“—my illustrious family married me to the son of an extremely wealthy man. He was at the time of the marriage somewhat older than Magister Diarisso, a man of the world with no patience for a quiet and sheltered girl who wanted only to please him. He still uses that tone to speak to me although we have been married for twenty years and I have gained a position of prestige through my scholarly work and writings. He now has two younger wives to fix his caustic nature on since I am so much abroad. I cannot but think ill of a man who feels it is his right and even his duty to treat other people with disdain.”

His shoulders had been lifted and tight, but they eased as he absorbed the blow.

“I thank you for your honesty,” he said in the tone of a man who has just been told his chest must be sliced open with a butcher’s knife in order for a poisonous thorn to be extracted.

“What I want to know,” said Bee, “is the whole of your intention in accepting the mansa’s offer to make you heir. What could possibly have induced you to say yes when you know what the mage Houses are? Do you feel no shame that you courted Cat in part by expressing radical sentiments that quite go against everything the mage Houses stand for?”

Seeing that Bee was speaking, Brennan returned and sat down as Vai answered.

“What choices do people truly suppose I have? The perilous journey Catherine and I took from the ice to Sala in the dead of winter was salutary lesson enough, had you been with us! Why do you suppose mages have had to band together to live? How am I to manage without a mage House to protect me? I can’t go back to Haranwy even if I wished to, for the village cannot survive if I am continually putting out their fires. No matter how much your kin love you, they must drive you out when your cold magic blooms. At best, you might hope for a little cottage with a hypocaust set away from the village in isolation, but most do not have the means or skill to build and maintain such a place properly. Although I can manage for several days in very cold temperatures without heat, Catherine saw what it does to me if I go too long without rest. Add to that the hatred and suspicion people feel toward cold mages. A man has to sleep.”

He looked at them each in turn.