"There are three main books for this class," Tsaris Karan, the teacher of History of the Reclamation (I), says after everyone has seated themselves in the classroom, and attendance is noted. The teacher is a short woman with dark hair she wore twisted in a knot, with two side plaits. Her eyes were light hazel and didn’t seem to miss much. The classroom is a large, roughly rectangular room with a wall full of maps, a wall covered with a sheet of slate, and windows overlooking the gardens that surround the school.
Twenty other students were in this class, all about Caris' age or a little younger. Most of the students were Joa or Tosa, with a scattering of Szoran and even Dosai students. (Two of the other Dosai students were from Horan, judging by their dress and accents, and one was from Caris' own country, the scion of a minor House. The Seweni student is a mageborn, her forehead, and left hand are marked with Ashten's sigil, as was the custom. She has red hair and grey eyes. She frowned at him when their gazes chanced to meet.)
"The first book is your history text. It covers the end of Atsori's Great Land Period to the very beginning of the Early Reclamation. This book gives a general overview of the period. The second book is a geography book with a focus on the Sonnu River Valley--this is a companion volume intended to provide context and detail to what we'll be learning. The third book is The Assertations of the Wardens. This text is a collection of statements from the first Wardens. These statements follow the events immediately after the fall of the Plague Demon and how the Lord Warden Nemar Jhan formed the wardens and trained them in remediation."
The teacher pauses and looks around the room, her gaze briefly settling here and there. "There were only twenty-one Wardens, to begin with. Ten men and eleven women. These were the first of Lord Nemar's students. They were warriors, hunters, mages, herbalists, and healers. To them fell the bulk of early exploration and guiding the surviving Joa in reclaiming their ruined lands. They served as scouts and defense where necessary and mediated disputes. They aided in rebuilding a society shattered by the Plague Demon.
"We won't be covering all twenty-one of these first Wardens, as this class is only an introduction for new students, and most of you are not on the track to becoming Wardens. The Assertations is an entirely supplemental text intended to give insight into the history we will be covering. Instead, I have chosen eight assertations, one for each week of the class"
From there, Scholar Tsaris Karan gave a brief outline of the beginnings of the Atsori Empire. Caris took notes of the lecture, and also of the initial questions asked by the other students--and the answers the teacher gave. At the end of the class, the teacher assigned the first assertation and the rest of the reading.
The following class was Introduction to Land Management. This class was taught by a retired Warden named Jhai Zhanen, who got around in a wheeled chair due to a leg that was missing below the knee. Caris recognized a few of the students from his earlier history class, including the Seweni mageborn student.
Introduction to Land Management was an overview of the science of "remediation" restoring and maintaining land for forestry and agriculture. It was a course that his lord--it was easier to think of him that way, instead of as "my husband" which somehow felt like a more loaded term--had insisted that Caris take. "It's something you might find useful," Lord Nemar had said. "The territory Sewen now occupies wasn't as strongly affected by the Plague Demon as other places, but I've noticed signs of soil contamination during previous visits to Sewen."
This class is not as book intensive as the history class. There is only one textbook and a second workbook with exercises and experiments that were meant to be performed in a group. Other books were recommended reading, but not required by the course.
Caris finds himself placed in a group with a student from Horan and the mageborn student from Sewen. The student from Horan was at least half Szoran, with dark, tilted eyes and something like the Sarmateon mage mark between their brows. However, instead of the sigil representing Ashten, this is the sigil for 'avert evil." The Seweni student's name is Lasen Derrit, House Anden, and the Horan student's name is Kano ket Ganet. The other two were previously acquainted and seemed as uncomfortable with being assigned to a group with him as the reverse.
They were given some time to talk with their partners. According to their teacher, this is to give them an idea of other group members' areas of expertise. Kano tends to carry most of the conversation, while Lasen held herself mostly aloof. (Kano seems to ignore the cold behavior as if it didn't exist for him.) "Well, this will be interesting," Kano says. "I would ask how your highness is settling in--but rumors suggest this might be a bad question to ask?"
"I'm settling in fine," Caris says. He wonders--and fears--what the rumors are saying. How much is known about his attempt to assassinate the Lord Warden? (There is such a strange casualness about it. Within his lord's household, he is treated with an odd combination of patience and exasperated hostility. Outside, in this school setting, this was the first time any mention was made of what he'd done.)
"I'm sure the outcome was unexpected," Lasen says.
