Usruldes as Lord Irhessa, Kwabin, Harvest Season, 6th rot., 5th day – East Coast time

  I dropped into my deepest trance, cast the charm of star’s view, and extended my mind's eye over Kwabin, then the whole coast, then the entire ocean until I could see where the Great Wash marked the border of the Fenlands and Inkalem. I found the hill where Ud had her front door. Squads of warmages on eagles from the Valient Shrine flew fancy formations around the hill. I stretched my senses to find Ud. Then I saw her, deep in her caverns below, making something with her web silk. It looked like a boat hull. I was amused. Nothing Ud did would surprise me. She is endlessly creative.

  I waited for her to notice me. It was merely a matter of time, and it never took long.

  *Usruldes! How are you? How are you faring in Kwabin?* Ud’s happy voice greeted me.

  “I am fine, Ud. As usual, I am trying to solve problems for my employer again. And to do that, I need to beg your favor." I spoke aloud. Ud did all the work when we spoke at a distance. All I had to do was talk. Of course, sitting in my chair in the conference room in the Provincial Palace in Kwabin, my three fellow Foskans would be treated to just my half of the conversation.

  *Yes, I can do that for you,* Ud replied. *Let me find her for you.*

  “But, I haven’t . . . Oh, right. Silly me.” Ud often dropped the pretense of listening to a request from her students. She just plucked it from my mind that I wanted to reach Imstay through Aylem.

  I only had to wait a moment, and then Ud came back. *Here she is now, child. I'll try not to eavesdrop too much.* Then I felt Ud’s amusement.

  *Lord Usruldes? Are you there?* Aylem’s mental voice asked.

  “I am here, Great One. Can you hear me?” I said.

  *I can hear you. Ud said you need to speak to Imstay. Has something happened?*

  “The Mattamukans haven't really curtailed their pirate activities. They've moved them where we can't see them. This has become a sticking point in negotiating with the Mattamesscontans. It's complicated. I'd love to have you here to put the fear of, well, you in them again. That might achieve something, but barring that, the Revered Ones would like permission to use Justicar compulsion for investigation so we can question the naval and merchant captains.

  “We would like permission to make a treaty with the Acting Regent of Mattamesscontess to ensure her that the Mattamukan Navy will not invade or raid. They are hurting right now. The Chem have destroyed most of their navy.

  "Last, we request you search the coasts out here for new pirate bases. We suspect Mattamukan raiders have been setting up remote ports, especially since pirate activity on the north side of Alkinosuk has picked up since you visited with Emily. Oh, yes, and I have recent news about Emily."

  *Let me link to Imstay, Lord Usruldes. This is more complicated than just my speaking. Please give me a moment. Usruldes, can you still hear me?*

  “Yes, I can, Great One.”

  *Now, Imstay, please say something. Let’s see if Usruldes can hear you.*

  *Little brother?* I heard Imstay’s mental voice. *Are you there?*

  "I can hear you, Mighty One." I heard the astonished but pleased gasps of the three Revered Ones who were listening.

  *Usruldes, tell me everything.*

  So I did. The conversation took quite some time, but the council of eleven Revered Ones received permission to use justicar-administered compulsion for questioning. However, Imstay suggested that they wait to start their investigation so he could send a company of warmages from the Peaceful Shrine plus a handful of Wraiths. He was concerned for the Revered Ones' security. He also said that the council of eleven should feel free to threaten a revisit from Aylem, even if it would be a bluff for now.

  Imstay also gave Othnay a free hand to craft treaties of peace and cooperation with Mattamesscontess, so long as it didn't cost him any money. He also permitted me to negotiate with the Chem on behalf of Foskos if I felt I needed to, as long as I didn't destroy any bridges. I could tell Aylem was mystified by that remark because, of course, Imstay would never divulge that the bridge at Kas was a casualty of the assassination of Us'sayyos haup Kas.

  Imstay and Aylem were gobsmacked by the news that Emily had been in Kwabin but was lost in a storm in the company of the Empress Presumptive of Mattamesscontess.

  I was gobsmacked that Arkashar Ugi was at the Singing Shrine under an alias and that the Revered Lyappis had suffered a bad fall just a few bells ago. I was astounded that my mother convinced the Convocation to perform a rite of intercession and that Mugash allowed the charm of unraveling time for healers in extreme circumstances.

