The four sylphs all shot outside and started to gain alt.i.tude, arching up over the town. Already, the local battlers were roaring, all of them rising and preparing to eliminate the intruders to their hive.

Wano was pretty sure the battlers rising around her couldn't be very happy. She'd fled through that gate in desperation, only to be rejected by the woman now inside her, and now she was in the territory of another hive. On top of that, the itch was an agony inside her, her body's intended changes fighting against her new pattern.

The two battlers from her home hive gave chase, determined to kill her despite pa.s.sing through the gate. That transit had broken the link to their queen, which probably only made their rage greater. They didn't have the new bond she did with the woman inside of her, but they hadn't touched the energy of this world, either. Until they did, the world wouldn't be able to reject them. Wano and Fhranke could end up dead before that happened.

What is this place? Fhranke shrieked, turning and lashing out with his remaining energy at their two attackers. Both were larger and older than he, and they dodged his blast. Who was that female back there? Why did she call me Fhranke? What's a Fhranke? Who are you carrying?

My life, apparently. Wano could feel the poison in the world around her, except for inside the female she carried. The woman was full of energy that was soft and light, more wholesome and filling than anything Wano had ever feasted on. Already she wished she'd come through the gate sooner, for now that she was here, all she wanted was to protect the girl who'd named her and heal the pain deep within. Provided either of them survived the next few minutes.

Creatures like the female she carried ran in terror on the ground, minor sylphs flickering around them as they took cover. Battle sylphs raced to attack, but most were young things who would only be used as guards or harvesters in her hive.

Behind her, the first of her home hive sylphs put on a burst of speed, and Fhranke moved to shield her, bracing himself to fight.

A new battle sylph who was bigger than the others appeared, roaring in rage and slamming into her enemy from below. He drove his claws deep and tore his foe wide. The wounded sylph squealed, outmatched in size, but tried to lash back. They both somersaulted together and dropped from view as a half dozen more joined the fight.

The second battler abandoned his pursuit of her and Fhranke as twenty others flashed up after him. All of them were smaller, but that didn't matter. Even the oldest and strongest of battlers could be outnumbered.

Wano slowed to a stop in midair, fearfully but deliberately putting herself between Fhranke and the dozen battle sylphs gathering before her.

Don't do anything, she murmured.

They're the enemy! he protested.

There are too many.

She could also see what he couldn't with only two eyes and limited senses: All these battlers were originally from different hives, some even from her own, but they had been allowed to live when they crossed the gate by being repatterned. They were part of a hive where she could find a place for herself without having to change what she was.

They closed in, recognizing her for exactly what she was, and Wano twisted herself into a submissive posture. She pulled Fhranke against her side and held him so he couldn't attack.

Subsume me, she said, her new master cradled and sobbing inside her. Subsume us both.

Chapter Twenty-two.

"She's a queen?"

Mace shook his head. "Yes and no."

Solie stared up at him, one hand on her stomach as she sat upon a chair that had been brought. Her feet seemed to be getting worse the longer her pregnancy wore on. "What does that mean?"

The big battler shrugged. He didn't look like he'd been hurt in the fight, but she could feel his pain and the Widow stood near the entrance, waiting for him with barely contained impatience. "Most healers don't become queens. Sometimes, one grows too large too fast and the queen will turn on her, which means the entire hive does. That rejection triggers a change that turns a healer into a queen. By then, she'll have been driven out and will have to found a hive of her own-or die."

"That's horrible!" Solie gasped. "The poor thing!"

Mace didn't say anything.

Solie made a face. "If the hive rejected her, why didn't Fhranke?"

"He's an exile without a hive. He was waiting for her to make the final transition so that he could become her mate."

"Oh." A thought occurred to Solie. "If she's changing into a queen, will she lose the ability to heal?"

"I don't know. Probably. I've never seen a queen heal anyone before. A healer could never order death. Queens do."

