Master Ivo looked like a great, hunched vulture with talons and a beak of flesh. His black eyes and lips weren’t as alarming as they might have been had Dagmar not explained their significance. He gathered them together about a week after their arrival, on their first full day as “supplicants,” and answered as many questions as they had. Ghost sat with them too, though she knew far more than the daughters. It seemed that her questions had already been asked and answered.
“What is a supplicant?” Bashti asked. Elayne and Juliah seemed to know, but Ghisla was grateful for the direct question.
“Supplicants come from every clan,” Dagmar began, “but they must have the support of their chieftain, and the Highest Keeper must grant them entry. Supplicants—most of them—eventually become keepers after their training.”
“Will we be trained in all things?” Juliah asked, her eyes sharpening.
“You will be trained to read and write. You will learn history. You will learn philosophy. You will learn the language and the stories of the gods—not just the gods of Saylok but of many cultures and people, if only to better understand your own.”
Ghisla wondered if they would be instructed in the ways of the Songrs, but she said nothing.
“Will we learn to joust and fence? Will we learn to fight?” Juliah asked.
Dagmar pursed his lips, contemplating that for a moment. “Yes. I suppose you will. Master Ivo said you should be treated like supplicants. All keepers are taught the basics of defense. So you will learn those things as well.”
“Will we start today?” Juliah asked.
Dagmar smiled. “Soon. We will start soon. Mayhaps Bayr can teach you.”
“You told me about the runes. You must tell them too, Dagmar,” Ghost insisted, gently changing the subject.
“The runes are the language of the gods,” Dagmar replied.
The mere mention of runes had five sets of eyes widening.
“But the runes are forbidden,” Elayne whispered. She’d been raised in Saylok and seemed to have a grasp on things most of the other girls did not.
“You are supplicants now,” Dagmar said. “But we will go slowly. Very slowly.”
“But . . . don’t you have to have rune blood to power the runes?” Elayne persisted, chewing on her lip. “What if we do not have rune blood? How will I—how will we—be keepers, then?”
“All who have rune blood do not become keepers. And all supplicants do not become keepers either. There are other paths . . . other worthy pursuits,” Dagmar said.
“All the runes must be drawn in blood?” Ghisla said, her thoughts on the rune on her hand, the rune she had yet to use, though she thought of Hod every day.
“Yes. It is the blood that gives the rune its power.”
“So if someone does not have . . . rune blood . . . the rune itself will have no power?” she asked. Hod had told Arwin she had rune blood.
Dagmar nodded.
“So why guard the runes if they are of no use to powerless people?” Ghost asked, pulling Dagmar’s attention in yet another direction. There was too much to know, too much to learn.
“It is not the powerless people we must worry about. Just because a man or woman has rune blood does not mean they have a pure heart. Power tends to corrupt.”
“Does it corrupt . . . keepers?” Elayne asked. That was the question, after all. If keepers were no better than the clansmen, none of them were safe.
“Of course. Keepers are just men. But that is why we live here, without riches or reward, without the temptations that would make us susceptible to such corruption. It is a delicate balance. We don’t use the runes for power or dominion. We do not use them for gain or glory. We seek wisdom, understanding, and patience.”
“Bayr has rune blood. That is why . . . he is so strong,” Ghost said, and her eyes met Dagmar’s as if they shared a secret. The people in the temple were full of secrets. Ghisla didn’t trust any of them, but she listened to the conversation intently. Talk of the runes reminded her of Hod and crazy Arwin.
“Will Bayr become a keeper—or a supplicant—someday?” Bashti asked.
“He is a warrior!” Juliah scoffed, as though the idea of the Temple Boy wasting his strength was laughable. “Warriors do not become keepers. They fight. That is what I want to do.”
“Do girls have rune blood?” Elayne asked, still worrying her lip between her teeth.
“Of course. My sister . . . Bayr’s mother, had rune