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Subject: {ASSM} Marie's Solstice 01/14The Chains of Freedon 1/2 (new) TBD
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Date: Mon, 09 Apr 2012 08:10:03 -0400
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Marie's Solstice 01/14 The Chains of Freedon 1/2 (new)
---

About all I can say at this point is that I still have my goal in
sight, but it's going to take a while to reach it.

Time wise, 'Marie's Solstice: Part One'  begins about three weeks
before the Winter Solstice, and covers about three and a half days. 
It starts on a Wednesday, and ends on Saturday morning.

Part two starts later on that Saturday morning, and will cover
whatever it winds up covering.  Hopefully, it will end on Winter
Solstice, but at this point, I don't want to guarantee that.

Some will find this one too slow, with far to much infomation being
presented at the beginning, and others will probably complain that
there isn't enough information.

My reading suggestion is that you suspend your disbelief and let the
story carry you, during the first reading.

Enjoy first, analyze later, ok?

Thanks for giving me some of your time, and I hope you enjoy reading
it, as much as I enjoyed writing it!

TBD,
November 10, 2010
====

Marie's Solstice Part One: The Chains of Freedom
---

My friends were jealous, of course, when my...  Mentor,  came to Show
and Tell during my senior year in high school.  (It's really called
Public Speaking, but nobody, not even Mrs. Ross, called it that.)

I wish I could have told them, right then, what she really meant to
me, other than being a 'friend of the family'.

* * *

She had to duck to get through the door, but nobody really cared about
that.  After all, who would have expected the Senior Ambassador from
Rabelaisia to show up at our school, and in *our* room?

I didn't, and I already knew about her quirky sense of humor.

What was worse, for me, is that I knew why she was there.

For a Bardic Master, 'Show and Tell' is the essence of their life.

* * *

Once Mrs. Ross recovered, she welcomed Lady 'call me Vix' Chrystal,
and asked her what had made her decide to honor us with a visit.

"Marie asked me to be here, as part of her Public Speaking
assignment."

I couldn't stop my shocked outburst.  "I was joking!"

"There is quite often more truth in a joke, than there is in a serious
request."

I groaned to myself.  'Wonderful!  She's being a Bard!  Now what do I
do?'

She laughed from deep in that huge chest of hers, probably because she
wanted to let me know being embarrassed was ok, and her laughter
invited us all to share the joke, even if we didn't really know what
it was.

After she stopped, she turned slightly and perked her ears at my
teacher.  "May I speak to your class?"

"Of course...  Vix."

"Thank you."

She faced us again.   "Later this month, some of the people that live
on your world, myself included, will take the time to pause in our
lives and celebrate the Winter Solstice.

"Yes, I know that many of you do not accept this as a real holiday,
and that is your right, to believe or not, as you choose."

She gestured at herself.  "We Mage born are more sensitive to things
around us, and some abilities of ours are innate, whereas for you,
they are unknown.  Wishful thinking, as some express it."

She waved a hand seemingly negligently, and a rainbow of power
cascaded from her fingertips to touch each of us.

Nothing more happened, and she laughed again.  "That was only the
preparation for what I really wish to show all of you.

"Marie?  Would you please turn off the room lights?"

I rose and went over to turn them all off.  There was some light
coming through the windows, but it was...

Insignificant, compared to what I saw when I turned back.

Vix was outlined in a shimmering rainbow of colors.

So were the rest of us, and I could also see the way our auras reached
out and intertwined themselves with each other.

Her voice was gentle when she spoke again.  "And that is what I wished
to show all of you.  Merlin calls what you're seeing, Kirlian Fields. 
It's what I and my people see when we look at the world with the inner
vision we all have.

"For this day, all of you will see them, too.

"Perhaps, for some of you, the power of the Solstice will gift you
with the ability to do this for yourselves, whenever you wish to
remind yourself that you are never truly alone as you face whatever
the world sends your way."

She bowed her head briefly in what I knew was the traditional 'Bard's
Ending'...

Then she vanished, leaving me standing there, like a startled deer in
the headlights of an oncoming car I knew I didn't have time to avoid.

Mrs. Ross looked up from watching her hand as she flexed it, and she
was obviously thoughtful when she spoke directly to me.  "So the
rumors are true?"

"Which rumors, Ma'am?"

"The ones that say your family has some interesting friends."

I winced and sighed.  "Yes, Ma'am.  We've known Lady Chrystal for
years, now.  We...  Ummm...  We met her when we were camping one
summer."  I hoped that was safe enough to admit.

Apparently, it was, because she nodded and changed the subject.  "Is
there anything you want to add to your...  Show and Tell?"

"Ahh...  Yeah.  I guess I'd better, before somebody does something
real stupid."

"Oh?"

"I guess we all know Rabelaisian vixens have a real twisted sense of
humor?  And Vix...  She was a Bardic Master long before she moved here
and was made the Senior Ambassador."

I heard a few choked off laughs, and when I looked around most of the
class was grinning at me.  I sighed again.  "Yeah.  We've seen her and
the others at the Mall, often enough, haven't we?"

Mrs. Ross wasn't bothering to hide her grin when she nodded.  "I've
seen her a few times.  Are you saying there's probably a hidden trick
in what she did?"

"Maybe.  She does this a lot when she visits us.  You see...  That's
probably the trick.  She always says that the first step to learning
how to handle power, is being able to see it.  If you can see it,
then...  Well, you can use it.  It's sort of a Bardic Lesson, I
think."

"A lesson?"  She raised her hand and studied it again, then reached
towards me and all of us gasped when part of her aura stretched in my
direction.

I panicked and raised my hands in a defensive gesture, and she dropped
her hand back to her side.  "Oh!"

"Yeah.  See, that's what I mean.  It's like...  Drawing or writing at
first.  You have to watch what you're doing, and that's what Mages do
when they make all those gestures.  Bards can do it without seeming to
do anything.  That's what she was doing when she waved her hand.  She
did the obvious, but what she was focused on was giving all of us the
ability to see the world the way she can.  That spell is...  Pretty
complicated if you aren't a Bard.  Mages can do it, but they have to
do it in steps, not all at once like she did."

"She did this, then left?  Seems...  Irresponsible."

I looked around and wished Vix hadn't done this to me.  I guessed it
was her way of giving me a chance to learn how to hide in plain sight,
or at least get people used to the idea some humans were power
handlers, like she was.

"I'm sure she set limits on what we can do.  It's what she does when
she does it for us, so we can...  Play."

I almost said 'practice', but I managed to change what I said.

Mrs. Ross must have realized I almost said something else, but she
just looked around, then smiled to herself, I think, before she faced
me.  "Play?  Perhaps you should move to the front of the room and
demonstrate, as part of your Show and Tell?"

"Umm...  Yeah.  I'm pretty sure that's what she wants me to do."

I moved, then shuddered before I cupped my hands in front of me. 
"It's like building something, but you imagine it happening, mostly. 
This is something pretty basic.  I'm going to gather some of the power
and make a ball out of it.  I'll do it slow, so you can see what I'm
doing.  If you want to try it, you can.  Vix wouldn't have done what
she did, without making sure it was safe for us to do it."

When I was done I had a ball about the size of a volleyball cradled in
my hands, and I could see a few people who had some wavery balls in
their hands.

I shifted it so it was in one hand, then I passed my other hand
through it before I offered it to Mrs. Ross.  "Go ahead.  Some people
can feel it, some can't.  There's no right way to see and feel power."

She reached, paused, then spoke softly.  "It's harmless?"

"Yes, Ma'am.  I'm sure of it."

She nodded and passed her hand through it.  "That...  Tingled, a
little."

She walked around the room and did the same with all the others, then
stopped and frowned.  "I didn't always feel something.  Is that
normal?"

"Yes.  Vix says it depends on how the other person visualized making
the ball.  I think it's because the more details you add, the easier
it is for someone else to feel something.  It could be how you
visualized it, too.  If you don't quite believe it's real, it isn't as
real, for you."

"You've been doing this for years, haven't you?"

"Yes.  Not every time she comes and visits, but most of the time."

"Anything else we can do with these...  Balls of energy?"

"Yeah.  You can play catch with them and once you get used to thinking
the right way, you can treat them just like they are ordinary ones. 
That takes a lot of practice.  And...  There are things you can do
that isn't ordinary.  Like this..."

I gently tossed the ball up and made it hover near the ceiling.  "You
can make it do stuff after you let go, but you gotta really think
about it before it happens right."

We watched several kids try the same trick and most of the balls
vanished or never left their hands and just seemed to stick to them.

I giggled when one guy shook his hand like he wanted to get it off,
and it stayed attached.

"Hey, Mark?  You gotta think about it leaving you, while you remember
to keep it together.  Otherwise it's part of your aura and it stays in
the same place in your aura all the time.  It's..."  I giggled again. 
"All in your mind.  You'll see."

He sighed and looked at where mine was, then looked at me.  "Lots of
practice, huh?"

"Yeah.  Lots and lots.  Hey!  Let me show you something else you can
do.  Hold up your hands like you're reaching for me."

He did, then sighed.  "Is this gonna hurt any?"

"Nahh...  You probably won't feel a thing."

I brought my hands up, then imagined a rainbow extending from my
fingertips, to his.  "See?  If you knew how to do it, and we were
married, like life mates on Rabelaisia, I'd only do half the rainbow
and you'd do the other half.  It's what they see when they do that
special greeting."

I knew I blushed, then I sighed.  "You should see what happens when
Lady Chrystal does it with her friend Tom.  They make the colors twist
and do all sorts of things while they're walking towards each other. 
One time I watched them create this arch that had a huge ball of
energy at the peak, before they...  Kissed each other.  It was like
fireworks when they did that, and all those colors turned into
sparkles that fell on all of us."

"Sounds awesome."

"Yeah, it was."

"Can you do that?"

"Nahh.  I can create the ball and make it hover, but if I try to do
that sparkler stuff, it just vanishes."

"Solstice, huh?"

"Uh huh.  Solstices are weird.  If you have any sensitivity, it gets
magnified for about a day after one happens.  If you're really good,
you can do like she did, and get others to see stuff for awhile. 
Never lasts, though.  She said today, and I bet it will wear off by
this evening,  She keeps her word."

He looked around, got a weird look, then looked at me again and I
could tell he was scared, but serious.  "Hey, Marie.  I bet some of
the other guys are thinking the same thing I am.  How'd you like to
spend Winter Solstice with me on a...  Date?"

Some of the guys groaned, and a few girls giggled, but I could tell
the guys were wishing they'd been first to ask me.

"Yeah.  Ok.  You have a date."

"Wow!  Thanks!"

Mrs. Ross laughed, then came back to the front of the class.  "Ok,
Marie.  You've been in front of the class long enough.  Since he's
feeling so good, Mark can replace you, and talk about whatever he
wants to talk about, if it isn't talking about what his date with you
might be like."

He blushed.

I got rid of the rainbow, then went back to my desk.

Because I felt like doing it, I made my ball change to a halo, then
settled it above my head before I grinned at Mark and whispered.  "Do
you like me as an angel with long red hair?"

He was still choking when he got to the front of the room.

Mrs. Ross was smiling when she spoke quietly.  "Your halo is very
becoming, Marie, but it is also very distracting.  Please remove it
for now."

"Yes, Ma'am."  I made it vanish and she nodded her thanks. 

"Now, Mark?"

"Umm...  Oh, yeah."  He reached into his pocket and pulled out a
pocket watch.  "I was going to talk about how this has been in the
family since the 1800s, but I'm kind of...  Distracted."

He put it away and held up his hands.  "I've watched Lady Chrystal and
the others do things at the mall, but I never dreamed she could make
it so *we* could do stuff like that."

We watched while little bits of color tried to come from his
fingertips, then they vanished and he sighed.  "Marie made it look so
easy when she did it.  But it's not, is it?"

I sighed.  "No, Mark.  It isn't.  She says it's because it can take
most people a long time to believe it can really happen."

"Yeah.  I can see that.  What she did for us is pretty special.  I can
look all around and see how we're connected.  Makes all that stuff we
hear about everything alive being connected, real, now."

He sighed.  "I wish..."

He shook his head.  "Sure like to be there next time she visits you
folks.  I'm gonna remember this--and miss it, for the rest of my
life."

He looked at Mrs. Ross.  "That's all I got, except I'm never going to
look at people the same way, ever again.  Doesn't matter who we are,
or anything like that.  We're all family.  A *real* family, because I
can tell, ya know?  Look at all the connections we have to each other,
even when we hate the other person."

He sat down and she waited, then looked at the rest of us.  "I don't
think anyone else has anything they want to share right now, do you?"

We all stayed silent or shook our heads, so she sighed a little, then
smiled.  "Well, then, it's obvious you're all too distracted to pay
attention to anything I might have to say, so the rest of the period
is free time for all of you.  Just try not to mob Marie while you... 
Learn how to play with your gifts."

Naturally, I was mobbed by people asking me how to do things, and I
realized that learning how to handle their enthusiasm was another part
of Vix's lesson to me, and it was one that couldn't have been given in
any other way.

I was grateful when Mark pushed his way in until he was next to me and
glaring at everyone.  "Come on.  We're not stupid.  I bet we can
figure a lot of this out on our own.  Give her a break.  Sure, she's
had more practice, but she doesn't know it all, either, and she's
going to have to put up with us all day."

I touched his arm.  "Thanks, Mark."

I looked at everyone.  "Why don't you do what I and the rest of my
family did, the first time we had the chance?  Pair up and make it a
game.  You don't have to worry about hurting each other.  Just
remember, how you think is what's important.  Think of the power
like...  It's modeling clay you mold with your mind instead of your
fingers."

"Can we eat it?"

I giggled.  "Yeah, sort of.  Then you can reach in and remove it,
too."

I knew I blushed when I looked at Mark.  Instead of saying anything at
first, I touched him over his heart.  "See that glow?  It's weird, but
people were right when they used to say love is in your heart.  When
you really, really care for someone, and you can see it, it flows from
there to sort of fill their body until it comes out of their
fingertips when they touch you."

"Like it is from you to Mark, right now?"

"Yeah.  If the other person can see it, you can't lie about caring or
not caring..  Look at Mrs. Ross and how her glow sort of touches all
of us.  If she didn't care, it wouldn't be like that.  Kids on
Rabelaisia can all see it or feel it, and teachers who don't care,
don't last very long."

"What about that mind mate stuff they talk about?"

"That happens in their minds.  She says it's usually like an inner
warmth in the back of your head.  I don't think humans can feel it. 
She's...  Evasive when I ask.  All I get is 'If it happens to you,
you'll know'.

Eventually the period was over, and we all went to our next classes. 
By lunch time the whole school knew what had happened, and I was
constantly being asked if I could make people see things.  I managed
to avoid making it so other people could see power, but it was a real
strain for me to find ways that weren't obvious lies when I said I
couldn't.

Life had been a lot easier when I'd known I was the only person who
couldn't be lied to!  And Vix came from a world where you couldn't
obviously lie to each other?  No wonder Bards were so good at their
lessons!

Anyway, all of us survived the day, and so did everyone else who
hadn't been there.  Plus, when it was time to go home, a lot of kids
were complaining they couldn't see auras any more, so I was secretly
relieved Vix had kept her promise.

Then I wondered if what she had done was some sort of special
screening process, to find out if anyone else was a sensitive, like I
was.

Mark caught up with me before I was off campus.  "Hey, Marie.  Mind if
we walk home together?"

"No.  Come on.  I need to get out of here before someone else starts
asking me stupid questions about making them see power."

"Bad day?"

"Yeah."

"What made you pick me during class, for that rainbow stuff?"

"I was already talking to you when I thought about it, I guess.  You
looked so silly, trying to shake that ball of energy off your hand."

"I felt silly.  You think I can learn how to do that rainbow stuff?"

"Vix says it's the way you think.  Most humans can't think right, so
they'll always need help before they can do the rest."

"But if...  You or Vix helped me get started, I could learn to do it?"

"What makes you think I could help?"

"Something I read a couple years ago.  Bards like to take on special
apprentices sometimes.  She talked to you as if she expected you to do
whatever she asked you to do, and you did it.  I expected you to
argue, ya know?"

I sighed and looked around to make sure we wouldn't be overheard. 
"Ok.  Keep it a secret, huh?  I'm surprised I can talk about it,
because she put a lot of blocks on me back when she agreed to teach me
how to use power."

He flinched and stopped walking.  "You really *are* a sensitive and
her apprentice?"

"Yeah.  If you can still see my aura, and some of that other stuff,
you might be a sensitive, too.  I think that was part of what her
spell was for, to help me find others like me so I can have people my
own age to talk to about it."

He held out his hand and a small ball of light appeared in it, then it
vanished.  "Yeah.  that's what I really wanted to talk to you about. 
I think everyone else has lost it already, so I kept my mouth shut. 
Does this mean what I think it might?"

"I don't know, Mark.  She said something might happen on Solstice.  I
think she did something to set things up so those who still believed,
might have the full ability triggered then.  She's...  a Bardic
Master.  Been one for longer than most humans have been alive.  What
she does at the mall is...  The kind of stuff kits new to power do for
practice, according to her, Tom and...  Later.  Not here."

"I can guess.  Some of us have it pretty bad for those two women Tom
lives with.  If you dig enough, you can find out who they really are."