Solie sighed. It would be just their luck to finally draw a healer who couldn't heal.

She eyed their two newest additions. Both were in human shape now, the foreign battler looking like any other, except he didn't seem to have an interest in his new master. In fact, he kept leaning away from her whenever she came close. Battlers had a reputation for being all over their female masters from the moment of bonding. This one didn't seem to want anything to do with Cherry. He sat close to the healer instead, leaning against her to the point where she was about to fall off the bench.

Cherry didn't seem to know what to make of that. Like a lot of single young women in the Valley, she'd dreamed of having a battle sylph and all that entailed, and Solie had heard her argue more than once that it wasn't fair for young women to be denied battlers. Only, now she finally had one and nothing was going as expected.

The healer had shifted into the form of an average-looking woman, average except for her hair, which was dark and so short it was more like fur. Her eyes were huge and dark, flecks of gold sparkling in them. Dressed in a garment too large for her, she stared across the hall at Gabralina, who was huddled by the wall and seemed to be in shock.

Shock. Solie didn't blame her. It had to be rough having your sylph die under such horrible circ.u.mstances, and then to find yourself bound to a new sylph you neither expected nor wanted. For Wano's sake, Solie hoped Gabralina could learn to accept her. If healers turned into queens because they were rejected, Gabralina would have to.

But, there were other priorities. Solie levered herself to her feet with Heyou's help and waddled toward the new sylph. Incipient queen or not, if she could still heal, they needed her.

People who'd come to trust her as their leader watched as Solie crossed the summoning hall. A lot of them had come out to see what was going on, at least once the sylph battle was over and the other two battlers killed. Not that she could blame them. She hadn't dared leave her bedroom while it raged.

She saw Nelson in the crowd. He was Heyou's master now, a fact no one else knew but Heyou and Nelson, Mace, and Iyala. They hadn't been willing to take any more chances. Near Nelson stood Sala and Loren, with Claw and Sh.o.r.e, and what seemed to be most of the children in the Valley.

Seeing Solie was done talking to Mace, the Widow Blackwell stepped through the ranks and went to her battler's side. Mace glanced down at her even as she grabbed his wrist and led him to a corner, clearly intending to check his injuries. He could use a healer himself, Solie guessed, but not so much as another.

Wano looked up as Solie approached, then away, her shoulders hunched. Fhranke glared but seemed otherwise confused. He'd been loyal through a lot of chaos, but Wano had no doubt of the reason why. He was obeying instinct, hoping for the chance to breed in a newly established hive. She could feel that instinct waging against the bond he had now with the long-haired girl they'd called Cherry. He was torn in two directions, and she had the sad feeling that he'd be like everyone else and turn away from her.

The queen of this hive walked forward, the same species as all the other fixed-form creatures but very definitely the queen. Wano could see the lines of energy that ran from her to every other sylph, and also the life that was growing inside her. That was just like a queen of her own species, she supposed, though this would be a live birth and not eggs.

The foreign queen also didn't project disgust as she looked at Wano, or even her past queen's original indifference. The creature looked down on Wano and Fhranke with a tremendous feeling of welcome, and the itch of rejection that had been twisting Wano's insides eased. The change was so sudden as to be almost painful, and Wano shivered even as she embraced it. Desired it.

"Are you feeling better?" the queen asked. "I know this is all confusing for you."

"I'm all right," Wano said.

Solie smiled. "I'm sorry to do this to you. I mean, normally a newly arrived sylph is given time to be alone with his or her master, for the two to relax and get used to each other." The queen's voice trailed off, which meant an acclimatization period wasn't very likely.

Wano shot a look at the other side of the hall, at her master. The queen's welcome had made her pattern soothe, but the only reason Gabralina hadn't run away was because the surrounding battlers wouldn't let her. That made Wano's pattern shudder again, unable to decide between returning to what she had been or continuing on into the change to something new.

