The Gathering of the Lost

by Helen Lowe

  Malian swallowed. She could not stop her hands tightening on the scabbard, even though he would see the sign of tension. Her mouth was dry, unable to frame another question. And if he refuses me, she thought, do I also lose the sword?

  “I was there by the Butterworth tower,” Aravenor continued. Her head jerked back and one of his hands shifted, closing over hers. “Your seeking would not have found me because I am largely immune to magic—that is one of the abilities Emuun and I share, and a major reason, I imagine, why Rhike mistook me for him.”

  Immune, Malian thought: of course—another thread out of the oldest histories. But if he had been in Butterworth, then he would have witnessed her failure. She was not surprised when he withdrew his hand.

  “I was there,” Aravenor repeated quietly. “As I said, I have admired your abilities for some time. But the night before last, in Butterworth, I admired you. I thought you just might be worth every scrap of that tattered prophecy.” Raven’s irony colored Aravenor’s slight smile. “We are yours—if you will have us, Malian of Night.”

  A Darksworn House, Malian thought, and wondered if the world might shatter. But rainwater still dripped from the shrine’s eaves and the rest of the Haarth day continued on its course, apparently untroubled.

  Aravenor stepped back, lifting his hands from the sword, and Malian took it fully into her own. Slowly, she drew the weapon clear of its sheath, listening to Nhenir’s deep silence as she tested the blade for weight and balance. Faith has been kept, she thought, remembering her conversation with the Ara-fyr. “I will honor the pledge made, so long ago,” she said softly. “I take back what is rightfully mine—and will have the House of Fire as my own.”

  The answering shock of power jolted through the sword’s hilt and up her arm. Silver fire blazed from her armring and along the blade, turning it to glittering frost—and Nhenir sang. The paean was an exultation of fire and moonlight and ice, and Malian’s farseeing answered, clear as a winter dawn. Far away on the Wall of Night she saw her father’s head lift from contemplation of a cold hearth, his shoulders straightening. In a hold close to the Gray Lands, in a room without windows, a huddled figure lifted a ravaged face, life creeping back into her lightless eyes as though she, too, heard Nhenir’s song.

  “Nhairin,” Malian whispered, but the song was already fading and her farsight with it. She was shaking, too, from the aftermath of her illness, the shock of power, and the fire of her vision. Gently, Aravenor took the sword from her and sheathed it, then knelt and buckled belt and scabbard around her waist—a squire’s duty, but she could not have managed it for herself just then. She rested a hand on his shoulder and the world steadied.

  “I will have the House of Fire as my own,” she repeated quietly. “For as long as you will freely follow me.” And still the world stayed whole.

  He stood up. “And I, Malian of Night,” he said, in the voice that was both Raven’s and a stranger’s, “will ride in your shadow. Either until I meet my death, or together we find the far side of the long conflict between the Swarm and the Derai.”

  Here ends The Wall of Night Book Two,

  The Gathering of the Lost;

  To be continued in The Wall of Night Book Three,

  Daughter of Blood.

  Glossary

  Abjured: Jhainarian epithet for the renegade queen Zhehaamor and her Seven

  Academy: Ijiri Academy of Sages, one of the Three of Ij

  Academy Island: one of the central islands forming the city if Ij; location of Academy of Sages

  Ado: Emerian knight in training

  Aeln: honor guard, serving House of Night

  Aenide: younger sister to Jarna, a Normarch squire

  Aeris: city kingdom in the lands beyond the River

  Aldermere: liege-hold of Falk of Normarch, Castellan of Emer’s Northern March

  Alianor: companion of Ghiselaine, Countess of Ormond

  Alliance: See Derai

  Alric of Vast: Emerian knight, from the Wymark

  Amaliannarath: a power of the Swarm

  Ambardi: merchant family of Ij, of the lesser nobility

  Amarn: Darkswarm adept, sworn to the sorcerer Nirn

  Annot: damosel of Normarch

  Ar: city of the River

  Arad: one of Queen Zhineve-An’s Seven

  Aralorn: land south of the River

  Aranraith: a leader of the Darkswarm

  Aravenor: a captain of the Patrol

  Arcolin: a Swarm envoy in Emer

  Argent: one of the main rivers of Emer

  Arin: lieutenant to the Lord Captain of the Patrol

  Arn: Emerian knight in training

  Arun-En: town on the Wildenrush

  Asantir: formerly captain of the Earl of Night’s Honor Guard and now Commander of Night

