Kate the midwife
Standridge
Dear Mother,
I have made it safely to Chystyr, and am staying with the monks here. The monastery is very large, and has about a hundred monks. I wish I had stopped by our monastery before I left so I could bring letters for them. They have a large herb garden, and I hope to be able to work here for the next few days.
I met a woman named Meg in Molby Vinton the first night. She makes bread and beer for the miners, and has a very old dog named Gyp. If anyone is traveling there, tell them that Meg is honest and gives good measure. She fed me and let me sleep in her house.
The next night I stayed with Mowatt and Corrie and their two boys. Mowatt was in the war a long time ago, and lost his arm. He runs a ferry and takes care of the couriers' horses when they come through. It is an important position, Corrie says. I told them some of the stories that Father used to tell me, about flying carpets and cities paved with gold.
Now I am at the monastery and doing well. Give my love to my brother Abram and my father, when he returns. I will try to write when I can.
All my love,
Mariam
Lyle
Watley's Inn
Street name here
Landsrue
Date here
Dear Lyle,
We are now in Banghall-on-the-Deeping, which is in the dwarven mountains. It is quite cold here. We are trying to make it to Ryde's home in Belegost before the snows come. There are many dwarves here, and some other people that are even smaller than that. They might be gnomes, but I am not sure if it is polite to ask. I did not know there were so many dwarves in the world. If, as you say, dwarves are made of rock, then you can find at least one of every kind of rock right here. Of course, most of the buildings here are built for dwarves, and all of us except Ryde keep hitting our heads on the doorways.
We have been riding on barges for what seems like forever. Going adventuring can be pretty boring. Sir Alain says he likes it that way. I think he is tired of getting into fights all the time. His warhorse Armiger disagrees, though. He doesn't like barges very much at all. We went by Kingsford where Sir Alain and many of the church knights were in a big battle a few weeks ago. We could not see it from the river, but Alain said the castle there had been burned.
Llwyd has been learning some new songs from the barge crews, but I do not think your mother would like them very much. Some crew members sing so enthusiastically that it is hard to hear anything else.
We saw Rauros Falls on our way here. You would have liked that. They are very tall and very noisy. You hear them everywhere in the town of Rauros. They are so tall that to get up to the top of them, you have to be pulled up by dwarves. I know that sounds funny, but it is true. We took turns standing on a floor that moved up and down. I couldn't see who was pulling, but it must have been dwarves.
Take good care of your family and keep them safe.
Mariam Roan
Black Sue
Nimue the Alchemist's shop
Court of the Mists
Landsrue
Winter in Bundeshathor
Dear Sue,
I hope that you and Nimue are well, and still friends.
We have traveled far north, farther north than I could have imagined. It is mostly dwarves here. The journey was hard, but we are safe now. We are staying the winter under Bundeshathor mountain, which means "Cloudy Top" in Dwarvish. This is where Ryde's clan lives. They also call it Belegost.
Sue, he really is a dwarven lord. Soon after we got here it was "Lord Ryde this" and "Lord Ryde that". There was some confusion because he had been away for so many years, and his kin did not recognize him right away. His own wife was being courted by another dwarf, since they thought him dead. But he soon set them right.
I really did not know what living inside a mountain would be like. It is very beautiful here. There is a great well that goes down to the center of the mountain, hundreds of feet high and a hundred feet across. It is dry now, but it can be filled with water during an emergency. The entrance to my rooms is about a third of the way down the well, so I hope there are no emergencies any time soon.
They grow herbs here, and without sunlight. The main garden is somewhat sparse, but there are some very rare herbs in pots on Dimrost, the Rainy Stair. I am told that Dimrost is very famous among the dwarves, and it is indeed a marvellous sight to see. Water cascades down the stairs like a waterfall, and flows into a pool at the bottom. Very good conditions for growing plants, except for the lack of sunlight, which they make up for with a special kind of lamp that glows with a cool light.
