{"id":2248,"date":"2016-03-20T11:45:54","date_gmt":"2016-03-20T11:45:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/paulinemross.co.uk\/?p=2248"},"modified":"2016-03-20T11:45:54","modified_gmt":"2016-03-20T11:45:54","slug":"the-fire-mages-daughter-chapters-1-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paulinemross.co.uk\/index.php\/2016\/03\/the-fire-mages-daughter-chapters-1-4\/","title":{"rendered":"‘The Fire Mages’ Daughter’: Chapters 1-4"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>1: A Letter<\/h1>\n

As soon as I saw the messenger, I knew there would be trouble. Most letters came with Brant, ambling about on his elderly pony, his working clothes so faded from the sun it was impossible to guess the original colour. Anything more important came from the Kellona\u2019s Hall, conveyed by a high-stepping horse, the rider clad in blue and orange.<\/p>\n

This rider wore gold. Her trousers and jacket were trimmed with it, her smart hat bore a gold feather, and the clasp on her cloak shone like the sun. She could only have come from Kingswell, from the Drashona herself.<\/p>\n

I was lying in the garden, my face to the sun, my hands restlessly poking holes through the grass to the soil beneath. I loved the feel of earth on my fingers, dry, crumbling, full of energy, just waiting to grow into flowers or apple trees or those strange plants that curl up when you touch them. I\u2019d woken from my afternoon nap, and hadn\u2019t yet summoned the energy to pick up my book.<\/p>\n

Voices at the gate alerted me, then the gate creaking as the guards opened it, and a horse clip-clopping, and not disappearing to the kitchen yard, either, but getting louder, riding straight up to the front door. A knocking, some low voices, a long silence, more voices \u2013 my mother\u2019s one of them \u2013 and a clunk as the door closed again. Then clip-clopping back to the gate.<\/p>\n

A message that could only be handed over directly to my mother. This was very bad news. Rolling over, I watched the rider as she left.<\/p>\n

I slipped into the house by the orchard door. My feet were bare, so I tiptoed soundlessly through the hall to the open study door, stopping just out of sight.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe can\u2019t go.\u201d That was my mother, her voice firm, the way she spoke to the servants when they argued with her. \u201cShe\u2019s not well enough. It\u2019s too long a journey for her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Me? They were talking about me?<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why she sends for her now, before the bad weather sets in.\u201d That was Cal, who was not my father, was nothing like my father.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven so\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe has the right to claim her. We\u2019re lucky she\u2019s waited so long.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut Kingswell! How will she manage in a place like that, among strangers? How can she\u2014?\u201d<\/p>\n

They were sending me to Kingswell?<\/p>\n

A cluck of irritation, then my mother\u2019s head appeared round the door. She\u2019d realised I was there. She always did, I don\u2019t know how. \u201cDon\u2019t lurk<\/em>, Drina! But you needn\u2019t run away. This concerns you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Usually I liked to pretend I didn\u2019t really care about whatever I was caught listening to, but this was all too serious for pretending. I couldn\u2019t possibly go to Kingswell, surely they understood that?<\/p>\n

\u201cSit down, Drina,\u201d Cal said, patting the sofa next to him. That was bad, too. I generally had to stand when I was summoned to the study to be told off or given instructions.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t want to sit beside him, so I took the opposite sofa.<\/p>\n

Mother sat next to Cal. They always looked odd, side by side, Cal tall and bone-thin, Mother short and plump. Even the mage marks on their foreheads were different, Cal\u2019s sweeping and flamboyant, Mother\u2019s neat and small. Their expressions were identical now, though \u2013 troubled. This was serious.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had word from Kingswell,\u201d Mother said. \u201cThe Drashona is claiming her rights over you. She wants to see if you\u2019d make a suitable heir.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ah, that. Well, I\u2019d always known she might try. \u201cCan\u2019t you explain?\u201d I said. \u201cIt\u2019s out of the question. I can\u2019t possibly leave here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve told her all about your illness, Drina,\u201d Cal said. \u201cShe understands it as well as we do, which isn\u2019t a lot. You\u2019re a mystery to us all, petal. But she promises to take great care of you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to go! I can\u2019t<\/em> go!\u201d I jumped up and threw myself down next to Mother, grabbing her hand and lifting it to my face. \u201cYou can\u2019t send me away! Please!\u201d<\/p>\n

Gently, she slid her hand out of mine. \u201cWe don\u2019t want you to go, but we have no choice. The Drashona is your custodian, and she has the right to claim you at any time before you reach adulthood. That\u2019s the law.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, it\u2019s a stupid law! She\u2019s no blood kin at all to me. Just because my father was once married to her\u2026 but he\u2019s dead, and you\u2019re my mother. I should stay with you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mother sighed. We\u2019d talked about it before, of course, about the contract she\u2019d signed when she\u2019d been drusse to my father, giving him the rights to me. And when he died, his wife had acquired the same rights and now she was reaching out her hand to snatch me away from my family.<\/p>\n

It was too cruel for words. But Mother had that set look about her face, and Cal\u2019s eyes were sad like a dog\u2019s, so there wasn\u2019t much point arguing. I would just have to convince the Drashona that I\u2019d make a terrible heir so she\u2019d send me home again.<\/p>\n

~~~~~<\/p>\n

Evening board was a solemn affair. Everyone was talking about practical things, like boxes and clothes and journey times. The Drashona was to send a carriage, and one of her waiting women to look after me, and a mage, in case I felt ill on the way. Cal offered to go with me, but I didn\u2019t want him.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy can\u2019t you<\/em> come with me?\u201d I asked Mother, but she sighed and shook her head.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m needed here, Drina. Besides\u2026\u201d She looked at me oddly. \u201cYou belong to the Drashona now. You might as well get used to that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou lucky thing!\u201d Lathran said. \u201cYou\u2019ll be able to live in the Keep, and have proper bodyguards.\u201d He swished an imaginary sword about. Lathran was the mage guards\u2019 son, and a great irritant to me.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ll be so grand, Drina,\u201d Markell said. \u201cYou\u2019ll have jewels and everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

I ignored him. He was only eight, and never said anything worth replying to. Sallorna gazed at me with her blue eyes. She was easier to put up with, because she hardly said anything at all. Even silent, she was still irritating. They all were, my brother and sister, and Cal. They were all so slender, so pale. I was the odd one out, my father\u2019s daughter, a sturdy oak amongst delicate silver birches.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t that I minded being different, exactly. After all, my father was a great hero, a not very important man who had married one of the heirs to the realm, and led the army to a great victory in the south. He had brought us a peaceful settlement, and negotiated a fine treaty. And he was a Fire Mage, like Mother. That was a heritage to be proud of, and I always glowed when I thought of him. I was proud to have inherited his looks. But sometimes I felt very alone.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can go with her,\u201d Tisha said. I perked up at that. Tisha was good fun, so a journey with her wouldn\u2019t be so bad. \u201cI could even stay at Kingswell for a while. Help Drina to settle in.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cActually, that\u2019s not a bad idea,\u201d Cal said. \u201cMaybe you and Millan could both go. We can manage without you for a while.\u201d<\/p>\n

That was a kind way to put it. Tisha and Millan were mage guards, protecting Mother and Cal from any threats, but Tisha hadn\u2019t worked much since the last pregnancy went wrong, and Millan\u2019s bad leg had been getting worse for years. Well, this wasn\u2019t going to be so bad after all.<\/p>\n

Then Mother had to spoil it all. \u201cHow about you, Lathran? Would you like to go too? It would be good for Drina to have a friend with her.\u201d<\/p>\n

I rolled my eyes. \u201cHe\u2019s not my friend.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNonsense,\u201d Mother said in that brisk, don\u2019t-argue way of hers. \u201cYou\u2019re almost the same age, the two of you. You ought to be friends. You can explore Kingswell together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ought to be, perhaps. That would be logical \u2013 the daughter of the mage, and the son of the mage guards, growing up together in the same house.<\/p>\n

But Lathran was one of those disgustingly energetic boys, always running about and climbing trees and covering himself with dirt. I got tired just watching him. If you gave him a book to read, he fidgeted and squirmed and told you exactly how many pages \u2013 how many words! \u2013 he\u2019d read until someone got cross with him and took the book away. And it was usually me who got cross with him. He was my curse, and it seemed he was destined to curse me all the way to Kingswell.<\/p>\n

~~~~~<\/p>\n

Cal took me off into the garden for a little fatherly chat after evening board. He liked to play the father, and that was fine for Markell and Sallorna, since he really was their father. But he wasn\u2019t mine, and it was always uncomfortable for both of us when he chose to do it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, this isn\u2019t what we wanted,\u201d he said with a sigh, sitting himself on the bench round the cherry tree, and patting it invitingly.<\/p>\n

