[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
effort, the aging lord was practically babbling as he watched Dynanna draw a
chair up next to Isranon and slide her arm around his shoulder, teasing and
laughing. Anksha immediately repeated her odd, cat-like push between them,
wiggling herself up until she had separated them and moved onto Isranon's lap.
He tousled her hair and she purred. Dynanna smiled oddly and gave them a
little more space.
Nans looked at Edvarde and then at 'Joseth.' "What's wrong with you?"
"Uh, nothing. Nothing at all. I mean, just that Joseth seems to have set her
cap for your mage."
Nans laughed. "Every time we show up she sets her cap for someone. She hasn't
caught one yet. Last time it was Itch." A shadow passed over her and she fell
silent a moment in remembrance of the mon. "I wouldn't worry about it."
"I won't then. As I was saying& " His nerves did not settle until Dynanna left
the hall.
"You haven't asked once about Itch," Nans said with a sudden bitter turn.
"You have been so obsessed with getting stories from all these new faces, that
you haven't noticed the missing ones& ."
Edvarde blinked. "What do you mean?" He scanned the hall.
"Itch Hollens is dead."
Volo approached them with another bottle of wine. He opened it and offered to
pour, listening closely to everything being said around him. Nans took the
bottle from him and waved him off. Volo left, heading back to the main table.
"Oh, gods, no." Edvarde could not think for a moment.
Nans sucked in a deep breath. "So are Dorys and Timfinn and Brierly. It
happened at Minnoras."
Edvarde blinked, his mind reeling. "You were there? When it fell I mean?"
Nans nodded, folding her hands together on the table. "Yes. So, okay, I'm
going to give you this single story. Maybe you will have a better idea than I
what to do with the information. If you still can, you should get it to
Amberlin and Lokynen."
"I don't know how much help Amberlin will be & their first child & its due in
late summer. However, Amberlin can get word to Lokynen wherever he might be."
Then Nans told Edvarde about Minnoras and how she met Isranon.
* * * *
Page 116
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Dynanna came from the kitchens at the head of the servants who were placing
the serving dishes on the tables. She spied Nans and dropped her head to
conceal the daggers she was looking at her sister. Nans was always so
infuriatingly proper, honorable, and cautious. She was also an incredible bore
who had ruined Dynanna's fun on more than one occasion.
Isranon smiled up at her as she set his plate in front of him and wrapped an
arm around his shoulders. He was one sweet male. If she had known that his
people existed centuries ago, she would have gone looking for them. Well, at
least she had him. Dynanna Read her mage she refused to think of him as
sa'necari and flushed, feeling her anger rise. They were supposed to be taking
good care of him. He was so sick and weak that a serious attack could kill him
and he was on the verge of another one. Dynanna had never Read anyone who
suffered from a divinator's injuries. Dynanna had only encountered one other
person injured by a divinator. Her brother had Read that one. They had been
unable to save her. These embedded spells, now that she investigated them,
were unlike anything she had ever seen before. She was not sure what to make
of them and decided that Nevin must have been talking around the edges of what
had originally happened so as to not state that Isranon was a sa'necari. Made
sense.
She was still less than a quarter of the way through her many hoards and had
not found half of what she wanted to bring. At least she had found the staff.
But what the hell had her royal rangerness of a sister been doing or not doing
for that matter that had let her mage get in such a terrible shape? She had a
good mind to give Nans a case of hives that would have her scratching for a
month of Willodays.
Dynanna's lips pressed tightly together as she gave a curt nod in Jeevys's
direction and she slipped away from the room, to pause in the hall. Jeevys
arrived promptly and she whispered to the castellan. "Tell his lordship that
his favorite peddler will arrive in three days with presents." Then she
snapped her fingers and vanished.
* * * *
Isranon the Hawk of May, great-grandson of Nighthand, had grown old. Seeing
howthe Waejonans were passing the legacy down, Nighthand had insisted that
both his son and his grandson practice the same ugly passage. The Hawk had
outlived his son and his grandson was a mere youth of fourteen. They had also
begun a tradition of naming their first-born sons Isranon and adding a middle
name or an epithet to differentiate them.
