Recognition by Ann Herendeen

Recognition by Ann Herendeen

Author:Ann Herendeen
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: romantic comedy, bisexual, sword and sorcery, womens fiction, menage, mmf
Publisher: Ann Herendeen


CHAPTER FOUR

The guards escorted me again to the Sanctum for the second part of the test. They were becoming familiar faces to me now, old friends. I exchanged a careful nod with the gifted one, not wanting to get him in more trouble. Dominic turned in suspicion, staring icily from me to the nervous man, before deciding he had nothing to worry about.

Ensconced once more in my place on the dais, I prepared to face another ordeal. “Forgive me, young lady,” Viceroy Zichmni said, “I must ask you some impertinent questions, and you must answer them aloud.”

A clerk had set up a folding table and chair near Lord Zichmni’s bench, had supplied himself with paper and ink, and sat pen in hand, waiting to transcribe the forthcoming dialogue by hand. With no holographic equipment, without even a personal cube, it was the only way to record the proceedings. The clerk was doing the job I had been assigned at yesterday’s meeting, I thought, smiling at him. He stared through me, trained, I suppose, to act as if he were invisible.

Only now did it occur to me that I had been hearing and understanding Eclipsian all day, from the moment Dominic arrived at my apartment. He had used a mix of languages with me, as seemed best to express his meaning, but here in ‘Graven Assembly the only language had been Eclipsian.

Had I been speaking Eclipsian? I must have been, I decided, or someone would have objected. Surrounded by the unimpeded thoughts from the audience, with Dominic’s constant low-level presence in my mind, and with the help of the earlier communion, it seemed I could converse in the language the others were speaking.

I nodded my readiness to Lord Zichmni. Here it comes, I thought, the reason Dominic hadn’t wanted me to be tested. The communion and the physical testing had been straightforward enough. It was these personal inquiries that would offend my sensibilities, Dominic had warned. Remember, he had said, we all go through it. Everyone knows everyone else’s history.

The first question was an anticlimax. “How old are you?” The clerk’s pen made faint scratching noises and fell silent.

“Thirty-five. And a half,” I added as I sensed incredulity around me, heard muttering, a combination of grumbling thoughts and low-voiced discussion. Understanding penetrated slowly. Eclipsians are legally adults at sixteen, considered middle-aged in their thirties. I had been taken to be younger than my real age, not for any flattering assessment of my appearance, but merely because I was being tested for my gift, a ritual of adolescence. Hearing the truth, no matter that they may already have seen it for themselves, people felt like the victims of a calculated deception.

Lord Zichmni called for silence and continued his questioning. “Are you now, or have you ever been married?” When I answered negatively he followed up, “Betrothed?”

What a quaint notion. “No,” I answered, smiling but otherwise restraining myself from showing what was almost disappointment at how overblown my fears had been. My relief was premature.



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