Stones and Secrets: Book Five of The Shattered Moon
"One day, when you're a bit older, we will go on a journey together."
Now the time has come for Jerya to fulfil her promise to her former pupil Embrel… but why is Railu, her oldest friend, so concerned about the prospect? Why is Railu even more distressed at her stepdaughter Sumyra’s eagerness to join the venture?
The answer awaits in the Sung Lands, and for both Embrel and Sumyra it will profoundly shake their sense of who they are.
Jerya herself is simply looking forward to reunions with old friends, but her long-time adversary Perriad may have other ideas.
"One day, when you're a bit older, we will go on a journey together."
Now the time has come for Jerya to fulfil her promise to her former pupil Embrel… but why is Railu, her oldest friend, so concerned about the prospect? Why is Railu even more distressed at her stepdaughter Sumyra’s eagerness to join the venture?
The answer awaits in the Sung Lands, and for both Embrel and Sumyra it will profoundly shake their sense of who they are.
Jerya herself is simply looking forward to reunions with old friends, but her long-time adversary Perriad may have other ideas.
A Brief Sample
“I wouldn’t mind if we had to go on," said Sokkie later. "Cross into the Five Principalities. I want to see more of the world.”
“Maybe you can,” said Jerya. “Next year, the year after.”
“Following in your father’s footsteps?” asked Sumyra.
“Good steps to follow,” said Jerya. “First to make a double Crossing, after all.”
“But now he never goes anywhere,” said Sokkie. Her tone was quiet, matter-of-fact, but there was something behind it that made Jerya look at her closely.
“Let me tell you about your father,” she said after a moment. “I’m not saying Railu and I wouldn’t have made it across without him, but it would have been harder for sure. And, if we had ended up having to fend for ourselves like we expected, we’d have been a lot less ready. But, of course, we were taken for slaves. He must have taken some risks to find where we were, what our situation was, but he realised there was no point in trying to get us out straight away, with no money and nowhere to go. So he set out to earn some money and at the same time to learn as much as he could about the Five Principalities.
“I don’t know how much he’s told you about all this…”
“It was like bedtime stories,” said Sokkie. “I think I was too young to understand.”
“I’m sure you could ask to hear them again. So I won’t say too much, don’t want to steal his thunder, but I’ll say this. In the time he was there, before he came back to Duncal to find us again, he learned a completely new trade, and he sailed the Eastern Sea. So, as I was saying to Embrel and Sumyra yesterday, he’s the first person in this age to have seen both seas. And after that, he was the first to cross the Sundering Wall in both directions. Those are pretty big achievements.”
“So why does hardly anyone know about them? And why does he never go further than Canalfoot now?”
“Because he kept—keeps—his promises.” Jerya’s words were quiet but emphatic. “All of them. He made a promise to Railu and me, and he kept it. He made a promise to your mother, and he kept that too. And I guess he made promises to you and your brothers as well, before you were born as well as after, and he’s honouring those also. Whereas I… I made one big promise when I was a Dawnsinger, and within weeks I’d torn it to shreds.”
“That’s why Perriad calls you a Vow-breaker,” said Sumyra, half a question.
“Yes, and she’s absolutely right about that. She’s wrong about plenty of other things, but not that.”
Sokkie wasn’t finished with her preoccupation. “I can’t see how he can go on a great adventure like that and then just come back to opening the Tavern every day.”
Jerya smiled. "Taverns are important too."
“I wouldn’t mind if we had to go on," said Sokkie later. "Cross into the Five Principalities. I want to see more of the world.”
“Maybe you can,” said Jerya. “Next year, the year after.”
“Following in your father’s footsteps?” asked Sumyra.
“Good steps to follow,” said Jerya. “First to make a double Crossing, after all.”
“But now he never goes anywhere,” said Sokkie. Her tone was quiet, matter-of-fact, but there was something behind it that made Jerya look at her closely.
“Let me tell you about your father,” she said after a moment. “I’m not saying Railu and I wouldn’t have made it across without him, but it would have been harder for sure. And, if we had ended up having to fend for ourselves like we expected, we’d have been a lot less ready. But, of course, we were taken for slaves. He must have taken some risks to find where we were, what our situation was, but he realised there was no point in trying to get us out straight away, with no money and nowhere to go. So he set out to earn some money and at the same time to learn as much as he could about the Five Principalities.
“I don’t know how much he’s told you about all this…”
“It was like bedtime stories,” said Sokkie. “I think I was too young to understand.”
“I’m sure you could ask to hear them again. So I won’t say too much, don’t want to steal his thunder, but I’ll say this. In the time he was there, before he came back to Duncal to find us again, he learned a completely new trade, and he sailed the Eastern Sea. So, as I was saying to Embrel and Sumyra yesterday, he’s the first person in this age to have seen both seas. And after that, he was the first to cross the Sundering Wall in both directions. Those are pretty big achievements.”
“So why does hardly anyone know about them? And why does he never go further than Canalfoot now?”
“Because he kept—keeps—his promises.” Jerya’s words were quiet but emphatic. “All of them. He made a promise to Railu and me, and he kept it. He made a promise to your mother, and he kept that too. And I guess he made promises to you and your brothers as well, before you were born as well as after, and he’s honouring those also. Whereas I… I made one big promise when I was a Dawnsinger, and within weeks I’d torn it to shreds.”
“That’s why Perriad calls you a Vow-breaker,” said Sumyra, half a question.
“Yes, and she’s absolutely right about that. She’s wrong about plenty of other things, but not that.”
Sokkie wasn’t finished with her preoccupation. “I can’t see how he can go on a great adventure like that and then just come back to opening the Tavern every day.”
Jerya smiled. "Taverns are important too."
