Chapter Nine #2
“Looking up those courses.”
She chuckled. “Good. I am going to go score some more lemonade.”
Laughing, he nodded, and they parted ways.
There was a very long line, but she stood in the fourteenth spot behind some XIA agents, and she waited her turn. She was unsurprised when Day-ek turned around and stared. “How did that happen?”
“Girly clothing for relaxing. I need a smaller form for that.”
He grinned. “You are so cute and pretty.”
“Shut up, Speaker Tell.” She fidgeted. “The line is moving.”
He blinked and moved ahead. “You look a little off.”
“I just spent three hours in a shaman trance, and I want a lemonade. If I don’t get one, I am going to cry, and that is just horrific.”
He looked alarmed. “You spent how long?”
“Three hours. It was a complicated issue.”
“Go ahead of us.”
“Nope. Rules are rules.”
The line moved up, and Never held herself together. She was thirsty, and she wanted sugar.
Tam-or was suddenly next to her and lifted her in his arms. Dem-rah was next to them a moment later. “Never, what do you need?”
“Lemonade, please.” Her voice was thin to her own ears. “I can wait.”
“Take her to a seat. I will bring it out right away.”
Tam-or nodded. “Come on, sweet. Let’s have a seat.”
“It’s getting busy. We shouldn’t hog a table.”
“He invited me to hog a table. We are having a speaker’ meeting.”
He settled on a chair, and the troll and the goblin were looking at her. “Hey, dudes. I had forgotten how stress shamaning is.”
“Were you in there all this time?”
“Yup. Three hours in a trance, but I think we got him sorted?”
Dem-rah came by and said, “It’s been so long since we had a shaman, I forgot he needed to bring food.”
The goblin speaker said, “Hey, Dad. Who was she talking to?”
“Arduk-wel. He’s excited and making plans for his future now, and that of his bride-to-be. It is lovely to see.”
She had grabbed one of the lemonades on the table and sucked and swallowed. She then grabbed the next and kept going until all four were gone.
Tam-or just kept her on his lap while she drained the cups.
Dem-rah looked concerned. “You need more?”
“Nope. That’s good.” She chuckled. “If I stick around, I will start carrying chocolate in my pocket.”
“Shaman Kibra, concentrate on getting your head together.” The goblin speaker growled.
She saw a phone on the table and smiled. “My sister squealed on me.”
The troll spoke slowly. “She did. Tam-or got a series of angry texts.”
She chuckled. “So, fellas, what have you been discussing?”
The goblin grinned. “Sharing your skills. Now that I know you have had a consult with my son, I am more eager to see you in action again.”
The troll said slowly, “How to share a shaman?”
She smiled. “Well, my house is neutral ground, and it has gardens, so I wouldn’t need to create a bubble like I did today.”
Tam-or nodded. “I have the house in the enclave if you want to move in with me. Shaman appointments can be done at your house.”
She looked at him and smiled tiredly. “I haven’t even seen all of your tattoos.”
He kissed her. “We can skip that today.”
The other two speakers grinned.
“So, do you still want to design my tattoos?”
“If these two speakers still want you linked to their clans. If their answer is yes, then we can work on the designs tonight.” He murmured it against her temple.
The goblin said, “Give me a minute. Rrathan, come along. We will ask my son what he saw.”
The two got up and went to where her previous client was cradling his phone and talking to someone.
“That took a lot more out of me than normal. I gave too much to Cora again.”
Tam-or sighed and stroked her arm. “Thought as much.”
“Well, she was shot. I worry.”
“You don’t get injured at work?”
She chuckled. “You have seen my skin. It takes a bit to scar me.”
“Fortunately, I know of a tattoo artist who can work with orc skin. Well, Day-ek does. She did his marriage band on his arm. That was scarification, but she’s been able to tattoo a dark elf, so she should be able to work with you.”
She smiled. “You are giving this a lot of thought.”
“You are powerful with no rank markings. No clan markings. No status markings. I want you to be respected at a glance.”
Never smiled. “Respect is earned. If you get it at a glance, that’s fear.”
He opened and closed his mouth. Never beamed. “What I do is different than what you do. I have to tap into the wisdom of the earth beneath us and the waves of time. It’s a lot of communicating.”
She leaned against him. “This wrecks all my plots and schemes.”
“You had plots and schemes?”
“Yup. Now I don’t even have enough energy for a shenanigan.”
He chuckled. “I look forward to your being strong enough for a shenanigan.”
She breathed slowly. When she opened her eyes, there was a woman with pale hair and eyes. “Oh, hello.”