Caris finds he is unable to respond to that. There's an awkward, momentary silence that is eventually filled by Kano saying, "So, have either of you done any kind of hunting or fishing? My family forages for mushrooms and edible plants--so I can probably help with plant identification--which is going to be important because this class includes 'brief outings to the riverine forests on the eastern banks of the Sonnu River'," Kano says, quoting from the syllabus. "I'm also good at taking notes and writing reports, which Lasen already knows about!" As an aside he says, "Lasen is really good at research, I partnered with her for an alchemy course, and we passed the practical examination at the highest level!"
"I can also speak for myself, though it's usually more convenient to let Kano do the talking," Lasen says. (Kano: "So mean!") "I like to research and usually end up proofreading and doing most of the documentation." In answer to the question about hunting, she says, "The kind of hunting they do in Sewen is a little more formalized and genteel than in the Assembly or Horan, Kano. The huntsmen and hounds did all the tracking work while the hunters chased whatever the huntsmen flush out. I've done that during visits to Sewen, and also falconry."
"That's also how I've usually hunted. I do have experience with hunting on my own, as part of my military training," Caris says. (And he had taught Teren. They had often gone on hunting trips together, retreating to the lodge with just a few servants. And now he worries for Teren. He wonders if she is well and if she escaped successfully.) "I've been told I take good notes." The conversation continues between the three of them until the teacher gave them their first reading assignments.
"We're going to need to meet up to study," Lasen says, following Caris out of the classroom. She's trailed by Kano ket Ganet. "What does the rest of your schedule look like, your highness?"
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"I have two days of school and two days helping to manage my lord's household," Caris says. "Then I must act as an advisor to my lord and attend meetings with him--I'm not sure when these meetings will take place."
"What are your other classes?" Kano asks.
"Literature and mathematics," Caris says. "What sort of schedules do the two of you have?" They hammer out a time and location to meet. (Caris felt hesitant to offer the Lord Warden's home, for such a meeting, so they settled on Tuan's library for a meeting space.) After an agreement is reached, they part company.
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Jhan pours Warden Jhai a cup of tea before filling his cup. They sipped the tea in silence for a moment. Jhan pretended to contemplate the peach blossoms decorating the cup. "Warden Jhai, is there a reason you teamed my husband--my Seweni, Sarmateon husband--with two mages?" Jhan asks.
Jhai Zhanen has the nerve to not only look unimpressed but also faintly amused. "Mistress Derrit is also of the Sarmateon faith and his countrywoman."
"A countrywoman branded as the property of their moon god," Jhan says sourly. He clenches his hand reflectively. He doesn't rub his forehead. There's nothing there, not even a scar. "And then there's the youngest son of the Bear--"
Warden Jhai sips his tea. "Mistress Derrit and the young lord work well together."
"They're a diplomatic incident waiting to happen," Jhan says. "More of one." Horan practiced a heretical variation of the Sarmateon religion, syncretizing their gods into the Sarmateon faith. (Ashamat ket Bann, the First Sage of the A-Lao faith had been a friend and ally.) A Sarmateon mageborn befriending an A-Lao heretic was a mess waiting to happen, particularly when that "heretic" was the youngest son of the High Chief of Horan. "Please make me understand, what were you thinking with this?"
Warden Jhai continues to look amused. "Elder Brother, am I wrong that you seek to educate your husband?"
"Educate him, not cause spontaneous combustion," Jhan says. "I'd rather undermine his worldview, not raze it to the ground and sow it with salt."
The retired Warden gives Jhan a thoughtful look. "Has he been overset? Has he complained?"
Grudgingly, Jhan says, "No."
"Then perhaps Elder Brother has less to worry about than he supposed?" Warden Jhai's mouth slants into a smile that borders on a smirk. "Though if I were married to a man who tried to kill me, I guess I'd be very worried indeed."
Jhan snorts. "I'm worried pushing him so hard will do the exact opposite of what I intend," he says. "What can you tell me about Mistress Derrit?"
"She's a younger daughter of a cadet branch of the main family of her House," Warden Jhai says. "The younger brother of the Lord of the House is her father. House Anden is a merchant House that trades mostly in textiles and the raw materials for cloth such as wool, cotton, and silk." Warden Jhai. "Her family came to Mir when she was about seven, to open a mercantile business, and they've made frequent trips back to Sewen. She entered Tuan at the age of sixteen and has been a student for four years." Warden Jhai pauses. "Except for a year, where she was required to return to Sewen for religious education." Warden Jhai next describes Lasen Derrit's academic career. Derrit's classes were focused on general studies, remediation, and spellweaving.
