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    Tassatina
    Tassatina
    Tassatina
    Ebook450 pages6 hours

    Tassatina

    By Ashley Abbiss

    ()

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    About this ebook

    It’s been a year since Niari was stabbed and almost killed. The New Elithimites have ‎disappeared, and nothing more can be done until they are located.‎

    In Nebreth City, Carlitha is preparing for her second marriage to Boladan, since the first, ‎Navan, ceremony isn’t legal in Nebrethian law. Niari, on the other hand, although recovered ‎physically, is still struggling with the emotional repercussions of the attack.‎

    Meanwhile, in Atriosa, capital of Falodirian, 15-year-old Tassatina works happily as the ‎housekeeper in Madame Wennara’s brothel. On her own since the age of 11, she knows she’s ‎fortunate to have found such a good employer. She works hard, and hopes, when she comes of ‎age, to enter the real business of the place. It would be a good career. In the Atriosine religion, ‎prostitutes are honoured as the priestesses of Atrios as god of love.‎

    In her spare time, Tassi loves nothing more than to listen to the town’s minstrels. Her special ‎favourites are the songs about Niari and Carlitha and the adventures they have had.‎

    Then, a sighting of the New Elithimite leaders is reported near Atriosa. Niari, Carlitha, and ‎the rest of the Company prepare to head there in the hope of confronting their enemies. Tassi’s ‎idols are actually coming to town, and the King has organised a parade so the people can see ‎them. She’ll be able to see them all up close. ‎

    When there is an incident during the parade, Tassi ends up holding Carlitha’s horse for her. ‎Wow, you just can’t get closer than this. What a story she’s going to have to tell her friends. All ‎her dreams are coming true! ‎

    But, sometimes, you really should be careful what you wish for.‎

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAshley Abbiss
    Release dateMar 3, 2017
    ISBN9781370337828
    Tassatina
    Author

    Ashley Abbiss

    Hello there. I’m Ashley Abbiss. ‎I live and write in beautiful New Zealand, where I live with one large dog, who looks nothing ‎like Friend from my Daughters of Destiny books. She is, however, almost as intelligent and definitely as ‎opinionated, and if she can’t quite speak in the way Friend does to Niari, that doesn’t really ‎hold her back much!‎I write fantasy, mostly of the epic variety. Let me say right up front that if you’re looking for a quick read, you’re in the wrong place. But if you like a substantial, ‎satisfying story that you can really get your teeth into, stick with me. I may have something ‎you’ll enjoy. There’s no graphic sex in my books. If that’s what you want, you’ll have to look ‎elsewhere. There is violence, and there is swearing, though mostly of the ‘s/he swore’ variety, ‎nothing overly graphic or offensive. I also write about strong, independent female characters, ‎so if your taste runs to something more macho, or something more frilly and helpless, this may ‎not be the place for you. ‎I’ve always loved wandering in different worlds, be they fantasy or science fiction, although ‎lately I tend to prefer fantasy. The only proviso is that they have to be believable worlds, ‎worlds that feel real, that have depth and scope – and they must, absolutely must be fun to ‎visit. I read for escape and entertainment, and I don’t really want to escape from this world ‎into one even grimmer. Trouble, tension, and danger I can deal with, what sort of story would ‎there be without them? Where would Pern be without Thread, Frodo without Sauron, Harry ‎Potter without Voldemort? But there has to be hope, and there has to be a light touch. Happy ‎ever after does have a lot going for it, even if initially it’s only a very small light at the end of ‎a long, dark tunnel. My personal favourites include Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy, Anne ‎McCaffrey’s Pern series, and the fantasies of David Eddings, and lately, they’ve been joined ‎by J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and a few others. Of those, David Eddings was probably my ‎greatest inspiration.‎I began to wonder if I could create my own world, one just as believable and multi-layered as ‎theirs. Could I create a world with its own history, geography, social structure, deities, and all ‎the rest? One that hung together? That a reader could believe in? It became a challenge, one I ‎really wanted to see if I could meet. So I dusted off my writing skills, learned a few more, ‎cranked up the imagination, and got busy. I’d always been good at creative writing, but ‎though I’d made a few attempts to write after I left school, none of them came to anything. ‎That was until I started writing fantasy. Suddenly, I knew I’d come home. ‎I quickly discovered that I’m not the sort of writer who can plan a book (or a world!) before I ‎start. I just can’t do it. But I can create characters, and suddenly the characters took on a ‎reality of their own and took over the stories, often to the extent that they actually surprised ‎me. And the stories worked. Their world worked. Sometimes I had to go back and fix the ‎odd contradiction, but mostly it worked and was very natural and organic. Even though my ‎first attempts were pitiful, I knew I’d found where I belong. I persevered, I learned, I wrote. ‎I discovered that the characters are key for me. Once I get them right, they tell their own ‎story. I was away. There were dark days during which my stories became my refuge, my ‎characters my friends. And I kept writing. There were happy times when I didn’t need a ‎refuge, but my characters were still my friends, and they drew me inexorably back. I kept ‎writing. ‎And now, I hope my characters may become your friends too, my worlds ones where you also ‎like to walk; perhaps even your refuge from dark days. Come join me in a world where magic ‎is real and the gods are near, where beasts talk and men and women achieve things they never ‎dreamed they could. But most of all, come and have fun! ‎Happy reading.‎Ash.‎

