Mystic and Rider (Twelve Houses) (43 page)

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Authors: Sharon Shinn

BOOK: Mystic and Rider (Twelve Houses)
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Kirra looked uncertain. “Before going on to Gisseltess?”
“I hardly think we will learn anything in Gisseltess that we don’t already know,” Senneth said, sounding unutterably weary, “but somehow I think we have to take a look at Halchon Gisseltess for ourselves to be able to make a full report.”
“Then,” said Tayse, “let’s start for the south tonight. Waste no more time here.”
Senneth glanced his way. “Yes. Let’s pack and be gone within the hour.”
The proprietor was astonished at their abrupt departure, begging to be told it was not the accommodations that were inadequate, but Kirra told him in the coolest possible voice that everything had been exactly to her specifications. “But I have received news,” she said in a firm voice. “And I cannot linger. I will see you again, I hope, when I return this way.”
Justin fetched their horses, and they pushed out into the press of traffic. They hadn’t gone more than half a mile when Kirra said, with almost as much petulance as Mayva might be able to muster, “Damn it, I’m hungry. We should have stayed for dinner.”
“There are vendors along the way,” Justin said with a grin. “We can eat as we ride.”
“Oh, yes,
that
suits my notions of elegance,” Kirra said. But when Justin plunged off the street to pick up four roasted chickens on wooden skewers, she ate happily along with the rest of them and even praised the quality of the cooking.
“It’ll be dark soon,” Tayse observed. “We won’t get far.”
“We won’t get anywhere if we have to hunt for Donnal and Cammon,” Justin said.
Tayse looked over at him with a grin. “How much would you like to wager that they’re loitering in the road, half a mile from the gate, waiting for us already?”
Justin laughed. “Not a copper, thank you. But it will be interesting to see if they are.”
They were. Tayse collected them with a wave, and then the whole party turned south into the gathering dusk, on the well-traveled road to Gisseltess.
CHAPTER 23
 
