March 15, 471 H.E.
The king of Tortall stared off into the distance in shock, as he had since he had heard the message from Carthak. He had never heard of anything like this happening before. But he should have been used to this. His rule was one of the strangest Tortall had ever seen. It made sense that something like this would happen just before he was going to let his son take the throne. Still, he was shocked.
Emperor Kaddar must be worried indeed, to ask this of him. Carthak normally never called in its allies. The nation had relied on its huge size; its conquered colonies were its allies.
And now? Kaddar requested Tortall's help in stopping what Kaddar thought would become civil war.
Jon had never heard the likes of it. Nations rarely called allies in when it was civil war. For which side would the ally take? Also, most rulers refused to appear weak, as if they could not hold their own country together.
And Kaddar had asked for help with a war that had not even started yet.
Jon did not know what to think. All he knew was that he would have to agree to Kaddar's request. The Emperor was married to his daughter after all. Not only could he not ignore the marriage alliance, whatever had caused Kaddar to act this way would be after Kalasin as well.
Jon groaned. Why couldn't his rule be as normal as his father's?
March 16, 471 H.E.
I have been a knight for about four years now and I haven't done one extraordinary thing. I've let many people down, I suppose. I've done well as a knight, great some would say. I've defended the weak, fought the bad, and protected my realm. I've done all that the Code asks of me, although I don't always agree with it. But it's still not good enough for the Lioness's son.
My siblings don't help at all. They've done extraordinary things. Thom, well he's one of the best mages the University has ever had. Ma's worried about him a lot. She doesn't want him going down the path of his namesake, she says. I don't think she has much to worry about. On the surface, they may be similar – both powerful mages, both always studying – but my brother has a very different personality, if the stories are accurate. Thom's not at all a recluse. He has his own set of study crazy friends.
As for Aly, I'm glad the details of her extraordinariness aren't known by most. She had to do something that I could never even attempt to top: she practically masterminded a revolution. She got what she wanted: to be a spy. She's spymaster in the Copper Isles now, so obviously it's a secret that she's the daughter of the Lioness. She doesn't have to live up to that expectation now. Lucky. But then, Aly never cared much about what everyone expected. And now, she has the expectation of being the Cunning One in the Trickster's prophecy.
Why does she have to beat me in everything? It's not fair.
At least she's not around to throw it in my face. Not that she'd do it on purpose. I haven't seen her in years, not since I went with the delegation. That was seven years ago. She's written, of course, about one letter every three months, though always in code. And she's sent a painting of her, her husband, and her children. I think her triplets must be six now.
I wonder if I'll ever meet the girl I want to spend my life with. It doesn't seem likely to me. I wouldn't find her at court, I'm sure.
March 17, 471 H.E.
Tora had been in Corus for way to long. It was time was far past the time when she would normally leave a place, but she had stayed anyway for a reason she couldn't identify. She really wished she had left now.
She cursed. Loudly. Several people lifted up their heads to stare at her. She hated when they did that. They always stared. They'd see her eyes and think that she could see them, that she couldn't tell she was looking.
She could. Thanks to the gift she had received from that goddess nine years ago.
She saw everything in light, as long as it was alive. It had been strange at first, but by now, Tora was used to it. She saw behind her, left of her, right of her, in front of her, all at once. Walls didn't stop her sight – she couldn't even see walls. Or anything that wasn't alive.
That got annoying – always running into the things she couldn't see. But her other senses helped her out a bit.
Her lifesight (what she called it) was off putting to some. Most, actually. And many knew about her. It was no secret. She couldn't attempt to keep it secret. She was after all, the Shang Cobra.
After that night, the one where she had lost her sight and got her lifesight, she trained as hard as she could. So she could get her title and leave as soon as she could. People she had known for years at the Shang treated her like a stranger, or with pity, or as something to be feared.
So when she left, she was relieved. And disappointed. The rest of the world was just as bad. She drifted around aimlessly. She had been in Tortall for the past year. And she had been in Corus the past month.
Like the fool she was, she volunteered her services to the palace. Training grounds always wanted Shang warriors to teach them. Tora moaned to herself, she never should have done that, letting the palace know she was here.
And now, now she had a summons to the King. Tora hated when this happened. They thought she'd be the perfect pet Shang. They thought she couldn't fight as well. Or they didn't believe the tales about the Shang Cobra and they wanted to test her. It was always the same.
Tora groaned as she realized there was no way out of this. She couldn't make it out of the city before the guards were alerted and she didn't want trouble with Tortall. She'd already been kicked out of Galla.