The Spellsong War - L E Modesitt Jr, ebook
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THE
SPELLSONG
WAR
Book Two of
THE SPELLSONG CYCLE
L. E. Modesitt, Jr.
To
my one and only soprano sorceress
********
CHARACTERS
AnnaRegent of Defaidk and Lady of Loiseau [Mencha]
JimbobHeir to Defalk [Falcor]
HanforArms Commander of Defalk
DythyaCounselor of Finance
EssanLady and widow of Lord Donjim
HereneYounger sister of Lady Gatrune [Pamr]
HerstatSaalmeister of Eldheld
MenaresCounselor
LORDS OF DEFALK
JecksLord of Elheld [Elhi], Advisor to the Regent
ArkadLord of Synfal [Cheorj]
BirfelsLord of Abenfel; consort is Fylena
ClethnerLord of Nordland
DannelLord of Mossbach; consort is Resengna
DencerLord of Stromwer; consort is Wendella
FustarLord of Issl
GatruneLady of Pamr
GeansorLord of Sudwei
GenricaLord of Wendel
GylaronLord of Lerona, consort is Reylan
HrydingLord of Flossbend [Synope]; consort is Anientta
JearleLord of Denguic
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 KlestayrLord of Aroch
MietchelLord of Morra
NelmorLord of Dubaria; eldest son and heir is Tiersen
SargolLord ofSuhl
TybelLord of Arien
VlassaLord of Fussen; heirs are twin sons, Ustal and Falar
VyarlRider of Heinene
FOSTERLINGS AND PAGES
AlsetaDaughter of Chief Player Liende
Bar atPage
BirkeHeir of Lord Birfels [Stromwer]
CataryznaDaughter and heir of Lord Geansor [Sudwei]
CensPage
HoedeYoungest son of Lord Dannel [Mossbach]
KinorSon of Chief Player Liende
LysaraDaughter of Lord Birfels [Stromwer]
ResorPage
SeccaDaughter of Lord Hryding [Flossbend]
SkentPage
YtrudeDaughter of Lord Nelmor [Dubaria]
DEFALKAN ARMSMEN
AlvarCaptain
HimarCaptain
JirsitUndercaptain
DEFALKAN PLAYERS
DaffydViola; first Chief Player
LiendeWoodwind; second Chief Player
DelvorViolino
DuraltFalk horn
HassettViolino
KasethViolino
PallianViolino
YuarlViolino
OTHERS OUTSIDE DEFALK
AshtaarSpymistress of Nordwei
BehlemProphet of Music, Lord of Neserea; consort is Cyndyth
BertmynnLord of Dolov, Ebra
EharaLord of Dumar; consort is Siobion
HadrennLord of Synek, Ebra
KonsstinLiedfuhr of Mansuur
Maitre of SturinnLeader of Sturinn; master of the Sea-Priests
MatriarchHead of State, Ranuak; consort is Ulgar
NubaraOvercaptain of Lancers, Mansuur, stationed in Neserea
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 RabynHeir of Behlem, Neserea
Tybra
Leader, Council of Wei, Nordwei
OUVERTURE
* * * * * * *
1
WEI, NORDWEI
THE heavy gong sounds, and the two women in the uniform of the Council turn and open the lacquered
double doors, each beauing the ancient symbol of the Council of Wei. Each wears twin black-lacquered
scabbards at her hips, and the scabbards contain the infamous short swords of the Nordan Guard.
Ashtaar moistens her lips and steps through the doors, then dawn the black carpet toward the dais.
The black-lacquered Council table is also ancient, and behind it sit seven figures. The woman in the
center wears a silver-and-black seal on a heavy silver chain. Her dark eyes hold Ashtaar as the
spymistress walks down the dark green carpet toward the space below the dais holding the table.
"The mist-world sorceress now holds Defalk. The Council has read your report, and would like to
inquire further."
"Yes, Ancient One." Ashtaar bows.
"Please summarize the major events that led to the current's.tate of affairs. Briefly."
"A travel sorceress and a player summoned the lady Anna from the mist worlds. Both are dead now.
The sorcerer Brill spirited her away and tutored her in the ways of both Darksong and Clearsong. The
Dark Ones tried to kill her and failed. She supported Lord Barjim against the Ebrans at the Sand Pass.
Barjim and Brill were killed, and she collapsed, but not before she destroyed two-thirds of the invaders.
She somehow found her way south and recovered in Synope, in the lands of Lord Hryding. Lord Behlem
of Neserea then marched into Defalk and took Falcor, but not before Lord Jecks rescued the heir, his
grandson Lord Jimbob. Lord Behlem offered his support to the sorceress, and she accepted it and went
to Falcor. The Dark Ones gathered another army and marched toward Falcor. The sorceress used water
magic and song to destroy the entire Ebran army and all the darksingers in Defalk. The Evult responded
by flooding the Fal and destroying half of Falcor. Lord Behlem attempted to remove the lady Anna, and
she used her sorcery to kill him and his consort and enlist the support of many of the Neserean troops in
Falcor. Then she proclaimed a regency for young Jimbob. Shortly, almost at the dawn of winter, she
marched a small force through the Ostfels and used her sorcery to destroy the Evult, the city of Vult, and
most of Synek. She almost died, but the lords of Defalk, especially Lord Jecks, rallied behind her. So did
the people. She has a reputation for being good and fair, and vindictively just." Ashtaar bows once more.
"The rains now fall on Defalk, do they not?" asks the red-haired woman to the left of the Council leader.
"Yes. The sorceress removed the chains on the clouds when she destroyed the Evult."
