Darksong Rising (37 page)

the lower level beyond the dining hall. They are smaller, but hold two beds each.”

Anna nodded. “The players will go there, except for Liende. She, Lord Jecks, Lord Jimbob,

Himar, and Kinor can have chambers upstairs, then.”

“Very good, Lady Anna.” Serna smiled. “All are in readiness, and we can serve your immediate

party in the grand dining hall in a glass, or a trace beyond. As we have done before, I summoned

Unana from Mencha and her daughters to prepare food for the armsmen.” Her voice lowered.

“We will need three golds a meal to pay her. That includes the provender as well, for we do not

carry that much in our larder.”

“We need to carry more, and I did bring some golds for you to keep running the household,”

Anna said.

Serna beckoned before Anna could turn away. “Some things... they still work. There is water,

because Lord Brill set that up to always run, but it is but cool, and not heated, and the air comes

through the window ports unchilled....”

Anna nodded. “It may have to do for now. I have not had the time...”

“We understand, Lady Anna, but...” Sema’s head inclined toward Jecks, Liende, and the others

who followed.

“They will be happy with what we have.”

“Then, Florenda”—Serna nodded to her daughter—”she will assist you while I return to my

stoves.”

“Thank you.”

Florenda led the way up the grand staircase to the second level. “While you were gone, Lady

Anna... I hope you don’t mind... but we moved your clothes to the master chamber... and set

aside Lord Brill’s things until you could decide what to do with them.. We had no

instructions....”

“I should have thought of that,” Anna said, trying to put the young woman more at ease.

“I would suggest the chamber here on the left for Kinor,”

Florenda whispered to Anna, “and the one you had for Lord Jimbob. The one beyond Kinor’s for

your chief player, and beyond that is the great lord’s chamber... perhaps Lord Jecks...”

“That would be fine.”

“And the overcaptain should take the chamber by the back stairs.”

Anna nodded and relayed the information, trusting Florenda and wanting to shake her head.

Mistress of Loiseau, and she’d never even set foot in the master bedchambers of the holding— or

any beyond the one she had occupied.

As the others took their chambers, only Jecks and her guards followed Anna and Florenda to the

end of the upper corridor. There, Florenda opened the door—a single door, just as the door to her

own chambers at Loiseau had been—an eight-paneled door, but the panels were diamond-shaped

and blue-lacquered, not rectangular as on Earth, and framed in blond wood. Anna stepped inside,

followed by Jecks and her guards.

Surprisingly, at least to Anna, Brill’s chambers had not been that much larger than the one that

had once been her bedchamber. The main chamber in the master suite was nearly ten yards long

and two-thirds of that in width. The north wall contained the same almost-floor-to-ceiling, clear,

but blue-tinted, windows, with the metal louvers beneath. The bedstead was of the same blue-

lacquered metal, as were the delicate-looking chairs set around a blue-lacquered table below the

foot of the bed. An open archway led into a bathchamber.

The difference was that on the south wall was a second, wider archway that led into a small

study with a full wall of built-in bookcases on the east wall, and an ancient table-desk and chair

backed up the west wall The south wall boasted more windows, with a view of the domed

sorcery workshop beyond the hold walls.

“Impressive, your hold,” observed Jecks.

“It gets more impressive, the more I see.”…But when will you ever be able to spend much time

here? She turned to Jecks with a smile. “I need to get washed up and ready for dinner.”

“I stand dismissed, my lady.” The twinkle in his hazel eyes belied the formality of the words.

“Excused... never dismissed, my lord Jecks.” Anna smiled. “Never dismissed.”

“For that I have come to be most grateful.”

Anna wanted to reach out and touch him for a moment, but the moment passed, and, instead, she

smiled gently. “So am I. I’ll see you shortly.”

The hazel-eyed lord bowed and turned, leaving with Rickel and Lejun, who stationed themselves

outside the closed door. Anna stood alone for a time in the unfamiliar chamber, before turning

back to the bathchamber and jakes area.

As the cold water filled the capacious stone tub, Anna wandered back to the study, letting her

eyes range across the volumes on the bookshelves. Many had no titles at all on their spines, and

the titles she did see encompassed a variety of subjects: Historie of Wei, NordAphorisms,

Reisefuhr Botanisch, Kunstmusik. She shook her head slowly—nearly two hundred leather-

bound volumes—a fortune of sorts in a world where books were copied and bound by hand.

