Chapter 10
Welcome, newly awakened Channellers, to this, the four hundred and fifteenth year of the House at Lambay. Only the most gifted on all Domhain are invited to our islands, where generations of Channellers have walked before you. Each of you is here because you have a rare and priceless gift.”
From where éadha sat, she could see Ionáin’s profile. The relaxed look had disappeared. He was completely focused, his jaw set as he listened.
“Look about you, to the left, to the right. You are the elite. You’re the future of Domhain, its salvation and its glory.
Here on Lambay you’ll receive the training and the knowledge to unlock the power within you.
I won’t deceive you. The way of the Channeller is hard.
We expect the very best from you. Complete dedication to the realization of your power, fealty to the Masters, and devotion to the Channeller way.
Those who win through to bear the yew staff are the leaders of our land, heads of our Families.
Defenders of our realm, Master Architects, Growers, and Illusionists.
Succeed here and you will be set upon a life of power, honor, prestige, and wealth beyond measure, first among men and women.
May the power newly awakened within you flow all your days in channels true. ”
Dathin paused as a young man dressed all in white handed him a large, beautifully bound book.
“These are the Annals of the Three Brothers, the first record of the birth of the Channeller gift. Every Channeller apprentice swears their fealty on this, the wellspring of our history.”
Master Dathin rose into the air, to where the spring sunshine shone aslant through the dragonglass dome, then one by one lifted the Channeller apprentices up into the air to swear their oath.
“I swear fealty to the Masters in my thoughts, words, and deeds. For channeling is the power and the glory of Domhain and I its vessel now and always.”
Ionáin was the last to be raised up, his voice ringing clear and vibrant in the hushed room.
As he was returned to the ground, Master Irial stepped forward and gestured to the Channeller apprentices to follow him from the hall.
While they filed out, a severe-looking woman in black took Master Dathin’s place at the podium.
Her voice flat and toneless, she addressed éadha and the other Keeper novices still perched awkwardly on their narrow benches.
“I am Fiachna, Head Keeper. Here on First Island you will learn that as Keepers, our vocation is one of service to our Lords Channeller, our gift one that only gains meaning from theirs as we carry their power, upon which Domhain depends.”
As she spoke, éadha saw how Fiachna’s pale face had become flushed.
“Only in submission are we truly blessed. You’ll have the privilege of studying alongside the Channeller apprentices initially as the skills taught are common to both classes.
Never forget, however, this privilege is subject to strict compliance with the Keeper’s Code.
A copy is nailed above each bed in your dormitories.
Read it, memorize it. We begin with the ritual of Matins in temple at daybreak tomorrow. ”
éadha didn’t hear a word of this. She was too busy watching Ionáin leave the Library with the other Channellers.
She hadn’t expected this. Her whole plan relied on being close enough to send her powers into him without anyone seeing.
As she watched, Ionáin disappeared through the doorway at the far end of the Library.
éadha bowed her head, trying to hold in her mind a sense of the thread linking the two of them, but as he moved deeper into the House it winked out, and she couldn’t find it again.
Losing it unbalanced her, like being asked to stand steady on one foot.
She was being gently nudged by her dark-haired neighbor to stand up. As they shuffled together out of the Library, he whispered, “I’m Gry from House Flemin. You?”
“éadha of the Ailm household,” she said, and even through her distracted focus on Ionáin, Gry’s name set up a chime of recognition.
It made him the “Mr. First Family” Senan had gloated about earlier.
The other Family names around them—Manon, De Paor, Ailm—were all ancient Families.
But in Channeller lore, Gry’s name was the oldest, marking him as a direct descendant of one of the Three Brothers, the original Channellers.
“You came with Ionáin, then?” Gry was asking her.
éadha nodded, still only half listening, more focused on trying to pick up Ionáin’s thread and trying not to panic.
Gry’s face was sympathetic. “You won’t see him again today. He’s off to the Channellers’ quad where they all have their own apartments.”
éadha flushed as she realized how pathetic she must look. He could have no idea of the real reason she couldn’t afford to lose sight of Ionáin.