I sat on the grass, picking daisies and pulling the petals off one by one.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will be strange for you at first,\u201d he went on. \u201cI hated it when I first went to my father.\u201d<\/p>\n

I looked up sharply at that. He seldom talked about his childhood, or the time before he was a mage. I\u2019d learned more about him from his brother, who was a saddler here in Zendronia, and from his mother and her family, who lived a sun\u2019s ride down river.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow old were you?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cA bit older than you \u2013 just about twelve. I knew my mother had been his drusse and that he could claim me at any time, but when year after year goes past, you begin to think you\u2019re safe. And then \u2013 bam. Out of nowhere, there\u2019s a summons. So I understand how you feel. But it worked out fine for me. I liked being in town, at the Hall, being the Kellon\u2019s son. He had other children, so I wasn\u2019t alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

That was something I hadn\u2019t considered. The Drashona, too, had other children. \u201cHow many does she<\/em> have? The Drashona?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFive altogether, besides you. The two eldest are eleven, like you, and you all have the same father. A son and a daughter. Then there are three younger.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDo they look like me? The two eldest?\u201d Oh, how badly I wanted that! I was tired of being the oddity, the one who stood out at gatherings amongst the fair hair and the red and the drab brown. No one else had my black curls.<\/p>\n

Cal thought about that. \u201cI would say that you favour your father more than they do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hmm. That wasn\u2019t quite as positive as I\u2019d hoped. I turned back to my daisies.<\/p>\n

\u201cDrina, I know you don\u2019t want to go, but this is a wonderful opportunity for you. You\u2019ll get the very best education, and you\u2019ll have far more choices than you would have here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cChoices? What kind of choices?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCareers. Husbands. Or drusse, if you don\u2019t want a husband. Zendronia has been good for us, but it\u2019s a very small town.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not even finished!\u201d<\/p>\n

He laughed, although it was an old joke. \u201cWell, the bridge will be finished one sun, and the Kellona\u2019s Hall, but stone work takes time. It\u2019s more finished than it was when we arrived. At least we have a proper mages\u2019 house now. But being the Drashona\u2019s daughter will open doors for you, Drina, even if she doesn\u2019t choose you as her heir.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to be chosen!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t, either. Fortunately, I became a mage, so the question never arose.\u201d<\/p>\n

That was interesting. \u201cCould I become a mage?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell\u2026 possibly. It\u2019s a lot of hard work. Five years of study to become a law scribe. Then, maybe, a mage, if you have the ability to work with magic directly. Do you want to? You\u2019ve never shown any interest before in what your mother and I do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI might. Because then I couldn\u2019t be the Drashona\u2019s heir, and I\u2019d be able to come back here to Mother, wouldn\u2019t I?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s hardly a good reason, Drina. Being a mage is a serious responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was a promising idea, but there\u2019d be five years of work and no guarantee at the end of it. I could surely think of a quicker way home.<\/p>\n

~~~~~<\/p>\n

The journey to Kingswell was a nightmare. I was lethargic and spiritless the whole way, and the weather didn\u2019t help. We had barely an hour of sunshine, and a dreary amount of rain. You would hardly know it was summer.<\/p>\n

If I\u2019d felt better, I\u2019d have quite enjoyed the impression we made as we swept through villages and small towns. The Drashona had sent a fine carriage for me, large enough that I could lie down if I wished, which I often did. The waiting woman sat in the carriage with me, and chattered on a great deal, but if I closed my eyes she said nothing at all, and that was fine.<\/p>\n

She dressed in a very grand style \u2013 floaty gowns with frills and flounces everywhere. Kingswell style, I supposed. I had a box full of new clothes in fine wools and soft linens, with delicate embroidery and tiny frills of lace, but all comfortable tunics and trousers. No gowns. Mother never wore a gown, and I wasn\u2019t going to, either.<\/p>\n

Then there was a mage, and her two guards, who rode behind us with Millan and Tisha, and an escort of eight of the Drashona\u2019s own guard, who rode in front in their gold-trimmed uniforms. And most important of all, a driver and his wife, who took Lathran under their wing and \u2013 praise all the gods! \u2013 let him sit at the front with them, and thereby kept him almost entirely out of my way.<\/p>\n

At last we reached Kingswell. I\u2019d never imagined such a vast place, with buildings reaching to the sky, and great, wide streets full of people and carts and mules and wagons and so much bustle and movement. When we clattered through the archway into the King\u2019s Keep, where I was to live, I felt energised by all the liveliness going on around me, and able to sit up and look about me.<\/p>\n

The King\u2019s Keep was the most famous building in the whole realm. Everyone knew of the eight octagonal towers and the great, red outer wall, which had never been breached by enemies. I\u2019d never imagined anything so vast. Each tower was several times larger than the Kellona\u2019s Hall at Zendronia, and the whole inner wall was dotted with windows, with washing hanging from lines and colourful boxes of flowers in vivid reds and yellows and purples.<\/p>\n

The inside of the Keep was just as busy as the town outside. Around the inner wall squatted stalls and low buildings \u2013 bakeries, stables, shops, board houses, craft workshops, taverns and other places I couldn\u2019t identify. I caught glimpses of gardens in the centre of the Keep, with flowers in straight lines, shrubs trimmed into balls and even the trees in neat rows. That was promising. I would have to explore when I was settled, and feel the earth on my fingers.<\/p>\n

As soon as we pulled up outside the Drashona\u2019s Tower, hordes of servants emerged to receive us. To receive me<\/em>. There was a chair contraption, with four men to carry it, so that I didn\u2019t have to walk at all. It was rather pleasant to sit in my chair and be lifted up the many stairs and along wide corridors, while the others scuttled along in my wake. I\u2019d not thought much about the benefits of high rank, because in truth nothing at all had changed, but if I were forced to swear by the Moon God, I\u2019d have to admit that I liked it.<\/p>\n

The Drashona was at some kind of formal reception with ambassadors or some such, so we were taken to a room to wait for her. The chairs were hard and uncomfortable, covered with a slippery kind of silk. I\u2019d never seen such elaborate furniture, all carved and decorated and painted in washed-out blues and greens. Even the ceiling had a picture on it. Another horde of servants brought out food and drink for us, so we sat and nibbled and gazed around in awe. Nobody spoke, except the waiting woman, who was used to it all, I supposed.<\/p>\n

Eventually, the Drashona came. She wasn\u2019t what I\u2019d expected. Even though I knew she had children younger than me, still I\u2019d imagined her quite old, grey and stooped, like the two sisters who came every spring to help with the festival cleaning, who called me \u2018dear one\u2019 and gave me sweeties one sun, and shouted at me the next, for unfathomable reasons. In the stories I\u2019d read, rulers of realms were always elderly. The Drashona was not elderly at all. She wasn\u2019t much older than Mother, although slimmer, with fair hair smoothed away under a lace cap and a silk gown trimmed with a lot more lace.<\/p>\n

\u201cAxandrina! Here you are at last,\u201d she began, but as I slithered off my chair and stood, her face changed, hands lifted to her mouth. \u201cOh, my poor child! You are so like your father.\u201d<\/p>\n

I was so taken aback that I forgot to make my bow. I only remembered when I saw the others bobbing down.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut how are you, my dear? Are you exhausted? We will take great care of you, be assured of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m fine, thank you\u2026 um, Most Powerful.\u201d<\/p>\n

She turned to the waiting woman. \u201cMarshalia? How has she been on the journey?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cQuite tired, Highness. She seems a little better just now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGood, good. Jayna? Have you examined her?\u201d<\/p>\n

Jayna was the mage. She had indeed examined me, more than once, and tried to heal me, too, muttering incantations over me and touching me here and there. As if that would help. My mother was the most powerful mage in the whole of Bennamore, a natural mage, with magic inside her, and if she couldn\u2019t heal me, no ordinary mage would help.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a confession to make, Axandrina,\u201d the Drashona said. \u201cI sent Jayna to accompany you because she has the power to detect when a person is lying. I wanted to know whether your illness is real or not.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s real,\u201d I said, outraged. How horrible, to trick me like that! I\u2019d thought Jayna was so nice, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cJayna?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe certainly is not lying, Highness. When she says she feels weak or tired, that is the truth. I could not find any abnormality that would account for it, but I hardly expected to. If Lady Mage Kyra could not find the root of the problem, no one could.\u201d<\/p>\n

I warmed to Jayna again. But it was still insulting to suggest that I\u2019d been malingering all these years and had even fooled my own mother.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course,\u201d the Drashona said. \u201cSo, Axandrina, you will have a sun or two to settle in and recover before you go to the mages\u2019 house for testing.\u201d<\/p>\n

That sounded ominous. \u201cTesting?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, child. You are the daughter of two Fire Mages. Naturally we want to find out what powers you have inherited.\u201d<\/p>\n

Well, that was promising. If I failed the mages\u2019 tests, perhaps she would send me home again.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n


\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/a>2: Books<\/h1>\n

The testing was very tedious. One mage after another came and poked and prodded me, gave me objects to hold, or asked me to do impossible things \u2013 as if I could make fire! Then they shook their heads and tutted and muttered together and shook their heads some more. But in the end they agreed that I had no innate magical ability at all.<\/p>\n

The Drashona took it well when the mages had to go to her and admit defeat. \u201cIt is not important. No doubt you have other talents, Axandrina.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo you aren\u2019t going to send me home then?\u201d I couldn\u2019t keep the disappointment out of my voice.<\/p>\n

She laughed merrily. \u201cBy no means. It would have been useful\u2026 but you are here because you are a possible heir for me. Kingswell is the only place where you can be properly trained for such a role, and where I can get to know you and you can get to know your family.\u201d<\/p>\n

That stung. \u201cBut you\u2019re not<\/em> my family! You aren\u2019t my mother, and my father is dead. It isn\u2019t fair to take me away from my real family.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt must indeed seem strange,\u201d she said equably. \u201cBut in this case, the law is being fair to me, if not to you. Claiming my husband\u2019s children allows me many more potential heirs. Women would be greatly disadvantaged otherwise, and we would have male rulers constantly.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat if I don\u2019t want to be your heir?\u201d I said. \u201cI could never run the whole realm, like you do.\u201d<\/p>\n

She wasn\u2019t deterred. \u201cNot yet, of course, but in ten years\u2019 time\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

Ten years! I didn\u2019t hear the rest of what she said. It was too appalling for words. I had to find a way to make her see I was quite unsuitable so she would send me home.<\/p>\n

