The Ciphers of Muirwood (9 page)

Not giving in to the taunt, not giving in to the vengeful thoughts, not surrendering to the goading . . . Maia discovered a reservoir of power inside her, a calm placid lake that was undisturbed. The Medium soothed the hurt as she looked away from Maeg and slowly took her seat.

There was an expression of satisfaction in Maeg’s eyes—she had wanted to see Maia humbled and speechless, though she clearly did not understand her reasons for not reacting. Maia saw the other girls staring at Maeg in horror and fear. Yes, they were all afraid of her turning her claws on them next. Maeg strutted through the class, found her place, and sat there primly and elegantly, as if she were the queen of the world. Maia smiled to herself and shook her head, picturing the other girl atop that trembling ladder.

Suzenne sat down next to Maia, her cheeks flushed. “I am sorry,” she whispered.

Maia felt nothing but serenity. Maeg’s barbs were too dull to stick inside her.

The Aldermaston’s wife mounted the steps and entered. The girls were restless with the energy of the impending news. Their eyes hungered for word of the changes coming.

Maia said nothing, knowing already that the Aldermaston’s wife would tell them very little.

“Girls, we have a new guest staying at the abbey. He arrived last night. The sheriff of Mendenhall will be spending the winter with us until Whitsunday. He will be monitoring the progress of the work on the abbey before the arrival of the king and queen.” Her eyes were very serious. “Celia.”

All the girls looked startled. The wretched’s face grew grave. “Yes?”

“You will be assigned to wash the sheriff’s clothes. You will also go through any correspondence he gets from court. Memorize it and report what you learn to the Aldermaston. That is your assignment. The others will support you in any way you see fit.”

Her voice was stern and iron hard as she stared at each girl in turn. “Many of you will be assigned to serve different households when the court arrives. The fate of the kingdom will be decided before the year is out. This may be the end of the Ciphers or the beginning of your usefulness to the Medium’s will.”

As I have studied the tomes of the ages, I have discerned that our behavior flows from three main sources. Desire. Emotion. Knowledge. Is it not the sign of a true maston when all three are harmonized? When they are, great power comes from the Medium to aid us.

—Richard Syon, Aldermaston of Muirwood Abbey

CHAPTER NINE

Guilt

W
hen she was younger, Maia had enjoyed her music lessons the most. There was an inherent magic in creating music, in coaxing sounds from different instruments, freeing the peculiar possibilities of each. At Muirwood Abbey, she found that portion of the instruction to be the most disappointing, if only because Maeg made each lesson her own personal performance.

Since their confrontation in the cloisters before dawn, Maeg’s callousness and spite had only bloomed with the rising of the sun. Though Maia had continued to ignore her barbed attacks, it had only made them worse. Maia waited with painful anticipation for the studies to end, especially the dreaded music session, so that she could wander the grounds and try to scrub the ill thoughts from her mind like one would attempt to wash smoke fumes from a garment.

The time ended and Maia put away her lute, pausing to stroke the curved bowl fondly, wishing she could disappear with it back into her room. There was still a little blue in the sky outside, but the sun was setting earlier and earlier as winter set in, providing less time to wander the grounds after lessons.

Maeg finished a beautiful string of chords on the harp—her favorite instrument—and some of the girls tittered words of praise. Hoping to escape before she was seen, Maia moved quickly toward the door.

She was not quick enough.

After being praised by one of the younger girls, Maeg lifted her voice mockingly, “Well, I may not have been born a
king’s daughter
, but I did learn to play from my mama. She was excellent at the harp. I was not showered with gifts as a babe like Maia, given the best instructors from Paeiz or Dahomey. What a waste. Fleeing so soon, Maia? Off to scrub clothes again with Celia? You really
are
a wretched.”

Maia ignored her, not even looking at her, and fled the room into the afternoon air, trying to subdue pangs of loneliness and anger as her feet padded on the soft grass. The air smelled like rain and the sky was full of brooding clouds, beginning to turn orange in the dimming light. She
was
going to find Celia, it was true, but how did Maeg know? Maia had not realized anyone had witnessed her helping the other girl. Another thing to be used to torment her. She shook her head and sighed, but what she heard next stopped her in her tracks.

It was Suzenne’s voice.

