mouthful of roasted pork, which she washed down with a hearty swig of the local wine. It was a heady brew, flavoured with diced fruit that only partially disguised the strong taste of pure spirit. Vaelin’s eyes strayed constantly to where Nortah sat at the end of the table. He said little to Alum and Sehmon, who were seated on either side, and displayed no obvious interest in the numerous bottles passing back and forth.
The other guests consisted mainly of senior officers in the city garrison, career soldiers with a customary appreciation for the comforts of drink. The woman seated at the governor’s left was a marked and elegant contrast, clad in finely embroidered blue silks that matched the sapphire earrings she wore and the paint that shaded her eyelids. Hushan had introduced her only as his third wife; apparently it wasn’t custom for husbands to name their wives to others. Vaelin felt that she resembled a finely made mannequin, her features a porcelain mask of almost unnatural perfection, lips formed into a permanently demure smile that broadened only briefly at one of her husband’s loudly spoken witticisms. She ate nothing and drank no more than a sip or two of wine. Vaelin might have paid her scant attention but for the way Ahm Lin had reacted to her upon taking his seat. The mason strove to hide it but Vaelin saw the way his back straightened in discomfort as the woman’s placid gaze passed over him. Also, throughout the evening Ahm Lin kept his attention firmly on his meal, providing only nods and muttered responses to Erlin’s cheerful conversation.
“But no, he doesn’t have a wife,” Ellese added, smothering a burp. “Such earthly notions are of no meaning when considering the Father’s nature.”
“Then . . .” Hushan’s brows furrowed as his bafflement deepened. “How did he father the world with no womb to receive his seed?”
“By the power of his love, which knows all and sees all.” Ellese favoured the governor with a grin as she refilled her goblet. So far she had displayed no offence at Hushan’s prolonged and skeptical questioning on the tenets of her people’s creed. In fact, Vaelin had long felt her commitment to the Church of the World Father was at best a perfunctory shadow of her mother’s unwavering, if pragmatic, form of devotion.
Hushan blinked and shook his head before raising an eyebrow at Vaelin. “I think I found the Fire Queen’s red sharks a more fathomable notion than Heaven being home to but one all-knowing soul.”
“Oh, my uncle is far above such things, my lord,” Ellese said. She blinked bleary eyes and reached again for her goblet, spilling a drop or two of the contents as she raised it to her mouth. “The Father, the Alpiran gods,” she went on, staining her sleeve as she wiped it across her lips, “the wisdom of ancient scripture, the serenity of prayer. It’s all just dung to him. Mother always forgave him for it though. ‘A life of loss and grief will make even the kindest soul close his heart to the divine,’ she told me.”
“You’ve had enough,” Vaelin said, halting Ellese’s hand as it reached once again for the wine bottle. She stared at him, a measure of the old defiance creeping into her gaze, lips twitching as she fought the drink-fuelled impulse to speak some no-doubt-choice words.
“Do you have something to say?” he asked, tone mild as he met her glowering gaze. “A decision regarding my tutelage, perhaps? I am happy to forgo any further lessons if you wish.”
She clenched her fist and drew it back from the bottle, lowering her eyes, albeit with some obvious effort.
“Master Sehmon!” Vaelin called to the young outlaw, who quickly scrambled to his feet.
“My lord?”
“Lady Ellese is tired. Please escort her to her chamber.” He fixed Sehmon with a hard stare. “And be sure to return swiftly.”
“Of course, my lord.”
Ellese allowed Sehmon to take her arm as she rose from her seat. She bowed stiffly to the governor, and the two of them made a carefully paced exit from the meal hall.
“Always a sound practice to remind them of their place, I find,” Hushan commented. “In these lands a girl her age expressing such strong opinions would find herself locked in a hut for a month. I allowed it tonight in deference to your custom. The men of your lands do, after all, permit yourselves to be ruled by a woman.”