  Asha: an honor guard serving House of Night

  Assassins: see the School of Assassins

  Athiri: princely family of Ij

  Audin Sondargent: Emerian knight in training, nephew to the Duke of Emer

  Avice: damosel of Normarch

  Aymil: guard in the service of Normarch

  Barren Hills: uninhabited hills to the south of the Border Mark

  Barrowdun: clan territory of the Emerian Hill people

  Bartrand Ar-Griffon: Captain of Normarch; see also Ser Bartrand

  Baz: blacksmith in Butterworth

  bellbird: songbird native to the Ij area

  black blades: weapons of power, commonly associated with the hero Kerem

  black spear: one of the legendary black blades

  Black Tower: fortress and original ducal palace in Caer Argent; said to date back to the Old Empire

  blood oath, a: powerful binding used by the Derai where the one swearing draws their own blood; it can never be broken

  Blood, the: includes Earls of the Derai and any of their blood kin. Traditionally, the Blood have been closely linked to the power of the Golden Fire

  Blood Oath, the: oath that has bound the Derai since the Time of Blood and institutionalizes the schism between the warrior and priestly castes

  Bonamark: one of the seven marks of Emer; shortening of Bonacon Mark

  Boras: priest of the House of Adamant, from the Keep of Stone

  Border Mark: stone pillar that marks the boundary between the Gray Lands and the Barren Hills

  Brackwater: islet on the seaward side of Ij

  Brania Sondmurre: damosel of Normarch

  Bridge of Boats: pontoon bridge in Ij, joining Minstrels’ Island to Landward

  Butterworth: village in southern Aralorn

  Caer Argent: capital of Emer

  Carick Maister: graduate of university in Ar, a city of the River lands, newly appointed as cartographer to Duke of Emer

  Caril Sondargent: Duke of Emer

  Castellan: ruler of an Emerian march

  Cataclysm: period of extreme natural disaster, followed by war, that brought down the Old Empire; believed to have occurred as a result of the Derai’s arrival on Haarth

  Cave of Sleepers: cavern of sleeping warriors, deep within the Gate of Dreams

  Chaos Worm: according to legend, the deadliest foe ever sent by the Swarm against the Derai

  Child of Night: see Malian

  Chosen of Mhaelanar: prophesied hero who will unite the Derai for the final victory, born of both the House of Stars and the House of Night

  Cloud Hold: satellite fort of the Keep of Winds

  Col: master archer at Normarch

  College: Ijiri College of Minstrels, one of the Three of Ij

  Commander of Night: overall military commander of the Keep of Winds and the House of Night

  Company of Engineers: corps based in Ar, on the River, that maintains the great Main Road

  Conclave: yearly meeting of the rulers of Ij

  Conservatory: main performance hall of the College of Minstrels, in Ij

  Coreil: noble family of Ij

  Count Ambard: leader of Ambardi family of Ij
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  Crosshills: Emerian village, in the Northern March

  Cynithia Ambard: Mykon Ambard’s mother, Prince Ilvaine’s niece

  Dame Nelys: chaperone of the Girls’ Dorter, at Normarch

  damosel: young Emerian woman of knightly or noble birth

  Dancer in Shadows: one of the three gods of Ij, patron of assassins; see also Kan, Karn, Ka

  Darin: guard in the service of Normarch

  darkspawn: term for minions of the Swarm of Dark

  Darkswarm: another name for Swarm of Dark

  Darksworn: vanguard of the Swarm of Dark

  Daughter of Blood: title given to a daughter of the Earl of Blood

  Defender: see Mhaelanar

  demonhunters: servants of Ishnapuri magi who track and kill demons

  Denuli: merchant clan of Ij

  Derai Alliance: formal alliance of the nine Houses of the Derai

  Derai: warlike race, alien to Haarth, comprising nine Houses and worshipping nine Gods. They arrived on Haarth fifteen hundred years before and brought with them their traditional enemy, the Swarm of Dark. The Derai, fighting an eons old war to stop the Swarm obliterating the universe, are divided into three societies or castes: warrior, priest, and a third caste that comprises both warrior and priestly talents but is focused on some other skill

  desmesne: Emerian term for the holding of land, whether large or small, associated with a particular castle

