Sisterhood. And like Jaelle, I refused. I have no love for secret societies and sisterhoods, and what I know, I reserve the right to tell as I choose, to whomever I choose. I think most of what they believe they know is superstition and nonsense.” She pursed her mouth and looked grim.
“Then how do you explain what happened to me, Camilla? Out there in the Kilghard Hills, in that cave. I know what happened, because it happened to me. We were marooned. Jaelle was dying. We would both have died there in that cave in the hills - I cried out for help. And I - I was answered. Answered, I tell you!”
“You have laran ,” Camilla said, “and I suppose the Terran from the Forbidden Tower - what is his name, Andrew Carr? I suppose this Andrew Carr heard you and answered.”
“Ann’dra.” Magda deliberately used Carr’s Darkovan name. “Yes, he has laran . But what prompted him to go looking for me in the first place? For all he knew, I was in Thendara, snug in the Guild-house as a bug in a saddlebag. Instead he sent out a search party for us and found us in time to save Jaelle’s life.”
“Ferrika,” said Camilla. “She is a member of the Sisterhood. And so is Marisela. Marisela knew you had gone, and knew the state Jaelle was in. And Ferrika is midwife at Armida - “
“She is more than that,” Magda said. “She is a full member of the Tower Circle.”
Camilla looked skeptical, and Magda insisted, “She is, I tell you, as much as I am myself.”
Camilla shrugged. “Then, there is your answer.”
“And the vision I had? Robed women - crows calling - “
“You said it yourself. You were desperate. You believed Jaelle was dying. Desperate people see visions. I don’t believe there was anything supernatural about your answer at all.”
“You don’t believe that a - a cry for help of that kind can be answered?”
“No, I don’t.”
“Why not?”
Camilla’s lips were set in a hard line. “Don’t you suppose that I - prayed? I cried out for help with all my strength. Not only for human help, I cried out to all the Gods and to any supernatural forces that might have been hanging around to help me. If they could have heard you, where were they when I cried out to heaven, or even hell, for help? If they heard you, why did they not hear me? And if they heard me, and did not answer - what sort of Gods or helpers were they?”
Magda flinched before the unanswerable bitterness of that.
Camilla went on, without interruption, “You had a vision, bredhiya .” She used the word, which meant originally sister , in the intimate inflection which could make it mean darling or beloved , and was used only in close family intimacy or to a sworn lover.
“You had a vision, a dream; it was your Ann’dra who heard you. Or perhaps, Marisela, who sent word to Ferrika that a sister was in peril.”
Since that was certainly possible, and was in any case more rational than her own belief, Magda did not try further to convince her. Camilla’s face relaxed a little; she went on.
“The Sisterhood, I have heard, was designed to do for women what the cristoforo brethren at Nevarsin do for men. But unlike the Nevarsin brotherhood or the Comyn, the Sisterhood - so I am told - do not exact piety nor conformity in return for their instruction. There is an old tale, a fable if you will, but some of the Comyn believe it, that the laran of the Seven Domains is because they are the descendants of Gods.” Camilla’s scornfully arched eyebrows told Magda what the emmasca thought of that. “It did not suit them that the common folk should have this gift, or believe they have it, or be trained to use it if, as sometimes happens, they have it though they were born outside the sacred caste. I do not know what will happen to the Comyn when they fully get it through their minds that laran appears even in Terrans like your Andrew Carr. To do them credit, if it is brought to the attention of Comyn that a commoner possesses laran , they will
“Then how do you explain what happened to me, Camilla? Out there in the Kilghard Hills, in that cave. I know what happened, because it happened to me. We were marooned. Jaelle was dying. We would both have died there in that cave in the hills - I cried out for help. And I - I was answered. Answered, I tell you!”
“You have laran ,” Camilla said, “and I suppose the Terran from the Forbidden Tower - what is his name, Andrew Carr? I suppose this Andrew Carr heard you and answered.”
“Ann’dra.” Magda deliberately used Carr’s Darkovan name. “Yes, he has laran . But what prompted him to go looking for me in the first place? For all he knew, I was in Thendara, snug in the Guild-house as a bug in a saddlebag. Instead he sent out a search party for us and found us in time to save Jaelle’s life.”
“Ferrika,” said Camilla. “She is a member of the Sisterhood. And so is Marisela. Marisela knew you had gone, and knew the state Jaelle was in. And Ferrika is midwife at Armida - “
“She is more than that,” Magda said. “She is a full member of the Tower Circle.”
Camilla looked skeptical, and Magda insisted, “She is, I tell you, as much as I am myself.”
Camilla shrugged. “Then, there is your answer.”
“And the vision I had? Robed women - crows calling - “
“You said it yourself. You were desperate. You believed Jaelle was dying. Desperate people see visions. I don’t believe there was anything supernatural about your answer at all.”
“You don’t believe that a - a cry for help of that kind can be answered?”
“No, I don’t.”
“Why not?”
Camilla’s lips were set in a hard line. “Don’t you suppose that I - prayed? I cried out for help with all my strength. Not only for human help, I cried out to all the Gods and to any supernatural forces that might have been hanging around to help me. If they could have heard you, where were they when I cried out to heaven, or even hell, for help? If they heard you, why did they not hear me? And if they heard me, and did not answer - what sort of Gods or helpers were they?”
Magda flinched before the unanswerable bitterness of that.
Camilla went on, without interruption, “You had a vision, bredhiya .” She used the word, which meant originally sister , in the intimate inflection which could make it mean darling or beloved , and was used only in close family intimacy or to a sworn lover.
“You had a vision, a dream; it was your Ann’dra who heard you. Or perhaps, Marisela, who sent word to Ferrika that a sister was in peril.”
Since that was certainly possible, and was in any case more rational than her own belief, Magda did not try further to convince her. Camilla’s face relaxed a little; she went on.
“The Sisterhood, I have heard, was designed to do for women what the cristoforo brethren at Nevarsin do for men. But unlike the Nevarsin brotherhood or the Comyn, the Sisterhood - so I am told - do not exact piety nor conformity in return for their instruction. There is an old tale, a fable if you will, but some of the Comyn believe it, that the laran of the Seven Domains is because they are the descendants of Gods.” Camilla’s scornfully arched eyebrows told Magda what the emmasca thought of that. “It did not suit them that the common folk should have this gift, or believe they have it, or be trained to use it if, as sometimes happens, they have it though they were born outside the sacred caste. I do not know what will happen to the Comyn when they fully get it through their minds that laran appears even in Terrans like your Andrew Carr. To do them credit, if it is brought to the attention of Comyn that a commoner possesses laran , they will
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