Free Vengeance of Dragons (Secret Texts) by Holly Lisle Page B

that.”
    “Very well, then.
Old
business. Family records tell of an argument between Arathmad Karnee and his partner Perthan Sabir over the dowry of Arathmad’s daughter. The daughter was to marry the Sabir son when both came of age—at the time they were still small children. Perthan accused Arathmad of belittling his son by offering such a small dowry; Arathmad said Perthan’s son was ugly and spindly and that the only reason he offered his daughter was because he was Perthan’s only friend, and Perthan’s son would never find a suitable bride otherwise. The dispute became bitter, the partners separated their business, which from all evidence was in the practice of black market magic, and—though history is vague on this point—one partner cast a spell on the other partner. The Sabirs have always held that the caster of the spell was Arathmad Karnee.”
    Shaid nodded. “And the Galweighs have always said the spell was cast by Perthan Sabir.”
    Around the table, those who were hearing the story for the first time shook their heads.
    “That’s what brought about four hundred fifty years of inter-Family war?” someone asked.
    Shaid and Grasmir looked at each other from opposite ends of the table and smiled. Grasmir gave the nod to Shaid, who said, “Not entirely. Both Perthan and Arathmad died from the effects of the spell—one from the spell itself, and one from what the histories refer to as
rewhah,
which is apparently some sort of magical backlash that comes from using magic.” He knew more about it than that, and he assumed that Grasmir did, too—one didn’t command the Family’s Wolves for long without knowing what their strengths and weaknesses were. Susceptibility to
rewhah
was a big weakness. But one had to maintain appearances at all times, and the appearance of being free from any taint of magic had saved more than one man’s life.
    One of the junior members of the Sabir Family asked “Then if the two principals in the dispute died, why did the dispute continue?”
    Grasmir said, “Because both children were also hit by the spell—not visibly, though. The effects didn’t become apparent until each of them took mates and had children. Their children were Scarred. Someone called the Scarring the Karnee Curse. The children were skinshifters. Dangerous, deadly, unpredictable creatures. Calimekka already celebrated Gaerwanday—the Day of Infants—and of course all Scarred children were sacrificed. Except the parents of the Sabir children and the parents of the Karnee children (the Family line that joined with and was subsumed by the Galweighs) neglected their duties as citizens. They hid their children, and the monsters were permitted to grow and breed.” Grasmir Sabir sighed and shook his head sadly. “Both Families still carry a taint of this Scarring in their blood. It was over the Scarred children that the long-term war between the Families broke out.”
    The faces around the table had grown more somber at that; a thousand years after the horrible Wizards’ War, its magical fallout remained clearly visible to anyone who ventured to the docks and saw the Scarred slaves at work on the ships, or watched the executions of those foolish monsters who dared to pretend to humanity and who ventured within Ibera’s borders. No true human ever forgot that the Scarred had, after the war, hunted down humans and destroyed as many of them as they could get. Just thinking about citizens in their own Family lines who had permitted abominations to live, rather than sacrifice them, horrified all of them.
    Grasmir looked from face to face, and finally sighed. “Both Families carry guilt in the matter, though at this late date we cannot hope to unravel which of the two principals, if either, might have been the more guilty.” He managed a faint, weary smile. “And I say it no longer matters. Call the matter settled, forgive the stupidities of the past, and move on.”
    Shaid waited, just a beat, to make