~~~~~<\/p>\n

I had a grand apartment all to myself. There was a bedroom bigger than the one Mother and Cal had at home, with its own bathing room and separate water bucket room, some rooms for the servants, and a huge sitting room with a big table and comfortable chairs \u2013 much softer than the slippy ones in the Drashona\u2019s formal rooms. There were bookshelves, too, but they were all empty.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere can I get books to read?\u201d I\u2019d asked Marshalia, as she was showing me round.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh \u2013 I have no idea. I expect your tutors will give you books to read.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIsn\u2019t there a library? I\u2019m sure there must be one somewhere in a great building like this.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, of course, but\u2026 you should ask your tutors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not a great reader, Marshalia.<\/p>\n

My apartment \u2013 what fun to say that! A whole apartment to myself! My apartment was on the very top floor of the Drashona\u2019s Tower. Actually, she had two of the eight towers in the Keep all to herself, but one was only formal rooms for receiving petitioners and visiting dignitaries, and the other was for her and all her relations to live in. The Drashona\u2019s own rooms were very grand, but up there near the sky, the rooms were smaller and plainer.<\/p>\n

All the children lived there. They were brought to meet me one at a time, a sun apart, so as not to tire me out. None of them said a word to me. The two I\u2019d had such hopes of, Zandara and Axandor, who had the same father as me, were plain, wilting little things, stick-thin and so pale you\u2019d never know we were related at all. The other three were babies, and as yellow-haired as a cornfield. So that was a disappointment.<\/p>\n

But one afternoon, when I was supposed to be resting, the bedroom door creaked open and a head peeped round. Pressing a finger to her lips, she crept in and quietly closed the door behind her.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew you would not be sleeping! I am not disturbing you, am I?\u201d<\/p>\n

I shook my head. In truth, I could hardly be more glad to see her, for here at last was someone like me, someone else who was an oak amongst the birches. Although, to be honest, she was more delicate than I was, and prettier, with sparkling chestnut eyes and plump lips.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho are you? Why haven\u2019t I met you before?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy turn is supposed to be tomorrow, but I could not bear to wait! I am Vhar-zhin, and we are cousins. Well, in a way. My father is the Drashona\u2019s brother.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut who is your mother?\u201d I blurted. \u201cIs she Icthari, like my father?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, no, she came from the Nyi-Harn. Do you know of them?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course. The hill tribes to the north of the sun-blessed lands.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh. No one else knows where it is. You must be very clever. My father travelled from one coast to the other to find a wife, but he chose my mother,\u201d she said proudly. But then her face filled with sorrow. \u201cHe was so sad when she died.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sorry,\u201d I said. \u201cI expect everyone was sad about my father. He\u2019s dead, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI know,\u201d she said, looking at me oddly for a moment. Then, jumping onto the high bed beside me, she picked up the book I\u2019d been reading. \u201c\u00a0\u2018The History of the Plains of Kallanash: Volume 2\u2019.<\/em>\u201d She flicked through the pages. \u201cThis looks very dull. Have the tutors been setting you work already?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, I wanted to read it. It\u2019s all about the Petty Kings and their wars. It\u2019s very exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n

She stared disbelievingly at me. \u201cReally? Tell me something exciting from it, then.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cVery well. I\u2019ll tell you the story of Prince Ronnard and Princess Callinnia. That\u2019s my favourite.\u201d<\/p>\n

She rearranged the pillows so she could sit beside me, and settled down happily to listen.<\/p>\n

~~~~~<\/p>\n

Once I was deemed well enough, I was allowed to join in the normal activities of the King\u2019s Keep. It was an odd thing, but as soon as I\u2019d arrived, almost the instant the carriage had driven through the archway under the walls, I\u2019d begun to feel more energised. I\u2019d expected to fade away to nothing, as I had every other time I\u2019d been separated from Mother, but it didn\u2019t happen, and I felt better than I had for an age.<\/p>\n

I was to take lessons each morning, then a nap after the noon board, and the afternoons I spent with Millan and Tisha and, sadly, Lathran. We went to the gardens in the centre of the Keep, which was wonderfully restful, or wandered around the many stalls and shops lining the walls. When it was wet, we went to the mages\u2019 house, and played games of stones or bones, or calling games. Lathran was very bad at all of them. He hated sitting still.<\/p>\n

On rest-suns, we went out into the town beyond the Keep walls. Millan was river-born, but Tisha had hordes of kin at Kingswell, so we went to see a different branch of her family each time. They were fun, and there were generally enough fidgety boys to scoop up Lathran for some pretend fighting, and leave me with the girls. They didn\u2019t play games much, but I kept them quiet by telling them stories.<\/p>\n

All my lessons, I discovered, were to be held in the children\u2019s library. This had me very excited, until I saw it. A single room, not much bigger than my own sitting room, with the centre filled with individual desks and two walls lined from floor to ceiling with books.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs this all there are?\u201d I said, on my first morning there. \u201cI thought there would be a lot more books than this.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is more than enough for now,\u201d said Magister Abranda. She was quite young for a tutor, about Mother\u2019s age, but stern-faced. She had a nasal voice, and breathed through her mouth, which made her gape like a fish. \u201cYou can read any of these that seem interesting to you. Would you like to choose one to read now, Lady Axandrina? Then you might read aloud to us, so that we can assess your current level?\u201d<\/p>\n

With my old tutors, I would no doubt have accepted that for the time being, and wheedled what I wanted out of them later, when I\u2019d softened them up a bit. Tutors were easy enough to manipulate, if you were good at the work they set. But here I could be as rude as I wanted. With luck, they would report to the Drashona that I was obnoxiously uncooperative, and she would send me home in disgust.<\/p>\n

I pulled a few volumes at random from the shelves. \u201cThese are children\u2019s books.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, of course.\u201d The Magister tittered. \u201cThis is the children\u2019s<\/em> library.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAt Zendronia, I had access to the Kellona\u2019s library. It was quite small, though. You must have a bigger library somewhere. Can\u2019t I use that?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cChildren are not permitted in the Keep library,\u201d she said repressively. \u201cNo one is, without demonstrating a need. We cannot have just anyone looking at the books, you know.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy ever not? And how do I demonstrate my need?\u201d<\/p>\n

She looked me up and down, and I could see her mind scratching round for a way to deny me, without an outright refusal. Then she smiled. \u201cWhen you have read every volume of \u2018The Child\u2019s Complete Description of The World\u2019<\/em> in this room, then you may ask to use the Keep library.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere may I find these volumes?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the appropriate sections, naturally.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhich are\u2014 Oh, it\u2019s a game! Excellent!\u201d<\/p>\n

I would have rushed off at once to begin the search for these mysterious volumes, but that would have been too much fun for Magister Abranda to allow me, so I had to read out loud, and then do number work for the rest of the morning.<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t take me long to work out the system. There were more than twenty children being tutored, aged from seven or eight up to twelve, and only three or four tutors at any one time. Each of us would be set some work to do, the slate examined by one or other of the tutors, and then we\u2019d be given another problem to work on. But inevitably there were periods of inactivity waiting for a tutor to be free. In those times, we were allowed to read, or to choose a book.<\/p>\n

Naturally, I tore through my work and then dashed off to search for the volumes that would give me the key to the wonderful library for adults. Vhar-zhin was my enthusiastic aide in this enterprise, either helping me search, or keeping the tutors occupied to give me more time. I suspected that one or two of the other tutors were furtively assisting me, too, when they could, by distracting Magister Abranda, or, once, actually pointing to one of the volumes lurking on a low shelf. It would have been an easy task if I could have searched the room at other times, or taken the books away to read, but perhaps that would also have spoiled the fun somewhat.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t suppose Magister Abranda intended it that way, but setting me such a challenge was exactly the right way to help me settle in. If I hadn\u2019t burned with the desire to win the game, I would have been desperately unhappy for those first few moons at Kingswell. I\u2019d never been so far from home before, or away for so long, and I missed my family with a passion. I even thought fondly of Markell and Sallorna, which shows how bad things were. Mother and Cal both wrote to me regularly, and several of Cal\u2019s family, too, and I wrote back, filling sheet after sheet with trivial details that must have cost a fortune to send.<\/p>\n

Vhar-zhin was my saviour, a friend who listened uncomplainingly to every whiny rant of mine, and there were a lot of rants. She explained Keep customs to me, showed me the secret ways to get about or to hide, taught me how to manage the supercilious servants and often crept into my bed at night and hugged me when I cried myself to sleep. I don\u2019t know what I\u2019d have done without her.<\/p>\n