G
ISSELTESS was not like other Houses, Kirra explained the next day as they rode. “Each House has its own personality that seems to hold fast through generations,” she said. “As, for instance, the Brassenthwaite tradition of loyalty. Even though Kiernan is such an unlikable man, everyone knows he is unswervingly loyal to the king. Even Mayva knows he won’t rise up in rebellion. She would never have asked Kiernan or his brothers to join in a plot against the throne. Danalustrous has a reputation for being just—for listening to all sides of an argument and then making a fair disposition. Other Houses have come to my father when they needed mediation—and to my grandfather and my great-grandmother. Those of the Danalustrous line are level-headed. Tilt is sneaky, Merrenstow is charming—those are the sorts of traits that get associated with a House and then seem to stick. And stick because they’re
true,
” she added. “But Gisseltess—”
“It has a checkered history,” Senneth said. “Sometimes the leader of the House is faithful, sometimes he’s faithless, other times he’s so tricky you can’t tell which way the wind will blow him. In some generations the people of the House are known for their ruthlessness—in other generations, for their calm. It is as if they are always atoning for the sins of their ancestors, so that the sons and daughters of this generation must be as different as possible from their mothers and fathers.”
“So?” asked Tayse. “How would you describe Halchon Gisseltess’s father?”
Kirra and Senneth exchanged glances. “Absolutely dependable,” Kirra said.
Senneth nodded. “A man who would never break his word, though it cost him his fortune and his life. Stubborn, and often unpleasant, and not a man I’d want to spend much time with—but you could trust him.”
“Ah,” said Tayse. “Then we do have a challenge.”
“What about his sister?” Justin asked. “The leader of the Daughters? What’s she like?”
Kirra shook her head. “I never met her. She was a recluse by the time I was going out in society. And I never heard people talk about her much, so I think she must have been a bit withdrawn even when she was attending balls and parties.” She glanced at Senneth. “Did you ever have any dealings with her?”
Senneth was quiet a moment, as if considering her answer. Tayse instantly suspected that the answer was yes, and that the story would be very interesting if Senneth chose to tell it.
“My father knew her,” she said finally, seeming to choose her words with care. “I think he admired her—but then, my father always had a soft spot for fanatics. It made them so easy to understand.”
“Was she always a fanatic, then?” Kirra asked.
“A religious fanatic, you mean? She was always dressed in silver and black, any time I saw her, and dripping with moonstones, so, yes, I suppose she’s been devoted to the Pale Mother most of her life. But—I meant it in more ways than that. She always seemed to be a person who was completely committed to any cause, any belief, that she happened to take up. She always wore the same colors. She always ate the same foods. If she hated someone, she hated him with all her heart. Not much subtlety to Coralinda Gisseltess.”
“What did she think of you?” Tayse asked.
The look she turned his way was full of humor. “Why would she have any reason to think of me?”
“Well, if she knew your father—” Justin said impatiently.
“Let me put it this way. I’m sure, once she learned he had banished me from his house for being a mystic, she congratulated him for having acted with all propriety. I wasn’t there, of course, so I don’t know for sure.” She glanced at Kirra. “And I would be willing to bet she deeply condemns
your
father for not taking a similar course of action when you proved to be tainted with magic.”
“That will be interesting, you know,” Kirra remarked. “Once all the Houses start taking sides. Those who go courting my father will have to decide how they feel about me.”
“Maybe your father will have to decide how he feels about you,” Justin said.
Tayse waited for the explosion to come, but Kirra only laughed. Senneth said, “That would be an astute observation if you were talking about any House but Danalustrous. Or even any Danalustrous except Malcolm himself.”
“My father would declare war against all other eleven Houses rather than give me up,” Kirra said.
Tayse could not keep the soberness from his voice. “I hope you’re right. Many an heir has lost his father’s preference over something more minor than magic.”
“But is that what the war is really about? Magic?” Cammon asked, entering the conversation unexpectedly. He had pulled up close enough to listen to the other four talking, whereas Donnal still followed a few paces behind, not entirely interested. “Or is it about the succession?”
Tayse looked over at Senneth, to see her looking at Kirra. “Well?” Senneth said softly. “What
is
the root cause of the war? If there is a war?”
“I’m unclear,” Kirra admitted. “But I think they’re intertwined.”
“Let us say, for argument’s sake, the Houses align according to who can tolerate mystics and who cannot,” Tayse said. “Where would the alliances fall?”
Kirra bit her lip. “Well, first, you must determine the king’s position, because that determines where Brassenthwaite will go.”
“The king seems fond of mystics,” Tayse said, glancing sideways at Senneth.
She laughed. “Yes—and if he’s married to one, as Aleatha suggested—we will say the crown favors magic.”
“Thus Danalustrous will favor the crown,” Tayse said. “And we already know Brassenthwaite will follow the king—”
“How does Kiernan Brassenthwaite feel about mystics?” Justin asked. “And could that outweigh his loyalty to the king?”
Again, Tayse caught that quick exchange of glances between Senneth and Kirra. “Kiernan has spoken out harshly against mystics in the past,” Kirra admitted. “I don’t think he’s gone so far as to have them hunted down, like Halchon has, but he—he might be troubled to find himself defending them.”
“Then Brassenthwaite is a question mark,” Justin said.
Senneth shook her head. “No. Not if the king declares for magic. Brassenthwaite
will not
betray the king.”
“I agree,” Kirra said.
Justin still looked doubtful, but Tayse pressed on. “All right, then. We’ll say Brassenthwaite and Danalustrous stand with the king. What about the other northern Houses?”
“Merrenstow will be loyal,” Kirra said. “The king’s first wife came from Merrenstow—it is her daughter they would be fighting for.”
“And if his daughter is unfit to rule? And a new child of Queen Valri’s is the one fighting for the throne?” Tayse asked.
Kirra looked worried. “I don’t know.”
It turned out they didn’t know about most of the Houses. They were pretty quick to put Gisseltess, Nocklyn, and Fortunalt on the list of potential enemies, with Helven likely to ally with other southern leaders, despite Martin Helven’s generally peaceable outlook. The women both liked Ariane Rappengrass and felt certain she would not side with Gisseltess—but admitted that she was badly placed, as she was completely ringed around by potential rebels. Coravann, Kianlever, and Storian could have incentives both ways—and Tilt, they said, was impossible to predict.
“Though I can tell you one thing,” Kirra said darkly. “Whatever side wins the war will believe Tilt was its ally.”
“What about the Lirrenlands?” Tayse asked.
They all looked at Senneth for the answer to that. She thought it over for a moment, then shook her head. “I don’t believe the Lirrens will fight,” she said. “Unless they are attacked or in some way threatened. They don’t seem to care much for the concerns of the rest of Gillengaria. If they are left in peace, I think they will merely watch from behind the mountains.”
“Even if the Lirrens stay neutral, your numbers are not good,” Tayse said. “You have more solidly against the king than for him, and too many who might bend either way.”
“That might be the information we’ll need to bring back to the king,” Senneth said soberly. “It is time for him to strengthen his alliances now. Make concessions where he must, and make friends where he can.”
“And decide,” Kirra said slowly, “if he can afford to keep his sorcerous friends. For if he decides not to declare for magic, all the alliances change.”
“If the war is about magic,” Cammon said.
Tayse narrowed his eyes and looked at Kirra. “If the war is about the succession instead, and no one opposes mystics, what side would your father take? If Princess Amalie is unfit—or dead—and Queen Valri produces no heir? Who would your father back then?”
Kirra looked troubled. “I don’t know. It is very hard to say with any certainty what my father will do—unless a member of his family is involved. If it is merely politics—well. I have no idea where he would cast his vote.”
“Has he even thought about the succession?” Justin asked.
Kirra gave a little laugh. “My father thinks about everything.”
They rode on a few moments in silence. “I foresee an interesting year,” Tayse said at last.
Senneth made a sound that might have been a laugh and might have been something more despairing. “Interesting—and bloody,” she replied. No one else added a word.
 
 
THAT night when they camped, it seemed a good idea to practice swordplay again. Donnal and Cammon were willing, but Senneth merely shook her head when Tayse offered her a practice sword. A few weeks ago, he would have insisted, but he had witnessed what she was capable of; he realized she could defend herself perfectly well without any additional training in blade work.
Thus he and Justin gave their full attention to the other two men, switching opponents halfway through the session. Donnal was competent and, with consistent practice, might eventually become good, but he would never rise to a higher level than that of ordinary civil guard in the service of some minor noble. Cammon—who had neither the upper body strength nor the experience to be a really gifted swordsman—surprised Tayse now and then with his quickness. In particular, he was excellent at predicting and blocking his adversary’s next moves, so that Tayse rarely broke through his defenses and landed a blow. The few times he did, of course, he could have killed Cammon with ease—but he was impressed by how rarely he managed the feat.

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