thinking this out all afternoon. “He wouldn’t marry Selendra, even if he were free, nobody would marry a compromised maiden however attractive her dowry, and Selendra’s will be only moderate even if you and I could add a little to it.”
“I could not add anything,” Penn said hastily. “I have a family of my own to think of.”
“Well I might add a little, not being established yet,” Avan said.“But that’s neither here nor there, it would not be enough to make a difference. Nobody would take her as a wife, but through the good offices of Exalt Rimalin, Exalted Rimalin might take her as a consort. A second wife, you know,” he added, after a moment in which Penn’s countenance had become very forbidding. “The Church does allow such things,” he ventured.
“I hardly know how you can consider suggesting such a thing for your own sister,” Penn said. “No doubt such positions of concubinage are well enough for some poor unfortunate females without any protection, but that you might think Selendra had come to that!”
“It would be better for Sel than marrying the dragon who deliberately set out to ruin her, a dragon Father was at feud with for the last six years and whom she despises,” Avan said. “Exalt Rimalin is a jolly, friendly dragon, and a political hostess. I could see Sel often and be sure her position in the establishment was what it should be, and not the drudgery such consorts often endure. And she would have provision made for her exactly as for a wife, I speak of a formal position as consort, not selling her into concubinage.”
“She would most likely bear clutches without pause until she died, and her children would have no inheritance,” Penn said. “The more formal the arrangement, the less power you would have to relieve whatever misery came of it. No, Avan. I would regard such an arrangement as a disgrace. I will not hear another word about it.” Penn leapt over his brother, not quite a flight, yet his wings were spread rather more than some in the Church would like to see a parson’s wings.
Penn landed neatly and walked away down the corridor without a backward glance, meaning to seek out Selendra to inform her immediately that he would consult with Frelt about their marriage. He found Haner first, sitting on her haunches at the door of thesleeping cave. “It’s all right,” she whispered. “She’s asleep, but look!” Penn looked through the archway to where Selendra slept on the gold of her dowry. She lay curled up with her head under her wing, the picture of feminine grace. Her scales were clean and burnished, and shone a clear pale gold, with no trace whatsoever of any bridal pink.
“How have you managed it?” Penn asked. “What trickery is this? Paint?” But he looked again and knew no paint could ever be so perfect or even.
“She only needed to rest and become calm,” Haner said. “Amer made her a tea and she has been well since.”
Penn started in surprise. He knew only a little of the herbs to which desperate maidens might resort. He had been told in the seminary what a sin they were. “I will speak to Amer,” Penn said, and stalked away, leaving Haner staring after him.
Amer was in the storeroom, arranging some fruit with the remains of the beef for supper. “How are you, Blessed Penn?” she asked. Amer had been his nanny, but since he had been a parson she had always behaved towards him most respectfully. He liked this, of course, and would have been most resentful of any undue familiarity, but it made him a little sad sometimes when he felt a constraint between them where once no constraint had been.
“I’m well,” he said. “Amer, I’m here about Respected Selendra.”
“ ’Spec Sel’s sleeping. She’ll do well enough now.”
“What did you give her?”
Amer looked up guiltily. “ ’Spec Haner told you?”
“She said you’d made her a tea. Amer, I have to know. Respected Selendra is my sister, and she’s coming into my
“I could not add anything,” Penn said hastily. “I have a family of my own to think of.”
“Well I might add a little, not being established yet,” Avan said.“But that’s neither here nor there, it would not be enough to make a difference. Nobody would take her as a wife, but through the good offices of Exalt Rimalin, Exalted Rimalin might take her as a consort. A second wife, you know,” he added, after a moment in which Penn’s countenance had become very forbidding. “The Church does allow such things,” he ventured.
“I hardly know how you can consider suggesting such a thing for your own sister,” Penn said. “No doubt such positions of concubinage are well enough for some poor unfortunate females without any protection, but that you might think Selendra had come to that!”
“It would be better for Sel than marrying the dragon who deliberately set out to ruin her, a dragon Father was at feud with for the last six years and whom she despises,” Avan said. “Exalt Rimalin is a jolly, friendly dragon, and a political hostess. I could see Sel often and be sure her position in the establishment was what it should be, and not the drudgery such consorts often endure. And she would have provision made for her exactly as for a wife, I speak of a formal position as consort, not selling her into concubinage.”
“She would most likely bear clutches without pause until she died, and her children would have no inheritance,” Penn said. “The more formal the arrangement, the less power you would have to relieve whatever misery came of it. No, Avan. I would regard such an arrangement as a disgrace. I will not hear another word about it.” Penn leapt over his brother, not quite a flight, yet his wings were spread rather more than some in the Church would like to see a parson’s wings.
Penn landed neatly and walked away down the corridor without a backward glance, meaning to seek out Selendra to inform her immediately that he would consult with Frelt about their marriage. He found Haner first, sitting on her haunches at the door of thesleeping cave. “It’s all right,” she whispered. “She’s asleep, but look!” Penn looked through the archway to where Selendra slept on the gold of her dowry. She lay curled up with her head under her wing, the picture of feminine grace. Her scales were clean and burnished, and shone a clear pale gold, with no trace whatsoever of any bridal pink.
“How have you managed it?” Penn asked. “What trickery is this? Paint?” But he looked again and knew no paint could ever be so perfect or even.
“She only needed to rest and become calm,” Haner said. “Amer made her a tea and she has been well since.”
Penn started in surprise. He knew only a little of the herbs to which desperate maidens might resort. He had been told in the seminary what a sin they were. “I will speak to Amer,” Penn said, and stalked away, leaving Haner staring after him.
Amer was in the storeroom, arranging some fruit with the remains of the beef for supper. “How are you, Blessed Penn?” she asked. Amer had been his nanny, but since he had been a parson she had always behaved towards him most respectfully. He liked this, of course, and would have been most resentful of any undue familiarity, but it made him a little sad sometimes when he felt a constraint between them where once no constraint had been.
“I’m well,” he said. “Amer, I’m here about Respected Selendra.”
“ ’Spec Sel’s sleeping. She’ll do well enough now.”
“What did you give her?”
Amer looked up guiltily. “ ’Spec Haner told you?”
“She said you’d made her a tea. Amer, I have to know. Respected Selendra is my sister, and she’s coming into my
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