~~~~~<\/p>\n

It was well into autumn when I finished reading the final volume. I went triumphantly to Magister Abranda. The whole room fell silent, a score of faces turned to watch, like sunroses following the sun.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd how many volumes did you find?\u201d she asked sweetly.<\/p>\n

An easy question. \u201cNineteen, Magister.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think you will find that there are twenty volumes in the set, Lady Axandrina.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is correct, but the volume on languages and scripts is missing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her eyes narrowed. \u201cIf it is missing, how do you know what is in it?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is referenced more than once in the two volumes on societies and customs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, then, you still have one more book to read, I believe.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it is not in this room, Magister, and you only said that I had to read every volume that was in this room.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHow dare you answer back!\u201d She caught her temper quickly, and gave me a sickly smile. \u201cBut I suppose we must make allowances for one with your background. The matter is closed. When you have read all twenty volumes, you may raise this subject again.\u201d<\/p>\n

With a look of exultation, she turned away.<\/p>\n

I could hardly breathe. It was so unfair! But she was not likely to be swayed by tears or pleading. Perhaps there was another way?<\/p>\n

I cleared my throat, and said loudly, \u201cI wish to appeal to a higher authority.\u201d<\/p>\n

She turned back to me with a face like a storm-cloud. \u201cOnly criminals have that right.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd petitioners, Magister. I am a petitioner whose petition has been denied. I claim the right of appeal to a higher authority.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe that I<\/em> am the highest authority there is, Lady Axandrina.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHigher than the Drashona?\u201d<\/p>\n

She laughed harshly, like a frog croaking. \u201cYou may appeal to the Drashona, for all the good it will do you.\u201d<\/p>\n

So I decided I would do just that.<\/p>\n

All six of the Drashona\u2019s legal children spent an hour with her most suns, after her afternoon duties were over and before she dashed off to prepare for some grand banquet or ceremony or other. She was always busy, but for that hour she made it seem as if she had all the time in the world for us.<\/p>\n

She would settle the three babies first, getting down on the floor to show them a game, or cuddling the littlest one on her knee. Then she would ask the three eldest what we\u2019d been doing. We were almost the same age, the three of us, and had the same father, but we could hardly have been more different.<\/p>\n

Zandara, the Drashona\u2019s own daughter, was always quick to recite a list of her lessons. She never said a word to me, although I often caught her watching me, her face as impenetrable as her mother\u2019s. She was quiet with the tutors, too, although she did her work quickly and was much praised by them. But when her mother was there, she became voluble, describing her accomplishments without embellishment, as glibly as if she had rehearsed them.<\/p>\n

Axandor was Marshalia\u2019s son, and he was an idiot. He had no accomplishments to describe, other than broken slates and grazed elbows and torn books, so he lied openly, as if the Drashona wouldn\u2019t know. And when he was caught out, he wasn\u2019t at all ashamed.<\/p>\n

On one of these occasions, I explained what had happened with Magister Abranda.<\/p>\n

The Drashona listened solemnly. \u201cI think perhaps Magister Abranda does not like to be challenged by her pupils, Axandrina. You will be able to use the Keep library when you are an adult, and the Imperial Library, too, if you wish and the mages permit. Patience is a wonderful quality to develop.\u201d<\/p>\n

There was still a year before I turned thirteen and became an adult. I wasn\u2019t going to wait that long if I could help it. Besides, with any luck I\u2019d be home by then.<\/p>\n

\u201cI should like a legal ruling, that is all, Highness. The Magister made a contract with me, and now I believe she is\u2026 is reneging<\/em> on that.\u201d<\/p>\n

She smiled, and for one ghastly moment, I thought I\u2019d used the wrong word. I\u2019d heard it often enough, but I wasn\u2019t entirely sure what it meant. But she went on, \u201cA legal ruling? I can give you my opinion, if you wish. I will attend your lessons when I can spare the time, and you and Magister Abranda may each present your case. Then I will give you my opinion. But it will not have the force of law. Magister Abranda must make the rules in her own domain, just as I do in mine.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you, Highness, that is all I ask,\u201d I said demurely, trying not to appear too exultant.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd, Axandrina, perhaps you might like to call me something less formal? My own children call me Mother, of course, but Axandor calls me Yannassia. You may, too, if you wish.\u201d<\/p>\n

I looked at her, trying to judge the implications of that. I could never call her Mother, any more than I could call Cal Father, but using her name seemed a little casual to me. She was the supreme ruler of the realm, after all. And she was still being formal with me.<\/p>\n

\u201cPerhaps when you call me Drina, I will call you Yannassia, Highness.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n


\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/a>3: The Icthari Delegation<\/h1>\n

It was more than a ten-sun before the Drashona appeared in the children\u2019s library, creating a bit of a stir, and some crowding, for she always had a retinue with her. Her bodyguard was never more than two paces from her side, and then there were a couple of mages and some scribes and several waiting women.<\/p>\n

A chair was found for her, and the others were shuffled to the back of the room, apart from the bodyguard, who stood eyeing us all suspiciously in case a child or a tutor produced a knife. I suppose a bodyguard can never afford to relax. The moment you stop watching might be the moment an assassin appears.<\/p>\n

The Magister graciously allowed me to present my case first. I suspect she thought that would flummox me, but I\u2019d watched any number of petitions, and worse things, at the Kellona\u2019s Hall at home. My mother or Cal always had to be there, because, just like Jayna, they could tell when people lied. Since the sessions were public, I\u2019d often gone along too.<\/p>\n

So I told my tale, just the plain unembroidered facts, and then listened while Magister Abranda tried not very successfully to control her temper at having to submit her actions to the Drashona\u2019s judgment.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a most interesting case,\u201d the Drashona said at the end of it. \u201cNot least because of the matter of the missing book. If it is not in this room, then where can it be?\u201d<\/p>\n

The Magister smirked. \u201cThere are a great many books here. I have no doubt it will be found in this room somewhere, Most Powerful.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, I believe not, for Axandrina has examined every book. I feel that we should institute a more extensive search. Do you not agree, Magister?\u201d<\/p>\n

The Magister was silent. She licked her lips, but could find nothing to say. Strangely, until that moment, it hadn\u2019t occurred to me that she might have hidden the book herself. I\u2019d just assumed that she knew it was missing and so had set me a deliberately impossible task.<\/p>\n

But if there was a search, and the book was found in her room, that would be a very serious offence. Thievery in a Magister would cause her to lose her position. I looked from the Drashona to the Magister and back again. The Drashona\u2019s face was unreadable to me. Was she serious about this?<\/p>\n

