Rook

by Robin Roseau

  I nodded. “Thessa, I have magic. It helps me to make friends. Would you like to be my friend?”

  “High Priestess, I am not the sort of woman-” She broke off.

  “Do I have permission?”

  “Yes. Yes.”

  I closed the remaining distance, lifted my hands, and then allowed the magic forth.

  She was... she was complicated. Hard. Tough. I discovered if I searched her body, I would find bruises and a few scars. But her love for our Prestainamatta was nearly overwhelming, in spite of the turns her life had taken.

  She was fighting to give her daughter a better life, paying what I thought were outrageous fees to send the girl to the only school that would take her.

  I also saw her with her clients, which was awkward at first, but I saw tenderness when the client was especially shy. I saw sweetness. I saw so much, and if I hadn’t been so overwhelmed from the events of the day, I would have wept for what I saw.

  Slowly, I withdrew.

  “Did that hurt?”

  “No, High Priestess,” she said. She turned to her daughter. “This is a very good woman, a girl of the Horse People, far to the east, and now daughter to a queen.”

  And then her head snapped, and she looked at Ralalta. “No,” she whispered.

  “Not another word,” I whispered quickly. “Especially if you figure out who is standing beside her.”

  “No,” she said again. “You brought them...”

  I caressed her face. “Not another word.”

  She nodded. “Not another word.”

  “Neshi, your mother and I are now friends,” I said. “Would you like to be friends, too?”

  “All right,” she said.

  “I have to touch you, and this can be startling.” I set my hands in place, and the girl clutched at the one against her chest, holding it tightly in place. I let the magic flow.

  She was a hurt girl, lonely for her mother, but sweet and lovely and full of hope and joy. She was one to laugh easily. The other kids liked to pick on her, but when one got hurt, she was the one who knelt beside the injured child, being a friend to the very children who may have taunted her the day before.

  “Neshi,” I asked. “Do you understand who I am?”

  “You’re the High Priestess.”

  “Do you understand why I am here?”

  She nodded. “You want Mama to be a priestess, too.”

  “No, Neshi,” said her mother. “She wants you.”

  “No, Mama,” said the girl. “She wants you.”

  “That isn’t possible.”

  “I want you both,” I said.

  “You can’t want me,” said Thessa. “I’m-”

  “A mother who loves her daughter. A woman who shares her heart with those in need. A woman who faced need, and accepted the responsibility.” I smiled. “A woman who will spend hours and hours in the library, reading every book she can find.”

  “I don’t know how to read.”

  “Well then, perhaps it is time to learn. Would you like to learn?”

  “You’re not teasing me?”

  “No, I’m not teasing you.”

  “You would teach me to read?”

  “We would teach you anything you want to learn,” I said. “Will you help us raise the acolytes?”

  “Yes,” she said. “Yes.”

  I did both of them together.

  “Esen,” I said, looking to the Queen of Alteara. “Do you believe we can find a room for these two, near mine?”

  “I believe we can,” she replied.

  I turned to Neshi. “These priestesses will go with you to collect your things. We’ll wait outside for you.”

  She nodded. I sent Féla and Naddí with her, and then the rest of us traced our path from the school, the headmistress following after us. She finally set herself in my path. “What are you doing?”

  “Neshi is withdrawing from your school,” I said. “Thank you for her kind care to date. Good eve.” I gestured, and Láti stepped forward to usher the woman back into her school. “Larien.” She took the mother from me, and I stepped over to The Queens.

  “Your Majesty, I believe that woman cheats some of the people who send her students. Why does this mother have to pay for her child’s education? Do you not have schools paid by the crown?”

  “We do,” she said. “But we do not have any boarding schools.”

  “Are there laws for how the children are to be treated, and how much the schools can charge?”

  “Not in such a way, but I believe you are onto something, Yalla. I’ll see to it.”

  “Thank you.”

