Thanks for the reviews! Here's the next chapter:
Briani shrugged off her clothes and slipped on her nightgown, climbing into her bed. She knew what her teachers thought of her; she was an enigma. Like her parents, yet…not, in a way. They also strongly disapproved about her affairs, and she'd decided to appease them. She was swearing off boys until she found one she thought she could agree with.
Cabarey, in the bunk above her, snorted and rolled over as she sighed, and Sphinx hopped up onto her bed. 'I told you we were smarter' the cat informed her.
'Fine. I concede. Very well and all, but what did you find out?' Briani had been sending Sphinx on "night errands" for a while now, to see what motions and such she could pick up from watching her teachers.
'They had another person with them as they talked,' Sphinx continued as Briani sat straight up in bed, hitting her head on the bunk above, and cursing silently.
'Who?' she demanded.
'You call all the toms for a mile around with that People thing inside of you and I'll tell you whatever you want.'
'You're worse than I am. But fine.' Mentally she sent out her call to all the male cats she could find, but told them once they spied the female, to take it somewhere else, away from the girl's barracks, as she wanted to sleep tonight.
Sphinx heard a soft mew and smiled. 'A lady who was short and old, wearing cold-weather gear. She had a bag filled with some green leaves.' And with that, Sphinx was off to join the toms.
"A Doi," she whispered to herself. Well, tomorrow, she would see what transpired.
* * * * *
The next morning's rising went the same as always, and Briani struggled through her day, finally walking out to listen to Sarge, about the Doi, she presumed.
"Now, we're going to have a Doi here to tell fortunes. You lazy lot have a break from all chores today, so I suggest you enjoy it."
As they lined up for their turn – girls first, of course, the Doi told everyone their fortunes. Cabarey came before Briani, and of course Briani wanted to know what had happened.
"She said that I'd be a Rider for as long as I could be. She didn't say what would pull me away from it, though. Maybe a boy?" Cabarey said, quirking an eyebrow.
"Aw, be quiet Cabarey, I'm up next."
The Doi hooked her "claws" into Briani's arm and pulled her forward, her eyes staring with a greedy hunger, and the voice that emerged was far from pleasant.
"You're mine, child." Silver fire whiplashed out, making it apparent in seconds that this was no true Doi. The fire sought hungrily for Briani's neck, and the girl tried to call up her small reserve of Gift passed on by her father, a forest green in color, to ward it off. But the other's Gift was too strong, and she was weakening.
Then gold-edged brown fire lashed out and struck the silver away. This spurred the rest of the area into action. Numair Salmálin's Gift encircled the false Doi, for he and Daine were there for a certain "conference". Briani quickly bonded with Daine as they fought together to call all the animals to their defense. A wall of teeth and claws leapt up to shield them from the onslaught of black-garbed warriors that advanced, and Briani was struck by what must be an amazing symmetry to part of her mother's time at the Riders.
Briani grabbed her dagger from her belt and stabbed one of her attackers in the back. Another was quickly dispatched, and a third followed his friends to the ground. And then something surged up within her, flowing in a sinuous wave of copper and green to hit down all the attackers…but it was also indiscriminate in its choice of victims. Briani watched in horror as the magic defeated her attempts to master it as it knocked down more and more Riders.
Finally with a scream of mingled pain and triumph, Briani silenced the wild blast and collapsed, but the battle was not done raging. Her indiscriminate combination of Gift and Wild Magic had left unconscious both their people and the enemies, so she had both helped and hurt them.
From up in the trees, Viannon of Tirragen watched the assembly of her fighters getting shot down by a girl's corrupted Gift, or so, it would seem. She cursed softly. This girl was the only one who knew of the Rogue besides herself and Namander. And the Rogue was the key to it all.
* * * * *
Briani awoke propped up against a chair in the discussion room of the Barracks. There was a boy she had never seen before –and therefore she presumed he must be Xall- and Buri, Onua, and Sarge. They paused the low humming of their voices as soon as her eyes fluttered open.
"What happened?" she demanded to know.
"There was an attack. And we have reason to believe that you were the target of it," Onua said carefully.