"And you still have it bad, for them?"

"Yeah.  You know what I'm talking about?"

"They helped me learn how to shape shift."

"Yeah, I guess you would know, wouldn't you?  Some more of that people
are people, stuff?"

"Uh huh.  I'll call her after I get home, and find out how much I can
tell you.  Interested?"

"Umm...  Let me think about it some more?  Hey!  Wait.  Shape shift? 
You?  What do you like to be when you aren't being yourself?  Dog? 
Cat?  Wolf?...  Or something else?"

I couldn't stop my giggles.  "Something else, ok?  And if you really
are a sensitive, and you can let go of being human, you can learn how
to do it, too.  If you aren't a sensitive, somebody who is will have
to help you change back and forth.  If you do learn how to do it,
you'll have to get a special passport and some other stuff, so people
don't mistake you for a real animal, or whatever.  You have to learn
some special spells, too, so things bigger than you don't use you for
a meal."

"Huh!  Ok.  I can see where being a mouse or something like that
wouldn't be a good idea."

"Yep!  Being too big can cause problems, too.  Some other stuff that's
nice to know, but don't worry about it unless you really can shape
shift."

"Ok."

"Ummm...  Mark?"

"Yeah?"

"You'd better tell your parents about what happened, today.  They're
going to hear about it no matter what you do to hide it.  That isn't
the sort of thing people are going to be quiet about.  Bet the world
knows by now, right?"

"Right.  Should I tell them I might be a sensitive?"

"Think they'll be ok with it?"

"Don't know.  They've been at the mall, so they know some humans can
do it.  But Tom's pretty...  Special.  So are Merlin and the rest of
his family.  I think I should wait and see if I can still do it later,
before I say anything about it."

"I'll ask Vix.  Might be better if she tells them.  She can do things
to...  Help them come to terms with it all."

"Yeah?  Like what?"

"Can't tell you.  I know, but I'm blocked from giving details.  Glad
of it, too."

"Scary."

"Safety, so I don't get in trouble by telling the wrong people.  Part
of what I agreed to when she took me on."

"But you're telling me a lot."

"I know.  Scares me, because there are some blocks gone that weren't,
before she showed up.  She must have made the changes this morning."

"Some of that Bard stuff?"

"Yes.  To me, it means she expected me to meet someone like you, or
maybe she figured it out when she first got there.  She's that good. 
I don't know what all she can do, except I keep remembering something
we all learned about their history."

"What's that?"

"Bards can go one on one against Mages, people like Merlin, for
example, and take them down."

"Huh!  Yeah.  I see your point.  And she's had...  Over a hundred
years of practice, hasn't she?  I never thought to look at all our
auras and see if there were any differences that might tell me if
someone is a sensitive.  They were all different in some way."

I sighed.  "I don't know, either.  Maybe she was just playing the
percentages and got lucky."

"You don't sound like you believe that."

"You're right.  I don't.  I think she took my joke about using her for
Show and Tell, seriously, then she decided to see if she could find
more sensitives.  I think it was mostly for me, but she's so deep, she
probably had several other reasons for showing up.  That whole thing
about seeing the connections and everyone being part of a big
family...  That's a lot like how the Mage born feel about themselves,
because of the way they were created.  They don't have all the racial
fights we do and I know she hates those fights, even though she's
sworn to not interfere directly."

"So getting us to see things like that is her way of trying to get us
to see a bigger picture?"

"Yeah.  It's possible that's part of what she was doing.  I bet there
was something in there directed at Mrs. Ross, too, but I can't figure
out what it was."

"Are all Bards that twisty in their thinking?"

"No.  Or, at least I don't think so.  I've only met one other Bardic
Master and she's nothing like Vix is.  Human, from Earth, but she says
she was trained by the Coyotes, which is rare.

"Oh, wait.  There are two other Bardic Masters living on Earth that I
haven't met, but I've seen them perform.  That's Spartacus and his
wife.  He's Rabelaisian and she's an Earth human  who was taught on
Rabelaisia."

"Yeah.  I've seen them, too.  That rapid shape shifting thing they do
at the end of their show is something else.  I lose count even when I
try to frame though a video of it."

"Yep.  I guess the only thing you can say about Bards is that they're
all different from each other, and they're different from other
Rabelaisians, except for one thing."

"One thing?"

"The whole society is based on personal responsibility."

"That's...  I read about it, but I guess it's different when you see
it up close?"

"Very different.  It also means that as far as Vix was concerned, she
knew exactly what she was doing, and the reasons she did whatever it
was she did this morning."

"Think she'll tell us?"

"Oh, she'll tell anyone, if they ask directly.  Whoever asks probably
won't understand it all, but she'll tell them anyway."

"And she's training you to think that way?"

"Pretty much so, yes.  Raw power doesn't understand intent, and it
doesn't forgive mistakes.  Working with manifested power involves
different rules. One of those rules is that intent is very important
when casting your spell."

"You know a lot about it for someone your age."

"Not as much as a Rabelaisian would at the same age.  Most of what I
know is what they pick up like we pick things up from living in our
own culture.  She's been cramming it in as fast as I can take it."

"Still a lot.  There's stuff you've mentioned that I've never read
about."

I couldn't stop my laughter.  "I like the way she put it a couple
years ago.  'There's more to being a Rabelaisian, or handling power,
than what you can learn from a Wiki entry'."

"Yeah.  She's got a good point.  If you haven't experienced it, none
of the power stuff makes sense.  Anyway, you'll ask her what you can
tell me?"

"Yes.  Umm...  Don't be surprised if she shows up to tell you in
person."

"Oh?  Oh.  I get it.  That personal responsibility stuff?"

"Yes.  Want me to stop by on the way to school?"

"Please."

"Kay.  Umm...  Mark?"

"What?"

"Do me a favor?"

"Maybe."

"After you go to bed, and when you're relaxed, check out the back of
your mind."

"How do I do that?"

"I don't know.  I'll be doing it, too, somehow."

"Ahh...  Ok.  You'll tell me more in the morning?"

"If I have to."

"That's...  Ok.  I'll do it and let you know.  Wish I knew what I was
supposed to do."

"So do I.  See you in the morning."

"See you then, Marie."

* * *

"Morning, Mark.  I talked to Vix last night."

"Yeah.  We know.  Let's go, then I'll tell you what happened."

"We know?  Umm...  Ok."

We started walking and he looked around, then sighed.  "She knocked on
the door while we were eating breakfast.  Mom answered."

"That's her.  Casual even when it's serious.  You'll get used to it."

"Maybe.  She talked casual while we finished eating, then she got
serious, I think."

"You think?"

"Uh huh.  She just came right out and said that she thought I'd make a
good apprentice, if I wanted to learn.  Mom and Dad sorta freaked,
then she offered to do that touch link they do, and she helped them
both put a finger on her forehead.  That was it, and then they took
their fingers off her head, looked at me, nodded, and told me if I
wanted to try, it was up to me.  It was all pretty weird, because all
three of them were so casual about it even though it looked like they
didn't talk about it.  What was it?  Some sort of freaky instant
telepathy?"

"Umm...   Sorta.  Did you accept?"

"Of course I did!  Then she had me do the touch stuff and she put in a
lot of blocks after I agreed to be her apprentice.  Was it like that
for you?  That took time, so I know that telepathy she uses isn't
instant.  That makes Mom's and Dad's reactions even weirder."

"Umm...  One more thing I have to ask before I can say anything.  Did
she set those blocks so you can only try the power stuff around me, or
at my house?"

"Yeah.  After she left I tried to do that ball of light stuff, and
nothing happened.  Fortunately, I tried it in my room, so I didn't
look like an idiot in front of my parents."

I giggled at the way he looked, then recovered, a little.  "What about
seeing auras and stuff like that?"

"Passive stuff?  Yeah.  I can do that.  Can't talk about it though.  I
think I can only talk to you and her, now."

"Ok.  This is where I get scared.  She made me a Journeywoman, then
told me I get to be your teacher, when we can get the privacy.  That's
going to mean you'll spending a lot of time at my place.  Your folks
be ok with that?"

"Something to do with the protective spells she's put around your
house?  Yeah, they're ok with it.  They even gave me blanket
permission to sleep over if I want to, at any time."

Suddenly, I *felt* a block vanish, and I sighed.  "Ok.  That was
weird.  I just felt one of the blocks go away."

"Which one?"

"Remember I said I couldn't tell you how she was going to convince
your parents things would be ok?"

"Yes."

"That touch link they did wasn't really a touch link.  The three of
them time traveled so they could have as long as they needed.  They
could have spent years talking about it.  All the decisions were made,
then they came back to the present."

He stopped and grabbed my arm, forcing me to stop walking.  "Years
passed for them?"

"Maybe.  Before you panic, everything that happens in the past becomes
a memory when you get back.  They wouldn't have had any trouble
remembering what was going on here when they left."

"Can you do it?"

"Yes, but I'm blocked, so I grow up normally.  She says it's important
that I don't time travel until I'm an adult.  She took me a couple
times so I'd know what it feels like, but it was only for a few hours
each time.  Here's the strange part.  Normal Rabelaisians can't do it
alone.  She learned how to do it after she moved here, and she doesn't
do it very often."

I hesitated, checked to see if I felt like I could say something else,
and got a strong feeling that I should wait until later.  "After
school, and after we get to my place, remind me to tell you how I
found out I was a sensitive, and some other stuff about time
traveling.  This isn't the time for us to talk about that stuff."

"Blocked?"

"In a way.  Just a feeling that I need to wait.  I know from
experience that if I tried to tell you now, you'd get to see me
standing here with my mouth open, but nothing coming out."

"Is that going to happen to me when I try to tell somebody something I
shouldn't?"

"Yes, so don't try it.  If you do,  you'll find out just how devious
she can be."

"You did?"

"Under her supervision.  I already knew enough to behave when she told
me I shouldn't try something."

"Ok.  I guess that explains why you didn't argue with her yesterday."

"Yep!"

"I tried that back of the head stuff last night.  What about you?"

"I'm...  Not sure.  Something changed, I think."

"Yeah...  That's about how I feel, except I can see a change when I
close my eyes and make some sort of adjustment in my thinking so I can
see my aura."

"Really?"

"Yes.  That stuff you said about that glow coming from my heart and
yours.  I had this idea that there might be more, so I looked real
close at myself somehow, and realized there are three centers, aren't
there?"

"Yes.  Heart, head and...  Sex."

"So mind mates have some sort of connection between their heads,
right?"

"Yes.  It's a shared interest thing.  Or you think a lot of the same
thoughts about stuff."

"That's what I thought.  Anyway, when I looked real close, I realized
there was a line of energy or something that was coming from somewhere
else.  It was real faint, though.  I think if I'd been able to trace
it, it would have led to you."

"Anything else?"

"There was a real faint link to my heart that went in the same
direction as the one to my head.  It was a lot fainter than the one to
my head.  And...  This was real strange, there were a bunch of those
links to my heart, and one was real strong, but it didn't go to you."

"What about sexual links?"

"Umm...   You're not a virgin, are you?  Neither am I and when I
looked, I could see some real faint lines that went off in different
directions.  Strongest one was to the girl I most recently screwed, I
think, and I think the other one was to the girl who was first. 
Umm...  Nothing to you, though."

"I'm not a virgin.  When you look close, all that energy is sort of
bunched up by itself if you're a virgin.  Vix says that all three
links are real strong if you're possible life mates.  That's how they
know they're compatible, even if they haven't seen each other before."

"Strange.  Anyway, I'm glad I had to make a special effort to see
stuff.  And...  Right now that mind link is a lot thicker than it
was.  I guess they get stronger the closer you are to each other?"

"For most people, yes.  She didn't say it, but I think that's why some
people talk about knowing they were right for each other the first
time they met.  Maybe, if the link is strong enough, people can feel
it instead of see it."

He sighed.  "That really messes up my world.  I thought most of that
stuff was nonsense.  Sure, Vix and the others do that stuff at the
mall, but there's no way you can call any of them ordinary people."

"I know.  What's really strange is that Vix keeps telling me that
anyone can learn how to handle power.  All they need is the right
mindset, and the rest is practice.  My parents can't do it by
themselves, even though they believe.  My brothers and sister can't do
it by themselves, either, and I know they like using power to play. 
On the other hand, once I get them to see things like I do all the
time, as long as I remember to keep a link to them, they can do it
all."

"No wonder you were stressed yesterday.  You had to find ways to
convince people you couldn't do what Vix did."

"It wasn't too bad when nobody from homeroom was around.  At least
then I could lie and not expect to get caught."

"Not get caught?  You mean anyone who can see auras can tell when
you're lying?"

"If they know what to look for, yes.  Sometimes it's pretty subtle."

"Oh.  Jeez...  That makes me glad I have to make a special effort to
see things.  What about you?"

"Same thing.  I have to do a mental thing where I sorta unfocus my
eyes.  If I do it right, it's like it was yesterday.  If I do it
wrong, one way, I can only see one way, and if I really mess it up, I
go blind until I do a reset in my head."

"A reset?"

"You know that meditation stuff where you're supposed to blank your
mind?  It's like that.  After that happens, I can decide which set of
eyes I want to see with.  That's one of the things you'll have to be
able to do."

"Star Wars stuff?"

"Yeah.  People really can do that blindfolded stuff.  I'll have to
teach you some defensive spells so you can deflect the power if
someone sends you too much."

I giggled.  "You won't need a light saber because you can make your
own energy sword whenever you need it."

"You're kidding!"

"Nope!  I'll demonstrate some of that stuff after we get home, ok?"

"Ok."

He looked around and sighed.  "We must be too close to other people. 
I can feel myself wanting to quit talking about...  Stuff."

"Yep.  Be a good idea to try and forget about doing anything.  If you
start acting too distracted, people are going to notice."

"Yeah.  I always thought my life was too complicated.  Now, it seems
like it was too simple."

I hugged him.  "Relax, Mark.   I bet after Winter Solstice you'll be
so used to all this you'll just do most of it without thinking."

"I hope so."

Before I let go I kissed him on his lips.  "You taste good."

"Ahh...  What was that for?"

"Because I wanted to, and people are watching us.  I decided to make
sure they knew we're a couple for now."

He looked around, sighed when some of our friends grinned at him, then
he looked down.  "Umm...  Have you looked at yourself recently?"

"Last night, just like you did."

"He must be pretty close, then."

"Huh?"

He moved a finger slightly and pointed  "Over there somewhere.  I bet
one of those guys is going to be your husband, someday."

"What are you?..."  I blanked when something filled my head.  It was
warm, it was...  Sweet?  And it was like a fantastic hug all rolled
into one package.

When I managed to see and feel again, Mark was hugging me and I could
tell he'd been holding me up.  "Ummm...  Mark?  Did I just collapse or
something?"

"Yeah.  I managed to catch you in time to make it look like we were
doing a real passionate hug.  At least I hope that's what people are
thinking."

"Good.  Somebody is walking this way, right?  I can feel him getting
closer."

"Yes.  Ted.  And...  I think I'm going to do what you just did.  Hold
me up, ok?"

I managed to get a good hug around him just before he slumped for a
few seconds.  By the time he recovered and I felt him take his own
weight again, Ted was waiting for us to notice him and his sister,
Julie.

I looked at him and smiled.  "Uhh...  Hi, Ted.  Julie."

He looked at me a little strangely, then sighed.  "We gotta talk
someplace private.  Soon, Marie."

"Umm...  Yeah.  You felt it, too?"

"Yes.  So did Julie when she focused on Mark as...  A man she could
learn to love, ya know?"

"I bet!  So...  Umm...  We can't talk about it here, ok?"

"I guess so.  Where?"

"This evening?  My place?  My parents won't have a problem with
anything."

"Julie, too?"

I giggled.  "Mark's gonna insist she comes over, right, Mark?"

"Huh?  Oh!  Yes!"

Ted sighed and looked around again.  "Thanks, Marie.  Mark.  We'll see
you after school if you don't mind us walking with the two of you."

"We don't."

"Gotcha.  See you then."

We watched them head for their homeroom, then we turned to go to
ours.  I sighed and touched Mark's arm.  "You were saying something
about your life being complicated?"

He glanced over his shoulder, then sighed.  "Sort of.  Maybe our lives
just got a little less complicated, now that we know who we'll be
marrying."

"I guess it will be a double date on Solstice, right?  No hard
feelings if I'm not with you like I promised?"

"Same from you?  No hard feelings?"

"None at all.  I've had more time to get used to this sort of stuff. 
Now I know why Vix has always ducked when I asked her for more details
about mind mates and life mates.  That was...  Intense."

"Ted knew, too.  He wasn't there yesterday, so I don't get how he was
able to point at us like that."

"We'll find out later.  Focus on school."

"Yeah.  I can feel the blocks kicking in.  I think they were
overwhelmed."

"Worse, Mark.  Life mate links can't be blocked.  Once they form,
they're there for life.  First one is the primary, but you can have
others, too.  Rabelaisians are pretty tolerant about it when it
happens again."

"Like I was saying.  Complicated."

* * *

Fortunately, the rest of the day was pretty normal.  People were
talking about what had happened, the day before, but I didn't get
asked much because everybody assumed I was just like them, and Vix had
to be there so she could help me see stuff.

Ted and Julie mostly ignored us, which made sense because we didn't
have many classes together, and we didn't sit next to each other in
the ones we did share.

