Dark Moon Defender (Twelve Houses) (10 page)
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Authors: Sharon Shinn
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“Jenetta? Yes, but only Thirteenth House. Like me.”
“I don’t understand what that means,” Ellynor said.
“There are twelve great Houses in Gillengaria,” Astira said patiently. She had explained this more than once before. “The owners—the marlords—possess most of the property that’s worth having, and when they die, they pass it on to their sons and daughters. The serramar and the serramarra. But they own so much land that they can’t really control or cultivate it all, so they each have vassals—highborn lords and ladies who hold properties in trust for the marlords. Many of them are second cousins of the marlords, or seventh sons of sixth sons—nobles, with noble blood, just not the highest connections. They’re referred to as the Thirteenth House, no matter which of the Twelve Houses they hold allegiance to. It doesn’t tell you where they’re from, it just tells you their status.” She shrugged. “They’re good, but not good enough. Or I guess I should say
we’re
not good enough.”
we’re
not good enough.”
“And Gisseltess? That’s the name of one of these Twelve Houses?”
Astira giggled. “Yes, silly! One of the most powerful.”
“And the Lestra? She’s from Gisseltess?”
“Yes. If she was not the Lestra, you would properly call her serra Coralinda. Her brother is marlord Halchon.” Astira gave an exaggerated shiver. “Have you ever met him? He’s a little frightening. Very intense. The way the Lestra is, only—only— with him you think it could turn to violence. I don’t like him much. Fortunately, he doesn’t come to the convent often.”
“It’s all very confusing. We don’t have titles and nobles among the Lirrens.”
“No, you just have these complex arrangements of kin! No one could keep track of such things!”
Ellynor was surprised. “It’s very easy. There are individual families, and they band together to make up a
sebahta
, or a clan, and a number of clans make up the
sebahta-ris
—”
sebahta
, or a clan, and a number of clans make up the
sebahta-ris
—”
Astira flung up a hand. “No, please, I won’t be able to keep it straight. Everyone was so astonished when you and Rosurie came to live at the convent. I don’t believe any of us had ever met a Lirren girl before.”
“I never thought to travel across the Lireth Mountains,” Ellynor said.
Astira unwound her hands and stretched out on the bed, yawning a little. “And why did you? Because Rosurie fell in love with some boy, is that it?”
Ellynor laughed and lay down beside her, though she wasn’t at all sleepy. “A boy from the Bramlis
sebahta
, yes.”
sebahta
, yes.”
“Is it true that Rosurie’s father would have killed him if he’d caught them together?”
“No, but it might have started a clan war.”
“What’s that?”
It was difficult to explain. “It’s when—when all the families of the
sebahta-ris
declare hostility on the families of another
sebahta-ris
, and if members of one family see members of another somewhere, they’ll start fighting. Brutal fights, bloody—a lot of people die. You never want to be the clan that’s overmatched, so if anyone in your family needs to travel, he takes five or ten brothers or cousins with him to defend him on the road. It’s stupid and it’s pointless and it can go on for years,” Ellynor added bitterly. “All the young men dying, all their friends swearing revenge. Rosurie’s father wanted to do anything to prevent another clan war. That’s why he agreed to send her away.”
sebahta-ris
declare hostility on the families of another
sebahta-ris
, and if members of one family see members of another somewhere, they’ll start fighting. Brutal fights, bloody—a lot of people die. You never want to be the clan that’s overmatched, so if anyone in your family needs to travel, he takes five or ten brothers or cousins with him to defend him on the road. It’s stupid and it’s pointless and it can go on for years,” Ellynor added bitterly. “All the young men dying, all their friends swearing revenge. Rosurie’s father wanted to do anything to prevent another clan war. That’s why he agreed to send her away.”
Astira had lifted her head and was now supporting it with her hand, clearly fascinated. “But that’s so—so exotic!” she exclaimed. “People taking up arms against each other and, what, dueling in the streets if they happen to encounter each other in the town square?”
