Morgon drew her hair out of the wind’s grasp and smoothed it. He tapped randomly into the continual stream of thoughts just beneath the surface of his awareness. He heard Tristan arguing placidly with Eliard as she set plates on the table at Akren. In Hel, Nun and Raith of Hel were watching a pig being born. In Lungold, Iff was salvaging books out of the burned wizards’ library. In the City of Circles, Lyra was talking to a young Herun lord, telling him things she had not told anyone else about the battle in Lungold. On Wind Plain, the broken pieces of a sword were being slowly buried under grass roots.
He smelled twilight shadowing Hed, full of new grass, broken earth, sun-warmed leaves. The odd memory of a song that was no song caught at him again; straining, he almost heard it. Raederle seemed to hear it; she stirred against him, her face growing peaceful in the last warm light.
He said, “There’s a speaking pig being born in Hel. Nun is there with the Lord of Hel.”
She smiled suddenly. “That’s the first in three centuries. I wonder what it was born to say? Morgon, while I was waiting for you, I had to do something, so I explored the sea. I found something that belongs to you. It’s at Akren.”
“What?”
“Don’t you know?”
“No. Do you want me to read your mind?”
“No. Never. How could I argue with you, then?” His expression changed suddenly, and her smile deepened.
“Peven’s crown?”
“Eliard said it was. I had never seen it. It was full of seaweed and barnacles, except for one great stone like a clear eye . . . I loved the sea. Maybe I’ll live in it.”
“I’ll live in the wastes,” he said. “Once every hundred years, you will shine out of the sea and I’ll come to you, or I will draw you into the winds with my harping . . .” He heard it then, finally, between the drift of the waves, in the rock they sat on, old, warm, settled deep in the earth, deep in the sea. His heart began to open tentatively to something he had not felt for years.
“What is it?” She was still smiling, watching him, her eyes full of the last light. He was silent for a long time, listening. He took her hand and stood up. She walked with him to the shore road, up the cliff. The final rays of the sun poured down across the green fields; the road ahead of them seemed to run straight into light. He stood, his heart opened like a seedling, hearing all over Hed, all over the realm, a familiar stillness that came out of the heart of all things.
The silence drew deep into Morgon’s mind and rested there. Whether it was a memory or part of his heritage or a riddle without an answer, he did not know. He drew Raederle close to him, content for once with not knowing. They walked down the road toward Akren. Raederle, her voice tranquil, began telling him about pearls and luminous fish and the singing of water deep in the sea. The sun set slowly; dusk wandered across the realm, walked behind them on the road, a silver-haired stranger with night at his back, his face always toward the dawn.
Peace, tremulous, unexpected, sent a taproot out of nowhere into Morgon’s heart.
People and Places
ACOR OF HEL third King of Hel
AIA wife of Har of Osterland
AKER, JARL dead trader of Osterland
AKREN home of the land-rulers of Hed
ALOIL a Lungold wizard
AMORY, WYNDON farmer of Hed; Arin, his daughter
AN kingdom incorporating the Three Portions (An, Aum, Hel) ruled by Mathom
ANOTH physician at the court of Heureu of Ymris
ANUIN seaport in An; home of the Kings of An
ARYA a Herun woman subject of a riddle
ASH son and land-heir of Danan Isig
ASTRIN brother of Heureu; land-heir of Imris
ATHOL dead father of Morgon, Eliard and Tristan; a prince of Hed
AUBER OF AUM descendant of Peven of Aum
AUM ancient kingdom conquered by An
AWN OF AN ancient land-ruler of An; died because he deliberately destroyed part of An to keep it from an enemy
BERE grandson of Danan Isig; son of Vert
BLACKDAWN, HALLARD a lord of An, with lands in east Hel
CAERWEDDIN chief city of Ymris; seat of Heureu; a port city
CAITHNARD seaport and traders’ city; site of the College of Riddle-Masters
CITY OF CIRCLES home of the Morgol of Herun
COL ancient lord of Hel
CORBETT, BRI ship-master of Mathom of An
CORRIG a shape-changer; ancester of Raederle
CROEG, CYN the Lord of Aum, with lands in east Aum; a descendant of the Kings of Aum
CROEG, MARA Cyn Croeg’s wife; The Flower of An
CRON ancient Morgol of Herun; full name Ylcorcronlth. His harper was Tirunedeth
CROWN CITY chief city of Herun; ringed by seven circular walls; seat of the Morgol El of Herun
CYONE wife of Mathom of An; mother of Raederle and Rood
DANAN ISIG land-ruler and King of Isig
DETH a harpist
