once more and he raised the other brow.
"He was a lordling, sir.”
"High ranking officers stationed here usually are, Lieutenant."
I looked out the window again and nodded. "Yes, sir.”
I heard the captain sigh. "It is like pulling teeth, Rabbit. Tell me, and that's an order.”
I rubbed my hand against the other. "That's what everyone keeps foisting on me. From Jeff to Laurel to you, sir. 'Lord Rabbit' in a place where a lord's idea of a good time is bullying people who daren't fight back. And damn-all who I say I am.”
The captain pushed back his chair and rose. "Sometimes you just don't have a choice, Lieutenant. Or else you've already made it and now you have to live with the consequences." He waited until I stood.
"You're being foolish, Rabbit, like a man who escapes a burning ship by jumping into the ocean—and then complains because it's salty and wet." He started for the door, then stopped, catching me in midscratch. "Though I promise you, Lieutenant, if I ever catch you being small-minded and petty, I will help you get over it fast. Whether or not there are any rocks around to guard.”
It was just before noon when we made it back to the embassy, and it was a relief to enter the house and get out of the heat. As the door shut behind us, I started towards the kitchen, thinking to get a cool drink and maybe a snack to tide me over until the midday meal.
"Lieutenant, if I may see you and Ambassador Laurel for a moment," Suiden said, stopping me in midstride. He turned to Jeff. "Please find Captain Javes and Groskin and tell them I need to see them immediately.” We entered the captains' office, and I blinked. Gone were the folding table and chairs. In their place were two desks placed eater-cornered from each other, with large chairs behind them and smaller guest chairs in front. There were bookcases, a couple of cabinets, a low table with Suiden's tea service on it, and potted plants echoing the greenery of the courtyard. A breeze through the open courtyard doors sent the newly hung blinds clacking.
The hallway door opened and Javes and Groskin came in, followed by Jeff, and Suiden immediately sent him out again to stand guard in the hallway. As soon as the door closed, Suiden beckoned me to him.
When I reached him, he grabbed my hand and held it up to the light coming from the glass doors. "Tell me, Sro Laurel, what is this?”
I looked down into my open palm and my mouth fell open. I pulled away from Suiden, staggered over to a chair and sat down, still staring at my hand. Or rather what was on it. Lieutenant Groskin peered over my shoulder, then backed away fast, making signs to ward against evil. He stumbled over Javes who was coming closer to have a look himself. Groskin grabbed Javes' sleeve and dragged him away. "No, sir, don't!"
Groskin gave Laurel a wild look. "What the bloody hell did you do to him?”
"This is something between Lord Rabbit and me—" Laurel began.
"No, it is not," Suiden interrupted him. "I've told you again and again, Rabbit is mine." His eyes were afire. "You did this under my nose, while I was watching, without saying a damn thing."
Under my nose too. I touched the silvery marking.
"Will someone tell me what is going on?" Javes yanked his arm away from Groskin, walked over to where I was and took hold of my hand, looking down into it. His face changed. "Oh, I say—”
"It isn't a matter of who Rabbit belongs to," Laurel said, "but of what he is." He came up beside me and removed my hand from Javes' grip. "This was very necessary.”
"You've turned him into a freak!" Groskin pulled out two knives. "What are you going to do now, magic him into killing us all?" He bellowed the last part and lunged, only to stop and fling up his hands, still clutching his knives as the Faena held up a paw spread wide with his claws unsheathed. I screamed as fire spread across my palm at the same time the rune on the mountain cat's middle pad flared.
"Stop!" Suiden roared and everyone froze. The captain took a deep breath and then another, while I cradled my hand in my lap and bent over it, trying to keep from sobbing aloud.
"All right," Suiden said. He breathed deeply again, moved over to a desk and sat down behind it. He stared at Laurel Faena, his eyes molten green, as he folded his hands together on the desk. "Groskin, put away your knives." Groskin hesitated. "Do it, Lieutenant." The knives disappeared. "Everyone sit." Javes and Groskin found chairs and sat, Groskin as far away from me as possible. Laurel stayed standing and stared back at the captain. Suiden took another deep breath. "Fine. Tell me why it was necessary to mark my lieutenant.”
Laurel blinked, a slow squeezing of his eyes; then he sat next to me, propping his staff against his chair.
"Do you know where the People come from, Captain Suiden?” Great, illumined questioning. My head dropped down further in disgust.
"You heard him, honored captain? Even though he said nothing?”
My head snapped up and I stared at the Faena, allowing everyone to see the tears tracking down my face. Suiden remained quiet.
"And you've been hearing him for quite some time, no?” Suiden still remained quiet. Groskin and Javes looked at each other in bewilderment.
"I hear him too, mostly when he's upset or feels strongly. It's called thought-scrying and I can tell you that even among the People it is a most unusual ability. Yet here you can—as can I, but then, I'm 'magical.'“
My eyes narrowed at the allusion to my conversation with Suiden and Javes yesterday.
Ignoring me, Laurel gave a slight smile, a baring of his teeth. "And if I who am magical do this, what does that make you?"
"What are you saying, cat?" Groskin asked.
"Answer my first question, Lieutenant. Where did the People come from?"
"What people?" Javes asked.
"Us. Border folk. The fae and the fantastic. The 'magicals.'" There was silence; then Laurel sighed. "The People come from the land, this land." He leaned forward in his chair. "As I told Rabbit, the same land that you now occupy." Laurel sat back, his point made.
There was more silence. "And?" Javes asked, while Groskin looked puzzled.
Laurel stared for a moment, then dropped his head into his paws and started massaging his forehead.
"Oh, such obtuseness. You don't see?”
"Rabbit," Suiden said, "tell us what Sro Laurel told you.”
I had lowered my head again and now didn't bother to look up. "Once the People lived throughout Iversterre. They lived, died, and were buried here, their bones and ashes part of everything." I kneaded my hand as the burning pain began to ease. "Now you live here, in the same place that the People did, growing your crops, raising your livestock, birthing your children.”
"Are you saying that we are changing into magicals?" Javes asked.
"No. You already have." The pain was almost gone and I stared at the rune on my hand. The same rune that was on Laurel Faena's paw. The same rune that won a war.
"How so?”
"You are translated," Laurel said for me. "Your bodies, your very substance has been changed from human to fae, in all its variants." Laurel gave a swift smile. "It will be most interesting to see what form your children take.”
"Heresy," Groskin began, but Suiden held up his hand, stopping him.
"And Rabbit is also changed?" the captain asked.
"No. Rabbit is still human, but he is talent-born and can shape the force you call 'magic' "
"Yeah, but he's from the freaking Border," Groskin said.
"So?" Laurel shrugged. "His parents aren't. They were born here in Iversterre. Yet a son of theirs has enough talent that coming into his full power, he shook the world." He briefly smiled again. "Or at least the city. But unless Rabbit can control his talent, it will control him. Most of a mage's apprenticeship is learning mastery.” Laurel reached over, pulling my hand from my lap. I didn't resist. "Because of Rabbit's inexperience, he almost killed Lieutenant Slevoic. A small loss, perhaps, but one I am sure that your superiors would have frowned on." He ran a claw gently over my palm. "This rune will help him gain control, until he can be properly trained.” A shudder ran through me at the thought of being forced to return to Magus Kareste, and I felt the weight of both Suiden's and Laurel's gazes on me.
Laurel's paw tightened on my hand. "Rabbit—”
"What does the rune say?" Javes asked, interrupting Laurel.