Azkhantian Tales
Page 9
“Te-ravah.” Shorrenon inclined his head. “Stepmother.”
“I have given you a token of influence with Isarre,” Tsorreh said, “but I would not have you depart without my own blessing. The fate of our city rides with you.” The words flowed through her from a hidden wellspring. “Meklavar is honored by her eldest son.”
Tsorreh lifted her hands and the sky itself, the firmament of stars, bent closer. A hush fell on the yard. She spoke not from the statecraft she had learned as Maharrad’s second wife, daughter of an Isarran princess, but from her own Meklavaran heritage. She felt herself part of a lineage running unbroken through centuries past, to a time of miracles, of inexpressible evil, of enduring hope.
“May the light of Khored shine upon you;
“May his wisdom guide you;
“May his Shield protect you.”
She had never heard those words spoken aloud, could not remember ever having read them, and yet their power rang through her like silvered steel.
The moment passed. Shorrenon kissed his wife and swung up on the dark mare. The horse pranced, pulling at the bit in eagerness.
Shorrenon paused, looking back at the two women. “Take care of them,” he said to Zevaron. “And if — if you ride to battle while I’m gone, take the gray. He knows how to handle himself.”
Tsorreh saw the leap of tension in Zevaron’s muscles, the almost painful earnestness as he vowed to do so. Ediva shivered as Shorrenon clattered away into the night. Tsorreh folded the sobbing girl in her arms.
“Come now, sweetheart, you must not let your children see you like this. You must teach them hope.”
“How can I do that, when there is none?” Ediva moaned. “He is gone, te-ravah! Oh, he is gone!”
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Copyright & Credits
Azkhantian Tales
From the World of The Seven-Petaled Shield
Deborah J. Ross
Book View Café Edition June 11, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-61138-259-4
Copyright © 2013 Deborah J. Ross
The Spirit Arrow copyright © 1996 Deborah Wheeler. First published in Sword & Sorceress 13, ed. Marion Zimmer Bradley, DAW Books.
Enaree copyright © 1999 Deborah Wheeler. First published in Sword & Sorceress 16, ed. Marion Zimmer Bradley, DAW Books.
A Single Soul copyright © 1997 Deborah Wheeler. First published in Sword & Sorceress 14, ed. Marion Zimmer Bradley, DAW Books.
The Phoenix Blade: A Tale of Gelon copyright © 1998 Deborah Wheeler. First published in Sword & Sorceress 15, ed. Marion Zimmer Bradley, DAW Books.
The Seven-Petaled Shield copyright © 2013 Deborah J. Ross, DAW Books, 2013.
Cover design: Dave Smeds
“Archer Maid” photograph by Ateliersommerland, Dreamstime
“Wild Grass Background” photograph by Kurt, Dreamstime
Production team: Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff (proofreading), Vonda N. McIntyre (ebook formatter)
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About the Author
The work of Deborah J. Ross has appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Asimov’s, Star Wars: Tales From Jabba’s Palace, Realms of Fantasy, and Sword & Sorceress. She continued the Darkover series of Marion Zimmer Bradley and wrote Collaborators, (science fiction, as Deborah Wheeler) and The Seven-Petaled Shield, a fantasy trilogy.
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