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      Book preview

      Tassatina - Ashley Abbiss

      CHAPTER ONE

      Princess Carlitha, sorceress, champion of the gods, and sister to the King of Nebreth, was in an unusually pensive mood. She sat in her chair in the living room of her house gazing moodily out of the window. The house was situated on a high ridge deep in the forest of Ch’ranath Wivas. Her window looked out first over gardens and lawns before the ridge dived down to untamed forest that stretched for league after league until it finally met the distant but equally untamed sky.

      Here on the ridge, Carlitha sat in sunshine, but on the far horizon dark clouds roiled and churned as the wind pushed them around, first piling them high then tipping them over and flattening them out before beginning the process over again. Carlitha found that aerial drama peculiarly satisfying. The turbulence of the sky perfectly reflected her mood.

      She was beginning to think it had been a mistake to come back here to the house in the forest. She was all alone here, and there was far too much time to think. Carlitha had never been of the opinion that thinking things to death actually achieved all that much, except to make problems seem worse than they really were. That was Niari’s trouble, she thought too much.

      Although, Carlitha did have to admit that the last year or so had been pretty ghastly for her sister. Abruptly, Carlitha’s thoughts veered away from her own problems to consider the problem of Niari. Carlitha wondered what her sister was doing right now, and more importantly, if she was all right.

      Niari, princess, sorceress, ex-high priestess of the moon goddess Elithim, younger sister of Carlitha and twin to the King, was also the One of prophecy, the champion of the gods, a position that more often than not seemed to Carlitha to involve sorting out the gods’ problems for them.

      But being the chosen of Maras, chief of the gods, was apparently no guarantee of mental toughness or emotional strength. Niari was a fretter, a worrier. Carlitha frequently found herself exasperated, both with her sister and with the gods. They seemed so heartlessly indifferent to Niari’s suffering, most of which seemed to be occasioned by them in the first place.

      Take this latest incident, for instance. A bit less than a year ago, Niari had been stabbed and almost killed by a follower of Elithim. Physically, she had made a good recovery, but emotionally she was a mess. And the gods hadn’t even seen fit, when they sent her on yet another quest, to let her catch up with the leaders of this new religion and at least glean a bit of justice out of the whole mess.

      Prophecy called Carlitha the companion and helper of the One. What that mostly amounted to, at least lately, was trying to keep Niari from flying apart long enough to do what the gods required of her. If popular wisdom was right about blasphemy and its consequences, then Carlitha thought she must be doomed to the deepest, darkest hell. She seemed to spend most of her life railing at the gods about the essential injustice of Niari’s situation, demanding a bit more consideration and fairness.

      Thirteen years ago, Niari, Carlitha and the rest of the company that comprised what amounted to the army of the gods had gone, at the behest of prophecy, to the fabled Temple of the Damned. There, among other events, Elithim had revealed that, far from being the ally and helper of Maras as had been assumed, she actually had her own agenda.

      This involved first, getting rid of Maras’ wife Cazovania so she could have Maras for herself, and then ousting the other gods along with all secular kings and setting herself up as sole god and queen of the world. Carlitha had never quite worked out how Maras was supposed to fit into that last scenario.