  The Queen assured me she would start surveying the coasts once she arranged updated care for the twins now that Lyappis would be in bed for a rotation or two.

  After that, Aylem dropped the connection on her end.

  Then, Ud also gobsmacked me. *That was interesting and fun, Usruldes. I haven’t hosted a long-distance conversation like that for at least two millennia!*

  “You’ve done this before!?”

  *Well, you had need. The pirate problem was getting out of hand. There were too many rescues of Inkalem freighters. But don’t worry, Emily and Moo’upegan took care of the northern third of the problem, and . . . oh, sorry. I was time-slipping again. Forget I said anything.*

  "Dammit, Ud. You can't say something like that and then decide to skip the details!"

  But no matter what I said, I couldn’t cajole her into telling me what she had foreseen.

  It was after the fourth bell when I finally finished. The serving staff had been waiting patiently outside the door of the conference room to serve us our midday meal.

  “Those last comments, Lord Irhessa,” Othnay was curious. “Did the spider mage have a foretelling?”

  “With Ud, it's more like she's living spread out in time. Usually, she only spreads out a few days at a time, but it sounds like she's currently spread out a season or more." I examined my mid repast, which was some kind of fish with some sort of vegetable, neither of which I recognized. "Apparently, the Empress Presumptive and Emily will be eliminating at least some of the pirates, though that's all I managed to get out of Ud. She tries not to reveal what the future holds for those of us who can't spread ourselves out through time."

  “Ud sounds . . . well, strange,” Deoykoya remarked. “Oh, it’s spotted fish. I do hope it’s not too spicy. They like to fry it in oil with too much zingadot in Mattamukmuk.”

  I took a bite. It was indeed spicy. I liked it, but I like spicy food. Most Foskans don’t. Foskans tend to think peppercorns are too spicy. Foskans are culinary wusses.

  "Let me shovel this food in, and then I'll tell you all the details," I told the three Revered Ones. "We have permission for most everything we asked for with some conditions. And there is news, too, from the Convocation. But let me eat first while the food is still warm."

  Senlyosart, Singing Shrine, Harvest Season, 6th rot., 5th day – Foskos time

  “Wowzers,” Sid was standing at the edge of the Well. “You’re better than Opa.”

  "Well," I had to chuckle, "I hope so. It would be a sad day if the High Priestess of the Singing Shrine was outperformed by a second-year trainee. And now, I need to sit down."

  The lithophone was an instrument played standing up, and my standing-up time was still limited. I was doing better than a season ago, but my leg still had a long way to go. I had days when I thought it would never fully recover. Twipdray said I needed to give it time, but it had already been over a year. I guess I'm not a patient person. It's one of my failings. I school myself to be patient because, as a High Priestess, I must be, but I find that it's hard work.

  Sid, bless him, brought me a chair so I could sit without needing to ask. For a boy of eleven, he was mindful of those around him. It was an unexpected trait for someone raised as a prince.

  “Does the Queen come here to play the lithophone?” Sid asked, bringing up a chair for himself. He sounded nonchalant, but even with my lousy aura-reading skills, I could see the sick yellow-green of worry in him.

  "She has never come to play the lithophone," I replied. "We didn't know she could make rocks sing before last year when the Prophet revealed a secret chamber full of great crystals and this lithophone. Opa asked her mother if she could make our new crystal sing, this one right here, because it too was in the secret chamber.

  “When the Queen touched it, it didn’t play a note. It played a chord. We were all astounded, including the Queen. No one knew she had the talent. Then, she took the lithophone and set it up for the first time under the dome of the Crystal Shrine, which is where the secret chamber is . . .”

  “It’s not so secret if you’re telling me about it,” Sid pointed out.

  “It was unknown before the Prophet revealed it,” I gave him a chiding look for interrupting. “Galt revealed it to her; she revealed it to us because she knew we needed to replace the Singing Shrine's crystal that was destroyed when the roof fell in at our former Shrine. And now, the clergy of both Foskos and Impotu know about the store of crystals. We'll be taking several of the crystals currently in storage to Impotu to replace the three that were destroyed. We'll also take some to replace those destroyed in Mattamukmuk.

  “The Impotu shrines would be the Sanguine Shrine, the Destined Shrine, and the Peaked Shrine, yes?” Sid asked.

  “Exactly.”

