The Arcanist (33 page)

“Furtive glances when you think he can't see you. Following him around. Spying on him. Wearing perfume. Making excuses to be with him and then walking away. Mara knows. Anatha knows. By the Seven even Denetta knows!”

“What do they know?” Kyriel hated that there was a note of nervousness in her voice but she couldn't help it. And she hated that April guessed the truth. Some days she wondered if it had been a mistake joining a temple run by women. The gossip was endless.

“That you are in love with my brother.”

“More lightness in your steps and less stretching forward. You never want to over extend.” Kyriel tried to change the topic, embarrassed by the heat she could feel rising in her cheeks.

“Evasion?” April sounded unimpressed. “Just how do men and women court in Tenarri if you can't even talk about it?”

“We don't court. Men and women never see each other before they wed. Women remain in their father's home until they are given to their husbands.”

“Given?!” April sounded upset. “By all that's holy, the women in your land are treated as property!”

“It's just the way it is. And it’s not as if your people don’t arrange marriages.” Kyriel felt the need to defend herself, and she didn't even know why.

“With the agreement of all parties! And that hasn't been forthcoming in my House. Simon and Marcus have both refused to marry anyone Father suggested. Leona ran off and married Innosen against Father's wishes. And Edouard hides in his fort playing with his toys, hoping that Father won't remember him. At this rate Father's best hope for an heir with the family name may be Thomas.”

“He doesn't want to marry?” Kyriel wanted to bite out her own tongue the instant the words tripped off it. But by then it was too late.

“He doesn't want to marry someone Father picks for him. And he's shy. But he may be the only one of my elder brothers who is marriageable. Even before his treachery Simon was always too selfish. He could never share anything. Marcus is almost a slave to his urges. He could not restrain himself to one woman. Edouard though will make a good husband.”

Kyriel didn't say anything. But even so she could still feel her face turning red and a smile desperately trying to tug the edges of her mouth upwards. It was hard to deny that she felt something for Edouard that she had never felt for another man. But it wasn't right.

And she decided, it was even more wrong to discuss it – especially with his sister.

“All right April. Time for some fitness. I want you to run to the water's edge at the temple and then back.”

“But –!”

“Twice!” Kyriel was firm. Then, when April looked at her, thinking about protesting, she became more so. “Do you want to make it three times?”

April didn't and without too much more grumbling – at least that Kyriel could hear – she started running towards the treeline and the temple beyond. Maybe it was wrong to use her position to keep herself from being embarrassed. But it didn't feel wrong.

Besides, she'd make it up to her by being nice at dinner. After once more explaining to her that she couldn't tell Edouard or anyone else in her family about the portal system. Liandra had been quite clear about that. The Severin family were a useful ally and probably trustworthy. In fact she considered Edouard one of the most honourable men she'd met. But it was too soon to reveal all their secrets to them.

Then again, Edouard was clever. Damnably clever. And though he didn't reveal all he knew, she suspected he knew more than the temple would want him to know. Sooner or later he was going to guess the rest. And having April simply turn up at dinner this evening might be giving him too much of a clue.

Chapter Thirty Two

“April!”

Edouard was shocked to see his little sister at his door, but also pleased. More than pleased. Even when he saw that she was wearing the simple home spun dress that was the uniform of the handmaidens.

But none of that mattered when she was on his doorstep, and he quickly wrapped her up in a hug and then escorted her inside, slamming the door shut behind them. It was late and the nights were still chilly. And for some reason he still couldn't get the bone shaking cold of the river out of his bones. Fortunately the great room was warm, and with the huge fire in the hearth burning away merrily it was a comfortable and welcoming place to be. Even when he had so many guests staying with him, constantly creating a nuisance of themselves.

Edouard made the introductions as Kyriel handed her a warm goblet of mulled wine, and soon she was sitting with them, sipping her drink and most important of all in his view, smiling.

Their family was a complicated one thanks to their father's habit of exchanging wives every few years. But as complicated as it was it was also simple – at least for the children of those marriages. The elder took care of the younger. It was simply the way it had to be. So April was his responsibility, as he was Leona's and so forth. The only one who had not been so fortunate was Marcus, purely because Simon did not take care of anyone save himself. But he had long suspected that that was why Marcus had become such a capable soldier. He had learned to look out for himself.

As for Simon himself, no one had looked out for him either, but he had been coddled by both his parents as the first child. Maybe that explained something of where he had gone wrong in life?

