urgent. I needed to know everything I could about him and his people, and quickly. I abandoned the books, and turned directly to the scholars.
One of the scholars specialised in Blood Clan research. He was so wizened, I was afraid he might fall over at any moment, yet he insisted on standing when he was brought before me.
“The beasts… we do not know how they control them, Highness, but it is so. Wolves, I have seen, and smaller animals, too, weasels and foxes and the like. Lions… that is well-documented, although I have not seen it myself. And birds of various kinds.”
“Tell me about the blood ceremony.”
“Ah, now that is documented in many places. There is a coming-of-age ceremony when a child attains the age of fifteen. It is very simple, in fact. The child cuts his hand, one of the elders cuts his hand, they exchange blood. It is called the Blood-Giving Ceremony, when the child is given the blood of the ancestors.”
“But what is the purpose of that?”
“It is a ritual, Highness. The purpose is symbolic, nothing more.”
I wasn’t so sure of that, but I didn’t pursue it. “What about this boy god of theirs?”
“Ah, now that is something which happens very rarely. A child is born in whom, they say, ‘the blood runs true’. They claim he has the pure blood of the ancestors. He is destined to be a great leader, that is the theory. And naturally, since they all believe it, so it comes to pass.”
“Then he has no special powers?”
“None at all, Highness. But you have seen the current byan shar . You may judge for yourself whether he has or not.”
It was not very helpful. If I knew whether Ly-haam had special powers, I would hardly be asking the scholars for advice.
Now he was on his way to Kingswell. Yannassia had sent a troop of Elite Guards to take care of him, and a carriage to convey him in proper style, but he refused the carriage and even the offer of a horse. He would walk all the way.
And he came alone.
~~~~~
As we waited for him to walk the many marks from the border, business went on as usual. Yannassia was holding a reception one sun, a very dull affair to welcome a new diplomat from the Nyi-Harn. I was only there because I had to be, smiling and making polite conversation with a couple of young noblemen who were vying for my favour. I’d long since ceased to find such competitions amusing. Instead, I was watching Zandara play two merchants against each other. She was rather good at keeping her face expressionless, just like her mother. Even her eyes, bulbous like a frog, were completely blank.
Another group moved in front of her to block my view, and my thoughts began to wander. As they did so, I was aware of three minds far, far above. By instinct, I looked upwards, but there was nothing to see except the very ornate plasterwork of the ceiling and a gold-encrusted chandelier. These minds were a long way above the Keep.
I focused on one of them, and became aware of air currents, of rising warmth, of massively strong wings and feathers ruffled in the breeze.
An eagle. And two more alongside. Ly-haam’s eagles, I knew. He was no more than two or three suns from the city, but he had sent his birds ahead to scout out the land. They were lazily circling at a great height, no more than distant specks from the ground, no doubt.
Could I enter their minds, as I did with the rats, and look down on Kingswell from their great height? I stretched out my mind, just as I had learned to do with the rats.
A sudden flick of perception, and there below me was the shimmering golden glow of the Imperial City between the arms of Candle Mountain. In front of it, the solid red mass of the Keep, with the gardens in the centre, the fruit trees a blur of reds and oranges and golds. And surrounding the two, the dark stain of the city proper, with all its myriad houses and shops and craft halls and warehouses and stables and yards and a few green spots, where the wealthier citizens owned enough
One of the scholars specialised in Blood Clan research. He was so wizened, I was afraid he might fall over at any moment, yet he insisted on standing when he was brought before me.
“The beasts… we do not know how they control them, Highness, but it is so. Wolves, I have seen, and smaller animals, too, weasels and foxes and the like. Lions… that is well-documented, although I have not seen it myself. And birds of various kinds.”
“Tell me about the blood ceremony.”
“Ah, now that is documented in many places. There is a coming-of-age ceremony when a child attains the age of fifteen. It is very simple, in fact. The child cuts his hand, one of the elders cuts his hand, they exchange blood. It is called the Blood-Giving Ceremony, when the child is given the blood of the ancestors.”
“But what is the purpose of that?”
“It is a ritual, Highness. The purpose is symbolic, nothing more.”
I wasn’t so sure of that, but I didn’t pursue it. “What about this boy god of theirs?”
“Ah, now that is something which happens very rarely. A child is born in whom, they say, ‘the blood runs true’. They claim he has the pure blood of the ancestors. He is destined to be a great leader, that is the theory. And naturally, since they all believe it, so it comes to pass.”
“Then he has no special powers?”
“None at all, Highness. But you have seen the current byan shar . You may judge for yourself whether he has or not.”
It was not very helpful. If I knew whether Ly-haam had special powers, I would hardly be asking the scholars for advice.
Now he was on his way to Kingswell. Yannassia had sent a troop of Elite Guards to take care of him, and a carriage to convey him in proper style, but he refused the carriage and even the offer of a horse. He would walk all the way.
And he came alone.
~~~~~
As we waited for him to walk the many marks from the border, business went on as usual. Yannassia was holding a reception one sun, a very dull affair to welcome a new diplomat from the Nyi-Harn. I was only there because I had to be, smiling and making polite conversation with a couple of young noblemen who were vying for my favour. I’d long since ceased to find such competitions amusing. Instead, I was watching Zandara play two merchants against each other. She was rather good at keeping her face expressionless, just like her mother. Even her eyes, bulbous like a frog, were completely blank.
Another group moved in front of her to block my view, and my thoughts began to wander. As they did so, I was aware of three minds far, far above. By instinct, I looked upwards, but there was nothing to see except the very ornate plasterwork of the ceiling and a gold-encrusted chandelier. These minds were a long way above the Keep.
I focused on one of them, and became aware of air currents, of rising warmth, of massively strong wings and feathers ruffled in the breeze.
An eagle. And two more alongside. Ly-haam’s eagles, I knew. He was no more than two or three suns from the city, but he had sent his birds ahead to scout out the land. They were lazily circling at a great height, no more than distant specks from the ground, no doubt.
Could I enter their minds, as I did with the rats, and look down on Kingswell from their great height? I stretched out my mind, just as I had learned to do with the rats.
A sudden flick of perception, and there below me was the shimmering golden glow of the Imperial City between the arms of Candle Mountain. In front of it, the solid red mass of the Keep, with the gardens in the centre, the fruit trees a blur of reds and oranges and golds. And surrounding the two, the dark stain of the city proper, with all its myriad houses and shops and craft halls and warehouses and stables and yards and a few green spots, where the wealthier citizens owned enough
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