“Thank you, Mesitas, for bringing the dream to us. The goddess has spoken her will. It is for us to hear and obey.”
The Mesitas bowed low with a solemn salute and then departed with his entourage in tow. An awkward silence fell over the assembly as the High King regained his seat. Only then did I lower my shields. The first sensation that flooded my senses was the awkward silence.
Then suddenly, as everyone realized at once that I was not going to formally respond to the challenge, conversation began among those seated. My mind was immediately bombarded with sendings. The tastes mixed in my mouth, banishing any appetite that I might have had left after that piece of playacting. I lowered my head and raised my hand, a sign that I was not going to listen to any more. Then rising to my feet, discipline still clamped about my thoughts, I saluted the High King and walked out into the garden.
Cool air greeted me as I exited, offering a refreshing contrast to the oppression of the dining hall. I stepped into the darkness, away from the glow of the assembly behind me, embracing the solitude it offered. Choosing the path toward the familiar water gardens, I started down them at a quickened pace. Others would follow me and I wanted to gain distance and time before I had to face them. I needed time to formulate my response to the obvious challenge.
The night was clear and bright with moonlight. I found my way easily among the murmuring pools of water and the whispering plants until I reached the haven of the willows. There I stepped deep within their shadowy embrace, finding the trunk of the central tree. Leaning against its reassuring solidity, with my face lifted to heaven, I lifted the restraints on my thoughts.
Fear came first in a tidal wave. He truly intends to kill me. It wasn’t as if the thought hadn’t occurred to me before. I had considered all the options before accepting Neleck’s selection. I just thought it would take longer for this conflict to reach the level of death threats. After all, I had only been Sept Son a handful of days.
However, I should have seen the signs. The Mesitas was a fanatic. He whole heartedly believed in the goddess and her supreme deity, probably just as strongly as I believed in the one true God. I sighed and closed my eyes, leaning my head back against the tree behind me. I reached out to the eternal presence that carried me through each day.
Father, it has come. Just as I feared, the challenge lays at my feet. I am weak, and without You I cannot face this. Please strengthen me. Give me wisdom and focus. I know that I need to leave this with You; for only You can handle it. Assist me to lift it into Your sovereign hands and leave it there.
A breeze lifted off the water and swept through the willows’ skirts to brush my face. I waited and listened. My heart slowed to a calmer tempo as the peace of my God fell over me. My thoughts filled with the meditations of the poets on the Almighty and His mercy. I formed the words with my mind, sending them broadly out into the silence. It helped to proclaim His beauty and grace.
“I hate to interrupt.” Korneli’s voice came from my right, breaking into my thoughts. “But Tristan is organizing around the clock bodyguards for you, and someone else is looking for a volunteer taste tester for you.”
“That isn’t necessary.”
“I told them, but nobody is listening to me.”
I frowned. “And the High King?”
“He requests that you repent and seek to petition the goddess for mercy.”
“I thought so.”
Silence fell over us. I gathered my renewed peace about me like a shield. I go forth in Your name with my life in Your hands. I am Yours. Do what you will.
I stepped away from the willow and turned to my friend. “Where is Tristan?”
“In your quarters driving Giles to distraction and sending out searchers to find you.”
“He is that desperate?”
“What do you expect? If you die, he loses his promotion.”
I laughed. “Thank you, Korneli. You are good for my pride.”
“I help where I can.”
I smiled at him in the darkness before making my way back to the palazzo. The night was young and there was much to do before I could leave this place behind me.
Zezilia
THE FIRST WEEK, FIVE days, passed in a blur. I joined the family in cleaning, unpacking, and organizing the house. Though Errol checked with me to make sure I was practicing the exercises that he assigned me on the trip, he did not give me any new lessons. To be honest, I was thankful he didn’t. Every day overflowed with tasks, scrubbing floors, washing cloth for curtains, sewing the curtains, whitewashing the rooms, and repairing chimneys. I learned more about setting up a household in that week than I had learned in my lifetime to that point.
