Lukan looked put out. He thought to argue, but I’d boxed him in. I almost felt bad about it too, but I did not much care which noblemen in Wilgmuth would lose their claims to those lands. It was never theirs to begin with.
He said to us, “Where my wife and children go into danger, so must I. We will be victorious, or the Vlek will fall into ruin.”
The meeting lasted long enough for him to tell his general what he wanted done. They departed, and soon only I, the arilas, and our spouses remained. Earinne led us to soft sedans before the fireplace. Sevat came, but reluctantly. A decanter of divonte was retrieved from a thin counter beside the fireplace mantel. It was warm, and the sweet smell of the almond liqueur drew old and happy memories. The last time I’d smelled it was when my uncle had visited us in Bessradi and brought a bottle with him. I’d been all of four at the time but could still remember the pair drinking the entire bottle that same meal, spilling some of it in their quick drunkenness. The house had kept the sweet smell the whole year.
I looked over to see my husband fast asleep, his empty cup cradled in his large hands. Earinne retrieved it. She offered me a refill, which I accepted. She then kissed my cheek and excused herself.
The arilas, despite the day, seemed in the midst of unburdening himself. I could not think what it could be and waited for him to explain.
“When this newest war began,” he said, “Aderan set fire to our fields and the flames carried wildly across most of our cropland and much of Aderan. Many were caught by the flames. A story is told of a healer who saved the lives of a hundred men.”
I took a long drink to hide my surprise. Geart was the healer he spoke of.
“There are also stories of Trace’s defeat at Urnedi and the miracle of Bayen’s touch saving every wounded man upon the field. I had thought it a likely fiction until I read Barok’s letter.”
“Hmm,” I replied.
“I have not yet heard anyone try to connect the two stories. One man is said to have been a churlish priest who killed himself in the performance, the other a red-hat who became enraged by the crimes of rogue Hessier. I wonder, though. I know also of a third tale—one of a slave seen at Smargnoid who healed a horse—which is impossible.”
He set his cup aside. “What I have wondered, is if it is the same man behind all three of these miracles.”
“That would make for quite a tale.”
“Indeed. For if it was a single man who had done these things, one would be left wondering what part Bayen truly played. One might also wonder if such a skill is something that others could learn—somewhere perhaps where the eyes of priests and Hessier are not welcome and rarely go.”
“How would you have me respond, Lukan? You speak of things forbidden by the Ministry and hunted by its Conservancy.”
“I need hear nothing, Soma. Tell your prince and this man of his that they may ask anything of me and Heneur. I ask only that before I die they tell me how a man may be redeemed in this life. Bayen’s gate is a fiction. I no longer march toward it.”
I thought Lukan was joking or simply drunk until I saw his full glass and tearful eyes. He knew it was Geart and had been wholly converted simply by stories of him.
“Prince Barok sent us to draft a treaty of equals with you. The rest … the rest is for another day, in another place.”
“My father would shake his head, but his ghost wafts up and down the hills he failed to unite. Drink with me, Soma,” he said. We raised and drained them.
I said to him, “One day soon we will talk. Until then, know that you are much closer now to a redeemed life than you were this morning. Sleep well, Lukan Vlek. These will be good days for Heneur.”
Also by Blake Hausladen
Ghosts in the Yew - Vesteal Series Volume One
This omnibus volume includes:
Part 1 - Beyond the Edge
Part 2 - Opposing Oaths
Part 3 - Reckless Borders
Part 4 - Bayen’s Women
Part 5 - Falling Tides
Native Silver - Vesteal Series Volume Two
This omnibus volume includes:
Part 1 - Sutler’s Road
Part 2 - Forgotten Stairs
Part 3 - Thrall’s Wine
Part 4 - Corsair Princess
Part 5 - Tanayon Born
The Vastness - Vesteal Series Volume Three
This omnibus volume includes:
Part 1 - Silent Rebellion
Part 2 - The River War
Part 3 - The Blinded
Part 4 - Crimson Valley
Part 5 - Singer’s Reward
About the Author
Armed with an English degree from Ripon College and an MBA from Chicago’s Stuart School of Business, Blake has delved for twenty years through the shadowed realms of the financial industry. He currently solves financial crimes during the day and gives life to wild fantasies during the blackest hours of night.
