Medalon (43 page)
“First Sister?”
Joyhinia did not respond. She seemed totally absorbed in watching the sky.
“Sister Joyhinia?”
“She can’t hear you,” the boy told them. “Well, no that’s not true, she can hear you, she just doesn’t care.”
“What have you done, Dacendaran?” Brak asked sternly.
“I stole this,” he announced, tossing the glowing ball over the heads of Tarja and Jenga. Brak snatched the ball out of the air and examined it curiously.
“What is it?”
“It’s her intellect.”
Jenga stared at the boy uncomprehendingly as Tarja took the glowing sphere from Brak. “What do you mean, her intellect?”
The god shrugged, as if it hardly needed an explanation. “It’s all the bits that go into making her what she is. I couldn’t steal it all, that would kill her and I’m not allowed to do that, but I took all the icky bits. Now she’s just like a little child.”
“What happens if this is destroyed?” Tarja asked, holding the ball up to the light. “Will it kill her?”
“No. She’ll just stay like this. It’s pretty clever, don’t you think?”
Tarja didn’t answer. He simply dropped the ball to the ground, crushed it beneath the heel of his boot, and then looked at Jenga.
“My Lord, the First Sister appears to be incapacitated,” he said, as if she had come down with a cold. “We have an offer of an alliance to discuss. Would you be so kind as to act in lieu of a member of the Quorum?”
Jenga barely hesitated as he finally crossed the line into treason. He glanced at Tarja before he turned to the Warlord.
“We must talk,” he said to Damin.
Out of the corner of his eye, Brak saw Mahina leading Joyhinia away. Mahina nodded patiently as Joyhinia said something to her and then giggled. She sounded like a five-year-old child. As he turned back, Brak caught sight of Draco approaching Tarja cautiously. Tarja deliberately turned his back on him and walked away. All around them, the rebels, the Defenders and the Hythrun wore expressions of complete bewilderment.
“You’re going to have to do something about the rest of the Sisterhood,” Damin said as he swung a leg over his saddle and jumped to the ground. “You can’t fight the Kariens effectively with one arm tied behind your back.”
“I must reluctantly agree,” Glenanaran added. “This moment, while historic, is only just the beginning.”
“Aye,” Jenga agreed heavily.
Brak was saddened by the expression on Jenga’s face. The weight of his treason pressed on him, as it would for the rest of his days. For this to be resolved
now he would have to do more than defy the Sisterhood, he might well have to destroy it. Dace sidled up to Brak, looking rather pleased with himself.
“Well, it looks like it will all work out for the best, after all.”
Brak shook his head. “That depends on how you look at it, Dace. Zegarnald has his war and Kalianah has been able to impose her idea of order on a few hapless souls, but I’m not sure R’shiel would agree with you. Or any of the Medalonians for that matter.”
“You worry too much Brak.”
“And you should stay out of things that don’t concern you. That goes for the other gods, too.” Dacendaran didn’t deign to answer, but as Brak walked away from him, the god called him back.
“Brakandaran!”
“What now, Dace?”
“Do I
have
to give their weapons back?”
A
FFIANA
—Innkeeper in Testra. Brak’s great great grand neice.
A
DRINA
—Princess of Fardohnya. Eldest legitimate child of King Hablet.
B’
THRIM
S
NOWBUILDER
—Villager from Haven. Elder sister of J’nel. Died in a raid by the Defenders who destroyed her village.
B
EK
—Prisoner at the Grimfield. Sentenced to five years for arson.
B
ELDA
—Sister of the Blade at the Grimfield.
B
ERETH
—Former Sister of the Blade. Now a pagan. Turned on the Sisterhood following the destruction of Haven.
B
RAK
—Lord Brakandaran te Carn. Only other living half-breed Harshini.
B
REHN
—God of Storms.
C
RATYN
—Crown Prince of Karien. Son of Jasnoff and Aringard.
C
RISABELLE
C
ORTANEN
—Wife of Willem Cortanen, Commandant of the Defenders.