I sorta thought that might change later, but I wasn't sure if I wanted
to do anything to make people notice us more than they already did.

Mark and I managed to get off campus without too many delays, and by
then Ted and Julie had caught up with us.

That was when things got even stranger.

Ted started it.  "Marie?  Mark?  Something strange happened yesterday,
and I'm not talking about that stuff Lady Chrystal did to your class."

I sighed.  "Just assume I'm not going to freak on you, and tell me
what happened."

"We heard about her being a friend of your family.  Used to her,
aren't you?"

"That's one way to put it."

"Ok.  Well, we saw her arrive, if that's what you call it when someone
just...  Appears and starts greeting people like she knows them."

"Makes sense, Ted.  I bet she's seen all of us at one time or another
at the mall, and most Bards take pride in remembering everyone they
meet.  It's part of the Bardic thing, to treat everyone they meet like
family, and I guess you could say it sort of amuses her to do that
'knows all-says little' stuff.  I'm still learning how to do it.  I do
ok, but I lose track under stress."

"Ok.  Well, that wasn't what bothered us.  That happened when she
looked around, spotted us, and came directly at us, like we were the
ones she came here to see."

"Maybe she did.  I guess you already heard she came here because I
was...  Feeling a bit crazy when I mentioned it would be fun to bring
her to Show and Tell?  I never dreamed she'd take me seriously!"

He laughed.  "I bet!  Anyway, she walked up to us, and walked next to
us while we were heading to homeroom.  Before she left to go down your
hallway, she looked at us, and said 'After Winter Solstice, you won't
have to hide who you are.'  Then she nodded a little and left."

"Umm...  Don't bother asking me if I know what she meant.  I don't
have a clue.  She told our class that maybe after Solstice some of us
would be able to see auras and stuff whenever we wanted to.  It was
like she was telling *me* there were other sensitives in the
classroom, and I'd be able to talk to them about it."

Julie looked at me, then touched Mark's arm and held on while we kept
walking.  "Does that mean Mark's sensitive, too?  If he is, I'm glad."

Mark sighed.  "I am.  I also agreed to be an apprentice to Vix, this
morning, before I left for school."

"Really?  Do you think she'd take us, too?"

He looked at me and grinned.  "I think your life just got more
complicated than mine, Journeywoman Marie."

"I hear you, Mark.  Julie, I don't know.  I'm sure she'll be ok with
me teaching you and Ted the basics, just like I'll be teaching Mark. 
Making you apprentices...  I'm not even going to guess what her plans
are, except that it's going to involve all four of us, and it will be
something...  Obvious, once we know what they are.  Bards are like
that when they're working, and it's obvious to me that for some
reason, she's decided to be a Bard again and not just the Senior
Ambassador...."

I groaned.  "Oh, crud!"

Julie waited, then she sighed.  "What is it?"

"I just realized that whatever her plans are, if she's being a Bardic
Master, she's also performing in another role.  I'm surprised I can
mention it, but since I can, I think your chances of being apprentices
just got pretty good."

"What other role?"

"I told Mark that power doesn't forgive mistakes, and it doesn't. 
It's like the ordinary laws of physics that we think of when we do
stuff.  If something can't be done, it can't and that's it."

"Makes sense."

"Good.  Thing is, all that power is...  Alive, when you look at all of
it.  Because it's all linked, there's only one awareness on Earth. 
Most folks who know about it call it 'The Zeitgeist'.  Merlin and his
people call it something else most of the time.  'The Purpose that
moves us all.'  They don't know what its ultimate goal is.  They...   
I guess you could say they work for it, but it's more than that. 
They're tools it sometimes uses as casually as we'd use a screwdriver
or hammer, then we put it away when we're done with it."

She thought about it and looked at her brother.

He nodded.  "Ok.  What does that have to do with Lady Chrystal and
what she did yesterday?"

"Everything, Ted.  Everything.  This is some die before speaking stuff
unless she tells you otherwise, ok?"

"Ok.  If you've never figured out we're sensitives, you can tell we
know how to keep secrets."

"Yeah.  Point.  Anyway, Lady Chrystal is Rabelaisia's 'Avatar of
Power' and its representative on Earth.  I can *guarantee* that
whatever it is she's doing, if she's being a working Bard, it's
something major, and it involves both worlds."

"Uhh...  'Crud' is a little too mild, isn't it?"

"Way too mild.  Trust me on that, because whatever it is, the four of
us, at least, are going to be essential to it.  She wouldn't have
singled us out if we weren't."

Julie flinched, then stared at me.  "You think we'll find out, before
it happens?"

Mark and I looked at each other and started laughing hysterically.

Julie frowned at us.  "What did I say?"

I grinned at her.  "You asked us if we'd find out."

Mark touched her arm and turned her so they could see each other. 
"Something like this came up yesterday, and Marie was dead serious
when she told me that all *anyone* would have to do is ask Vix what
she's trying to do."

I managed to slow down and catch my breath.  "I also said whoever
asked probably wouldn't understand all of her explanation.  You get
used to that when you're talking to Vix."

"Oh.  Is this going to be like those things they do at the mall?  Lots
of layers that you don't realize are there until later?"

That sobered me.  "Probably worse.  The stuff at the mall, they do for
fun.  Whatever this is, it's serious stuff."

"Oh."

"Yeah."  I took out my phone and looked at it, sighed, then opened it
and found the number I wanted.

"Hello, Marie."

"Hi, Vix.  You're on speakerphone.  Mark, Ted, and Julie are with me,
and we'd...  Like to know what's going on."

"Hello, everyone.  Ted.  Julie.  You may consider yourselves my
apprentices if you wish.  Marie, go ahead and work with them on the
basics.  You can show them about shape shifting, but don't try to help
them do it, yet."

I sighed.  "Ok.  What about Winter Solstice?  May we find out why it
will be...  Special?"

"Not yet.  There are some things I need to do before I can tell you
what will happen.  You'll have plenty of time to get ready.  Have you
figured out that this will affect both of our worlds?"

"Yes, I did.  Ted told me that you told them we won't have to hide any
more after it's over."

"Correct.  You have three weeks.  Give yourselves a week, then call me
and I'll come and tell you what's going on."

"Ok.  I'll set a reminder.  Thanks, Vix."

"You're welcome."

I closed my phone after I set the reminder, then looked around. 
"She'll keep her word about telling us.  Whatever it is, it's pretty
serious if we're getting two weeks notice so we can get ready.  I
usually get days or hours when she's in her Bardic mood."

Ted and Julie were both frowning before he looked at me sorta weird. 
"Two weeks is plenty of notice?  I was going to say it can't be
enough."

"Umm...  This might be a special case and the two weeks is because
there is a lot of preparation that will take time."

I looked around, sighed with relief when I realized there was nobody
to listen in, but I still lowered my voice.  "Vix might take us back
in time.  If she does, we'll have as long as we need, to get ready.  I
have the ability, but she blocked it.  I'm supposed to grow up
normally.  It's important that I don't suddenly know more than I
should, ok?"

Julie got it first.  "You mean that you could go away and come back
but nobody would notice unless you acted different?"

Mark sighed.  "I saw it happen to my parents this morning.  Vix told
them I could be her apprentice if I wanted to be, and they...  Acted
like they were scared and didn't know what to think, so she let them
touch her like she does when she does that mind link stuff, then they
immediately removed their fingers and were real calm and relaxed when
they said it was up to me.  Marie said they could have taken years to
learn enough to get that way."

Julie shivered and reached for Mark.  "That's...  I thought we were
just going to get married someday and all that normal stuff.  Oh, and
it was going to be nice to have someone we could be honest with,
finally."

Mark hugged her and looked at me a little sadly before he bent his
head and kissed her.  "This power stuff is all new to me.  I didn't
know I was a sensitive until yesterday, when I didn't stop seeing
things and being able to do...  Stuff."

"Stuff?"

I sighed.  "Yeah.  Come on.  We'd better get to my place before we do
more.  There are all kinds of spells and stuff so we don't have to
worry about people finding out."

Ted looked at me and I smiled at him.  "Yeah.  Since it's in the open,
I know we'll get married someday.  I've had a few years to get used to
the idea it might happen this way.  We fit together, right?"

"Right.  We're used to thinking it could happen, too.  Tell you more
when we're private, ok?"

"Ok.  Umm...  Ted?"

"What?"

"I'm on the pill, but I don't really need it.  One of the first things
I had to learn was how to keep myself from getting pregnant.  It's
impossible unless I really, really want it to happen.  I can...  
Teach you guys the spells so you can be the same way.  They're pretty
simple.  Oh.  I'm glad you're not a virgin."

"Umm...  Did someone talk?"

"No.  I can see the difference when I look at you with the inner
vision.  It's obvious once you know what signs to look for."

"Oh.  Ok.  It's a good thing Wilma and I broke up a couple months
ago.  It was a clean break.  I knew we  weren't completely right for
each other, but it was still hard to do.  I..."

He sighed and looked down.  "I did the best I could to find her a guy
she could get married to."

I hugged him.  "That was sweet of you."

I held on to his hand.  "Come on.  Sooner we get to my place, the
sooner we can really relax.""

Then I realized they hadn't checked in.  "You guys better check in,
right?  Mark?  You'd better let your parents know, too."

Ted laughed.  "We already told our parents what was going on.  Did it
at lunch."

Mark got his phone out, then hesitated.  "Julie?  I know we're sure. 
Is it ok if I tell my parents we're going to get married someday?"

"Yes."

"Thanks."

He made his call, hung up, then looked around and sighed again.  "I'm
ready, I guess."

Julie kissed him again.  "We're ready."

"Oh.  Yeah.  We.  I need to get used to thinking that way."

* * *

I told Mom and Dad what was going on and they studied us, then Mom did
what I expected she'd do someday.

"Honey?  We believe you, of course, but there are things we'd like to
know before this goes any further.  May we touch link with you?"

"Umm...  Ok."

I grabbed her and Dad's hands, then sighed.  "See the world as I do
and understand it with whatever understanding you may find."

Then they both reached and put their hands on my forehead.

Dad said it.  {{Show us.}}

{{Ok.}}

I showed them what had been happening and I could feel them exploring
my head while I did it.  Eventually they removed their hands.  Dad had
a weird little grin and Mom was doing that stuff she did to keep from
giggling.  "Thank you.  You and your friends can go...  Learn how to
be adults.  Do you want a late dinner, or are the four of you going to
go eat somewhere?  Should we plan on getting the spare bedroom ready?"

"Umm...  We'll probably eat somewhere.  Is it ok if we raid when we
get back?  I don't know about the bedroom, yet.  If Ted stays, he can
sleep with me if he wants, right?"

"Of course he can.  We'll make sure the other bedroom is ready, just
in case Mark and Julie want to use it.  His parents already told us he
might be staying overnight sometimes.  Now, shoo!  The four of you
don't have a lot of time, and you have a lot to learn before Winter
Solstice."

"Thanks, Mom.  Come on, guys.  Let's go to my room before my brothers
and sister find me and want to play.  Oh, Uhh...  Mom?  I'll keep the
link to you so you can deal with them, ok?"

"We'll divert them for you."

"Thanks, again.  You're the best parents, ever, ya know?"

She laughed.  "Maybe.  We'll settle for most successful, ok?"

I grinned.  "You don't want much, do you?  I'll be sure and vote for
you."

I was still grinning when I turned back to everyone.  "Come on.  This
stuff happens all the time, so you'll have to get used to it."

We made it to my room, then I closed and locked the door before I
sighed.  "Ok.  Ted?  Julie?  This isn't going to work right unless you
can see power, so let me do that first."

Julie glanced at Mark.  "That sounds like Mark can already see it."

"I can.  Can't talk about it unless we're private."

"Oh, ok."

She and Ted held out their hands and I did the thing about getting
them to see like I could and when I was done they were looking all
around, like it was all new to them and they were sorta amazed.

Ted finally sat on my bed and looked up.  "You could see those links
at school this morning?"

"Mark did.  I wasn't looking when it happened.  He pointed at you guys
and it was like a big spotlight in my head at first.  I blanked and
would have collapsed if he hadn't caught me before I fell.  Umm... 
After that, if I thought about you, I could tell where you were.  If I
checked on you when you were thinking real hard, sometimes I could
sort of tell what it was about.  Most of the time it was stuff about
how you were feeling."

"So ahh...  You know about?..."

"Uh huh.  Didn't need to look for you to figure that out."  I looked
down and reached like I was wrapping my hand around one of the lines
of power that linked us.  "This got real bright sometimes.  Bright
enough I couldn't ignore it.  I got in trouble for not paying
attention a couple times."

"Wasn't like that for me.  I could feel it like it was a hand wrapping
around me and...  You know."

"Wow.  Fantasy land.  I hope you didn't..."

"Nope.  Close a couple of times."

Julie grabbed Mark and made him sit on the bed next to her.  "Come on,
you two.  So it's about sex and fucking.  If we're going to be
learning from you, Marie, you gotta be open and honest, right?"

"Yeah, you're right.  Habit, you know?  Ted isn't the hottest guy in
school but his aura is fantastic and sometimes it sort of condenses
around his dick and I couldn't do anything except think about what it
would be like if I made love to someone who knows how to focus all
that while we're doing it.  So, I kept having these fantasies about
checking him out while *I* focused the power on him."

By the time I finished, she was blushing and Mark had let his jaw
drop.

"Hey.  You wanted me to be honest and open."

She ducked.  "Mark?  You haven't said anything yet."

"I have lots of questions, but when I look, I can see how Marie's aura
is all...  Jittery.  I guess it means she's confused, because I
noticed that yesterday, when she was showing us stuff, her aura was
real close to her body, and it didn't flicker like it's doing right
now.  I guess it means she's pretty confident when it's stable like
that.  Yours is acting funny, too, but in a different way.  It's like
it wants to cover me sometimes, then it almost vanishes, like it's
afraid of something."

They just kept looking at each other so I sighed.  "I was going to
show you some shape shifting, but we're all so distracted right
now..."

I settled on Ted's lap.  "Hold me, huh?  Kiss me like we're already
married or something."  I didn't bother looking at Julie and Mark. 
"Mark, you idiot, hug her or something.  Get it out of the way so you
aren't thinking with your dick.  I bet she can feel it, and I know you
can see it."

I grabbed Ted's right hand and put it on one of my breasts.  "We got
lots of time for talking, later.  Lets *do*..  Let's *feel*.  I want
to know what it's like to be held and loved by a sensitive, ya know?"

Ted sounded kind of freaked.  "You mean like see if we can use our
auras to touch each other and stuff, too?"

"Exactly."

"Yeah.  I get it."

"Let me help.  Mark, Julie, it's ok if you listen in."

I put my hand over his.  "Think about the stuff that's in you, and
imagine it flowing from where it is, until it reaches your fingers. 
For now, just do it with the energy from one place.  Later, when you
get better, you can mix them up."

I had a weird thought.  "Hey, am I in your head like you are, in
mine?  Sort of a warm spot that I know isn't something I'm doing?  Oh,
Duh!  Look, let's touch each other's foreheads and I'll help you make
a telepathic link, then you can sort of watch me and see what I do. 
After that, you can try it and I'll try to tell you if you're doing it
right or wrong."

We touched each other and I spoke in my head.  {{Hey.  Ted?  You
there?  Just act like you're talking to me but you're afraid to say it
out loud.}}

{{Ummm...  Is this working?}}

{{Yes!}}

{{Wow!  That felt like you were so happy it was going to blow the back
of my head away.}}

{{Oops.  Is this better?}}

{{Lots.  So.  Umm...  Which energy are you going to start with?}}

{{We'd better practice with our hearts for now.  If we forget, the sex
stuff could get messy.  I'm already...  Leaking a lot.}}

{{Oh.  You ever masturbate with just the energy?}}

{{Sometimes.  Hard to get myself off, though.  Closer I get, the
harder it is to focus, until I just lose control.  Most of the time I
have to finish by hand.  You ever...  I don't know.  Do it without
touching yourself?}}

{{Uh huh.  I couldn't see what I was doing, but if I thought about it
right, then sort of stroked without touching anything, I could feel
something sliding up and down.  Weird feeling.  Maybe it was like
those electrostim things, but I doubt it.  Whatever I was doing, it
was like a bunch of prickles all run together as each nerve fired.}}

{{Sounds like it would feel pretty good.  We'll have to try it
someday.  You'll probably have to help me, because I can't feel power
most of the time.  Vix says I'm primarily visual in the way I think,
because my first experience was a visual one.  She says that first
time usually focuses how you think of power for the rest of your
life.}}

{{That's freaky.  I just realized you've been shifting stuff around
while we've been talking.}}

{{Sorry.  It's kind of like being on automatic.  Vix has been teaching
me to think and act like a Bard, and than means I'm supposed to be
able to do two things at once, like she does when she tells those
stories and does the other stuff at the same time.  Guess I'm better
at it than I thought I was.}}

I let go and watched everything flow back to my heart.

Before I could do anything more, there was a flash of light and heat
like when you light a BBQ.

Ted had flinched, then he spoke out loud.  "What was that?  It was 
like a big flash going off, with lots of heat, too."

I giggled.  "You mean you can't figure it out?  I think Julie and Mark
just kissed each other real seriously."