      Presumably he, like every other creature in creation, was intended to be subordinate to Elithim, although when she was in a whimsical mood, Carlitha sometimes wondered whether anyone had bothered to tell Maras, and what he thought of the idea.

      The Elithimite religion in which Niari had grown up and which she had served as a priestess was currently being replaced by a new version that people were calling the New Elithimites. This new version openly espoused and worked to achieve fulfilment of those new doctrines, preaching assassination and revolution and the overthrow of the current world order.

      Because they had foiled her plot there in the Temple and assisted in the reconciliation of Maras and Cazovania, Elithim was now determined to kill Niari, Carlitha, and their friend Mennia. That, Carlitha thought, was probably the reason Niari was having so much trouble coming to terms with what had happened.

      To be almost murdered was bad enough. To be almost murdered by the followers and at the instigation of the goddess she had been raised to revere and worship was an altogether different level of betrayal. Carlitha mentally kicked herself. She should have worked this out long ago.

      After all, her mother had been an Elithimite priestess, the Matriarch of the church in fact. Niari, Carlitha and Aanek were siblings but, because they were the product of a long-running but clandestine liaison, none of them had grown up together. Niari had been raised by an Elithimite priest, Aanek by their father.

      Carlitha had been adopted by a woman named Bethmemin. She was now in the peculiar position of being able to claim both the King and the Queen of Nebreth as her siblings, since Aanek had married Carlitha’s adopted sister, Marriah. Her adopted brother Melavim was head of Nebrethian Intelligence and one of Aanek’s right-hand men.

      Carlitha had grown up around the priesthood. She knew how they thought. She knew how indoctrinated they were into the idea that Elithim was all-powerful, all-conquering, all-everything. To be the object of her hatred and vengeance must be utterly terrifying for Niari. Carlitha should have realised this.

      In fact, she recalled now, Niari herself had said as much at one stage. And that was before you even considered the sense of betrayal she must have. If only Carlitha had thought of this before, she might have been able to do something to stop her sister falling completely to pieces. She gnawed a fingernail as she thought over the implications.

      A throat-clearing behind her announced the entry of a servant, and Carlitha turned, glad to have an excuse to put her gloomy thoughts aside.

      Countess Irhanai of Crinnan, your Highness, the servant murmured.

      Hello, Carlitha greeted her friend in surprise. What are you doing here?

      I’ve come for your wedding, of course. You didn’t think I’d miss that, did you?

      That’s not for almost a month, and it’ll be in Nebreth City. What are you doing here in the forest?

      The tall, beautiful Crinnese woman laughed. Actually, I came to see Kasifabar and Bodan.

      Kasifabar was a water sprite who had a shrine not far from Carlitha’s house, and Bodan was his priest, as well as being a friend and one of the Companions. Kasifabar was head of the Interspecies Council, the governing body for the nature spirits.

      Nature spirits, the small, local, original gods of the world, were tied to their range and couldn’t venture far from their shrines. The sylphs, as spirits of the air, didn’t suffer the same restriction, so they acted as messengers and go-betweens for the other spirits. Irhanai was the sylphs’ priestess, so it wasn’t all that unusual for her to need to consult with Kasifabar and Bodan.

      I was quite surprised when Bodan told me you were here, she said now. I assumed you’d be in the city.

      Carlitha wrinkled her nose. I wouldn’t go near the city right now. My sister Marriah’s gone absolutely mad about this wedding. Between them, she and my brother have the whole place in an uproar.

      Well, at least they’re pleased for you. You were a little worried about how your brother the King would take the news, weren’t you?

      He was a bit put out at first, Carlitha admitted. Apparently, he was hoping to marry Niari and me off to political advantage. But he finally decided that Boladan was a suitable match after Marriah pointed out that no one would have us.

      Irhanai’s eyebrows rose.

      It’s because of us being sorceresses, Carlitha explained. Marriah convinced Aanek that people would be afraid we were spying and sending information back home by magic, or using our power to influence events in Nebreth’s favour. They probably would, too. You know how ignorant people are about sorcery.

      Irhanai laughed. Well, at least you get Boladan.

      Carlitha’s expression grew sour. I almost wish Aanek hadn’t approved. We were hoping for a nice quiet wedding, but when I told Marriah that I was going to wear my original wedding dress and jewels and everything that you ladies made for me, it seemed to set her off.