“Hi. I’m Amy. Through the grapevine, I was told to check you out to see if your skin could take tattoos. My neighbour gave me this.” She held up a flat charm. “I just need to press it to your skin.”
“Go nuts.”
Amy grinned and pressed the charm to Never’s collarbone. She pulled it back and blinked. “Whoa.” She quickly took a picture. She smiled at Never. “Did you want to see?”
“Sure.”
The swirling quicksilver was visible in the image.
“Aw, it’s more than skin deep.” Never smiled.
“Yeah. I think Emily might give you a hefty discount for that, just so she can take pictures of it.” Amy smiled. “This is her card.”
Tam-or took it. “Thank you.”
She smiled. “Jennel can help design power stoppers. They will keep her from getting to a dangerous point if she gets generous.”
Never smiled. “That might be a good idea. If I am around people, I like to energize them. This could be why I avoid people.”
Amy nodded. “I understand, but times change.” She jerked her head toward Tam-or.
The orc was texting. When responses came in, he smiled and texted faster.
The speakers came back and sat down. The goblin smiled. “My son received very wise advice and was given his options for his future, including the effect his decisions would have on his wife. I could not have done better, and I would have done worse.”
The troll nodded. “He would have.”
The three speakers chuckled.
The troll took his phone out and tapped it with a stylus. “There. My clan’s marking. I will let the chief know we have an active shaman one week from now.”
The goblin did the same. “There. Our mark. Wrap those in your design. My king already knows.”
She looked over to where Dem-rah was packing up tacos for a to-go order. He lifted his head and grinned at her. “Yeah. Pretty sure he knows.”
“Did you want to go home?”
“Yeah. I need another nap. Doing this from the house would be best. Not having to block out dozens of people would be great.”
He nodded and squeezed her. “Sounds good. Once you have the marks, we will need to activate them, but that can wait until all the marks are in place.”
“Wait. How many are you planning?”
He smiled. “Have you seen a shaman before?”
“Yeah. Oh. Right. Wow. That’s going to be a thing.” She looked at him with narrowed eyes. “Minimal facial markings.”
“Understandable. You have a lovely face. The rest of you is just spectacular.”
She chuckled. “Okay. I can walk.”
“Nope. It wouldn’t do to drop the shaman on her first day.”
“I thought you said most shamans were males.”
“They are, which is why you get special treatment. You are special, precious.” He winked.
She rolled her eyes. He made their goodbyes to the others, and when she looked around, she saw Amy sitting with what had to be her partner. Her hand was held by the one that wasn’t wrangling tacos into his mouth. There was another couple with them and a child about ten years old.
“Where’s the third agent?”
“He’s on honeymoon... with his wife.”
“Oh, good. I thought he went alone.”
He chuckled and walked to his car. To her shock, the other two speakers followed them. She whispered, “What are they doing?”
“You are the shaman to their clans; they are tasked to defend you. Speakers are thugs for a reason.”
“I thought speakers had magic for non-magical races.”
“Yup. And we have a physical imprint that lets us act when magic fails.” He smiled.
“I have never had magic fail.”
He snorted. “Of course you haven’t. You are made of it.”
“I am?”
“Sure. That’s what’s under your skin and shines in your eyes.” He opened the car door and set her on the passenger seat. “We will need blood from you, Never.”
“Sure. Give me a draw kit, and I can do that now.”
“No. Not tonight. Tonight, you recover from your unexpected practice at being a shaman, and the drawing and designs can come tomorrow.”
She smiled and nodded to the other two speakers. “Evening, guys.”
They both nodded with smiles, and Tam-or closed the door. She got her seatbelt on and sat facing forward when he got into the driver’s seat.
“Any questions?”
She pursed her lips. “One, but you are going to laugh.”
He eased past the crowd and said, “Okay, go ahead.”
“Do I have to fuck the troll, too? That is one yoga class too far.”
He fought the grin. “While he would probably enjoy that, no, you don’t have to.”
“I would definitely have to stretch first.”
“Stop thinking about fucking the troll.” He growled.
She laughed. “I have something to ask you when we get back to my place.”
“Really? What? If it is about screwing the goblin, he’s married.”
She snickered. “You will have to wait. It isn’t the kind of thing that I can ask when I am sleepy. I am trying to figure out the correct phrasing.”
“Oh, so it is a serious ask. Okay.”
She could see him click into speaker mode. His face was stern, shoulders back, and posture was better. She wondered if his mother had told him he was a speaker just to straighten his spine.
She watched the night go past and remembered the shocked expression on his face when he realized she really shouldn’t be driving. That was going to be a quick smile any time she needed it.