Page 96 of The Ranger

Markhel opened his eyes slowly. “Melvale?”

Melvale held his arms out wide. “Brother!” He pulled Markhel to a sitting position and hugged him.

“So, um, how’d he land himself in jail?” Kitty asked.

“He didn’t,” the sheriff said. “He was here in the office, and it was the closest and easiest place to put him after he collapsed.”

Kitty stepped up to the cell and gave him a little wave. “Hi there.”

“Miss Morgan,” Markhel said and sagged against Melvale.

“Oh, stab me!” Melvale said as he leaned away from him. “You look awful.”

Markhel nodded. “It has begun.”

“From the looks of it,” Kitty said. “It’s been going on for a while.”

He shook his head. “No, this was her first full Call.”

Melvale made a face. “You look like it was at least the sixth. Tsk, tsk. What to do…”

“There’s nothing you can do,” Markhel said. “You know this.”

“It doesn’t mean that I can’t try.” He let Markhel go and stood. “How bad was it?”

“It knocked him down, I can tell you that,” Sheriff Tom said. “I ain’t ever seen anything like it. It was hard to watch.”

Melvale cringed. “That bad, brother?”

“I am afraid so. But my friends were here, and that made all the difference.” He gave Melvale a weak smile. “You should thank them.”

“We will,” Kitty said. “But if it hit you this hard, what about Maida? I remember when Shona went through this. It was bad. Real bad.”

Melvale crossed his arms and paced. “That’s because she has royal blood. The stronger the Muiraran, the stronger the Call.”

Sheriff Tom scratched his head. “I don’t know much about this. But if that’s the case, how much Muiraran blood does Maida have? Andel’s son Vale explained a little to me the other day, and as I understand it, this should have been fairly easy.”

“This is never easy, yet you’re still right Sheriff,” Melvale said. He paced the length of the room now, having left the cell. “Somewhere in her father’s bloodline there was a full Muiraran. A powerful one. But who could it be I wonder?”

“If you ask me there’s no time to figure that out,” Kitty said. “We need to deal with this and see how Maida is.”

“If it’s any help,” Sheriff Tom said. “The Bergs and that Mosgofian fella went out to the Triple C to check on her.”

“Good,” Melvale said. “We can take care of my brother while they take care of his Maiden.”

“I was wondering,” Sheriff Tom drawled. “But… why are they called maidens?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Melvale said. “She is untouched, and she has never Called before.”

“Okay, I understand that. But has there ever been one that wasn’t a maiden and they Called?”

Melvale laughed hysterically for all of two seconds. “Poor human. How little you know about us. No, of course not! It doesn’t work that way. And if it did, oh dear, the scandal!”

Kitty frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Look at what happened to Time Master Brennen. His heart became corrupted and look what he turned into.”

“I don’t think that’s what the sheriff means,” Kitty said. “I know lots of people who had boyfriends or girlfriends then married somebody else…”

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