I felt him shift and figured he must be looking over his shoulder. 
"Oh.  Yeah.  When she's in that mood, I can yell at her and she won't
hear me."

"She on the pill?  Oh, she is, huh?  I can see how the chemicals screw
up her body.  Hang on.  I gotta do something just to make sure they're
safe.  I'll do Mark, so you can follow along and try it on yourself."

"This won't hurt or anything, will it?"

"I never feel anything, but you might feel something.  It's mostly
visual."

"Ok."

"I'm imagining that I'm cupping his balls in my hand, real gently. 
It's ok if you want to do it for real."

"Umm...  You're going to have to spread your legs or move so I can
reach them.  Do I need to unzip?"

"Nahh...  You can do it through your pants.  Working with power is
like being naked all the time.  Clothing is dead, so there's nothing
to get in the way of what you see with the inner vision."

"Oh.  Ok."  He reached after I spread my legs, and finally stopped
moving his hand around.  "What now?"

"Think of a hollow ball that surrounds your balls.  No.  There's an
easier way, since you can see the energy.    Make the ball a different
color, and make sure it surrounds that ball of energy you can see
instead of your balls.  Once you do that, make it go dark, until it
blocks what you can see."

"Ok...  I can see the hollow thing, but it's easier for me to block
what I can feel.  It's like turning a heater off...  Ok.  Done."

"Good.  Let me finish what I'm doing to Mark, then I'll help you."

I closed things, then anchored it so it wouldn't dissipate when I quit
thinking about it consciously, and Mark must have felt something
because he flinched and looked at himself, then at me.  "You do that?"

"Yeah.  I know I didn't need to, but I knew you and Julie weren't
paying attention to anyone, so it was easier to do it instead of
trying to tell you how to do it."

"What's it do?  It felt funny when you did it."

"Stops your sperm from leaving, so you can't get Julie or anyone else
pregnant.  Don't worry, it's reversible and doesn't affect anything
else.  Think of it like it's a magical vasectomy.that doesn't force
you to wait until you're really sterile.  I killed the sperm that were
already on their way.  I'll show you how it's done, later."

Julie glared at me.  "I'm on the pill."

"I know.  It's obvious, just like it's obvious none of us are
virgins.  Thing is, this way is 100 percent effective, and there's no
waiting for it to take effect if you forget your pill.  Doesn't screw
up your body, either.  I can show you what you have to do, later, if
you haven't figured it out on your own or with Mark's help."

I grinned at her.  "Sorry I interrupted things.  You can go back to
what you were doing."

"Umm..."

She must have decided not to waste her breath, because she grabbed
Mark and drug him down on top of her, then kissed him and that light
flashed over us again.

Ted laughed.  "I guess they're serious about each other."

I giggled.  "Julie is, and I don't see Mark complaining."

"What about us?"

"Yeah.  I'm real serious, too.  Our heads are still working and that
makes it better, right?"

"Point.  You going to do whatever, so I can go back to feeling you
up?  And can we drop this forehead stuff?  It's awkward."

"Oops.  Yeah.  Life mates don't really need the contact to talk to
each other.  I figured it would be easier for us the first few
times."  I pulled my hand away, then used it to cover the hand he was
holding his balls with while I anchored his block and followed the
energy paths so I could kill any sperm that were already outside his
balls.

{{There.  All done, just like I did for Mark.}}

He pulled his hand away from my head, and shifted the other one so he
could start feeling me up.  {{I'm so used to feeling a heat from my
balls, I never realized it was there.  Feels sorta cold, now.  Not
cold enough to distract me completely, but it doesn't feel right,
either.  Let me try something before we do that heart stuff...}}

He moved his hand to my stomach and slowly slid it around.  He finally
paused.  {{Ok.  I can see a couple of blank spots in your inner aura. 
I can feel something from everything around those blank spots.  It's
like there are a couple of holes of some sort there.}}

{{I can't feel a thing.  What I see is that part of my aura is gone
and a lot of the sexual energy is missing.  It's like a color has been
removed from a rainbow.  Instead of white, I see a sort of cloudy
gray.}}

He must have looked at his sister before he commented again.  "I guess
it's obvious that both of us are used to feeling what we do with the
energy?"

"Yes."

"Well, mostly that's because of the way our family thinks of it.  Most
of us are dowsers or matchmakers and we learned how to sort of feel
what we're looking for."

"That the reason you carry that magician's wand all the time?"

"Uh huh.  I know most people get nervous, so I turned it into a game
most of the time.  I do it more than Julie does, but she's more of a
matchmaker than I am, anyway."

"So that's why she waves her hand between people?  So she can feel the
links?"

"Yes.  I think of it like dowsing.  The wand tells me how strong the
connections are and it will point at the other person the link goes
to, if I think about it the right way."

"But I've seen you do that stuff, and you don't have to be between
them, right?"

"No.  What I do is decide which is the strongest link, and by moving
the wand around, I can figure out the direction it's going.  I
deliberately make mistakes, too, so people don't figure out I'm really
a sensitive.  Julie makes mistakes, too, but less of them and
sometimes she corrects mine, because people expect her to be better at
matchmaking."

I turned slightly and hugged him.  "I've been blocked from doing that
active stuff away from home.  I know how blocks work, but I also know
I'm not good enough to put them in place.  Vix must trust you guys a
lot, since she's not making a special trip to give you any."

"I just had a weird thought.  Could she have done them without telling
us, yesterday?"

"Yeah, she could have, but she wouldn't.  She might have thought of
it, but she'd never act on those thoughts unless you were a real
danger to yourselves, or others.  Even then, she'd tell you what she
was doing, and the reasons."

"What about that thing you just did to Mark, without asking him
first?  She going to get upset with you?"

"That's a weird situation, but since I was able to do it, she'll be ok
with it.  It's part of being a Journeywomen while he's a new
apprentice.  I'm responsible for him.  You and Julie, too.  Anyway,
when I realized they were probably going to fuck each other and they
weren't thinking about protection, I had a responsibility to make sure
Julie didn't get pregnant.  Doing it to him was a lot easier than
trying to make sure she was taken care of.  It helped to know she's on
the pill, but still, there's a difference between 'almost safe', and
'completely safe'.  Vix would have done the same thing.  Only
difference is that she probably wouldn't have been caught doing it
unless she wanted to get caught, so she could make her point."

"So you got caught because you were sort of clumsy?"

"Yeah.  And since I *was* caught, I had to make sure they got the
message about being more responsible about fucking each other. 
Umm...  Have you done enough reading to know that there's only a
certain time when Bards are allowed to be...  Irresponsible about
sex?  That how I've been trained to think, except humans never really
go into heat, so I'm supposed to be able to think responsibly, all the
time, period."

"I hear you.  Eventually, all of us will have to be able to keep using
our heads, no matter what, if we decide to become Bards, right?"

"Yes."

"And you've decided to stay with it until you're a Bardic Master?"

"Yes, if I can.  Earth humans can do things with power that
Rabelaisians can't, so that's going to affect what I become,
eventually.  It's more likely that I'll be some sort of mix of a Mage
and a Bard, like Becky is."

"Your aura got real faint.  Were you avoiding something?"

"Uh huh.  I'll be the first human that's been trained by a
Rabelaisian, without spending time on Rabelaisia.  Worse, I'm Lady
Chrystal's *special* apprentice.  She's a legend, and considered one
of the greatest Bards that's lived, so far.  She doesn't need to talk
about what that means."

"Lots of pressure on you, that you haven't been able to talk about?  I
get the same thing from the family.  Julie and I are the strongest
sensitives of our generation.  The expectation is that our kids will
be, too, so we're always being told to be extra certain before we get
married."

I slumped into his chest and sighed.  "Vix and my parents don't expect
me to be anything other than who I want to be.  Most of the pressure
is what I've been putting on myself.  That's going to change when we
quit hiding.  You're going to get a lot more, too, by association. 
That's an Earth thing.  It doesn't happen on Rabelaisia, which is why
anyone who decides to try becoming a Mage or Bard goes there for their
training.  It's almost like Rabelaisians find it impossible to even
think about their children following in their parent's footsteps, just
because they were born into that family."

"If everyone goes there, what are you doing here?  We have an exchange
program with them."

"I think it's because for the first year, Mom and Dad helped me, with
Tom and Mahika advising them.  Then...  I'm not sure.  I do remember
that I felt like Vix and I fit each other, and I didn't want anyone
else to teach me.  There's a Rabelaisian tradition that parents listen
to their kids when power is involved, and honor their wishes unless
there's a real serious reason for not doing it their way."

"Ever figure out what it might be?"

"Mindset, maybe.  If your thinking isn't pretty stable and relaxed,
it's real easy to screw up your life with power.  I think it's the
same as it is for normal school.  If you resent your teacher, you
don't pay attention."

"You sound like you've done a lot of thinking about it."

"Yeah.  You know that stuff about there being an awareness and it has
a purpose?  Sometimes, late at night, just before I go to sleep, I get
this feeling like something has touched me, and it approves of what
I've been doing.  I keep wanting to think it's wishful thinking, but
after what's happened...

"I don't know, Ted.  I have that deer in the headlights feeling, and
at the same time, something in me *knows* that we'll all come through
this ok."

Ted laughed, then made me blush.  "So you've come up with a better
reason than 'feminine intuition' or 'it's a female thing'?"

"Vix says what we call 'female thing' is just us being more passive
than men, and unconsciously noticing things they don't.  It's that 'if
you're talking all the time, you can't learn anything' stuff."

"Teasing, and you know it, right?  Anyway, I think everybody knows
that Bards are passive and reactive instead of going out there and
doing stuff like Mages and Wizards do.  Julie and I are used to
feeling stuff instead of...  I don't know. Going out and looking for
stuff deliberately, I guess."

"Yeah.  Dowsers leave themselves open to things, so that means they
notice things that are more subtle than what most people would feel. 
Practice makes you more sensitive, too."

I shifted so I could see Mark and Julie.  "You guys might make better
Bards than I will be.  Mark really looks and thinks about what he
sees.  He's already noticed stuff I didn't see until Vix taught me to
look for it."

"You jealous?"

"A little.  Scared, too."

"Scared?"

"Uh huh.  Part of me knows we will always be able to talk to each
other, but theres a part of me that's sort of afraid that someday he's
going to be able to talk to Vix and I won't understand what they're
talking about."

"That's how he feels right now, I bet.  I know I'm still a little
shocked at how casually you and Vix talk to each other.  After all,
she's about the most well known and most important Rabelaisian on
Earth.  She talks to people like Merlin and heads of state as equals. 
Listening to her act like an ordinary person was...  Surreal."

"I know it's stupid for me to feel the way I do, and I'm pretty sure
if I quit obsessing, I'll get over it.  Did you notice how she acted
like she already knew what was going on with us?"

"Yeah.  It was like she knew we'd be with you, and that we'd be
wondering if we could become apprentices.  Do Bards always answer the
questions you don't ask?"

"Vix can.  Maybe she can do it because she's lived so long, so she can
see us do something, and predict what we'll do next even though we're
confused and don't have a clue."

"Huh.  Sounds like a parent and how they know when you're going to do
something you shouldn't."

I giggled.  "I figured that one out years ago, from watching my
brothers and sister."

"Oh?"

"Uh huh.  They always get quiet just before they do something they
shouldn't.  Mom and Dad notice that, so they know something is
happening, or going to happen.  If you talk normally, and act normal,
they usually don't pick up on it as quickly.  Sometimes it goes right
past them."

"Duh!  Obvious stuff!"

"Yep.  Just like Bards do it.  Once you're aware of the currents of
power, you get real sensitive to changes, so you can focus on that,
and decide what you want to do before normal people realize you know
what's going on."

The bed moved, and both of us flinched, then looked behind us.

Ted laughed before he pushed at me to get off his lap.  "Let's go
somewhere else and give those two some privacy.  Any suggestions?"

I got off his lap and held out my hand.  "Of course.  Let me get
something before we go, then we can see if mom has the spare bedroom
ready."

He grabbed my hand and got up, then I let go and went to my dresser.

I dug in the bottom drawer and found my special id harness, then
handed it to him.  "Carry this for me, ok?"

He held it up and looked at it, then me.  "I guess this is something
you're going to wear later?  How?  I can't picture how it would fit on
you.  What is it, exactly?"

"See that medallion?  That's a special id that shape shifters have to
wear when they're shifted.  I was going to show all of you at the same
time, but I can tell it's a waste of time to try and get *their*
attention.  Oh, and we'll do that stuff with our hearts, too."

"Oh.  Sorry.  I forgot all about that stuff because of what we were
talking about and...  It felt so good to have you on my lap like
that.  It's real strange, how knowing we'll get married, makes me feel
like time isn't that important any more.  I know we feel real good
right now, and that someday we're both going to do stuff that will
really hurt each other, but it's like being able to see how connected
we are makes me know that we're so right for each other we'll always
figure out ways to solve our problems."

"Uh huh.  I think I know what you mean.  Maybe it's because you
already know a lot about how to work with power.  You're aura seems so
stable compared to other guy's, even Mark's.  It reminds me of what I
see when I look at Tom and his wives with the inner vision.  There are
so many connections between them, and their auras are so merged with
each other, sometimes I think I'm seeing what people talk about when
they say a good marriage is like having one mind in two bodies."

He shifted my harness to one hand and reached.  "Come on.  I guess we
can get personal somewhere else, so we don't distract Julie and Mark."

"Ok.  That was the only thing I wanted to make sure I take with us."

After I closed the door to my room, I led him to the spare bedroom. 
Mom had already done whatever it was she thought she'd have to do, so
we settled on the bed next to each other after Ted closed the door.

"Ted?  How come you can move the energy around already?  Seems like
not being able to see it would make it hard to concentrate it."

"That's something Julie and I figured out on our own.  I'll have to
tell you a little about our family, ok?"

"Ok."

"We're like an extended clan.  I think if someone did some serious
research, they'd find out that we're all pretty closely related.  I
know that a couple generations back, there were cousins marrying
cousins because they matched up real good.  Most of us all come from
one area, too."

I nodded after I thought about it.  "That limited partner stuff?"

"Yeah.  And it was worse, because most of us can feel when we're
compatible or not.  It wasn't until people like my parents moved to
more populated areas that it got easier for us to find wives and
husbands that we weren't already related to."

"Ok."

"Anyway, because of that, everyone before my generation is pretty
traditional in their thinking about the proper places of men and
women."

I groaned.  "Men provide, and women have the kids and stay home?"

"Yeah.  Except there's always been something else.  Men are dowsers,
and women are matchmakers."

"Makes sense.  Maybe If I hadn't been around Vix and her family, I'd
still think the same way about it."

"Yeah.  Getting on the net really confused us at first.  It's real
hard sometimes, to tell what the truth is.  Later for that.  I'm
trying to explain how Julie and I learned how to do more than feel the
energy.

"It's taken for granted that the guys go with the men when they dowse,
and the girls go with the women when they get asked to be
matchmakers.  If no outsiders are around, that's when we get sort of
tested, to see if we have any of the abilities."

"I get it.  I bet it's like a rite of passage, and they get real
serious when you start puberty."

"Yeah.  How'd you figure that out?"

"Sounds like a bad movie script, but it's really true that puberty is
when the controls manifest, if you're going to have them.  Until
puberty, there's nothing there, if you're a human.  Everyone I know
thinks it's some sort of genetic thing that locks it all out until
you're mature enough to think before you act."

"And the blocks are a safety thing?"

"Yeah."

"Ok.  So, dad handed me his dowsing rod several times, and one day it
was jerked out of my hands.  By then I'd figured all it would do was
the usual slight flex that it did for my dad, if it was going to do
anything.  I thought he wasn't going to believe me when I said I
hadn't been able to hold on to it, but he did, and after that he and
the other men started teaching me what to look for, and all the little
tricks they've figured out over the generations."

I looked at him, and I could tell he was holding something back. 
After all the years Vix had been teaching me, I had a pretty good idea
about what it was.  "Ted?  Was it all that traditional stuff that
bothers you?  Stuff about there only being one way to do things or it
wouldn't work?"

"Yeah.  How'd you know?"

"I've been Vix's apprentice, for years.  Fixed rules is how Mages
think about power.  That's why they learn all those spells and
gestures.  Bards are more comfortable with each person finding their
own path when it comes to working with power.  Look at Vix and
Spartacus.  They're both Masters, but they do things completely
differently.  Mages would never be that different.  It's like they're
afraid to experiment once they've learned how to do something."

"Huh.  You make it sound so obvious."

"Thanks."

I grinned at him.  "I'm a Journeywoman Bard.  I'm supposed to be able
to make things obvious, when I want to."

He laughed.  "Wish we'd known you years ago, but we haven't lived here
that long."

"Yeah.  Would have been nice if you'd been around from the beginning."

"So, something similar happened for Julie, except for her, mom and the
other women would have her pass her hands over them without touching
them, then, when she started being able to feel something, they slowly
taught her to pass her hands between people and do other stuff that
would let her find the strongest parts of people's auras.  After that,
all it is, is remembering how each person felt, and matching them up
in her head."

"I haven't heard anything that would justify thinking that only one
sex can do things."

"Well, we grew up with it, so until we moved here, we never realized
there was any other way to think."

