Beneath the Veil Read online

  "I'll wager your behavior will determine that," Daelyn said. "Treat the women of your house with compassion and respect, and you may find very little changes in your life. Fewer than you might think."

  "And for those of us who don't want to stay in our house? What protection will you provide?" This from another unveiled woman. "The man of my house has threatened to kill me if I go!"

  The questions went on for hours. Daelyn refused to sit and took only water while she answered. The crowd shifted, grew larger and smaller, shouted questions and accusations, praise and condemnation. She left no petitioner unanswered, gave no question less than her complete honesty, and at the end of the day, I believe she won more hearts in Alyria than she lost.

  When dusk had begun to dim the sky, Daelyn spoke once more to the crowd. Hand on her belly, she said, "I now do what no Regent of Alyria has done in our recent history. I carry a child inside my body. In less than half a year's time, I'll give birth. Perhaps to a son, who will make me King. Perhaps to a daughter, who will be raised without fear. This is a new start for me, and for our country. The Law of the Book says 'Sinder granted that the children of his house should be raised with a firm hand and an open heart.' The Book does not say that only Sinder's sons were to be treated that way. I believe it meant all his children, sons and daughters both. I hope together we can reshape this country into the image of what Sinder wanted. A place where our children, all of them, are raised with a firm hand and an open heart."

  The crowd began to cheer. Daelyn staggered for a moment, and alarmed, Lir and I ran to hold her. Though tears streaked her cheeks, she was smiling.

  "My people," she told us. "They're listening to me."

  Chapter Sixty-One

  Every day the sun stayed longer in the sky. The fields grew green. People left their windows and doors open to catch as much of the spring sunshine as they could.

  The customs of one hundred years can't change in but a few weeks time, but the citizens of Alyria gave it their best effort. The naysayers had their meetings, their newspapers, their protests, but they were usually drowned out by those who preferred the new way of life.

  Daelyn had ordered the borders opened, and for the first time in a century, free trade erupted between Alyria and its neighboring areas. Carinda offered hospitality to any from Alyria who wished it, and many from Elitan were granted the same. Not a day passed without some new trading party entering from the mountains, or across the sea. Even the barren desert land to the south yielded troupes of men, who to our surprise, wore kedalyas to protect them from the everblowing sand.

  Those who were poor had the chance to prosper, and those with wealth had the chance to spend it. There were parties and galas, but there were also nights filled with commentary and discussion in the poetry houses. There were schools opening and minds opening along with them. The country had exploded into a new age.

  "Where would you like to go?" Lir asked me one morn before we rose.

  Sleepily, I rolled to face him. "What do you mean?"

  He gestured expansively. "Well, as much as I love Alyria, there's a whole new world opened up to us now. Dae has rewarded both of us richly for our support of her. I thought maybe you'd like to spend some of that wealth in travel. Lots of people are doing it now that they can."

  I thought for a moment while a yawn stretched my mouth. I'd been very, very tired in the past few weeks. "I'd like to go on a boat, across the sea. Or maybe see the desert sands, where the Beydoan come from. Perhaps to the other side of Elitan. I've heard they practice a different form of the Art there. I'd like to learn it."

  He laughed and stroked my hair back from my forehead. "All at once? You'd have to be a magicreator to do that."

  I curled closer to him, a secret smile replacing the yawn. "Not all at once. Someday."

  "Ah. Someday, all of those places. Very well. But where first?" Lir kissed my temple. His hand found the fullness of my breast and cupped it, warming my flesh.

  I rolled onto my back, still cradled in his embrace. "I'll have to think on that. I'll have plenty of time. It's unlikely I'll be going anywhere for another year or so, at any rate."

  He leaned up on his arm to look me in the face. "Why the wait?"

  I kept my face straight as I replied. "I'd like to wean the babe before I take it all over the world."

  His brow furrowed. "The babe---Invisible Mother!"

  He sat straight up in bed, his face a mask of shock. I sat up too. "Lir? I thought you'd be pleased."

  Even after gaining such intimacy with him, his reactions could still stun me. Tears overflowed his eyes and ran down his cheeks. He dropped his face briefly into his hands, then reached for me with startling fierceness.

  "Pleased? I am more than pleased," he whispered in my ear. "I am undone with joy."

  I held him as he wept, and I wept with him, though I smiled at the same time. Outside, the doves nesting above the window cooed to their young as the fresh spring breeze blew in our open windows. A year ago I had come to the White Palace uncertain of who I was and not knowing who I would become.

  Now, with my child swimming inside of me and my friend and lover by my side, I no longer had to wonder.

  My name is Aeris Delaya Akean. I am confidante and friend to a monarch, a Master of the Art, a defender of justice. I am a wife, and soon will be a mother.

  And I am a woman.

  ###

  About the Author

  I was born and then I lived awhile and I did some stuff. Then I did some things and whatnot. Now, I mostly write books.

  Connect with Me Online:

  Twitter: http://twitter.com/Megan_Hart

  website: http://www.meganhart.com

  blog: http://www.readinbed.net

  photo credit: Scott Church