Now however, it seemed that Simon wasn't the only child going astray according to April. Denetta had turned up in Bitter Crest twice and each time she and Marcus had managed to embarrass the entire family. In fact they'd fled their makeshift quarters for hours at a time while the pair had indulged their carnal desires. But that hadn't stopped the entire inn from hearing what was going on. Coin had been paid to cover for the inconvenience, and Father had apparently had lengthy words with his son. They clearly hadn't worked.

April's face coloured a little as she told him the bare facts of the matter, and the other handmaidens all looked away to hide the colour growing in their cheeks. Meanwhile Edouard was struggling to contain his laughter. After everything that had happened lately it was hard not to see the humour in the situation. Though he hoped it wasn't the start of a more serious affair. Marcus' mother would never accept a demoness into the family.

The other news was that father was hiring large numbers of artisans to construct a new residence in Bitter Crest. It seemed he'd lost hope that the family home in Theria would be returned to them when this was all over. If it ever ended. And they did have land attached to the House's warehouses and emporium which was more than large enough to build on. Edouard wondered if a shrine would be built there as well in accord with their new alliance.

He also wondered about the wisdom of building in Bitter Crest. Although he wasn't privy to his brother's plans he was fairly sure that Simon was dreaming of ruling more than just one city and one province. He had ambition. And Bitter Crest was a free city, poorly defended, and very close to Theria. It would make an attractive target.

“Temple life seems to agree with you.”

Once the introductions and the family stuff had been dealt with, he thought he'd mention it. After all, she seemed happy and healthy, and despite it being a strange garment for someone of the nobility to wear, the home spun dress somehow suited her. Besides, he'd always expected that she would sooner or later wear the robes of one temple or another.

“It does.” She smiled so broadly that it was a wonder her face could contain the expression. And then she proceeded to tell him all about her new life, her tongue almost tripping over itself as she rushed to get the words out. That too was normal enough for April. She had always been an excitable young lady, unable to keep anything back when the mood took her. When she had first discovered the spark of magic within her as a little girl, he had never heard the end of it. Not for many weeks. And every day she had been in an endless rush to tell him of every little thing she'd learned about her gift. He'd liked that.

This time though it wasn't her gift that caused her so much joy. It wasn't actually the temple either, though she told him all about the daily life there in enormous detail. It was Tyrel herself who dominated her thoughts, and Edouard listened carefully as she dropped a few choice snippets of information about her into the conversation. Things he had never suspected. And neither Mara nor Kyriel could stop her though they tried several times. They should have known better. And they both kept giving him vexed looks as he carefully asked her innocent questions to elicit a few more details that they didn't want him to know.

Naturally he didn't pay them any attention as he discovered a whole new world of the hamadryad's machinations. And first among them was that the handmaidens were marrying! Leaving the temple and marrying.

That he hadn't guessed. And more importantly neither had their husbands. They surely knew that their wives had once been handmaidens. But they didn't suspect that they still were in everything but name. That they regularly returned to the temple to speak with her. To pass on what they had learned and to hear her wishes. In short the Honoured Mother was becoming a sort of spy master. One day he'd have to find out how far it went. How many typical seeming wives and mothers across however many realms were actually handmaidens. Perhaps though not while he had guests from the temple staying with him. They would not approve of his curiosity.

Then there was the fact that the temple was recruiting. Not just women fleeing bitter domestic situations, but also those with magic. Sparks and flames. When April mentioned that and in particular that the Mother was training them in the use of their gifts, it opened up a whole new world for him. It was normal enough for temples to welcome magic users among their number, but they didn't train them in the use of their gifts as far as he knew. They didn't need to. Priests and priestesses had their own magic that came from their faith. This smacked of something else.

But then Tyrel was a power – not one of the Seven Divines or any of the other gods and goddesses. Though the distinction was irrelevant in most things, she was still perceived as being an Earth bound being, not a true deity. And her handmaidens had relatively limited magic because of that. This struck him as a way of bridging that gap, and doing it in unexpected ways.

Priests of Virius The Fortunate One, had the magic of chance. So they would twist the odds in their favour. Whether with dice or swords, misfortune would trail their opponents in whatever arena. They were hard to beat. It was a powerful magic, and a desirable one. There was a reason that many chose to worship him. But his priests and the followers had no magic of healing. They could fall to illness like any other. Similarly they were not warriors, gifted with blades and pistols as were the priests of Beala the Warlord. Luck would not be enough to stand them in combat against his followers.