"What sort of religious education?" Jhan asks.
Warden Jhai makes a gesture that indicates where the mage mark would be. "The usual initiations and indoctrinations for mageborn," he says. "She would not remain as a student here, Elder Brother if she were a Servant."
"I would hope not," Jhan says. Jhan would almost prefer dealing with an ordinary Sarmateon priest to dealing with one of the mageborn Servants. The Servants performed propitiatory rites intended to keep Ashten's attention directed away from the faithful, served as watchdogs over other mageborn, and a very, very small number of them were part of a particularly vicious cult that tended to take service to Ashten, god of betrayals very differently than their brethren. Jhan felt it safer to ban all Servants than try to figure out if they belonged to the cult or not.
"Reasonably sure she isn't," Warden Jhai says.
"I was warned to keep an eye on anyone Prince Kelfin came into contact with," Jhan says dryly. "I'd like to be very sure."
Warden Jhai's eyes flick around the room as if he expects Jhan' patron to suddenly make an appearance. "Ah. I understand," he says. "It would be reasonable to do a security check, for the prince's safety." Warden Jhai falls silent for a moment. "Elder Brother, were you given a time frame? I mean, were you told to keep an eye on anyone who recently comes in contact with the prince or further back?"
"I'll see about expanding the time frame once there's a background check on Mistress Derrit," Jhan says.
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When they reach Navaelin, she’s taken to the Rose Tower by sedan chair, and locked in a suite. The suite consists of a sitting room, with a writing desk, an old settee, and a bookcase. The other room was a bedroom, with a large bed, an armoire, and a privacy screen for dressing or bathing. The suite has glazed windows, but they are shuttered.
It is three days before Teren sees anyone besides the two maids who cleaned the suite and brought her meals and saw to her needs--maids who are not permitted to speak to her and will not answer her questions. And of course, the doctor who makes sure her leg has set correctly and her injuries treated--the doctor also won’t speak to her, except to ask her questions related to her injuries.
Teren spends the time trying to distract herself with the contents of the nearly empty books shelves in the Rose Tower suite. She is reading a novel that had been heavily annotated by a previous occupant of the suite when her mother enters the room--and said nothing, her eyes chips of pale blue ice. Teren straightens immediately and sets the book aside. "Lady Ewel," Teren says, guessing that her mother is going to be acting as a representative of the Crown, instead of as a mother.
An incorrect guess, Lady Linnel's expression suddenly looks stricken, and some of the frost thaws. "We were worried sick. You little fool, what were you thinking?"
"Uncle seems to feel that I wasn't thinking," Teren says.
"But you of course feel otherwise," Lady Linnel says, tone shading into exasperation. Teren says nothing to this. The noise Lady Linnel makes is almost a growl. "Lord Simuir has returned with the marriage party," Lady Linnel says. "When we realized what you and Caris had done, we expected the alliance to be broken, and that we'd be burying your brother."
Lady Linnel's bluntly spoken words hit Teren hard. She thought she would be able to accept the consequences of her actions--of this plot--but she isn’t so sure anymore. Tears sting her eyes, and she sits frozen, unable to speak even if she wants to. She stares blindly down at her hands and tries to breathe, tries to find a way to ask, is he alive? She hopes, from the phrasing that Caris is alive, though she is equally afraid of what the necromancer might have done to him in retaliation.
"You little fool," Lady Linnel says again. "You weren't thinking, and you sent Caris into danger. You ran away rather than face consequences for this murderous escapade."
Teren looks up quickly at that, wanting to protest. "I wasn't running away!" Only, that is absolutely what she'd been doing. "Mother, I was going to join a monastery. I really do have a vocation. I'm not just saying it."
"Your vocation is irrelevant," Lady Linnel says. "You deliberately set out to assassinate the king of the country we are trying to ally with against a mutual enemy, and now your brother is a hostage. On top of that, your plan to escape to a monastery in Aruis was idiotic to the extreme. At best you would have been a hostage as well, at worst, you would have been a figurehead while Aruis took the opportunity to invade us for arranging a marriage between a Sarmateon princess and a pagan."
"Is Caris all right?" Teren asks. She almost wants to say something about Aruis, and how to avert excuses to invade, but doesn't.
"He's alive," Lady Linnel's tone is clipped. "The Lord Warden claims to want to renegotiate the terms of the alliance and clarify the marital contract. He's currently humiliating your brother and by extension the Crown and the Kingdom, by treating him as a wife. We're trying to keep it quiet, but there are sure to be rumors."