Maggie Furey - Aurian

Triumph swelled within the Archmage’s heart. So the thing retained its powers! It would take much study to learn how to wield it effectively, but in the end this weapon would give him mastery over the world—and over Aurian. After that, he would have all the long ages to make her pay for what she had done.

It was the day before Solstice Eve, but Vannor’s daughter Zanna was finding that seasonal goodwill was in short supply. She and Dulsina, the housekeeper, had been forced to make a special trip to the food markets of the Grand Arcade for Vannor’s cook, who had been in a terrible mood. It was Sara’s fault, of course. The meals for the festival required considerable planning in advance, and Hebba, who had cooked for the family for years, had her Solstice routine organized with immaculate timing, right down to the last delicious morsel. Her reaction, therefore, when Sara had decided the day before the Solstice celebrations were due to begin that it was time to make some changes, had been a mix of horror, outrage—and utter panic. Vannor was out, and his eldest daughter, Corielle, had recently wed the son of a wealthy sea captain, and moved to the port of Easthaven with her new husband. It had been left to Zanna, as usual, to deal with the trouble as best she could.

As Hebba would not trust the kitchen maids with the errand—(“What? Send them girls down there to dawdle and dally all day?”)—Dulsina and Zanna had been sent off with a long list of delicacies by the frantic cook, who was turning the kitchen upside down in her frenzy. Zanna was glad to escape— the two kitchen maids had already been in tears. She couldn’t blame poor Hebba, but Zanna resented the fact that the rest of the household, and herself in particular, had to bear the brunt of the cook’s temper, while Sara, as usual, had escaped the consequences of her thoughtlessness. While Hebba might call Sara “a little guttersnipe” behind her back, she was not prepared to cross the mistress of the house.

Because it was almost Solstice, the Grand Arcade was crowded to overflowing. At first, Zanna had enjoyed the bustle. The long, colonnaded aisles were brightly lie by endless lines of glowing Vamps, and the air was fragrant with the mingling aromas of spices, cheeses, smoked meats, and seasonal fruits. The stallholders were shouting to draw attention to the best of their wares, and people called out cheerful greetings to friends that they met in the crowd.

As time wore on, however, and the stocks of delicacies were depleted, folk became tired, cross, and despondent. The crowd seemed to be increasing all the time, and the building, for all its vast size, became unbearably stuffy and hot. Zanna, overburdened with purchases, felt sweaty and bedraggled. Her ribs were bruised where she had been elbowed by the thrusting crowds. Her feet had been trodden on repeatedly, and were sore from trudging the hard stone floors of the Arcade. Her head ached, she was desperately thirsty, and the tottering pile of packages in her aching arms was hampering her progress through the crush of people. Really, she decided, this is impossible! We’ve done enough, and if Sara wants anything more she can bloody well come and get it herself. She turned to say as much to Dulsina—and discovered, to her horror, that the housekeeper was nowhere in sight. I must have lost her in the crowd, she thought. Dear Gods, how will I ever find her again?

Zanna tried to stop, and was cursed by impatient folk who jostled her roughly aside. Because of her short stature, she couldn’t see a thing, and she was carried along helplessly, forced to move with the flow in order to stay on her feet. Zanna bit her lip, determined not to panic. I have to get out of here, she thought—but how?

“Ho, Zanna? Are you all alone?” A steadying hand grasped Zanna’s shoulder. A slight, but respectful space opened around her in the crowd, and to her relief, she found that she could breathe again. She looked up, with gratitude, into the kindly face of the Lady Aurian, who was -accompanied by Lieutenant Maya from the Garrison. “Gods, what a dreadful crush,” the Mage said cheerfully. “I’m not surprised you were struggling! Maya and I slipped down here to buy a gift for Forral, and we’ve been just about trampled to death!” Her arching brows twitched together in a slight frown. “Could Vannor not spare a servant to send with you?”

Zanna, who had met both the Lady Aurian and Maya on several occasions when she had wheedled her father into taking her with him to the Garrison, admired both women tremendously. But the Mage, in particular, was everything that Zanna wished to be. Feeling overawed at finding herself in such exalted company, she explained about losing Dulsina, and found herself telling her syrqpa|hetic rescuers the whole story of her disastrous day. At the mention of Sara’s name, she saw the two women exchange a grimace. Aurian opened her mouth as if to comment, but, on catching Maya’s eye, closed it grimly again, with a slight shake of her head.

“Right,” Maya said briskly. “Let’s get you and your parcels back to your carriage—if Dulsina has any sense, that’s where she’ll be. I expect she’s in a rare panic by now!”

The Mage and Maya divided Zanna’s purchases between them, and escorted her out of the Arcade. The crowd seemed to melt away before the two grim-faced women in their fighting clothes, and Zanna was tremendously impressed. As Maya had predicted, they met the housekeeper in the great arched en-tranceway. Dulsina, frantic with worry, had been just about to go back inside to search for her missing charge, Zanna was embarrassed by her fussing, and grateful to Aurian for cutting her short.

The Mage herself helped Zanna into the carriage, and settled her packages around her. Vannor’s daughter looked back wistfully as the carriage drove away, calling out her thanks again to the two women, who were already turning away to walk along the street. The sound of their conversation floated back to her on the still evening air,

“Gods, Maya,” she heard the Mage say, “That wife of Vannor’s is such a bitch!”

“You’re telling me! If it were up to me, I’d drop her in the river—in a sack! Do you fancy a beer now?”

Zanna smiled to hersejf. Somehow, it helped a lot to know that she was not alone in her opinion of her stepmother.

The errands had taken longer than Zanna had expected, and dusk was falling as they clattered across the Academy bridge and turned to climb the wooded hill that led to home. It looked as though it might snow again. The hazy sky above Nexis was suffused with an unearthly copper glow, etched by lines of smoke that rose straight as penstrokes in the still air. Zanna snuggled into the thick fur of the carriage rug, fidgeting with the discomfort of frozen fingers and aching feet. She sighed wistfully at the thought of the cookfires glowing in the city’s different homes, the scents of citrus and spices and roasting meats, and the bright, excited faces of children. She knew that she would be going home to a very different scene. Hebba never worked well when she was flustered, and after today’s upheavals, this year’s Solstice celebrations at Vannor’s house were likely to be a disaster.

The lamplighters were at work, and as the carriage labored up the steep, snowy hill, a string of golden globes burst into life one by one, to mark the road ahead.

The snow had been raked from the curving sweep that led to the mansion, and the coachman, relieved at getting up the slippery hill without injuring Vannor’s priceless black horses, finished the journey in style, rattling up to the door in a spatter of gravel. Zanna had meant to accompany him to the back door, to help unload the precious packages, but Dulsina was having none of it,