After a quick knock, Ferran pushes the door to the queen's library open. “Alawel ber’Heren is here to see you, vela’Herst.”

  ?nnywella, pausing her conversation with Morziwayn, looks towards Ferran and Alawel. “Hello, Alawel. I figured you would be arriving tomorrow.” She heard from Dyder that the guests his father had invited were told to come on the fourteenth and had expected similar from both the Herens and their guests.

  “I originally planned on that.” Alawel enters the room, turning to Ferran and giving him a slight smile. The steward closes the door behind him. “But after some thought, I decided I did not want to deal with all the traffic.” He turns to the small red-headed girl on the couch with Gekaryna and then back to Gekaryna. “Who is this? did you find a long-lost cousin?”

  ?nnywella chuckles, taking the statement as a compliment. “No, no, this is Morziwayn.”

  With her good arm, Morziwayn waves to Alawel. She had met him before, maybe forty years ago, but doubts he remembers. “Hello Alawel, I died, and I’m now young again.”

  “I would presume so.” He looks her up and down, noting the slung arm and the missing teeth, but chooses not to ask how she got them. “I was quite fond of you—well, the last you—when I was little. I’m sure little me would be glad to know we would finally be at eye level.”

  Eue-Lysae, who was visiting at Gekaryna’s request, lets out a harsh gag and then curtly apologizes—dismissing the reaction as simply an adverse reaction to something she had for lunch.

  Not knowing that there was someone in the chair to his left, Alawel startles and turns to see High Priestess Seliani. He feels as though she was being sophistic with her excuse, but he is on no grounds to accuse her of anything, and even if he were, he could not think of what she had done wrong. “Oh! High Priestess Seliani! I was going to go visit you at the College later today; I have my half of the guest list, and I would like to make sure you are alright with all those invited.”

  “If it’s alright with Gekaryna, feel free.” Eue-Lysae closes the book in her lap. You fool; you always wait to see the length of a wedding invitation list before agreeing to have it read to you. She brushes off Luhnylla’s comment; how many people could one reasonably know?

  “Go ahead.” ?nnywella responds, lighting a new cigarette. Knowing the lengths of these lists, she slides into a more comfortable position.

  “Excellent.” Alawel, digging in his pocket, makes his way to the chair opposite High Priestess Seliani.

  Eue-Lysae watches in horror as Alawel removes a wad of folded pieces of paper from his pocket. You should start taking what I say at face value; I don’t tell you things because I want to—I tell you things because I know the future. If I were to manifest in the room, I would tap my temples and say, ‘Think, Gyrshke, think!’ Eue-Lysae rubs her forehead.

  Once settled in the leather chair, Alawel begins. “My list is organized by family. For my family—immediate and extended, the Herens: Ro, Ede and myself; as well as my mother, Loane; my brother, Bewak, his wife, Gel, and their two sons, Tyes and Dryw, and their daughter Myra; my sister, Elyna, her husband, Gestynn Swyrtsmitwyr, and their two daughters, Els and Gysel. On Ro’s side, the Eorwyrs, we invited her parents, Gemun and ?lysa; her brother, Oly; his wife, Aelloryn; and their three sons, Tyes, Filox, and Esawynn. I took the liberty of inviting both the Epp?n family and the Letser family as well, but only the immediate family: Brenwal Epp?n, his wife Elspeth, daughter Lydy—whom I’m sure you know—and her husband, Bereas Skypwyr; for the Letsers, I have invited Gekael, his wife, Els, and his son and daughter, Tyes and Frony. I invited my most trusted knights—you rarely get to have a wedding at an establishment of the order on the queen's coin. Tyes Glynwix ove’ Wep?nlox [1], his wife Paskyn, their three daughters, Gelish, Eved, and Mae, and their son Tyes II. Lunynn Finykk, ove’Wynn’s-Kohn [2], his wife Gesyl, one of their sons, Dekhlynn, and their two daughters, Laenil and Maely. Estynn T?mbwyr ove’Nyrlae [3], his wife Wynwylla, and their four sons, Gerlykk, Tyes, Hymythy, and Thynan. Gul Weks ove’Trugafwurd [4] his wives, Kleryn Weks-W?kher and Morw?na Weks-Drinykk, and their children, Tyes, Stenygg, ?klynn, Rinwal, Gysel, and Franzyn." Alawel pauses and looks to Gekaryna, who looks to be holding her cigarette as if she wishes to comment. “Yes?”

