The Soprano Sorceress: The First Book of the Spellsong Cycle by L. E. Modesitt Jr.

her, and she forced an equally pleasant smile back, her mind spinning. What could she say? What on earth could she possibly say?
    “You have seen my world,” she said slowly. “There is not too much I could add. But I have seen little of yours.” She offered another smile. “Perhaps, if you told me more about this world—is it called Erde? Then I could explain the differences better.” That was true enough, since she didn’t have the faintest idea what such differences were.
    “Information for information.” Brill nodded. “I will tell you a bit, and then we will dine, and we will talk.” He cleared his throat. “Where should I begin?”
    “Explain about Erde. Daffyd mentioned something about dark ones and great dangers, but that was about all.” Anna smiled brightly. She felt as though she were pasting the smile in place.
    “Erde … . Erde is the world. She is governed by the laws of music, and by the influence of the moons—Darksong and Clearsong. She is also governed by iron, cold iron. That seems to be true to a degree in all worlds,” Brill added sardonically. “The Dark Monks are a new force in the world, new in the sense that their brotherhood dates back only a few decades, but already they have taken over Ebra and threaten both Defalk and Ranuak, although the Matriarch of the Ranuans insists that the dark ones are no danger.”
    “Why are they dangerous?” Anna asked.
    “Because they use massed voices to create darksong. They can sometimes change the weather, and there are those that claim the hot and dry years that have recently plagued Defalk are their doing.”
    “You’re one of those who believes this,” Anna said flatly.
    Brill shrugged and offered the quick, warm smile. “I cannot prove that, but, yes, I do believe that they have meddled with the weather.” The smile vanished. “They will do worse in the seasons ahead.”
    “I’m not clear on the difference between darksong and
clearsong … .” Anna didn’t even know what they were, except that they had something to do with the way sorcery was practiced on Erde, but there was no reason to confess to total ignorance.
    A ghost of a frown flitted across the sorcerer’s face before he spoke. “You have seen that the world can be recorded to some degree by manipulating the music that binds its components together. The stronger the aspects of the spell, the more effective it is.”
    Anna nodded. That made a strange sort of sense.
    “But there are two sets of bindings on Erde—those that bind the living, or once living, and those that bind the nonliving. It is dangerous to attempt to manipulate the living—and difficult.”
    “But those who do are the darksingers?” she asked.
    “Ah … yes …” Brill looked vaguely disconcerted.
    “Are the dark ones—”
    “They use some clearsong, too, in dealing with the weather. That’s because a single voice doesn’t have enough power, even with a large number of supporting players.” The sorcerer paused, then added, “Your gown would indicate that you are, in fact, one of the great … ones.”
    Anna wondered at the pause, as though Brill were having trouble finding the appropriate word. “I’m considered to have a moderately strong voice. In my world, it’s hard to make it, especially if you have children.”
    “You’re a sorceress, and you have children?” Brill’s voice was not quite unbelieving.
    “Three.” Anna swallowed. “They’re grown.” They certainly were by the standards of this world, and she didn’t want to try to explain. “One was killed in a car accident—a magic-carriage accident,” she added.
    “How old are they?” Brill asked, clearly confused.
    “Twenty-four and eighteen. The oldest was twenty-eight.” Anna enjoyed the look of total confusion on the sorcerer’s face.
    “Years? Or seasons? Do they grow up more quickly?”
    “Years. Probably we grow up more slowly, from what I’ve seen so far,” Anna said.
    Brill sat down slowly in his