D
ACE
—Dacendaran, the God of Thieves.
D
AMIN
W
OLFBLADE
—Warlord of Krakandar and heir to the High Prince’s throne. Son of Princess Marla and nephew of Lernen Wolfblade, High Prince of Hythria.
D
AVYDD
T
AILORSON
—Lieutenant of the Defenders attached to the Intelligence Corps.
D
RACO
—Spear of the First Sister.
D
RANYMIRE
—Prime Demon bonded to the house of té Ortyn.
E
LFRON
—Karien priest.
F
ARDOHNYA
—Nation to the south west of Medalon ruled by Hablet, the King of Fardohnya.
F
RANCIL
—Sister of the Blade. Member of the Quorum. Longest standing member, she is the Mistress of the Citadel and responsible for the adminstration of the Citadel.
G
ARET
W
ARNER
—Commandant of the Defenders. Head of Defender Intelligence and second most senior officer in the Defenders.
G
AWN
—Captain of the Defenders posted to the southern border to replace Tarja.
G
LENANARAN
—Harshini sorcerer.
G
EORJ
D
RAKE
—Captain of the Defenders.
G
HARI
—Rebel Lieutenant. Brother of Mandah.
G
WENELL
—Physic. Sister of the Blade.
H
ABLET
—King of the Fardohnyans.
H
ARITH
—Sister of the Blade. Member of the Quorum.
H
ERVE
—A Rebel from Testra. Ghari’s cousin.
H
YTHRIA
—Nation to the south east of Medalon split into 7 provinces, each province ruled by a Warlord. The nation is ruled by a Cermonial High Prince, currently Lernen Wolfblade.
J’
NEL
S
NOWBUILDER
—Villager from Haven. Died from complications of childbirth without naming the father of her child.
J
ACOMINA
—Sister of the Blade. Member of the Quorum. Mistress of Enlightenment.
J
ASNOFF
—King of Karien. Father of Cratyn and uncle to Drendyn.
J
ELANNA
—Goddess of Fertility.
J
OYHINIA
T
ENRAGAN
—First Sister of the Sisters of the Blade following Mahina’s impeachment. Mother of Tarja and R’shiel.
K
AELARN
—God of the Oceans.
K
ALIANAH
—Goddess of Love.
K
ALAN
—High Arrion of the Sorcerers’ Collective in Hythria.
K
ARIEN
—Nation to the north of Medalon. Ruled by King Jasnoff.
K
HIRA
—Physic in the Grimfield and a rebel.
K
ILENE
—Probate at the Citadel.
K
ORANDELLEN TÉ
O
RTYN
—King of the Harshini. Nephew of Lorandranek and brother of Shananara.
K
ORGAN
—Deceased. Former Lord Defender. Rumoured to be Tarja’s father.
L’
RIN
—Innkeeper of the Inn of the Hopeless in the Grimfield.
L
ERNEN
W
OLFBLADE
—High Prince of Hythria. Damin’s uncle.
L
OCLON
—Wain Loclon. Leiutenant of the Defenders promoted to Captain following the Purge.
L
ORANDRANEK TÉ
O
RTYN
—Deceased. Former king of the Harshini.
L
ORD
P
IETER
—Karien Envoy to Medalon.
L
OUHINA
F
ARCRON
—Sister of the Blade. Appointed to the Quorum following Joyhinia’s elevation to First Sister.
M
AERA
—Goddess of the Glass River.
M
AHINA
C
ORTANEN
—Former First Sister. Mother of Wilem. Banished to the Grimfield with her son and daughter-in-law, Crissabelle.
M
ANDAH
R
ODAK
—Formerly a novice and now a pagan rebel from Medalon. Elder sister of Ghari
M
ARIELLE
—Prisoner at the Grimfield, sentenced with R’shiel.
M
YSEKIS
—Captain of the Defenders stationed in the Grimfield.