“There are no town squares. There are no towns. But there is a great deal of travel on a few essential roads, and the battles are most likely to occur on one of these journeys.” Ellynor stretched her arms over her head. “Oh, you’re right, it
is
complicated! There are some
sebahta
that almost always stay neutral, and they try to mediate disputes. There are some families that live close to the roads, and they want to avoid having their own young men get swept up in other people’s battles, and so they will post watchers on the road and try to make sure warring
sebahta
don’t accidentally meet. But there are some men who are always ready to fight. Who are always looking for the stranger’s insult or the dangerous pathway. The Lirren men are proud of their ability with knives and swords—and bare hands. Even when times are peaceful, they fight each other, just to keep their skills sharp.”
is
complicated! There are some
sebahta
that almost always stay neutral, and they try to mediate disputes. There are some families that live close to the roads, and they want to avoid having their own young men get swept up in other people’s battles, and so they will post watchers on the road and try to make sure warring
sebahta
don’t accidentally meet. But there are some men who are always ready to fight. Who are always looking for the stranger’s insult or the dangerous pathway. The Lirren men are proud of their ability with knives and swords—and bare hands. Even when times are peaceful, they fight each other, just to keep their skills sharp.”
“Even the men in your family?”
Ellynor laughed. “Especially the men in my family! Not my father so much now, though my mother says he was always quarrelsome when they were younger. But my brothers— Hayden and Torrin—oh, they would fight anybody with hardly an excuse. Torrin especially. He is two years older than I am and just stuffed with pride. No one has ever beaten him, either friend or enemy. He is too good.”
“I can’t imagine having brothers like that. They sound dreadful.”
Ellynor laughed, though the sound was half a sigh. “Oh, in their way, they are wonderful. They both love me very much, though their love is smothering sometimes. I don’t think I’ve ever talked to a boy without Hayden and Torrin watching, ready to strangle the poor man if he said something too familiar or tried to take my hand. And if he tried to kiss me—! Some man from the Cohfen
sebahta
did kiss me one feast night, and I thought Torrin would tear the head from his body. Hayden stopped him, but only because he was Cohfen, and not someone we wanted to fight with.”
sebahta
did kiss me one feast night, and I thought Torrin would tear the head from his body. Hayden stopped him, but only because he was Cohfen, and not someone we wanted to fight with.”
“I heard something once about the Lirrenfolk,” Astira said. “That the women aren’t allowed to marry anyone except Lirren men. Is that true?”
Ellynor nodded, ruffling her hair against the pillow. She had unbound it and combed it out after their ride. She’d need to braid it or put it in its customary knot before taking her turn at the old woman’s bedside. “It’s true,” she said, lowering her voice even more. “If a girl tries to marry outside the Lirrens, her lover will be challenged to a duel to the death. Anyone in the
sebahta-ris
—her father, her brothers, her cousins—whoever is the best fighter can do battle on her behalf, but the lover must fight for himself. And they fight until one of them is dead.”
sebahta-ris
—her father, her brothers, her cousins—whoever is the best fighter can do battle on her behalf, but the lover must fight for himself. And they fight until one of them is dead.”
“That’s terrible!” Astira exclaimed.
Ellynor nodded again. “I know. You can guess that not too many Lirren girls are willing to risk it. For which one of them would you want to see bleeding his life away? You understand, the families are very close. The ties of affection are so strong, and not just between blood relatives, but between everyone in the
sebahta
. What kind of girl would put her father or her brother at risk? And yet, how could she stand to see her lover cut down? Wouldn’t she just rather give him up? Wouldn’t she just tell him, the very first time he showed her any affection, ‘Go away. I’m not interested in you’? Better that than to someday fall in love with him, and have to choose between giving him up or seeing him dead.”
sebahta
. What kind of girl would put her father or her brother at risk? And yet, how could she stand to see her lover cut down? Wouldn’t she just rather give him up? Wouldn’t she just tell him, the very first time he showed her any affection, ‘Go away. I’m not interested in you’? Better that than to someday fall in love with him, and have to choose between giving him up or seeing him dead.”
“That’s even more terrible,” Astira said. “I would despise anyone who put me in a position like that. I would hate my father to think he would force me to make such a dreadful decision.”
Ellynor shrugged in the dark. “Well, there are not so many strangers who come traveling through the Lirrens,” she said. “A few merchants—now and then some of the king’s soldiers—and every once in a while, sailors from Arberharst and Sovenfeld. But mostly the men we see are the men of our families and of the
sebahta-ris
. We don’t have many chances to ruin our lives by falling in love with forbidden men.”
sebahta-ris
. We don’t have many chances to ruin our lives by falling in love with forbidden men.”