  “But the Destined Shrine doesn’t exist anymore.”

  "The Prophet said that four years from now, the Destined Shrine and its library will be rebuilt at Lantern Hill, west of the ruin of Salicet. The rarest and most valuable books, the truly irreplaceable ones, were hidden by the Holy Losnana. The heart of the collection still exists.”

  “She did?” Sid gaped.

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  “Galt warned her years in advance that Salicet would be destroyed,” I explained. “He told her to move the most precious manuscripts to a safe location, so she did.

  “Where?”

  “We don’t know. She has not told anyone where. She will say only that the books are safe along with their caretakers, in a place where the wars can’t get to them.”

  “But still, that’s great news,” he nodded thoughtfully. “I was in Salicet the day the library burned. I liked visiting there. I admit that I really like to read. Sometimes, books were my only friends. I was sad that Salicet was destroyed. Afterward, my grandmother took me to see the great hole in the ground where once there was a marvelous city on a hill,” he frowned and looked at his feet. “It was the last time I saw my mother before she left with the army." He closed his eyes and made a face so miserable that I got up, knelt before him, and hugged him. I felt him tremble as he fought back the tears.

  “Don’t keep it in, child. Let the grief out.” I held him until he stopped, pushed me away, and blotted his face with his sleeve.

  “You have a lot of emotion that you've been keeping inside," I handed him my handkerchief. "Has no one told you that it's alright to grieve? Because it is."

  He made an unreadable face and then changed the subject.

  “So, the Queen doesn’t come here to play the lithophone?”

  “Don’t try to change the subject on me, young man,” I gave him a deliberately parental look.

  “Sorry,” he stared at his feet and said nothing. Kids!

  “I’ve been trying to get the Queen to visit and learn the lithophone," I replied, returning to my chair. "As I said, no one realized that Queen had any musical talent or even knew how to read music. We discovered she could because of the Prophet. When the two are together, they sometimes sing the songs of their former life. They sing well together. It's a real treat to hear them because they do so only for their own pleasure and no one else’s.”

  “Former life?”

  "Both the Queen and the Prophet are reborn people. They both have memories from a previous life where everyone was a Coyn, and no one had magic. That's a great fish face, Sid." I waited for him to regain his composure. "Let me guess, you're worried about meeting the Queen and, by extension, the King whose soldiers killed your grandmother. I think you worry too much for someone your age. A boy like you should be in school, Sid, meeting and making friends with your peers and learning about the world. And speaking of that, weren’t you supposed to go with Opa to her music lesson this morning?”

  “I excused myself because I wanted to do something more important.”

  “And that is?”

  In answer, he hopped off the chair, walked up to the Singing Crystal, and placed his hand on it. I expected the crystal to play a note, but it did not. Instead, it lit up. The light was so bright that it was painful.

  “I swear now on this sacred crystal that I will not seek to avenge my house or the individual members of my house for what Foskos, its agents, and its soldiers have done to them, so help me, Sassoo. This oath shall be binding so long as I breathe.”

  The crystal played a chord, which I interpreted as acceptance of the oath.

  I got up, walked to the crystal, and placed my hands on it. It lit up again when I did so, with a painful bright light. "I, Senlyosart haup Yant, here do swear that from this day forward, the boy we know as Sidros Arkalkin is an adopted child and ward of the Singing Shrine of Sassoo, and the blessed clergy of Sassoo will protect and defend him. I also swear I will never reveal his true identity without his consent, so help me, Sassoo. This oath shall be binding so long as I breathe.”

  The crystal played a single note, which I'm sure was heard throughout Black Falls. I was also sure I would get another note from Heir Sertfos haup Black asking why the Singing Crystal sang again.

  “So, you made your decision,” I remarked as I sat back down. “If you draw up a document with your lineage, I can take it with me when I leave in a bell for Is’syal.”

  He pulled out a sealed parchment letter and handed it to me, “It’s all there. Can I please get a receipt from the Fated Shrine of Galt that it was deposited there?”

  This child kept surprising me. He was only eleven, and he was asking for a receipt. Unbelievable. How many boys his age would even think of such a thing?

  “I can do that, Sid,” I nodded. “What convinced you to enroll?”

  "Talking to that griffin last night," he frowned and looked uncertain. "Please don't laugh at me. Maybe I'm imagining things, but I think the griffin might have been Sassoo in his aspect as the Lord of the Winds.”