Head Keeper Fiachna, meanwhile, was shepherding them out through an oak door set in the immensely thick walls and on into a shadowed cloister.
Along one wall, figures were carved into the stone in bas-relief, scenes from the wars and their aftermath.
On the right a colonnade overlooked a smooth lawn.
It glowed in the late-afternoon sunshine like a jewel set within the walls, water singing as it flowed up and out from a marble basin in its center.
Fiachna pointed them to it. “The Fountain of Beginning, where the First Channeller drew fresh water from the earth. The earliest known use of channeling and the reason why Erisen chose to build First House on this spot.”
She looked at Gry, gesturing toward three figures carved around the base.
“Here by this Fountain was also one of the last times your ancestor Shem was seen on Lambay with his older brothers,” she said.
“I believe, Lord Flemin, you may be the first male descendant of Shem to ever grace the Keepers’ quad. ”
“Indeed, Head Keeper,” replied Gry, his voice deep and seemingly unperturbed while the other Keeper apprentices turned to stare at him, several of the girls nudging each other. “And am I not fortunate to serve our Lords Channeller as you do?”
Fiachna frowned, but Gry’s response had been too smooth to pick holes in, and after a moment she moved on through a narrow tunnel then out into the sunshine, into the Keepers’ quad, their home on Lambay.
At its center stood a thicket of oak trees still bare of leaves.
Above their heads, high crosswalks linking each side of the quad intersected in the middle of the thicket.
The buildings were of plain sandstone, each one divided into dorms with five beds each, although as the sole male, Gry had been given a room to himself.
The dorms themselves had dark wooden floors with white walls, white beds, and marble busts of past Keepers set into recesses.
éadha was in a dorm at the eastern end of the quad with four other girls, including Ailbhe. Her bed was in the far corner of the room, opposite a bright window. As the Head Keeper had said, a copy of the Keeper’s Code was nailed above it.
The Code of Keeping
A Keeper’s role is to serve their Channeller with all of their strength, to the greater glory of their Channeller.
Channellers must at all times be treated with the deference owed to their gift.
Keepers must give way to Channellers.
Keepers may not sit in the presence of a Channeller unbidden.
No Keeper may speak to a Channeller until so bidden.
No Keeper may visit a Channeller uninvited.
As soon as Fiachna left, a babble of talk broke out.
The other four girls all embraced, asking after each other’s Families and gossiping about Reckonings.
Left to herself, éadha quickly unpacked her one change of clothes into the locker by her bed, hiding Magret’s book and the amber tower underneath.
After a few minutes Ailbhe stepped forward, her hand outstretched. “I’m Ailbhe of House De Paor.”
“éadha.”
“I saw you talking to my dear friend Ionáin earlier. How do you know him?”
“My family is of his household,” said éadha, flushing awkwardly.
“Ah. Isn’t that good of him, looking out for the staff?” said Ailbhe. Behind her the other girls tittered. “Perhaps you waited on me, then, when I visited dear old Ailm’s Keep?”
éadha stared. Ionáin may well have visited the De Paor Family’s home on trips with his mother, but this girl had never been to Ailm’s Keep.
If she had, she’d have seen her. Looking into Ailbhe’s eyes, she realized it was a test to see if éadha would challenge her.
There was a brief silence as éadha took this in and understood she couldn’t.
She couldn’t afford to make enemies here on Lambay.
Neither, though, would she outright lie, so in the end she just said nothing and hoped that was enough.
It seemed to be, as after a moment Ailbhe turned away, saying to the other girls, “Of course, Ionáin was always terribly sweet on me. He used to follow me around everywhere like a little puppy when he and his mother came to stay with us. It’ll be lovely to see more of him here on Lambay.
Now, ladies. Hauls out, let’s see what you’ve got! ”
The four girls upended their cases. Heaps of clothes, silks, fine brocades, embroidered dresses, and hunting gear cascaded onto the beds, the girls shrieking as they caught sight of one another’s stashes.
Just for a second, éadha pictured the looks on their faces if she were to use her power to call up a small fireball on each of those piles of costly clothes.
She pushed the thought away, though, and after a few moments slipped out unnoticed.