The second week, while Errol still disappeared every morning with Delmar, the groundskeeper, to work on the outdoors, I received instruction in cooking.
“I cannot believe you don’t even know how to boil water,” Eloine was quick to exclaim as we entered the kitchen the first day of the week. “Even Galatea knows how to do that.”
“Stop teasing her, El,” Adreet scolded. “Her mother didn’t think it was a skill that she would need. However, things have changed and I am overseeing her upbringing now.” She bustled past me with a smile. “Don’t look so worried, Zez. I will have you making dumplings and stew to best all my girls before I am through. Now, go fetch that pot over there, and Galatea, clean the cutting board.”
I proved Adreet wrong. No matter how I tried, I could not get my dumpling batter to look like hers. It took four batches before she finally gave up.
“Apparently there is a reason that you never learned,” she observed while examining my lumpish looking mixture. It lay on the bottom of the wooden mixing bowl like a dead mole, gray and unappetizing. “However you managed to make it gray, child, I shall never know.” She sighed and dumped it into the garbage bin to be fed to the newly purchased pigs. “Take over cutting up the vegetables from Galatea. I need her to mix up the pudding for tonight’s dinner.” I willingly changed to mutilating the vegetables. Thankfully, the shape of the chunks would make no difference to their taste as long as I got them relatively the same size.
The next day, the menu called for pie for dessert. Putting her two eldest daughters to work on the meal, Adreet cleared a portion of the work table for pie making and then took a seat at my side.
“You are going to learn to make a pie, even if it takes all day,” she declared. “Now get out the sugar, flour, and lard. The brandleberries that we picked yesterday will be perfect for the filling.” I obediently fetched the ingredients. After two false starts, I produced a reasonable looking crust. The filling was simple, the berries and a little sugar. Putting the top crust on was a difficult process, but finally both Adreet and I sighed in relief. A finished pie sat on the table before us, pricked and ready for the oven.
“Well done, Zez,” Adreet proclaimed. “Your first successful cooking lesson is complete. You now have the rest of the day to yourself.”
“But what about the baking?” I asked.
She smiled and shook her head. “The meat pies are already in the oven. This will go in after they come out. Galatea and Eloine will help me with that. Now, shoo.” She waved her apron at me. “I don’t want to see you around the house until dinner. You have been eyeing the outdoors for the past few days. Now, go explore. And if you run across Candra in your wanderings, tell her I would like more berries for jamming later this week.”
I couldn’t help smiling as I trotted upstairs to my room to change my clothes. The green jungles were calling and I was eager to explore.
Behind the house, a kitchen garden, well on its way to being tamed into fruitfulness again, spread out from stonewall to wooden fence. I skirted this on my way to the tree line bordering the cleared yard. Taking the path I spotted Errol disappearing down every morning, I stepped into the welcome depths of the shaded dimness. It was as though I stepped into a different world. Far from the rigid order of the house and yard, here flora rioted in any direction that it
chose. I skipped eagerly along the path, drinking in the sounds: peaceful birdsong, squirrel chatter, and wind sighs. It was so good to be alone among nature again.
The trail, no more than a wandering thread of bare earth that disappeared for long stretches at a time beneath thick moss or fallen leaves, led me deeper into the forest. I scanned the foliage to both sides as I hurried along, eager to see as much as I could in the short afternoon before me.
After running along the bottom of a gully next to a trickling brook, I followed my lazy guide up a steep rise that demanded both my hands for balance as I climbed. The sight at the top made the brief scramble well worth it. The trail led directly into a wide, open meadow. Bordered by a rotting fence, it appeared to have been originally cleared as a field for growing things. Whatever the crops intended or sown, they were long gone now. In their place, wild flowers and tall grass waved to me, beckoning with a wordless melody of whispers more tempting than a siren’s song. Without the least thought to my clothing or shoes, I plunged into the grass.
