Griffin's Daughter (40 page)

Can you be certain he will strike the killing blow if called upon? If what you say is true and he is in love with this girl, he may hesitate at the last moment. I don’t have to tell you what that will mean.

He will do what’s necessary. My son understands quite well the concept of duty.

The girl’s father…You are sure of his identity?

I’ve seen the ring myself.

It could be some sort of a deception.

Unlikely!

This changes nothing, you know. All must go forward as planned.

I know…This is going to be so hard on my son…I’ve decided to allow him and the girl to be together so that they might have a little happiness beforehand.

Do you think that’s wise? It will only make it more difficult for them in the end. It seems rather cruel to me.

‘
Cruel’ is a harsh word…My son loves this girl. It’s not wise, but I’ve denied my child so much. I’ve forced him into a life that goes against his basic nature, deceived him about a fundamental part of his being…

You’ve allowed guilt to cloud your judgment.

Perhaps, but it’s a mother’s prerogative to indulge her children.

I just hope it doesn’t prove to be an obstacle.

When the time comes, they will both do what they must.

Keep me informed.

Of course. I’ll contact you again soon.

Amara opened her eyes and took a deep breath. The mental exchange with her colleague in the capital had taken only a short amount of time, but it had required that she expend a great deal of energy to span such a long distance.

She rubbed her eyes and yawned, then stood and stretched in an effort to fight off the weariness that weighted her limbs. Perhaps her colleague was right in pointing out the cruelty of allowing Ashinji and the girl to be together, but when she had first realized the depth of her son’s feelings, Amara knew that she couldn’t stand in their way. She would be their champion and plead their case to her husband. The fact that he was obligated to grant the girl any request she made of him would make it easier. In the end, he would relent and give Ashinji permission to marry his precious Jelena.

Ashi, my beloved son, how I’ve wronged you! I should have trained you myself and tradition be damned, but I didn’t have the courage to go against my family. Never before have I questioned the rule that only the females of my line could take up magecraft until now…

Amara shook her head. She had no time for regrets. She had too much to do. They all did, they who were the remnants of the once mighty Kirian Society, a sadly diminished order, in both power and prestige. Centuries ago, when the force of Talent had waxed stronger in the elven people, the Kirians held influence second only to the king in affairs of state.

As time passed, the elves saw the strength of their Talent fading; mage schools found it increasingly difficult to find enough candidates with sufficient magical abilities who could be trained as top-level mages, and so the ranks of all the magical orders—the Kirians especially—had become depleted.

Amara had come to accept that the elves must begin to turn away from magic, that science must now become the force to propel their society forward, but many of her fellow mages stubbornly clung to their belief that the elves would always have Talent.

Well, maybe so, but not in the same form as it existed today.

Amara studied her elaborately tattooed palms. The designs were arcane symbols of her magical order. For those who could decipher them, they clearly marked her as a Kirian. She had kept her membership in the Society a secret from everyone in her family except her husband, and even he did not realize the full extent of her involvement. How would he react when she told him what would soon be required of their second-born?

How would Ashinji react?

She knew her son well enough to guess. He would be very angry at first, but not because he had always wanted to be a mage; his passion involved science, not magic. No, he would be furious at the deception itself. His anger would then turn to fear and despair for Jelena, and finally, acceptance.

Amara loved her son and wished that things could be different, but no less than the fate of the material world hung in the balance. The ancient evil in the north had begun to stir. She had seen the consequences of inaction in the waters of her scrying bowl. The thing whose name had been stripped away centuries ago must not be allowed to rise up and escape its rock-bound prison to reclaim its magic.

The task of the Kirians of old had been to put that magic beyond the reach of its creator. The task of Amara and her fellows involved securing that same magic and placing it once again beyond the reach of the one with no name. In order to do this, they would need to perform a Great Working. Currently, there weren’t enough of them to provide the necessary amount of energy.

Ashinji’s Talent could provide the energy needed…but only just. With no training, placing him in the link during a Great Working could destroy his mind, rendering him permanently insane. Amara must see to it that he learned how to channel the enormous forces that would be directed through him so that he could survive intact.

Jelena was another matter. Amara could see no way that the girl would be able to survive the Sundering. She made a decision.

The entire truth must be kept from both Ashinji and the girl until the last possible moment. The Kirians had no margin for error, and if Ashinji knew beforehand what the Sundering entailed, Amara worried that he might not be capable of going through with it, her assurances to her colleague notwithstanding.

She would pray to the Goddess every day for her son’s forgiveness.

Before Amara departed from her work chamber, she extinguished all candles and tidied her altar. Late afternoon sunlight slanted down in golden shafts to the floor through the high windows. The twins would return soon from their riding lesson, and Lani waited for her in the sitting room, eager to begin work on her new tunic.

Amara nearly choked on a sudden wave of anger.

The peace and safety of her children’s lives, of all their lives, was soon to be shattered in the terrible chaos of blood and war, and she could see no way to avoid her part in the shattering.

As she made her way down the hall that led to her sitting room, Amara passed by an open window and paused at the sound of her second son’s voice. Her breath caught in her chest as the sweet refrain of an old love song floated upwards on the breeze, soft and slightly off-key. Amara leaned over the sill to see her son sitting on a bench in her private garden, Jelena by his side.

They sat, fingers entwined, her head resting on his shoulder. As she listened to Ashinji sing, the melody swept Amara on the tide of memory, back to a time when she had been young and in love with the most beautiful man in all the world. Sen had never been much of a singer either, but whenever he dared, it always sounded sweet to her ears.

Amara turned away and left her son and Jelena to their peaceful tryst. Footsteps weighted down with sorrow, she continued on her way, knowing that it must all end.