N
HEAL
A
LCARNEN
—Captain of the Defenders and friend of Tarja’s who aids his escape from the Citadel.
O
VERLORD
—See Xaphista
P
ADRIC
—Leader of the Rebels following Tarja’s capture.
P
ALIN
J
ENGA
—Lord Defender. Commander in Chief of the Defenders. Brother of Dayan Jenga and rumoured to be R’shiel’s father.
P
ROZLAN
—Sister of the Blade stationed at the Grimfield.
R’
SHIEL
—Probate. Daughter of the First Sister.
S
HANANARA
—Her Royal Highness, Shananara té Ortyn. Daughter of Rorandelan. Sister of Korandellen.
S
UELEN
—Sister of the Blade. The First Sister’s Secretary and Harith’s neice.
S
UNNY
—Sunflower Hopechild. Court’esa from the Citadel.
T
ARJA
—Tarjanian Tenragan. Son of the First Sister, Joyhinia. Captain of the Defenders.
U
NWIN
—Sister of the Blade at the Grimfield
W
ILEM
—Commandant of the Grimfield. Son of Mahina and married to Crisabelle.
W
YLBIR
—A rebel. Former sergeant of the Defenders.
X
APHISTA
—The Overlord. God of the Kariens.
Z
EGARNALD
—God of War.
I always threatened that my acknowledgment would read something like: I would like to thank my children, without whom this book would have been finished several years sooner…
In fact without their unwavering faith, it may never have been finished at all. I would particularly like to thank David, for his endless supply of coffee and for turning out so well when his mother spent so many of his formative years lost in another world. My heartfelt thanks also to Amanda, for her excellent proofreading and for naming the God of Thieves, and TJ for being such a good listener—although I wish she had not waited until I was halfway through the final draft before asking, “What would happen if R’shiel was Joyhinia’s daughter?”
I would like to thank Irene Dahlberg and Kirsten Tranter for seven pages of insight that pointed me in the right direction and Lyn Tranter at Australian Literary Management for her patience. I would also like to thank Teri Williams Carnright and Stephanie Mun Pui Law, who did such a wonderful job on the cover.
My heartfelt thanks go to Dave English from the Alice Springs Yacht Club, for his expert advice on sailing. Nor can I forget to mention Toni-Maree and John Elferink MLA, for their unwavering support when I needed them most and for putting up with my eccentricities on a daily basis.
Last but not least, I must thank my good friend Harshini Bhoola, whose relentless enthusiasm and endless reading of draft after draft of this series earned her an entire race of people named in her honour. She deserves a place with the gods.
Jennifer Fallon lives in Alice Springs, in Central Australia and writes anywhere she can get her hands on a computer. She writes full time and moonlights in business training and IT as a consultant.
To find out more about Jennifer Fallon, her books and her writing, visit her website:
www.jenniferfallon.com
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‘Voyager Online’
: www.voyageronline.com.au—the website for lovers of science fiction and fantasy.
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D
EMON
C
HILD
T
RILOGY
Medalon
(Book One)
Treason Keep
(Book Two)
Harshini
(Book Three)
S
ECOND
S
ONS
T
RILOGY
The Lion of Senet
(Book One)
Eye of the Labyrinth
(Book Two)
Lord of the Shadows
(Book Three)
T
HE
H
YTHRUN
C
HRONICLES
Wolfblade
(Book One)
Warrior
(Book Two)
Warlord
(Book Three)
Voyager
An imprint of HarperCollins
Publishers
, Australia
First published in Australia in 2000
This edition published in 2010
by HarperCollins
Publishers
Australia Pty Limited
ABN 36 009 913 517
www.harpercollins.com.au
Copyright © Jennifer Fallon 2000
The right of Jennifer Fallon to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the
Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000
.
This work is copyright.
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National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication data:
Fallon, Jennifer.
Medalon
978 0 7322 6477 2 (pbk.)
978 0 7304 0122 3 (ePub)
I. Title. (Series : The Demon Child ; 1).
A823.3