Author’s note: with Hester’s permission, I have transcribed this message selected from our recent correspondence and included it here. I have courageously refrained from editing it.
To the Esteemed Storm-Caller Horwendell of Ilianath, Court Wizard to the Lady Iltara of Bliss,
Do you like the new title? I know you have a troubled relationship, at best, with Iltara. But a full Court Wizard is something to be proud of anyway! I made up the Storm-Caller part. I know you say that Gena summoned the storm from nothing and that is the most impressive thing, but you need not be so humble as to ignore your own part. I say you should take it as part of your name. She should too, but she is very proper about her title of Sister, and I suppose that is good of her.
Here, as you ask, is what happened after we parted ways in Bliss.
My attack on Iltara was doomed. I was outnumbered and surrounded, and quickly caught. I am fortunate that the lion-creature was well trained. It did have poor breath, which is an odd thing to remember but the rest of the city smelled of such sweet perfumes and pleasant cook-fires that it comes very clearly to the mind.
They hauled me down to the jail you found me in and stuffed me into that cell. I almost got stuck at the doorway as it was very tight at the shoulders.
I lay there in count-in-place-ion for some time, but then I heard someone in the next cell over. We made some small talk about the weather (there wasn’t any) and the food (there wasn’t any) and then we told each other our names. He was Tanshui of the Morul-Om. I told him I was Hester of the House Eastmost. He was suddenly very quiet. I understand. But I was able to get him to talking again.
At the same time the Morul-Om tried to have me killed in the veld, they sent Tanshui and others to the city to speak with Iltara. The band didn’t know if killing me had worked or not; that man and woman who tried to kill us were still traveling when Tanshui left. When Tanshui arrived in the city, Iltara knew before he did that the killing had failed, so she threw him in jail. He commented on the lion’s breath, too.
As it turns out, the Morul-Om were not acting on orders from Iltara. She was telling the truth about that! It was something the band had voted on. They had learned about the three of us and thought that delivering Gena to Iltara (and being rid of me and you) would be a way to gain her favor. Iltara was displeased, as she was hoping to handle it herself.
A few days later, Tanshui learned in jail that the Morul-Om had left the valley. The river had dried up. Iltara was losing power, and they did not want to be smashed by the king. They were not loyal enough to her to die with her. They left Tanshui behind. He understood, but it hurt him a great deal. He also learned that a good part of the band had tried again to take Gena. That would be the time Magister Akabu Ai defeated them on the mountain. That time, rather than trying to gain Iltara’s favor, they were going to try to get a ransom from her, using Gena.
He must have leaves-dropped a lot of gossip in that jail cell.
Anyway, when you came, I grabbed his hand, and when you took him away from the dream, I took him with us. He said he was going to be killed by a pit of snakes when Iltara found the time. I don’t think he should be killed by a pit of snakes. I’m not sure anybody should be killed by a pit of snakes. I don’t know where he woke up, but I do hope he wasn’t killed by a pit of snakes.
When I woke, I saw Aliyah and Utba take you from the room. I know you know I was pretending—good, eh? Once you were gone, I snuck out. There was nobody left awake in the city, so I didn’t need to be very sneaky.
I was able to find the palace pretty quickly. There were no guards. They must have been all on the walls to give the appearance of a big garrison. By then it was beginning to rain. I didn’t know what was going on at the time, but I knew what deserts are about, so I found that a bit concerning.
I went inside and searched. It was a small palace, and even so a lot of it was unused. I finally found Gena and Iltara in what I think was Iltara’s own chambers. They were large; both a bedchamber and a study, with a lot of rugs and cushions and two canopy beds. Gena sat cross-legged on the floor with the tome opened before her. She had finished reading the spell, I think—her eyes were open, looking upon the page, but she didn’t seem focused on it. It was almost more like she was thinking of something else.
Iltara lay on one of the canopy beds. Gena noticed me, but I was looking at Iltara. She wasn’t moving, except for her breathing. She looked different. Her face was the same, but thinner, hungrier, and crueler. Her body from the belly down was like a serpent’s, with dull green scales, curled up on the bed.
“Let’s go,” Gena said. I hesitated.
“Don’t,” Gena said. I think she thought I was going to try to kill Iltara in her sleep.
“I’m not going to kill Iltara in her sleep,” I said. “I thought I might wake her up, fi…”
“What! No! Don’t do that either! That’s insane! Let’s go,” Gena said.
It didn’t seem very insane to me, if I’m to be honest with you. It was really pretty simple. Iltara was our enemy, and what you do with enemies is vanquish them. Especially evil murdering sorceresses! But killing anyone in their sleep is a pretty vile thing. So, I thought, we should wake her up, when our opportunity was finest, and best her in arms the right way.
“But…” I was about to say.
“Think, Hester!” Gena said. She looked worried. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen her so worried.
But I did think. And I remembered what you had told me. “Leave the queen for me.” And I think I realized then: You were probably right, weren’t you? Finding me in the jail was well done, however you had done it. However crazy your rants were about Akabu Ai, the Lightbringer, and Iltara were, you always seemed to know what your business was. You had saved Eidahn’s life. You had helped me find the trail so many times when I might not have alone.
I didn’t actually know what would happen if I woke Iltara up. Was her power in our realm as mighty and terrible as it was in her own? Would I be outnumbered by her soldiers again?
But I knew what you had asked. And I knew you had a reason. I thought, somehow, I knew that if I did leave it to you, it would turn out the right way.
“All right, Gena, let’s go,” I said. She took the tome.
We ran through the blinding rain until we reached a gate to the north out of town, then we went through that and worked our way around just below the wall until we round-A-boo’d with the inquisitors. I asked Gena if she was sure about this, and she said yes. It turns out there were just two of them: Sister Shoa, Apostle of the Fifth Degree and First Officer of the Fifty-Second Inquisition, and the man we fought in the Hall of the League, who told me his name was Bernard. Just Bernard. The sixty soldiers they had brought with them were some sort of trick, conjured by Shoa. Clever!
We made haste away from the city, and we journeyed back to Anteianum.
They seem noble and driven, but they were very quiet on the voyage. I don’t know what their business is, and that frustrates me. They will not bring harm to Gena. I will be sure of that.
I do hope things have been well for you. My father wishes to visit you very soon, if Iltara will permit it. You’ll be sure she does, won’t you? It would mean so much to him to thank you in person. Once I am released from this business in Anteianum (the inquisition says it wants my testy money) I want to do the same, but I won’t make him wait on me.
Gena says she’s more concerned for you than for herself. I’m not sure. She’s going on trial, and you have that oath to help you out. Iltara is a fearsome person to be sworn to, I do not doubt, but it seems like Gena has more immediate threats to contend with.
I will pray for safety for the both of you. You have both found strange but noble ways, and I am sure we will meet and stand shoulder to shoulder again. I will be proud to do so.
Loyally Yours under the Lightbringer’s Aegis,
Hester I of the House Eastmost