The Will of the Empress (45 page)
Silence stretched. It was all he could tell them for now.
“Mine is just silly,” admitted Tris. “So many of the mages I met with Niko took it so personally that I learned to scry the winds that I forgot who you all were. Niko acted like it was something you had to expect—that when you learn a strange kind of magic, one that so many fail at, you have to expect jealousy. I don’t want people to be jealous, I don’t want them to be
anything.
I was afraid to find out you’d be like them.” She hung her head. “I’m just too gaudy. That’s why I want to go to Lightsbridge. So I can just do what I want and people won’t stare at me.”
Daja and Sandry exchanged shrugs, as if to say, That’s Tris for you.
“I made something that helped Ben Ladradun kill a lot of people,” Daja told them somberly. “So many. I thought catching him and seeing him get an arsonist’s sentence would fix it in my heart, make it right, but it never did. I still liked him. So I helped kill him fast, so he wouldn’t be in pain. I didn’t want you to know something of mine—something of ours, because it was living metal, and we were all part of that—caused so many deaths. I can’t forgive myself, some days. I didn’t think you could.” She closed her eyes, her full mouth quivering.
Sandry looked down at her knees. She wore pink, as she had that same day in the advocate’s office. “I tore three people to pieces to save the life of my student,” she said flatly. She heard Tris draw a deep breath. “Did you think I would be safe at home? They were murderers, they were being eaten alive by unmagic, with little humanity left in them. There was no other way, and yet.” She put her face on her knees.
“So now we know the things we hid from each other,” Tris said drily after a while. “Does it change anything?”
“How could it?” Briar wanted to know. “Fighting off those pirates didn’t make us hate each other. We knew why we did it. Not being able to forgive
ourselves
isn’t the same as understanding each other. We’re a lot easier on each other than we are on ourselves. As for
you
, Coppercurls, you’ve always been fooling around with the weird magics.”
“That’s just you, Tris,” said Daja.
Sandry lifted her head. “I wouldn’t be you for a thousand gold majas, Tris. I see the way people twitch around you. But that doesn’t change how
I
feel about you.”
Tris looked at her. “So we’re a circle again.”
“Suits me,” Briar said. “I never knew how much I missed it till we came back.”
“Till we remade us,” said Daja. “Till Berenene reforged us.”
“You’ll forgive me if I don’t thank her,” Sandry told them as she lay back on the thatch. “She may be related to me by blood, but I much prefer the family I chose.”
“Briar, can we come back here?” Daja asked. “Will this be here?”
“I made it for us,” he replied, surprised she hadn’t realized it. Here, in this place, they could feel what he felt. “All right, I made it for me first, but it was us. It is us.”
It’s always us
, the four said.
| Ambros fer Landreg | Saghad, steward of Sandry’s lands as well as of his own, dependable, family man, married to Ealaga |
| Amiliane fa Landreg | Sandry’s mother and Namornese heiress, deceased |
| Bancanor | goldsmith family in Kugisko, friends of Daja’s and Frostpine’s, their twin daughters are Daja’s first students |
| Bennat Ladradun | widower, fire expert, deceased (COLD FIRE) |
| Berenene dor Ocmore | Sandry’s cousin, empress of Namorn |
| Briar Moss | former thief and street rat from Sotat, Sandry’s foster brother, plant mage, maker of medicines, gardener, expert in shakkans (miniature trees), Evvy’s teacher |
| Caidlene fa Sarajane | pert, dark-eyed, flirtatious lady-in-waiting |
| Chime | living glass dragon made by Kethlun Warder (SHATTERGLASS), living with Tris |
| Comas | Lark’s new weaving student, temple novice, lives in attic at Discipline cottage |
| Crane | Dedicate Initiate, First Dedicate of the Air Temple at Winding Circle, sometimes teacher of the four |