A raven flew overhead and called to another in its harsh voice. I watched it circle and then land on the highest branches of a great mammoth of a tree. The oak’s branches were heavy with leaves all the way to its crown. Rooted to the earth by a massive trunk, it called to me to come and visit. I plowed through the tall grass to where it faded, making way for the shorter plants more content in the deep shade at the oak’s base. I looked up into the underskirt of graceful branches and green filtered light and knew that I must climb this tree.
As a young child of six, I convinced my older brothers to teach me to climb. I still recalled Mother’s horror when she found me swinging about the branches of our favorite climbing tree a few days later. I was soundly lectured on the supreme fact that girls did not climb trees.
Well, Mother wasn’t here and there was no one in sight. I discarded my shoes and took a running jump to catch the lowest branch. The bark bit into my hands, but I swung my feet for the next branch. Out of practice, it took me four tries to catch my heels on the goal and a long struggle to get my knees over it. I finally managed to get myself upright. I didn’t wait there. Reaching above to the next limb, I immediately began to pull myself higher.
I had forgotten how exhilarating it felt to be so high. Reaching the point where the trunk swayed a bit beneath my fingers, I paused. A small opening in the leaves gave me a splendid view of the treetops in the surrounding forest.
Suddenly, a wild smoky taste filled my mouth and words flooded my mind. “Who are you? What are you doing up there?” Startled, I almost lost my grip on the limb beneath me. “Now don’t go falling on me.” A firm pressure steadied me.
“Who are you?” I asked.
A sensation of surprise flooded my thoughts. ”Can’t you send?” it asked.
“I don’t know how yet. Where are you?”
“Below you,” a strong masculine voice called from beneath me. Sure enough, as I carefully peered down between the branches I could just make out a dark-haired form standing on the ground. “Come down,” he ordered.
A small tremor of fear slipped down my spine. Whoever it was, it was definitely not someone I knew. He was male, presumably bigger than I, and there was no one in shouting distance as far as I knew.
“Who are you?” I asked again.
“I am Selwyn, brother of the man who owns this land. And you, tree nymph, who are you?”
I ignored his question. “You are brother to Errol Silas?”
“No, I am brother to Ilias, but I know Errol. I won’t harm you, child. If you won’t give me your name, at least come down. I am getting a crick in my neck looking up at you.”
“What if I don’t come down?” I asked tentatively.
He laughed. “Then I shall go fetch Errol and have him order you down. Come, child, I am not going to hurt you. What can I do to convince you to climb down?”
“Leave.”
He laughed again. “And let you fall and break your neck, I don’t think I shall. I saw you climbing. You are out of practice. Now come down while I watch to make sure you don’t fall.” My cheeks burned at the thought of him observing my ascent, especially the first few attempts. I had given little thought to modesty.
“Selwyn!” cried Candra. I couldn’t see her for the thickness of the leaves, but I could hear her approach through the dense grass. She entered my sight near the base of the tree at a run. Hurling herself at the stranger, she gave him a fierce hug. “Selwyn, what are you doing here?”
“Right at the moment, I am trying to convince a tree nymph to descend from her precarious perch. You are just in time to persuade her that I am safe.”
“Who is it?” I spied Candra’s face briefly through the branches as she attempted to get a better view of me.
“Zezilia, what are you doing up there?” she asked.
I tried to gather up what dignity I could. “I am sitting in a tree.”
“We can see that,” Selwyn pointed out. “Now that you can see that Candra trusts me, will you descend?”
The two of them waited and watched as I then proceeded to climb down while attempting to remain modest. It was a very awkward procedure, especially as I grew closer to the ground and I could see Selwyn’s dark gaze every time I looked down. “Must you watch?” I finally asked when I was only five branches from the ground.
“I can’t catch you with my back turned, Donellea,” he replied, amusement lacing his voice. I glared at him.