"Huh.  I just realized how lucky I've been, to have my parents.  They
call themselves pragmatic flower children, and I just figured out
that's a big reason they let Vix take me on.  Well, that and the ten
years or so they spent in the past with her, learning all about shape
shifting and other stuff, before they let it happen."

"They lived in the past?...   Later.  By the time we moved here, Julie
and I were already thinking in terms of the traditional roles for us. 
All we really expected to have to do was grow up and hope we'd meet
other people like us, so we could keep doing things after we got
married."

"So what changed?"

"We happened to be at the mall, and got to see Vix and the others do
all that stuff they do.  Every time we expected something to be gender
specific, they did something to confuse us.  Mom and dad shrugged it
off as them not being normal people, and the rules didn't apply to
them, but...  We'd already been around gays, lesbians, girls who
wanted to be mechanics and guys who know they wanted to be cooks and
live at home while their wives went out and did the work.  It wasn't
really that they wanted to do stuff that wasn't right for their
gender.  It was how they took for granted that they *could* do
whatever they wanted to do."

"Must have really screwed up your heads for awhile."

"Count on it!  So, now, we not only had to hide from the rest of you,
we had to hide how we were changing, from our parents, until they
changed, too."

"Did they?  Change?"

"They have, a little.  It's been enough that they took it seriously
when we told them about Vix telling us we wouldn't have to hide, after
Winter Solstice.  It's a little strange, but even though she's an
alien, most of our clan respects her in the same way they think of
people like Merlin and Lady Kay.  The only real problem was that Vix
noticed us at all.  Umm...  A lot of that respect rubbed off on you,
too.  After all, she came here at *your* request.  That means you have
to be real special somehow."

"Umm...  I told you.  I was making a joke when I mentioned it.  She's
got a real weird sense of humor, and I forgot it's there, or I
wouldn't have asked."

"See what I mean?  You don't even think about how strange that is to a
normal person.  Anyway, she came to see you, but she made it a point
to talk to me and Julie.  In the real world I and my family live in,
people like Vix don't do that sort of stuff.  They do their stuff and
the rest of us should stay out of their way.  We don't want to get
noticed by people with power, ya know?"

"Gods, it must be terrifying, the way poor kids and rich kids just get
along with each other."

"Yeah.  It has been.  We're not used to thinking that we can have
something in common.  Where we're from, people with power use it, and
anyone they want to, to get what they want.  Same for the kids of
power like that.  If you're poor, or real different somehow, like we
were, you learned to bow and scrape before you did what they wanted. 
We had a little bit of an advantage, because we could dowse or tell
people they were good for each other, but I know mom and dad walked a
fine line, because those folks were used to hearing what they wanted
to hear and not what they needed to hear, most of the time."

"Gonna be hard for you to be around me, isn't it?  We're not filthy
rich, but we do have a good income so we can pretty much do what we
want.  Doesn't mean we kids aren't expected to earn our way.  We don't
have a maid or anything like that.  That reminds me.  He doesn't
flaunt it, but Tom is rich-rich.  Doesn't need it, and that average
guy stuff he does isn't an act.  He grew up pretty poor.  They lived
on welfare when he was a kid, and he swore he wouldn't be on it when
he grew up.  Doesn't matter, now, of course.  If he needed money or
something he could dowse for gold, or just make what he wants."

"Hold it!  Tom's a *dowser*?"

"Ahh...  Yes.  It's a long story, and he'll be happy to tell it all to
you, if you're willing to sit there and listen to it."

"Can you tell me any of it?"

"A very condensed version?  You'd hear some of this anyway, because
part of that story involves him and Mahika meeting us, and how they
accidentally triggered my ability to sense power."

"Yeah.  Anything you want to tell me."

"Ok.  He and a friend were screwing around and discovered they could
both dowse.  That happened during his early teens.  They didn't do it
very often but at some point, they discovered they could use anything
as their focus, and it would work for them."

"So he's self taught?"

"Yes."

"Ok."

"So he always figured all he could dowse was water, because that's
what he'd read it was used for.  He was locked in to that mindset when
he...  This is gonna sound impossible, but he *forgot* he could do
it."

Ted sighed.  "At this point, I'll accept that."

"Good, because that's what triggered what happened just before he met
us.  He was visiting some friends, and they took him to see
Stonehenge.  They got to talking to one of the guides about ley lines,
the guide dowsed one for them with his rods, and that triggered Tom's
memory of being a dowser when he was a kid.  What happened next, was
inevitable.  All he had was a fancy walking stick, but that didn't
matter.  He used it to dowse Stonehenge for other ley lines.  Worse,
he dowsed the parking lot and found lines *there*, too."

"Are you telling me he learned he could dowse for power because of a
whim?"

"Yep!  that's not the best part, though."

He looked at me suspiciously.  "It's not?"

"Nope.  Mahika had been watching him, of course, and when he got home,
she blew up on him, for not telling her he could dowse.  Umm...  If
she'd known, there were things they could have been doing to make
their sex life a lot better.  That was when he sort of quit thinking,
I guess, and admitted he forgotten he could do it, so he never
mentioned it."

"And that set her off even more?"

"Lots more.  Part of his apology to her, was going out and finding a
ley line, so they could be on it and screwing each other during Summer
Solstice."

"Yikes.  She's  scary."

"To us, yes.  He was already used to her, so he just went out and did
it.  As it turned out, that ley line went through the campground where
we always spend the time around Solstice."

"I think I'm figuring this out.  They showed up, and you guys visited
with them.  Then, somehow, they did something to trigger your
abilities."

"Uh huh.  Wish you'd been around before Wolf died."

"Wolf?"

"Our dog.  Somehow, they gave her the ability to see and use power so
she could join us when we played.  Don't ask me how.  All I know is
that Mahika did most of it.  And...  There was something else that
happened, and someday I'll show you the pictures and movies we have. 
Wolf figured out how to time travel in the past, and dad figured out a
way to put a camera on her collar.  We have a video of Tom when he was
somewhen and in his wolf shape while a couple litters of puppies used
him for a chew toy.  Anyway, because Tom somehow figured out I had the
controls to see and use power, he and my parents kept in touch during
the next year so he could sort of keep an eye on me and make sure they
knew enough to keep me under some sort of control."

"Marie?  Anyone else and I'd think you were telling me some sort of
story."

"Good one though, right?"

"Oh, yes...  Very good, once you accept it happened."

"Yeah.  I know.  So it was the next Summer Solstice when they showed
up at the campground and had Vix with them.  Sandra, we expected to
see, but they were a total surprise.  Mom and dad confronted him about
some of the pictures we had, he confessed, then told them what he
thought was going on and somehow things wound up with me becoming
Vix's apprentice.  I know they took my parents somewhen and convinced
them that letting Vix take me on made sense, but I'm real vague about
all the other details, except one.  We all touched Vix's forehead,
including Wolf, then we got to see and feel what Wolf had experienced
when she did her time travel stuff."

"Uhh...  I can't think, except for one thing.  This Sandra.  Is she
the same Sandra that's the blonde goddess we guys all lust after at
the mall?"

"Yes.  This happened before she moved in with Tom and Mahika.  Reason
we expected her is because she's an expert on ancient Native
Americans, and runs the dig at the previously unknown site Wolf
accidentally led us to, between those two Solstices.  That's where a
lot of our money comes from.  Discovery royalties."

"Accidentally?"

"She liked to play with sticks.  One day she found one, and we were
tossing it for her when mom noticed it was too straight.  She figured
out it must have been an arrow shaft, and then we finally figured out
where we'd been when Wolf found it.  The site wasn't on any of the
maps we had, so they did some more checking.  That was when we met
Sandra, because she was the first person we showed it to.

"You've led a real strange life, haven't you?"

"Maybe.  Ok.  Yeah, it was normal until that summer, and then, mostly
normal after that.  Being Vix's apprentice has been hard work instead
of strange, as far as I'm concerned.  All the strange stuff could have
happened to anyone if they'd been there.  Just a lot of long odds
happening right after each other.  Happens all the time, if you take
the time to look around and see what's going on."

"Maybe.  I guess I can't really say much, because even though my life
has been different than yours, I know what I've lived through isn't
something that's normal for the average family."

"See?  Everybody's life has strange stuff in it somewhere."

"Ok.  I think you have to admit our lives have been further out on the
strange scale than what most people live through."

I finally sighed.  "Yeah.  Ok.  I try not to think about it that way,
but you're right."

"Thanks.  Julie and I were doing that game we invented, when somebody
asked us why she didn't use a wand or something to dowse people like I
dowsed for stuff.  We both sorta stared at him and said it didn't work
that way, that's all.  Then he asked us if we knew that for sure, or
because we'd been told and were too stupid to experiment for
ourselves.  That was our first experience with people who've been
raised to question everything and really learn for themselves, instead
of letting someone else tell them what they should know."

"Freaky?"

"Very.  We'd always thought we were good at learning things, but that
made us realize there was a lot we didn't question, that we probably
should check for ourselves.  Eventually I learned how to feel stuff
with my hands instead of always using a wand or something as my focus,
and Julie found out that when she used something as a focus, it was
easier for her to tell where the links went.  So what we do now, to
keep people thinking it works the way everyone expects it to, is that
I do a ritual with my wand, where I point it at people like I was
testing them or something.  I figure out where the connections are,
she does the hand waving so she can make sure of the intensity of the
connections, then pairs people up.

"After that, it's just another party, and people usually don't wonder
if they would have had a better time with someone else."

"And you make it a point to make mistakes, too.  That has to help a
lot."

"It does.  There's another thing we're not used to.  Sure, a lot of
people are skeptics about it, but a lot of people take it for granted,
that we can do what we say we can do.  I bet after yesterday, there
will be a lot fewer people who say it's impossible for ordinary humans
to do the stuff Rabelaisians take for granted."

"Yeah.  I get the impression that somewhere in there you and Julie
figured out a way to control what you felt, instead of just detecting
it."

"It was a weird day.  We've known for a long time that we have a
pretty strong connection between our hearts.  I was experimenting by
seeing if I could find the strongest parts of her aura, and I guess I
was pretty stressed when she reached to touch me, then told me to
relax.  When she did that, my wand jerked and twisted like it was
following something, so I decided to use it to trace whatever it was
trying to follow.

"From there, it made sense to see if she could deliberately make it
move.  Eventually she could, so we did it in reverse.  She'd place her
hand somewhere, and I'd try to make what she felt stronger, or
weaker.  I've always pictured myself as gathering the energy into a
ball.  Seeing it happen makes it a lot easier to do."

"I bet.  I'm going to have to think about this stuff before we get
serious about some things.  I know some history that isn't written
down anywhere, and that's going to help me figure out the best ways to
help everyone.  We have that week to do what we can, then I'm really
hoping Vix will take over, or at least give me some sort of advanced
course so I don't feel like I shouldn't be doing this teaching stuff."

"She doesn't make mistakes about that sort of stuff, does she?"

"Not that I know of.  Remember, she really does believe people should
find their way on their own.  I'm comfortable with that attitude but
I'm not comfortable enough to feel good about being able to
successfully encourage other people to learn that way."

Then I smiled at him.  "Hey, though.  I guess that means I don't have
to teach you how to channel energy from your heart to other parts of
your body?"

"You'll help me practice now that I can see what I'm doing?"

"Of course.  And...  We're both going to need to learn how to channel
the sexual energy, right?  I bet that's something you never tried with
your sister, just like I've never had anyone I could practice with."

"Umm...  Yeah."

"Good.  We can do that later.  I can afford to go eat at the mall any
time I want to, but it's more fun to let other people and kids buy me
food, then feed it to me."

"What *are* you talking about, now?"

"Shape shifting."

I stood up and faced him, then made an image in my head and let myself
flow into it.  When I was done I knew I was a blonde instead of a
redhead, and I was just right to be the type of girl most guys liked
to use for masturbation fantasies.

Ted was staring at me, of course, so I tilted my head a little so I
could look at him through my eyelashes, pouted sightly and spoke in a
real sexy voice.

"Hi, Ted.  I'm Monique.  Do you think I'm pretty?"

"Ahh...  Ummm..."

"Can't speak?  That's ok.  I like that, too."

"Marie?  Is that *really* you in there?"

"Of course it is.  It's silly, how people always think shape shifting
has to be into an animal or something that isn't human.  I put this
body on when I get tired of being ordinary, and I want more
attention."

I shifted back to my real body and sat down again, then hugged him. 
"I just had to see how you'd react.  Someday, you'll be able to do
it.  We can have secret bodies for when we want to go places without
being recognized."

He finally recovered.  "Oh.  That was real freaky to watch.  Nothing
like what they do in the movies.  So you're Monique?  I can see why
nobody has figured it out.  Lot of guys have tried to figure out where
you're from, so they can hit on you.  Now I know why she always seems
to just vanish."

"I like being a mystery girl sometimes.  It's fun to listen to guys
drool over Monique when they're asking me if I might know where she
lives or goes to school."

"That's...  Ok.  I'm one of those guys who wouldn't mind having a
different body once in awhile.  Don't you have to wear that medallion,
though?"

I reached and pulled out my necklace.  "I wear one all the time, but
when I'm human, it's ok if I hide it."

"Oh.  So after I learn how to do it, I'll have to figure out where I
want to keep it?"

"Yes.  If you get caught without it too many times, somebody like Vix
can force you to have a block that keeps you from changing."

"Lots of stuff I'm going to have to learn and remember."

"Don't worry about it.  Main thing to remember is that it will happen
at whatever pace you want it to happen.  Only thing I'm going to
expect you to be, is my husband.  After that, you can be anything you
want to be.  Bard, Mage or whatever.  Obscure or famous, it won't
matter to me and my family, Vix, or anyone from Rabelaisia.  Tom and
his women will be the same way, and so will Merlin and all the people
that live with him."

"That's pretty scary stuff after growing up thinking you knew what
your future would be."

"Freedom can be like that, when you realize you never really had any
before.  Maybe you'll feel better if I tell you that the time to fear
freedom is when you take it for granted."

"That's...  A weird saying.  You going mystical on me?"

"I guess maybe I am.  I'm so used to Vix that it's easy for me to
figure out what she means when she makes weird statements like that. 
There's more to being free than a lot of people think, and it's real
easy to just let people take care of you so you can do what you want
to do.  Thing is, it's also real easy for them to take control and
take away parts of your freedom.  In a way, being really free means
accepting that you'll never be completely safe.  You have to accept
that true freedom means knowing there will always be people who abuse
it.

"I know I'm not saying this real good.  I can feel it, because of the
way I've been raised to take responsibility for everything I do. 
That's part of being free, too.  You can't blame anyone for your bad
decisions.  You can take credit for the good ones, so it works out. 
Sure, it's scary sometimes, and that's good.  It means you understand
more of the responsibilities of freedom than someone who takes it for
granted."

He still looked confused, so I thought some more, then tried again. 
"Maybe I can put it this way.  You've been offered freedom, and you're
pretty sure it's what you want, but you're scared because you know
what it's like to not have it.  Anything that can be given can be
taken away, and you know that living without it again is going to be
worse than it was before you had freedom.  So, it's natural to really,
really wonder if it's a gift you should accept, or if you should
refuse it and keep living the way you already know.  You know how to
do that already, and it's not the best way to live, but at least it's
familiar and you know you can do it.  This freedom stuff is new, and
you're wondering if you can really learn how to do it, right?"

"Yeah.  I think you're right.  There's that stuff we always hear about
true freedom needing to be earned all the time because if you stop,
someone will take it away from you.  I've already spent a lot of my
life fighting to be who I am.  I guess all of a sudden, I'm not sure I
want to add to the battles I have to fight."

"I can't really relate to that, because I've been able to spend time
around people who don't care who I am, as long as I try to be the best
person I can be.  There's something else I don't think you've accepted
yet."

"Oh?"

"Yes.  New battles, but when you're a Bard, you have some pretty
powerful weapons to fight those battles with.  It's like going from
clubs, to nukes and all the other high tech stuff.  You'll be able to
choose the right weapon, so you can win, while most people will still
be using clubs, knives, or guns.  Besides, I know Vix.  She meant it
when she said we wouldn't have to hide any more.  That means she's
probably going to do something that gets us as accepted as she is, or
Merlin and Tom are."

I grabbed his hand and put it against my cheek.  "What I'm trying to
tell you, Ted, is that we probably won't have to worry about fighting
any more.  We'll finally be what we really are, the good guys, almost
anywhere in the world."

"That's even more scary."

"Yeah, but at least you're an apprentice.  You can make all sorts of
mistakes.  I'm a Journeywoman and that means I can't make as many.  On
Rabelaisia, I'd be expected to go from town to town and do whatever I
had to do to help people or entertain them."

"Umm...  Wow."

"Yeah.  Anyway, let's tell my parents where we're going, then we'll go
to the mall and have dinner.  Oh, can you play any instruments, or
sing?"

"Lousy singer.  I'm ok with a guitar.  I'm pretty good with a
harmonica."

"Good.  Got it with you?"

"Not my real good one.  I carry a cheaper one just so I have something
to do sometimes."

"Ok.  Hey...  You be ok if I give you an early wedding gift?"

"Depends."

"I bet you've spent time at that big music store and you know exactly
which one you'd buy if you had the money."

He got wistful.  "Oh, yeah..."  He held his hands about a foot apart. 
"They have this one that's like the ultimate.  They've even let me try
it out a few times, after I proved I know how to use it right..."

