Dead Letter Read Free

took a seat on a
bench to wait for the ferryman. Squinting across the Lake of Tears,
she tried to pick out the ferry boat. A puzzle of perspective,
distance and direction made it difficult to tell which vessel it
could be. Fishing boats and merchant skiffs worked the calm waters
with full-bellied sails, crowding the lake like traders at market.
They all looked similar from a distance.
    “ Kettna!” Her father’s voice gave her a start. The Chamberlain
came running over, out of breath by the time he reached her seat.
He claimed a place on the bench beside his only daughter and patted
her knee. “Why are you going so soon?”
    “ I’ve waited half a moon for permission. Why wait a moment
longer?”
    “ Of course, yes.” Kettna’s father was weary. “There’s a
terrible backlog, but we’re trying to get through it. So many
requests for leave at this time of year. Dragon season draws ever
closer and people want to be with their family.”
    “ Do they? Even Mother?”
    “ Especially her. She serves unforgiving hours. You know
that.”
    Kettna
kept her silence on the old argument, letting the breeze cool her
anger and spill through her anise brown hair. There was nothing
more to say that she hadn’t argued a dozen times before. Her
mother’s position was a great responsibility, but that didn’t ease
Kettna’s unhappiness. Surely the Archmagus, of all people, could
wrangle time for her family. “Did she organise this post reporting
to the Constable?”
    “ No, I did.”
    “ What? Why would you do that to me?”
    “ The other elders voted against your request for sabbatical. I
voted for it, but there was no way to sway them.”
    “ Why should they care? What good am I here? I keep failing to
rank for the trials.”
    “ The truth is, I asked for the decision to be postponed until
your review was complete. That’s why it took so long. I’m sorry,
Kettna. In the meantime, I reached out to the Guildmaster and the
Constable. The Order of Calim has a responsibility to protect the
city, just as any other guild.”
    “ You put me in the Guard! How am I going to protect a whole
city if I can’t conjure a shield to last half a breath?”
    “ This was a contingency in case you failed again. The elders
would never permit the only daughter of the Archmagus to wander
alone in the city. You’re right. If you’re not fit for the trials,
how could you defend yourself in Calimska against thuggery and
crooked minds? I made the argument that the city watch would be the
safest place for you. I had thought it would be enough to sway the
elders.”
    “ Well, it obviously worked. Mother must have been in a fine
state when she found out you went to such lengths.”
    “ She was at first. The elders still voted it down. I put your
case in the best possible light, but they wouldn’t have any of it.
Your Mother came around to the idea in the end. She vetoed the
elder’s vote.”
    “ Mother did that?”
    “ She did. She loves you, Kett. We only want to see you smile
again.”
    “ Even if that involves Rix?”
    The
Chamberlain took his daughter’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “I
don’t want you to get hurt. But I see that separating you and Rix
has done just that. You’re not our baby girl anymore. I think it’s
time you were left to make your own decisions about
love.”
    “ And the rest?”
    “ As much as the Order allows, my dear. You enjoy the benefits
of our guild’s resources and power, so remember the oath you took
for our ink.”
    Kettna’s
enchanted tattoos glimmered across her fingers. Her left hand
crawled with a web of spider-silk connections, bridging arcane
symbols and ancient words of power. One for each knowledge
confirmed. They crowded over her left hand, painting her skin with
magical ink and pride. Her right hand was her disappointment. Only
her thumb had all its ink; a meagre confirmation of her connection
to the weave. Her forefinger was complete to the second phalanges.
That did not make her