"Will the sorceress attempt to rule directly and put young Jimbob out of the way?" asks the dark-haired
Council leader.
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 "That does not appear likely. She can have no children and has, in effect, adopted the boy."
"And Lord Jecks has not objected?"
"He publicly supports the sorceress. As do the lords Birfels, Nelmor, Hryding, Geansor, Clethner, and
the lady Gatrune, and the Rider of Heinene. There are doubtless others, and none of the thirty-three have
raised voice or hand against her."
"With her powers, I doubt any of sound mind would do so," suggests the Council leader. "Are there any
whispers of discontent?"
"Almost none that we have been able to track. She holds but one hostage, and that is Wendella, the
consort of Lord Dencer of Stromwer. Dencer is rumored to be less than happy."
"No others?"
"None that we know or can scry."
"What of Ebra?"
"The land has been flattened, mostly by the floods she unleashed down the river Elha, and Vult lies
buried under the fire peak the Ebrans are calling Zauberinfeuer. Hadrenn has claimed the ruins of Synek.
He is the one of the sons of an ancient lord, and several pretenders are struggling over Elawha. A lord
named Bertmynn is raising armsmen in Dolov. He wishes to be lord of all Ebra." Ashtaar waits.
"We have received a scroll from the Liedfuhr. He protests our interference in Defalk. He also informs us
that young Rabyn is the Lord of Neserea and under his protection and regency. What beyond that do
you know?" The dark-haired Council leader smiles faintly.
"He has dispatched fiftyscore lancers to Neserea. They were delayed by the snows in the Mittpass, but
travel the south road through the Great Western Forest."
"Spymistress of Nordwei… is it fair to say that a year ago we faced possible threats from the Prophet of
Music and the Dark Ones, and both have been destroyed?"
"Yes, Leader Tybra."
"Is it also fair to say that you chose not to remove the soprano sorceress?" asks Tybra.
"I waited to see whether the Dark Ones and the Prophet were successful in their attempts. The Dark
Ones failed in four attempts. The Prophet and his consort failed as well. We have been able to trace at
least two attempts by Neserea." Ashtaar inclines her head. "I thought it best not to turn the sorceress's
wrath against Nordwei."
"So… now we have a strong and united Defalk on our southern borders, and this is your doing?"
"We have a united Defalk, ruled by a woman for the first time in recorded history, and a Defalk that will
take a decade or longer to recover from the drought and depredations of the Dark Ones and the
Nesereans."
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 "That is what you say. For now… for now, we shall see. You may go, but do not hesitate to inform the
Council should this sorceress take any action that could possibly affect Nordwei."
"Yes, leader Tybra." Ashtaar bows a last time, then turns. She does not wipe the dampness from her
forehead.
2
THROUGH the scarcely cracked high window behind her, Anna could hear the half-frozen rain
clattering on the stones of the liedburg. The entire keep felt damp, and even the small fire in her receiving
room and de facto office wasn't enough to remove the dampness. She needed the slight draft from the
window to keep from being suffocated from the fireplace, which drew poorly with small fires.
Sorceress, Regent of Defalk, Protector of the Heir, not to mention being Lady of Loiseau, and she had
to worry about firewood. She hadn't thought about firewood being a problem—but nearly a decade of
drought had wrought enormous damage on the once-wide forests of Defalk.
Then, there was so much that she'd never thought she'd have to consider. She'd been trained to be a
professional opera singer, and fallen back on university teaching with the demands of Avery's career.
Later when he'd left her and the children for his slim blonde young thing, the teaching, and several
additional part-time jobs, had become necessities. Anna laughed softly to herself. She was slimmer and
younger looking than Paulina now, and Avery—the self-styled Antonio, king of the comprimarios—
would never know. Neither would Mario and Elizabetta. Irenia… Anna's eyes misted. Her oldest
daughter's death had been the catalyst that had left Anna open to poor Jenny's and Daffyd's
spellsong—that had brought her Liedwahr—and all the rest had followed, like dominoes falling, until she
had become regent of a ravaged land. And she'd done little enough, with the press of the Regency, with
the lands bestowed on her— Loiseau—because Brill had left no heirs. She'd granted the present tenants
the right to remain, but she needed to do something about a more permanent arrangement. That meant
traveling to Mencha, and she didn't have ten days to spare, not counting the time she'd need at Loiseau.
Anna sighed. She stood, pushed back the chair from the worktable, and moved toward the center of the
room, her eyes shifting toward the high-backed gilt chair on the dais, the chair she avoided using
whenever possible. After a moment she turned, stepped away from the side of the dais, and walked to
the single window at the back of the receiving room, where the base of the sill was nearly chest-high.
Once again, the dimness reminded her that she'd planned to rearrange the liedburg, perhaps put the
receiving/conference area somewhere with more ventilation and light.
She sighed—another item low on her long, long list. Before long, she would need to use some of that
sorcery to replace the bridge over the Falche, one of the casualties of the war with Ebra when the late
Evult had melted all the snow off the northern Ostfels and sent a flood careening down the Fal River and
into the Falche with enough force to rip out all the bridges and denude the banks for two hundred and
fifty deks. Roughly, a hundred and fifty earth miles, she translated mentally, rubbing her forehead. She still
had trouble thinking in rods, furls, deks, and leagues. There weren't any feet, and yards were still
basically yards, and the units above were decimal-based, but she'd never been that good in mental
arithmetic.
"Lady Anna?" Giellum knocked on the heavy door even as he peered inside. "Counselor Menares to see
you. And your midafternoon repast." The young guard set the platter on the only open space on the table
before straightening.
"Send him in." She headed from the window back to the worktable.
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