Astira leaned closer. “There are the men of the Lestra’s guard,” she whispered. “You might fall in love with one of them.”
Ellynor laughed. “And they’re forbidden, too, but by the Lestra herself! No, thank you, I’m not looking to fall in love with anyone just now. I just want to be a good Daughter, serve the goddess, watch over my cousin, and make my family proud.”
Astira yawned again. “I just want to sleep for an hour or two before it is my turn to watch the old woman,” she said.
“Then close your eyes. I’m sure we’re both so tired that we’ll fall asleep right away.”
Indeed, Astira slept almost immediately, but Ellynor was wide awake. The moon had been an even thinner crescent tonight, only a few days away from dark, and the Black Mother had almost complete dominion over the night sky. Ellynor’s very favorite time. She crept from the bed and went to lean out the window, resting her arms on the sill next to the candle. A deep inhalation brought her the mixed scents of ripe gourds in the gardens and turning leaves on the nearest trees. Almost autumn. Soon to be winter. The best time of year.
She was still awake when a servant knocked and quietly entered. “One of you is wanted in the sickroom,” the girl informed Ellynor.
She glanced at the bed, but Astira’s eyes were closed and her breathing was soft and regular. “I’ll go,” Ellynor said, catching up her hair in one quick twist. “Give me a moment to put on my robe.”
“She is breathing still, but her lungs draw poorly,” the Lestra said in her deep, musical voice. “I don’t think it will be much longer now. Are you afraid to be alone if death comes into the room?”
“No,” Ellynor said. “I’ve been present for such visits before. But who should I call if it happens?”
“Jenetta told me there will be a servant just down the hall. Make use of her. And send her to fetch your sister novice after you have watched a few hours.”
“I will. Thank you, my lady.” Ellynor inclined her head as the Lestra passed her and left the room. She waited till the door clicked shut behind her.
Alone with the dying woman.
Ellynor pulled a chair up next to the bed but did not immediately sit, just leaned over and examined the patient’s face. So thin, so pale, with breath so slow and labored that indeed it seemed each one might be her last. Again, Ellynor wondered: Was it age or illness that had brought her down?
She placed her hands carefully, lightly, along the woman’s sunken cheekbones, stroked her palms down the flat covers across the woman’s slight bosom. Fever in the noblewoman’s skin, a rattling congestion in her chest. The stomach and bowels were functioning, as far as Ellynor could tell.
She passed her hands over the upper torso again. Yes, this was the trouble, clustered around the heart and the lungs. Infection and pressure, and not enough strength to resist. “I wish I had been here a day or two sooner,” Ellynor murmured.
Dropping to the chair and making herself comfortable, she pulled back the blankets and spread her fingers over the woman’s thin nightshirt. She could feel the slight fall and rise of the patient’s ribs, catch the faint gurgle as her breath came haltingly in. The fabric of the nightgown felt warm to the touch, as if it had been set close to a fire. Fever, Ellynor knew, seeping upward from the flesh.
“Great Mother, lay your hands over mine,” she whispered, as she had whispered at so many sickbeds of the
sebahta
. “Pour your strength into me. Heal this woman through the medium of my body.”
sebahta
. “Pour your strength into me. Heal this woman through the medium of my body.”
She closed her eyes and opened her heart. Above her, through the layers of wood and stone, she could sense the arched bowl of the Dark Watcher’s hands, cupped over the world to keep it safe. She could almost hear the goddess’s rhythmic chanting as she counted each of the souls under her protection.
Here’s one . . . and another . . . and another . . . and one more. . . .
Here’s one . . . and another . . . and another . . . and one more. . . .
She could tell the exact moment the goddess recognized her, heard Ellynor’s call for help, and kindly responded. She felt the power blossom through her, like heat, like excitement, prickling along her veins. Her hands grew warm, her head felt dizzy, and the moonstone on her bracelet flared with fire. Behind her eyelids she had the impression the room itself grew darker, as the Black Mother flowed in, past the closed shutters, down the banked chimney, and pooled around the patient and the supplicant.
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