Keepers of the Flame (51 page)

She
was dying. Elizabeth was with her and would be doing just as she had done,
trying to take the sickness into herself to heal it.

Her
body hurt so that she let herself fall into the healingstream and allowed it to
carry her away. She floated in space, the source of the healingstream, her
Power, feeling like a mote of the universe, captured in a bubble perhaps. Being
distant from pain and emotion, she realized that she was a fraud.

She’d
always cherished her gift, always linked to it, directed it, controlled it. She
was more of a control freak than her sister. When Brigid Elizabeth Drystan
didn’t like something, she ran away. She took life on her own terms. All this
time when she’d been telling others to let go, to surrender to the
healingstream,
she
hadn’t surrendered. She’d linked to that flood of
Power between stars and manipulated it, but had not let it manipulate her.

She
had to really
change
if she was going to save her own life and
Elizabeth’s. She recalled Zeres’s thoughts, his wonder, his epiphany.
If I’d
only known to tune my own chimes to the real Song.
Tune herself to the
Song. Understand her own Song and what notes of the Universe she echoed.

So
she listened, root chakra C, but other more subtle notes that held other
senses, Bri’s C also had the cadence of the patter of rain…so it went,
analyzing her own Song, that which made her unique,
hearing
it in the
Universe around her…that small pulse from that galaxy there, that wisp of solar
flare from that particular star. How odd.

How
wondrous.

When
she knew herself, and her Song, she opened herself to the Universe and let it
take her. She floated in serenity. She coalesced. The sprout inside her
withered and died.

She
opened her eyes and saw vivid and rich colors around her, lovely textures: the
deep red of Elizabeth’s damask medica robe, the creamy tunic underneath, the
polished satin wood of the walls. The brilliant sunlight shining through
pointed windows.

Someone
was sobbing. Since the sound was in her mind and blood as well as outside her
ears, she knew it was Elizabeth. Bri moved her head slightly to see her twin
held in Luthan’s steely grasp. On each of Elizabeth’s shoulders was a feycoocu,
also restraining her. Luthan was repeating something over and over as if trying
to impress it upon Elizabeth. Good luck.

“Losing
one is terrible enough. We cannot let you try to save her. She would take you,
and perhaps the other Exotiques and their mates and children, others we
cannot
spare.”

Bri
blinked as, during the third go-round, the words made sense. She couldn’t see
the men and women ranged beyond Elizabeth, but could hear their lovely Songs,
singly and in pairs. A great spring of delight filled her. The other Earth
women had always said they’d stand by each other, and they’d been ready and
willing to link with Elizabeth and pour Power and energy into her to heal Bri.

Her
mouth was dry. She swallowed and swallowed again to wet her tongue enough for
words. She thought of the last bit of chocolate she had in her pack and saliva
pooled. She tried to speak. A tiny cough emerged.

Everyone
froze, all their Songs pitched higher.

Elizabeth
put a fist to her mouth, met Bri’s eyes.

Bri
must not have floated around in the healing stream for eternity after all,
perhaps only the eternity that comprised each moment of living.

“I,”
she whispered.

Everyone
came closer to hear, so she decided to shout it with her mind as well as
propelling words with breath.

I
healed my own self!
She smiled and her lips cracked and the pain was almost sweet. She lived, which
was good, because she still had many, many things she wanted to do, to learn,
to love.

“I
healed my own self,” she said, louder. “And I can teach other people to do the
same.”

“How?
How!”
sobbed Elizabeth.

Bri
thought a minute, ideas swam. “Um, adjust my vibrations to the space-time-dimensional
continuum?”

“Tune
yourself to the music of the spheres,” Elizabeth said softly.

“Ayes.”

The
big red bird feycoocus hopped on Bri. One walked down her body—Tuckerinal.
Sinafinal stared her in the eyes.

She
speaks truly!
A long, melodious warble rose from Sinafinal.
She has learned how to stop
the frinkweed sickness and the Chevalier seed sickness!

A
great shout tore from many throats. Luthan released Elizabeth and the feycoocus
circled around the ceiling of the room, Singing joyfully and with tones outside
the range of human hearing.

All
the Exotiques surged forward, formed a healing circle and sent her energy and
Power—and love. She hadn’t realized until that moment how much all these people
actually cared for her. As soon as she struggled to sit, Sevair’s arm was
behind her. The flow of love from him added to the rest, simply overwhelmed
her. Perhaps it was also the aftermath of tuning her Song to the spacestream or
letting the Universe’s Song permeate her body, whatever, but she burst into
tears.

Sevair
slid to sit on the table, lifted and placed her across his lap. Elizabeth gave
her a handkerchief.

“It’s
gone.” Bri stretched the arm not clutching Sevair wide. “It’s gone and I’m
healed and it was beautiful and I love you all.” She’d gained strength and
energy from them all.

A
couple of men shuffled their feet.

The
chief Castle medica took her wrist and sent a probe through her that she felt
in every nerve. “The sickness has been vanquished.” Jolie’s eyes were dark and steady.
“You will have to teach us how to do that.”

Bri
nodded. “Yes, I can.” She smiled at Elizabeth who was letting big tears roll
silently down her cheeks. “If I can’t find the words, Elizabeth will help me,
but I know how to find the
feeling
and I’m sure I can show others how to
do so, too, even the most average Lladranan.”

Alexa
let out a big sigh. “That’s good, excellent.”

The
medica said steadily, “You will teach us so we can also spread this technique.”

“The
Circlets, too,” Marian said. Her brow creased. “A few young people with healing
gifts have approached us for training.”

