Exile's Return (Book 1) by Kate Jacoby

Author:Kate Jacoby [Jacoby, Kate]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2013-08-21T23:00:00+00:00

11

The hospice stood on the edge of the market square, in the heart of the village of Fenlock and only half a league from Elita. From the chapel door Jenn could see the golden tower of the castle reach high above the trees surrounding the village. Spring had brought a glorious colour to the hamlet and with it, a market of festive gaiety. With the last of the snows melted away, Jenn felt she could finally breathe.

All through the winter she had made this trip with Bella. Every week after Mass, regardless of the weather, her sister had led her through the village to the hospice. They brought food, fresh baked bread, herbs and vegetables from the castle garden, ale from the brewery. Every week, Jenn had visited the sick and poor, the homeless and destitute – and every week Jenn grew closer to them. She learned their names, their families, their hopes and dreams. And sometimes, when nothing more could be done, she knelt beside her sister and prayed for their souls.

It was good work, and necessary. The Church had lost the legal right to run this hospice, but no Guildesman had yet appeared in Fenlock to take charge. Jacob believed they never would. With such a conspicuous display of noble patronage for the hospice, Jacob was determined to show his contempt and defiance of the King. It was a small thing, but Jenn had seen the fire in his eyes as he had spoken. These small rebellions were all that were left to him now. But rebellion or not, for Bella, these visits had another purpose, to teach Jenn about duty.

Bella talked about it as though Jenn had never heard the word before. But of course, with her innkeeper’s upbringing, Jenn couldn’t possibly know anything about duty! Nevertheless, it had proved, over the entire winter, to be the single most important lesson Bella had tried to instill in her. Oh, the writing and reading and the accounts and the household management and the clothes and the needlework and everything else were very important, but all those were nothing unless Jenn understood her duty!

It had got to the point where Jenn was ready to scream at the very mention of the word. It had developed, in her mind, the shape of a prison. Cold steel bars of Expectation atop walls of stone-carved Duty. The stupid thing was that Jenn was happy to do all this and more, and forget all about the concept of duty: she did it because she loved it.

It had been so difficult to get used to the idea that this was where she belonged. This was her home, her family, her people. This one single place. She had long since stopped waking in the morning wondering where she was today. But she had no time to miss the past, no time for anything other than her lessons. No time to reflect on what she’d done, on how she’d come here – no time even to think about sorcery!

Now that was the really difficult part.

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