"My name is Solie, and I want you to heal someone," the queen said. "Can you do that?"

"Yes." It had been a long time since she'd been allowed to do so, but she had healed Fhranke during the fight and herself as well.

She stood, and Fhranke jumped up beside her.

"Hey!" Cherry protested. She'd been sitting on the very edge of the bench, chewing a fingernail while she stared wistfully at her new battle sylph. "Don't go!"

Fhranke gawped. "Why not?"

The large battler who'd killed Wano's first attacker appeared. "Let me explain."

Fhranke looked at the big sylph and hissed, his aura flaring. The other's immediately rose to match. Half a second later, the queen was ten feet farther away, her mate's arms protectively around her.

The large battler was the most powerful in the hive, but Wano could tell that the top battler was the youngster holding the queen, odd though that was. Fhranke apparently didn't know enough to make that distinction and he was close to the larger sylph's size. The last thing anyone needed was the two fighting vainly for the top spot.

Around them, elemental sylphs were vanishing again, battlers bracing themselves for more violence. Wano tensed, ready to flee.

"Stop it!" the queen shouted. Everyone stared at her, Wano included. Back home, the queen would often allow such fights, granting the winner a name if he did well enough. Here, the queen was unimpressed. "No one's fighting anyone for any position in this Valley! Is that clear? Mace?"

The big battler turned to her, his stance relaxed. He bowed. "Of course, my queen."

Solie glared at him. "Good." She faced Fhranke. "And you?"

Fhranke looked like his entire world had turned upside down and he wanted to start ripping pieces out of it.

"FHRANKE!"

He winced and bowed his head. "Yes, my queen."

Solie nodded. "Thank you. You can stay here. Talk to Cherry. I think you might like her if you get to know her."

Fhranke looked dubious, but he didn't follow as Solie returned to Wano, putting a warm hand on her shoulder and leading her over to her master.

"I'm going to take Wano to see Leon, Gabralina," Solie told the blonde. "Is that all right?"

Gabralina looked away, her arms crossed. She shivered slightly. Her soul was a mora.s.s of pain, none of which Wano could see any way to fix. "I don't care."

"You don't care if Leon gets better?"

Gabralina winced, and Wano felt Solie kick herself inside. It was the first time Wano had ever seen regret in a queen.

"Okay," Gabralina whispered.

The three of them left the summoning hall, the queen walking between Wano and Gabralina. Heyou followed, periodically playing with her hair. The gathered crowd parted, most of them chattering excitedly, though a look from Solie silenced them.

They pa.s.sed down the road. Wherever it was they were headed, it seemed far enough to cause the queen agony. Wano could feel it in Solie's feet, and she paused for a moment, debating. But, this queen had been very kind to her and she was her queen. So, gingerly, she reached out to touch the woman's shoulder and turn off her pain.

"Thanks," Solie managed, clearly surprised.

Gabralina addressed Wano hopefully. "Can you heal everything?"

"No. Not everything." Wano regarded her master shyly. She hadn't entirely wanted the bond, either, but now that it was made, she craved more.

Gabralina glanced down, grief spearing through her again. Wano sighed. The rejection cut deep.

The queen put a hand on her newly formed arm. "Give her time," she murmured. "She'll come around."

They arrived at their destination a few minutes later. Not knowing the names of any of these strange, solid things that made up this alien world, at least not until her master processed them, Wano let the other two women lead the way. Up the walk to the front porch of the house they went, and as they did, a larger woman came out the front door.

"There you are," she said, directing mock sternness at Gabralina. "I've been worried. Do you know how long I spent walking around this town looking for you?" She turned to Heyou. "And, where's my hug?"

The sylph promptly bolted into her arms. It was a strange act for the queen's main battler, at least by Wano's estimation, but, hugging him happily, Iyala-that was the woman's name-asked about her son. Wano couldn't hear Heyou's answer since his head was buried in the woman's bosom.

