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The Wizardwar :: Каннингем Элейн
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"My mother married a second time."
"Did she? Whom?"
"A young man she met in the forest. He fell off a griffin, and she tended him."
"Does this hapless rider have a name?"
Her gaze faltered for just a moment. "I don't know his name."
The wizard's white brows rose. "An honest answer," he said with exaggerated surprised. "The fact is that there is no record of another marriage. A wizard's bastard, a magic-wielder of uncertain parentage-and especially one who 'discovers' unusual and unpredictable gifts-is a threat to Halruaa. By law, this threat should have been eliminated over twenty years ago!"
Basel Indoulur rose abruptly. "Keturah and I were friends from childhood, and remained friends after she was falsely accused and fled the city."
"Falsely accused?" Procopio broke in. "Not submitting to magical testing is as good as an admission of guilt!"
"Who was the Inquisitor of Halarahh at that time?" Matteo asked calmly. "Who would have examined Keturah?"
The lord mayor sent him a venomous glare. "How should I know? That was five and twenty years past"
"Six and twenty," Matteo corrected, "and the magehound in the city at that time was Kiva, an elf woman since convicted of treason. I can present documents from the Jordaini Council exonerating several jordaini whom Kiva had falsely condemned over the years."
"You're arguing that Keturah would have had reason to fear similar treatment? On what basis?"
"Kiva was an apprentice in Keturah's tower," the jordain said calmly. "Keturah dismissed her for reckless magic. Even if she knew or suspected nothing of Kiva's larger designs at that time, she had reason to know the elf woman's character and to believe her capable of taking vengeance."
Basel turned to face Procopio, and in his round face was the lean, hard shadow of the warrior he had once been. "You called Tzigone a wizard's bastard. In Halruaa, few words are as offensive or as dangerous as these." He paused to give weight to his next words. "On behalf of my daughter, I demand you give formal apology or face me in mage duel."
A furor broke out at Basel's words. Procopio had to shout to be heard. "This is absurd! Basel Indoulur cannot speak for this girl, no more than she can speak for him! No man under sentence can bear witness in another's defense!"
Matteo gestured for silence. "That is true, Lord Procopio, but no sentence has been passed against Lord Basel. This hearing is an inquiry, nothing more. Basel can legally speak for Tzigone."
"Who then can speak for him!" the wizard snapped.
"My mother married a second time."
"Did she? Whom?"
"A young man she met in the forest. He fell off a griffin, and she tended him."
"Does this hapless rider have a name?"
Her gaze faltered for just a moment. "I don't know his name."
The wizard's white brows rose. "An honest answer," he said with exaggerated surprised. "The fact is that there is no record of another marriage. A wizard's bastard, a magic-wielder of uncertain parentage-and especially one who 'discovers' unusual and unpredictable gifts-is a threat to Halruaa. By law, this threat should have been eliminated over twenty years ago!"
Basel Indoulur rose abruptly. "Keturah and I were friends from childhood, and remained friends after she was falsely accused and fled the city."
"Falsely accused?" Procopio broke in. "Not submitting to magical testing is as good as an admission of guilt!"
"Who was the Inquisitor of Halarahh at that time?" Matteo asked calmly. "Who would have examined Keturah?"
The lord mayor sent him a venomous glare. "How should I know? That was five and twenty years past"
"Six and twenty," Matteo corrected, "and the magehound in the city at that time was Kiva, an elf woman since convicted of treason. I can present documents from the Jordaini Council exonerating several jordaini whom Kiva had falsely condemned over the years."
"You're arguing that Keturah would have had reason to fear similar treatment? On what basis?"
"Kiva was an apprentice in Keturah's tower," the jordain said calmly. "Keturah dismissed her for reckless magic. Even if she knew or suspected nothing of Kiva's larger designs at that time, she had reason to know the elf woman's character and to believe her capable of taking vengeance."
Basel turned to face Procopio, and in his round face was the lean, hard shadow of the warrior he had once been. "You called Tzigone a wizard's bastard. In Halruaa, few words are as offensive or as dangerous as these." He paused to give weight to his next words. "On behalf of my daughter, I demand you give formal apology or face me in mage duel."
A furor broke out at Basel's words. Procopio had to shout to be heard. "This is absurd! Basel Indoulur cannot speak for this girl, no more than she can speak for him! No man under sentence can bear witness in another's defense!"
Matteo gestured for silence. "That is true, Lord Procopio, but no sentence has been passed against Lord Basel. This hearing is an inquiry, nothing more. Basel can legally speak for Tzigone."
"Who then can speak for him!" the wizard snapped.