DHAIRRHUWYTH an early Morgol of Herun
DUAC Mathom’s son; land-heir of An
EARTH-MASTERS ancient, mysterious inhabitants of the High One’s realm
EDOLEN an Earth-Master
EL ELRHIARHODAN the land-ruler of Herun
ELIARD the Prince of Hed; Morgon’s younger brother
ELIEU OF HEL the younger brother of Raith, Lord of Hel
ERIEL a shape-changer; a kinswoman of Corrig and Raederle
ERLENSTAR MOUNTAIN ancient home of the High One
EVERN “The Falconer”; a dead King of Hel
FARR the last of the Kings of Hel
GALIL ancient king of Ymris in the time of Aloil
GHISTESLWCHLOHM founder of the school of wizards at Lungold; also impersonator of the High One
GOH a member of the Herun guard
GRANIA dead wife of Danan Isig, mother of Sol
GRIM MOUNTAIN site of Yrye, home of Har of Osterland
HAGIS dead king of An, grandfather of Mathom
HAR the wolf-king; land-ruler of Osterland
HARTE mountain-home of Danan Isig
HED a small island ruled by the Princes of Hed
HEL one of the Three Portions of An
HERUN a kingdom ruled by the Morgol
HEUREU the King of Ymris
HIGH ONE sustainer of the land-law of the realm
HLURLE a small trade-port near Herun
HUGIN son of Suth the wizard
HWILLION, MAP a young lord with lands in south Aum
IFF a Lungold wizard
ILON ancient harper of Har of Osterland
INGRIS OF OSTERLAND refused to take in the disguised Har of Osterland and died as a result
ISIG a mountain kingdom ruled by Danan Isig
ISIG PASS a mountain pass between Isig and Erlenstar Mountain
KALE first King of An, who won a desperate battle with a Great Shout
KERN OF HED ancient prince of Hed, subject of the only riddle to come from Hed
KIA a guard in the Morgol’s service
KING’S MOUTH PLAIN site of a ruined city of the Earth-Masters
KOR, RUSTIN trader
KRAAL port-city at the mouth of the Winter River
KYRTH trade-city in Isig on the Ose River
LAERN Riddle-Master at Caithnard; lost his life in a riddle game with Pevin of Aum
LEIN kinsman of the High Lord of Marcher
LOOR fishing village in Ymris
LUNGOLD city founded by Ghisteslwchlohm; home of the School of Wizards
LYRA the land-heir of Herun; El’s daughter
MADIR ancient witch of An
MARCHER territory in north Ymris governed by the High Lord of Marcher
MASTER, CANNON farmer of Hed
MATHOM King of An
MEREMONT coastal territory of Ymris
MEROC TOR high lord and ruler of Tor; subject of Heureu of Ymris
MORGON the Star-Bearer, at one time the Prince of Hed
NEMIR Nemir of the Pigs; a dead King of Hel
NUN a Lungold wizard
NUTT, SNOG pigherder of Hed
OAKLAND, GRIM overseer for Morgon of Hed
OEN OF AN conqueror of Aum; king of An; built a tower to trap the witch Madir
OHM a Riddle-Master of Caithnard
OHROE OF HEL a dead King of Hel; called “The Cursed”
OSTERLAND northern kingdom ruled by Har
PEVEN ancient lord of Aum
RAEDERLE daughter of Mathom of An
RAITH the lord of Hel
RE OF AUM offended an ancient lord of Hel, and in trying to insure his safety, allowed the lord of Hel to trap him on his own estate
RHU fourth morgol of Herun; built the seven walls surrounding Crown City; died seeking the answer to a riddle; full name Dhairrhuwyth
ROOD Mathom’s younger son; brother of Duac and Raederle
RYE, TOBEC trader
SEC an Earth-Master
SERIC the High One’s watcher; trained by the wizards at Lungold
SOL OF ISIG dead son of Danan of Isig; died at the door of the cave of the Lost Ones at the bottom of Isig Mountain; cut the stones for the stars on the harp Yrth made
SPRING OAKLAND dead mother of Morgon of Hed; wife of Athol
STONE, HARL farmer of Hed
STRAG, ASH trader of Kraal
SUTH an ancient wizard
TALIES a Lungold wizard
TEL one of the Riddle-Masters of the college at Caithnard
TERIL Son of Rork Umber
THISTIN OF AUM current lord of Aum, under Mathom
TIR Earth-Master; Master of Earth and Wind
TIRUNEDETH harper to the Morgol Cron, ancient ruler of Herun
TOL small fishing-town in Hed
TOR a territory in Imris
TRIKA a guard in the Morgol’s service
TRISTAN Morgon’s sister
UMBER Midland territory of Ymris
UON harpmaker of Hel, three centuries before
USTIN OF AUM ancient king of Aum who died of sorrow over the conquering of Aum by An
VERT daughter of Danan Isig
WIND PLAIN the site in Ymris of Wind Tower and a ruined city of the Earth-Masters
WIND TOWER only complete structure in the ruined city on Wind Plain; top of tower cannot be reached
WOLD, LATHE great-grandfather of Morgon of Hed
WOLD, SIL farmer of Hed
XEL wild cat belonging to Astrin, gift of Danan Isig
YLON an ancient King of An; son of a queen of An and the shape-changer Corrig
YMRIS a kingdom ruled by Heureu Ymris
YRTH a powerful, blind wizard at Lungold
YRYE home of Har of Osterland
ZEC OF HICON craftsman who did the inlay work on the harp with three stars