  I nodded and stepped back to Larien and Thessa. The woman was hugging herself, and I realized it had grown chilled. But then Láti was there, draping her own cloak over the woman’s shoulders.

  “I couldn’t,” she said.

  “This is Láti,” I said. “You might guess from her hair. She is of my household.”

  “Thank you, Láti,” said Thessa, drawing the cloak more closely about her.

  “Do you have things to collect as well?”

  “Only more clothing such as what I’m wearing,” she said.

  “No memories?”

  “Only bad memories.”

  I nodded and turned to Láti. “Larien will give you funds. Take her shopping tomorrow. Can we find clothing to loan her first?”

  “I’ll find something,” Láti said.

  We waited only a few more minutes before Neshi arrived, carefully escorted by two watchful maid-spies, now leaders of our order.

  Farewell

  They all came, all my new acolytes, some with a single parent, some with their entire families. Queen Mesenorié gave us the palace ballroom to use, and the palace staff prepared a hearty meal, more than enough for all.

  I asked for the tables to be set informally, and we served the tables family style, bringing platters of food to each table and letting people select what they wished. And so we had a meal, and then once people had eaten, I stood.

  “Thank you for coming,” I said. “I imagine there are questions. I believe the first question is simple: where are your daughters going? And so I would like to resolve that.” We had already decided not to send any to the Heart of the Goddess, and so I said, “We have three abbeys in Alteara. I am going to introduce the abbess of each, and then I will ask each of them to describe her abbey. Some of you already know where you are going, but we will determine the rest. And then we can address your other questions.”

  I introduced the three women, speaking for a moment or two on each, finding something good to say about each. And then I said, “Each abbey is quite different. Ti-ti is the abbess of Manásuéla, which is in the mountains. It is a beautiful location. Ti-ti, would you explain more?”

  She stood and looked at me for a moment. “No one but you calls me that.”

  “I’m sorry. If you have something else you would prefer I call you, I would use it. But you know what happens when I say Résalienárti.” I mangled it badly, and only some of it was intentional.

  She sighed. “My name is Résalienárti. Most of the people living at the abbey simply call me Abbess. Our location is isolated, the furthest from Lopéna, or almost anything else for that matter. And it is cold in winter. But it is beautiful, so beautiful. Those priestesses who visit all the abbeys tell me that ours is most likely to bring serenity. We get snow in the winter, so much snow, but we organize days of making snow sculptures to adorn the grounds.” She talked for perhaps five minutes, and it was clear why she was the abbess. I’d always found her colder than some of the others, but her love of her home was evident.

  When she was finished, I stood, and I bowed in her direction. “Thank you, Résalienárti.”

  “See!” She exclaimed. “I knew you could say it.”

  I laughed. “It took me six heartbeats, however. Ti-ti.”

  She smiled, inclined her head, and sat.

  “Gontí, would you describe Besquelálamárta?”<
br />
  She stood. “Besquelálamárta is the closest abbey to Lopéna, although it is still two long days of travel away, to the south, towards Framara. There are no mountains, but we are beside a beautiful lake, and we all learn to swim.” She talked about as long as Ti-ti had, and then she sat.

  “Moí is the abbess at Velvíienta,” I said. “Moí?”

  “I am almost positive you can pronounce my name, Yallameenara,” she said. “It is Palmoínardi.” I smiled but didn’t answer. “Velvíienta is on the coast. The ocean is far too cold for swimming, but we are near a small fishing village, and in the summer, the village invites us to go sailing on the ocean.” She talked for a while about watching the ships heading south to Hergenseé, and then she describe the abbey itself, and some of the other people there. And then she sat.

  I stood back up. “Here is what I want us to do,” I said. “Each abbess is at a different table. Some of you have already been assigned to a location, so I want the other people at each table to make way, and then I want the girls already assigned to join the proper table. I want the rest of you to meet each of the abbesses, and then we will see if you each come to an agreement where you would like to go.”

