Version 1.2 (2002-01-28) Prologue Long ago, so long ago that the details of the conflict are lost and only the merest legends remain, the world of Velgarth was wracked by sorcerous wars. With the population decimated, the land was turned to wasteland and given over to the forest and the magically, engendered creatures those peoples had used to fight those wars, while the people that remained fled to the eastern coastline, for only in those wilderness areas could they hope to resume their shattered lives. In time, it was the eastern edge of the continent that became the site of civilization, and the heartland tftat in turn became the wilderness. But humans are cesilient creatures, and it was not overlong before the population once again was on the increase, moving westward, building new kingdoms out of the wilds. One such kingdom was Valdemar. It had been founded by the once, Baron Valdemar and those of his people who had chosen exile with him rather than face the wrath of a selfish and cruel monarch. It lay on the very western, and, northeramost edge of the civilized world, bounded on the north and northwest by wilderness that still contained uncanny creatures, and on the far west by Lake Evendim, an enormous inland sea. Travel beyond Valdemar was perilous and uncertain at the very best of times, and at the worst a traveler could bring weird retribution on innocents when the creatures he encountered back-trailed him to his point of origin. In part due to the nature of its founders, the monarchs of Valdemar welcomed fugitives and fellow exiles, and the customs and habits of its people had over the years become a polyglot patchwork. In point of fact, the one rule by which the monarchs of Valdemar governed their people was, "There is no 'one true way.' " Governing such an ill-assorted lot of subjects might have been impossible, had it not been for the Heralds of Valdemar. The Heralds had extraordinary powers, yet never abused those powers; and the reason for their forbearance, in fact for the whole system, was the existence of creatures known as "Companions." To one who knew no better, a Companion would seem little more than an extraordinarily graceful white horse. They were for more than that. The first Companions had been sent by some unknown power or powers at the pleading of King Valdemar himself, three of them, at first, who had made bonds with the King, his Heir, and his most trusted friend, who was the Kingdom Herald. So it came to be that the Heralds took on a new importance in Valdemar, and a new role. It was the Companions who chose new Heralds, forging between themselves and their Chosen a mind-to-mind bond that only death could sever. While no one knew precisely how intelligent they were, it was generally agreed that their capabilities were at least as high as those of their human partners. Companions could (and did) Choose irrespective of age and sex, although they tended to Choose youngsters just entering adolescence, and more boys were Chosen than girls. The one common trait among the Chosen (other than a specific personality type: patient, unselfish, responsible, and capable of heroic devotion to duty) was at least a trace of psychic ability. Contact with a Companion and continued development of the bond enhanced whatever latent paranormal capabilities lay within the Chosen. With time, as these Gifts became better understood, ways were developed to train and use them to the fullest extent of which the individual was capable. Gradually the Gifts displaced in importance whatever knowledge of "true magic" was left in Valdemar, until there was no record of how such magic had ever been learned or used. Valdemar himself evolved the unique system of government for his land: the Monarch, advised by his Council, made the laws; the Heralds dispensed the laws and saw that they were observed. The Heralds themselves were nearly incapable of becoming corrupted or potential abusers of their temporal power. In all of the history of Valdemar, there was only one Herald who had ever succumbed to that temptation. His motive had been vengeance, he got what he wanted, but his Companion repudiated and abandoned him, and he committed suicide shortly thereafter. The Chosen were by nature remarkably self-sacrificing, their training only reinforced this. They had to be, there was a better than even chance that a Herald would die in the line of duty. But they were human for all of that; mostly young, mostly living on the edge of danger, so, it was inevitable that outside of their duty they tended to be a bit hedonistic and anything but chaste. They seldom formed any ties beyond that of their brotherhood and the pleasures of the moment, perhaps because the bond of brotherhood was so very strong, and because the Herald-Companion bond left little room for any other permanent ties. For the most part, few of the common or noble folk held this against them, knowing that, no matter how wanton a Herald might be on leave, the moment he donned his snowy uniform he was another creature altogether, for a Herald in Whites was a Herald on duty, and a Herald on duty had no time for anything outside of that duty, least of all the frivolity of his own pleasures. Still, there were those who held other opinions. . . . Laws laid down by the first King decreed that the Monarch himself must also be a Herald. This ensured that the ruler of Valdemar could never be the kind of tyrant who had caused the founders to flee their own homes. Second in importance to the Monarch was the Herald known as the "King's (or Queen's) Own." Chosen by a special Companion, one that was always a stallion, and never seemed to age (though it was possible to kill him) , the King's Own held the special position of confidant and most trusted friend and advisor to the ruler. This guaranteed that the Monarchs of Valdemar would always have at ruler. This guaranteed that the Monarchs of Valdemar would always have at least one person about them who could be trusted and counted on at all times. This tended to make for stable and confident rulers, and thus, a stable and dependable government. It seemed for generations that King Valdemar had planned his government perfectly. But the best-laid plans can still be circumvented by accident or chance. In the reign of King Sendar, the kingdom of Karse (that bordered Valdemar to the south-east) hired a nomadic nation of mercenaries to attack Valdemar. In the ensuing war, Sendar was killed, and his daughter, Selenay, assumed the throne, herself having only recently completed her Herald's training. The Queen's Own, an aged Herald called Talamir, was frequently confused and embarrassed by having to advise a young, headstrong, and attractive female. As a result, Selenay made an ill-advised marriage, one that nearly cost her both her throne and her life. The issue of that marriage, the Heir-presumptive, was a female child Selenay called Elspeth. Elspeth came under the influence of a