Glasswrights' Test by Mindy L Klasky Read Free Book Online Page B

her teeth as she studied the contraption. She rotated her wrists, as if measuring the best approach. She was a general, calculating the superior placement of troops; she was preparing to do battle with a new and untested army.
    Only when she had studied the tool from every possible angle did she spare him a tight nod. “Very well, then. Let us see how this one works.”
    And she reached out for the Hand. He knew not to help her. He knew that he would only make things worse if he held the device, if he offered to tighten one of the straps. She would have to work the buckles her own way, tighten down the device with her own ingenuity.
    And, of course, she did. He should not have been surprised by the creativity she applied; after all, he’d seen her solve more complex problems every day of her Briantan life. Nevertheless, he admired the way that she cut through the confusion of the new tool, the way that she turned it about, maneuvered it, made it her own.
    Ah, Morada, Parion thought. If you could have been here to train this one, if you could have passed on your knowledge and your wisdom to one as deserving as she. … But Morada was dead, of course. Executed because of the Traitor.
    The Traitor that the Fellowship wanted him to summon.
    Parion shook his head, shying away from the letter that he had pledged to write. He spoke to fill the awful silence, to distract himself from the pained expression on Larinda’s face as she worked the silken ribbons, as she struggled to find the new balance in the tool that would be her life. “What other news, Larinda? What is happening in fair Brianta this summer morn, outside our own guildhall?”
    â€œThe priests prepare for the feast of the Pilgrim’s birth.” She answered immediately, but her tone was distracted. She was moving her wrist against the silken padding, reaching out with the fingers of her left hand to smooth the cuff. “We journeymen will be ready to show you our glass designs by noon.”
    Parion was surprised. He had not expected to see the sketches for another week. He nodded, though, as Larinda tightened two of the ribbons. The metal jaws flashed open. “And have we decided which cycle we will tell?” He tried to make the question casual, tried to seem as if he wasn’t hanging on her every action with the new Hand.
    After all, he had listened to hours of debate among the glasswrights, about the new commission. Some thought that the guild should create works depicting Jair’s life in Brianta—six panels, one for each of the castes, and one for the holy, over-arching status of Pilgrim. Others, though, believed that the glasswrights could better serve their purpose by imagining on a larger scale. One journeyman had argued eloquently for the six windows to depict the five great kingdoms, with Brianta taking precedence, of course, as the land of Jair’s birth.
    Larinda glanced up from the mechanism, blinking her eyes as she focused on Parion’s question. “I should not tell you, Master. You should see the designs for yourself.”
    â€œAye, and I will. But you can tell me the direction that the discussions have taken.”
    Larinda looked uncomfortable, and she let her gaze return to the Hand. She flexed her wrist to close the jaws, then arched her palm to settle the iron bracelet more comfortably against her flesh. She chose her words with care as she found a better balance with the tool. “One of the journeymen hit upon a solution, Master. A combination of the various plans that had been discussed.”
    â€œYes?” he prompted when she fell silent.
    â€œJair’s life should be depicted—each of the castes. But he should be linked with a kingdom for each of the stations. With Brianta, we’ll focus on his life among the Touched. With Liantine, his merchant days, for the goods he traded in that land. For Sarmonia, we’ll show him in the weaver’s guild. In Amanthia,