  After that, I hung back and watched. Larien and Terél helped to direct the ones already assigned, and I watched the other girls, usually with their families, wander from one to another. Besquelálamárta, closest to Lopéna, appeared to be most popular, with Velvíienta on the coast second, but I saw two girls point to Ti-ti’s table, and by the time things had settled down, there were four acolytes prepared to live in the beautiful abbey in the mountains.

  Larien and Terél moved to stand beside me. “That’s a problem,” Larien said, pointing to Gontí’s overcrowded table. “It may have been a mistake to let them pick.” The count was ten and two at that table, with half that at Moí’s, and four at Ti-ti’s.

  “Not at all,” I said. “The girls are sitting where their families want them to sit. And now I will make adjustments.” I raised my voice. “Very good,” I called. “If the families could return to their original seats.”

  No one heard me. Seriously? They would have heard Ralalta.

  Then I had to laugh. Láti lifted her fingers to her lips and gave a shrill whistle, startling everyone, then pointed at me. “Thank you,” I said. I repeated my request to the families. “We’ll answer questions in a few minutes.”

  Then I walked straight to Gonti’s table. I leaned down and smiled. “Girls, I know at least half of you are here because this is where your mother put you. But who wants to learn to make snow sculptures?”

  Three hands went up. I gestured to Larien, and she moved them to Ti-ti’s table. “Who wants to live with a view of the ocean?”

  Two hands went up. That would appear to overbalance Moí by one, but I was going to steal one from her later, so Terél took the three girls to the other table. I waited until the girls were settled, and then said, “There. We made some adjustments for balance. What other questions do you have?”

  * * * *

  It was perhaps an hour later I was able to slip away, just next door. Larien brought Tahya and her two daughters to me. I hugged them each and then said to Jakla, “Can you ride?”

  “No, but I’ve always wanted to.”

  “Do you know how your little sister calls to birds?”

  “Yes. They are always landing on her shoulder, or sometimes in her hair.”

  “This is a gift of the Goddess,” I said. “It is not all of her priestesses with such a gift, but it is common enough. Larien also calls to birds, but only the larger birds. And Terél calls to the small woodland animals. They hop up on her leg and eat from her hand.”

  “The birds eat from my hand,” Moyíta said.

  “I imagine they do. Jakla, has anything like that ever happened to you?”

  She shook her head. “You said we don’t all do that.”

  I smiled. “Yes, but you are one who does,” I said. “Do you know what animals would answer to you?”

  She shook her head slowly.

  “Horses,” I whispered.

  And our bond flared brightly, so brightly, and she was pulling on it, pulling quite fiercely, and I just knew I was right.

  “Perhaps you didn’t know, but we have that in common,” I said. I turned to Tahya. “When one of us has such an affinity, she cannot be fully happy if it is denied. She must have her horses.”

  “You’re going to give me a horse?”

  “You want her to go with you,” Tahya said, and I inclined my head.

  “I would teach her to ride, and to care for our mounts, and in time, she would pick two of her own. She would join the school in Framara, right on the outskirts of Marport, but she would travel with me when we return here. Perhaps not every trip, but often. Once she has learned what I can teach her, I can bring her back to you.”

  “With my horses?” the girl asked.

  “With your horses,” I agreed. “Tahya, until we claimed her, I did not know this. I didn’t intend to separate you. But she would go to school with two of my daughters, and the other acolytes in Framara.”

  “I don’t speak Framaran.”

  “You would learn,” I said to the girl. “If you do not want to go, I can try to give you opportunity at Velvíienta, but I won’t be able to teach you myself.”

  “She’s of the Horse People, Mother,” Jakla said.

  “You would be away from your little sister,” I said. “You wouldn’t see your mother or sister very often.”

  “You’d let me come back, though.”

  “In a few years. Maybe two, but possibly longer, and it may be that you would join me permanently, serving me directly much as Larien and Terél do. That would depend on you, and how well you ride. Going with your mother and little sister would be a far easier life.”

