Runecarver Volume One

Chapter Four

Eleanor was often compared to me. The most obvious reason was our appearance: as Pendragons, we both had golden hair and violet eyes, and we also both took after our mother's stately visage, especially her aquiline nose. The second, more insidious reason, was that Eleanor was my younger sister. We had the same instructors in everything from manners to magic, and so her progress was frequently measured against mine, and seldom favorably. This led to many of these encounters.

She was still a good bit shorter than me, but she was certainly looking down on me in spirit. She puffed out her chest and turned up her chin, saying, "I wonder why the runt of the litter always receives the most attention from father."

I had no interest in arguing with her, but if I ignored her verbal provocations, she tended to find ways to escalate beyond them. And so, with as neutral an expression and tone as I could put together, I replied, "I expect it's because he needs to put in extra effort to make me useful, whereas you and Simon are useful without any influence on his part."

This was essentially true, although father would not have phrased it as I had. Simon had picked his own wife — Count Rodan's oldest daughter, whom he'd known since childhood. Eleanor was likewise expected to find the son of a vassal to marry, or even a knight in our employ if she took a liking to one. Whereas the other major houses sought alliances with each other through marriage, House Pendragon kept its women within its demesne, since it was dangerous to give away an exceptional wizard. I was not an exceptional wizard, however, and it was doubtful I would birth any thanks to my extraordinary deficiency in magic. Thus, father had no qualms about giving me to the royal family. This, however, made things vastly more complicated than a marriage with the child of one of his vassals. Strengthening our relationship with the royal family would be a great boon for the family, but it entailed a great deal of work.

Nevertheless, this explanation did little to mollify Eleanor. Her glare deepened as she replied, "Don't talk to me as if I'm a child; you're not better than me just because you're my older sister, or because you're going to be a Princess. Even once you're living in the capital, you'll still just be a disappointment to our ancestors."

Eleanor's lady-in-waiting (I couldn't be bothered to remember her name since I only saw her at meals and when Eleanor came to harrass me), Clarice, and the guards were, as usual, mortified by the situation, but there was nothing they could do about it. The only people with the authority to stop Eleanor once she got going were our brother, father, or uncle, and I wasn't about the knock on father's door to complain that my sister was bullying me. A great daughter wouldn't be victimized by her little sister. Instead, I replied, "I am doing everything within my meager power for the family. I can only pray that, when I join them in the Light, they will forgive my inadequacy."

"Hmph." She crossed her arms and pouted her lips, very much acting as the child she didn't want me to treat her as. She gave the impression that she thought my self-deprecation was a way to ironically mock her (it wasn't), but there wasn't much she could say when I agreed so adamantly that I was an inferior being thanks to our difference in magical ability. Regardless of how poorly she performed in her magical studies compared to me, her vast quantities of mana meant that she would always be the better wizard.

While she wracked her brain for some other way to insult me, her lady-in-waiting took the opportunity to speak. "My Lady, did you not wish to discuss something with the Duke?" The girl cast a furtive glance in my direction as she spoke, though she was very careful to keep her gaze low.

The hall was silent for a moment. The ladies-in-waiting and guards waiting with bated breath as Eleanor considered the question. Then, she nodded. "I suppose." She turned away from me as if we hadn't even been speaking and asked the guards permission to enter.