      Carlitha and Boladan’s first wedding had taken place in a cave in the mountains of northern Nava. They’d been on the trail of Elithim at the time, and things had reached the stage where they were fully expecting the goddess to kill them at any moment.

      Boladan had revealed an unexpected romantic streak by insisting that if they couldn’t have a life together, they could at least die knowing they belonged to each other. The wedding had been necessarily a hurried affair, but Mennia, Carlitha’s oldest friend, had insisted that they do it as properly as they could manage. So Irhanai, Niari and the other sorceresses with them had created a wedding dress and all the other trappings of a bride for Carlitha to wear.

      Marriah seems to have decided that if she can’t organise me, she’ll organise everything else instead, Carlitha complained. She’s gone completely overboard and suddenly we’re having this huge state wedding.

      Irhanai laughed again. Well, you are the king’s sister, after all. I suppose it’s obligatory in a way. The people like to have something to celebrate, and foreign dignitaries are apt to get sulky if there’s a party they’re not invited to.

      Carlitha laughed.

      I’m really happy for you, Carlitha. You were so put out with Boladan for a while there that I thought it was going to be all off.

      Carlitha blushed guiltily. Well, he’s so impossibly stiff and correct! she said, throwing her hands in the air. I mean, we’d been sharing the same tent for weeks and he was quite happy about it, but then we crossed the border and he found out the marriage wasn’t valid in Nebrethian law, so suddenly it wasn’t all right any more. He’s hardly been near me since. He says it’s not right until we’re legally married. He even said that the first marriage had been a spur of the moment thing, that we hadn’t really expected to have a life together, so it was good that I had the chance to rethink things and decide if it was what I really wanted! I mean, honestly!

      He wanted you to be really sure, Carlitha, Irhanai said gently. I can understand that. After all, you had been badly hurt, hadn’t you? And it’s quite true that you hadn’t expected to have a life together. We were all expecting to die in the next few hours as I recall. It just shows how much Boladan cares about you, how much he wants you to be happy.

      I suppose so. But at first, he wouldn’t even write to me. I didn’t hear from him for weeks. I was beginning to seriously think it was he who was having second thoughts.

      So, what happened? Irhanai asked.

      In a nutshell, Niari interfered. She knew how miserable I was, and she figured that neither of us was going to make the first contact, so she went and told Boladan what she thought of him. She said he was absolutely appalled when he found out that I wasn’t sure he even wanted me any longer. It turned out that he’d wanted to let me make up my own mind without him putting any pressure on me.

      Irhanai laughed. How typically Boladan.

      Wasn’t it? Anyway, after that he started writing to me again, and I wrote back, and we eventually sorted everything out, and here we are.

      Thanks to your sister. Where is she?

      In Harran, actually.

      CHAPTER TWO

      Irhanai blinked. What’s Niari doing in Harran?

      Taking Endalla’s remains home to be buried.

      Surely it was a little insensitive of your brother to ask Niari to take them, Irhanai said, frowning. After all, Endalla was the leader of the religion that tried to kill her, wasn’t she?

      Niari volunteered, Carlitha said now. I think my brother was as shocked as anyone else.

      She actually wanted to go?

      Virtually got down on her knees and begged, I understand. She said that Endalla was as much a victim as she was.

      When you look at it that way, I suppose she’s right.

      Endalla had been the leader of the New Elithimites at the time of the attack on Niari. But it had turned out that she was only being used by the real leaders of the sect, and later, when her usefulness to them came to an end, she herself had been murdered.

      I think it’s Niari’s way of trying to come to terms with everything, Carlitha said. I think by forgiving Endalla she’s trying to heal herself.

      She did fall apart rather badly on our way home from the Northland, Irhanai nodded. It wasn’t altogether surprising. After all, it was a little unrealistic to expect her to just be all right after everything she’d been through. Especially when we didn’t even catch up with the real New Elithimite leaders, Adreni and Darriah.

      I think that’s what really finished her off, Carlitha nodded. I felt a bit that way myself, but I was lucky. I had Boladan. Niari had nothing, not even the assurance that it was all over. Also, I think she feels guilty about Darriah. She was the one who made Darriah high priestess of Elithim when she gave the position up to follow Maras, if you recall. I think she feels responsible for inflicting her on the church.