  “I won't laugh, Sid," I replied. "This is the third age of miracles and divine intervention. So many amazing things have happened since the Prophet arrived. I’m also not surprised that a boy who can play the lithophone has gained the attention of a god. So, why do you think the griffin was Sassoo?" This was interesting. How did he deduce that he talked with a god?

  "First, his eyes were strange," Sid explained. “They were black with many points of light like the stars at night. There’s a reason that Sassoo is known as the Starry Eyed. Next, he called you ‘my Senlyosart.’ I thought that was strange because he should have called you Holy One, Holy Senlyosart, or My Mistress if he was an instructor. I checked this morning: the Shrine currently has no griffin instructors and no griffin students. I know it's flimsy evidence, but my gut tells me it was Sassoo. Crazy, isn’t it?”

  “Not at all, Sidros,” I commented. “But first, the Shrines have never used griffins as instructors. Why would you think that? What would a griffin have to teach to Cosm magic users?”

  "That's easy. They could teach us about griffins. Eagles could teach about eagles. Flying horses could teach about flying horses. Wouldn’t a flying mount be the best person to teach us about flying mounts?”

  I felt gobsmacked. Leave it to a child to point out the obvious. I added the topic to my running list of things to discuss in Convocation. Then, I steered the conversation back to Sid's meeting with Sassoo.

  “That’s an interesting thought, Sid, but let’s return to last night before we run off on tangents. I won’t hide it from you. You really did speak with Sassoo last night. Sassoo has claimed you. He touched you on your right shoulder, and now I can see his godmark in your aura.”

  The fish face Sid made was without compare.

  “I am guilty of not telling you before you swore your oath, Sid," I admitted. "Sassoo has marked you, and that makes you a sacred person. The King can’t touch you now. I should have told you that, though I admit, I will sleep better at night knowing that you did swear off revenge.”

  "Sacred person?" Sid squeaked in his high-pitched, boyish voice.

  "It is Foskan law that sacred persons are a protected group. If the King were to seize you and kill you solely to extinguish your house, that would be the murder of a sacred person. Sacred persons are High Priestesses, Revelators, Prophets, the King and Queen, and anyone touched by a god, like you and Prince Garki Foskkin. By blessing you, Sassoo made it clear that you are under his protection. This Shrine will now protect you because that is our sacred duty. You no longer need to fear for your life, at least not from Imstay King.”

  Sid frowned and then recited, “That’s right. The Law of Landa covers the punishment for the murder or attempted murder of a sacred person, which is the death of melted rocks. The criminal is thrown into an erupting Great Crack. Assault of a sacred person is one of the forms of sacrilege, which is punished by the death of exhaustion, where the criminal is compelled to run around the White Shrine of Landa until they die of exhaustion.”

  “You already know that?” I was surprised.

  “My grandmother was very concerned that I learn the laws of not only Impotu but also of Jutu and Foskos because we traded with their merchants, and I might need to travel there someday. I liked learning about laws, especially if it allowed me to travel. Law was a fun subject.”

  “Yes, I saw the results of all your tests. You’ve had a lopsided education, Sid. You did well in almost every subject except culture, crafting, and math. I'm unsurprised over culture and craft because you weren't raised here in Impotu. You must be tutored in those before you officially enroll on the Planting Season Equinox. On the other hand, your skills in two subjects are as good or better than those of the Shrine's clergy. You have adult skills in music theory and performance on the prell. Are you really just eleven?”

  He rolled his eyes at me, "Yes."

  “Yes, a very lopsided education,” I stated. “Your math is beyond merely atrocious. You skipped every problem using the Queen’s numbers. Out of the questions you did attempt, you got every multiplication and division problem wrong. That’s basic arithmetic. An eight-year-old could do better than that. You will be tutored in math as soon as I can find someone to teach you."

  Sid groaned.

  “How did you manage not to learn any math skills?” I prodded. “You’re not stupid. In fact, I’d say you’re quite intelligent.”

  “I just hate math,” he shrugged and pouted.

  “Did your grandmother know you were slacking off with math?”

  He drooped. "Yes, but she said not to worry because that's what bookkeepers were for.”

  It was my turn to groan.