| Daja Kisubo | former Trader, Sandry’s foster-sister and Frostpine’s student in metal shaping magic; carries a Trader staff and is marked by a piece of living brass that is molded between the fingers and over the palm and back of one hand |
| Dymytur fer Holm | bidis, border bandit and would-be kidnapper |
| Ealaga fa Landreg | Ambros’s good-humored wife |
| Erdogun fer Baigh | Duke Vedris of Emelan’s seneschal |
| Evvy | a street girl who was Briar’s student, a stone mage |
| Finlach fer Hurich | Fin, a handsome noble who is one of Berenene’s choices as a suitor for Sandry’s hand |
| Franzen fer Toren | Vedris of Emelan’s third son and present heir |
| Frostpine | Dedicate Initiate at Winding Circle, great mage, specializing in metal and fire magic, Daja’s mentor. |
| Glaki | orphan, academic mage, formerly Tris’s student, now Lark’s at Discipline cottage |
| Gospard | Vedris’s middle son, admiral of Emelanese navy |
| Gudruny Iarun | wife of Halmar and mother of his children, living on the Landreg estates |
| Gurkoy | family who lost everything for crossing the empress |
| Halmar Iarun | Gudruny’s husband, the miller |
| Holab | grain broker on the Landreg estates |
| Ishabal Ladyhammer | Berenene’s archmage, specialist in curses, a great mage |
| Jakuben fer Pennun | saghad, one of Berenene’s favorite young noblemen, chosen by her to court Sandry |
| Kethlun Warder | Tris’s student, the one who made Chime (SHATTERGLASS) |
| Lark | Dedicate Initiate of Winding Circle, specializing in magic through spinning and weaving, a great mage, Sandry’s mentor, foster mother to the four |
| Little Bear | once a puppy the four rescued, the dog traveled with Tris and Niko, now lives with Glaki at Winding Circle |
| Luvo | strange friend of Evvy’s |
| Maedryan dor Ocmore | princess, Berenene’s daughter and heir, living with her foster family in secrecy |
| Maghen | village girl on Landreg estates |
| Mattin fer Toren | Sandry’s father and Vedris’s nephew, deceased |
| Niklaren Goldeye | Niko, a great mage whose power is with all kinds of magic that involve sight, he found Daja, Briar, and Sandry; he is Tris’s mentor |
| Notalos fer Hurich | Finlach’s uncle and head of Namorn Mages’ Society |
| Olfeon | Master of the Imperial Armory |
| Pasco Acalon | young dancemage who is Sandry’s first student (MAGIC STEPS) |
| Pershan fer Roth | Shan, handsome, young and ambitious nobleman who is one of the empress’s favorites |
| Quenaill Shieldsman | great mage specializing in protective magics, Ishabal’s assistant and one of the empress’s favorites |
| Rizuka fa Dalach | young and charming, Berenene’s Mistress of Wardrobe |
| Rosethorn | Dedicate Initiate at Winding Circle, specializing in plant and garden magic, a great mage, Briar’s mentor and foster mother to the four |
| Sandrilene fa Toren | Sandry, clehame and heiress to the Landreg holdings in Namorn, foster sister to Briar, Daja, and Tris, her magic is with thread, spinning and weaving; she is a favorite with her great-uncle Vedris |
| Third Caravan Saralan | Trader land caravan |
| Trisana Chandler | Tris, an irritable, shy weather mage and bookworm trying to master the new skill of seeing images carried on the wind, Sandry’s foster-sister and Niko’s student |
| Vedris IV | Sandry’s great-uncle, ruling Duke of Emelan, a powerful and subtle man who has taken the four under his wing while they lived in Emelan; it’s rumored he may change his will and make Sandry his heir instead of his third son Franzen |
| Vetiver | head weaver and First Dedicate of the Earth temple at Winding Circle (Lark and Rosethorn are Earth dedicates) |
| Voskajo | name of the head of the Smith’s Guild in Namorn, Daja’s and Frostpine’s friend |
| Wenoura | head cook at Landreg House in Dancruan |
| Yeskoy fer Haugh | saghad of an impoverished noble house on the border of the Landreg estates, half-bandit |
| Zhegorz Fiavrus | a crazy man who met Daja in COLD FIRE when she rescued him from a burning hospital |
| argib | basic coinage of the empire, silver argib is the basic regular coin of Namorn, copper argib basic change coin |
