Tell me where, she demanded silently, fiercely. Tell me where this is!
The Chamber door swung open. She could see Raoul, her parents, Jump, and the sparrows. They waited for her.
It will find you, the Chamber told her. When it does, fix it.
A force urged Kel forward. She walked out of the Chamber of the Ordeal.
The king struck each of Kel’s shoulders with the flat of his sword, hard enough to bruise, then gently tapped her crown. “You are dubbed Lady Knight, Keladry of Mindelan,” he announced solemnly as his court watched. “Remember your vows and service to this Crown. Remember your promise of chivalry.”
I’ll remember, she thought as her family and friends applauded. Particularly will I remember it when I find that little man.
Ilane of Mindelan wept openly, smiling at her youngest daughter as she wiped her eyes.
“Mama, you’ll lose face if you cry,” Kel pointed out, returning Ilane’s hug.
“I don’t care,” her mother said. “I am so proud of you, Lady Knight!”
Kel bent slightly to return her father’s hug. The sight of tears on his cheeks left her speechless. She blotted them with her sleeve, making him laugh. Then there was Raoul to hug, and Neal, and her other friends.
She was beginning to think wistfully about food when Raoul tapped her shoulder. “Take a look,” he told her, pointing to the dais.
The king had stepped aside, leaving three women to stand there: the queen, Buri, and in the center, holding a cloth-covered shield, Princess Shinkokami. As Kel watched, they removed the shield’s cover.
There was the Mindelan device: a gray owl, wings outstretched, on a blue field rimmed with cream. There were two differences between this shield and those of her brothers. On Kel’s, the owl hovered over a pair of crossed glaives, cream embroidered in gold, matches for a Yamani glaive. The other difference was the shield’s border: it was formed by two thin rings, the outer blue, the inner cream. A distaff border, the heralds had named it, the coat of arms of a lady knight. They had studied them as pages, but distaff borders had not been used in over one hundred years. Not even Lady Alanna had ever claimed one.
Kel stepped forward in a daze. Buri and Shinko helped slide the shield on her arm. It fit perfectly—Kel looked around to see Lalasa, teary-eyed, beaming at her. Of course the shield fit, if Lalasa had anything to say about it.
“Wear it in health and victory,” Queen Thayet said. “Now, show the nice people.”
Kel turned, and showed them.
Her family and friends offered to wait in the courtyard while she put her new shield away: Raoul had arranged for a dinner at the city’s best eating-house as a celebration. Since horses had to be saddled and brought, Kel decided to tidy up again once she had placed her new shield on the bed for the animals to admire. Nari had already left some droppings on the Mindelan owl.
“I hope that’s a comment on owls and not my family,” Kel told her as she combed her hair and cleaned her teeth. When she looked at the bed next, Jump stood on the shield, using his nose to rub a wet cloth over the besmirched owl.
Kel, laughing, almost missed the very quiet knock on the door that connected her rooms to Raoul’s. Puzzled, since he was with the others, Kel opened the door.
Lady Alanna stood there, a sheathed longsword in one hand. “I asked Raoul if I could see you privately,” she explained to the baffled Kel. “May I come in?”
“My—my lady, of course,” Kel stammered. “Please. I would brew tea—”
“Please don’t,” Alanna said with a smile. “I know you have people waiting.” Once inside, she knelt and gave Jump a moment’s attention—from the way the dog carried on, Kel thought, they must have made friends on progress.
At last the King’s Champion straightened with a groan, her free hand going to her lower back. “Nobody ever says that, even with healers, your body still adds up your breaks and bruises, then gives you the bill in your mid-thirties,” she said wryly. She sat in Kel’s chair and offered the sword to her. “You’ve grown since the last sword I gave you, and I got a better idea of your fighting style on progress.”
Kel took the blade in hands that shook. How casually this woman answered a question that had bothered her for eight years! “It was you?” she whispered. “The bruise balm, the exercise balls, the dagger, the—?”
Alanna nodded. “It nearly killed me, that I couldn’t help you. Not with magic, like those mammering conservatives claimed, but with things like what works best on heavy opponents, and how to build up shoulder muscle. So I did what I could.”
