Paladin's Legacy 05: Crown of Renewal by Elizabeth Moon

Author:Elizabeth Moon [Moon, Elizabeth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fantasy
ISBN: 9780356501307
Publisher: Del Rey
Published: 2014-05-27T04:00:00+00:00

The mutter of magelord voices from the reception room sounded strange, and Kieri realized that without the magery he had used, he could scarcely understand them. What they spoke was not the Common tongue now so widely used but a dialect long since forgotten or their own language from Old Aare.

They fell silent as he entered, bowing courteously.

“Be welcome,” Kieri said. From their expressions, he could tell that they, too, did not now understand him. He spoke very slowly, hoping that would help. “This is the city of Chaya, in Lyonya.”

“Lyonya… Elfland?” one said. The accent was thick, but Kieri could understand it.

“Two kingdoms… elf… human… joined.” He brought his hands together and intertwined his fingers. That they seemed to understand.

“Finyatha… Gird?” A gesture that must mean “all.”

What was Finyatha? It must be Fintha.

“All Girdish,” Kieri said. Except for the newly discovered mage talents… but that was too complicated to explain when they could not understand one another.

Puzzled looks that finally cleared. Several nodded. One gestured to the table, and a pastry rose from its tray and came to his fingers. Kieri stared for a moment, then decided that his own show of magery would do no harm and might be comforting. Or impressive. With a glance at Caernith, who had taught him, he lifted a jug on the table by magery, poured from it, and then brought the goblet to him and drank. Silence held the room a long moment, then more questions erupted.

He had expected the magelords to be confused, not knowing where they were or when. But he had thought, since they came from Fintha and Tsaia and had lived for some years with Girdsmen, that they would speak Common fluently and already be familiar with customs and Girdish law. Their confusion and anxiety were obvious, but their difficulty with the language made his initial plans – to talk over what skills they had and how they might fit into Lyonyan society – impossible. Instead, with a mix of sign language and the few words they did seem to understand, he explained they would not stay in the palace but elsewhere in the city. They followed him, staring and pointing as they went from one lodging place to another.

By nightfall, Kieri had settled the magelords in their lodgings and explained their lack of local speech to the innkeepers. “See that they have food and drink; the Crown will pay for it, and I will be glad to hear what you think of them.”

“Where are they from?”

“Far beyond Fintha. They came by magic, at the elves’ behest, and they have magery not seen in lifetimes.”

When all had been settled and he was back in the palace, Kieri conferred with his Council.

“So – these are the same bad magelords Gird fought against?” Sier Davonin asked.

“We believe these are the magelords who survived the war, tried to live in peace with Girdsmen in Fintha, and left because the others would not believe them changed.”

“How do we know they are?”

Kieri had the same troubling thought.

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