      Carlitha pulled a face. In fact, I think in a strange, twisted way, Niari believes that if she hadn’t appointed Darriah, the church wouldn’t have changed as it has. Her face hardened. That’s just one more thing those two and their precious goddess have to answer for. I really don’t think Niari’s going to come right until we find them.

      You really think revenge will cure her? Irhanai asked, looking at Carlitha quizzically.

      Carlitha shook her head. I don’t think it’s revenge so much as having an ending. Until that happens, it can’t really be over, can it?

      Perhaps not.

      There’s been no word?

      Irhanai shook her head. That’s partly why I wanted to see Kasifabar and Bodan.

      What’s the big hold up? Darriah and Adreni have to be somewhere on the face of the earth, so the spirits should be able to find them. You’ve got the sylphs on the job, haven’t you?

      Of course I have, Carlitha. But you know sylphs. I’ve been working with them, but I’ve only been their priestess for seven or eight months. It’s taking me longer than I thought to get them organised, largely because of Nissis. You remember him?

      That pompous little oaf who’s the head of their council or whatever it is?

      Irhanai nodded. He’s jealous because I chose Sarrall as my aide rather than him. He’s been quite obstructive.

      Don’t tell me. Carlitha effected a high, fussy voice reminiscent of one of the air spirits. The sylphs are far too busy and important to waste their precious time trying to save my sister’s life.

      Irhanai grinned. Of course, they don’t put it that way. They merely say that it’s a human problem and that we should sort it out for ourselves. In fact, according to Sarrall, Nissis has been saying that it would be a disservice for them to do this for us because we need to stand on our own two feet, and it’s not good for us to become too reliant on the spirits.

      The bombastic little monster! Carlitha said. Where did he get that from anyway? I thought the sylphs weren’t supposed to understand humans.

      I don’t know, Irhanai said. Certainly not from anything I’ve told them. Luckily, Nissis isn’t awfully popular with the sylphs, so he’s not having as much impact as he’d like. It’s enough to cause problems for us, though. I’m getting some information, but not nearly enough, and not in time to do any good when I do get some. By the time our people get to where Darriah and Adreni were last seen they’ve moved on and the trail’s gone cold again. And, of course, as the heads of the New Elithimite religion, they have plenty of places to hide because the sylphs can’t go anywhere that’s been consecrated to another god. They could be right under their noses, but if they’re in an Elithimite chapel, or somewhere else that’s been consecrated to Elithim, the sylphs can’t locate them. It’s frustrating, to say the least.

      I know, Carlitha grinned. It’s been driving Melavim and Aanek absolutely wild. And Varia says her government’s thinking seriously about recalling her and Benric because they’re not making any progress.

      They’re still here?

      Yes, they’ve been working with Melavim’s people. They’re still special agents of the Entrothian government, and their commission is still to track Darriah and Adreni down and see that they pay for the attempt on their king’s life. And since we’re working very hard at finding them too, and the two countries have always been friendly, it seemed sensible to work together. But now, I think the Entrothian government’s beginning to have doubts about cooperating. We can hardly blame them, of course, but I still can’t help thinking it would be a step backwards.

      Irhanai nodded soberly. Sarrall and I are working just as hard as we can on it, Carlitha. I promise you that. I hope to have something very soon.

      Come to think of it, where is Sarrall? Sarrall was Irhanai’s attendant sylph.

      I left him behind to visit with Kasifabar. I thought it might upset your staff if I turned up with a sylph floating along at my heels.

      Carlitha laughed. It just might have, at that. Thank you for thinking of it.

      I’ve learned to be sensitive to that sort of thing, Irhanai admitted. I and my ‘ghosts’ caused quite a stir when we got back to Crinnan. I’ve managed to get people used to them to the extent that they don’t cause a panic now, but I’m fairly careful about where I take them.

      Carlitha laughed.

      What are all the guards outside, Carlitha? I was afraid there for a moment that I wouldn’t get to see you.

      Carlitha pulled a face. Aanek insisted that I have protection. There are still a lot of Elithimites in this country, after all.

      The plan with the Eriathites isn’t working then?

      Oh, yes, they’ve been very effective, actually. I think that’s part of the trouble.

      About six months ago, the Companions had discovered that Elithim had been the goddess who had corrupted the Eriathite people long ago and brought about the downfall of their civilisation. Now, the Eriathites were sending out speakers who were telling their story to the rest of the world in an attempt to undermine the New Elithimites and make it harder for them to recruit followers.