Thinking of all those gifts over the years, truly expensive things chosen with so much thought about what she would need, Kel shook her head.
“Neal mentioned there were times when you thought I didn’t care,” the lady said, violet eyes serious. “I wanted to tell you, it was the opposite. And you went so far beyond what I hoped, for the next girl page, and squire, and knight. All those tournaments, and those girls in the stands, right down by the field, watching you hungrily—”
“Oh, my lady, no!” protested Kel, shocked.
“Yes,” the King’s Champion said firmly. “I had the magic, don’t you see, and the hand of the Goddess on me. Everyone could and did say I was a freak, one of those once-a-century people. No one else needs to strive for what I did, because they couldn’t reach it.” Alanna smiled crookedly. “But you, bless you, you are real. Those girls watched you, and talked about your style in the saddle, and the things you did. They swore they’d take up archery, or riding, or Shang combat, because you had shown them it was all right. I was so proud.” She cleared her throat. Kel realized that the Champion was beet red. “You know, those things look better out of the sheath,” she remarked, pointing to the sword Kel held.
“Oh!” She had forgotten it was in her hand. Looking at it, she admired the style of the plain black leather sheath and neat, wire-wrapped hilt: they matched the sword and the dagger Alanna had given her. She looked under the cross-guard. There it was: the stylized enamel raven that was the sign of Raven Armory.
The blade, when she worked up the nerve to draw it, did not match the sword and dagger. It showed the blue wave tempering of the finest Yamani steel. She held a fortune in metal in her hands.
“My lady, you can’t—I can’t—” she stammered, trembling. Her hands ached from the tree she had climbed for so long during her Ordeal, and the blade teetered in her grip. Forgetting herself, Kel grabbed the metal and sliced the thick muscle at the base of her thumb. She flinched and dug for a handkerchief to wipe the blade.
“Now you have to keep it,” Alanna said, presenting her own handkerchief. “You’ve bled on it; it’s yours. You know sword lore as well as I do.”
Kel had to smile: she did know. She ducked her head and finished wiping that lovely blade. It was heavier and longer than her present sword, better suited to her hand and height.
“I do wish you’d been a runt like me.” Alanna was straight-faced, her eyes mischievous. “That would have made it perfect.”
Kel sighed and told the lady solemnly, “I would have been smaller if I could, Lioness.” Alanna laughed. She laid a small, hard hand over Kel’s as Kel gripped the hilt of her wonderful new sword. “Gods all bless, Lady Knight,” she said quietly.
Jump chose that moment to flop on the woman’s feet in a play for attention. Kel was grateful to him—her feelings, and she suspected Alanna’s, were just too intense to bear. With Jump to act the clown, they were able to catch their wind.
Alanna scratched his belly and told him he was a rogue, then turned to go.
“Lady Alanna,” Kel said, “would you like to come to supper with us? Someone has to keep Neal from making speeches.”
Alanna cackled. “Well, I’m definitely the woman to do that,” she admitted. “I thank you, and I accept.”
After she left to get a coat, Kel remained for a moment, looking at her sword. The blue tempering shone in the light from her candles, pulling her eye to th
at elegant blade.
“I dub thee Griffin,” she whispered, running her fingertips along its length. “We have work to do.”
CAST OF CHARACTERS
GLOSSARY
Balor’s Needle: a tower, the highest part of the royal palace in Corus, used mostly by astronomers and mages.
basilisk: an immortal that resembles a seven-to-eight-foot-tall lizard, with slit-pupiled eyes that face forward and silver talons. It walks upright on its hind feet. Its hobby is travel; it loves gossip and learns languages easily. It possesses some magical skills, including a kind of screech that turns people to stone. Its colors are various shades of gray and white.
Bazhir: the collective name for the nomadic tribes of Tortall’s Great Southern Desert.
Bonnett River: runs through the Royal Forest near Owlshollow.
