Echoes in the Dark. Robin D. Owens

Circlet rose when the doorharp sounded and took a loaded tray from Alexa’s maid. The scent of French fries—“twin fries” as they were called here for the two women who introduced potatoes—filled the air, making Raine’s mouth water.

      “Marian had a significant encounter with them,” Alexa said.

      Marian put the tray down on a large round dining room table and they all took chairs. “Yes, I did. Juliet Philbert is the owner of a Denver new age shop called Queen of Cups. She gave me the Lladranan weapon knot book.”

      Calli added, “The Philberts have had a ranch next to our spread for generations.” She took a ham and cheese sandwich on a croissant. “And you, Bri?”

      “Dad’s roomie in college,” Bri said around a fry. “Elizabeth’s and my godfather. Only met his wife once, though.”

      They all looked at Raine. She nodded. “Yes, they commissioned a seagoing yacht from my family last year after buying some oceanfront property. Big gossip in Best Haven.”

      “So anyone know how they got Jikata?” Alexa asked.

      “Think so.” Bri wolfed down another fry. “When I last talked to my folks in the magic mirror they said something about planning to attend the grand opening of a rehab project Uncle Trent funded.” She raised a fry dramatically. “The Ghost Hill Theater. The jewel of the opening gala was a performance by one Jikata, local girl made good.”

      “Little did we know that Jikata would be our new Exotique,” Marian said, cutting her sandwich into smaller rectangles. “The opening would have been last night, I presume.”

      “Probably. By the way, the Singer’s medica has reported that she’s in good health,” Bri said.

      Calli frowned. “Bert, I mean Trent, is sure throwing a lot of money around.” She shrugged. “But he has it.”

      This whole talk of Summoning was too much. Raine pushed her plate away. It had smelled good and she’d eaten some fries and a bit of sandwich, but the conversation had dried her taste buds. “When do you think Koz—”

      Her impatience was stopped by the strum of the doorharp.

      “Bet he hasn’t had lunch.” Alexa drew her plate close. “He’ll want our fries.”

      “He can have mine,” Raine said.

      “I’ll cut half your sandwich for him,” Calli said, “but you should try to eat the rest.”

      Alexa swallowed a fry then called, “Entre.”

      Koz strode in, a big man with big bones. He was roughly handsome but nothing to compare with Luthan or Faucon. His face was animated, showing a lively mind behind the dark brown eyes. An Earth mind. The Lladranan body carried an Earth soul.

      He greeted them, pulled up a chair and looked at Raine.

      “Salutations, Koz,” she said belatedly.

      Nodding, he said, “Hey.”

      She found her fingers had twined together tightly. “Mirrors for my family?” was all she could force out.

      He hadn’t brought anything with him.

      8

      Koz said, “Yes, I can establish connections with Earth through my mirrors. Links I think will even survive when the Dimensional Corridor shifts and Earth is no longer accessible from here.”

      A mirror set in her father’s house! Or one of her brothers’, or even all of her brothers’! She hadn’t really hoped for so much. She gasped. Calli came and rubbed her shoulders.

      Reality cleared her mind. “There is no way my father or brothers will believe in mirrors that suddenly appear in their houses, in talking mirrors, in any of this.”

      “Doesn’t mean we can’t get something there, and you can’t check up on them once and a while,” Koz said. He lifted his forefinger. “However…”

      Raine tensed.

      “I can’t place the mirror or mirrors myself. Bossgond must do that.”

      Raine’s spirits sank.

      She’d had a few sessions with the most brilliant Sorcerer in Lladrana—the cranky old man. She didn’t think the CIA could debrief better.

      “Sorry.” Koz gave her a half smile.

      Marian coughed. “Maybe he’ll be reasonable….”

      Everyone stared at her.

      She shrugged. “All right, he won’t, but we should try, and right now.” Pulling out a small crystal sphere from her pocket she called Bossgond.

      The ball hummed for about a minute, then came a voice but no image. “What! I’m working!”

      “Koz and Raine have a project for you.”

      A heaved sigh, then wisps in the ball solidified into the image of the skinny, wrinkled Sorcerer. He sat with arms crossed and listened as Koz explained what he needed.

      Bossgond sniffed. “It will cost you.”

      Raine had anticipated this, but anger spurted through her anyway. She jumped to her feet. “Cost me!” Glaring at him, she said, “Am I or am I not the one who spoke to you for hours about every little detail of my Summoning here and my life? Haven’t I given you masses of information about…stuff. My grandmother’s mirror that originally came from Lladrana. The Summoning. Living here on my own. Travys who had the innate repulsion.” She waved her hands. “Whatever. You should owe me!”

      “She’s got a point.” Koz rocked on his heels, grinning.

      “Excellent strategy,” Alexa said.

      Another big sigh from Bossgond, though Raine thought she saw the eternal curiosity that marked a Sorcerer in his eyes. “You can locate your father’s home?”

      “My father and four brothers.” Raine stuck out her chin. It didn’t matter that none of them would believe in talking mirrors or interdimensional communication. She wanted a connection to them all.

      Bossgond let out an undignified squeak. “Five!”

      “Yeah, tough,” Raine muttered. “I love them all, and they love me.” Even if there hadn’t been much understanding among them. She’d wanted to take the family shipbuilding company into the second millennium with double hulls and metallic alloys. The guys had insisted on staying with wooden sailing ships. She probably would have left the company by now, but that was all in the past. Her future, for the moment, was on Lladrana.

      “I want to get a message to them that I’m okay, too.”

      Koz gave a little cough, gazed at Raine, then switched to Bossgond. “I have an idea.”

      “Ayes?” asked Bossgond.

      Koz looked Raine in the eyes. “Are your father and brothers honorable men?”

      Raine had rarely given that phrase much thought on Earth. Here in Lladrana it was important. “They’re known for always keeping their word.”

      “Right.” Koz nodded. Again he swept a look from Raine to Bossgond. “What say we send the mirrors to their attorney. You know their attorney?”

      “Yeah, I know him well.”

      “You could locate his office,” Koz said. A gleam came into Bossgond’s eyes. He loved discovering new places of “Exotique Terre.”

      Raine shrugged. “No problem. They’re a family firm, too. A family firm run by men doesn’t often change drastically. They’ve been in that building for twelve generations. The Lindleys were upstarts in Best Haven at four generations.”

      She looked around and Marian anticipated her, whisking a piece of paper and pencil in front of Raine. With a few quick strokes