Authors: Jr. L. E. Modesitt
Shadowsinger (61 page)
Secca paced across the floor of the chamber she had always used in Falcor. Somehow, she never wanted to live in the large chambers Robero had created by remodeling the liedburg. If she had to be in Falcor, then those Anna had used would suffice. Her eyes flicked to the open shutters, whose dark wood was silvered in her sight, as was everything.
Silver, not gold
. Even the perfect white rose that lay upon one corner of the writing table was silvered. Secca slowed her pacing and smiled, thinking about the moment when Alcaren had presented the rose to her, a moment that she would treasure always, both for the love it showed and the innocence it had represented.
Her eyes lifted from the rose to Alcaren.
“You
must
be Lady of Defalk,” her consort insisted. “You have known that for weeks, if not longer. Why do you hesitate now?”
“I just wanted to stop the killing and the destruction. I didn't want women to lose all that Anna gave us.” Secca paused. “And I killed more people than she ever did.”
“Did you have any choice, if you did not want Liedwahr under the hands of the Maitre?”
“I did not see any,” Secca admitted.
“No one else did, either. Not the Matriarch or the Council of Wei or even the Ladies of the Shadows.” Alcaren paused, and then continued, his words measured. “My ladyâ¦that is why you must be Lady of
Defalk, and why Defalk must include Neserea, Ebra, and Dumar. Only then will there be no killings by the scores.”
“By expanding Defalk threefold?”
“You already hold it,” he said. “They all will bow to whoever you appoint as Lord High Counselor in Dumar. Neserea's lords should become part of the Thirty-three, and you should call all the lords, including Hadrenn and his sons, the Fifty or some such.”
“What will the Thirty-three say?”
“They will say little. You stopped the Sea-Priests, and only three holds in Defalk were destroyed. Two of those belonged to loyal lords. You can at least help rebuild those two with sorcery. Leave Aroch as an example. The cost to you and the SouthWomen was great, but the SouthWomen will recall with pride for generations their role in repulsing the Sturinnese and in supporting the Lady Sorceress. All will know the price you paid to save them, and that is as it should be.”
Secca glanced toward the open window, catching a hint of the summer to come, with the spring flowers from the garden Alyssa had planted. Secca shook her head. Alyssa, like Anna, had done her best with Robero, and it had not been enough.
Will your best fail to be enough? Will you always be looking over your shoulder? Wondering what devastation and disaster may lie ahead?
“I don't like being the person one has to be to rule effectively.” That was it, pure and simple.
“So long as you remember that, all will be well. Was that not Lord Robero's greatest failing?” asked Alcaren. “That he liked power more than ruling?”
“One of them,” Secca acknowledged.
“People follow you,” Alcaren said.
“Now.”
“They know that you went into danger for them.”
“They will forget.”
Alcaren laughed. “Have you an objection to everything?”
“Noâ¦yes.” Secca turned toward the window. Finally, she turned back. “Asâ¦as Lady of Defalkâ¦the reason why Anna could not be Lady⦔ Secca flushed and looked down, her eyes straying to the hearth before which she had once played Vorkoffe, never dreaming how she would one day return to the chamber.
Alcaren waited, a supportive smile on his face.
“As Lady⦔ She stopped, then began again. “Lady Anna was but regent because she could not have children, and a ruler⦔ She found herself flushing even more brightly.
Alcaren took her hand, then reached up with his other hand and turned her face to him, looking at her with gray-blue eyes that saw into her, but did not judge or condescend. “Would that be so terrible, my love? So very awful to have a child?”
Secca eased her arms around him, brushed his cheek with her lips, and then held tightly to him for long momentsâ¦and for the future.
In time, she took a half step back and looked again into his eyesâsilver-centered amber meeting silver-centered gray-blue. She tilted her head back ever so slightly, and then their lips met.
Outside the unshuttered window, the spring song of a redbird rose liltingly, and with promise.
Tor Books by L. E. Modesitt, Jr.
Note: Within series, books are best read in listed order.
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The continent of Solidarâonce Lydarâis home to a strange and rare breed of magic user. Imagers can bring into being almost anything they can imagineâ¦but their power is dangerous to themselves as well as to others, and their life expectancy is short. Because they are both feared and vulnerable, Imagers must live separately from the rest of society. Some are exploited by ordinary people with political and economic powerâ¦while others are wise enough to build a future when their powers may put to the service of the common good.
Madness in Solidar
(forthcoming)
Corus today is a world of contending countries, of struggling humans, strange animals, and elusive supernatural creatures. It is still a place of magical powers, but only a few people are Talented enough to use them. Alucius is one of those people. With Corus changing again, Alucius and his Talent will have a central role to play.
L. E. Modesitt, Jr.'s bestselling fantasy novels set in the magical world of Recluce are among the most popular in contemporary fantasy. Each tells an independent story that nevertheless reverberates though all the other Recluce novels to deepen and enrich the reading experience.
Heritage of Cyador
(forthcoming)
When Anna Marshall is transported from her boring and frustrating life in Ames, Iowa, to the very different world of Erde, she finds out that for the first time in her life she's uniquely powerful. In Iowa Anna was a music instructor and small-time opera singer, but on Erde her musical ability makes her a big-time sorceress.
Follow the conflict between the corrupt interstellar Empire and the Ecolitan Institute of the planet Accord. The Institute must fightâfirst for their independence, and then to prevent the worst disaster in human history.
Empire & Ecolitan
(comprising
The Ecolitan Operation
and
The Ecologic Secession
)
Ecolitan Prime
(comprising
The Ecologic Envoy
and
The Ecolitan Engine
)
Modesitt's first major work. In the future, Earth is a desolate ruin, until its degenerate human outcasts kidnap a boy of immense native intelligence and determinationâwho grows up to become the force behind a plan to make Earth flower again.
The Forever Hero
(comprising
Dawn for a Distant Earth
,
The Silent Warrior
, and
In Endless Twilight
)
In this alternate history world, the United States never came into existence, Russia is still ruled by the Romanovs, and ghosts are not mere superstition but have a literal physical realityâand political implications. Your crimes can haunt you, and the ghosts of your crimes are visible to others.
Ghosts of Columbia
(comprising
Of Tangible Ghosts
and
The Ghost of the Revelator
)
Timegods' World
(comprising
Timediver's Dawn
and
The Timegod
)
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This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this novel are either fictitious or are used fictitiously.
SHADOWSINGER: A SPELLSONG CYCLE NOVEL
Copyright © 2002 by L. E. Modesitt, Jr.
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form.
Edited by David G. Hartwell
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ISBN: 978-0-7653-0358-5