I just pray that we all have the strength to survive what’s coming.

The Jaws Of The Beast

"Ah, Jelena, here you are!” Lord Sen called out from across the sitting room as Jelena entered, dressed for riding. As she approached, she walked as steadily as she could in order to hide the lingering soreness in her loins. Lord Sen’s natural kindliness would prompt him to ask after what ailed her, and she didn’t fancy lying to him.

“
My lord,” she said in greeting, and bowed deeply.

“
I’ve no messages for you today, so you are free to do as you please. How ‘bout that, eh?” Sen said jovially, licking crumbs from the fingers of one hand while clutching a wooden plate littered with the remains of a light breakfast of cheese and bread in the other.

Jelena smiled and nodded.

“
Umm, thought you’d like that. There’s something else I’ve got to tell you,” Sen continued in a more serious tone. “A royal messenger has just arrived from Sendai. Seems there’s to be war with the Soldarans after all. I’ve been summoned by the king to a war council. Seeing as I’m to supervise things, I need to get my tired old carcass along to the capital as quickly as possible. You, my girl, will ride with me in my entourage.” Jelena gasped in surprise.

“
I’m going to present you to the king, Jelena,” Sen announced. His face took on an uncharacteristic expression of gravity, and his words seemed heavy with hidden meaning. “I’ve thought long and hard on this, and I’ve come to the conclusion that he is the one in the best position to help you learn the identity of your father.”

“
I…I do not know what to say,” Jelena stammered. “Thank you, my lord!” She sank to her knees and lowered her head, overcome with gratitude.

“
Get up, girl,” Sen commanded gently, and Jelena rose to her feet. Smiling, he lifted his eyebrows and indicated with a wave of his hand that she was dismissed.

Jelena sketched a swift bow and hurried from the room, filled with excitement. She was to be presented to the king! Surely the king of Alasiri knew every family important enough to have its own seal. Lord Sen would show the king her father’s ring, and she just
knew
that he would recognize it!

She made her way down the main staircase and exited through the front entrance of the keep, heart singing with joy. She thought of Ashinji, and of how hard it had been to leave his bed that morning. With a little shiver of anticipation, she looked forward to tonight when she could once again feel the ecstasy of his touch.

Feels like it’s going to be another hot day
, Jelena thought. She looked up into the near perfect blue of the sky and decided that a stroll in the woods directly across the river from the main gate would be a nice way to spend an hour or two.

The small remnant of venerable oak forest had long been cleared of any animals larger than a few rabbits, squirrels, and birds. Many of the castle’s inhabitants used its inviting cover of greenery as a trysting place.

Lord Dai and his entourage had departed Kerala earlier that morning, and Ashinji had gone along to serve as an escort for part of the way. He wouldn’t be back until evening. Both Aneko and Kami were on duty, and since there was no one else to accompany her, Jelena set out alone.

She passed under the sturdy main gates of Kerala Castle and strolled across the drawbridge, waving to the two guardsmen at their posts, who responded with languid nods. The waters of the Saihama River sloshed and gurgled below, blundering wetly around large boulders half-exposed and baking in the heat of the sun. The river ran low—much lower than usual—even for midsummer. It had been a very dry year.

Jelena carried only her hunting knife, a water bottle, and a journeycake for her lunch. She had overheard two of the kitchen girls talking about a patch of ripening blackberries they had discovered a few days ago, only a few steps into the trees, and Jelena hoped to find it. Sweet, juicy berries would make the perfect dessert! 

At the far end of the drawbridge, she paused. Something rumpled and black lay on the path just ahead. At first, she thought it might be a piece of cloth, but as she drew near, she saw it was a dead bird.

The raven lay like a broken toy in the dirt, one wing outstretched and stiffened, eyes half-veiled and dull. Jelena prodded the bundle of feathers with the toe of her boot. A trio of iridescent green and black flies buzzed up from the corpse, circled briefly, then settled back down to their feast. Jelena pursed her lips in disgust. She thought about the bird that had been sitting in Ashinji’s window earlier. Surely, this couldn’t be the same one. Ashinji had said himself that many ravens resided at Kerala; still, the sight of the pitiful, withered corpse filled her with unease.

Stop now,
she thought.
Don’t ruin this perfect, beautiful day with crazy ideas. A dead raven means nothing except that a raven is dead! A live raven on a windowsill means nothing as well!

She circled carefully around the dead bird, feeling a little foolish. The cool green shadows of the woods beckoned. She decided to walk straight through and onward to the stone circle beyond. She didn’t know why, but for some reason, the ground within the ancient relic felt comfortable and peaceful. Something inside her resonated in harmony with a barely perceived force that existed inside the boundary of the circle.

She left the lifeless raven behind and entered the shade beneath the hoary old oaks. Last year’s leaves and acorns crackled underfoot. A large, extremely irritated squirrel scolded her from the safety of a branch overhead. She looked up at the irate creature and burst into laughter. It reminded her of how Claudia used to scold her when she was a child and she would return to their room after a day of adventure with Magnes, clothes dirtied and hair matted with leaves and stickers.

A brief melancholy temporarily darkened her mood. She rubbed at her eyes to ease the sting of tears brought on by the memory of Claudia. She wondered how her foster mother fared without her. Claudia had no one to rub her back at night, no one to soothe the pain she suffered from standing on her feet all day. Jelena had done those things for her once, but could do so no longer. A great gulf of both time and distance separated them now—perhaps forever.

And what of her cousin? Had his father welcomed Magnes home upon his return to Amsara, or had he punished his son because Magnes had refused to bend to the duke’s will?