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 other women been courteously holding back, or was it because they were all touching?
Because we are all physically connected, Bri said.
“This isn’t unexpected,” Alexa said. She stopped smoothing Elizabeth’s hair and Elizabeth missed it. She heard the sound of furniture moving. Lifting the chairs back, probably.
Alexa continued, “Live here long enough and you begin to believe in fate—in the Song. The Marshalls and Circlets and Chevaliers and the Cities all had requirements for the people they wanted to bring to Lladrana. Being able to mesh with the individual group and the culture was the primary one. Since we previous Exotiques have assimilated well with the culture, it’s only logical that we’d be friends.”
Elizabeth wanted to see. She drew away from Bri, straightening in her chair and Bri let her go. Both of them back on an emotional keel.
Alexa cleared her throat loudly, stared at the cooler once more. “Anything perishable in there?”
Bri met Elizabeth’s eyes. The fruit salad. You handle this. You’ve always been better at negotiations, at haggling in the local markets, than me.
“Fruit salad,” Elizabeth said. “Leftovers from our father’s birthday party. Melon, papaya, grapes, kiwi, pineapple…” She waved.
Bri strolled over to the cooler, opened it and took out a big plastic-wrapped bowl. She blinked rapidly. “Mom’s bowl,” she said, placing it on the table and removing the clingwrap.
“Wedgwood,” Marian murmured.
“A special celebration,” Elizabeth said.
“Well, the fruit won’t keep,” Bri said. She dished servings out to everyone.
Alexa sat, took a bite and hummed in pleasure. She scooped a portion of Bastien’s off his plate, swallowed and said, “You really shouldn’t eat this. You might develop a taste for it, then where would we be? Not sure any of this grows here.”
“Grapes do,” he said, and left them on Alexa’s plate as he took more back, and they all dug into the
