THIRTY-FIVE #2
Angela rose on shaky legs and slipped away, the bitter taste of betrayal burning the back of her throat.
Angela found Tamarr waiting for her by the doors of the Keep.
“Tamarr,” she called out, trying to keep her voice steady, even though her heart still pounded from what she’d overheard.
“Yes, Miss?” Tamarr curtsied.
“Please, Tamarr, there’s no need to curtsy.” Angela forced a smile. “Can I ask you a question?”
“Anything, Miss.” Tamarr looked up, so trusting.
Please don’t let this hurt. Angela’s stomach twisted with guilt, but she pushed it aside. Narrowing her eyes slightly, she kept her smile soft and friendly and willed the truth forward.
Sure, she’d done this before, sensing when others were lying.
But it had always been about being open and intently listening to people as they answered her questions.
After all, she grew up in retail at the bookstore, where her job was to match what the customer wanted to get them to come back.
It was Father Michael who’d taught her the art of listening, about maintaining eye contact so people felt heard while you read what they were saying and not saying.
It helped her immensely with witnesses on the stand.
But this was the first time she’d done it on purpose; now, she knew what she was doing. Truth Compulsion.
But she had to know.
“What are the Hearthbound women?”
“Oh, they’re—” Tamarr hesitated, as if choosing her words carefully.
“They’re women who live here in the Keep and bear children for the Vanguard.
They’re chosen for their magickal bloodlines, you see, and their children become soldiers.
” She said it so casually, as if describing crop rotations or a horse stud.
Angela’s stomach turned. “They… chose this?”
“Of course, Miss. They volunteer first, and then they are tested by the Veyllward Sisters to see if they are a match.” Tamarr rubbed at her shifting brow, as if confused. “It’s a great honor to be Hearthbound. They’re well cared for. So are their children, who are raised with pride.”
Angela nodded slowly, keeping her smile soft. Even if it sounded transactional, she had questions. Lots of them. Hating to use Tamarr like this, she couldn’t stop now. “Do they service all of the Vanguard?”
“Only those matched by powers,” Tamarr spoke as if speaking in a dream. “The Continuum Council watches over the lineage to honor magic. Like the Accords.”
Angela’s mind twisted, along with a worrying churn in her belly. “Are you saying it’s a breeding program, sanctioned by a Council, to keep magick pure?”
“Yes. The Hearthbound are the custodians of magick. Most become respected future wives and mothers to the Vanguard. They live in the Hearthwing, and when they become mothers, they move to the Mother’s Hall, where my mother works, helping to take care of the little ones.
On my days off, I visit. It’s a wonderful place, Miss.
So bright and filled with laughter. So different from the soldiers’ sections. ”
“I can imagine.” Although Angela struggled to picture it. Even if it was voluntary, it was still such an unusual idea that it had her rolling her shoulders to understand the culture of Paradox. “And the Continuum Council?”
“They’re the higher council, Miss, part of the Veyllward Sisterhood. They’re the observers of lineage. Protectors of purity for the good of all magic.”
“I don’t understand.”
“They’re the record keepers of magick who assess children for their power properties, and they’re the blesser of unions.”
Angela’s blood ran cold. “Are you saying this council decides who marries?”
“For the purity of magick, yes, Miss.”
“Right.” Didn’t that make the word purity taste like ash in her mouth.
“So what’s the difference between the Hearthbound women, the Veyllward Sisterhood, and the Continuum Council? They’re all women, right?”
Tamarr nodded. “The Hearthbound are the ones who volunteer to have children with the Vanguard. The Veyllward Sisters are the ones who test them to ensure the magickal bloodlines are a match for marriage. And the Continuum Council… well, they’re the ones who lead the Veyllward. They approve everything.”
Angela frowned. “Approve how? Are they like a governing body?”
“I’m not schooled in these matters, Miss. But I know they’re very powerful and proper, I assure you.”
“So let me get this straight, it’s all done by consent? The Hearthbound choose to…”
Tamarr blinked, as if the question were strange. “Of course, Miss. The Hearthbound can say no and leave at any time.”
Angela’s modern sensibilities recoiled—but this wasn’t her world. It also wasn’t her place to impose her values on a culture that protected magickal bloodlines.
In Angela’s world, there had been the geisha, highly honored women in a role that was misunderstood by outsiders.
Temple priestesses in ancient times served in their sacred duties.
There were plenty of arranged marriages among European nobility to preserve bloodlines and power, bluebloods marrying bluebloods just to keep all the old money and power that came with it.
Each culture had found its own way to balance survival, honor, and duty.
Paradox had the Hearthbound women.
Different name. Same complexity. But for magick.
Still… her fingers twisted the medallion at her neck, turning it over and over. “And their children?”
Tamarr smiled brightly, brushing down her vest with pride.
“They belong to the Vanguard, who takes wonderful care of them with schooling and clothing. They never want for anything. And when the child comes of age, they get to choose whether they want to be part of the Vanguard or leave. Many stay. Even those who don’t become Vanguard find some way to help.
Like my husband, he’s with the builders’ team that manages the wards in the Keep. ”
Angela remembered the tunics and the different colors she’d seen in Magick School.
Some students wore woolen shirts and heavily scuffed boots, while the tunics were the same.
But there were groups who wore sashes of color and fancier clothes and shinier boots.
It all fell into place. “The Hearthbound children have the color sashes.”
“As representatives of their parents’ regions, yes.”
“And those without sashes?”
“From the outer regions of Paradox. They come by choice, after they’ve been magickally tested by the Continuum Council. If they’re approved, the Vanguard sends the invitation. But they have to be tested first,” Tamarr added, as if that were obvious.
“Is the Continuum Council here?”