The younger Isranon was shy and sensitive, not at all comfortable with having
been born sa'necari. Half the time the Hawk did not know what to do with the
boy. He and his son, the boy's father, had plunged into the rites with vigor
and manly determination to protect their families. Young Isranon quailed at
learning the words of the rites and even had trouble getting his fangs down to
properly feed. The Hawk had thus far resisted King Beilal's desires to force
the boy into the rites. Only his influence and the degree of magical powers
the Hawk possessed had so far protected him.
At Beilal's command, he waited in an audience chamber of the palace for the
king to join him, and felt certain that the subject of their conversation was
to be his grandson.
Beilal swept in with three of his sycophants and settled into a chair
opposite the Hawk. His face was flushed with excitement. "We rooted out
another band of the Dark Brothers of the Light. I have already declared
tomorrow a holiday so that everyone can witness the impalements."
Page 117
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
The Hawk forced a smile. "That is good news, Majesty. You will root out this
heresy very quickly at this rate."
Beilal smirked. "Yes, I will."
"Is this what you invited me here for? To share in your victory?"
Beilal leaned forward and clapped the Hawk on the shoulder. "Partly. I want
you and your grandson to attend. I am recreating the Sowayn celebration at
which your ancestor was first blooded in the rites. Young Isranon will be
blooded there with great pomp and ceremony. It will be a grand event."
The Hawk smiled politely, hoping that it would not be a true recreation:
Nighthand had rited his youngest sister. "I appreciate the honor you are
offering my family, but my grandson is not ready."
Beilal scowled. "The boy was ready the moment he was able to stick his rod in
a girl. I have it on good authority that he has already begun to do that with
your nibari."
The Hawk stiffened. "The servants have been talking. You know how that is &
they see a kiss and think it is a fuck."
Beilal's scowl melted into a poison smile. "Are you certain you wish to deny
that your grandson is greasing his spear?"
The Hawk straightened, trying to walk that careful line between defiance and [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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effort, the aging lord was practically babbling as he watched Dynanna draw a
chair up next to Isranon and slide her arm around his shoulder, teasing and
laughing. Anksha immediately repeated her odd, cat-like push between them,
wiggling herself up until she had separated them and moved onto Isranon's lap.
He tousled her hair and she purred. Dynanna smiled oddly and gave them a
little more space.
Nans looked at Edvarde and then at 'Joseth.' "What's wrong with you?"
"Uh, nothing. Nothing at all. I mean, just that Joseth seems to have set her
cap for your mage."
Nans laughed. "Every time we show up she sets her cap for someone. She hasn't
caught one yet. Last time it was Itch." A shadow passed over her and she fell
silent a moment in remembrance of the mon. "I wouldn't worry about it."
"I won't then. As I was saying& " His nerves did not settle until Dynanna left
the hall.
"You haven't asked once about Itch," Nans said with a sudden bitter turn.
"You have been so obsessed with getting stories from all these new faces, that
you haven't noticed the missing ones& ."
Edvarde blinked. "What do you mean?" He scanned the hall.
"Itch Hollens is dead."
Volo approached them with another bottle of wine. He opened it and offered to
pour, listening closely to everything being said around him. Nans took the
bottle from him and waved him off. Volo left, heading back to the main table.
"Oh, gods, no." Edvarde could not think for a moment.
Nans sucked in a deep breath. "So are Dorys and Timfinn and Brierly. It
happened at Minnoras."
Edvarde blinked, his mind reeling. "You were there? When it fell I mean?"
Nans nodded, folding her hands together on the table. "Yes. So, okay, I'm
going to give you this single story. Maybe you will have a better idea than I
what to do with the information. If you still can, you should get it to
Amberlin and Lokynen."
"I don't know how much help Amberlin will be & their first child & its due in
late summer. However, Amberlin can get word to Lokynen wherever he might be."
Then Nans told Edvarde about Minnoras and how she met Isranon.