| amdain | “fool” or “fools” in Namornese |
| Asaia | Air goddess of the Living Circle, goddess of birds and messengers |
| Bag | Briar’s slang, contraction for Moneybag, or rich person |
| belbun | term Briar learned in Chammur for rat |
| bidis, bidisa | literally “dagger”—first rank noble, baron, baroness |
| bleater | Briar’s slang for someone stupid |
| bleatin’, bleating | Briar’s slang for crying, complaining |
| Capchen | Tris’s native country, west of Emelan |
| Chammur | city in east Sotat, where Briar met Evvy |
| cleham, clehame | literally “sword”—third rank noble, count, countess |
| clehamat | a count’s estate |
| daftie | Briar’s slang for crazy person |
| Dedicate | one who has dedicated her/himself to the service of a Living Circle god |
| droughtwort | herb that ensures that a man who eats it cannot father children |
| giath, giatha | literally “shield”—fourth rank noble, duke, duchess |
| Green Man | Earth god of the Living Circle, male ruler of growth and fertility, and ruler of unchecked, chaotic growth |
| Gyongxe | mountainous country south of Yanjing |
| Haidheltac | country between western shore of the Syth and the eastern shore of the Endless Ocean, original base of what became the Namorn Empire |
| Hakkoi | Fire god of the Living Circle, god of smiths and forges |
| Hajra | Briar’s original home in Sotat |
| Hatar | island country where Niko found Sandry |
| jagging | Briar’s slang, person with too many small, irritating sharp edges |
| kaq | someone useless, really insulting |
| kid | slang for child |
| Koma | Trader god, the great Steersman of the sky, who sees all ships and caravans safely home |
| Kurchal Empire | once united all of the countries around the Pebbled Sea, giving them a common language and calendar |
| Lakik | the god of thieves and tricksters in Sotat (Briar’s original home) |
| lawkeepers | law enforcement personnel of the empire |
| mate | Briar’s slang for friend closer than family |
| maukie | Briar’s slang, full of maggots or little worries |
| Mila | Living Circle goddess of the earth and growing |
| mimander | Trader mage, educated solely in one field of magic useful to Traders, such as avalanches, sea storms, rain, winds, snow |
| naliz | piece of dung |
| neb | Briar’s slang for nose |
| Ninver | capital city of Capchen, Tris’s original home |
| nisamohi | lesbian |
| Oti | Trader goddess, the Bookkeeper who keeps the accounts of everyone’s life, debts and credits |
| pavao | rotten piece of filth |
| prathmun | the untouchables of Tharios, those who handle the dead |
| Qunoc | a goddess of western Namorn, goddess of the earth and its seed |
| Ravvi | Mrs., even if the woman is no longer married |
| Ravvikki | Miss |
| Ravvot | Mr. |
| Ravvotki | young Mr. |
| saati | a friend who is closer than blood family, a friend of the heart |
| saghad, saghada | literally “arrow”—second rank noble, lord, lady |
| saghadat | estate held by a saghad |
| shakkan | miniature tree |
| Shurri | Fire goddess of the Living Circle, defender of the helpess and protector of the poor |
| snood | a heavy silk net for hair |
| Sotat | Briar’s native country on the east of the Pebbled Sea |
| Speakers | headmen or mayors of Namornese villages |
| street rat | Briar’s slang for homeless person living by her/his wits |
| Sythuthan | trickster god of the Syth, unpredictable, seldom helpful for a good reason |
| Tsaw’ha | the Tradertalk word for themselves, literally translates as “Our People” |
| Viymese | female mage or wizard |
| Viynain | male mage or wizard |
| Vrohain | west Namorn’s god of judgment, justice, righteousness, who cut off his left hand so he would not dilute the justice he dispensed with his right hand |
| Yanjing | powerful empire to the far east |
| Yanjingyi | possessive and adjective form of Yanjing |
| Yatter | Briar’s slang, chatter, talk |
| Yorgiry | goddess of healing, death, mostly in east Namorn |
| Yorgiry’s House | hospital |