“Stop it, Maeg. Stop it! How can you say such things?” Her voice was full of scolding and pent-up emotion, and the words trembled as they came out of her mouth. Maia blinked with shocked surprise. “Maia deserves our compassion, not scorn. You have tormented her since she arrived. Enough! It is not right with the Medium to treat someone this way, especially to strike a girl who you know has decided not to strike back. It is cowardice, Maeg. Stop it. We are the oldest and should set the example.”

To Maia’s surprise, Suzenne came marching out of the music room, her cheeks livid with emotion, moving so fast she almost collided with Maia. She took Maia’s arm in hers and started to march across the green, her eyes flaming with passion, anger, and defiance.

“I am so
sorry
, Maia,” Suzenne said, the words tumbling out of her mouth in a rush.

“It is all right, Suzenne. I do not let her taunts stick in me.”

“No, I am sorry for not having defended you the day you arrived,” Suzenne said, shaking her head. “I have been a terrible companion. I have abandoned you; I have stayed silent
too
long. This is not what we are taught in the tomes.” She squeezed Maia’s arm, her voice dropping lower as the reality of what she had done seemed to finally work its way into her mind. “I do not care how she treats me because of this. She is a vengeful girl, and no one likes to be insulted in public. But I could not bear it another moment, not when you are always so patient and kind. You talk and listen to Davi and Aloia in the kitchen. You even draw out shy Thewliss, who does not usually speak to anyone save his wife! You are truly a princess, Maia, regardless of what your father says or has done to you. I admire you and I am even envious of you.” Suzenne looked into her face, her eyes bright with tears. “You carry so many troubles, yet you cared about mine and sought to comfort me this morning. It has been a fishhook wriggling in my heart all day.” She swallowed, her look pleading. “I lost my best friend a year ago when she left the abbey. Her name is Jayn Sexton and she serves Lady Deorwynn now. She is miserable in her position because Lady Deorwynn is much like Maeg. She does not have a friend in the world. And neither do I.” She looked down. “And the more I thought about it, the more I realized that you are truly alone too.” She stopped, tears dripping down her cheeks. “We must be companions, Maia, but I would be your friend too, if you would let me.”

Maia was shocked by the girl’s words and the raw need they awoke inside of her. She saw the sincerity in Suzenne’s eyes and knew she was a girl who did not change her opinions easily, that she had consciously made a stand by scolding Maeg—one that would earn her the girl’s enmity.

Tears pricked Maia’s eyes. “I would,” she whispered thickly and hugged Suzenne.

The two smiled as they wept together, and suddenly the clouds above them did not look nearly so oppressive. The sunset, when it came, was glorious.

The clouds glowed with the warmth of the fading light, turning orange and pink and a thousand dappled hues as Maia and Suzenne walked together in her mother’s garden. They talked and listened, sharing the first intimacies of friendship with the knowledge that whatever they said would be kept a treasured secret.

Maia explained the troubles of her parents’ marriage: how the stillborn births following her birth had poisoned her father against her mother; how Chancellor Walraven had used his kystrel to tame their feelings instead of letting the couple learn to work through the sadness and comfort each other. She talked about her years in Pry-Ree as the heir apparent, of making decisions in her father’s name and learning the intricate dance of politics and negotiations between kingdoms. Suzenne’s grandfather had once been part of the Privy Council to Maia’s grandfather when he was king, so she had knowledge of her own about the political world.

The conversation then went on to Maia’s banishment and disinheritance, though Maia spent only a little time talking about her horrible time living in the attic of Lady Shilton’s manor and the torment she experienced there. Although she did not share all the details, what she did say affected Suzenne greatly and she had hugged Maia, soothing many unspoken hurts.

Finally, Maia explained about her father sending her to Dahomey to seek out the lost abbey. She had described getting the kystrel and what it felt like to use one, especially in comparison to the sensation of being surrounded by the Medium at Muirwood. The difference was so stark she wondered how she had ever been confused, but Suzenne explained that in big cities like Comoros, it was always more difficult to feel the Medium, which abhorred human suffering. Maia talked about the protector her father had assigned her, the kishion who had been sent to watch over her and even to kill her if necessary to prevent her from being captured. She spoke vaguely about her journey through Dahomey, only mentioning that she had managed to escape after being abducted by the king.

