Read Online The Modern World by Steph Swainston - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Steph Swainston
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Anyway, we had a sense of propriety and Cyan, I fear, has none. It is strange. Why should she run away? She can’t be angry with me or I would definitely know about it, otherwise she would have wasted the effort. Either she has been untruthful for some time or this was a temporary aberration. I imagine her coming to her senses again and realising she’s lost.’
‘She’s smart enough to get herself found,’ I said. ‘She hasn’t exactly led a sheltered existence.’
Lightning twiddled his glass and gazed at the stationary surface of the wine inside it. ‘She has not visited the city before … Meanwhile I’m supposed to be drilling these archers who seem to think they’re here for a stroll by the water stair.’
I thought Lightning was wrong. He had always said Cyan could do what she wanted, but now she chose to exercise that freedom he was up in arms. If she had only just discovered freedom, of course she’d want to know how much she could use it without losing it. She would just drink too much and spew in the street at three in the morning. She’d have gut-rot and a hangover, recover and feel ashamed. Then she would find the sheets rough in the coach house and bedbugs too; cold water in the pitcher and no soap in the bowl. I said, ‘Lightning, she’ll come home wiser in the ways of the world, with her tail between her legs, and vow not to leave the palace for a long time.’
Lightning passed a hand over his forehead. ‘Oh god. You don’t understand. Cyan has the blood of a thousand-year-old dynasty. She is the new heir of the house of Micawater … Why does nobody have the slightest inkling what that means to me?’
I said, ‘Blood doesn’t matter any more.’
‘It matters. It matters to me. Oh, I know what you’re thinking. That I’m some sort of relic of the seventh century. Well, let me tell you, it was the golden age of Awia – hic! – (excuse me). The genealogies of every other family twisted and turned and snuffed out. But Micawater comes straight down through the centuries: me. And now Cyan. Sheis the heir to Esmerillion’s crown. And she’s also my daughter and I love her and I want to see her safe.’
‘The old money of the country even then,’ Eleonora murmured.
I said, ‘All this past is just like a millstone around your neck. Can’t you forget about it for once?’
Lightning said, ‘That would be forgetting history.’
‘I do forget history.’
‘You would. You’re a Rhydanne. But the history of my family is the history of my country, and even if Insects take our land they won’t take what we are.’
‘Hear, hear!’ said Eleonora.
Lightning nodded, warming to his subject. ‘When in four-fifteen the Insects first appeared in Awia, the chaos they caused led to the collapse of the governments in every country. The Insects extended their Paper-lands and Awian families began moving south to escape them. Everyone knows that account, but my ancestors were among them. Our records don’t stretch back that far; we were not notable then. We were unplanned settlers but we had courage and intelligence. We settled Pentadrican land. They were in anarchy and grateful for the order we brought. We also brought the knowledge of how to fight Insects. We lived in harmony with the Pentradricans who remained. Soon King Murrelet made a decision to shift the boundaries of Awia south. All the land from the rivers Moren to Rachis was Pentadrican land back then. If you know what you’re looking for, Eleonora, you can still see vestiges of the Pentadrica today – the Dace River, that was one of their fish names, like the Trisians still use. Awia stretched from the Rachis river to the north coast of the continent, all under paper now.
‘My family staked a claim on bountiful land in Mica River valley. We founded the manor and took the river’s name for our family name. Then gold was discovered in Gilt River, my family started to mine it and we flourished. We married into the Sheldrake
‘She’s smart enough to get herself found,’ I said. ‘She hasn’t exactly led a sheltered existence.’
Lightning twiddled his glass and gazed at the stationary surface of the wine inside it. ‘She has not visited the city before … Meanwhile I’m supposed to be drilling these archers who seem to think they’re here for a stroll by the water stair.’
I thought Lightning was wrong. He had always said Cyan could do what she wanted, but now she chose to exercise that freedom he was up in arms. If she had only just discovered freedom, of course she’d want to know how much she could use it without losing it. She would just drink too much and spew in the street at three in the morning. She’d have gut-rot and a hangover, recover and feel ashamed. Then she would find the sheets rough in the coach house and bedbugs too; cold water in the pitcher and no soap in the bowl. I said, ‘Lightning, she’ll come home wiser in the ways of the world, with her tail between her legs, and vow not to leave the palace for a long time.’
Lightning passed a hand over his forehead. ‘Oh god. You don’t understand. Cyan has the blood of a thousand-year-old dynasty. She is the new heir of the house of Micawater … Why does nobody have the slightest inkling what that means to me?’
I said, ‘Blood doesn’t matter any more.’
‘It matters. It matters to me. Oh, I know what you’re thinking. That I’m some sort of relic of the seventh century. Well, let me tell you, it was the golden age of Awia – hic! – (excuse me). The genealogies of every other family twisted and turned and snuffed out. But Micawater comes straight down through the centuries: me. And now Cyan. Sheis the heir to Esmerillion’s crown. And she’s also my daughter and I love her and I want to see her safe.’
‘The old money of the country even then,’ Eleonora murmured.
I said, ‘All this past is just like a millstone around your neck. Can’t you forget about it for once?’
Lightning said, ‘That would be forgetting history.’
‘I do forget history.’
‘You would. You’re a Rhydanne. But the history of my family is the history of my country, and even if Insects take our land they won’t take what we are.’
‘Hear, hear!’ said Eleonora.
Lightning nodded, warming to his subject. ‘When in four-fifteen the Insects first appeared in Awia, the chaos they caused led to the collapse of the governments in every country. The Insects extended their Paper-lands and Awian families began moving south to escape them. Everyone knows that account, but my ancestors were among them. Our records don’t stretch back that far; we were not notable then. We were unplanned settlers but we had courage and intelligence. We settled Pentadrican land. They were in anarchy and grateful for the order we brought. We also brought the knowledge of how to fight Insects. We lived in harmony with the Pentradricans who remained. Soon King Murrelet made a decision to shift the boundaries of Awia south. All the land from the rivers Moren to Rachis was Pentadrican land back then. If you know what you’re looking for, Eleonora, you can still see vestiges of the Pentadrica today – the Dace River, that was one of their fish names, like the Trisians still use. Awia stretched from the Rachis river to the north coast of the continent, all under paper now.
‘My family staked a claim on bountiful land in Mica River valley. We founded the manor and took the river’s name for our family name. Then gold was discovered in Gilt River, my family started to mine it and we flourished. We married into the Sheldrake
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