Then he snapped out of it and stared at me.  "You can't!"

"Why not?"

"Have you lost your mind?  That thing is real expensive."

"How expensive?"

"Jeez...  It must be a couple thousand bucks, at least."

"Oh.  I thought it was going to be like buying an organ or piano, or
one of those real fancy instruments with all the decorations on them. 
No problem."

"Just like that?"

"Yeah.  I can pay for it out of what's in my checking account."

"Marie?  I know you said your folks are rich but not real rich, but
most kids like us don't have the money to buy something that expensive
on a whim."

"Don't worry about it.  If we go to the mall a couple times a week, I
bet you'll be able to pay me back in a couple weeks, if that's what's
bothering you.  Might be a lot quicker, if you're really good with
it.  Won't hurt if we find out that we both know the same songs. 
We'll get more tips if I can sing the words to what you play.  That's
where my money came from.  Tips from people at the mall."

"I don't remember ever seeing you there and singing."

"Umm...  I bet you have, you just didn't know it was me."

"You have another form you use?  Can't be Monique.  She just walks
around looking pretty and making all the other girls jealous."

"Umm...  I guess, if we go there, people are going to figure out it's
me, because we'll be together."

"So you have a different form?"

"Yes."

This time when I got up I got way back from the bed.  "Stay where you
are until I'm done changing."

This time I imagined something a lot larger than me, then made myself
expand into it.  When I was done I bobbed my head at Ted.

He finally realized his jaw was slack.  "Holy...  It's been you! 
You're the Singing Palomino!"

"Yep.  You know how to ride a horse?  If you do, we'll go to a place
not very far from here, then I'll change again and you can put my
medallion on my head.  After that, you can ride me to the mall and
we'll get that harmonica before we use the stage in the food court, if
nobody else is using it.  Otherwise, or if you want to really have
some fun, you can play your harmonica while you ride me around inside
the mall.  We could stop and get the stuff so you can dress up like a
cowboy, if you want."

"Do I know how to ride?  I haven't had a chance to do any riding since
before we moved here.  Could you...  Find a place where I can be on
you while you run all out?"

"Yes."

"Bareback?"

"Are you really that good?"

"Yes."

"We'll do it."

I shifted back and grinned at him.  "Surprised you again, huh?"

"Did you ever!  Everyone has been trying to figure out who was good
enough to be a singing horse.  I don't think *anyone* suggested it
might be you."

I laughed.  "Part of what Vix has been teaching me, is how to sing. 
It's something Bards are expected to be able to do.  I love being a
mare.  It's...  It's an incredible experience.  My normal voice is
pretty good, but when I'm a mare...  Everything just fell together,
and I feel like I can sing and hold a note forever, if I want to."

"Julie's gonna bug you when she finds out.  She's jealous of your
voice, and I bet she's going to want to try singing duets with you
once she learns how to be an animal who can talk and sing."

"Sounds like fun.  I already do that stuff, and it's a real ego boost
sometimes, even though nobody knows who I am.  Scary, too, because Vix
made me see that even though we're just entertaining people, we have a
lot of influence on how they think and see the world.  It's a big
responsibility, that most famous people don't really accept or
understand."

"You trying to tell me that if I keep learning how to be a Bard, or
whatever, I'm going to be like a jock or something, and kids and maybe
even adults will dream about being me and maybe act like I do?"

"Yes."

He shivered and I held on until he stopped shaking.  "Marie?  How can
you be so casual about that?  You've always been so normal.  Plain,
really.  Sure, some guys want to get to know you better, and sometimes
it's because they want to fuck you and you act just like any other
regular girl.  Now...  Yeah, ok.  I knew you are a sensitive after
what happened this morning, and that's what I thought I'd be living
with.  This other shit, about being famous...  You gotta believe me
when I tell you I never wanted that."

I sighed and hugged him, then kissed him lingeringly.  "Gods, Ted. 
You wouldn't believe me if I told you all the ways I managed to screw
up while I was first learning how to do stuff.  Sure, I knew enough to
agree to hide my ability from the beginning, but it took a long time
for me to accept that even when I was hiding, a lot of the stuff I did
for my brothers and sister changed them, and people noticed that. 
Even Wolf got a little weird sometimes.  Towards the end, when she was
around me, she acted like she knew a lot more than a normal dog
should.  Maybe that time travel stuff let her learn a lot more, and
that kept changing her until she was more intelligent or something.

"Vix sorted my head out real fast, though, and really, if you make it
past a certain point, misusing what you know is almost impossible.  In
fact, maybe it is.  I know in the stories Vix tells me about renegade
Bards, they're always people who picked it up from watching real
Bards, or they were apprentices who managed to hide until they did
something to get noticed.

"Anyway, my real point is what I said earlier.  Sure, as long as we're
together, some of my being famous is going to rub off on you.  But
that doesn't mean you'll have to do stuff and be famous, yourself. 
People are going to know you're a dowser, but even then, you can keep
it private or even tell people no, you won't do it for them."

I looked at him again, then snuggled.  "I'm already who I am, Ted. 
I'm scared too, because I'm used to feeling like I have some control
of my life.  About the only thing keeping me from telling Vix to fuck
off, is that I know what she's trying to do will make it better for
the people of two worlds, even us.  I can understand, someday, if you
don't want to do this.  But if you stick it out, I can promise you
that it will be worth it.  You'll really, really like the new person
you'll be when it's over."

"Was it like that for you?  Scared, but you made yourself keep going,
and now you're happy to be who you are?"

"Yeah.  Sometimes I'm not real happy, like now, but almost all the
time, it's sort of balanced by being content with who I am.  Trying to
be a Bard matures a person earlier than normal, I guess.  I can't see
who I might be years from now, but that doesn't matter, because I know
I've set things up to give myself a real good foundation.  I'm not
going to be evil, or a jerk, and that's nice to know."

He was silent a long time, then he hugged me real tightly.  "Marie?"

"Yeah?"

"Do we have to go to the mall?"

"No, not if you don't want to."

"Can we do something ordinary?  Maybe fix stuff for a picnic, then we
could go to this place where you can change into a mare and I can ride
you until we're ready to eat, then...  We can cuddle or something and
if we want to, make love?"

"Head's really, really fucked up, and you want to go pretend you're
where you used to live, so you can think and sorta start over?"

"Yeah."

"I know just the place.  These people have a riding stable, and they
have this huge ranch where there are places you can go until you can't
see or hear all the city stuff.  Even have places with grills so you
can cook over a fire.  Camp overnight, too, but I guess we shouldn't
do that because we have school tomorrow.  We could plan for this
weekend, though."

I giggled.  "If you want, I have my own saddles and stuff.  We could
pack all the gear and enough food we could stay and hide out until
Sunday."

"Would we have to take Julie and Mark with us?"

"No.  This will be about us, right?"

"Yeah.  Let's do it?"

"Mom and dad can tell them what we're doing, then they can make their
own decisions.  I bet they'll want to get to know each other, anyway. 
This must be at least as much of a shock for Julie as it has been for
you, and I know she doesn't know as much about what's going on."

"Probably.  No.  I'm sure of it.  But I bet it's easier for her
because Mark is going to be an apprentice, just like she is.  Me, I
feel like I'm a kid again, and I'm around an adult and I don't
understand them at all."

"You understand more than you think you do."

I kissed him again, then stood up and held out my hand.  "Let's go and
be ordinary for a few hours, huh?"

"Yeah."

After I helped him up he surprised me by hugging me real tight before
he kissed me real hard.  "You sure it's all gonna work out and I'll
like it?"

"Yeah, Ted.  I am."

"Good.  I'm gonna make you keep your promise.  I'll stick it out if
you will."

"Good!  Let's go."

Mom found us in the kitchen while we were making sandwiches and trying
to decide what we could take in the picnic basket.

When she asked, I told her we were going to go spend the evening on
the Jacobsen Ranch and she looked at us a long time, then nodded. 
"Don't miss school tomorrow, ok?   Planning to spend the weekend
there?"

I knew I blushed, then I sighed and reached for Ted's hand.  "Yeah."

"We'll divert Mark and Julie.  Get that stuff packed and get moving. 
I don't want you doing something stupid, like breaking a leg in the
dark, while you run."

"Yes, Mother."

After she left, Ted started laughing.  "Knows you, doesn't she?"

"Yeah.  She loves to ride me sometimes, so she knows I love to run
when I'm a mare.  She's got a decent singing voice and sometimes on
the family picnics, when we know there's nobody else around, we sing
with each other while dad plays his guitar."

"You make it sound so normal.  Ok, it's real strange that when they
want to go riding, they ride you, but the rest of it makes me
homesick.  Families would get together and we'd have old fashioned
sing alongs and picnics and we'd ride there sometimes.  But for us it
isn't old fashioned, it was something we did when we felt like it and
the weather was good.  Everyone did it, not just people who were able
to afford horses and stuff like that.  Here, that stuff is a rare
treat, and special."

"Miss it all, huh?"

"Yeah."

"Well, right now it wouldn't be a good idea, but I bet if you mention
it to your parents, mom and dad will be ok with you folks joining us
for a weekend.  My grandparents were all real flower children.  Beads,
protests at all the injustice, Wicca, Druidism...  All that stuff. 
Mom and dad sort of rebelled as kids, but they kept a lot of it too,
and that's why they're actually proud of me and don't care that I can
do all that power stuff.

"To them, I'm their daughter, and I'm being the person I want to be. 
That's all that matters to them.  Only differences between our
families are that we have more money, and we're following different
traditions.  Everybody is like that, really.  We have more in common
than we usually think we do.  We let stuff like money and social power
blind us to how much we're alike.  Rabelaisians don't let themselves
forget that, and it's mostly the Bards who make sure they don't, if
they need reminding."

I remembered something and smiled.  "Bards are a weird combination,
but it works for them.  They remember the past for everyone, and
they're agents of stability during times of change.  At the same time,
they're like our justice system, except people can treat them like
ordinary people and ask them for help even when they're working as a
Bard.  Vix has told me about times when she was telling a story, or
singing, and someone would shout a personal question at her.  Instead
of getting upset, she'd usually work her answer into whatever she was
doing, and nobody complained or got upset at the diversion.

"They're *always* accessible and that's important because people think
of them as real people who don't let their power make them think
they're above all the ordinary stuff in life.  We see them as
entertainers, but they're a lot more than that.  This stuff she's
doing right now is a side of being a Bard that Earth people seldom
see.  For some reason, she's being a deliberate agent of change.  It's
probably because she sees a future that would be really chaotic or
something, if someone doesn't ease us into whatever is happening. 
Rabelaisians expect this stuff from Bards."

"It sounds like you're saying that being sort of distant while she's
on Earth isn't natural for her."

"It isn't.  Bards and other power handlers take an oath before they
come here, that they won't interfere in any way, so we can develop on
our own."

"She's interfering now."

"I know.  We've spent a lot of time talking about the differences and
similarities between our cultures.  Usually, she's trying to figure
out how things from here will affect Rabelaisians if they adopt them. 
She's real big on what's happened when really different cultures met
for the first time and they intermingled.  She knows our history, and
how usually one culture is so overwhelmed, it's wiped out, except for
bits and pieces that some people remember."

"So you're saying that she sees a chance for us to all mingle, and
both cultures will survive?  That's some pretty big thinking."

"That's what being a Bard is all about, really.  Accepting change in a
way that lets you remember your past so you don't make the same
mistakes over and over.  Somehow, the early Bards found a way to break
out of the constant wars between people who used any excuse they could
so there was a system with people in control, and those they
controlled.  I think..."

He watched me while he kept packing stuff, then he sighed.  "You think
what, Marie?"

"Don't freak on me.  I think the two awarenesses have been
communicating somehow, and they have figured out a way to merge things
so Rabelaisians don't lose the sense of unity that makes them who they
are.  I also think that because it's happening here, someday we're
going to keep our tech mindset, but be more accepting of the idea
we're all here together.  If it works, maybe we won't have wars any
more."

"If it doesn't work, things could get pretty nasty between normal
people and power handlers."

"Yeah.  We packed?"

"Yes."

"My medallion in there somewhere?"

"On top."

"Let's go."

"No argument from me.  I'm tired of thinking."

"Me, too."

* * *

We were about a block from my house when I remembered Ted had a
harmonica with him.

"Ted?"

"Hmm?  What?"

"If I carry the basket, can you walk and play your harmonica at the
same time?"

"I could, but what makes you ask?"

"Something you said about stuff being old fashioned, but not for you."

"Oh?"

"Yes.  Serenade me, or something.  You know...  Sort of use the music
to tell me how you feel.  That sort of stuff."

"You mean like make something up while we're walking?"

"Yeah.  Can you do that?"

"Here."

He handed me the basket, then dug his harmonica out.  He'd called it
cheap, but it sure didn't look like any of the toys they sold to kids.

"Ted?  I know you said 'cheaper', but I know enough to know that isn't
a kid's toy, like I was expecting."

He looked at it like he'd never seen it before.  "It's kind of special
to me.  Been in the family for generations and when folks realized I
was pretty good, it was given to me like I was expected to be the
right person to do it justice.  I guess when they told me it cost
about fifty bucks when it was new, I didn't think about what that was
in modern money.  The other one I have cost several hundred bucks and
I paid for it myself.  I guess I've always seen that one as being more
expensive, and better than this one."

"So play it."

"Umm...  Ok."

He lifted it, and I could tell he was sort of trying things out to see
what he wanted to do, then he seemed to relax, and I could tell he'd
forgotten about everything except playing the music.

Suddenly he looked at me, smiled around it, and started to...  Caress
me with the music, and something made me use the inner vision to watch
him while he did it.

His aura was real stable, and it reached in my direction, then just
wrapped around me and I could feel his love and how he felt about me.

I lost myself in it all and didn't come back until I felt myself
jerked to a halt and I realized someone was shaking my arm.

"Marie!  Come on, Marie!  Snap out of it!"

"Mmm...  Oh, wow...  That was incredible.  I could feel your love
wrapping itself around me, and protecting me..."

"Yeah, well, maybe it did, but take a look around us.  It's like I've
been the pied piper!  We got kids and people and animals around us,
and it's like some of them are on something because they're all
smiling and grinning and waving at us!"

"Huh?!"  I looked around and saw people react by grinning and waving
at me.  "Umm...  Ok.  I've seen this before, but it's always been at
the mall after I sing."

"Yeah?  It's freaky!"

An old woman I vaguely recognized walked up to us and spoke quietly,
in that quavery voice a lot of old women get.  "Young Man,  it's good
to see the old traditions haven't died completely.  Willard used to
court me like that.  Your Young Lady is very special to you, and you
were going on a picnic, weren't you?"

"Yes, Ma'am.  Nothing special, just some sandwiches and stuff."

"Hmmph!  That's not a picnic!"

She reached and opened the lid before I could stop her.

She froze, then looked at us again.  "I know what that medallion
means.  Which one of you usually wears it?"

I sighed.  "I do, Ma'am."

"Call me Aggie.  It's better than 'That mean old lady'."

I blushed and several of the kids who heard her, groaned.

She turned on them and smiled.  "I have been one.  Wouldn't you get
angry and want to strike back if the world took away someone you loved
with all your heart?  Maybe your parents?"

Most of them nodded and she nodded back.  "Be thankful this young man
is here.  He made me realize that instead of being angry, and shutting
myself away, I should reach out and find new reasons to live.  If you
want to, you can play in my yard.  You can even climb the trees, but
don't expect me to get you out if you get stuck."

She looked up and smiled at the adults who were nearby.  "I know how
the world works.  We've always had insurance on the place that would
cover accidents.  Kids are kids, and they seem to have a special
attraction to tall trees with lots of branches.  Let 'em climb.  Most
of them discover the other sex after a few years, then they realize
it's just as much fun to put a blanket *under* those branches so they
can be with someone special.  Broken arm, or broken heart, they both
mend, and there's usually a tree involved at some point."

I couldn't stop myself.  "Aggie?  You'd have made a good Rabelaisian
Bard."

"Know something about that, that makes you say that?"

"Oops.  Umm...  Yes."

"Your man know what it is?"

"Yes... Aggie."

She turned her head slightly.  "Hello, Theodore.  I've seen you look
at my yard like you wanted to just come in and touch those trees. 
Remind you of someplace you left behind?"

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Aggie."

"Not right, for me to call you Aggie.  Disrespectful."

"I understand.  Do you think it would be respectful, if an Old Lady
got to see what your Young Lady looks like, when she's not being a
young man's vision?"

"Umm...  I think you'd better ask her, not me.  Her name's Marie, if
you don't know it already."

She didn't say anything more, just looked at me again.

I finally sighed and set the basket down after I looked at Ted and he
nodded slightly.  "You said people were going to figure it out,
right?"

"Right."

I opened the lid and handed her my harness.  "Here.  You can put it on
me after I change.  Make sure the medallion is in the center of my
forehead."

"You can change in public?"

"Yes."

She nodded.  "Thank you."

I stepped backwards about ten feet or so, then formed the image of a
mare in my head and let myself flow into it.  When I was done, I
stepped forward and bent my head so she could reach it.

She put the harness on, made sure it was right,  then stroked me and I
could see the wonder in her eyes.  "Thank you, Marie."

"You're welcome, Agatha Marie."