* * * *
Page 116
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Dynanna came from the kitchens at the head of the servants who were placing
the serving dishes on the tables. She spied Nans and dropped her head to
conceal the daggers she was looking at her sister. Nans was always so
infuriatingly proper, honorable, and cautious. She was also an incredible bore
who had ruined Dynanna's fun on more than one occasion.
Isranon smiled up at her as she set his plate in front of him and wrapped an
arm around his shoulders. He was one sweet male. If she had known that his
people existed centuries ago, she would have gone looking for them. Well, at
least she had him. Dynanna Read her mage she refused to think of him as
sa'necari and flushed, feeling her anger rise. They were supposed to be taking
good care of him. He was so sick and weak that a serious attack could kill him
and he was on the verge of another one. Dynanna had never Read anyone who
suffered from a divinator's injuries. Dynanna had only encountered one other
person injured by a divinator. Her brother had Read that one. They had been
unable to save her. These embedded spells, now that she investigated them,
were unlike anything she had ever seen before. She was not sure what to make
of them and decided that Nevin must have been talking around the edges of what
had originally happened so as to not state that Isranon was a sa'necari. Made
sense.
She was still less than a quarter of the way through her many hoards and had
not found half of what she wanted to bring. At least she had found the staff.
But what the hell had her royal rangerness of a sister been doing or not doing
for that matter that had let her mage get in such a terrible shape? She had a
good mind to give Nans a case of hives that would have her scratching for a
month of Willodays.
Dynanna's lips pressed tightly together as she gave a curt nod in Jeevys's
direction and she slipped away from the room, to pause in the hall. Jeevys
arrived promptly and she whispered to the castellan. "Tell his lordship that
his favorite peddler will arrive in three days with presents." Then she
snapped her fingers and vanished.
* * * *
Isranon the Hawk of May, great-grandson of Nighthand, had grown old. Seeing
howthe Waejonans were passing the legacy down, Nighthand had insisted that
both his son and his grandson practice the same ugly passage. The Hawk had
outlived his son and his grandson was a mere youth of fourteen. They had also
begun a tradition of naming their first-born sons Isranon and adding a middle
name or an epithet to differentiate them.
The younger Isranon was shy and sensitive, not at all comfortable with having
been born sa'necari. Half the time the Hawk did not know what to do with the
boy. He and his son, the boy's father, had plunged into the rites with vigor
and manly determination to protect their families. Young Isranon quailed at
learning the words of the rites and even had trouble getting his fangs down to
properly feed. The Hawk had thus far resisted King Beilal's desires to force
the boy into the rites. Only his influence and the degree of magical powers
the Hawk possessed had so far protected him.
At Beilal's command, he waited in an audience chamber of the palace for the
king to join him, and felt certain that the subject of their conversation was
to be his grandson.
Beilal swept in with three of his sycophants and settled into a chair
opposite the Hawk. His face was flushed with excitement. "We rooted out
another band of the Dark Brothers of the Light. I have already declared
tomorrow a holiday so that everyone can witness the impalements."
Page 117
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
The Hawk forced a smile. "That is good news, Majesty. You will root out this
heresy very quickly at this rate."
Beilal smirked. "Yes, I will."
"Is this what you invited me here for? To share in your victory?"
Beilal leaned forward and clapped the Hawk on the shoulder. "Partly. I want
you and your grandson to attend. I am recreating the Sowayn celebration at
which your ancestor was first blooded in the rites. Young Isranon will be
blooded there with great pomp and ceremony. It will be a grand event."
The Hawk smiled politely, hoping that it would not be a true recreation:
Nighthand had rited his youngest sister. "I appreciate the honor you are
offering my family, but my grandson is not ready."
Beilal scowled. "The boy was ready the moment he was able to stick his rod in
a girl. I have it on good authority that he has already begun to do that with
your nibari."
The Hawk stiffened. "The servants have been talking. You know how that is &
they see a kiss and think it is a fuck."
Beilal's scowl melted into a poison smile. "Are you certain you wish to deny
that your grandson is greasing his spear?"
The Hawk straightened, trying to walk that careful line between defiance and [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]