She did not reveal the truth about their marriage, feeling the friendship was still too new for her to share such an intimate secret. As it was, thoughts of Collier haunted her sleep and made her worry during the day. She dreaded meeting him again, dreaded seeing the accusatory look in his eyes. Yet she desperately wished for a way to explain herself to him. She still labored over perfecting her letter to him.

They walked arm in arm away from the garden, watching in the distance as Thewliss pushed a cart of tools back toward the kitchen. They followed in his wake slowly, their heads bent low in conversation.

“I understand you much better now,” Suzenne said, smiling with genuine affection. “I will admit I have been harboring fears. I knew the Aldermaston trusted you. I knew your grandmother was the High Seer and that if
she
trusted you, so should I. But I worried that during the night, you might talk in your sleep or groan or make noises that would frighten me.”

“You did?” Maia asked, smiling. “My nightmares ended when my grandmother saved me. I fear they will return once I leave the abbey.” Her look hardened. “I must prepare myself in case they do.”

“Then I will go with you,” Suzenne said, patting her arm. “The men you traveled with. You could not be your true self with them. I know your secret; although a binding sigil prevents us from talking about the particulars, it is enough. I am grateful the Aldermaston trusted me. Thank you for sharing what you did.”

“I have never had a friend before,” Maia said. “I am sorry you had to lose one to gain one.”

Suzenne shook her mane of golden hair. “The only true friend I have had is Jayn Sexton. With her, I could share my secrets. I have been cordial and respectful to Maeg, but that is all. She honors me because of my rank.”

“And your beauty,” Maia said, nudging her.

Suzenne smiled demurely. “My father once said that beauty is a test that most fail. He said his Aldermaston once taught him that the most unhappy couples he ever knew were the handsomest pairs.”

“Is that so?” Maia said, laughing softly.

“Indeed. Things come easier to those with beauty. Respect and attention are more freely given. Is that respect earned? Is that attention worthy? Often not. No, my father said to be plain is more of a blessing, though I could tell, as my father, he was proud of me. But he always praised me for my character, not my accomplishments. I love my father deeply. He is very wise and once served faithfully as one of the king’s advisors. Your story about your own father’s cruelty cuts me to the quick. I should not have behaved as well as you did, I think.”

“Thank you,” Maia said. As they drew closer to the kitchen, Maia heard someone call out her name from the shadows of a looming oak tree. She recognized the voice instantly. It was Dodd Price. Suzenne’s body went rigid next to hers.

“Yes?” she answered, stopping.

“I was looking for you after the music lesson,” he said, approaching them. He nodded briefly to Suzenne, his mouth quirking into a smile. “I heard about the rebuke you gave Maeg, Suzenne. Well done.” He turned his gaze back to her. “Maia, I need your help.”

“What is it?” She could hear the sound of pots clanging and the voices of the two kitchen helpers streaming out from the small building. Thewliss finished stowing his cart and walked through the kitchen doors, doffing his cap and nodding briefly to Maia and Suzenne. The light and smells caused her stomach to growl.

“I will not detain you long,” Dodd said, glancing at the door, “but I was hoping you would introduce me to your hunter tomorrow?”

“He is the abbey’s hunter now,” Maia said.

Dodd shook his head. “They call him Maia’s hunter. He arrived with you, and everyone knows he is here to protect you. I wish to speak to him. Will you do it?”

“Of course,” Maia said, “but what do you wish to speak to him about?”

“He has been spending every day in the Bearden Muir with his hound. I want him to take me with him. To show me the land.”

“Why, Dodd?” Maia pressed.

Though he attempted to conceal it with a smile, she could tell Dodd was nervous. “Because I may need to leave rather suddenly.”

“No!”

It was Suzenne who had gasped it. He looked at her, his brows furrowing.

Maia squeezed her arm. “You are worried about your father and your brothers,” Maia said firmly.

“Of course I am,” he answered. “I may be the only one who can save them.”

“Do not leave,” Suzenne said, her face flushing. “Dogs bark to frighten the hare into running. That is when they snatch it.”

“Am I a hare?” he snapped, sounding offended.

Maia keenly felt the awkwardness of the situation. Part of her wanted to save Suzenne and Dodd from an embarrassing moment, but she felt she should hold back. The two had not spoken to each other since Suzenne’s parents had ordered her to spurn him. Defying her parents was not something she was used to doing.