      The missionaries speak with absolute conviction, Carlitha informed her friend. "When they get up there and tell what happened to their ancestors, and present the proof that it was Elithim who corrupted them, people listen, and Elithimism, and especially the New Elithimites, are losing followers. But it takes time for the message to spread.

      And of course, there’s always a backlash. The really fanatical ones have become more fanatical as they see their religion threatened. There’s been a certain amount of counter-propaganda, I understand, and some attacks on the Eriathite missionaries. I thought the chiefs were mad when they insisted on sending escorts of warriors with the speakers, but it looks as though they knew something I didn’t.

      That’s their job, I suppose, Irhanai said.

      Carlitha nodded. The really worrying thing is some unconfirmed reports that have been filtering in to palace intelligence concerning attacks on orthodox Elithimite priests and chapels. You remember, of course, that this new version of Elithimism was quite firmly based among the peasants, and really only present out there in the small country priesthouses?

      Irhanai nodded.

      Well, apparently, some of the town chapels have been attacked. According to Melavim and Aanek, they’ve heard a few rumours, but the incidents have all taken place in small out of the way places so far, so it’s hard to get confirmation.

      It’s a worry, though, isn’t it? If they’ve started that sort of thing, sooner or later the orthodox Elithimites will retaliate, and the whole thing could snowball right out of control.

      I know, Carlitha said. The last thing we need is a religious war. And as far as anyone knows, Niari and Mennia and I still have a price on our heads. It won’t be over for a while yet, I’m afraid.

      Is Niari going to be safe in Harran, then? Irhanai asked.

      Carlitha snorted. Safer than me, probably. Song of the Night and her family are still following her around like puppy dogs, and Friend hasn’t left her side since we got back. Plus, Aanek sent a whole company of troops with her.

      I should have thought Friend would be enough protection on his own, Irhanai said.

      Almost too much, sometimes. Not being human, he’s not bothered by insignificant details like proof or due process of law. He tends to bite first and ask questions later.

      Irhanai laughed.

      Friend loves Niari, Carlitha said. I think he thinks of her as a pup. I’m convinced it’s largely due to him that she pulled out of that depression she was in.

      He’s very wise, isn’t he? Irhanai said. He quite startled me when he spoke to the Eriathite chiefs. Until then, I don’t think I’d really come to terms with the fact that an animal was truly one of the team. But then I realised that he’s much more than just an ordinary animal.

      I think he startled everyone, Carlitha grinned. Even me, and I thought I knew him fairly well. You could have knocked me down with a feather, especially when he told the chiefs all about what we were doing and the prophecy and everything better than I could have myself.

      Friend was a runiac, the ancestral species to both the dog and the wolf. As a sorceress with the added talent of being a beastspeaker Niari could talk to him, and he was her constant companion and friend. He was also much more, the representative of the animals in the battles of the gods, mentioned in prophecy, and an integral part in the working out of those prophecies.

      When the company that he, Niari, Carlitha and Irhanai had been part of had needed the help of the Eriathite people in undermining the New Elithimite sect, it had been Friend, with Niari translating his words into human speech, who finally convinced their chiefs to cooperate. In the Eriathite culture he was K’hatha, the holy animal, so his word carried a great deal of weight.

      I’ll never forget that speech Friend made, Irhanai said.

      I’ll never forget the little gift he gave them, Carlitha said.

      Both women laughed. Friend’s ‘gift’ had been a pile of excrement that he had deposited in front of the chiefs to demonstrate his contempt for their attitude.

      The only way to stop the New Elithimites gaining new converts, and therefore growing in strength and influence, was to discredit them. To that end, they had needed the Eriathites to send out missionaries to tell the rest of the world about their experience with Elithim and how she had corrupted them and caused the downfall of their civilisation.

      The trouble with that idea was that the Eriathites were deeply ashamed of that particular episode, and they hadn’t been at all keen to tell the rest of the world about it. Until, that is, Friend had told their chiefs exactly what he thought of them and made them realise that by sending out the missionaries they could expiate their sin and show their gratitude to Maras for saving them.

      Friend certainly got their attention, Irhanai said.

      He got mine, too. I thought for a while there that he’d blown the whole thing.