But she backed away from it. \u201cPerhaps you can take the necessary steps, Magister.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Magister bowed, but her hands were shaking. At that moment, I felt sorry for her, even though she\u2019d brought it on herself.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere is my opinion,\u201d the Drashona went on. \u201cI believe that Lady Axandrina correctly met the standard of the test as it was set \u2013 to read every volume in this room. This she did.\u201d<\/p>\n

I glowed with triumph. I had won!<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Is there any word more depressing to hear? My heart sank to the floor in an instant.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever\u2026 this would only entitle her to ask<\/em> to be admitted to the Keep library. That was the arrangement, I believe. So you may ask, Axandrina, but it is for the Magister to decide whether to make the request on your behalf, since you are not yet adult.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I have no intention of doing so,\u201d the Magister crowed.<\/p>\n

\u201cCouldn\u2019t you<\/em> ask for me, Highness?\u201d I said. \u201cThe librarians would have to do it, then.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhich is exactly why I cannot. I, of all people, must conform to the rules. No special cases.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was a huge disappointment. I\u2019d done everything I could, and proved my case to the Drashona, but it hadn\u2019t been enough.<\/p>\n

\u201cNever mind,\u201d she said to me in a low voice as she was preparing to leave. \u201cThe next year will pass very quickly, and then you will have all the books you could want.\u201d<\/p>\n

But I had no intention of staying around for so long. The game had been fun, but now it was time to think seriously of a way to get myself sent home.<\/p>\n

~~~~~<\/p>\n

\u201cI have some news for you,\u201d the Drashona said to us at one of her afternoon hours with the children. \u201cThere is a group of Icthari arriving soon, and I shall be receiving them formally in the assembly room. They would be pleased to meet you, I believe, so I should like you all to attend.\u201d<\/p>\n

Axandor looked at the baby, who was chewing a wooden horse and dribbling. \u201cEven Yussia?\u201d He was such an idiot.<\/p>\n

I rolled my eyes at his stupidity, and even Zandara shook her head, but the Drashona never showed any impatience with him. \u201cNo, just Zandara, Axandrina and you. The little ones are of no consequence to the Icthari. You three are different. Your father was Icthari, so it will interest them greatly to see how you are growing up. I am afraid it will be quite dull for you, since they only speak Icthari, so everything will be done through an interpreter. You will have to wear a gown for the occasion, Axandrina.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMay I wear an azai? My mother always does, for formal things.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember that. Yes, it would be acceptable, on this occasion, but if the Icthari invite you to any of the evening feasts, a gown would be more appropriate. You need to accustom yourself to managing skirts for when you are adult.\u201d<\/p>\n

I hoped I wouldn\u2019t be around long enough for that.<\/p>\n

To my delight, we were allowed to be present for the entire assembly. We sat on chairs on the lowest step of the dais, saying nothing, while a long procession of petitioners and delegates came and went. The Drashona was the same to everybody, from the new High Priest to the Sun Temple down to the apprentice stablehand who felt she\u2019d been dismissed unfairly. She never made anyone feel rushed or inadequate or unimportant.<\/p>\n

That was why she was Drashona, I suppose, by being good at such things. I could never have been so patient with the merchant who was obviously not telling the whole truth, or the smith who was too terrified to say anything at all. The Kellona at Zendronia was very short-tempered, and if she got an awkward case, with a petitioner who argued or got flustered, she would flounce out and then everyone would have to come back another sun. Cal used to get so cross about it. \u201cAs if we have nothing better to do,\u201d he\u2019d storm.<\/p>\n

The Icthari should have been seen first because of their importance, but they were late, so there was a new Durshalon first, and then an ambassador from Ghar\u2019annish, then one of our ambassadors just returned from the Blood Clans where she\u2019d been witness to the crowning of their new god. Crowning or whatever they do when they find a god living amongst them. Exaltation, I think it was called. And the god sounded just like an ordinary boy to me. They had some kind of ceremony for the children when they became adults \u2013 something involving blood, naturally \u2013 and this particular boy, who was perfectly normal before, became a god. It all sounded very peculiar. I made a mental note to ask the tutors about it.<\/p>\n

Then the Icthari turned up, drifting through in a straggling group, chattering amongst themselves, very rudely, I thought. I\u2019d read about the Icthari, of course, and even seen a few pictures in books, but I\u2019d longed to see some in the flesh. These were my kin! Well, perhaps not these exact people, but they came from the same place as my father. At last I\u2019d get some idea of what he looked like.<\/p>\n

They were not what I\u2019d expected. My mother had told me that my father was handsome and always perfectly dressed. He\u2019d had great style, she said. These people were neither handsome nor stylish. Their clothes looked like rags, slashed and torn, although perhaps that was the fashion where they came from. And their faces were harsh, with thin noses like beaks. They looked a bit like crows, their fluttering clothes raggedy feathers.<\/p>\n

But the Drashona was wrong about one thing, they weren\u2019t speaking Icthari at all. I could understand everything they said.<\/p>\n

When they reached the foot of the dais, they stopped chattering and made small bows to the Drashona.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are welcome to Kingswell and to Bennamore,\u201d she said in her pleasant way.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe welcomes you\u2026 but quite coldly,\u201d one of the Icthari said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSay we are happy\u2026 the usual things,\u201d one of the others said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are very happy to be in your delightful country,\u201d the first one said, more loudly.<\/p>\n

\u201cTell her the weather here is shit.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOur accommodation is exceptionally comfortable. The Great One is most pleased.\u201d<\/p>\n

I couldn\u2019t make it out at all. It was the oddest conversation I\u2019d ever heard.<\/p>\n

The Drashona spoke again. \u201cThese are the three children of your kinsman, Most Powerful Axandrei, son of the Hal Morinth deshat Shernfashat.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are the traitor\u2019s spawn,\u201d the first Icthari said.<\/p>\n

The Drashona again. \u201cThe eldest is Lady Axandrina, daughter of Lady Mage Kyra abra Dayna endor Durmaston.\u201d<\/p>\n

Traitor? My father? I was so flummoxed that I almost forgot to rise and make my bow.<\/p>\n

The second Icthari spoke. \u201cThis one is well-grown. She will have fine tits in a year or two.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then the first. \u201cYour daughter will be a great beauty when she is fully grown.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then Axandor and Zandara were introduced, with the same rude comments from one man, while the other made the sort of bland diplomatic noises that were usual on such occasions. Yet nobody seemed shocked or surprised by any of it.<\/p>\n

I was very slow to work it out. It was only when I remembered that there was supposed to be an interpreter that I realised. The bland comments came from him. And the other man was speaking Icthari, yet somehow I could understand him.<\/p>\n

I sat rigid with shock for the rest of the assembly, as petitioners came forward, were dealt with and vanished again. Afterwards, when there was food and drink served for the high-ranking visitors, I crept near enough to the Icthari to listen in to their conversation. They were standing in a line along one wall, looking out over the room.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat one is not bad.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhich one? The one in red?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, no! Too skinny and a face like a donkey. No, the one in gold. Look at the tits on that! Find out if she will lift her skirts, will you? Or her friend with the red hair. She looks lively.\u201d<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t stay to hear any more.<\/p>\n

~~~~~<\/p>\n

I had a letter from Cal to tell me that he was coming to see me. I supposed he had business in Kingswell, but he made it sound as if I was the sole purpose of his visit.<\/p>\n

This galvanised me into action. There could hardly be a better time to get myself sent home, for then I could travel with him and not have to wait for an escort. A mage with his own guards was more than adequate.<\/p>\n

The difficulty was to find some way to prove myself unsuitable to be the Drashona\u2019s heir.<\/p>\n

I was very glad to see him. Cal was not my father, but he had never been anything but kind to me. So when I saw his beaming face and he opened his arms to me, I flew into them and hugged him enthusiastically.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, now, petal, it\u2019s so good to see you!\u201d he said, as soon as I stopped squeezing the breath out of him. \u201cAnd you have splendid rooms. What a fine view from up here, right down to the gardens.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd a balcony, so I can get plenty of sunshine.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTrue. But are you really well? Your mother and I could hardly believe it when we read your letters. And Yannassia\u2019s reports, too. You\u2019re not overdoing it, are you?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, not at all. I don\u2019t run around as much as Lathran does, but I feel fine.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cKingswell must be good for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Cal went off to do magely things, I pondered my problem again. What would make me unacceptable to the Drashona? Stupidly, I had been very well-behaved so far. It would be tricky to change my attitude now.<\/p>\n

