The Spirit Gate (57 page)

They parted then, Zelimir to send one envoy to the province
of Bytomierz and another to the Turks in Zemic, Kassia to meet with the
grieving Mateu and brethren of Tabor. She strove to make them understand all
that had happened, strove to help them deal with the loss of Master Lukasha.
Not all of them trusted her, she knew, nor believed her blameless in their
brother’s
destruction. There was little she could do to allay that distrust, so she left
them to return to Dalibor.

She, Zakarij and Beyla chose the cesia as their point of leave-taking,
and it was as they approached its tree-flanked aisle that Tabor’s departing Bishop
intercepted them.

“Do
not believe you have won,” he told them. “I
will not lose these souls to you and your black arts.”

“You,
Bishop?” asked Kassia. “I
thought it was your Lord who would possess these souls.”

“You
twist my words, She-Devil.”

“Your
words come out of your mouth twisted, Your Grace.”

He ignored the barb. “I will return in the spring. When I return, I will
bring new priests with me, courageous men who will not be affrighted by your
deviltry. Men with whom I will have shared some of my special knowledge. I mean
to establish a permanent bishopric in Tabor and a parish in Dalibor. You and I
will meet again, sorceress. Do not doubt it.” He turned in a swish of
splendid robes and returned to the palace.

“I
don’t,” murmured Kassia to his spear-straight back.

oOo

There was further grieving in Dalibor, and Kassia insisted
a paiza be placed in the Mateu crypt for Master Lukasha, to honor the man he
had once been. The Sacred Circle chose Master Radman to replace Lukasha as
Headmaster of Lorant and Neutral during their deliberations. Master Tamukin was
elected to complete the sacred number. The first action of the new Circle was
to vote Kassia to the station of Mateu. The Investiture was held at Reaping
just before a second ceremony that joined Kassia and Zakarij in marriage. Both
her sisters attended, with both their husbands and all her nieces and nephews.
Even Janka and Blaz congratulated her with smiles, though she had no illusions
the smiles indicated anything more than pleasure at having a relative in a
position of such prestige and power.

Shagtai made her a special kite for the occasion—a kite that gleamed in
the darkening sky, surrounded by a flurry of tiny spirit lights. Arax-itu also
provided magic for the celebration. She read and performed a work that was at
once poem and spell, and which wrote her delight at Kassia’s Investiture and
wedding against a backdrop of night and stars.

Even in the midst of her joy, Kassia felt the loss of her
master. He was one more ghost among the several that haunted her—her mother and father,
Shurik, Damek, the babe from New Dalibor.

On the eve of her Investiture, dressed in the silken white
ceremonial robes of a Mateu, she walked alone through the town where she had
lived her entire life. People, seeing her, now waved or called ‘hello’ or inclined their heads to her. Months ago she would have savored that
victory, now she shielded her wounds and nodded in return.

She wandered far—all
the way up to the stone fountain in New Dalibor’s vast cobbled square. She sat at the edge of the
bowl, listening to the hiss of water as it cascaded from the central font.
There was a full moon tonight and she tilted her head back and allowed herself
to become lost in its glow. She vaguely heard voices about her as folk strolled
about the square, enjoying some of the last balmy nights they would know.

A hand tugged at her sleeve. “Mistress?

She gathered her thoughts and turned.

“Oh,
it
is
you!”

Every drop of blood drained from Kassia’s suddenly chill face.
A red-haired young woman stood before her. A woman she still saw, all too
frequently, in her dreams. She was speechless.

“I
beheld your wedding tonight, and your Investiture. I wanted to speak to you
then but . . . well, I only wanted to thank you.”

“Thank
me?”

“Yes.” The woman grasped her hand. “For
the warning about fire. Our house did burn, Mistress. But because of you, my
child was safe.”

Kassia reeled with wonder and relief. “How?”

“Simply
that I refused to leave candles in his room at night. My maidservant and my
husband were both angry about that, as you can imagine, for it meant they must
carry lamps with them whenever they went to check on the child in the night.
But I would allow no candles—I’m that stubborn. So,
when the fire came, it started in the maid’s room, of all places. She’d left her candle to burn and fell asleep.”

“She
wasn’t—?”

“No
one was harmed, Mistress. Though we lost a fair portion of the house. We’re with my husband’s parents now, till we
rebuild, and I can tell you there’s
no night-time candles left to burn there either, and every grate damped down
tight as can be. Thank you again, Mistress.” She smiled, tentatively and
turned to go.

Kassia, amazed, let out a chuff of breath.

“Oh
and Mistress . . .” The woman had turned back to her. “I’m
carrying again and . . . if I’ve a girl, would it honor you if I gave her your
name?”

Kassia nodded. “It
would indeed.”

“Thank
you, Mistress . . . Kassia.” She smiled, curtseyed and
all but ran across the square.

Kassia sat a moment longer by the fountain, gazing up at the
moon. She thought of her ghosts, and their presence brought to her mind Shagtai’s little shrine.

My ancestors
, he’d said,
and my loved ones who wait for me
.

She would have such a shrine, she decided. She would speak
to Shagtai about it, and he would help her construct one. She would keep her
ghosts there. Ghosts and ancestors and loved ones who waited for her beyond the
Spirit Gate.

alka:
a
medium sized silver coin worth 1/2 rega

Celek:
day
of worship

cesia:
a
holy place, always atop a hill. Lorant is built around a cesia.

darugha:
a
Polian province

darughachi:
provincial governor

Mateu:
sorcerer-priest/priestesses
of Polian religion, the Mateu are men and women who have shown magical
abilities and who have studied to turn those abilities to the use of their
people.

