Free Lady Warhawk by Michelle L. Levigne

far
too long. It was good to have company, loud company, and young voices asking questions,
teasing and laughing and arguing, to drown out the remnants of the past.
    Megassa and Meghianna were quiet, and Mrillis only caught faint whispers of their
communications through the Threads. He watched the sisters' faces and saw only peace,
contentment over the reunion. He imagined it would take years, not a few days of traveling and a
common enemy, to heal the rift of sixteen years. Still, this was a good start.
    He felt at peace with the world when their party reached the tunnel mouth. Then he
reached through the Threads and sensed a large company waiting just outside the magic shield
that hid the tunnel mouth from sight.
    "Just what did you ask Markas for?" he said, turning to Meghianna. "We have enough
people and horses and wagons out there for an army."
    "Markas mentioned Pirkin's family was visiting, when I contacted him." Meghianna
frowned and twitched her fingers, manipulating the Threads. "Oh...my. How can they imagine
no one will notice that large a company?"
    "I'm sure Markas and Pirkin have a plan they consider quite clever," Megassa said, eyes
sparkling, mouth twitching with repressed laughter.
    "We'll see," Mrillis growled, despite his delight at being able to see his grandson again.
He urged his horse forward and twisted the Threads to open the curtain across the mouth of the
tunnel. The filtered daylight spilled through at full strength, along with the sounds of birds and
the breeze in the sheltering trees, and the sight of two entire troops of soldiers, one in Goarlotte
livery, and the other in Welcairn.
    Two man-shapes disengaged from the crowd in the bright sunlight, and stepped into the
now-revealed tunnel mouth. Pirkin and Markas. The king of Welcairn visibly searched the knot
of boys. Mrillis was pleased when he found Athrar and nodded salute to his half-brother. Just
because Markas was a king in his own right, that didn't mean he was too old to feel any jealousy
for his sibling. This first meeting couldn't be easy for him, even with years of preparation.
    Megassa took over, introducing her boys to the two kings. Meghianna remembered how
her sister had loathed etiquette and politics, but Megassa had picked up a few tricks during her
years of exile. It amused her to see some of those watching faces grow wide-eyed with awe at the
face and form of the elegant noblewoman.
    Then Meghianna stepped forward with Athrar and Lycen. The murmurs from the
soldiers went to perfect silence. Meghianna wished the elegant clothes Megassa had insisted on
providing for her had at least one long veil. It was ridiculous, she knew, to obscure her face when
anyone with eyes knew who she was by her white hair. Those stares from the soldiers grew more
intense when Megassa introduced Lycen and Athrar as her sons. She could almost hear the
question uppermost in all those male minds--who was their father? What man was brave enough
to risk the Lake of Ice and the Mist Gates, and win the favor of the Queen of Snows? And most
important--where was the man now?
    Oh, my, I just thought of something horrid, Megassa thought to Meghianna
when she shared that realization with her sister.
    What? How horrid? Meghianna smothered a grin when she heard the distinct
laughter in her sister's mental voice. Now would not be a good time to burst out laughing.
    You're going to get a reputation as a man-eater.
    A what? Meghianna almost spoke aloud.
    If you have no husband, no father for the boys, people are going to think you took
lovers and destroyed them to keep them from smirching your reputation. Or you might have
married a man, but he...died for some reason. Naturally, the man who won your affections would
trumpet it across the land. Especially if he could get you pregnant. It's a disgusting trait in men,
but what can you expect? They take all the credit for children, anyway.
    Meghianna couldn't smother a giggle. The sisters linked arms and avoided looking