I think you once told me about mallorn trees. There is one here, at the top of the well. It grows on the head of a great statue of a dwarf holding a lantern. I think it looks quite odd, but I would never tell Ryde so. The statue and the tree are both very old. I hope to get some mallorn leaves to work with while I am here.
I have saved the best for last. Because I am a friend of "Lord Ryde", I have been given two huge rooms to myself, to do with as I choose. And they told me I must also have a human servant. It is quite ridiculous, but I will make the most of it. I have had the rugs removed and two worktables built. The master glassblower, Cutter, is making me bowls and other alchemical equipment, in colors to shame the rainbow. I have hired not one, but two local women, both herbalists, and I intend to spend the winter learning as much as I can from them and from the dwarven herbalists, if there are any.
I miss you, Sue. You would be worth ten of these village women. I will write you about what I find.
Mariam
Black Sue
Nimue the Alchemist's shop
Court of the Mists
Landsrue
Dear Sue,
I heard of the taking of Norcastle, and I hope you were safe in Landsrue with Nimue when it happened.
I wish I had stayed in Belegost. Ryde and his wife are reconciled, and are expecting a fourth child. If he has any sense, he will stay home with his wife and children and never leave his mountain again.
I feel as though the world has been turned upside down, and that we have stumbled into one of those ancient tales full of signs and portents. Soon after we left Belegost, we sailed through a terrible storm, and we saw a great wheel of fire under the sea. Snakes fell from the sky, and one of our crew died from their bites. When we got to Karlsbad the next day, they were still sweeping the streets for snakes. And the priests of Thor had died in the night. We fear the storm marked Thor's passing. In the old stories gods sometimes die, but I never thought I would witness it myself.
Near Karlsbad, a child was nearly killed by demons, and a termagent of a druidess told us that the gates were failing, and that soon the druids will all go home. What are they keeping in, and what will happen to us when it gets out?
In Peim'l, a woman came to us out of nowhere. She was an escaped slave from the South, so beautiful my heart ached. Her name was Amal. It made me homesick to hear my father's cradle tongue again. Hours later, her jailers came for her, and no one could stop them. They were skeletons, and beasts of stone that could fly. Amal would rather have died than go back to them, and I could not even give her that.
But the worst happened just a day ago. We were traveling to Ancaster to get a new mount for Alain, as Thistle had died on the journey to Belegost. We came to a lonely stretch of road where Ash found an old trail. (I don't think I mentioned we had two new traveling companions, Ash and Moreau. Ash is a sea elf, a long way from home, and Moreau does business for his father in the Peim'l area.) Never one to leave well enough alone, he and Llwyd and Moreau went down it to see what they could find. They met a man coming the other way, who said his name was John, and they brought him back to camp. All the animals in camp were nervous when they came in. John had found some treasure buried in a riverbank, and it seemed that something wanted it back, because soon afterwards a black shape appeared in the air right above us, panicking the animals and most of us as well.
We convinced John he had to take the jewelry back, and he reluctantly agreed. But he wanted company. I would have stayed with the animals, but Llwyd said I might be needed, and Alain didn't want to leave me there alone. As it turned out, I would have been safer with a band of desperate highwaymen than with Sir Alain de Grocie, Church Knight.
It was a long dark trip to the riverbank. When we finally reached it, John vanished. In his place was something else, something black and old. It wanted the things John had taken, and Alain and I tried to give them to it. But its hands passed right through Alain's, and there was a bright flash, and all hell broke loose.
I was blinded, but I heard Alain swing his sword, and then something hit me in the arm. I fell, and Ash started shouting. I could not think very well, but I thought the black shape must be attacking Alain. I still heard his sword singing over my head. Someone else fell, and then I smelled burnt meat. Llwyd was thrown against me as I started to panic, wondering if I could crawl away before I was hit. I could feel men struggling all around me, and then there was a loud clang and it was quiet. I could see again, and I wished I couldn't. Our foe had been Alain, and he had nearly killed us all.