foreigner, the nurse Hulda, whom Selenay's husband had arranged before he died to be brought from his own land. As a result of Hulda's manipulations, Elspeth became an intractable, spoiled brat. It became obvious that if things went on as they were tending, the girl would never be Chosen, and thus, could never inherit. This would leave Selenay with three choices; marry again (with the attendant risks) and attempt to produce another, more suitable Heir, or declare someone already Chosen and with the proper bloodline to be Heir. Or, somehow, salvage the Heir- presumptive. Talamir had a plan, one that it seemed had a good chance of success. At this point Talamir was murdered, throwing the situation into confusion again. His Companion, Rolan, Chose a new Queen's Own, but instead of picking an adult or someone already a full Herald, he Chose an adolescent girl named Talia. Talia was of Holderkin, a puritanical Border group which did its best to discourage knowledge of outsiders. Talia had no idea what it meant to have a Herald's Companion accost her, and then (apparently) carry her off. Among her people, females held very subordinate positions, and nonconformity was punished immediately and harshly. She was ill-prepared for the new world of the Heralds and their Collegium that she had been thrust into. But the one thing she did have experience in was the handling and schooling of children, for she had been the teacher to her Holding's younger members from the time she was nine. She managed to salvage the Brat, and succeeded well enough that Elspeth was Chosen herself just before Talia was sent out on her internship assignment. During that assignment she and Kris, the Herald picked to be her mentor, discovered something frightening and potentially fatal, not only to themselves, but to anyone who happened to be around Talia. Due to the chaos just after her initial training in her Gift, she had never been properly trained. And her Gift was Empathy, both receptive and protective, strong enough to use as a weapon. It wasn't until it had run completely wild that she and Kris were able to retrain her so that her control became a matter of will instead of instinct. She still had moments of misgiving about the ethics of her Gift. She also had moments of misgiving on another subject altogether; another Herald. Dirk was Kris' best friend and partner, and Talia, after being with him only a handful of times, none intimate, was attracted to him to the point of only a handful of times, none intimate, was attracted to him to the point of obsession. There was a precedent for such preoccupation; very rarely, Heralds formed a bond with one another as deep and enduring as the Herald-Companion bond. Such a tie was referred to as a "lifebond." Kris was certain that this was what Talia was suffering from. Talia wasn't so sure. This was just one minor complication for an internship that included battle, plague, intrigue, wildly spreading rumors about her, and a Gift that was a danger to herself and others. At last the year-and-a-half was over, and she was on her way home. Home, to an uncertain relationship, a touchy adolescent Heir, all the intrigues of the Court, and possibly, an enemy; Lord Orthallen, who just happened to be Kris' uncle. One We could be brother and sister, Kris thought, glancing over at his fellow Herald. Maybe twins, Talia sat Rolan with careless ease, an ease brought about by the fact that they'd spent most of their waking hours in the saddle during her internship up north. Kris' seat was just as casual, and for the same reason. After all this time they could easily have eaten, slept, yes, and possibly even made love a, saddle! The first two they had accomplished, and more than once. The third they'd never tried, but Kris had heard rumors of other Heralds who had. It did not sound like something he really was curious enough to attempt. They figured on making the capital and the Collegium by early evening, so they were both wearing the cleanest and best of their uniforms. Heraldic Whites, those for field duty, were constructed of tough and durable leather, but after eighteen months they only had one set apiece that would pass muster, and they'd been saving them for today. So we're presentable. Which isn't saying much, Kris mourned to himself, surveying the left knee of his breeches with regret. The surface of the leather was worn enough to be slightly nappy, which meant it was inclined to pick up dirt. And dirt showed on Whites, after riding all day they both were slightly gray. Maybe not to the casual eye, but Kris noticed. Tantris curvetted a little, and Kris suddenly realized that he and Talia's Rolan were matching their paces. :On purpose, two-footed brother,: came Tantris sending, tinged with a hint of laughter. :Since you two are so terribly shabby, we thought we'd take attention off you. Nobody's going to notice you when we're showing off: :Thanks, I think.: :By the way, you couldn't pass for twins; there's too much red in her hair, and she's too little. But sibs, yes. Although where you got those blue eyes, : :Blue eyes run in my family,: Kris replied with feigned indignation. :Both father and mother have them.: :Then if you were going to be sibs, your mother must have been keeping a Bard in the wardrobe for Talia to have hazel eyes and curly hair.: Tantris pranced and arched his neck, and one of his sapphirine eyes flashed a teasing look up at his Chosen. Kris stole another glance at his internee, and concluded that Tantris was right. There was too much red in her hair, and it was too curly to have come out of the same batch as his own straight, blue-black locks. And she barely came up to his chin. But they both had fine-boned, vaguely heart-shaped faces-and more than that, they both moved the same way. :Alberich's training. And Keren's.: :Probably.: :You're prettier than she is, though. The which you know.: Kris was startled into a laugh, which made Talia glance over at him quizzically. "Might one ask-?" "Tantris," he replied, taking a deep breath of the verdant air, and chuckling. "He's twitting me on my vanity." "I wish," she answered with more than a little wistfulness, "that just once I could Mindspeak Rolan like that." "You ought to be glad you can't. You're saved a lot of back-talk." "How far are we from home?" "A little more than an hour." He took in the greening landscape with every sign of satisfaction, now and again taking deep breaths of the flower-laden air. "A silver for your thoughts." "So much?" She chuckled, turning in her saddle to face him. "A copper would be more appropriate." "Let me be the judge of that. After all, I'm the one who asked." "So you did." The rode in tree-shadowed silence for several leagues; Kris was minded to let her answer in her own time. The soft chime of bridle bells and their Companions' hooves on the hard surface of the Trade Road made a kind of music that was most soothing to listen to. "Ethics," she said at last.