Read Online A College of Magics by Caroline Stevermer - Free Book Online Page B

a deep breath and let it out as slowly as she could. When it was gone, she took another and told the Dean the story of her conversation with Menary. “I feel as though I should carry a piece of chalk and a slate with me to draw diagrams upon request,” she finished.
    The Dean regarded the Paganell letter with lifted brows. “Tell me, why do you suppose Menary says—what she said—regarding your parentage?”
    â€œI was born six months after my father’s death. It—it occasioned comment.”
    â€œApparently so. Could you be a trifle more explicit?”
    â€œVery well. Galazon and Aravill were two of a group of four duchies that were once ruled by the kings of Lidia. Geographic and economic interests in common made the four duchies—Cenedwine and the Haydocks are the other two—into a loose trading unit that outlasted the Lidians. The informal alliance lasted well into the eighteenth century. Then the dukes of Aravill began to style themselves kings of Aravill. A ridiculous conceit. There’s no such title and there never has been, no matter what Julian Paganell likes to call himself.”
    The Dean lifted her hands. “I have changed my mind. Be less explicit. What has all this to do with you?”
    Faris smiled grimly. “My father’s mother had the poor taste to claim the throne of Aravill. After her death, my father pursued the claim. Eventually, he found a faction
able to put him on the throne. For a while. Long enough for a coronation and a wedding. Another faction took him off the throne and exiled him and my mother from Aravill. I’m afraid that sort of thing is always happening there. It’s not a very organized country.”
    â€œSo I gather.”
    â€œThe faction that deposed him didn’t want him to recruit support and return to Aravill, but they didn’t want to kill him publicly either. So they put my parents on a ship and never let them come to land. From time to time the ship put into harbor and the captain and his crew were changed, to keep my parents from winning their loyalty.” Faris paused to clear her throat. “My father died.” She cleared her throat again. “My mother was the duchess of Galazon. Our laws of primogeniture don’t exclude the female lines. In Galazon, women have always held titles and property. So she was someone to be reckoned with, even before her marriage. Even after she was widowed. With the help of her family, she gained her release on the condition that she return to Galazon and never leave it. That was a condition she was very willing to fulfill. But she was—” Faris hesitated, considered various euphemisms, and settled for the unvarnished word she’d started to say, “pregnant. Had that fact been known, her imprisonment would have had no end.”
    â€œBut it ended,” said the Dean. “And then you arrived. That must have been a trifle difficult to explain.”
    â€œI am my mother’s child. Her legitimate child. It doesn’t matter to me what my father was, however briefly. But it matters to some people in Aravill.”

    â€œHence the sea captain. Had your mother died childless, who would hold her title now?”
    â€œMy uncle Brinker. If I die without issue, he will become duke of Galazon.”
    â€œHave you never considered pursuing your claim to the throne of Aravill? Has no one ever tried to persuade you to do so?”
    Faris’s chin came up. “I am the duchess of Galazon.”
    The Dean’s mouth quirked. “Just so. Why settle for second best? But be certain that the factions of Aravill don’t see the matter that way. So tell me, why haven’t they killed you?”
    â€œThey’re much more likely to try to marry me to some feeble relation. To be safe, my uncle Brinker arranged an amendment to the act of succession. I’m barred from the throne.”
    â€œWas it in your best interest to be legally