The Hidden Queen (38 page)

sea amber: soft yellow globes found in the sea off Kheldrin—deep sea amber is much prized, but smaller and less regular pieces are often found washed up on the shoreline. Exported to Roisinani and Shaymir

se’i’din (K): Khar’i’id plant. A swift-acting poison, no known antidote (Roisinani name: rosebane)

Sen’en Dayr (K): gods willing

Senena Shailan: Sif’s second queen

sen’thar (pl. sen’en’thari) (K): Kheldrini priestly caste, usually female, but sometimes also has male acolytes, none are devoted to a single god—all belong to all gods, and must know all their rituals; there are four levels: novice, white robe (first circle), gray robe (second circle) and gold robe (an’sen’en’thari, q.v.) (Linguistic roots: sen, or sen’en, meaning God or deity, and thar, thari—serve, server, service)

Shadir: Kheldrini clan or family

Sheriha’drin (K): Kheldrini name for Roisinan, Land of Running Water

Shod Hai’r (K): literally, the Last Oasis—the last place to find water before stepping into Khar’i’id; there are two, one in the Kadun and one in the Arad, depending from which direction the traveller is coming, both also known as Fihra Hai’r (q.v.)

Sif Kir Hama: Anghara’s half brother, Red Dynan’s son by a Clera; Sif seizes the throne when it is offered to him at the battle which saw the death of his father, he hates and fears Sight—seeing his own bastard birth due solely to the fact that Dynan chose to marry Rima (who was Sighted) instead of Clera (who was not), this plays a large role in his later violent campaign against Sight

Sight (R): a power with roots in Second Sight, or prescience, granted to those born with it—usually but not exclusively women; current usage covers a multitude of gifts, some rare; a Sighted person may exhibit an ability to “eavesdrop” on conversations many miles away, move objects without touching them, dream true, establish when truth is being spoken (and, more importantly, when not), and sometimes the ability to control their immediate environment (invoke a rainstorm, for example); some of these gifts are taught to aspirant Sighted initiates at Castle Bresse and a similar establishment near Algira in Tath, run by a Sisterhood of Sighted women who have devoted their lives to teaching; largely accepted as a fact of life in individuals—many women are Sighted in Roisinan—but often feared in large numbers

silkseeker: golden-yellow and white bird often used in Kheldrin to seek out nests of jin’aaz spiders (q.v.), on whose larvae it feeds; the larger adult jin’aaz, in turn, has been known to devour unwary silkseekers; wild silkseekers are seen as Gods’ birds, and are protected

soul fire: aura around Sighted people, visible to others with Sight; of a shade specific and unique to every individual (Anghara’s is gold, ai’Jihaar’s is white, ai’Farra’s is crimson)

Standing Stones (R): huge, hewn, solitary stones, often but not always upright, scattered across Roisinan; thought to have been part of an ancient Dance; sometimes used as a focus for sacrifice by underground worshippers of the Old Gods and practitioners of black magic, but even without this connotation they possess power and are avoided at night, especially on major festivals like Cerdiad

Tath: ancient province of Roisinan, now an independent kingdom ruled by the Rashin Clan, pretenders to the Throne Under the Mountain

Throne under the Mountain: ancient name for the Roisinan Throne, in the mountain fortress of Miranei

Ul’khari’ma: village of al’Talip ma’Shadir where al’Tamar fostered; a corruption of “The Place of the Stone”—the place Anghara knows as Gul Khaima, and where she raises the second Kheldrini oracle

Vallen Fen (T): broad, malodorous swamp at the mouth of the River Ronval, largely on the Tath side

wirrow (R): a medicinal herb in Roisinan