She picked up the saddlebags as she headed back to the bathchamber, although she knew that she

would wear one of the gowns Florenda had transferred into the master suite. Tonight, she would

eat and rest. Tomorrow—it would be another day—and a long one.

34

 
After breakfast the next morning, Anna stood on the fourth step of the central stone staircase and

glanced out at the hold’s key staff. Quies stood in front, with his redheaded son Albero by his

side. Serna and Florenda stood a few paces back, while Frideric and Gero stood to the right of

the women.

Rickel and Lejun stood behind Anna, but a step up and several paces to each side. Wiltur stood

to the right of Lejun. Despite the older guard’s grizzled appearance and his silver hair, the steady

eyes, the blade in the well-worn scabbard, and the long scar across his cheek marked him as

perhaps more to be feared than the two younger men.

“You all know I have not been able to come home to Loiseau as much as I would have liked,”

Anna began. “That isn’t likely to change soon. I cannot maintain the hold with sorcery when I

am not here.” She looked around. “But I do want Loiseau maintained. You were all helpful when

I knew nothing about Defalk and Liedwahr, and for that I thank you. I will only be making one

large change... and one I make reluctantly.” Anna scanned the group, but no one’s face seemed

to fall or appear displeased. “Sometime after harvest, I will be bringing in a saalmeister who has

run a much larger holding. He will probably have to bring in more people to make sure Loiseau

remains well kept, because I cannot use sorcery from a distance, as much as I am gone. But I will

make sure that all of you will remain here, if you wish, and that you are rewarded for your

loyalty, both to me and to Lord Brill. Also, Serna, Quies, Albero.. . Wiltur... you will all, if you

wish, and I hope you will, continue to do as you have. You will lose no responsibilities. Halde is

young, but has much experience, and I have cautioned him to heed your knowledge. He will be

here to do some of those things which otherwise I would do, not to do what you all have done so

well.” Anna offered a sad smile. “I cannot be here to do them, and I do not wish to see Loiseau

ill served.”

She paused once more, then added, “I’d like to meet with each of you individually in my study

upstairs, starting with Quies in just a moment.” With a smile, Anna turned and went up the stairs.

While using her personal chamber was not perfect, there were no private rooms—that she knew

of—on the main level of the hold.

As she had suggested, Quies was the first to step into the chamber, looking around, as if he had

never been there.

“Over here,” called Anna, standing by the ancient table-desk, on which rested a leather pouch.

The stablemaster stepped through the archway.

Anna took two golds from the pouch and pressed them on the older stablemaster. “Quies, I

appreciate all you’ve done to hold things together... and for finding Farinelli for me.”

The short and wiry Quies bowed his head. “I wasn’t sure... Lady Anna... but Serna, she said

you’d be back... and when the scrolls and the coins came... well... she was right.”

“If I can come back, I will, as often as I can.”

“We know that, lady.” Quies smiled.

Next was Gero, the former assistant to Brill.

Anna offered him a gold. “Just keep the workrooms and pool in shape.” She paused. “Are they

prepared now?”

The youth nodded. “Yes, Lady Anna... when the messenger arrived, I cleaned it and set it up just

as Lord Brill always, instructed me.” He bowed.

“I’ll be going there shortly... and thank you."

 
“Thank you, lady.” Gero looked down, then slipped away.

 
The white-haired Serna was third in the line, accompanied by her daughter Florenda. Serna

bowed twice, once as she entered the chamber, and once as she came through the archway to the

study area. “Lady and Regent.”

"I understand you were the one who really kept people together..."

"Lady... I did what any houseminder would do—”

"Lady... she did all that and more,” interjected the diminutive Florenda. “Mum... she wouldn’t

admit anything.”

Anna couldn’t help grinning. “The loyal daughter.”

“That she be,” admitted Serna.

“She’s also right, I’ll bet.” Anna offered three golds to Serna, and two to Florenda. “For keeping

the house together, and,” she added to Florenda, “for all the altering and extra food.”

Serna’s mouth opened as she realized the coins were golds. “My Lady... never...”

“I cannot be here to tell you how much I value you and your work.” Anna shrugged. “Gold’s a