The Ciphers of Muirwood (Covenant of Muirwood #2)(10)
“Please, call me Maia,” she said, uncomfortable with being the focus of their intense scrutiny. Some she could see stared at her with interest. Others, like Maeg, with jealousy. Suzenne’s look was the most guarded, but it was not a look of approval. It was serious and solemn.
“If you wish it,” the Aldermaston’s wife said. She brought them to the first table, which seemed to have the youngest girls sitting at it. “We only choose a few girls from among the newcomers who are sent to learn at the abbey,” she explained. “Many of the girls come to Muirwood for lessons in languages, embroidery, healing, and music. The Aldermaston and I watch them their first year to see whom we can trust. These are all second-year learners the Medium has sent to us. This beautiful young woman is Haven Proulx from Caspur Hundred. She is the daughter of the Earl of Caspur. Next to her is Joanna Stay. I like her name, because that is my true name.” She put her hand tenderly on the girl’s shoulder. “My husband and I were not always Aldermastons of Muirwood. She is also from Caspur Hundred. This is Ishea Haut, a transfer from Claredon Abbey, a third-year learner but a first-year Cipher. I love her braids. And this is Keresia Draper from Norris-York Hundred. She is a wretched.”
Maia nodded to each one, and the Aldermaston’s wife took her to the next table, quickly introducing her to each of the girls, who came from a variety of Hundreds. One of them wore an apron and smock that Maia recognized immediately. “You are from Hautland,” she said curiously. The girl blushed and nodded, saying nothing. Maia’s experience in Hautland had indicated there existed a profound division between the sexes in that kingdom; women there were treated with great suspicion.
One by one Maia was introduced to them all.
“This is Maergiry Baynton,” the Aldermaston said when they reached Maeg. Her impish look had not diminished one bit. “She is an accomplished dancer and musician. I love hearing her sing, and she is quite adept at the harp. She is from this Hundred, the daughter of the sheriff of Mendenhall. That makes her position as a Cipher very dangerous for her. If her father were to find out, the situation would be perilous for all of us. But the Aldermaston and I trust her very much.” Maia nodded to her, but Maeg did not nod in return.
“And this, as you know, is Suzenne Clarencieux from Kent Hundred in the south. She has the most elegant writing of all of us, myself included. Really, there is little else she can be taught, and she helps me instruct the younger girls when they first start engraving. I will miss her after Whitsunday.” She squeezed Suzenne’s shoulder, who flushed at the compliment. “Now, continue engraving what you were working on yesterday, girls. I will not be checking your work today, as I need to instruct Maia. Suzenne, would you please?”
“Yes, I would be happy to help.”
Maia watched the girls’ quiet demeanor dissolve as they pushed away from chairs and quickly scurried to the shelves, each one picking out a tome she would bring back. The Aldermaston’s wife led her to the bench along the far wall with all the scriving tools. Maia observed discreetly that Maeg was speaking quietly with several of the other girls, directing them to give her covert looks while making comments behind her hand. Her heart squirmed with disappointment.
Maia knew she should not care. Having spent years suffering at the hands of her stepmother and her stepmother’s Family, she was used to being treated poorly by others of her sex. Used to being judged, weighed, and scrutinized. She realized, too late, that her display of lighting the Leerings must have injured Suzenne’s standing amongst the girls. She promised herself to apologize later. She had hoped to form a friendship with Suzenne. But she realized that the girl already had her friends, that she had been studying for years at Muirwood, and that her final months were being disrupted by a girl who, quite probably, terrified her.
Maia stared down at the band of aurichalcum around the lower portion of her tome. None of the other girls had a binding sigil on theirs. None of the other girls carried a dark secret like hers. Maia had been the vessel of Ereshkigal, the Queen of the Myriad Ones. She had done things, unwillingly and under that being’s terrible influence, which she would regret all the rest of her days. These girls had been raised under the protective shadow of two loving Aldermastons, a tender man and his equally kindhearted wife. They had learned to read and engrave from a young age.
Part of her heart wanted to resent them for all the benefits they had enjoyed while she had been locked away in the attic of her stepmother’s Family manor. She smoothed her hand over the polished empty page of her tome.
“We practice with these,” the Aldermaston’s wife said, pushing a wooden sheet toward her with a sheen of clear wax set inside a frame. “Before you scrive in gold, you must practice your hand until you can write flawlessly. This will not be difficult for you, Maia, but it will be tedious at first. You must spend a portion of time each day reading as well as practicing. My husband will teach you the doctrines of the Medium during the day. I will instruct you at night on how to hear its whispers.” She closed her hand on Maia’s arm. “I look forward to this opportunity, Maia,” she said in an undertone so the others could not hear. “I love you already. I spoke with your mother for many long hours over many painful years. I will share with you everything I knew of her. She was, in my view, one of the most noble women who ever lived.”
Maia felt her heart quiver with pain as tears stung her eyes.