“When
the need is so great the Song provides,” Jaquar said.

Her
burst of energy drained, now Bri felt as if a bulldozer had flattened her, and
sleepy. “I’ll start tomorrow.”

Sevair
lifted her with that ease that always sent a thrill through her. “I’ll take her
to our tower.”

And
when he let her sink into the soft feather bed and he joined her, uncaring of
the jubilant rumors already spreading through Castleton and people milling in
the cul de sac, she turned in bliss to sleep in his arms.

H
er deep and
heavy slumber was roused by desperate wailing. How
had
Elizabeth made it
through her internship? Bri couldn’t imagine doing the same.

Sevair
was up and moving and soothing by the time Bri cracked her eyelids to see
streams of sunlight painting bright transient squares throughout the room.
Before she could do more than stretch, Sevair was back at the door, wearing his
carved-in-stone expression of utter seriousness.

“What
is it?” Bri asked.

“A
stricken Chevalier flew in from patrolling the northern boundary.”

As
she dressed, Bri muttered, “The Dark is learning what works just as we are; it
made another soul-sucker, mutated the disease.”

“Yes.”
Sevair crossed the room, took her hand and kissed it. “But you know how to
vanquish this plague once and for all. Destruction can never triumph over
survival. Good always has an edge over Dark just because it
is
good.”

She
was glad that he believed that simplistic philosophy. Finding herself smiling,
she chuckled. She was glad she believed it herself. Sevair dropped her hand to
hold her tight. Though outwardly as solid as ever, she felt his inner
quivering.

“Too
close.” His murmur was rough. “Your death was too close. Let me hold you, know
you are healthy again.”

She
hugged him, rested against him until he reluctantly dropped his arms.

Downstairs
she found a young man wearing ragged leathers pale and hunched on the settle.
He rose and stood stiffly when he realized she was there, as if he was even more
distressed that she discovered him in a private moment of despair. “My pairling
is dying,” he said starkly. “Up at the Castle. They are doing the best they
can, but he—” His hands flexed uselessly. “Lady, they say you battled the
illness in your own body and won, that you can teach others to do the same.”

Bri
nodded. Mud’s whinny came from the cul de sac. “Let’s go.”

The
man’s smile was wan. “I walked down.”

“Then
we’ll meet you there,” Bri said.

“I’ll
run back,” he said.

A
few minutes later Bri strode into the lush main healing room of the Castle. She
didn’t like it anymore. She hoped this would be the last time she used it.

A
team of medicas were keeping another young man alive, and from their Songs, Bri
knew they were professionally compassionate but detached. He was more an
experiment for them, to see how Bri could cure him, than a person. They barely
knew his name.

She
stepped up to the dais holding the ornate healing table with Elizabeth.

“Let
me help, listen,
watch
,” Elizabeth demanded.

“Sure,”
Bri said, “but let me
teach
. Take his feet.”

Elizabeth
did as she asked and curved warm-aured hands around the man’s feet.

Bri
reached.
It wasn’t the healingstream as she knew it, but an outside force that she
hooked up to, opened a portal, determined the flow she needed.

Now
it felt as though the innate creative force of the Universe permeated her body.
She wasn’t a conduit, a manipulator, she was one with the source.

Link
with me,
she told the young man.
Listen, feel!
She showed him space.

Elizabeth
said,
You’ve done it. You’ve taken a Lladranan out to the Universe
.

This
is what surrounds Amee.
She altered the point of view and showed him his
green-blue world floating in space, circling a bright sun, with a large moon in
turn revolving around it.

So
vast
,
he said weakly, and Bri knew she was losing him.

No!
Look at the light.

Too
much dark.

No!
There are motes of light even in the darkness between suns and stars and
galaxies. Find them, LISTEN.

More
light than dark. I…I hear my Song!
He sounded exalted.
There are notes
of it in the wind of the true Song of All!

The
music of the spheres,
Elizabeth murmured.

Yes!
Bri shouted,

Ayes!
agreed the
young man.

Find
your Song in the Song of All, the music of the spheres,
Bri said.
Tune
yourself to it.
Shifting slightly, a little embarrassed, she advised,
Surrender
yourself to it—the light and music of the Universe as reflected in you.

To
her utter amazement, he went limp, and she
saw
! A sphere of—music
incarnate? light and music? sound?—something coalesce and penetrate his chest.
Without any Power from her it burst inside him and filled him, and vanquished
all touch of the Dark.

Bri
and Elizabeth folded onto the ground from sheer awe.

Maybe
it’s better not to be linked with the patient when that happens
, Elizabeth said
drily, turning her head to stare at Bri.
When the bubble bursts.

Probably
true,
Bri said, still too limp to stand.
But I’m glad I saw it once
.

39

B
ri ate first,
stuffing her face with an order of the Marshalls’ Dining Room’s premier
delicacy, Mickey Potatoes. Life was good. She was surrounded by babbling people
and that was good too.

Sevair
and Faucon had mysteriously disappeared. Bri figured it was because all the
Exotiques were moving as a group.

Alexa
had offered the seclusion of the Marshalls’ Baths to relax in, the Exotiques
and Bri and Elizabeth had taken her up on it. After a fun and wild time, they’d
retired to Elizabeth’s suite for a nap.

Hours
later, Bri woke, checked herself out mentally and danced with joy to find
herself clean and healthy and feeling fine. Elizabeth shook her shoulder and
smiled.

“What?”

“We’ve
been invited to a picnic in the Brithenwood Garden.”