No, I needed to do something outrageous, like starting a fire. Well, that could be dangerous, so perhaps not. But water \u2013 that was a possibility.<\/p>\n

A flood, perhaps? Just a small one, nothing too drastic. There were water pipes in the bathing room with valves that opened to fill the tub. If they were left open, the tub would overflow and the water would flow out of the bathing room and down the servants\u2019 stairs. There would be no damage to the stone stairs, but it would cause so much disruption! The servants would not be able to get up or down, and all the apartments served by those stairs would get evening board late, if at all. Everyone would be cross with me! Yannassia would have to realise I was too badly behaved to stay with her.<\/p>\n

So as soon as the servants left to have their meal, I went through to the bathing room and opened all the valves on the water pipes. As the tub slowly filled, I quietly left the apartment.<\/p>\n

~~~~~<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you see what you have done, Axandrina?\u201d The Drashona\u2019s voice was calm, as if I hadn\u2019t just sent a waterfall cascading through eight floors of the Keep. \u201cDo you see how much damage there is?\u201d<\/p>\n

In truth, I was appalled. I\u2019d imagined gentle streams running quietly through the corridors and down the stairs, which wouldn\u2019t have suffered one bit. A nuisance, no more than that.<\/p>\n

But this\u2026 entire ceilings had crashed down. Carpets were ruined, and wall hangings and furnishings. Books had been washed away in the tide, to my great grief. It was a miracle no one had been hurt.<\/p>\n

The Drashona had brought me and the even more appalled Cal to see the army of servants beginning the task of cleaning up. \u201cDo you see how much work you have caused?\u201d she said sadly.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am very sorry,\u201d I whispered. I\u2019d have preferred it if she\u2019d shouted at me, stamped about and waved her arms and ranted a bit, as any normal person would. This calmness was unnatural.<\/p>\n

She took us back to her private apartment, with only her bodyguard as witness, and offered me sweetmeats which I was too choked with misery to eat. For herself and Cal, she poured wine.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, Axandrina, I want you to answer me one question, and you must tell the truth, do you understand?\u201d<\/p>\n

I nodded mutely.<\/p>\n

\u201cGood. The truth, then, and I shall know if you lie. Did you leave the water to run deliberately, or was it an accident?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDeliberately, Highness. But I am very sorry. I never meant to cause so much harm.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut why? What did you hope to achieve?\u201d<\/p>\n

I chewed my lip, but there was no point in prevarication. If nothing else, I wanted her to know how determined I was about this.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought if I did something bad, you wouldn\u2019t want me as your heir. And then I could go home to Mother.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, Drina,\u201d Cal said sorrowfully.<\/p>\n

But the Drashona smiled. \u201cDo you know what qualities I am looking for in my children, Axandrina? What makes one or another of you interesting to me as a potential heir?\u201d<\/p>\n

I shook my head.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, it is not good<\/em> behaviour, that much is certain. It is not docility. I have no interest in a child who is meek and always does exactly as she is told.\u201d Did she mean Zandara? I wasn\u2019t sure she was quite as meek as she appeared, but she was certainly well-behaved.<\/p>\n

\u201cNor am I interested in foolishness,\u201d she went on. Well, that was Axandor out, as well. Bother. That left me, of the three eldest. \u201cIf you had simply forgotten the water \u2013 that would have been foolish. No, I look for intelligence. Not just book-cleverness, but the sort of mind that looks for alternative ways to solve problems. Diplomatic ways. Most of all, I am looking for someone with spirit, someone who makes things happen. Even if that might be quite unconventional. Can you see why you interest me, Drina?\u201d<\/p>\n

So she was choosing to interpret my bad behaviour as creativity, the work of an original mind. I sighed.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut Highness, I don\u2019t want<\/em> to be your heir.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was Cal who answered. \u201cBut what is it you object to? Don\u2019t you like it here, Drina? You sound very settled from your letters. You have a friend, you like the book-work, you\u2019ve always enjoyed the formal aspects. And you\u2019re so well here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, that is most encouraging,\u201d the Drashona said. \u201cI do not understand it, but it is a good sign, I think. Drina\u2019s health was always my greatest concern.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cKyra thinks it may be the magic here,\u201d he said. \u201cThe whole town is steeped in it, emanating from the Imperial City, but the Keep has some magical properties too. It may be that Drina is benefiting from that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhatever the cause, she is well here, and for that reason alone she should stay. But I cannot have the Keep half destroyed because you miss your mother, Drina. You like challenges, so here is another one for you. You can exclude yourself from consideration as my heir by making yourself indispensable to the realm in some other way.\u201d<\/p>\n

I sat up straighter. \u201cI could be a mage!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat would certainly be one way. Mages renounce their inheritance rights when they achieve that status, so you could not possibly be my heir.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I could go home to Zendronia?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat would be one option. But it will be hard work. Kingswell has no scribery with organised training, so you would have to study with tutors and books. Five years of such study.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t mind that. Will you let me try?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, if you wish it. You will have to wait a year until you reach thirteen, but then you may try.\u201d<\/p>\n

Finally, something I could work towards that would, in time, get me away from the Drashona\u2019s clutches. I didn\u2019t notice at the time how cleverly she\u2019d manoeuvred me into staying quite happily in Kingswell.<\/p>\n

And in all the excitement, I forgot to mention my unexpected ability to understand Icthari.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n


\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/a>4: A Setback<\/h1>\n

FIVE YEARS LATER<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Master\u2019s eyes were wide with fear. \u201cIt is quite true, Most Powerful. I am so sorry, but\u2026 but I had<\/em> to tell you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a lie<\/em>!\u201d I hissed. \u201cHow can such a thing even be possible? It cannot<\/em> be true!\u201d<\/p>\n

Yannassia raised one hand to placate me. \u201cDrina, calm yourself. No one would invent such a tale. Please, sit down. You too, Master. Let us discuss this rationally.\u201d<\/p>\n

She threw me a worried glance, as if doubting my ability to be rational just then. Perhaps she was right. How could I be calm at such a moment? My entire future was at stake.<\/p>\n

The Master perched on the edge of her chair, quivering with distress. Poor Luciana! She had taken me under her wing in my very first moon of study, had encouraged my zeal and glowed with pride at my successes.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d enjoyed it, too. The legal side was all book-learning and I had no trouble with that at all. It was a delight to spend so much time in the library, books heaped up around me, my fingers inky from taking copious notes. And the spellpages were easier than I\u2019d expected, just a matter of careful attention to detail to be sure the variances and additional symbols were correctly scribed.<\/p>\n

In my four years of learning, I\u2019d never failed the Master before. Now she insisted that I had failed so spectacularly that there was no place there for me any longer.<\/p>\n

For what was the purpose of a scribe whose spellpages lost their magic?<\/p>\n

I took a deep breath. There was no point in anger, and it was not Luciana\u2019s fault, after all. She was the bearer of bad tidings, not the cause of them. It was the two mages sitting quietly across the room who had identified the problem.<\/p>\n

\u201cGood,\u201d Yannassia said, watching me master my emotions. \u201cNow, Lady Mage Jayna, would you be so good as to explain it to me, from the beginning?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, Most Powerful. It was the Scribing House where Highness Axandrina practised which first alerted us to the problem. They found customers for spellpages started to avoid her. Sometimes, they even went away and came back when she was not there, to be sure of getting a different scribe. When asked, they said that her spellpages did not work.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIs that common? To have a favourite scribe, or to avoid a particular one?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh yes. People are very superstitious. If one spellpage fails, they will choose a different scribe next time, or sometimes a different Scribing House. And it is not uncommon for spells to fail, or work less well than expected. With magic, nothing is guaranteed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut this was more than that?\u201d<\/p>\n

Jayna nodded, throwing me a sympathetic glance. I had noticed it myself, to be honest. When I\u2019d first started working at the Scribing House in my free time, customers had flocked to buy spellpages scribed by the Drashona\u2019s daughter. But lately, the stream of silver had slowed to a trickle. I hadn\u2019t taken much notice at first, since I hardly needed the money and only went there to practise my skills. But lately I\u2019d passed hours at a time without a customer, even when the other scribes were busy.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo we checked Highness Axandrina\u2019s spellpages, and that was when we discovered that they had no magic in them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is the part that makes no sense,\u201d I said, forcing myself to speak in reasonable tones. \u201cI always used the spelled paper, ink and quill. I scribed each spell correctly, I am certain. How can there be no magic in them?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do not understand it ourselves,\u201d Jayna said. \u201cOur archivists are looking for precedents, but no one can ever recall hearing of such a thing before.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd you are quite certain?\u201d Yannassia said. \u201cThe spellpages have been thoroughly examined?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cQuite certain. There are several of us who can detect the magic directly. We can give Drina\u2026 Highness Axandrina the spelled materials and watch her scribe the spellpage, and when we take it from her, there is no magic.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThen where does the magic go to?\u201d<\/p>\n

But the mages had no answer.<\/p>\n

