“Interesting,” said Bri.
Marian finished pouring coffee all around except for Alexa and stared pointedly at the Swordmarshall. Alexa chewed and swallowed, drank some water, met Elizabeth’s eyes, then Bri’s.
“I’m the background person, since I fight the horrors every week.” An unamused smile flashed, then was gone. “I was originally Summoned a year ago to help defend Lladrana, that’s this country, from invading evil. Centuries ago some warrior-mages made a boundary of magical fenceposts with an energy field strung between them to keep the horrors—inhuman monsters—out. The fenceposts started falling and the desperate Marshalls consulted the main oracle-prophetess here, the Singer. The oracle said that if the Marshalls Summoned someone from the Exotique Land, that’s Earth, she’d re-discover the method of making fenceposts and re-powering the boundary.” Now her smile crinkled her eyes. “To everyone’s surprise, it worked.”
Bastien leaned over and kissed her cheek. “Not surprising.”
“Yeah, it was.” Alexa’s face hardened. “I was the first Summoned in a century. Alone with the Marshalls. Tested immediately to prove I could handle the job.” She swept a gaze around the table. “You weren’t there. None of you.”
Marian sighed sympathetically. She pushed back her chair and went to the sofa where Calli’s guy, Marrec, had placed the books he’d carried in. Dividing the stack in two, she put one on the table beyond Bri’s plate, then one set near Elizabeth. The top cover was dark black hide Elizabeth didn’t recognize, with a green wand topped with flames embossed on it. The spine said, in English, Lorebook of Exotique Swordmarshall Alexa Fitzwalter. Underneath was a dark purple book showing sheet lightning on the spine with the words Lorebook of Exotique Circlet Marian Harasta.
“Circlet?” murmured Bri.
Alexa answered as Marian resumed her seat and drank the excellent coffee. “The society here is fragmented. The Circlets are the Sorcerers and Sorceresses of this place. They usually live in Towers they raise by magic as their final test on islands off the coast. Lladrana has one coast, the west.”
Alexa sipped her water, set the cup down, and smiled again at Marian. “But like all academics, the Circlet politics were vicious—”
“We simply did not cooperate well before Marian,” Jaquar said, haughty brows raised over blue eyes.
“Blue eyes,” Elizabeth said.
He inclined his head in a nod. “Yes, there has been some interaction between our cultures. Somewhere in my bloodline there was obviously an Exotique ancestor.”
“I understand the Lladranan people are golden-skinned and dark-haired with dark eyes,” Elizabeth said, observing the silver waves of hair that Jaquar and Marrec had at their temples, “but aren’t there other cultures here with lighter coloring?”
“Excellent observation,” Jaquar said. “Yes, occasionally we have traders, and it’s true I spent my formative years in the south, but blue eyes are most indicative of Exotique blood.”
“Okay,” Bri said. “So most people look like Marrec and Bastien.”
“Ttho,” said Bastien in a mock-offended tone, bridling back and staring down his nose. “No. I am a black-and-white.” He indicated his striped hair.
Alexa pinched a bit of buttered croissant from his plate, waved it. “Black-and-whites are those whose Power—that’s magic—is fractured, and they usually have mental problems.” She grinned and popped the croissant into her mouth.
“Bastien has been irritatingly brilliant all his life, but…” Jaquar said.
“A loose cannon,” Alexa said with relish. “I still like using English idiom. Most people look like Marrec.”
Elizabeth and Bri stared at Marrec, his golden skin, black hair with silver streaks over the temples, dark brown eyes set at a very slight angle. He sat stoically under their gaze.
“Yes, our patients had the same cultural features,” Elizabeth said.
“I fixed Bastien,” Alexa said, stretching to plant a noisy kiss on his jaw.
“Ayes,” Bastien said. A side of his mouth quirked up. “Well and truly,” he said in English. His eyebrows lifted at Marian’s and Jaquar’s stares. “I have been practicing.”
“Me, too,” said Marrec.
Alexa huffed. “Let’s get my part over with. Marian was Summoned by the Marshalls for the Circlets to help battle the Dark—that’s the really bad entity running the show—making the monsters and sending them here for some physical object that we still haven’t figured out.” She smiled winningly at Elizabeth and Bri. “In addition to curing the sickness, that could be your task for the world, Amee. And the Snap doesn’t happen until you fulfill your task, usually about two months. The Snap is the way back to Earth.” Alexa shook her head. “We knew it would take six to fight the Dark in the ultimate battle at the end of this summer. Didn’t think of twins. Thought of three more Summonings, the City, the Seamasters, the Singer. With us—” she gestured to Calli and Marian “—that represents the six core factions of Lladranan society.”
Bri said, “I’m not sure I followed all of that. But we certainly can’t stay until the end of summer. That would drive our parents mad.”
Silence shrouded the table.
“You assume that time passes on Amee at the same rate that it does on Earth,” Marian said.
Fear squeezed Elizabeth’s heart. “No! Don’t tell me we’ve already been here years!” Bile rushed up her throat, her stomach contracted.
“Marian!” Calli scolded. She was sitting next to Elizabeth and put an arm around her shoulders in a tight squeeze. “Yes, time passes the same.”
But Elizabeth was trembling. Bri shoved back her chair with enough force to knock it over, marched with unsteady steps to Elizabeth, stood beside her chair and flung her arms around her. She turned into Bri and grabbed her hard in return.
“That was nasty,” Bri said thickly. “Get out.”
“I didn’t mean—” Marian said.
“Marian, sometimes you’re just too clueless in that smart brain of yours,” Alexa said. Another chair thumped and Elizabeth felt stroking on her head from small hands, and a strong feeling of calm coming from both Calli and Alexa.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Marian said, a sob in her voice. Elizabeth sensed the woman hovering around Bri and her, as shaken as the rest.
“We women from Earth have one major rule around here,” Alexa’s voice was soft, but steely. “We don’t hurt each other. That means we don’t manipulate each other and we support each other. We stick together. There are enough problems here for us all without infighting.”
“I didn’t mean to,” Marian whispered.
“I know,” Calli said. “You were just saying that when a person finds themselves in a new dimension, old rules might not apply. The academic approach. That wasn’t what was needed.”
“I know,” Marian said.
“You owe them for scaring them,” Alexa said like a judge laying down the law. “Big time.”
Elizabeth was breathing easier, the aftereffects of a strong adrenaline rush fading so she could act normally.
I notice that we are all girls in this group hug. Elizabeth heard Bri’s light tone and knew her twin was settling down.
Jaquar and Bastien have gone to the windows. Marrec has his hand on the door knob, Marian’s telepathic tone sounded shaky. Her hand had closed over Elizabeth’s shoulder as if to steady them both.
Men, Alexa’s voice, the first time Elizabeth had heard it in her head. Had the