“I found the perfect tree for a tree house,” Candra said, attempting to draw his attention from me.
“I though you already were planning to build one in the old willow on the other side of the pond,” he responded without turning his gaze from me.
“No this one is better, over in the woods near creek, next to the swimming hole.”
“Oh, that one.”
I settled myself on the last branch and eyed the jump to the ground. I considered the distance to the limb I swung on to get up, but before I could move, a pressure formed around my middle. Lifting me off the branch, the force lowered me to the ground. The moment my bare toes touched the earth, the pressure eased. I looked up in surprise to find Selwyn watching me.
I swallowed carefully. “Thank you.”
He smiled. “You are very welcome, Donellea. Now let me escort you back to the house.”
“But first you must see the tree,” Candra protested.
“And I am supposed to return with brandleberries.” Selwyn’s gaze turned to me. I added, “Actually, I am supposed to help Candra with the brandleberries.”
Candra frowned at me. “Did you bring a bucket for them?” she asked.
Forced to admit that I had not, I listened with a sinking heart as Candra muttered something about good-for-nothing court brats.
“Now Candra, that is hardly fair,” Selwyn protested. “Zezilia can’t help it that she didn’t remember.”
“She can’t cook, she can’t climb trees, and she doesn’t even know to bring a bucket or basket to go berry picking. What am I supposed to do with her?” Candra waved a hand in my direction. “She is useless.”
I lowered my eyes. This was not working out at all like I had hoped. Of all the Silas girls, I had hoped that Candra would like me. But now she was the one who liked me the least.
“Then teach her.” I looked up in surprise to find Selwyn studying me. There was something familiar in the tilt of his head, but I pushed the thought aside. “She looks intelligent enough, and I think she would like to learn to do all those things and more. Am I right, Zezilia?”
I nodded and looked hopefully at Candra. Her green eyes were slits of concentration. “You are going to get dirty,” she told me.
“I don’t mind dirt.”
“There will be bugs and worms.”
I shrugged. Nothing I hadn’t dealt with before.
“Can you hammer a nail?” she asked.
“Better than my brothers,” I told her, which was true.
Finally, she s
miled. Holding out a grubby hand toward me, she said, “You are hired.”
I took the hand and we shook on it, despite the fact I had no idea what she was hiring me for.
“We start on the tree house tomorrow.”
“What about the berries?” Selwyn asked.
“This way.” Candra turned and started back the way I had come. Selwyn followed. I gathered up my shoes and scrambled after them.
Chapter VI
Zezilia
Three days later at the breakfast table, Errol announced that my lessons would begin today, directly after the meal. Despite Candra’s sulky frown from across the table, I smiled.
“But Father, we were going to start on the floor today,” Candra protested.
“You can work on the tree house on your own today,” Errol pointed out. “Besides, that was what you were planning on doing before Zezilia joined in the effort.”
“But it goes so slowly with only one.”
“This is not up for discussion,” Errol stated firmly and then returned to his meal.
I eagerly finished my porridge and fruit. Clearing my place, I excused myself.
The work room was one of the smaller rooms in the house. Crowded with books, chairs, two desks, and myriads of small items of curiosity, it felt even smaller than it really was. I entertained myself with looking at all the books while I waited. They had curious titles: Talents and Morals, Etiquette for the Blossoming Mind, Force or Thought: the talents studied and explained, and Xornitic’s Book of Sending Exercises for Young Talents were just a few of the texts stacked on the larger desk. I lifted the cover of the exercise book and peeked inside, curious as to what kind of exercises I would be doing.
“Those will be your textbooks,” Errol said suddenly from behind me. I jumped slightly at his voice. “Those and this.” He set a thick tome down on the desk next to the stack I had been perusing. “It is a leather bound Talents Code. Before you finish your training and I bring you to the Sept Son for testing, you are going to be able to quote that book to me word for word. That above all others is going to be your bread and butter for the next three years.”
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