~~~~~<\/p>\n

That was the end of my scribing studies. There was no longer any purpose to it. I was still officially a contract scribe, no one could take that away from me, and in theory I could complete the full five years to become a law scribe, but what would be the point? My sole objective had been to make myself a mage and so put myself beyond Yannassia\u2019s reach, and that was now impossible.<\/p>\n

It was Vhar-zhin who bore the brunt of my bewilderment and frustration. Vhar-zhin, my friend and confidante, my supporter in all things. I stormed back to the apartment we shared, and she held me while I wept and raged and wept again.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will find something else for you to do,\u201d she whispered into my hair. \u201cThere must be something we can think of.\u201d<\/p>\n

But I could not. For five years I had worked tirelessly towards this one end, and now I found I had wasted my time. I might as well have sat with Vhar-zhin and her waiting women, embroidering and weaving and painting and practising complicated music.<\/p>\n

I missed the mages\u2019 house, where I\u2019d had my own little study room, full of books. I missed the mages, bustling in and out to discuss a difficult set of variances, or the tricky sub-clauses of a trading agreement. Mostly, I missed having my hours full, each with its appointed task, and none of it to do with ruling Bennamore.<\/p>\n

What was I to do now? The need to go home, to be back where I belonged, burned in me brighter than ever. When I could absorb myself in my studies, and work towards my release, I could push the longing to the back of my mind. But now I was reminded of the great void in my life. It was not Zendronia I yearned for, I knew that; it was the very heart of my life, my mother. I was like a plant uprooted and tossed aside. Without that basic connection to her \u2013 to her magic<\/em> \u2013 I would fade away and die.<\/p>\n

Yannassia left me alone for a few suns to cool my temper before summoning me. She saw me in one of her private chambers between formal engagements, wearing her ruler\u2019s attire, a gown so layered in lace and gold trimming, it was a wonder she could move. Yet she was alone, apart from her bodyguard, and from her manner you would have thought she had all the time in the world. It was an art, the way she did that, her focus so intent that you felt you were the only person she cared about. And perhaps that was her secret: for that small fraction of time, you were indeed all she cared about, everything else set aside.<\/p>\n

She made no attempt to console me. \u201cIt is very disconcerting, to be sure, since no one seems to know the cause of this difficulty. However, the mages are investigating and if there is a solution, they will find it, you may be sure. Or if not, then you will in time find some other occupation which suits you. In the meantime, we must find a way for you to fill the hours. You are very welcome to attend me whenever I have business that appeals to you. Your advice is always refreshing.\u201d<\/p>\n

That sounded too close to training for heirdom to me, and therefore something to be avoided.<\/p>\n

\u201cOr you might find the mirror room interesting,\u201d she went on, ignoring my silence. \u201cAll the important messages pass through there.\u201d<\/p>\n

The mirrors were a means of communicating between the scriberies in different towns. Pairs of mirrors were magically linked, so that a message from Ardamurkan or Yannitore would appear on a mirror in Kingswell, to be copied by a scribe. Then a reply could be written onto another mirror to be read at once many marks away.<\/p>\n

Kingswell\u2019s mirrors had come from the Imperial City\u2019s scribery, now empty and unused. The Imperial City was full of such curiosities, lingering from an age lost in history. The whole place was steeped in magic far beyond our present skills. Mother and Cal talked of its many wonders \u2013 the fountains which played just for them, the flowers that bloomed and released their perfume as they passed by, and lamps that brightened and darkened all by themselves. But it was full of traps for the unwary. Only mages were safe there, and even they had to be careful.<\/p>\n

So the mirrors had been brought to the safety of the Keep. There were still a few mirrors left behind in the Imperial City, though. Broken, the mages said, but Cal thought they communicated with scriberies now lost to us. I liked to think of them hidden deep in the southern forests, known only to deer and foxes.<\/p>\n

The mirror room was of interest to me, and I brightened at the thought. It was so full of magic, the air practically crackled with it.<\/p>\n

But there were other sources of magic. \u201cMight I take a trip away? It is two years since I have been to Zendronia to see my mother.\u201d<\/p>\n

She hesitated. \u201cPerhaps, but without some reason to return, you might linger on and be caught by the snows.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are several moons away from the worst weather,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a long journey for you, Drina. You were exhausted after your last visit home.\u201d<\/p>\n

That was true. I fell silent, chewing my lip, struggling to find a reason to go home.<\/p>\n

She went on, \u201cSome time away from Kingswell might do you good, but what is needed, I believe, is something more constructive. I have had an approach from the Blood Clans. Their boy god is making friendly overtures to us, and there is a hint that he would consider a Bennamorian wife.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNot me!\u201d<\/p>\n

She heard the horror in my voice, for she smiled. \u201cNo, not you. Unless you take a fancy to him, of course. He is said to be a handsome boy, and very charming. But then, he has his own people crawling at his feet, so I suppose a certain magnetism is to be expected.\u201d<\/p>\n

I tried to reconcile this pleasant image with the bloodthirsty ways of the Clans, and failed.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, I was thinking of Vhar-zhin,\u201d she went on. \u201cShe is seventeen now, and has no interests beyond the refined arts. To be truthful, I cannot imagine what we are to do with her. What do you think? Would such a husband suit her, do you suppose?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThese people are savages, Highness. I cannot see Vhar-zhin stitching away at her tapestry or playing the querolo in such a setting.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reports we get are mixed, on the matter of savagery. They are not quite running around the hills in blue paint and feathers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut illiterate, and they live amongst half-wild animals. Their customs are\u2026 bizarre.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI daresay they think the same of us.\u201d But she raised her hands to concede the point. \u201cI should like you to go anyway, you and Vhar-zhin. They have asked for an official delegation to meet them at the northwestern border fortress. They have a permanent camp there, for trading purposes and formal celebrations. Discuss the matter of a wife for the boy god, but without making any commitment. See what type of people they are, what they want from us, what we might want from them. Their inner lake is surrounded by mineral-rich hills which would be most useful. They have the black-bark tree, which grows nowhere else. Or fishing, furs \u2013 you know the sort of thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

I did. It was depressing how much of Yannassia\u2019s teaching I had absorbed over the years, when I\u2019d had no idea that there was any teaching going on. Sitting on my chair at the foot of the dais, listening and watching, and discussing it afterwards with her, I\u2019d become the diplomat I\u2019d been determined never to be.<\/p>\n

Even now, when I was fully aware that I was being quietly manoeuvred into a more active political role, I was still energised by the prospect of the trip. The Blood Clans, like all our more primitive neighbours, were fascinating. And it would only be a matter of suns, and then I could get back to plotting my escape.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you think he will like me?\u201d Vhar-zhin said, as we prepared for bed that evening.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow could he not?\u201d I said, and laughed as she blushed prettily. I couldn\u2019t imagine any man not liking her, sweet and dainty and shy as she was. And pretty, too, much prettier than me, with her glossy black hair that fell like a waterfall to her waist, without a wayward curl anywhere. I loved brushing her hair, letting it run through my fingers like silk.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe might like you more,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had better not!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut you<\/em> might like him<\/em>. He is a god, so he must surely be handsome beyond the mortal range, and tall, with lots of manly muscles and a twinkle in his eye when he looks at you. Like a certain bodyguard.\u201d<\/p>\n

She giggled, and I tapped her with the hairbrush. \u201cStop it, you wicked girl. You know he never meant anything to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

But only because he\u2019d never had the chance. He was a fine-bodied man, with a smile to melt my heart, and he\u2019d been my bodyguard for one all-too-brief period until we were caught kissing in the poetry translations section of the Keep library. To my sorrow, I\u2019d had a female bodyguard since then, but I still had certain dreams of him.<\/p>\n