Carthak: the slaveholding empire that includes all of the Southern Lands, ancient and powerful, a storehouse of learning, sophistication, and culture. Its university was at one time without a rival for teaching. Its people reflect the many lands that have been consumed by the empire, their colors ranging from white to brown to black. Its former emperor Ozorne Tasikhe was forced to abdicate when he was turned into a Stormwing. (He was later killed.) He was succeeded by his nephew Kaddar Iliniat, who is still getting his farflung lands under control.
centaur: an immortal shaped like a human from the waist up, with the body of a horse from the waist down. Like humans, centaurs can be good, bad, or a mixture of both. For a male to keep females in his herd, he must constantly provide them with presents: if he does not, they will turn on him. Among the gods worshiped by centaurs are the Mares with Bloody Teeth, goddesses of vengeance. Centaurs consider horses to be slaves.
charcoal burners: people who make charcoal by cutting logs and building them into large, layered stacks that are set on fire and made to burn slowly, without consuming the wood.
Code of Ten: the set of laws that form the basis of government for most of the Eastern Lands.
Copper Isles: a slaveholding island nation to the south and west of Tortall. The Isles’ lowlands are hot, wet jungles, their highlands cold and rocky. Traditionally their ties are to Carthak rather than Tortall, and their pirates often raid along the Tortallan coast. There is a strain of insanity in their ruling line. The Isles hold an old grudge against Tortall, since one of their princesses was killed there the day that Jonathan was crowned.
coromanel: a flat, crown-shaped piece fitted over the tip of a lance. It spreads the power of a lance’s impact in several directions, to make the force less severe.
Corus: the capital city of Tortall, located on the northern and southern banks of the River Olorun. Corus is the home of the new royal university as well as the royal palace.
Domin River: runs through fief Mindelan.
dragon: a large, winged, lizard-like immortal capable of crossing from the Divine Realms to the mortal ones and back. Dragons are intelligent, possess their own magic, and are rarely seen by humans. The infant dragon Skysong, known as Kitten, lives in the mortal world with her foster mother, Daine Sarrasri.
Eastern Lands: name used to refer to those lands north of the Inland Sea and east of the Emerald Ocean: Scanra, Tortall, Tyra, Tusaine, Galla, Maren, Sarain.
Galla: the country to the north and east of Tortall, famous for its mountains and forests, with an ancient royal line. Daine was born there.
Gift, the: human, academic magic, the use of which must be taught.
glaive: a pole arm including a four- or five-foot staff capped with a long metal blade.
Great Mother Goddess: the chief goddess in the Tortallan pantheon, protector of women; her symbol is the moon.
griffin: a feathered immortal with a cat-like body, wings, and a beak. The males grow to a height of six and a half to seven feet at the shoulder; females are slightly bigger. No one can tell lies in a griffin’s vicinity (a range of about a hundred feet). Their young have bright orange feathers to make them more visible. If adult griffin parents sense that a human has handled their infant griffin, they will try to kill that human.
halberd: a pole arm, a six-foot staff capped by an ax head or a pike (long spear) head.
headman: leader of a tribe, mayor of a small town.
Human Era (H.E.): the calendar in use in the Eastern and Southern Lands and in the Copper Isles is dated the Human Era to commemorate the years since the one in which the immortals were originally sealed into the Divine Realms, over four hundred and fifty years previous to the years covered by Protector of the Small.
hurrok: an immortal shaped like a horse with leathery bat wings, claws, and fangs.
Immortals War: a short, vicious war fought in 452 H.E., the thirteenth year of Jonathan and Thayet’s reign, named for the number of immortal creatures that fought, but also waged by Carthakis (rebels against the new Emperor Kaddar), Copper Islanders, and Scanran raiders. These forces were defeated by the residents of the Eastern Lands, particularly Tortall, but recovery is slow.
kimono: Yamani robe dress that wraps around the body and is secured in front by a stiff sash called an obi. The sleeves are long and rectangular and can serve as pockets. Usually Yamanis wear at least two or three kimonos, the bottom one of very light cloth.
King’s Council: the monarch’s private council, made up of those advisers he trusts the most.