Glossary
Abodeen - A poor northern coastal province
Adanas - A monster in a children’s story and the name of the lost religion of the Edonians
Aderan - A rich western plains province
Akal-Tak - The fierce warhorses of the Hemari
Almidi - Provincial seat of Trace
Alsman - A bodyman appointed by the Exaltier to each of his sons
Alsonbrey - Eastern gateway city of the Kaaryon
Alsonelm - Northern gateway city of the Kaaryon
Alsonvale - Western gateway city of the Kaaryon
Aneth - An eastern coastal province
Anton - A greencoat trainee, Erom’s son
Apped - A prison in Aderan
Arilas - A provincial governor and hereditary title
Ataouk - A royal family defeated by the Yentif
Avin - A former church lawyer who escaped to Enhedu with Geart
Barok - Arilas of Enhedu, heir to the throne of Edonia, One of the last three surviving princes of Zoviya
Bayen - The god of Zoviya
Bellion - Rich noble family from Eril
Bendent - Arilas of Thanin, and cousin to the Exaltier
Bergion - The southern sea that often sends cold winds north
Berm - A vast southeastern province of tundra and mountains
Bessradi - The capital city of the Zoviyan Empire
Bleau - Noble family in Kuet
Bluecoat - Another name for a Hemari soldier
Bunda-Hith - The monstrous mountains in Berm
Chaukai - The secret order sworn to the King of Edonia
Corneth - A rich noble family in Alsonelm
Cynt - A rich family in the Oreol
Daavum Mountains - A thick mountain range that runs south from Enhedu through Trace into Heneur
Dagoda - A Zoviyan school that trains young women to serve the rich and powerful men of Zoviya
Dahar - A poor eastern province
Dame - A familiar title for the oldest woman in a family or place, grandmother
Darmia - Leger’s wife, sister to Evela
Dekay - A conservancy priest that serves Sikhek
Deyalu (way of the blood) - A wing of the Bessradi Palace where the Exalier’s sons are raised
Dia - Matron of Urnedi, married to Barok
Dooma, Avinda - Avin’s full name
Eargram - Urnedi’s bailiff
Edonia - A kingdom destroyed by the Zoviya Empire
Ellyon Grano - A Hemari captain who serves with Evand
Enhedu - A desolate northern province
Eppel O’Nrosevel - Horsemaster in Alsonvale
Erd Oklas - Warden of Trace, brother to Erom
Erik Feseq - A Hemari colonel
Eril - A rich western coastal province
Erom Oklas - Mayor of Urnedi, brother of Erd
Errati Saristrava - A moneylender that works for Chancellor Parsatayn
Evand - Hemari colonel, one of the last three surviving princes of Zoviya
Evela - Sister to Darmia
Exaltier (Sword of Bayen) - The head of the executive branch of the Zoviyan government
Fana - Barok’s senior scribe
Fell Pony - A stout mountain pony
Fenol - A swordmaster in Bessradi
Feseq - A noble family from Urmand
Fleur - A master of horses, Sahin’s sister
Furstundish - A Chaukai family that includes Gern
Geart - Healer and singer in Enhedu, was Barok’s body guard for many years
Gern - A Chaukai at Urnedi, married to Fana
Greencoat - The name give to the soldiers from Enhedu
Grand Mhedhil - A famous avenue of shops and baths in Bessradi
Grano - A noble family from central Thanin
Haton - A barkeep and leader of a Bessradi labor association
Harod Serm - Arilas of Aderan
Havish - A rich eastern province
Hemari (bluecoat) - Zoviya’s elite soldiers that garrison at its capital and gateway cities
Heneur - A mountainous coastal province in the northwest
Hessier - Soldiers of the conservancy
Horace - A Chaukai healer
Hooak - Noble family from Thanin
Hurdu - Cavalry from Urmand
Kaaryon - The capital territory of the Zoviyan Empire
Kennculli - A Chaukai family
Kalot - Darmia and Evela’s family name
Khrim - A poor northeastern coastal province
Kiel - Noble family of Aneth
Kuet - A poor southwestern coastal province
Kuren Pormes - Former Arilas of Trace
Kyoden - The last King of Edonia
Leger - Barok’s alsman and leader of the Chaukai
Lilly - A young girl at Urnedi
Liv - A girl from Dagoda
Ludoq - Defeated royal family from Havish, rumored to remain in hiding
Mangor root - a dark root that interferes with pregnancy when ingested
Marrow - Evand’s golden Akal-Tak mare
Mercanfur, Elsar - Admiral of Enhedu’s young fleet
Merit - A carpenter from Almidi
Mhedhil - A famous avenue at the capital of shops and baths
Minister - The head of the conservancy branch of the Zoviyan government, responsible for the Hessier
Moorsmoth - A city on the Oreol Coast
Nolumari - A lawyer of the church
Ojesti - A small village in Enhedu
Okel - Evand’s master sergeant
Oenry Kiel - The Arilas of Aneth
Onmar - A merchant
Oreol Coast - A western region of Trace ceded to Enhedu after losing a war
Osburth - A city along the Oreol Coast
Parsatayn, Helet - The Chancellor of Bessradi
Pemini - A cook at Urnedi
Pikailia (Pix) - One of Soma’s daughters
Pormes - A weak royal family from Trace
Pqrista - Royal Family of Heneur that rebelled and was defeated by the Yentif
Rahan - An elder Zoviyan prince that was assassinated
Raydau - A rich family in the Oreol
Red Hat - A senior prelate of the Church of Bayen
Reeve - A man responsible for the collection of provincial taxes
Ryat - A church librarian in Bessradi
Sahin - A bowyer in Enhedu
Sedauer - A family of Chaukai that includes Fana
Selt - A scribe from Bessradi who works for Prince Rahan
Serm - A noble family in Aderan
Sevat - Barok’s master carriagemaker
Sikhek - Minister of Zoviya and the most powerful of the Hessier
Soma - Mother of nine from Enhedu
Sten (Mouth of Bayen) - The head of the religious branch of the Zoviyan government and chief prelate of the court
Tanayon - A cathedral in Bessradi that houses the Sten’s superior court
Thanin - A rich northern plains province
Thell - An old man at Urnedi that takes care of the horses
Trace - A poor northern province
Umera - A clothier from Almidi
Urmand - A rich southern coastal province
Urnedi - The provincial seat of Enhedu, also the name of the manor
Urs - Former reeve of Enhedu, Fana’s father
Vala - An old woman at Urnedi that everyone calls Dame
Vall - The Exaltier of Zoviya
Vlek - A noble family from Heneur
Wayland Feseq - A Hemari captain that serves Evand
Wilgmuth - A city along the Oreol Coast
Yarik - Commander of the Hurdu, one of the last three surviving princes of Zoviya
Yentif - The ruling family of Zoviya
Yudyith - A rich southeastern province
Zoviya - The empire that rules the known world
Forgotten Stairs Page 15