  Usruldes, Kwabin, Harvest Season, 6th rot., 5th day, night – East Coast time

  Marshal Lowawathas, First Advisor Nomogeekaw, and my three Revered Ones spent a profitable afternoon hammering out a peace treaty. One of its novel features was an agreement to help the Mattamesscontans set up proper worship of Vassu, Mueb, and Sassoo, the three gods the commoners never abandoned.

  After dinner, I went for a walk, mostly because I wanted to investigate one of the talks this Lady Ishapur was giving around Kwabin in the former churches of Cragi. I found the church where the three so-called aspirants, Ishapur, Nipmak, and Oronock, would speak. I had left my courier's cape at the palace and dressed simply in a plain grey tunic and a rose-pink hooded mantle. When I walked in, I was surprised to see everyone sitting on round, person-sized braided rugs on the floor. I almost walked out, afraid I would stand out too much, given that I was a silverhair, dressed like a foreigner, and lacked a rug.

  "Greetings, stranger," a voice startled me out of my consternation. "We have prayer rugs to loan you if you don't have your own." I saw a silverhair woman about my age in a dark brown robe holding out a rolled-up prayer rug to me.

  “Oh,” I blinked. “Thank you. Where should I take it to return it?”

  “See that barrel by the door?” she pointed behind me. “Just toss it in there when you leave.”

  I nodded and turned to find a spot in the back.

  “You can sit closer,” she said. “You’ll hear better that way.”

  “I’m tall. I didn’t want to block someone’s view.”

  "Or maybe you just didn't want to be noticed, Lord Irhessa," Lady Ishapur said, walking up to me.

  “Well, that too,” I admitted.

  “So, what brings you here?” Ishapur asked, looking at me with suspicion.

  “Curiosity, for the most part,” I said truthfully.

  “And?”

  "It is my job to be nosy," I admitted. "The Revered Ones, who are negotiating with the Marshal and First Advisor, wanted to know what you were telling people to bring them back to worship the eleven gods."

  “I’m simply repeating what the Prophet Emly taught us when we met her in Pocatoe,” Ishapur said.

  "Now I know I must stay and hear you teach," I stated. "Given the irreverence that the Blessed Emily often displays when speaking about the gods, I confess that I feel some apprehension.”

  “Yes, she was rather . . . wait,” Ishapur gave me a sudden sharp look. “You know the Prophet?”

  “I know the Blessed Emily,” I nodded. “We are good friends. I am one of the first people she met after our Queen rescued her and brought her to the Healing Shrine of Mugash. When she visits Is'syal, the city where our King and Queen reside, she stays with my family in my home. She and Revered Tom, her partner, have their own room in my residence. She prefers staying at my house rather than the palace or Fated Shrine of Galt."

  “Lord Irhessa, please come sit up front so you can hear better," Ishapur invited. "We experienced the Prophet's interesting and informal attitude toward the gods firsthand, which, I confess, leaves me and my colleagues confused."

  "No, wait," I held up a hand, "she probably told you that the gods were goofy or were a bunch of goofballs. That's her favorite word for them. No doubt, she probably told you that Galt, the god of knowledge, fate, and justice, was adorable and liked to be scratched behind the ears, that Giltak was a cross-dresser, and that Vassu liked to wear pink.”

  Ishapur gaped, “You really do know the Prophet.”

  “My home is one of the few places where she can escape all the protocol and reverence that Cosm society imposes on her. We consider her and Tom to be part of our family.”

  “Maybe we should have you speak,” Ishapur suggested.

  “Oh no, I must decline,” I held up a restraining hand. “I’m not one to speak in front of crowds. I’m just a humble courier.”

  "I will not press you, then, but come with me, and I will introduce you to Nipmak and Oronock, my colleagues. They also met the Prophet Emly in Pocatoe and were privileged to hear her teach about the gods and how they made her their Prophet. When we are done this evening, stay awhile, and we can talk."

  “I can do that so long as I don’t stay out too late,” I agreed.

  “Lord Irhessa,” she said softly as we walked down the center aisle of the former church of Cragi, “please tell me, is it really true that Vassu wears a pink robe when she appears in her aspect as a shark?”

  “Lady Ishapur, a half year ago, I saw Vassu myself in her aspect of a shark," I divulged, "when she visited her sacred island in Sussbesschem. She, indeed, was garbed in a flowing pink garment. The Blessed Emily called it the Pink Chiffon.”