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“And yet you seem to know the tale well”
“You know me, brother” Caenis smiled faintly “I was always fond of stories The more fanciful the better”
“You believe it, don’t you?” A sudden insight came to Vaelin then, a realisation spawned by the faintness of Caenis’s smile and the immediacy hich he had told his tale “You already knew You knew this Seventh Order were behind this”
“I suspected There are tales, little more than fables, that claim the Seventh Order was never truly destroyed, that it survived, thrived in secret, awaiting its tio”
“We will go to Master Sollis and the Aspect, they must hear of this”
“They already have, brother I told them all I suspected as soon as I returned to the Order I for they didn’t already know”
Vaelin remembered Master Sollis’s reaction to Sister Henna’s words and Aspect Elera’s refusal to discuss it They know, he realised They all know A secret kept by the Aspects for centuries Once there were seven And the Seventh waits, it plots They know
His liht, sunlit day “Thank you for sharing your knowledge withhimself for warmth
“I alill Vaelin,” Caenis replied “You know there are no secrets between us”
The Test of the Horse cah country followed by three arrows loosed fro no-one, Nortah excelled in the Test, setting a new record in the process The others all fared well, even Barkus whose riding was scarcely better than Vaelin He struggled from the start, Spit was his usual fractious self and would only stir to a gallop after a tirade of heart-felt threats They laboured over the course in the slowest time of the day and Vaelin’s archery from the saddle was barely adequate, but at least he had passed For once no other brothers failed the Test and the evening led beer andwith a freezing swim in the river and five laps of the practice field at full pelt stark naked No-one thought it hadn’t been worth it
Over the next feeeks there were more tales of riots and discord beyond the walls Deniers, real or suspected, were being set upon by angry mobs, hundreds had died and the Realm Guard was hard pressed to keep order Eventually, as summer slipped into autumn, the Realm calmed Contrary to the expectations of many there were no more assassinations, no hidden army of Cumbraelins beneath the streets, in fact the heretical fief was calmer than it had been for over a decade The Su only corpses, grief and ash in its wake
The two prospective Aspects were led into the chamber, a woman in her early thirties and a sharp-faced man Vaelin had seen before The woman was introduced as Mistress Liesa Ilnien of the Second Order, a plain and serene figure in a dun coloured robe who aze of the chamber’s occupants with calm acceptance The black-robed Tendris Al Forne of the Fourth Order was a contrast, staring back at his audience with a fierceness that could almost be defiance, the odd cheerfulness Vaelin had seen in hio had disappeared but the fanaticisaze, pausing when he saw Vaelin to offer a sether with Caenis, he had been chosen to accouards, the Order House being short on confir discord in the Realm had called most of them away But Vaelin suspected the Aspect also wanted theoverned the Faith
The Conclave convened in the debating hall of the House of the Third Order, a cavernous cha benches In addition to the Aspects, many of the senior masters of each Order were also present and allowed a voice in the discussion Caenis and Vaelin, however, had been left with no illusions as to the value of their own opinions
“I never dreamed I would be allowed to come here, brother,” Caenis enthused in a whisper, al with excitement as they took their seats behind Aspect Arlyn “Present at the choosing of t Aspects A privilege indeed”
Vaelin noted he had brought along a good supply of parchment and a stub of charcoal “Started the Tale of Brother Caenis, already?”
“Actually, I was going to call it The Book of Five Brothers”
“It’s six, counting Frentis”
“Oh, he’ll get a page or two, don’t worry”
Aspect Silla Colvis of the First Order was present along with twenty or so of his white-robed masters They were all men in their sixties or older, their deeply lined faces apparently lost in contemplation, either that or they were asleep Aspect Elera was accompanied by only three brothers and two sisters, Vaelin’s heart sinking when he saw that Sherin was not ast them