King’s Own: a cavalry/police group answering to the king, whose members serve as royal bodyguards and as protective troops throughout the realm. Their Knight Commander is Lord Sir Raoul of Goldenlake and Malorie’s Peak. The ranks are filled by younger sons of noble houses, Bazhir, and the sons of wealthy merchants. The Own is made of three companies of one hundred fighters each, in addition to the servingmen, who care for supplies and remounts. First Company, a show company, traditionally provides palace bodyguards and security for the monarchs. Under Lord Raoul, Second and Third Company were added and dedicated to active service away from the palace, helping to guard the realm.
K’mir, K’miri: the K’mir are the matriarchal, nomadic tribes of the mountains in Sarain. They herd ponies and are ferocious warriors and riders. The Saren lowlanders despise the K’mir and are continuously at war with them. There is a small, growing K’miri population in Tortall, where Queen Thayet is half K’mir and a number of the Queen’s Riders are also of K’miri descent.
logistics: military study that involves the purchase, maintenance, and transport of supplies, equipment, and people.
mage: wizard.
Maren: a large, powerful country east of Tusaine and Tyra, the grain basket of the Eastern Lands, with plenty of farms and trade.
merlon: one of the solid stone pieces between the crenels (notches) of a crenelated wall.
Midwinter Festival: a seven-day holiday centering around the longest night of the year and the sun’s rebirth afterward. It is the beginning of the new year. Gifts are exchanged and feasts held.
Mithros: the chief god in the Tortallan pantheon, god of war and the law; his symbol is the sun.
naginata: the Yamani term for the glaive used by Kel.
obi: a wide, stiff sash or band that secures a kimono around the waist. Yamanis wear ornaments on obis and tuck items such as fans into them.
ogre: an immortal with aqua-colored skin, shaped like a human, from ten to twelve feet in height.
Olorun River: its main sources are Lake Naxen and Lake Tirragen in the eastern part of Tortall; it flows through the capital, Corus, and into the Emerald Ocean at Port Caynn.
pauldron: a piece of armor that protects the shoulder.
pole arm: any weapon consisting of a long wooden staff or pole capped by a sharp blade of some kind, including spears, glaives, and pikes.
poleyn: a curved piece of armor that protects the knee.
Queen’s ladies: term used to refer to fifteen or so young, active women of noble birth who can ride and use a bow as well as dance and converse with all manner of people. Queen Thayet takes them to small, isolated fiefs or to mee
tings when there is a possibility of danger. They handle emergencies that may arise.
Queen’s Riders: a cavalry/police group charged with protecting Tortallans who live in hard-to-reach parts of the country. They enforce the law and teach local residents to defend themselves. The basic unit is a Rider Group, with eight to nine members. Rank in a Group is simply that of commander and second-in-command; the head of the Riders is the Commander. They accept both women and men in their ranks, unlike the army, the navy, and the King’s Own. Their headquarters lies between the palace and the Royal Forest. Buriram Tourakom is now the Commander; Queen Thayet was the Commander but has since passed the title to Buri.
quintain: a dummy with a shield mounted on a post. One outstretched “arm” is weighted with a sandbag, while the other is covered by the shield. The object in tilting at a quintain is to strike the shield precisely, causing the dummy to pivot 180 degrees. The jouster can then ride by safely. Striking the dummy anywhere but the target circle on the shield causes the dummy to swing 360 degrees, so the sandbag wallops the passing rider.
remount: a rider’s second horse, to ride when the primary horse gets tired. In the case of knights and the King’s Own, remounts are often warhorses, heavier mounts trained to fight.
rowel: a star-shaped piece on a spur, which cuts into a horse to get it to pick up its speed.
Sakuyo: Yamani trickster god, who loves jokes.
Scanra: the country to the north of Tortall, wild, rocky, and cold, with very little land that can be farmed. Scanrans are masters of the sea and are feared anywhere there is a coastline. They also frequently raid over land. Their government is a loose one, consisting of a figurehead king and a Great Council (formerly the Council of Ten, expanded in the disruptions following the Immortals War) made up of the heads of the clans. Recently some clans have been uniting to follow a new warlord, Maggur Rathhausak.
Shang: an order of warriors, mostly commoners, whose principal school is in northern Maren. They specialize in hand-to-hand combat.