My left arm was gone. He had cut it off just below the elbow, and it was lying nearby. Moreau had a terrible gash in his leg, and his left hand was hanging by a bit of skin and muscle. There was blood everywhere, and I remember thinking I'd have to get a new dress. Then what was left of my arm finally started to hurt. I stayed conscious long enough to tell Ash where my salve was, and as he was trying to fit the pieces of my arm together, I fainted. Even now, when I think about that pain, and the sound the bones made as they rubbed together, I feel dizzy.
If this was one of my father's stories, I would have woken up in bed with sunlight streaming through the window, my arm in neat white bandages, and you scolding me. But when I came to, nothing much had changed. Ash had not bandaged my arm, and I was terrified to move it. I could imagine exactly how and where the pieces would pull apart if I did. I didn't want to look, but I was afraid not to. Finally Ash came back and bandaged it and Llwyd made a splint, and then they did the same for Moreau. I haven't tried to use it since. I don't know if I'll ever be able to use it again.
I have seen old women with horrible scars and crippled limbs, missing hands or legs or eyes. They always seem so wise, and the other women in the village seek them out for their insights into pain and suffering. I have naively thought it would be nice to have such respect. I never thought about the price they paid for it. Sue, I am only 18, I don't want to be crippled for the rest of my life. I don't want people to point at me on the street and whisper "poor thing" as I walk by. How can I ever tell my mother about this? Do you think I am being punished because I could not protect Amal? But it does not seem like there are any gods left to punish anyone these days, unless it's the Python, and I don't think he makes such fine moral distinctions.
Alain was very sorry, of course, but what could he do? He had been burned very badly by a spell of Moreau's, but the salve doesn't make moral distinctions either, and I doubt he will even have a scar to mark the occasion. He slept the whole way back to our camp that night, damn him. That was the worst. There was light, but everything seemed unreal and grey. All I could think of was how much my arm hurt and which piece of uneven ground would jar it the least. And he lay on his litter, snoring. After a while I had to get ahead of him, or I think I might have knifed him where he lay.
We made it to Ancaster today. I am ashamed to let anyone see me like this, but I can't do anything without help. I can hear you telling me not to feel so damn sorry for myself, and if I go tramping around the country with these so-called adventurers I should expect to leave bits of myself behind. I will try to do better. But not today.
I will look for you in Landsrue when I can. Please be there.
Love,
Mariam
Rowena
Dunbridge Castle
Dear Rowena,
I am so sorry we had to leave you behind in Dunbridge. Sir Warston Fink, a fair-minded, generous, and extraordinarily calm lord, had given us permission to travel late in the evening of Kawani 10, and we could not wait. Unfortunately, we were forced to go without you, as you were nowhere to be found. I hope you are safe and well, and that your affairs are going along as you would have them do.
I am writing to you now on behalf of Windsor. Do not worry, he has not been arrested for pickpocketing or hanged for spying or trampled by a runaway horse, though no doubt he should have been, and more besides. He did rob a tomb, and was almost killed because of it, but he has completely recovered. Through a strange twist of fate, he has found a place for himself that is far greater than anything any of us could have imagined for him, or even for ourselves.
The bearer of this letter is the giant Omnoke, one of Windsor's new -- allies, I suppose, would be a reasonable term. I can't quite think of them as servants, though some of them perform that function. I was never told the griffin's name; we simply called him Gronk, for obvious reasons. If you agree, he will carry you to Windsor's new holdings, which are about ten days travel by horse, or one by griffin, from Dunbridge. Windsor would like you to join him for as long as you wish. If you can, please do go to him, as we must continue south. He needs a friend, someone from his past who knows him and will keep him from killing himself before he manages to grow up.
I hope we will meet again someday.
Mariam
P.S. Although he would not say so himself, Moreau misses you terribly.