A Flight of Marewings (Wyld Magic, Book 1)

Chapter 2: Galenos I

By the time Galenos had gotten all of the details from his brother about what he knew of the council members’ attitudes, he had the beginnings of a headache, and odds were that it was only going to get worse. He had learned over years of dealing with them that the council members were petty, self-interested, and small-minded; they cared only about advancing their individual businesses and political factions’ agendas. None of them stopped to think about what was actually good for Kyratia and her people in the future.

He had plans for the future of the city, but the late duke had never listened to Galenos for anything except military strategy. All that had kept him going for the past ten years was the promise of the succession. He had tried to get old Basileos to put it down in writing that Galenos would be his heir, but the duke had never stopped hoping for a child. There had been a son, five years ago, but the boy had not lived more than a few months. The duke was convinced that some kind of curse was striking down every member of his family—all except Korinna, the illegitimate daughter he had never formally acknowledged but provided for by giving his mistress an estate, the convenient reward that he had promised Galenos.

Now that same girl was Galenos’s last hope for taking control of the duchy, and she proved as young and ignorant as he had feared. She had never even been to a city before, nor dealt with the kind of complex political environment that she would face with the council. He had only an hour to dress her up and try to prepare her for the meeting.

He bathed and changed his own clothes swiftly, without the aid of a servant. He folded and pleated his kattar into a plain style, a nod to aristocratic fads but still simple and utilitarian. Even the simplest kattar hindered his movements and hung about him awkwardly, but he had learned years ago that it was better to act the part of a politician if he wanted to be accepted by them.

When he was ready, he asked for Korinna to be brought to his library. There was no time for the midday meal, but servants brought a bottle of wine and a tray of delicacies: honeyed dates stuffed with spiced nuts, flatbread with garlic chickpea mousse, little pickles, and olives.

Korinna arrived still flushed from her bath. He stood up from his chair and looked her over without a word. Her hair was arranged into thick coils upon her head in the current fashion; her kattar was draped in more complex pleats that opened at the sides to allow glimpses of her slender curves; the dress underneath was a fine linen that clung to her frame. Even her sandals were expensive, made from leather straps woven in an elaborate pattern. The whole outfit was much more lavish than the old-fashioned country frippery that she had been wearing when he first saw her—yet she still had her head up with the same stiff-necked expression of the old duke.

He cleared his throat and gestured to the other chair in front of the hearth. “Have a seat.” He poured two glasses of the wine and handed one to her. “We need to discuss our strategy for the council meeting.”

She put down the glass on the table untouched and picked up a piece of flatbread. “It’s simple. I’ll tell them that I am my father’s only living child and the duchy is mine by right. It was his wish that you should marry me and share this inheritance, and acknowledging the union is merely a formality.”

Galenos sipped his wine and leaned back in his chair. “So you think that you can just march in there and demand that they hand over control of one of the most powerful cities in Seirenia to an inexperienced girl fresh off her mother’s farm?”

Korinna blushed, but her eyes flashed angrily. “I am not that inexperienced in governance. I have been running Anoberesovo since my mother’s illness worsened four years ago—”

“Do you really believe that ruling Kyratia is just like running your little grain farm on a bigger scale?” He shook his head. “Do you even know the names of the council members that we are meeting today?”