"No. I meant, who saved me? Some brown and gold magic-"
"That was Xall here," Sarge interrupted, pointing to the boy seated next to her. His hair was brown and he was handsome, by any standards, with a wry smile, and Briani was surprised to feel something catch in her heart, but dismissed it a moment later.
While the others discussed what was to be done, Briani turned shyly to Xall. "Thank you for saving me," she whispered.
"You're welcome," he replied.
"Why did you?"
"You needed help," he answered, shrugging.
"Oh."
"You want to leave?" he suggested, seeing that their teachers wouldn't be done talking for a while, and wouldn't have any more need to talk to them.
"Okay…" she said cautiously.
When someone saves your life, it's rather hard to stop a friendship from developing, as Briani quickly found out.
"So, you have Wild Magic and the Gift?"
"Yes. I think it will be a problem though. When I use one, they try to mix. I can't always stop them," she said, blushing. "You saw what happened today. And I managed to have it break my arm and knock out about half the Rider population."
Briani shifted her broken arm and slipped down a stair, thanking Xall quickly as he prevented her from falling. They talked some more, about where rumor held they would be spending the summer.
"Rumor has it that they're thinking of having it near the woods near Corus and in the palace itself, or so Queen Thayet has decreed."
"Palace probably means balls. Ugh. But the woods would be interesting," she said thoughtfully, her interest piqued.
"Why do balls upset you?"
"First, the frippery they make you wear, and second, the fact that everyone always finds a boy or girl to spend the night with and abandons their poor friends. Even Cabarey found someone last year, and they're still exchanging mushy love poems. It just annoys me."
That night, Briani sat in her bed, thinking about how Xall was different from any boy she knew because he asked reasonable questions and didn't ignore her like the other boys did whenever they weren't entertaining the immediate prospect of sharing a bed with her. At the same time, Viannon was talking to Namander about their plans to control the new-forming Rogue…
Thanks for the R&R everybody! I decided to stop using Xall to think through, as that started to confuse me too…so, tell me if you like it! I'm always open for suggestions, so R&R!
Briani shrugged off her clothes and slipped on her nightgown, climbing into her bed. She knew what her teachers thought of her; she was an enigma. Like her parents, yet…not, in a way. They also strongly disapproved about her affairs, and she'd decided to appease them. She was swearing off boys until she found one she thought she could agree with.
Cabarey, in the bunk above her, snorted and rolled over as she sighed, and Sphinx hopped up onto her bed. 'I told you we were smarter' the cat informed her.
'Fine. I concede. Very well and all, but what did you find out?' Briani had been sending Sphinx on "night errands" for a while now, to see what motions and such she could pick up from watching her teachers.
'They had another person with them as they talked,' Sphinx continued as Briani sat straight up in bed, hitting her head on the bunk above, and cursing silently.
'Who?' she demanded.
'You call all the toms for a mile around with that People thing inside of you and I'll tell you whatever you want.'
'You're worse than I am. But fine.' Mentally she sent out her call to all the male cats she could find, but told them once they spied the female, to take it somewhere else, away from the girl's barracks, as she wanted to sleep tonight.
Sphinx heard a soft mew and smiled. 'A lady who was short and old, wearing cold-weather gear. She had a bag filled with some green leaves.' And with that, Sphinx was off to join the toms.
"A Doi," she whispered to herself. Well, tomorrow, she would see what transpired.
* * * * *
The next morning's rising went the same as always, and Briani struggled through her day, finally walking out to listen to Sarge, about the Doi, she presumed.
"Now, we're going to have a Doi here to tell fortunes. You lazy lot have a break from all chores today, so I suggest you enjoy it."
As they lined up for their turn – girls first, of course, the Doi told everyone their fortunes. Cabarey came before Briani, and of course Briani wanted to know what had happened.
"She said that I'd be a Rider for as long as I could be. She didn't say what would pull me away from it, though. Maybe a boy?" Cabarey said, quirking an eyebrow.
"Aw, be quiet Cabarey, I'm up next."