Whatever this boy god was like, I was sure he couldn\u2019t compare to my lovely bodyguard.<\/p>\n

~~~~~<\/p>\n

Our journey to the northwest was on horseback, since the paved roads petered out into rutted tracks a few suns\u2019 ride beyond Kingswell. We passed two substantial towns, then a succession of ever-smaller settlements before reaching the remains of the High Citadel, the home of the Three Princes who had first settled Bennamore so many generations ago. They had come from the far north for reasons lost in history, and driven out the nomads and wild men of the hills, building their towers and keeps on fertile land along the river. Both river and princes were long gone now, their great town empty and silent.<\/p>\n

There was a substantial inn just beyond the Citadel, enclosed by a high wall and manned by watchful guards, and here we stopped for our last night on Bennamore soil.<\/p>\n

I slid thankfully off my horse, my legs heavy and stiff. We had not been riding hard, but I was exhausted. I\u2019d forgotten how tired I got whenever I left Kingswell.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am going to see if this place can drum up enough hot water for a bath,\u201d Vhar-zhin said. \u201cComing?\u201d Then she caught sight of my face as I unwound my scarves. \u201cDrina, you poor thing! You look shattered. Here, lean on me. You there! Where is our room?\u201d<\/p>\n

The inn manager led us up stairs and along erratic passageways, spinning round every three steps to be sure I hadn\u2019t expired. She threw open a door and waved us through. A bed! I collapsed onto it in relief.<\/p>\n

\u201cSend up some food,\u201d Vhar-zhin told the manager. \u201cFruit, something light. Soup, perhaps, with meat in it. And hot wine, if you have some.\u201d<\/p>\n

A tap on the door, followed by murmured voices, someone talking to my bodyguard.<\/p>\n

Then Vhar-zhin\u2019s gentle tones. \u201cDrina? Will you let Jayna look at you?\u201d<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t mind that. A burst of magic from a mage always helped a bit, even if it didn\u2019t last, and Jayna\u2019s magic was strong, almost as strong as my mother\u2019s.<\/p>\n

She bustled in and picked up my hand. With Mother, there was always an immediate warmth, but then she was a natural mage, with her magic inside her, coiled up in readiness like a snake. Other mages had to summon magic from a vessel, so it took time. But Jayna was quick, and I was soon sitting up again.<\/p>\n

\u201cAh, now you have a better colour,\u201d Vhar-zhin said. \u201cDoes travelling always have this effect on you? Perhaps we should rest here for a couple of suns, until you are recovered.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt makes no difference,\u201d I said. \u201cI will not recover fully until we return to Kingswell.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThen we must continue as planned,\u201d she said. \u201cBut we will keep our visit as short as possible. And when we return, I will tell Aunt Yannassia that you must not be sent away again. I cannot bear to see you like this.\u201d<\/p>\n

~~~~~<\/p>\n

The next sun, we reached the border fortress, with its solid walls and guards patrolling at all hours. The last outpost of the Drashona\u2019s realm, her flags snapping bravely atop each corner tower.<\/p>\n

On the near side, a square of land was given over to a disorganised market, a place for Bennamorian merchants to trade with the Blood Clans. There was not much trading going on this sun, all activity suspended, faces turned in silence to watch as we rode slowly past. Just beyond the fortress, a deep ditch and high earth bank marked the limit of Bennamore. We filed through the single gap and dismounted, gazing down into foreign territory. The domain of the Blood Clans.<\/p>\n

The ground sloped gently away from us, unmarked by trees or bushes, the single brown gash of the track meandering through scrubby grass. There in the distance was the curve of the lake, the last remnant of the river which had once flowed here. In the centre, a tree-covered islet. I saw no boats on the water, but perhaps there were no fish here. On the nearest shore, our destination: a scattered collection of skin tents, the trading settlement of the clans.<\/p>\n

The fortress commander came out to meet us. \u201cThere is someone waiting to take you down to the village.\u201d He inclined his head towards a man sitting on top of the earth bank not far away, ankles crossed, arms wrapped round his knees.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is one of them?\u201d I said. \u201cOne of the Blood Clans?\u201d The commander nodded. \u201cI had expected a larger reception. Well, he looks quite harmless.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have checked him for weapons, of course.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDo they have magic?\u201d<\/p>\n

He shook his head. \u201cJust an unnatural affinity with their beasts. They are said to ride into battle on lions and the like, but I have never seen one with anything larger than a fox.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI have heard such tales. Do they give you any trouble?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNone at all. We hardly know they are there.\u201d<\/p>\n

The man on the earth bank had been watching us composedly, but now he jumped up and came over to us. As he walked, he bounced on the balls of his feet, as if he had too much energy to burn. He was quite young, now that I could see him properly, not much older than me, rather slender, with softly curling brown hair. His clothes were the nondescript type that any farmer might put on for fieldwork. Only a leather necklace with an amber pendant at his throat distinguished him from thousands of other labourers.<\/p>\n

He smiled at us as he drew close, a relaxed smile as if he were enjoying a private joke. He bowed, one hand touching his forehead, his eyes skipping from one to another of us. They came to rest on Vhar-zhin, then jumped back to me.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am Highness Axandrina,\u201d I said. \u201cI am the leader of this delegation. And this is Highness Vhar-zhin.\u201d<\/p>\n

He bowed again, specifically to me this time. \u201cAnd I am Ly-haam. I will take you to the village. You would be best to leave your horses here.\u201d<\/p>\n

His accent was excellent, with only a slightly odd emphasis here and there to prove that Bennamorian was not his first language.<\/p>\n

The fortress commander called over some of his soldiers to lead the horses away.<\/p>\n

The young man eyed the multitude of people and horses milling about. \u201cYou have need of so many people?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we are to stay amongst your people, as agreed, then we must have some attendants.\u201d<\/p>\n

For an instant, I pondered whether to leave some of our escort at the fortress. We had a full troop of Elite Guards with us, the mages with their own guards, bodyguards for Vhar-zhin and me, a cluster of experienced advisors and law scribes, plus various helpers and waiting women and servants. It was a lot of bodies to be accommodated and fed. But that was the custom for our rank, so the Blood Clans might as well accept it.<\/p>\n

There was an interpreter in the group, too. Even if Ly-haam offered to interpret for us, she would watch and listen, reporting any discrepancies later. It was possible I would have the same skill, but there was no way to know if I could do the same with the Blood Clans\u2019 language, since I had never encountered it. No Blood Clan people had visited Kingswell in recent years.<\/p>\n

In addition, I had never confessed my ability to understand Icthari. Once the moment of discovery had passed, it would have seemed odd to mention it later. Besides, I rather liked having a secret talent. I may not have had magical powers like my mother, but this was something special I alone could do. So little of my life was secret that it gave me surprising pleasure to keep this little trick to myself.<\/p>\n

Ly-haam led us down the track towards the village, bouncing along as if on springs, and spinning round to grin at us periodically. He hummed as he went.<\/p>\n

Vhar-zhin raised her eyebrows at me. \u201cStrange boy!\u201d she whispered. \u201cPerhaps he is simple. I hope they are not all like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

What an unnerving prospect. I had spent endless hours reading everything I could find about the Blood Clans, and I was no wiser for it. They were superficially a simple people, fishing or herding or hunting, apart from the beasts they shared their lives with. But there were rumours of secret ways, much darker ways.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe may seem simple,\u201d I said, \u201cbut he very likely knows this god-child well. They must be much of an age. So have a care.\u201d<\/p>\n

The village seemed as innocuous as our smiling guide. The skin tents were large enough to sleep several families, or to provide workspace as well for one family. Open flaps in the roofs allowed smoke to ooze out. I heard voices from within some of them, but no one was about. I\u2019d expected to see people going about their daily chores, perhaps weaving or woodcarving, two skills they were famous for. But we saw no one.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis way,\u201d said Ly-haam. \u201cI will take you to meet my mother.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYour mother?\u201d I said, stopping dead. \u201cIs she a leader, perhaps? I thought we would be greeted by a formal reception. We are here on official business, after all. We are here to see your byan shar<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

His smile widened, and he looked bashfully at his feet. \u201cOh, did I not mention it? You see, I<\/em> am byan shar<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1: A Letter As soon as I saw the messenger, I knew there would be trouble. Most letters came with Brant, ambling about on his elderly pony, his working clothes so faded from the sun it was impossible to guess the original colour. Anything more important came from the Kellona\u2019s Hall, conveyed by a high-stepping horse, the rider clad in blue and orange. This rider wore gold. Her trousers and jacket were trimmed with it, her smart hat bore a gold feather, and the clasp on her cloak shone like the sun. She could only have come from Kingswell, from the Drashona herself. I was lying in the garden, my face to the sun, my hands restlessly poking holes through the grass to the soil beneath. I loved the feel of earth on my fingers, dry, crumbling, full of energy, just waiting to grow into flowers or apple trees or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[145],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paulinemross.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2248"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paulinemross.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paulinemross.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paulinemross.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paulinemross.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2248"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/paulinemross.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2248\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2250,"href":"https:\/\/paulinemross.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2248\/revisions\/2250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paulinemross.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paulinemross.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paulinemross.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}