his class— No, Petterant, you must not hit your brother. My dear, can you calm them a little, do you think?”
His wife signalled to the nurses waiting in the shadows, and within moments the children were swept off to another room, and silence descended.
“Oh, no need to take them away,” the Kellon said plaintively, as the door closed behind his brood. “Ah well, perhaps I may visit the nursery wing later. They have only recently joined me here, Most Powerful, and I am greatly enjoying their company again. They are such a delight to me.”
I found them more delightful when they were in a different room, but I could hardly say so. “Does it not concern you, having your family here, so close to the border?” I said. “After all, it is only five years since…” I couldn’t quite bring myself to call it by its true name, not when we were talking of children. “Since the troubles,” I finished lamely.
Five years since the Blood Clans had flooded across this strip of land, past the fortress and into the heart of Bennamore. Five years since the war that we had barely survived. Five years of building our little town and pretending everything was fine. Yet the Clanfolk were still there, just on the other side of the lake, and in the black-bark forest beyond.
The Kellon laughed. “Oh, I think we are safe enough, Most Powerful. After all, we have the enemy’s god right here, on our side, do we not?”
I looked at Ly, who was studiously gazing at the rug. He was here, that much was true enough, but was he on our side? Who could say with certainty?
~~~~~
We left the Kellon to the noisy delights of his family, and settled in at the newly-opened guest hall, still cluttered with ladders and furniture wrapped in sacking and a group of women walking about with measuring sticks. But the kitchen was operational, and we had a private suite which was fully furnished, and my own family on hand for company at evening board. Mother and Cal were there, and also my sister Sallorna and her drusse-holder, Krant. Sallorna was a scribe, with just one year left before she reached the highest level. Krant had adopted Sallorna as his personal pupil, just as Cal had once played that role for my mother when she was a scribe.
It pleased me that both my sister and brother had grown up to become useful members of society. They had irritated me intensely when I was a child, but that was partly because I was ill for much of my early years, craving the magic I was addicted to, and my weakness made me cross all the time. Worse, they’d made me feel like an outsider in my own family, for they both had Cal’s blond hair and skinny frame, and I was dark like my Icthari father. But they’d grown up well, and perhaps I’d grown up a little too, for I liked them very much, now. Markell was a swordsmith at Kingswell, and quiet little Sallorna had proved to be the studious one, with Cal’s quick intelligence.
It felt so good to be surrounded by my kin, with no formality, no restraint. My Kingswell life was filled with rigid protocol, meals eaten in jewel-encrusted splendour, making polite conversation to people I cared nothing about, my face aching from so much smiling. Here, I could be myself, and it was wonderful. I had a supply of jade vessels on hand to keep my need for magic assuaged, and if I could have had Arran beside me, too, it would have been perfect.
The first talk around the table was always of the children – how they had grown, and what little adventures they’d had. Mother wanted all the details, and Ly was delighted to oblige, so several dishes came and went while we talked of new teeth, and grazed knees, and Callon’s first over-ambitious attempt to fly an eagle.
But we soon turned to more serious matters.
“Has any more been heard from Greenstone Ford?” Cal said. “We have trading links, don’t we? So surely some news has filtered back by now about the whirlwind.”
“No, nothing,” I said. “After the wind, the
His wife signalled to the nurses waiting in the shadows, and within moments the children were swept off to another room, and silence descended.
“Oh, no need to take them away,” the Kellon said plaintively, as the door closed behind his brood. “Ah well, perhaps I may visit the nursery wing later. They have only recently joined me here, Most Powerful, and I am greatly enjoying their company again. They are such a delight to me.”
I found them more delightful when they were in a different room, but I could hardly say so. “Does it not concern you, having your family here, so close to the border?” I said. “After all, it is only five years since…” I couldn’t quite bring myself to call it by its true name, not when we were talking of children. “Since the troubles,” I finished lamely.
Five years since the Blood Clans had flooded across this strip of land, past the fortress and into the heart of Bennamore. Five years since the war that we had barely survived. Five years of building our little town and pretending everything was fine. Yet the Clanfolk were still there, just on the other side of the lake, and in the black-bark forest beyond.
The Kellon laughed. “Oh, I think we are safe enough, Most Powerful. After all, we have the enemy’s god right here, on our side, do we not?”
I looked at Ly, who was studiously gazing at the rug. He was here, that much was true enough, but was he on our side? Who could say with certainty?
~~~~~
We left the Kellon to the noisy delights of his family, and settled in at the newly-opened guest hall, still cluttered with ladders and furniture wrapped in sacking and a group of women walking about with measuring sticks. But the kitchen was operational, and we had a private suite which was fully furnished, and my own family on hand for company at evening board. Mother and Cal were there, and also my sister Sallorna and her drusse-holder, Krant. Sallorna was a scribe, with just one year left before she reached the highest level. Krant had adopted Sallorna as his personal pupil, just as Cal had once played that role for my mother when she was a scribe.
It pleased me that both my sister and brother had grown up to become useful members of society. They had irritated me intensely when I was a child, but that was partly because I was ill for much of my early years, craving the magic I was addicted to, and my weakness made me cross all the time. Worse, they’d made me feel like an outsider in my own family, for they both had Cal’s blond hair and skinny frame, and I was dark like my Icthari father. But they’d grown up well, and perhaps I’d grown up a little too, for I liked them very much, now. Markell was a swordsmith at Kingswell, and quiet little Sallorna had proved to be the studious one, with Cal’s quick intelligence.
It felt so good to be surrounded by my kin, with no formality, no restraint. My Kingswell life was filled with rigid protocol, meals eaten in jewel-encrusted splendour, making polite conversation to people I cared nothing about, my face aching from so much smiling. Here, I could be myself, and it was wonderful. I had a supply of jade vessels on hand to keep my need for magic assuaged, and if I could have had Arran beside me, too, it would have been perfect.
The first talk around the table was always of the children – how they had grown, and what little adventures they’d had. Mother wanted all the details, and Ly was delighted to oblige, so several dishes came and went while we talked of new teeth, and grazed knees, and Callon’s first over-ambitious attempt to fly an eagle.
But we soon turned to more serious matters.
“Has any more been heard from Greenstone Ford?” Cal said. “We have trading links, don’t we? So surely some news has filtered back by now about the whirlwind.”
“No, nothing,” I said. “After the wind, the
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