The Doi hooked her "claws" into Briani's arm and pulled her forward, her eyes staring with a greedy hunger, and the voice that emerged was far from pleasant.
"You're mine, child." Silver fire whiplashed out, making it apparent in seconds that this was no true Doi. The fire sought hungrily for Briani's neck, and the girl tried to call up her small reserve of Gift passed on by her father, a forest green in color, to ward it off. But the other's Gift was too strong, and she was weakening.
Then gold-edged brown fire lashed out and struck the silver away. This spurred the rest of the area into action. Numair Salmálin's Gift encircled the false Doi, for he and Daine were there for a certain "conference". Briani quickly bonded with Daine as they fought together to call all the animals to their defense. A wall of teeth and claws leapt up to shield them from the onslaught of black-garbed warriors that advanced, and Briani was struck by what must be an amazing symmetry to part of her mother's time at the Riders.
Briani grabbed her dagger from her belt and stabbed one of her attackers in the back. Another was quickly dispatched, and a third followed his friends to the ground. And then something surged up within her, flowing in a sinuous wave of copper and green to hit down all the attackers…but it was also indiscriminate in its choice of victims. Briani watched in horror as the magic defeated her attempts to master it as it knocked down more and more Riders.
Finally with a scream of mingled pain and triumph, Briani silenced the wild blast and collapsed, but the battle was not done raging. Her indiscriminate combination of Gift and Wild Magic had left unconscious both their people and the enemies, so she had both helped and hurt them.
From up in the trees, Viannon of Tirragen watched the assembly of her fighters getting shot down by a girl's corrupted Gift, or so, it would seem. She cursed softly. This girl was the only one who knew of the Rogue besides herself and Namander. And the Rogue was the key to it all.
* * * * *
Briani awoke propped up against a chair in the discussion room of the Barracks. There was a boy she had never seen before –and therefore she presumed he must be Xall- and Buri, Onua, and Sarge. They paused the low humming of their voices as soon as her eyes fluttered open.
"What happened?" she demanded to know.
"There was an attack. And we have reason to believe that you were the target of it," Onua said carefully.
"No. I meant, who saved me? Some brown and gold magic-"
"That was Xall here," Sarge interrupted, pointing to the boy seated next to her. His hair was brown and he was handsome, by any standards, with a wry smile, and Briani was surprised to feel something catch in her heart, but dismissed it a moment later.
While the others discussed what was to be done, Briani turned shyly to Xall. "Thank you for saving me," she whispered.
"You're welcome," he replied.
"Why did you?"
"You needed help," he answered, shrugging.
"Oh."
"You want to leave?" he suggested, seeing that their teachers wouldn't be done talking for a while, and wouldn't have any more need to talk to them.
"Okay…" she said cautiously.
When someone saves your life, it's rather hard to stop a friendship from developing, as Briani quickly found out.
"So, you have Wild Magic and the Gift?"
"Yes. I think it will be a problem though. When I use one, they try to mix. I can't always stop them," she said, blushing. "You saw what happened today. And I managed to have it break my arm and knock out about half the Rider population."
Briani shifted her broken arm and slipped down a stair, thanking Xall quickly as he prevented her from falling. They talked some more, about where rumor held they would be spending the summer.
"Rumor has it that they're thinking of having it near the woods near Corus and in the palace itself, or so Queen Thayet has decreed."
"Palace probably means balls. Ugh. But the woods would be interesting," she said thoughtfully, her interest piqued.
"Why do balls upset you?"
"First, the frippery they make you wear, and second, the fact that everyone always finds a boy or girl to spend the night with and abandons their poor friends. Even Cabarey found someone last year, and they're still exchanging mushy love poems. It just annoys me."
That night, Briani sat in her bed, thinking about how Xall was different from any boy she knew because he asked reasonable questions and didn't ignore her like the other boys did whenever they weren't entertaining the immediate prospect of sharing a bed with her. At the same time, Viannon was talking to Namander about their plans to control the new-forming Rogue…
Thanks for the R&R everybody! I decided to stop using Xall to think through, as that started to confuse me too…so, tell me if you like it! I'm always open for suggestions, so R&R!