Free The Rebellion by Isobelle Carmody Page B

explained.
    “Twentyfamilies?” I echoed, surprised to hear the odd word again. “What does that mean?”
    “It is what pureblood gypsies call themselves,” the coercer said. “It was not a name any but traders of expensive trinkets knew until the Herders started bandying it about. They hate gypsies and Twentyfamilies most of all, because it was they who negotiated the safe passage agreement with the Council that exempts gypsies from Herder lore. Herders preach that gypsies ought to be made to settle. They claim the plague was spread by their wanderings.”
    “The Herder in Guanette said the plagues were a punishment from Lud because of people ignoring the Faction,” I said.
    Domick shrugged. “Same thing. There is a lot of talk to that effect encouraged by the Herders, but it will not give them power to force the Council to make the Twentyfamilies settle. The halfbreeds are not so lucky, for the safe passage agreement no longer includes them, yet nor are they allowed to settle. They are persecuted by Landfolk and Herders alike, as you know. But it is worse since the plague.”
    I began to see that returning the gypsy before Maryon’s futuretold deadline would be even harder than I had anticipated. Hitherto, I had imagined I understood something of gypsy society, but in truth, what I knew arose solely from memories of a single friendly troupe that had come through Rangorn every few seasons when I was a child. I did not even know if they had been pureblood or halfbreed.
    “You talk about Twentyfamilies gypsies and halfbreeds as if they were two separate races,” I said.
    “That is very nearly what they are,” he answered. “The division between them has its origins in the days when gypsies first came to the Land. Some say they walked here; others say they came by sea. Either way, they didn’t want to be ruled by Council or Herder lore, so they came to an agreement with the Council to remain as visitors, never settling or farming the Land, never owning any of it.”
    “I know all of that,” I said, faintly impatient.
    “I suppose you know, too, how they got the Council to agree to let them remain as visitors?” Domick snapped.
    Abashed, I shook my head. “I’m sorry. Tell it your own way.”
    He went on. “In exchange for safe passage status as visitors, the gypsies offered a yearly tithe: a percentage of the craftwares their people produced. Their works were rare and beautiful, and for a time everyone seemed to benefit from the arrangement.
    “In those early days, some gypsies mated with Landfolk, so halfbreeds were born. Initially, there was free trade of knowledge and blood between full and halfblood gypsies. But that ended with the Great Divide,” Domick said. “Purebloods do not now teach their skills to halfbreeds; therefore, halfbreed wares are pale echoes of their work, based on half-recollected formulae and recipes. Invariably inferior, they bring scant coin, whereas the purebloods make more than enough to live well from what remains of their work after the tithe.”
    “Why dinna Twentyfamilies gypsies teach th’ halfbreeds th’ craftskills?” Matthew demanded indignantly. “A halfbreed mun have at least one pureblood in their line of descent. Dinna this tie mean anything to them?”
    “It was a matter of survival for the purebloods,” Domicksaid. “On the whole, halfbreeds weren’t as scrupulous about obeying Council lore as the Twentyfamilies. That caused a lot of strife. Finally, the Twentyfamilies leader had no choice but to announce the Great Divide, cutting halfbreeds off absolutely from purebloods. The Council accepted the division, because it allowed them to control the troublemaking halfbreeds without breaking contract with the Twentyfamilies. And the purebloods had to maintain the exclusivity of their work, because it was their only leverage with the Council.
    “And that keeps them safe even from the Herders,” the coercer added. “The Faction wants gypsy traveling