      CHAPTER THREE

      Is Niari going to be home in time for your wedding?

      She’d better be, Carlitha said. She’s one of my bridesmaids.

      How are the wedding plans coming? Irhanai asked then.

      "I have no idea. Marriah wanted me to stay and help, but all that amounted to was listening to what she had planned and agreeing with it. She wasn’t about to listen to anything I had to say, so I left her to it. Although, I was very firm about the fact that I’m wearing the wedding dress and headdress and things that you ladies made for my first wedding.

      I expect it’s all going reasonably smoothly, Carlitha went on. Marriah’s the queen, after all, so she won’t have much trouble getting what she wants. She’s enjoying herself immensely, and probably making everyone else’s life miserable in the process.

      Don’t be horrid, Carlitha. After all, she’s doing it for you.

      She is not! I’m just the doll for her to play with.

      Well, at least you’ll have Boladan when it’s all over. Isn’t that worth it?

      Sometimes I wonder.

      Goodness, you have got it bad! Irhanai laughed. It’s just as well poor Boladan can’t hear you.

      Carlitha grinned a little shamefacedly. Well, we could have been married and settled down together months ago, if not for all this. Now we have to wait for all sorts of foreign heads of state and people who probably don’t even want to come to turn up.

      Oh, I see. Well, I’m glad to see that you’re so eager. Irhanai looked at Carlitha slyly. I’m sure Boladan will be too.

      Carlitha blushed bright red as Irhanai’s merry laugh rang out.

      You asked for that, my dear. I have your wedding present with me. Would you like it now?

      Yes, please, Carlitha said. She loved presents and could never bear to wait, a circumstance that was a frequent source of disagreement between herself and Niari at birthdays and other celebrations.

      Irhanai went out to her horse, returning with a cloth-wrapped bundle.

      Oh, my goodness! Carlitha said as she unwrapped two goblets. They appeared to be made of glass, but as she held them up to the light they seemed to swirl and give off little flashes of light, though they felt quite solid. She stared at them in wonder.

      Sarrall made them, Irhanai said. They’re actually a part of his own congealed substance. There’s nothing else like them in the entire world. He’s terribly excited about this wedding. Sylphs are emotional creatures, of course, and they’re also terribly sentimental, I’ve found. When I told him I was looking for a present for you and Boladan, he begged me to let him make it. He asks that you use them to drink your wedding toast.

      We will, Carlitha promised, her voice a little choked and her eyes misty. I can hardly wait to tell Boladan about this. They’re just lovely, Irhanai. Thank you so much.

      Sarrall will be glad to know you like them. He’s been terribly nervous in case you didn’t. You know how he gets.

      Why don’t we ride down to Kasifabar’s spring and thank him right now, then? Carlitha said impulsively. Unless you’re too tired, of course.

      I’m not tired at all. And I know Sarrall will be pleased to know that you like his gift.

      Irhanai forestalled any further discussion by handing Carlitha her sticks and offering a hand to help her rise. Carlitha had been crippled since babyhood and required the aid of two sticks to walk any distance. That had never been known to slow her down significantly, though.

      She was acknowledged as one of the best horsewomen in that part of the country, and besides being very proficient with her weapons, she was also, like Irhanai and her sister Niari, a sorceress, someone who could perform feats of incredible power with little more than a thought. Other magicians needed spells and formulae, but the sorcerers, or more properly the sorceresses, since they were almost always women, needed none of those aids.

      There were limitations, of course. Not least was the fact that, like any other kind of magic, they had to draw the energy to do what they wanted from inside themselves, and so became exhausted after a while. It was still, however, far more powerful than other types of magic.

      Where’s Miriala? Carlitha asked, referring to Irhanai’s daughter, a soldier and another who shared the power.

      Back home in Crinnan. She’ll be here for your wedding, though. She wouldn’t miss that for the world. I came on ahead because I wanted to see Bodan.

      She’s still living in Crinnan, then? I thought she was all set to leave the moment you got home.

      Irhanai smiled gently. She still insists that she is, but somehow it keeps getting put off.

      Carlitha grinned.

      She’s got herself a position in the Imperial Guard, Irhanai went on proudly, and that’s quite a plum appointment, so I’m hoping maybe the mercenary life is looking a little less attractive now.