But the handmaidens of Tyrel were different. Now some of them could have any magic if what April was telling him was correct. They could act in ways that others could not expect. They could for example, twist the thoughts of enemies as they rode up a hill towards them, intent on doing them harm. Who knew what else they could do? More importantly, who knew what else they were doing? If you didn't know that a woman was a handmaiden because she looked like any other wife and mother and you didn't know she had magic, how could you know what she was truly up to? She could be doing anything and you'd never suspect.

Then there was the school. April had been well taught in all the skills a noble woman should have. She could read and write and carry out advanced arithmetic. She knew her science and history, and was capable in the hand crafts expected of her. And because she was of the House of Barris she also had a good knowledge of trade. It made sense that she should be used to help teach those who came to the temple in need, many of whom probably couldn't read or write. Education was a privilege often limited to those with the wealth to pay for private tutors.

Temples and churches often tried to counter that by offering education for the various cities' poor. It was a boon for both the children and the temples. The realms got more people with some basic literacy without having to pay for it. And the various faiths got to spread their messages to the young.

In keeping with that Tyrel's shrines had been offering some education to the poor of Theria and several other cities through their shrines. There was nothing unusual in that. But what was unexpected was when April spoke of teaching over thirty women in advanced arithmetic and trade, while other handmaidens taught other similarly advanced classes. It struck him from the numbers alone that Tyrel was planning a significant increase in the education services her handmaidens were providing. Both in the numbers of children taught and in the degree.

He wondered at the purpose behind it.

But even as he was wondering about that his sister let out another revelation. Though at first he was too slow to realise it. All he knew at first was that Anatha had rung the dinner bell and everyone had stood to go into the dining room. They were all hungry since dinner had been delayed for April to arrive, and eight bells had been rung already. Besides Anatha was a good cook, and the smell of the roast rabbit was permeating the entire house, making everyone hungry.

Everyone that was except April. As they walked into the dining room arm in arm, she simply commented that she wasn't really that hungry. She'd already eaten her dinner. Five simple words. Five words that in the scheme of things should have meant nothing. So what if she'd already had her dinner? It was a minor thing and she could simply pick at a plate politely as the rest of them enjoyed their meal.

Except that she'd only just come from the temple. Edouard thought about that as he held his sister's chair for her. The temple was an hour away by horseless carriage or two by horse if you hurried. Three or four hours if you took your time. And probably half a day’s travel on foot. But if she had already had dinner then she must have travelled quickly. And, he slowly realised, he hadn't seen how April had arrived either. He'd merely opened the front door for her. He hadn't seen either hoof or mane of a horse. He hadn't heard one outside either.

No horse. That was one thing. Already having eaten her dinner so clearly meant her journey to his home had to have been a very quick one. That was another. And then there was the matter of the soldiers encamped around the town. Breakwater was cut off from the rest of Therion. So how had she made it through their lines? Three mysteries about a single journey.

By the time he'd sat down himself and dinner was being plated up, Edouard's mind was spinning. Running through all the possibilities. And in the end he realised, there was only one.

“You portalled here!”

He blurted it out like a silly little child and everyone suddenly turned to face him. Polite conversation stopped, and so too did the dining. But he didn't care as the wheels and cogs of his mind were whirling furiously, assembling all the little puzzles of the past few days and putting them together into a single picture. Like a jig saw coming together.

The handmaidens could receive messages and supplies from far away quickly. They could seemingly cross blockades at will. They could travel quickly. And the alliance they'd made with his family made mention of the shrines. Every one of their family's homes was to have a shrine built on its lands. Now he knew why. It wasn't simply a public statement of their alliance. It was a portal network being built. And the House of Barris was being used as a façade.

“Sister, Father is not going to be pleased to hear of this.”

Of course Edouard was making a judgement and he could be wrong. His father was a shrewd old bugger. He might already have guessed, if he hadn't already agreed quietly. After all a portal network, if you could find enough sparks with the magic of dimension to operate it, could be useful to them as well. And suddenly he knew why Tyrel was busy training those with the magic. She was probably actively recruiting them too.

But even as he realised that another mystery unfolded in front of him. Where would you find sparks? Among the children. Many children had something of the gift, but unless it was trained it wasted away. Like muscles that weren't used. And who had the greatest access to children? Teachers. The temples were offering free education to the children across the various realms. But they weren't just doing it to bring Tyrel's words to the people. They were looking for those with the spark.