“Yes,” Col’s arm was wrapped around her, his thumb stroking the bare skin of her arm. “We are from another time, from a country which has been lost even to legend. Simon has surmised that our era corresponds to roughly a millennium.”
He gave her time to let that sink in. She had not grown up in a world whereMagickswere the rule, not the exception, and it was already an upheaval for her to accept his true nature. And truth be told, he knew little details about theMagicksthat had transpired to bring him here.
He only knew that she was here now, still in his arms, and that was the onlyMagicksin the moment that mattered for him.
“That explains the way you speak English, and the tough time you’ve been having getting used to modern life,” his Lily mused. “But you all speak differently.”
“We have only been awakened for roughly six months,” Col said. “And the five of us were drawn from different tribes, with different tongues. There was only one manner of speech that we held in common, but it was the language of nobility, courtly words that did not lend itself readily to the needs of the everyday.”
Lily nodded. It was a little bit like the preschoolers that she had before, from households where different languages were spoken. She imagined what it must have been like for them, to arrive in this culture and needing to assimilate quickly.
“At the beginning, the only way we could communicate was in our wolven forms, where we can speak to one another with our minds.” Col remembered those early days. They had not been aWar-Packprior to being enchanted. But upon waking up, they quickly shifted once they realized that they were a collection of five different dialects in human form.
And the irony of Barric, the outcast from his tribe, being the one who could best communicate telepathically with the others.
“You can read minds when you’re…when you’re in wolf form?”
“Only the minds of otherWaryeors, and only if part of the sameWar-Pack,” Col explained. “We know not why, but it has e’er been so amongWaryeors.” He stroked her arm some more. There were so many ways to communicate without words, he thought. And what he had been experiencing with his Lily was by far the most pleasurable one.
“Are you…do you look like Barric and Merek in your wolf form?”
“My coloring is much like the members of my tribe, which you see in my hair right now.” Col said. “But if you wish, I can show you my wolf.” He made as if to get up, but Lily’s hand pressed on him.
“No.” He was puzzled, but settled back in his spot, her weight a comfort against his. “I mean, I do, eventually, but it’s a lot to take in right now. And you can’t talk in wolf form, so I’d rather we…that you’re able to, while I’m still processing all this.”
“As you wish.” Col understood. Besides, he was enjoying having her in his very human arms.
“But how is it that you all speak English now, and so differently from one another?”
“Simon only knew a single phrase in the ancient language of nobility.” Col said. He remembered the syllables that Simon had intoned that day, when they had encountered him and Miller Armstrong for the very first time.
“But he and Miller Armstrong instantly set about giving us as much exposure to the language they used as possible. He had materials from the Medieval Faire, although he did not know yet that we were from an earlier time. And he also had moving pictures—I mean, television and movies—playing for us.” Which Aylwyn took to as a cold man in winter to a lit fire in a hearth, followed by the rest of hisBredhren. Col had been the least able to adapt to the various forms of speech that accompanied the similarly bizarre manner of dress and behavior in the shows which Aylwyn favored.
“Ah yes, television,” Lily laughed. “And I can see now why there’s a varying blend of all these influences in how you all speak. Plus, I’m sure it must have been very difficult to get used to everything around you, to modern life.” She leaned further into him, and he breathed in her delicious scent of nighttime blossoms.
“The first six months, Miller Armstrong also trained us so we could adapt to beingWaryeorsin this time,” Col said, remembering how the older man had earned their respect by shaping the five disparateWaryeorsinto more of a cohesive military unit, and introducing them to the arrays of modern combat styles. “To him we owe a great deal for how we are now, and of course to young Simon as well.”
“You had mentioned not being susceptible—of being free of human disease.” Lily recalled their previous conversation. “What other differences are there?”
“Waryeorsare able to heal faster, especially in our wolf forms.” Col explained. “When we are inWar-Packs, we may also channel healing energy from the group as a whole to aid in our healing, although currently Merek is the most adept at directing that energy.”
“But what exactly do you heal from, and what are the limits?”
A lifetime of conditioning gave Col pause. AWaryeornever revealed his vulnerabilities. But this was his Lily, asking a natural question, in an attempt to understand him and his kind better.HisLily, who was very likely his biggest vulnerability of all.
“I only have knowledge from otherWaryeorsof our time. Collected wisdom of the types of wounds that could be inflicted with less permanence, and which would visit upon theWaryeorscars or even death.” Col pressed his lips tightly. “But that was from a time afore the armament that exist now, weaponry the likes of which were not even envisaged by the most powerful of Mages.”
Lily nodded. “I pray that you — that all of you — never need to find out first hand, then.”
“Miller is training us in their usage,” Col said. He hoped that she would not ask for what they were fighting against. He knew little beyond the likelihood that the enemy had awakened as well, which he would share. But he would prefer that Tybalt, as theVixar, would be the one to provide the information, as needed, should Lily ask. As aWaryeor, he only concerned himself with the orders he was given. Or at least he used to.
He idly stroked her arms, feather-light touches with his fingertips, and she shivered, burrowing herself into the solidity of his body further.
“I am not desirous of holding any more secrets from you, fair Lily,” Col murmured into her hair. And smiled. “And I hope that you wouldst tell me of yourmagickalnature as well.”
“Not to my knowledge—”Lily started to say, and then laughed, the tinkling sound as music to his ears. “Col, did you just make a joke? Tonight really is a night of marvels, isn’t it?”
Col’s spirit soared. She made him feel light-hearted, so much so that he was making japes. He turned her gently around so that he could touch her face, her lips which parted easily.