"You can talk?"  Then her eyes widened.  "You knew?!"

"For years.  Mom and dad told me, then asked me to respect your
privacy, and not say anything."

"They would do that, wouldn't they?  Never mind.  I've always wanted
to meet a shape shifter and learn the truth."

She must have finally heard the whispering because she suddenly turned
and faced the kids behind her.  "Well?  Spit it out.  It's not polite
to whisper behind someone's back."

They ducked their heads, and finally one of them managed to speak
above a whisper.  "You really don't know who she is?"

"She's Marie, and she's named after me.  Isn't that enough to know?"

"Well...  Ok.  She's Marie when she's *human*."

"Are you trying to tell me she uses a different name when she's a
mare?"

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Well, what is it?  Speak straight, young man.  It will get you
farther in the world."

"Straight?  Is that tell the truth?"

"Yes."

"Ok.  Her name now, is 'The Singing Palomino'.  She's good, too. 
She's got a real furry and friendly voice when she sings.  Makes you
feel like she loves the world and she's hugging it all at once, like
Ted did while he was playing his harmonica and telling her how much he
loved her, and the rest of us."

"Sounds like you've heard her before."

"At the mall.  A lot."

"Think she'll sing for us if we ask her nicely?"

"Hope so, but they were going on that picnic, and there's not a lot of
time left before it gets dark and we have to go to bed."

"Good points."

She turned back and gestured at our basket.  "What if we invited you
for a...  I think they are called 'block parties' now?  Would you
consider joining us?"

I turned my head slightly and looked at Ted.  He looked around again
and sighed.  "We'd better call our families, so they can be here,
too."

I bobbed my head.  "Make sure they bring Julie and Mark.  She knows
the words to the songs you play, doesn't she?"

"Yes.  Most of them are pretty normal for country folks, so you
probably know some of them."

"If I do, I'll join in.  I'm used to singing a capella, but if you
happen to know the music, you can back me up, ok?"

"Mind if I'm on your back when I do?"

"That eager to ride me?"

"Umm...  Yeah."

"Hop on."

He gave me a real good head hug, then he handed his harmonica to one
of the kids.  "Hold this for a minute."

Then he grabbed my mane and casually jumped on.  After he settled
himself he leaned down to retrieve his instrument.  "Thanks."

I felt his aura get real stable before he spoke again.  "We accept. 
Any requests...  Aggie?"

"Country boy?"

"Yes, Ma'am!"

"Thought so.  You mounted that mare like you've been doing it all your
life, not just on weekends.  Bet you look right, in a Stetson, flannel
shirt, and Levis.  No requests.  You two pick."

"Let me make a call, first, then while we wait for everyone else,
we'll get things started."

"Good enough."

He called his parents.  "Hi, dad.  Things have got real weird."

"No, good weird.  We're a few blocks west of Marie's and Marie and I
are the guests of honor at a huge, impromptu, block party."

"I'm not pulling your leg.  Bring mom, and your fiddle.  Oh, call
Marie's parents and tell them to dig Julie and Mark out of whatever
they are doing, and join us.  Tell Marie's dad to be sure and bring
his guitar."

"What?  Oh, yeah.  They do sing alongs at their picnics, just like we
used to."

"Right.  Oh, grab my good mouth organ.  And...  Don't freak when you
get here.  Marie is 'The Singing Palomino' and we'll be doing that
singing cowboy stuff."

"Hey!  Yeah!  Good idea.  Make it the light brown shirt so it matches
Marie's coat.  See you when you get here."

He hung up and then bent to stroke my neck.  "Let's do it, huh?"

"I'm always ready to sing for my supper."

Then I took a deep breath and launched into Little Brown Jug.  A few
seconds later, he recovered and accompanied me.

* * *

I let myself get talked into singing some Rabelaisian ballads and I
was singing one of the slower ones when an alto voice with a real
unearthly timbre to it, started singing the counterpoint.

I faltered for a few notes, then a familiar paw touched my neck and I
was able to keep going.

When we finished there was an awed silence and I heard the laughter in
her voice when Vix spoke lightly.  "Surprise."

"Umm...  Hello, Lady Chrystal.  I don't need to introduce you, do I?"

"No."

Her posture got real wicked looking, then she spoke just as mildly as
she had before.  "I think that was a good choice, but for this crowd,
it's time to give them something a little more lively, don't you
think, Journeywoman Marie?"

"Whatever you say, Mistress."

"Well, I do.  I hope you remember the words to *this* one."

She didn't give me a chance to say anything, just launched into one of
the brisker Rabelaisian sea chantys.

Fortunately, I remembered the words, so I joined her, and pretty soon
Ted, his dad, and mine had picked up the basic beat and were weaving a
melody around it while people started stomping their feet  or clapping
their hands while they sang the chorus every time it came around.

It had already been an incredibly special experience, but Vix had the
special touch that made it one of those things you knew would never
happen again, and everyone there could feel it.

They responded, too.

Eventually things wound down enough that Ted and I could take a break
and eat.  I guess that was the signal for everyone else to call it a
night, so they started picking things up, and saying their goodbyes.

Ted had removed my medallion so I could change back, so people were
asking all of us for our autographs and wondering if we'd ever do it
again.

At that point Vix would usually step in with that mysterious smile she
was good at, and tell people, 'They will, someday.  Right now, though,
they need to get some sleep so they don't get in trouble at school
tomorrow.  Plus, they have a lot of preparation to do so they'll be
ready to perform on the Winter Solstice'."

That seemed to satisfy people, so they usually asked if they could be
there, then left after Vix reassured them that everyone would be
welcome.

I was glad to let her take over, because I was totally exhausted.  So
was Ted, and so were our families and Julie and Mark.

Julie had done a lot of the singing with Ted after she got there, and
since Mark couldn't do any of that stuff, he just sat there and let
Julie sing at him when it was that sort of song.

When it was over, both of them glowed, and I knew Ted and I did, too.

None of us had any doubts.  We were *supposed* to be Bards.  We
wouldn't be satisfied with anything less than being Masters, either.

After everyone went inside Vix looked at each of us and spoke firmly. 
"Not a word, from any of you, until I'm finished."

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Good.  First, I'm proud of all of you.  None of the apprentices I've
taught could have done better, and few would have done as well, when
they found themselves in a situation like this one, so relax."

We waited.

She nodded slightly.  "Marie, no matter how it happened, it was your
decision, to reveal you are a shape shifter.  Do you feel it was the
right one to make?"

"It was, Mistress.  Agatha recognized my medallion when she opened our
picnic basket.  She asked who usually wore it, then asked me if I
would allow her to see my alternate form.  The crowd was already
there, before she asked her question.  I may only be a Journeywoman
Bard, Mistress, but on your homeworld I would have been expected to be
who I am, a Bard, even though none of these people knew, or know, that
I am one.  If anyone suspects, that suspicion was probably confirmed,
or inspired by your presence, instead of anything I have done."

Several people gasped, but Vix nodded her agreement.  "Astute, Marie. 
Is there anything else you have say?"

"Yes.  What happened tonight, happened because of a personal wish, to
have my future husband speak of his love for me, through his music. 
If we have done wrong, the responsibility is mine, and mine alone, for
starting the chain of events that led to your presence."

Ted practically shouted his words.  "No!  I share in that
responsibility!  You asked, but I was the one who said yes, and made
the call that brought the rest here.  Ultimately, we are all
responsible for what happened, even you, Lady Chrystal. After all, it
was *you* who agreed to teach Marie how to use her power, and become a
Bard."

I could see his father acting as if he wanted his son to shut up, and
finally he sighed and slumped as if resigning himself to his fate.

I knew she'd spotted it, because she spoke to him next.  "Be proud of
your son.  His musical skills are formidable, for one so young.  So is
his understanding of personal responsibility.  He will make an
excellent Bard some day, as will Julie, and Mark."

"I...  Thank you, Lady Chrystal.  We are honored, of course, by your
praise."

Vix tilted her head while she studied him and that gave me a chance to
speak up.  "Mistress?  Ted and his family have lived where power means
control, not support.  Please give them time to adapt to our ways."

"Ah.  Much becomes clear.  Thank you, Marie.  Do you think it would be
wise to give them all the time they could desire?"

"Umm...  That is a great gift to offer.  I think...  Perhaps it should
be a human who offers this gift.  Forgive me, but you are an alien,
and could be seen as a god.  Humans have a fear of the gifts given by
gods, Mistress."

"You, perhaps?"

"No.  I am not skilled enough, and I am not...  Mature enough to deal
with all of the concerns they might have."

"You must have someone in mind."

"I do, Mistress.  Someone they respect a great deal, if what Ted told
me is true."

I took a deep breath, then let it out, because I was scared. 
"Merlin."

I'd actually surprised her.  She stiffened and turned to face me, as
if I were prey, or about to attack her, and I reflexively raised my
hands to begin a warding spell.

She realized what I was doing, and relaxed slightly.  "Merlin, is it? 
This is not a gift he can give."

"I know.  He can give it, if Lady Kay is at his side."

"I could be there instead of her."

"You are alien, Lady Chrystal.  This is a human thing, and it is best
dealt with by humans."

"Wise."

She refocused.  "Would hearing the reassurance be acceptable under
those conditions?"

Ted's dad finally nodded a little.  "Merlin and Lady Kay are highly
respected for their dedication to the people, and do not seek power
for power's sake.  Whatever gift it is that you offer, we will accept
it from their hands, if we decide we wish to accept it at all."

"I offer you the gift of as much time as you need, to learn and
change, if change is what you desire after that learning.  It will
take the form of spending as much time in the past as you need.  When
you return, it will be as if you never left.  Any understanding you
gain, will be a part of you for the rest of your lives."

"No time limit?"

"None.  Be it hours , years, or even centuries, all will seem an
instant when you return.  The action will neither take away from, nor
add to, your allotted time in this life."

He was staring at her in shock, realized it, and bobbed his head
nervously.  "What of our children?"

"It is not time for them to move in this manner.  They must become
true adults, before they will be allowed to do this."

"Allowed?  They will be able to do this on their own, if they desire
it?"

"If the controls are there, they will be able to so move.  So will
you, if you discover the controls within yourselves."

He looked at his wife, then he looked at us, then he looked at my
parents.  "What of Marie's parents?"

My dad put on that 'wise beyond his years' look he usually only did at
home.  "We do not have the controls.  We were gifted with about ten
years, we think.  Time was meaningless, and we did not track it.  We
followed the seasons and...  Lived outside of time.  We learned much
about ourselves, and the world.  We do not regret the experience."

Ted's dad finally looked at his wife, and she shook her head
slightly.  He nodded his, then turned back.  "We choose to refuse the
gift.  We are not...  I do not have the words.  We are too long set in
our ways.  If we change, and we *are* changing, it is best we continue
at a pace, and in a manner we can accept and are comfortable with.  We
will, however let our children make their own decisions, and live as
they choose.  We are wise enough to know we are not qualified to make
those decisions for them."

Vix nodded,  "So be it."

Then she looked at me.  "Marie.  It seems that all paths are leading
to the same destination.  Continue to follow yours, and I will
continue to follow mine."

"They will still cross in one week, Mistress?"

"Yes."

Then, she vanished.  It was an event I had been expecting.  From the
gasps I heard, I knew nobody else had anticipated her departing as
abruptly as she'd arrived.

I also knew she'd left it to me to take care of any questions left, so
I faced Ted's parents.  "Thanks for having the courage to let Ted and
Julie make their own decisions."

"We had no choice.  We are honorable people, Marie."

"I understand."

"What happens now?"

I sighed.  "Now?  You can do whatever you want.  I'm going home and
going to bed."

Ted laughed very softly.  "Mind if I walk with you?  I think it's
important that we spend as much time as possible together.  I have a
lot to learn in the next three weeks."

"Yeah.  There is that, isn't there?"  Then I smiled at him.  "Wouldn't
you rather ride home?"

"Umm...  You know I would like to do that."

"Ok."

I shifted my attention.  "Julie?  Mark?"

"We're pretty close to my house.  If Julie wants, I'm sure it's ok if
she spends the night.  Just remember to bring our stuff with you in
the morning, ok?"

"We can do that.  See you then."

I looked at everyone else and sighed again.  "I guess everyone else
can do whatever they want.  If I don't get home soon, I'm going to
fall over in the street or something.  Grab my medallion, Ted, and
let's get out of here."

"Yeah.  I'm beat, too.  Thanks, Marie."

I shifted, he put my harness on me, then he managed to get on my
back.  Once I knew he was settled,  I looked around.  "See everyone
later and...  Thanks for coming and helping to make this a night I'll
never forget."

Then I headed home.

* * *

I made it home, shifted back, then Ted and I staggered into the house
and sort of agreed without really saying much, that we should take a
shower together before we went to bed.

It was during the shower that everything felt right, and we made love
to each other.

I was leaning against the wall and he was pressed against me and still
in me when I sighed and managed to hug him.  "Thank you, Ted.  Wish we
could stay like this, but..."

"Yeah.  I know.  You know something?  I never used a hand held shower
until we moved here and dad put them in.  He called them decadent at
first, but mom and Julie called them practical.  Eventually he agreed
with them."

I laughed tiredly.  "So you know what I need to do after you pull
out?"

"Yeah.  I used to help Wilma, so I know what to do."

I giggled.  "Already trained?  I like that.  I'll have to find a way
to thank her."

"You know she'll freak out, don't you?  I bet the world knows who you
are by now, and if they don't, It's a sure bet it will by this
weekend."

"Yeah.  Vids and tweets, and all that other stuff.  I'm still
surprised that there weren't any reporters and stuff there by the time
we finished."

"Seen it happen at the mall when you sing?"

"Uh huh.  Now, it's no big deal and folks relax and enjoy it, but the
first few times I sang with Mahika and Sandra..."

He must have felt me stiffen in shock.  "What wrong?"

"No.  It's impossible.  She was at least fifteen when she died."

"I'm lost...  Love.  You going to tell me what's wrong, or is it
something I shouldn't know, yet?"

"Umm...  It's not important to you, only me, maybe.  I don't want to
look like a total idiot, so I need to talk to...  Somebody, before I
say anything."

"Keeping secrets already?"

I sighed.  "I have to.  This is the sort of stuff, that if I get it
wrong, it could really fuck up things for everyone, not just us.  Give
me a chance to find out what's going on, ok?  Someday, when you're a
Bard, you'll have to keep secrets from me."

"Oh.  Ok.  I can understand that.  It's like a corporate secret?"

"Yeah.  Mega-corp style."

"I hate it, but...  Ok.  Promise to tell me if you can?"

"Yes.  If you really know what to do, I'm going to be lazy, and you
can clean up after yourself."

He laughed.  "Changing the subject?  At least it's one I enjoy."

He didn't just douche me and clean me up.  He worked me into an orgasm
that made me so weak he had to drop everything and grab me until I
recovered a little.

Then he helped me out and we dried each other off after he shut the
water off and all that stuff.

Finally, it was time to kiss each other again, and stagger back into
my room.

Last thing I remember is him easing me down before he wrapped me in a
hug and whispered.  "Love you, Marie.  Always."

"Ummm...  Yeeeahhhh..."

* * *

When the four of us got to school, I was scared.  The busses were
there, but there was nobody wandering around like usual.

Mark touched my arm, then pointed.  "There's Mrs. Ross.  Looks like
she's waiting for...  Us, I think.  What's going on?"

"Not a clue.  I think we're going to find out.  She's spotted us and
is headed this way."

We kept walking until we were about ten feet away from her, then all
of us stopped.

She held up a business card I recognized.  It was one of Lady
Chrystal's real fancy ones.  "This was on my desk."

She turned it over so we could read it.  'Call me as soon as you see
this.'

"Mrs. Ross?  Whatever is going on, I don't know what it is.  Lady
Chrystal is like a force of nature, sometimes."

She nodded.  "So I've noticed.  What's going on, is the four of you. 
Well, three, really, unless Mark has some hidden talents we don't know
about."

Mark sighed.  "I'm just me.  Sorry."

She smiled at him.  "That is more than enough, right now, so let's
keep thinking this involves all four of you."

"Yes, Ma'am."

She focused on me, and it was like I could see the future or
something, because suddenly I *knew* why everyone was missing.  I
couldn't stop from blurting out my suspicion.  "It's a mandatory
assembly, isn't it?  It's about us and...  What happened yesterday
evening, I bet."

She sighed.  "Feminine intuition telling you that?"

"No, Ma'am.  I'm...  I'm..."

I shook my head miserably and looked at Ted, who finally nodded and
faced Mrs. Ross with none of his usual meekness.

"We're all learning to be Rabelaisian Bards, Mrs. Ross.  Julie, Mark
and I are now apprentices to Lady Chrystal.  Marie...  She's a
Journeywoman.  She told me she's been trained to see the stuff nobody
else notices, and then she can figure things out from there.  I
think...  She said something that makes me think 'intuition' is
something else.  Something...  That if it's true, I'd better not say
anything about."

"Very well.  However she figured it out, she's right.  What's NOT
mandatory, is that the four of you attend, as the...  'Focus' of it. 
I've been asked to see if the four of you would agree to stop by the
drama department to get fitted with some costumes before you appear on
stage.  That is, of course, if you agree to perform."

She looked at me and sighed.  "As for Marie...  Will ribbons in your
mane and tail, be enough of a costume?"