  Doria: Malian’s nurse, killed in a surprise attack on the Keep of Winds, five years before

  dorter: Emerian term for a hall or dormitory for either young men or women of the knightly and noble classes

  drinker of blood: see Kan

  Ducal Guard: the elite guard of the Duke’s of Emer

  Duke of Emer: ruler of Emer; see also Caril Sondargent

  Dunmuir Slough: extensive wetland in the Emerian Hills

  Eanar: honor guard, serving the House of Night

  Earl of Night: hereditary ruler of the House of Night

  Earl of Swords: hereditary ruler of the House of Swords

  eave owl: small owl, native to the River, found in both city and countryside

  Eight: ward, protective against magic

  Elite: title for commanders in Ar’s Shadow Band

  Elite Cairon: a leader of the Shadow Band

  Emaln: city of the River; feuding with Sirith

  Emalni: citizens of Emaln

  Emer: a land of Haarth, located south of the River

  Emeriath: figure from Derai legend, who appears in the songs and stories concerning Kerem the Dark Handed

  empathy bond: also spirit bond: an empathic/psychic link between two Derai that can be either one or two-way; usually occurs between two who are either blood kin, lovers, or very close friends

  Emuun: Swarm agent

  Enna: damosel of Normarch

  Ephors: elected rulers of the River city of Terebanth

  Erennis: prince of Ar, one of the major cities on the River

  Eria: initiate priestess, serving in the Temple of Night

  Erron: horsemaster at Normarch

  facestealer: minion of the Swarm

  Fair Maid of Emer: Ghiselaine, Countess of Ormond

  Falath: one of Rowan Birchmoon’s hounds

  Fall of Night: feared twilight of the Derai and then all worlds, should the House of Night ever fall

  Farelle: city of the River

  farsight: power of farseeing, ability to see events across physical distance and time

  Festival of Masks: spring festival of Ij

  First: captain of a Jhainarain Seven

  First Kin: first degree of kinship to the direct line of the Blood of any of the nine Houses of the Derai; common meaning is “cousin”

  First Night: vigil, sacred to women, held on the first night of the Midsummer festival dedicated to the goddess Imuln

  Forsaken: Jhainarian epithet for the renegade queen Zhehaamor and her Seven

  Garan: honor guard, serving House of Night

  Gate of Dreams: a place between worlds and times that can be reached through dreams or via mind- or spirit-walking

  Gate of Winds: main entrance into the Keep of Winds, and a fortress in its own right

  Ghiselaine: Countess of Ormond, a region of Emer

  Gille: Emerian knight in training

  Girls’ Dorter: hall that houses the Normarch damosels

  Girvase: Emerian knight in training

  Gol: warrior of the House of Swords

  Golden Fire: a power and strength of the Derai that once burned in the nine keeps, until the Great Betrayal

  Grayharbor: northenmost settlement between the River and the Wall of Night

  Gray Lands: desolate plains that adjoin Wall of Night

  Great Betrayal: refers to the Derai civil war and its intended end when the peace feast turned into a night of slaughter between House and House, warrior and priest, kin and kin

  Guild House: place where heralds reside, found in every River city

  Guild of Heralds: society of messengers, said to have special powers, based in the River lands; see also heralds

  Guyon: Emerian knight in training

  Haarth: the world in which this story is set

  Haimyr the Golden: minstrel of Ij, great-nephew to Prince Ilvaine; friend and retainer to the Earl of Night

  Hamar Sondsangre: Emerian knight in training

  Hawk: Emerian Hill chieftain

  Heir of Night: designated successor of the Earl of the House of Night; see also Malian

  helm of concealment: River phrase for the helmets used by the Patrol

  heralds: messengers trained by and bound to the Guild of Heralds, based on the River; see also Guild of Heralds

  Heris: itinerant scribe

  Herun: tracker at Normarch

  High Hall: main hall of a Derai fortress

  High Steward: head steward, oversees most of the civilian affairs of a Derai keep; see also Nhairin

