RECAP

All praise be on this day to She, the Sun on the Mountain, Hierodule Above All Others, the Lady of the Skies, Queen of Gifts. On this day, the travelers shall take the daughters of my son away from me. So do the unasked-for gifts of Ranute weigh one down.

I reflect on my weakness and how it was inflicted upon my flock. The village looked to me when the highborn lady killed old Simut for the temerity he showed in begging her forbearance. Instead of giving strength to my flock I was supine before her, before the Satrap’s men, before the Khalq, before the invaders, before the hillmen. I looked the other way when Seret fled in the night for fear of what she might have left. I clutch my granddaughters close, denying them the birthright of their mother because they were all that was left of my son.

Praise be to She, who sees my weakness and sends the strength I lack!

It cannot be questioned that they are gifts, fallen from the daylit sky upon the mountain. At times during the past days I could have doubted the beneficence She Whose Wings Lift the Heavens. Many have come to Ameryswald and been baleful or burdensome. The wayward tylwyth dragging near-corpses from a lake was not auspicious tidings.

But a boon they have been. The Gluchy has been mollified for another generation. When grota comes once more, hearths will be bright and bellies full of game. The latest of the highborn lady’s lackeys have been routed from the keep and now it stands empty of invaders, its larders feeding her neglected subjects. A secret sickness within the village was uncovered and sorrowfully excised and my granddaughters protected. Finally the mountain lord has been brought to parlay and a peace brokered for Ameryswald, with his daughter’s succor as price.

Strong among them is Govannon, a tylwyth like our wayward guest. He carries great burdens on his strong back and protects the weak. It is in him that I place my hopes for my granddaughters’ safety. I do not have his tongue but I know his thoughts can run hot and dark beneath his veil. The weights upon him are more than physical.

The witch is one turned from the gods to the worship of a lurking power. I think the eye of the Gluchy rested on her and saw a powerful soul that might turn to its lures someday. Her heart is wicked but pragmatic. For now she repays a debt as a matter of convenience. Still, her cunning and sophistication can be a lesson for my granddaughters.

Praise be to Apsu, the Mistress of Waters who sent forth her wisdom in the mouths of the apkallu. Their descendant Kasumi follows in their footsteps. She lifts the hearts of her companions and we humble of Ameryswald with her gilded tongue. A course is charted by her words, and her hand holds both peace and bloodshed.

The tylwyth woman is favored of Neath and is tested in her flames. She paid a price in body when she fell from the mountain, but lost a burden as well. I see that she is of two minds like her patron and that her path shall be as strange as the one that brought her to Neath’s service.

I wonder at what truly brought them together, but understand that Geb hides his secrets from the unready. It is enough that they are a gift; may they convey my granddaughters safely to Keltokel where my youngest shall find a remedy for her curse. For that I greet this day with my song of praise to She, Ruler of All Winged, Giver of Magic, Disk of the Sun.