Iyala next held a hand out to Gabralina. "Come here, my duck." The blonde gave a tired sigh and went to her, and Wano heard her start to cry.

Ignoring this, the queen led the way into the house. Instinct said to stay with her master, but Wano knew the queen was as absolute here as she was back home. Solie hadn't rejected Wano as Wano's old queen had, either. That won loyalty beyond instinct. Besides, Wano could feel the pain in the house. Instinct pulled her as much as obedience, and she reveled in the realization that her desire to heal still existed. She'd been afraid her former queen had broken that.

A child stood in the front hallway, glaring. "Who's she? n.o.body's allowed in here!"

"Ralad?" a voice called. "Who are you talking to?"

A woman came down the stairs, her face gaunt and her eyes shadowed. She was pale and eyed her visitors with weary exasperation. "Now what?" she demanded. "Isn't it enough to have battlers fighting overhead and Ril screaming? What are you doing here?" Behind her, more children peered out of the kitchen, while a young woman descended partway down the stairs to see what was going on.

"Betha, Wano is a healer. We summoned a healer."

Betha stared, white-faced with confusion. "What?"

Solie stepped forward to take her hands. "Wano is a healer," she repeated. "I brought her here for Leon."

Tears started in Betha's eyes, while the children began jabbering. Wano felt their grief whip shock into joy.

"You did? She is?" Betha threw herself forward and hugged Wano tightly. "Oh, thank you! Come! Come!"

She led Wano toward the stairs, shushing the younger girls. "The sylphs are working hard, but he's fading. His body's so weak. We've been giving him water and broth by squeezing a rag into his mouth. Out of the way, Lizzy."

She led them up the stairs. The girl named Lizzy scrambled to stay ahead of them as they made their way to the main bedroom.

A battle sylph met them at the door, studying Wano silently. Wano stopped when she saw what had been done to him. She'd never seen a battler so badly damaged and allowed to live, and she reveled in what that must mean about this hive. She stepped forward, her hand outstretched.

Solie grabbed her arm. "Not him. Inside the room."

Wano glanced at the queen, curious, but Solie didn't forbid her to heal the battler later. She was glad of that.

She obeyed, walking into the bedroom but stopping. A man lay in the bed. His face was gray, and if his mate had clearly lost some weight, this human looked emaciated. The bones in his arms showed under the skin. To Wano's amazement, two sylphs crouched nearby, breathing for him and keeping his blood flowing. Bruises darkened the skin on his face and around several casts, fading to a sickly yellow color around their edges.

Wano studied the unconscious man, seeing what no one else in the room could. The two elemental sylphs had done much, unthinkable as their actions might be in her old hive, but the pattern of his life force was dwindling. His body was broken in many places, its energy twisted far from normal form. And while these two sylphs kept him alive, they had no ability to heal him.

She crossed to the bed and studied the energy flows, examined the injuries. She'd never healed a human or even seen one closely before today, but she hadn't yet lost the ability to tell how his patterns were supposed to be in order to make him whole. Even mangled as he was, his problems were simple compared to Gabralina's, whose wounds went so much deeper.

Readying herself, Wano pulled the blanket down so she could place both of her hands on his bare chest. All around, the family and the man's battler gathered, their hope distracting her until she forced herself to block it out. They were just more energy after all.

Wano focused her power, matching her pattern to her patient's and then changing it, pouring energy into him for his body to feed off. The influx was healing, reshaping his flesh and bones into the forms they were supposed to take. The man woke with a gasp halfway through the process, eyes wide with surprise and not a little pain, so she forced him back into sleep even as his family exclaimed in excitement. It was easier to do this without him moving.

The man steadily improved. Wano gave the two elemental sylphs thanks, and they retreated, slipping wearily out the window and away. Her patient's battler stayed, watching with a hungry look. The man's wife and offspring were crying, while the queen stood by the door, her hands clasped before her b.r.e.a.s.t.s.