The First Choice
Kestrel held the pebble in her hand and blew gently on it. It began to glow a warm yellow-orange, like a coal in a fire. It warmed as well, but she kept her hands cupped tightly around it, keeping the heat from escaping. Any warmth that escaped to heat the goat shed would be sleep lost for no purpose to Kestrel.
Her mother wondered why she slept so much. But magic was forbidden to all who did not have strict training and a license--and there was no way she could begin training, real training, until after the exams.
Assuming that she did well on the mathmagics section of the exam. If she were higher born, then maybe it wouldn't matter so much. She could afford a tutor; she would have connections. Maybe you get a license and not be in a Domini family, but without top scores, you certainly had to be in one of the circles of color. Even though Kestrel's mother had been in the upper shades of a Yellow House, her father was nothing more than a wealthy farmer. How could she hope to ever be allowed to train as an engineer or even a green woman?
Kestrel closed her hand on the button just as light came in through little window of the shed. It was time to go dress. Kestrel smiled at the small slice of wood that held her entire night's sleep. She would have to sleep later, when she had time for it. If today went according to plan, then it wouldn't matter because she would have everything she wanted. But whether through marriage or career, she was not going to start her life as a farmer's wife. For a moment, her face looked much, much older than her seventeen years. She carefully pocketed her button and ran inside to do what she could to look pretty enough to propose to.
***
"Kestrel," her mother called, "There's a letter for you."
Kestrel sighed at her reflection and set her dress down. She wanted to decide what to wear without interruptions. Boron wanted to see her. How important could any letter be compared with that?
Her footsteps were a little louder than they should have been as she tromped down the stairs to the kitchen. She hadn't seen Boron in over a month. Of course, he had told her that he would be away. But his note said that he had something special to tell her. She tried to convince herself that it couldn't be, that he couldn't really mean to...
No. She wouldn't let herself think it. She didn't want to let herself get excited about what was probably just another lesson in Galliun verbs. That's probably all that Boron wanted. Unless all of his recent hints really did add up to something.
"Okay Mother, what is it? Is it something about graduation and the exams from the IE?" Kestrel began, but she stopped when she saw her mother's face. The small woman's eyes were bright with pent-up tears, but she was smiling.
"What is it?" Kestrel asked. "Who is it from?"
"You're--" her mother's voice broke. She took a moment to pull herself in, and then she tried again. This time her voice was carefully neutral. "It's from your grandmother." She held out the thick envelope, but Kestrel didn't touch it.
"It can't be," was all she could manage.
"I don't know how she did it," her mother said with a tight little smile, "but your grandmother is--was--a remarkable person and a greenwoman. She must have known that she would have something else to tell you."
The letter seemed to press itself into Kestrel's hand, and her mother was gone. Kestrel looked down at it. There, on the heavy paper, was her grandmother's handwriting. It had changed slightly over the last few years, becoming just a little bit shaky. No one would have noticed if they didn't know how strong of a hand it had been before. Gruin Anen didn't have beautiful penmanship, but it was pronounced and easy to read. Kestrel touched the ink with one finger, trying to pretend that it meant that that there was still someone behind those words. Through the envelope, Kestrel felt a faint warmth; it told her that some kind of magic was part of what her grandmother had to say to her.
A knock at the door made Kestrel look up. She exhaled air that she didn't know she had been holding in and took three quick steps to answer the door.
"Good morning, Miss," said the driver. "The Domini Son had some errands for me. He sent me with a message for you. I was to say that if you was ready now, I was to drive you up to the House." The driver stood in the doorway, waiting to see what happened next.
Kestrel looked down at the letter, then back at the driver. In spite of how much she had seen of Boron over the last year and a half, she knew that a suggestion from the Domini Son was the next thing to a command. But if she went now, she would have to wait to read her letter.
1) She took a deep breath and then said, "Thank you. I appreciate the offer, but will you tell him that I will come the moment I can? If it weren't truly important, then I would certainly come with you now, but I should be able to leave within an hour. There is just one small piece of business that I absolutely must attend to first.
"As you say, Miss," the man told her. "Only I wouldn't take too long if I was you."
"I promise that it will not be two hours until I arrive--even with the walk."
http://kestrelbook.blogspot.com/2012/02/chapter-1a.html
2) She took a deep breath before she felt that she could speak. "Thank you," she told the man, "I'll just get my coat, if you don't mind."
"Certainly," the driver told her. "I'll be outside waiting in the transport."
Kestrel nodded and turned to pull her coat off of the hook, and more importantly, the small bag that was hanging under it. She slipped the letter inside. If she was right about why Boron had sent for her, she couldn't keep him waiting, no matter how hard it was to wait. The letter couldn't change anything that had happened in the past. If she was to have any chance for the future, she had to take care of that first.
http://kestrelbook.blogspot.com/2012/02/chapter-1b.html
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