maybe?’
‘Oh, not in a bad way. It is good that she is eager to marry, and she is a good girl. Cera could take her lead and be a little more open. She will have to marry first, but she hardly notices the young men.’ The old servant frowned. ‘You feed her too many books, Ella. She thinks too much and feels too little.’
Elena raised an eyebrow. ‘That’s a little cruel, isn’t? She is a princess, and one day she will share the rule of one of the duchies, maybe even the whole kingdom. Far better if she knows how to think and how to reason.’
‘Her first duty will be to have children,’ Borsa replied, ‘and she must also be prepared for the life she
will
lead, not the one she’d
like
to lead.’
Elena exhaled heavily. She’d heard this so many times herself when she was growing up. ‘Cera is intelligent, dutiful and courageous. She has a very gentle and caring side, you know that.’
‘Si, si, I know.’ Borsa pursed her lips. ‘I just find her a little cold, sometimes.’
‘I’ve never found her that way.’
‘But then, many here would say you are cold also,’ Borsa replied. ‘You Rondians come from cold places; you carry that in your hearts.’
Elena opened her mouth crossly, then forced herself to close it again. Borsa had been here so long that she had licence to say what she liked, even to Rondian magi. ‘At home in Noros I’m considered the merriest soul at any party,’ she said lightly.
‘Really?’ Borsa asked.
‘No.’ She yawned ostentatiously. ‘I’m for bed.’
‘Anything to escape a nagging old woman, eh?’ Borsa remarked wryly and hugged her. Then she left and Elena was free to go to her own small room.
A turmoil of thought tumbled about her head.
Wear your gems
.
But I’m not ready to leave, Gurvon. I think this is where I belong
.
She thought about poor Tesla, half-mad, wasting away alone. Shethought about Tesla’s husband, Vann Mercer, who she had wanted to hate, but liked instead. A courageous, considerate man, soldier-turned- trader, struggling to stay afloat in tough times. He was hoping his son Alaron, a quarter-blood mage, could rebuild the family fortunes. Elena recalled a thin boy with lank reddish hair and an argumentative nature. He would be graduating soon. She recalled her own graduation like yesterday: the handshake from the governor, and the grudging smile of Luc Batto as she took the girl’s weaponry prize. It had been an ending and a beginning for her.
Good luck, Alaron. It is all before you
.
3
The Standards of Noros
The Magi
Blessed are the Magi, the descendants of Corineus and the Blessed Three Hundred, divinely conceived and given dominion over earth and sky
.
T HE B OOK OF K ORE
Shaitan, what hast thou wrought? Thou hast blighted the earth and sky with djinn and afreet, made demons crawl beneath our feet. Thou hast blasted the soil and poisoned the wells. And worst, thy evil hath been made flesh, in thy spawn the Rondian Magi
.
Y AMEED U MAFI , C ONVOCATION G ODSPEAKER , 926
Norostein, Noros, on the continent of Yuros
Octen 927
9 months until the Moontide
Norostein, the capital of Noros, lay on a high mountain plateau north of the Alps, set beside a cold clear lake that covered half the old city, consigned to the depths when the municipal authority dammed the river to improve the water-supply. Some said there were ghosts below, in the flooded graveyards, old revenants that would drag the unwary down to their watery graves. On days when the lake levels were low and no rains had muddied it, you could see the old buildings in the deeps. But it was no such day today: rain had teemed in to spoil the Darklight celebrations, the religious festival that the Kore had put in place of the old Sollan holy day of Samhain. Torrential downpours flooded the plazas andextinguished many of the bonfires. Pitch-smeared torches sizzled sullenly.
The bedraggled populace gathered before the cathedral, damply sweaty and red-eyed, awaiting the midday service.
‘Oh, not in a bad way. It is good that she is eager to marry, and she is a good girl. Cera could take her lead and be a little more open. She will have to marry first, but she hardly notices the young men.’ The old servant frowned. ‘You feed her too many books, Ella. She thinks too much and feels too little.’
Elena raised an eyebrow. ‘That’s a little cruel, isn’t? She is a princess, and one day she will share the rule of one of the duchies, maybe even the whole kingdom. Far better if she knows how to think and how to reason.’
‘Her first duty will be to have children,’ Borsa replied, ‘and she must also be prepared for the life she
will
lead, not the one she’d
like
to lead.’
Elena exhaled heavily. She’d heard this so many times herself when she was growing up. ‘Cera is intelligent, dutiful and courageous. She has a very gentle and caring side, you know that.’
‘Si, si, I know.’ Borsa pursed her lips. ‘I just find her a little cold, sometimes.’
‘I’ve never found her that way.’
‘But then, many here would say you are cold also,’ Borsa replied. ‘You Rondians come from cold places; you carry that in your hearts.’
Elena opened her mouth crossly, then forced herself to close it again. Borsa had been here so long that she had licence to say what she liked, even to Rondian magi. ‘At home in Noros I’m considered the merriest soul at any party,’ she said lightly.
‘Really?’ Borsa asked.
‘No.’ She yawned ostentatiously. ‘I’m for bed.’
‘Anything to escape a nagging old woman, eh?’ Borsa remarked wryly and hugged her. Then she left and Elena was free to go to her own small room.
A turmoil of thought tumbled about her head.
Wear your gems
.
But I’m not ready to leave, Gurvon. I think this is where I belong
.
She thought about poor Tesla, half-mad, wasting away alone. Shethought about Tesla’s husband, Vann Mercer, who she had wanted to hate, but liked instead. A courageous, considerate man, soldier-turned- trader, struggling to stay afloat in tough times. He was hoping his son Alaron, a quarter-blood mage, could rebuild the family fortunes. Elena recalled a thin boy with lank reddish hair and an argumentative nature. He would be graduating soon. She recalled her own graduation like yesterday: the handshake from the governor, and the grudging smile of Luc Batto as she took the girl’s weaponry prize. It had been an ending and a beginning for her.
Good luck, Alaron. It is all before you
.
3
The Standards of Noros
The Magi
Blessed are the Magi, the descendants of Corineus and the Blessed Three Hundred, divinely conceived and given dominion over earth and sky
.
T HE B OOK OF K ORE
Shaitan, what hast thou wrought? Thou hast blighted the earth and sky with djinn and afreet, made demons crawl beneath our feet. Thou hast blasted the soil and poisoned the wells. And worst, thy evil hath been made flesh, in thy spawn the Rondian Magi
.
Y AMEED U MAFI , C ONVOCATION G ODSPEAKER , 926
Norostein, Noros, on the continent of Yuros
Octen 927
9 months until the Moontide
Norostein, the capital of Noros, lay on a high mountain plateau north of the Alps, set beside a cold clear lake that covered half the old city, consigned to the depths when the municipal authority dammed the river to improve the water-supply. Some said there were ghosts below, in the flooded graveyards, old revenants that would drag the unwary down to their watery graves. On days when the lake levels were low and no rains had muddied it, you could see the old buildings in the deeps. But it was no such day today: rain had teemed in to spoil the Darklight celebrations, the religious festival that the Kore had put in place of the old Sollan holy day of Samhain. Torrential downpours flooded the plazas andextinguished many of the bonfires. Pitch-smeared torches sizzled sullenly.
The bedraggled populace gathered before the cathedral, damply sweaty and red-eyed, awaiting the midday service.
Similar Books
