Dragons and Destiny Read Online Free PDF Page B

of
them was one Margravessa Annette van Buren, twelve years old and
the eldest daughter of a Count Ernest van Buren. The other three
came from cadet branches of the ducal house of Cocteau.
    Jessica was the
elder of these three, a few months younger than Annette, the young
daughter of Count Mark Cocteau. The remaining two were the
daughters of his younger brother James, Estelle, nine and Isobel,
eight. The three Cocteau girls were all motherless; Jessica’s
mother having died some months before and Estelle and Isobel’s when
the latter was born.
    The carriage
came to a halt; the outrider dismounted and rang the bell. The four
got ready to climb down from the carriage.
    “It looks a bit
grim,” said Jessica.
    “Not as grim as
the outside of the Thibaltine Convent,” Annette disagreed, “I’ve
been in mortal terror of being sent there. This will be far more
the thing.”
    “I didn’t think
the Thibaltines had a schoolroom,” said Estelle.
    “That’s the
point,” said Annette. “That’s an enclosed order; you just enter and
that’s it - for the rest of your life.”
    “I wouldn’t
have liked that,” agreed Jessica, “the Grey Nuns have far more
freedom. They can leave the convent to attend marriages and
funerals. We’ll have some fun here, never fear. I’ve met Sister
Earcongota. She came with Reverend Mother Breguswid to arrange our
entrance. You’ll like her.”
    The door
creaked open and a dim figure dressed from head to foot in pale
grey emerged.
    “Welcome
girls,” said Sister Earcongota with a smile. “Enter and embrace the
peace of our house.”
     
     
    * * * * *
     
     
    AL600 -
Julia
     
    Jilmis,
Weaponsmaster of the Vada, entered the empty office.
    The Susa of the
Vada was dead and it was time for the Ryzckas and the Vadryzkas to
choose the successors.
    Disal had died
that morning of the wasting disease. His Lind Ranlya was grieving
beside his empty bed in a back room. Not for her the choice to
follow her life mate; not yet awhile. She had young to bring up and
death-wish was not an option, at least until they were grown and
off her paws.
    When a Susa
vadeln-pair either announced their retrial or as in this case, died
(the position of Susa of the Vada was a joint-command of
vadeln-paired Human and Lind), long standing protocols came into
effect.
    The
Weaponsmaster and his Lind assumed temporary command and organised
the election. The Weaponsmaster and his Lind did not have an
elective vote.
    The Ryzckas of
the fifty one Ryzcks voted and also their troop commanders, the
Vadryzkas did. The other members of the Vada with voting rights
were those stationed at the Vada Stronghold itself - the Ryzcka and
Vadryzka trainers of the Vada Cadets.
    There would be
two hundred and sixty-four voting duos.
    This was not
such a great undertaking (although those who did not understand
Lind abilities might think it a mammoth task) even though the
Ryzcks were strung out in their duty areas along the coasts and
mountains of Argyll and Vadath. The telepathic Lind would ‘send’
the names of the Ryzcka pair of their choice to Weaponsmaster
Jilmis’s Lind Alshya. Jilmis would then count up the votes and
impart the result via the telepathic net to all the vadeln-pairs
who made up the Vada. In the event of a tie, the Weaponsmaster and
his Lind had the casting vote. This had only happened once
before.
    Jilmis and
Alshya entered the Susa’s quarters and made their way to what had
been Susa Disal’s desk. Jilmis extracted the Vada roll-book from
the top drawer and began reading out the names of each Ryzcka pair
in turn, waiting until Alshya reported that the message asking for
the vote had been sent and received before moving on to the
next.
    As Jilmis knew,
some of the Ryzcks were patrolling in remote and mountainous
regions and it was notoriously difficult to mind-send to these
areas. Alshya however was a powerful sender. Even so, by the time
she had informed all the Ryzcks she was exhausted. Telepathic
sendings