  High Tor: landmark in the Emerian hills

  Highvert: seat of the Lord Warden of Emer’s Vertward

  Hillholt: clan territory of Emerian Hill people

  Hills: hill country lying partly in Emer, partly in Aralorn

  Hirluin Sondargent: Duke of Emer’s heir

  Hirn: Emerian Hill chieftain

  hold: satellite fort of the main Derai strongholds on the Wall

  Honor Captain: captain of a Derai Honor Guard; see also Asantir

  Honor Guard: an elite guard specially sworn to protect the lives of Derai leaders, mainly the Earls of the Nine Houses

  House of Adamant: priestly House of the Derai Alliance

  House of Blood: warrior House of the Derai Alliance

  House of Morning: priestly House of the Derai Alliance

  House of Night: warrior House of the Derai Alliance; claims to be the “first and oldest” of all the Nine Houses

  House of Peace: priestly House of the Derai Alliance

  House of Swords: warrior House of the Derai Alliance

  Houses: name given by the Derai to the nine separate clans or peoples who comprise the Derai Alliance; see also Nine Houses

  Hunt of Mayanne: a power that dwells beyond the Gate of Dreams

  Hunt, the: see Hunt of Mayanne

  Hylcarian: Golden Fire of the Keep of Winds; see Golden Fire

  Ij: the Golden, greatest city of the River, built on the delta between the river Ijir and the sea

  Ijir: the main river of the lands known as the River

  Ijiri: person or thing native to Ij

  Ilaise: damosel of Normarch

  Ileyra: herald of the Guild house in Ishnapur; sister to Salan

  Ilkerineth: a leader of the Darkswarm

  Ilvaine: one of the great merchant families of Ij

  Imul: southern Aralorn name for Imulun

  Imuln: Emerian name for Imulun

  Imulun: Mother Goddess, one of the three gods of the River and the lands beyond

  Innor: honor guard, servi
ng the House of Night

  Ishnapur: fabled city and empire in the south of the known world, which borders the great western deserts of Haarth

  Isolt: damosel of Normarch

  Isperia Katran: Master of the Academy of Sages; kin to Prince Ilvaine

  J’mair: famed poet of Ishnapur, whose work has survived down centuries

  Jan: girl in the village of Butterworth, in Aralorn

  Jaransor: range of uninhabited hills west of the Gray Lands

  Jarna: Emerian knight in training

  Jehane Mor: herald of the Guild, from the Guild House of Terebanth, a city on the River

  Jhaine: a land of Haarth, located on the route to Ishnapur

  Jhainarians: people hailing from Jhaine, also the Shah of Ishnapur’s elite auxiliary troops; see also Seven, a

  Jharin: Darkswarm adept, sworn to the sorcerer Nirn

  Ka: Aralorn name for Kan

  Kalan: friend of Malian’s, born to the House of Blood

  Kan: one of the three gods of the River and lands beyond; see also Dancer in Shadow, drinker of blood

  Karn: Emerian name for Kan

  Katrani: merchant family of Ij; allied to the Ilvaine

  Keep of Stone: stronghold of the House of Adamant

  Keep of Winds: stronghold of the House of Night

  Kelmé: child prince in the history of Ar; the Shadow Band was formed to protect his life

  Kerem the Dark Handed: ancient hero of the Derai

  Keron: honor guard, serving the House of Night

  Khelor: a Darksworn leader

  Kiyan: First of Queen Zharaan of Jhaine, who lived in the years following the Cataclysm

  Kyr: guard, formerly serving the House of Night

  Lady Bonamark: wife of the Lord of Bonamark, in Emer

  Lady Sarifa: demonhunter, from Ishnapur

  Land Marks: Emerian administrative territories lying between the six inner wards and four outer marches, ruled by the Marklords. The marks are named for heraldic beasts: Allerion, Bonacon (called Bonamark), Chough, Griffon, Lyon, and Wyvern (called Wymark)

  Landward: island in the city of Ij, immediately to the north of the river port and joined to Minstrels’ Island by a pontoon bridge; see also Bridge of Boats

  Lannorth: lieutenant of the Earl of Night’s Honor Guard