      She could do a lot worse, Carlitha agreed as she rang to have their horses brought around.

      Sarrall was thrilled to know that Carlitha liked his gift. She knew that because the excitable sylph spent several minutes assuring her over and over again just how thrilled he was and what an honour it had been to be allowed to make the goblets for her and Boladan.

      While all that was going on Kasifabar, a water sprite and therefore far less flighty and far more sensible than the air spirit, stood politely by, waiting for his turn. He had no gift, but he gravely offered his congratulations, then leant close and whispered something in Carlitha’s ear that made her face flame as she stammered her thanks.

      What did he say to you? Irhanai asked curiously as the two women rode away from the spring.

      It was a sort of blessing, Carlitha mumbled, still blushing.

      I’m just dying to know what sort of blessing makes you blush like that, her friend said with a raised eyebrow.

      It was personal, Carlitha said.

      That’s all right, Irhanai said placidly. I’m sure Sarrall will tell me later.

      Carlitha stared at her friend and then swore. I believe you would, too.

      Irhanai grinned at her. Come on, Carlitha. It can’t have been that bad, surely.

      Carlitha’s ears looked as though they were about to catch fire. All right, she said grudgingly. He promised that Boladan and I... well, that neither of us would ever feel the need to... well, to look elsewhere, because we’d always be enough for each other.

      Oh, Carlitha, what a truly precious gift, Irhanai said sincerely. I don’t think there’s a greater blessing you could have.

      Carlitha began to feel a little less embarrassed.

      Kasifabar is a very wise creature, Irhanai said. And he seems to understand human beings very well indeed.

      Carlitha thought about it for the rest of the ride home, and by the time they pulled up in front of the house, she’d decided that Irhanai was right about how precious a gift it was. But she wasn’t going to say a word to Boladan, apart from telling him simply that Kasifabar had sent his blessings. After all, a girl needed some secrets. And she wasn’t about to risk him getting complacent.

      The two women spent a happy ten days visiting together until Carlitha received a rather peremptory summons from her sister the Queen to present herself at the palace to help finalise the wedding arrangements and attend a rehearsal of the ceremony.

      They arrived in the city, coincidentally, on the same day that Niari returned from Harran. Carlitha, waiting with her brother and sister in the throne room to welcome her back and hear her report of the trip, overheard whispered comments from some of the nearby courtiers as Niari entered, escorted by Friend, of course, along with the Eriathite woman Song of the Night, her son Shad, daughter Minnow, and Minnow’s Nebrethian husband Jomac.

      The comments were to the effect that the speakers couldn’t understand why the King couldn’t find an adequate bodyguard for his sister from among his own people. Carlitha smiled, wondering what her brother thought of those opinions. Not many people realised that Song of the Night and her family had actually been appointed to the task of guarding Niari by Maras himself, chief of the gods.

      Carlitha looked critically at her sister as she made her report on the journey to Harran to the King and Queen. The trip didn’t seem to have done as much for her as they’d all hoped. Niari looked haggard and haunted, and it was apparent that she was still suffering from the emotional trauma that had afflicted her in the last months.

      Carlitha suppressed a sigh half of pity, half of exasperation. Niari thought too much, that was her trouble. She worried things to death instead of putting them behind her and getting on with her life. And right now, she looked exhausted. Perhaps a couple of days’ rest would make a difference. Carlitha hoped so.

      She saw very little of Niari in the next several days. First of all, Boladan arrived, and she had to tell him about Sarrall’s gift. He presented her with a very beautiful dinner service that was their gift from his mother, and a gorgeous necklace of the dark green stones the Navans called goddess stones that was his gift to her.

      That threw her into a complete panic, since she’d forgotten to get anything for him. She and Irhanai spent a long day in the markets of Nebreth City before Irhanai unearthed an old and rather battered manuscript from a pile of stuff in the back of a dingy shop.

      The shopkeeper assured them that it was very rare. He was an oily sort of fellow, though, and Carlitha didn’t trust him an inch. She had certain advantages, though, and while Irhanai talked to him, she used her power to sneak into his mind. What she read there reassured her somewhat, but not entirely.

      The manuscript was at least genuine, and had been found among the effects of an old high priest of the god Ker, who had brought it with him from Bish when he retired and came to live with his married daughter in Nebreth. However, the assertion that it was rare was

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