I stared at her in shock, then shivered.  "It's not that simple.  I
don't have my medallion with me.  I *can't* be shape shifted in
public, without it."

"You could call home and have your parents bring it, couldn't you?"

"They're both at work by now, and everyone else is in school."

"I could take you home while everyone is getting fitted."

I turned and looked at Ted, but spoke to everyone.  "We did it to
ourselves yesterday.  We *have* to accept.  You guys see it, don't
you?"  It's about the kind of acceptance we've always wanted.  I think
it was supposed to happen on Solstice, but...  Things changed because
of who we are."

Julie surprised me.  "What's the problem?  All we'll be doing is a
sing along with part of our family, like a clan gathering, right? 
Besides...  We may be only apprentices and you a Journeywoman, but
we're *Bards*, too.  I think our Mistress knows our decision isn't
one, really."

"You got that part right, about it not being a decision."

I looked around again and spoke, I hoped, confidently, and as a
Journeywoman.  "Mark?  You and Julie will do a reverse Romeo and
Juliet scene where she serenades you while you're in one of those fake
balconies, First though, do some of those things where you sit there
and she sings to you.  Lover's ballads, that sort of tear jerker
stuff.  See if you can set it up so you can dress right for some
country sing alongs.  If the people in the dance class are willing... 
Can either of you call a square dance?"

Mark nodded.  "I can.  Forgot about that.  Haven't done it since grade
school.  You want us to do a quick costume fitting so we can get in
there and get things started while we wait for you to get back?"

"Exactly.  Ted?  I'll need two costumes ready.  We're going to make
our entrance as a cowboy riding his mare to a country fair.  You know
more about that stuff than I do.  Whatever I wear will stay with the
appropriate body, so when I get back, I want to get dressed as the
girl he's going to see.  Dress, petticoats, all that stuff.  Real
special and frilly, right?"

"Got it.  Julie can help them figure it out before she goes in with
Mark.  Be like they're the filler act and we're the headliners,
right?"

"Yeah.  After I get dressed as the cowgirl, I'll shift and we can do
all the ribbons and stuff.  Oh...  Damn!  We can't do it that way! 
Julie?  I bet you've helped Ted get dressed up, right?

"Yes."

"Good.  You tell everyone what we'll need.  Ted needs to go with us,
because I just realized I really need my show saddle and all that
other stuff.  I'll have to shift so Ted can put it on me, because I
don't think Mrs. Ross knows how, and even if she did, she might not be
able to settle it properly and get it tight enough."

I faced Mrs. Ross again.  "This is about us, right?  Our parents don't
need to be here?"

"The focus is on the four of you, not them."

"Thought so.  Ok.  I'm ready to go home and get what I need."

She nodded.  "Mark.  Julie.  People are waiting for you, so when you
get there, ask someone to relay a message to the assembly.  The
anticipation will be good for them, once they know you're going to
perform.  Don't worry about how long this assembly takes.  We've
already assumed today is a write off as far as regular classes are
concerned.  Nobody would pay any attention, including most of the
faculty."

"Marie.  Ted.  Let's get going.  I don't want to be the cause of a
riot if people decide you're taking too long to get ready."

We got to my place and I took them through the front door.  "Let me
get my medallion, then we'll go to the garage and get my stuff."

When we got to the garage I opened a cabinet and they both looked past
me.  Ted was the first to comment.

"That's a nice saddle, Marie.  Doesn't look that heavy."

I ignored him and grabbed a remote from one of the shelves.  "Here. 
That one isn't."  I gestured at the rafters.  "We keep my show saddle
up there.  It's a little heavier, so it's on a hoist.  That way dad
doesn't strain his back by trying to lift it."

I handed Mrs. Ross my harness, then shifted and walked over to stand
under my saddle.  "Lower away,  It doesn't need a blanket.  All that
stuff is built in."

He looked at it, at me, then sighed and started lowering it.  He had
to shift it a little so it settled right, then he buckled the straps
around me.  When he was done he lightly tapped my ribs with his fist. 
"Exhale!"

I giggled, exhaled, then held it while he resnugged everything.  "Ok. 
Done."

I got my breath back and laughed.  "You enjoyed doing that to me,
didn't you?"

"Of course!"

Then he removed the lifting harness and cover.  Both of them gasped.

Finally I sighed.  "Mrs. Ross?  I need my medallion, please.  Center
it on my forehead. and you'll be able to see how to fasten
everything.  Ted?  I think you'll be able to figure out which bridle
and reins go with the saddle, right?"

"Uhh...  Yeah."

He reached and tapped one of the decorations on my saddle.  "That
didn't sound like gold plate."

"It's not.  They're solid gold.  The stuff that would be iron, like my
shoes and the stirrups and stuff are chromed titanium."

"Are you sure you should be using it?  That thing still has to be
pretty heavy, right?"

"Heavy enough, but I'm used to it.  You know how much a horse can
carry if they want to.  If someone wants to steal it, they can try. 
You wouldn't believe all the protective stuff Lady Chrystal, Merlin,
and Lady Kay worked into it when they made it for me.  It will survive
a fire, untouched."

Mrs. Ross finished putting my harness on, then moved to study my
saddle.  "It must have cost a fortune to make it."

I was glad I couldn't blush.  "Ummm...  It didn't cost them a thing,
unless you count Lady Kay sleeping for twenty four hours or so after
they got done."

"Oh?  Are you going to explain that?"

I ducked.  "Mrs. Ross?  Does Lady Chrystal have some special plans for
you?"

"Yes.  All she's done so far is offer me a chance to become a
certified Rabelaisian teacher.  I accepted."

"Umm...  Ok.  I guess that makes you one of the inner circle."

"So you can tell us?"

"The three of them mind linked, then Lady Kay created everything from
raw energy while I stood still.  It was molded to my body.  Lady
Chrystal and Merlin visualized it on me, then she made it reality."

"Energy to matter?"

"Yes.  She can do it the other way, too."

"That's...  Something I wouldn't have believed if most people had told
me it could be done."

"I watched it happen.  I have to believe it."

"You have a point.  Ted, if I can help, show me what to do.  We need
to get back as soon as we can."

"Yes, Ma'am."

It didn't take long for them to put everything else on me, then they
stepped away and studied me while I posed for them.

Ted finally shook his head and then stepped forward.  "Get your head
down here.  I want to give you a good head hug before you go back to
being a girl.  You're the kind of horse I always dreamed about owning
someday."

I ducked my head and nudged him.  "I'm your wife, too.  Am I going to
have to be jealous of myself?"

He blushed and Mrs. Ross startled me by giggling.  "I can see shape
shifters have some unusual things to worry about.  If you're ready,
let's get headed back."

I shifted back and grabbed Ted's hand.  "Let's go."

Mrs. Ross was watching us and she shook her head.  "And all of that
will still be there later?"

"Just like my regular clothes.  I hate to say it, but that's the way
it works.  If we want it that way, it is."

"I'll get used to it. I think there will be even more unusual things
in my life, before this adventure is over."

I had a strange idea and knew I might be overstepping when I asked it,
but I had to ask.  "Mrs. Ross?  Did Lady Chrystal offer to take you on
as an apprentice?"

"No.  She said that while Bards are often teachers, there are so many
restrictions on them they can't be classroom style teachers.  I'll be
a Mage someday, instead."

"Oh.  Umm...  Let's go."

"Good decision."

We went back and she headed for the assembly while Ted and I headed
for costuming.

After we were done, Ted got in the saddle and we headed for the gym.

We were met by one of the drama students, who was also dressed as a
cowboy.  "Wait here.  As soon as we're ready, I'll let you know."

I had the good ears, and when I heard some music start, I flinched.

Ted noticed.  "What's wrong?"

"I hope you have your mouth organ with you."

"Habit.  In my shirt pocket."

"Good.  I hear a fiddle and a guitar playing.  I'd know that style of
guitar playing anywhere.  I've heard it since I was a baby.  My dad's
in there."

"And that means my dad's probably here, too.  Do you have the feeling
we've been set up and Mark and Julie probably didn't have to get
things started?"

"Yes."

I bobbed my head.  "Do you know Scarborough Fair?"

"Yeah.  You think they're going to open those doors after a set up,
and it will be silent while we make our entrance?"

"Yep.  Give me a few notes lead, then I'll step and start singing as
soon as you start playing the melody."

"Got it."

I perked my ears at the door.  "Get ready.  I hear someone
speaking...  And...  I can see someone's aura.  Wait...  Wait...  Cue
the doors... And...  Go!"

The doors were just swinging open when he did a short musical flourish
and I stepped past the two guys who were pushing on them.  When the
spotlights hit us I arched my neck, Ted started the melody, and I did
a high stepping prance while I headed for the stage, singing into the
kind of silence that says you managed to surprise people.

By the time we were ending the song we were on the stage and people
had set microphones up for us.

I finished, then Ted did another musical flourish before he quit, and
I took the time to look around before I spoke easily.

"What's the big deal, huh?  Most of you have seen me at the mall,
right?  Was the entrance good enough, or should we go back and do it
again until we get it right?  Hey, for those of you who don't know me,
I'm The Singing Palomino.  Ted, the guy on my back, doesn't have a
stage name yet.  Someone grab a mic and pass it around so you folks
can make suggestions.  Maybe he'll like one of them and use it."

Somebody grabbed a mic and handed it to someone at random, I think.

Naturally, the first question was about who I really was.

"I've seen that video of you singing last night.   Is that really you
in there, Marie?"

I looked closer and realized I knew her.  "Yes, Mary.  It's me.  To
save time, you guys, Ted and I are already planning on getting
married."

Then I turned and winked at Ted.  "You tell them about the surprise."

"Surprise?  What surprise?"

"I have another form I use, remember?  Let's get it over with so the
other girls can quit being jealous."

He grinned.  "Oh.  *That* surprise."

He adjusted his microphone and looked around.  "Hey, guys.  I know
where Monique lives and goes to school.  Interested?"

He got silence.  "I guess that means yes?  Ok.  She goes to the same
school we do, but she changes things so we don't recognise her."

He got a few shouts of 'Impossible!' and he started laughing.  :"I
didn't say she changed her clothes and makeup, you idiots.  She
changes her *body*.  It's been Marie, and I caught her!  She's *mine*,
so you can all just suffer when you come to our wedding!"

When the groans and laughter died down a little, I got their attention
again.  "Ok.  Let's get back to what's really important.  All these
folks need stage names.  Let's start with Ted.  Any ideas?"

We heard a lot of suggestions and Ted didn't like any of them. 
Finally a mousy looking girl was handed the mic and Ted flinched.

She sort of whispered.  "I guess I'm cheating a little, because I
already know he likes this name.  I used to call him by it when I was
teasing him.  I bet you know what I'm talking about, right? Anyway,
he's sorta quiet most of the time, so this is freaky.  I like this
side of him, ya know?  So...  The thing is, when he speaks, it's good
if you listen close, because he doesn't talk just because he can't
stand silence.  Umm...  To me, he'll always be 'Taciturn Ted'. 
'Taciturn Ted and his Singing Palomino' sounds good, doesn't it? 
Real...  Cowboyish."

Ted spoke into the silence.  "Yeah.  I like it.  Thanks, Wilma.  Got a
request?"

"Sort of.  Will you two do 'We've Only Just Begun' at our wedding,
next month?"

He touched my neck to get my attention.  "You know the words?"

"Of course."

"Good."

He straightened and spoke like it was only him and Wilma, not a huge
crowd.  "We'll do it.  And just so you can make sure you like our
version..."

He played a few notes to cue me, then while he played and let his
heart reach to his ex girlfriend and her future husband, I sang the
song that had become a replacement for the traditional wedding march,
for so many people.

After we finished I turned my head to look at Mark and Julie.  Both of
them were shaking their heads slightly, so I changed what I was going
to say.  "Mark?  Julie?  Your turn."

Mark looked at me, then Ted.  After that he pulled Julie into a hug at
his side and turned his microphone back on.

"Folks, the rest of us have been talking it over while Marie and Ted
had their fun, and we decided we just want to be who we are, 'Mark and
Julie'.  That's good enough for us.  If you want to call me something
else, I guess you can call me the Lead Caller, because it looks like
that's what I'll be doing.  We talked about something else, too. 
We're like their backup band and stuff like that, right?  Well, If you
gotta call us something, we'd all like to be known as 'The
Scarboroughs', and Julie can be our Lead Singer, with her and Marie's
moms being our Backup Vocalists."

He looked around and nodded slightly before he looked at me and smiled
a little sadly.  "That's all we got, ok?"

"I got no problems with that."

I bobbed my head at him, then faced our audience again.   "What do you
folks think of our backup band, 'The Scarboroughs'?"

While they were cheering, I turned so I could speak softly to Ted. 
"Time for you to get down."

"Ok."

He got off after he put his mouth organ in his shirt pocket, then he
gave me a head hug before he moved to my side.

When things got a little quieter, I spoke softly.  "Well, I guess it's
time to do what country folks do at fairs, and that's dance.  However,
if I'm going to do that, I need two feet instead of four, right?"

I didn't wait for any reactions, I just changed back to myself and
readjusted my microphone.  "Hi again.  I'm Marie.  When I'm like this,
I dance better than I can sing, so...

"It's time to square dance, everyone!  Call it, Mark!"

We moved to center stage while Mark and everyone decided what they'd
play, and by the time they were ready, the school square dance team
had surrounded us.  I grinned at Ted.  "I never did ask you if you can
square dance."

"I'm a Country Boy.  I can do *that* in my sleep!"

Mark really got into his calling, and by the time we finished he must
have had at least half the people in the school on the floor, dancing
with us.  It didn't matter if they knew what to do or not, because he
worked the instructions into his calls.

I'm pretty sure I was passed to every guy brave enough to get out
there, and Ted must have had the same experience with the girls before
the two of us were back together at center stage.

When Mark made the final call of 'Now it's over, kiss your partner', I
was so exhausted I melted into Ted's arms and covered his lips with
mine, instead of doing the normal peck on the cheek.

When people started chanting 'Get a room!', we broke apart and laughed
at each other.  We felt too good to be embarrassed about showing our
love for each other in public.

Ted recovered first, and held my hand while he walked us to one of the
microphones.  He took a few breaths to steady his breathing, then he
grabbed the mic and spoke casually.  "We did get a room.  The gym. 
Anything smaller would cramp our style, you know?"

I laughed at him.  "You're wicked, and I love you for it."

The crowd roared its approval.  I moved to my microphone and motioned
for some silence.  When I had it, I did a real formal curtsey, then
spoke gently.  "We'd love to do more for you, but we need a break.  I
think most of you could use one, too, so lets take one, and we'll meet
back here in an hour.  We'll do requests until it's time to go home,
ok?  If we don't know the songs, if someone can find some sheet music
for them, those of us who can sight read will do the best we can. 
Maybe some of you could go get on the net and do some printouts so
things move more smoothly.  Or, since I know we have some computer
majors here, they could get some computers and projectors in here so
we can do some real sing alongs.

"Thanks, everyone.  It's been wonderful, and we'll be back in an
hour."

Mr. Albright, our principal, came over after I shut off my microphone,
and held out his hand.  After we shook hands, he looked at me and
smiled.  "You're an amazing young woman, Marie.  I can see why Lady
Chrystal chose you to be the first Bard to be trained on Earth."

I shook my head.  "I'm sorry, Mr. Albright.  I don't know what she
told you, but I'm certain she shaded the truth, or you misinterpreted
what she was telling you.  She didn't choose me.  We stumbled into our
relationship.  Or, if it makes you feel like it was more than that,
perhaps The World's Purpose set up the chain of events that led to
this.  The reality is probably somewhere in the middle, and a truth
none of us will ever know for certain."

"You truly believe that something else caused this to happen?  God's
will?"

"Our world has an awareness of its own, Mr. Albright.  Call it God, if
you wish.  Sometimes it chooses people to further its own desires,
whatever those might be.  It is not given for us to know what those
desires are.  We are merely tools who are used, and sometimes
discarded, as casually as you or I would pick up a hammer, then put it
away when we are done with it."

"You sound very mature, for your age."

"I am a Journeywoman Bard.  My maturity, as limited as it is, is a
consequence of my training.  Once I started on this path, I could not
avoid it, even if I had wished to do so."

"I shall think about this.  Perhaps I should make arrangements to talk
with Lady Chrystal again.  You make me think I heard what I wanted to
hear, instead of what she was telling me."

I laughed gently.  "It is a problem we humans have when we deal with
Bards.  They tailor their lessons to the student, and we are all their
students."

"Yet, you are a Bard.  Does this mean you see me as one of your
students?"

"Everyone is a potential student of mine.  In this case, yes, you are
one of my students, if you choose to listen as one."

"I think I see.  I will not take up any more of your time.  Thank you,
Marie."

"You're welcome, Mr. Albright."

I watched him vanish into the swirling crowd, then I turned to Ted and
grabbed his hand.  "Come on.  Let's take a bathroom break, find some
food, then see if there's some privacy around here."

"Food's in the cafeteria, like usual.  You know where the bathrooms
are.  True privacy is a figment of our imaginations until we get home,
I bet."

"We can worry about it later.  Let's go."

"Yeah.  I'm starving."
======

End:  Marie's Solstice 01/14 The Chains of Freedon 1/2

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