Matyash:
weekly
worship service held in the cesia

onghot:
(Mongol)
icons representing ones ancestors

paiza:
a
tablet of authority made of stone, wood or metal and inscribed with the
bearer's credentials

pitar:
a
tiny coin of semi-precious stone roughly equivalent to a quarter

shai:
fey
folk who serve as seers, healers and augurs. Shai are rare — male shai even
rarer.

rega:
a rectangular
silver coin roughly the equivalent of a dollar

rez:
a copper
coin, roughly equivalent to a penny

five rega:
a larger version of the rega with a pressed layer of gold

Solis
 
Celek

Lunae
 
Matek

Martis
 
Itugenek

Mercurii Mercurek

Jovis
 
Jovek

Veneris Venerek

Saturni Saturnek

Bytomierz

Khitan

Kuyavia

Masovia

Odra

Pomerania

Radomierz

Sandomierz

Silesia

Teschen

The Feasts of Seasons (holy days upon which offerings
are made):

New Year
(Vernal Equinox), Martius 21: First Feast of Seasons, celebrated the Celek
nearest the Equinox. This festival includes dancing, music and storytelling and
Polian villages are decorated with greenery and early blooming flowers.

Summer
Solstice
, Junius 21: Second Feast of Seasons, celebrated the Celek nearest
the Solistice. This is a particularly musical festival with much pageantry such
as kite flying, fireworks and parades through the streets of village or town
accompanied by bells, gongs and drums.

Autumnal
Equinox
, Septembris 21: Third Feast of Seasons, celebrated the Celek
nearest the Equinox. This festival includes dancing, music and storytelling and
Polian villages are decorated with fruits of the harvest. A bonfire is started
in the village square or market.

Winter
Solstice
, Decembris 21: Fourth Feast of Seasons, celebrated the Celek
nearest the Solstice. A bonfire is lit to remind all of the bounty of the past
harvest. Stories are told and songs sung to Mat and Itugen. This is a more
sober celebration with much prayer, and introspection that is intended to lead
to spiritual rebirth at the New Year.

The Planting
(Feast), Aprilis 10: celebrated 20 days after the New Year, this feast begins
with the celebration of the Wedding of Mat and Itugen. It is customary for
couples to marry and consummate their unions on this date to assure blessings.

The Reaping
(Feast), Septembris 21 through Octobris 1: beginning with the Third Feast of
Seasons, this annual festival celebrates the Harvest. The bonfire set up at the
Equinox is tended and kept burning throughout The Reaping.

The levels in the religious order of the Polian
religion:

Initiate

This is the general student at Lorant who may or may
not have magical ability. Initiates are schooled in history, religion and the
arcane as well as in the more practical aspects of magic such as divination,
medicine and meteorology.

Apprentice

An Initiate is graduated into the ranks of the
Apprentices once his ability has brought him to the attention of the Headmaster
or any other Mateu at Lorant. The Initiate is recommended for Apprenticeship by
an instructor, the recommendation is then accepted or denied by the Headmaster
and the Sacred Circle. An Initiate rises to Apprenticeship during a ceremony
called Commencement. (This is led up to by a process called The Selection.)

Aspirant

Once an Apprentice has served a Master faithfully for
a number of years, that Master may recommend that they aspire to the station of
Mateu if it seems their magical abilities warrant it. The Aspirant pursues his
own unique form of magic rather than what is purely derivative of, or under the
direction of his Master. The quality of this magic will determine if the
Aspirant is invested with the title and signs of the Mateu. Once the
determination of merit is made, the Aspirant must pass an examination, during
which he displays his abilities and learning to the Sacred Circle. The ceremony
that passes one from Apprentice to Aspirant is called The Accession.

Priest

Priesthood is generally bestowed upon those
Apprentices or Aspirants whose magic is simply not strong enough to elevate him
to the station of Mateu. Generally, the suitability of a student for Mastery is
demonstrated well enough during apprenticeship for the Circle to make a
determination, although there have been those who spent several years as
Aspirants before settling for the priesthood. The priest's purview is the
purely spiritual. He does not concern himself with the arcane arts at all. Priests
are made during The Ordination.

Mateu

When an Aspirant is found worthy by the Sacred
Circle, he is celebrated in a ceremony called The Investiture at which time he
is officially welcomed to the ranks of the Mateu. He may elect to teach at
Lorant or elsewhere, to serve a village city, enter the court of a darughachi
as House Mateu or apply to the court of the King himself. The Zelimirid
Household has several Mateu serving it.

The four primary elements are earth, air, fire and
water. Spells using these in different combinations have specific names.

Twinned spell
or Duet
: A spell that uses two elements that are allied to the same force
(i.e. Earth or Sky).

Opposed spell
or Battle
: A spell that uses two elements allied to opposing forces.

Triad
: A
spell making use of three elements. A Triad is very difficult for the Mateu to
perform. The Itugenic element must be handled via subtractive magic

Squared spell
or Square
: A spell using all four primary elements. Squared spells are
impossible for the Mateu to handle, since they have not access to the spirits
the shai invoke.

ELEMENT SPIRIT CLASS ALLY

copper (green) Rez light earth, Itugen

gold (red) Liene light fire, Itugen

silver (yellow) Carka light air,Mat

cobalt (blue) Inok light water, Mat

glass light air, Mat

stone heavy earth, Itugen

iron heavy water, Mat

shell light water, Mat

bone of hunter heavy fire, Itugen

bone of grazer light earth, Itugen

bone of fish light water, Mat

bone of bird light air, Mat

clay neutral earth, Itugen

The Spirit Gate

Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff

Book View Café 2014
ISBN: 978-1-61138-448-2
Copyright © 2014 Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff

First published: Baen Books, 1996

Cover illustration © 2014 by unholyvault

Production Team:

Cover Design: Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff

Proofreader: Dave Trowbridge

Formatter: Vonda N. McIntyre

This is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.