  The two spoke briefly, and then the mother turned to me. “High Priestess, what do you want?”

  “I want Jakla to be happy,” I said. “Do you feel the bond that we share?” Tahya nodded. “The strength of that bond varies, but the bond I have with Jakla is particularly strong. I don’t know what that means. It might mean nothing at all. It might only mean we share a horse affinity, and I should ensure she has access to horses. Or it might mean something far more important.”

  She nodded. “Jakla, what do you want?”

  “You need me to help take care of Moyíta.”

  “I can take care of your little sister just fine,” said Tahya. “What do you want?”

  “I want to go with the High Priestess,” she said.

  “If she does, you may see her less often than if they both went to Velvíienta and I hadn’t claimed you,” I told Tahya.

  “This seems like the right choice, High Priestess.”

  “All right,” I said. “My group is leaving tomorrow. Jakla, if you are traveling to Framara with my party, you must be here at the crack of dawn for your first riding lesson. Otherwise you will travel via ship with Queen Ralalta. That is by far the easier choice for you, and you would travel with your mother and sister, as they are also traveling to the coast.”

  “Could I stay here tonight?” she asked. “So I don’t miss my lesson?”

  I laughed but looked at Tahya, who nodded. “All right,” I said. “You’ll get your lesson before breakfast, and we’ll see your mother and sister once more before we go. If you change your mind and want to take a carriage to the coast with them, you may decide that in the morning.”

  “I want to ride, High Priestess.”

  “All right then.”

  “I’ll take it from here, Yalla,” Larien said.

  What would I do without her?

  * * * *

  Larien brought Jakla to the stable in the morning. I was talking quietly to Zana and Hamper, the Goddess looking on.

  As Jakla approached, both my horses lifted their heads to watch them approach the paddock gate. Larien helped her climb up onto the fence, and then Zana gave a snort and trotted over, jus
t barely bumping the girl with her nose.

  “Traitor,” said the Goddess with a smile. “You know I want to ride with you.”

  “We’ll make it work,” I said. I watched Zana and Jakla. I wasn’t at all surprised when the girl threw a leg over the fence and climbed down on this side. I didn’t say a word, but I could feel our bond firing, and she was doing all the right things.

  “Did you do this?” I asked.

  The Goddess paused and then said, “Yalla, I want you to keep her close. Teach her the ways of a girl of The Hippa.”

  I turned and looked at my Prestainamatta. “When did you do this?”

  “When you claimed her. She had no particular affinity before that.”

  “Are you going to explain why?”

  “Take her on trips. Rough trips.”

  “Unless I take her to The Hippa, I can’t show her everything.”

  “Show her what you can.”

  “She’s going to hurt long before nightfall.”

  “I want to know where I’m riding,” said the Goddess.

  “With me,” I said. “We’ve done it before.”

  “We’ve done it before,” she agreed. “But Framara is a long way.”

  “Yes, but Indorítanda is not, and I just happen to have more mounts there.”

  “Good. Yalla, she must learn to ride as a girl of The Hippa, not of Framara or Alteara.”

  “She will,” I said.

  “Teach her to race the barrels.”

  I laughed. “I will. So, I wonder how good this affinity is you’ve given her.”

  “I guess we’ll see.”

  * * * *

  She swore she’d never touched a horse before. It took one try to show her how to saddle Zana. It took two tries before she climbed atop. I didn’t even have to tell her how to hold the reins, and she was neck reining before I could say a word.

  I kept glancing at the Goddess, who said not a word.

  There wasn’t enough room for a proper lesson, but Jakla had no trouble with the utter basics, no trouble at all, and so finally I called her over.

  I showed her how to remove the saddle, and how to brush her mount, and then we headed in for our own breakfast.

  * * * *

  Our departures were teary. My group would be heading south, and I had no intention of waiting for either abbess. The other groups were dispersing east, south, and west. The children were all quite excited, but the parents were a mix of proud and sad.