Fire of the Soul by Flora Speer Read Free Book Online Page A

Auremont. Aunt
Adana taught me, too.” Garit glanced at her, surprising a fleeting
smile on her lips. Her face softened most attractively when she
smiled, until she appeared years younger than he’d first thought
her. “Are you happy here, with my grandmother?”
    “I am more content than I ever expected to be
in this life. People like me, girls who are unwanted, are seldom as
fortunate as Mairne and I have been.” No note of self-pity sounded
in her voice, just the straightforward statement of an indisputable
fact.
    “Tell me about Mairne,” Garit said. He
noticed the surprised look in her eyes that hinted she’d expected
him to ask about her own childhood and how she’d been consigned to
Talier Beguinage. He did want to investigate her past, as
thoroughly as possible, but he thought she’d talk more freely about
the other girl. Later he could begin to question Calia about her
own past and perhaps she’d reveal why his Aunt Adana had sent her
to Saumar. He knew that gathering information was just a matter of
patience and diplomatic negotiation, so he was sure his methods
would prove effective, even if Calia didn’t understand what he was
doing.
    “Mairne is from northern Morenia,” she said.
“Her family lands lie just across the Moren River. When her parents
died her brother sent her to Talier because he considered her too
much trouble. He told her the lady mages would keep her in line
with fasting and hard penances.”
    “Is she so difficult?” Garit asked with a
frown. “I’ll not allow my grandmother to be troubled by a wayward
girl.”
    “She hasn’t been a problem. Lady Elgida
enjoys Mairne’s high spirits and her sense of independence, and
Mairne loves her. I suspect that her brother kept a mostly male
establishment and didn’t relish the prospect of having to defend
his sister’s honor over and over as she grew up. So, he decided to
be rid of her.”
    “He could have married her off,” Garit
remarked.
    “A marriage requires a dowry, even in
Morenia. Whereas, a small contribution to a beguinage will buy
entrance for a young, healthy girl who isn’t afraid of work.”
    “Is that what happened to you, too?” Garit
asked, taking the chance that she’d give him an honest answer.
    “The only entrance fee that I could offer to
Mother Mage Adana was my ability to read and write and do numbers,”
she said. “My half-brother and I were destitute. He was a landless
knight with only his horse and his sword and armor when he left me
at Talier and rode off to seek his fortune. I haven’t heard from
him since.”
    “I’m sorry for that loss. I have a sister,”
Garit said. “She’s silly and giddy, and she made an impetuous
marriage that I could not approve. We quarreled about it, but after
a time we made our peace. I love her, and I’d never abandon her,
never leave her alone in the world.”
    “Is she in Kantia?” Calia asked.
    “No, she lives in Sapaudia now, with her
feckless husband and my six-year-old imp of a nephew, whom I fear
one day soon I’ll be compelled to take on as my squire.”
    “You love your nephew too,” Calia said. “I
can tell by the look on your face when you speak of him. How I
wish—”
    “Wish what?” Garit asked, wanting to hear the
rest of that oddly plaintive sentence, broken off with a sigh.
    “Only that my family could have been
different, kinder, more loving. But few families are as fortunate
as yours. Pay no heed to me,” she said, lifting her chin. “It was
just an unhappy memory. We all have them, haven’t we? Shall we turn
back now? Those clouds look as if they’ll open and drench us at any
moment.”
    “Of course. I think I’ve seen most of Saumar,
anyway.” Garit wondered if she actually believed he’d think the
dampness on her cheeks was from the mist and the first few drops of
rain. Calia was seriously troubled about something. He’d have to
convince her to confide in him, for his grandmother’s sake. He did
not want Lady Elgida