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  “Really... Gul?” ?nnywella asks, looking disappointedly at Alawel.

  “With all due respect, I don’t care what your father said about Gul; he’s a very loyal man.” Alawel dismisses Gekaryna’s comment with a wave of his hand and continues. “Tyes elt’Crylwyr ove’Grynsaw [5], his wife, Ilsch, his son, Tyes geyn’Syrlwyr, his son’s wife, Ermylynna, and their eldest son and daughter, Tyes and Arka. And finally, Tyes Alspynn ove’Klerlae [6].

  “Is Hyloys not coming?” Hyloys, only slightly older than ?nnywella, had been one of her attendants when she was a teenager.

  “No, the two just had twins. Hyloys decided to stay home with them.”

  “Oh, alright.” It had been nearly seven years since ?nnywella had seen Hyloys. The two had gotten along quite well. She is saddened that Hyloys decided to stay home, but she makes a mental note to say congratulations to Tyes and write Hyloys, inviting them to visit when she feels fit.

  Eue-Lysae wants to scream—why are there so many men named Tyes? The more she learns about this wedding, the more she regrets saying she would officiate it.

  “Do you have any comments, High Priestess?” Alawel folds the paper back up.

  “No.” Eue-Lysae responds absentmindedly, her focus being on the puffed-up Iania Bridge swallows in the oak out the window.

  “Also, I requested that no children below 14 be in attendance; I would expect Romyll to be stricter with the age than I am.” Alawel turns to Gekaryna. “What do you think?”

  “Excellent, I look forward to seeing everyone.” ?nnywella had stopped listening after the thirty-second name. “May I keep the list? Ferran might find it useful for preparing rooms for everyone.”

  “Of course.” Alawel leans over and hands her the papers. “I’m going to join Ro with ?l? and Dyder at the house—which I must thank you for.”

  “You are very welcome.” ?nnywella says, watching as Alawel dismisses himself from the library.

  Footnotes

  [1] Wep?nlox (pronounced VEH-p?n-lokh) is a lake just northwest of the Crown; both of the towns on Wep?nlox are colloquially called Wep?nlox. To distinguish the two on official documents—as both are ruled by separate barons—the one to the west is called ‘Wep?nlox ove W?styr’ (Weeping Lake of the West) and ‘Wep?nlox ove ?styr’ (Weeping Lake of the East). As these names do not clarify that they are referring to a town and not a lake, there is still much confusion.

  In this case, Alawel is referring to the town ‘Wep?nlox ove W?styr,’ as Tyes Glynwix is the holder of the land.

  [2] Wynn’s-Kohn (pronounced VIHNS kohn) is just north of Kesel’s-in-the-Vale. The name means Wynn’s small hill.

  [3] Nyrlae (pronounced NEER-lay) is the northernmost town in the Barony of Sc?dstan. The name means Northern Meadow.

  [4] Trugafwurd (pronounced TRUH-gah-fvurd) is a town north of Wep?nlox ove W?styr and is built on Wep?nlox. The name means Turtle’s River Crossing.

  [5] Grynsaw (pronounced GREEN-sahv) is a town just south of Sc?dstan and is known primarily for logging. The name means Green Forest.

  [6] Klerlae (pronounced KLER-lay) is the westernmost town of the Barony of Sc?dstan. The name means Kler’s Meadow.