It was the third faction that was the most diverse. Those who were “merely” wealthy tended to concentrate on the making and keeping of more wealth and were interested in the crown only insofar as the crown could facilitate both of those things. The second faction, while there were feuds among them, kept those feuds to polite venom and never brought out the fangs and knives. Abi knew why, of course. Before she was born, there had been a feud that did end in deaths, and the fact that there weren’t more was due only to her father and mother intervening in the nick of time. That had quelled many of the other existing rivalries down to a bare simmer, and nothing had risen above that level to this day.

It was the third faction where rivalry was intense enough to threaten to boil over now and again. Every house kept a jealous eye on the preferments of every other house and was prepared to challenge anything that was added that they did not also receive. Alliances and antagonists could change in the blink of an eye. And every new addition to the peerage was met with smiles of welcome and hidden daggers, especially if the title (and possibly lands) had been awarded to a member of the first faction. Even the landed Knights were not an exception to this; it didn’t matter that they had won their titles and property in martial service to the Crown, once they joined the new peers, they found themselves embroiled in a new and altogether silent war.

“Lord Sentean has taken his family back to their estate and put the manor up for rent,” reported Mama, “And I’d like a little more bread please.”

“So, there’ll be peace for a while, leastwise, ’til everyone sorts thesselves out on sides again,” Mags observed, passing her the bread. “Wonder who’ll take th’ manor?”

“Whoever does, it would be a good time to get one of Auntie’s older boys into the household,” said Perry. “It’s likely it’ll be someone with a smaller staff, so they’ll need to hire. Kip or Neddy would be good.”

“I’ll leave that in yer hands,” her father replied. “Pick one or both, and start ’em up at Lord Jorthun’s. He can have ’em trained as household staff in no time.”

The rest of the conversation consisted of her father and Perry discussing which boy might be best for what sort of service, so Abi went back to her own thoughts—which now that her friends were all friends together, were concerned with only one thing.

Would tomorrow’s session with Healer Sanje be more of the same—or would Sanje finally decide it was time for Abi to go to the next stage of using her Gift?

5