Work Text:
Year One
Dearest Tris,
Daja, Briar, and I have spoken, and we've all agreed that you simply aren't writing us enough. We agreed on once a week, and just because you're still on the road and haven't arrived at Lightsbridge is no excuse. So, remember, once a week.
Daja and Briar have been working together on a project, trying to make adjustable wire to wrap Briar's shakkans. It hasn't been working. They're very disappointed, and very loud about how disappointed they are. Briar particularly, although Daja apparently learned some very interesting words while she was in Kugisko. While you know how little fondness I have for most things Namornese, I will say that the swear words seem very satisfying, if unladylike. Sometimes I envy Daja!
Uncle asked me to enclose a book for you, so I have. He thought you'd like it, and that it might come in handy in your studies.
That's all that's happened here since my last letter, but I imagine that since you're on the road, you have much more excitement to report. Which we all expect you to do at least once a week.
Daja and Briar send their love as well,
Sandry
Sandry,
Here is your weekly letter, with all that has transpired since the last:
We are still travelling along the Tibbat River. Yesterday we passed a cowherd and his flock as they forded the river to go somewhere (a market, presumably). Apparently they came from Qalai. I can now state from experience that Qalaian cows smell just as terrible as those from Emelan.
One of the wagons had a crack in its wheel, found just this morning. We had a leisurely breakfast and several extra cups of tea while it was fixed and then continued on our way. Then we had to stop to find discreet bushes more frequently than usual, and so as I write this, we're several miles short of where we had wanted to be.
Niko broke a tooth of his comb and has not stopped despairing of it. I lent him mine so that he would stop talking about it, and some residual lightning has made his hair fluffier than Little Bear's. That was perhaps the only occurrence actually of note since my last letter.
I'll keep you informed about the state of the cows we pass. I'm sure you're as gripped by curiosity as I am. Aren't you glad we agreed on weekly letters?
Tris
Dearest Tris,
That's much better, thank you. Give the cows my best, and please share my condolences with Niko over the tragic loss of his comb.
All our love,
Sandry (& Daja & Briar)
Year Two
Coppercurls,
Thought you'd want to hear it from one of us first – a merchant from a certain Chandler family came into Daj's shop the other day while Sandry was around working on some gold-thread embroidery project, so of course she pulled out that portrait of the four of us and put it on the table. The short version of the story is that you may be getting some letters from the Chandler family, seeing as they're now very interested in your Lightsbridge career.
Briar
(Also, I just want it known that I pointed out to the poor merchant, who really got an earful from Sandry in her fa-Toren-est of fa Toren moods, that maybe one of the reasons you went to Lightsbridge was to change your name and drop Chandler entirely. It didn't go over too well.)
Briar,
Thank you for warning me – your letter arrived two days before one with the official House Chandler seal. Unfortunately, since they're already aware that I'm here at Lightsbridge, there's no way for me to tell them I've taken Living Circle vows. That would certainly have served them right. While my family has always been happy to send their children to the temples for education and trade with them, they don't think much of vows of poverty as life goals for their children.
I thought about burning the letter, but they'd just send a new one. So I burned the letter, enclosed the ashes in an envelope, and wrote them a response saying that I had held up my end of the arrangement by staying at Winding Circle until I reached the age of majority and I would appreciate if they held up their end by pretending I didn't exist. I also expressed regret that their letter had incurred some damage in transit. I thought you would appreciate that touch.
I don't anticipate a reply from them.
I've enclosed a veil for Glaki. Could you take it to her the next time you visit Evvy at Discipline? I would be grateful. And I already am grateful, for you and for our circle and for Discipline. Perhaps I don't say it often enough.
Your sister,
Tris
Year Three
Tris,
I don't know if the letters from Briar or Sandry have arrived yet or if mine is the first. In case it is: Duke Vedris formally asked Sandry if he could change his will to list her as his heir earlier today. Of course, Sandry's the only one on the entire Pebbled Sea who would actually be surprised by this. You should have heard Briar's cursing when Sandry told us, all in a state (she really didn't expect it). Because of the cursing, Sandry also knows about the bet. I hope you get my letter first – as my Aunt used to say, "the best weapon is knowing when you'll have to use one." She said she was disappointed in us wagering on her life, Duke Vedris's life, and the kind of politics that would affect all of Emelan, but I think she just really, truly, didn't see it coming and thinks if we'd told her about the bet, she might have. (Like I said, the only person in Emelan.)
Don't offer to split your winnings with her. Trust me. Just don't.
Speaking of your winnings, I've enclosed them with this letter. I would tell you to spend them wisely, but you always do, so instead I recommend you spend them unwisely. Perhaps on a book that's interesting but that you don't actually need. Something to get you through your exams, anyway.
I hope that leaves you in good spirits – I know that your exams are approaching.
Your sister,
Daja
Coppercurls,
You may have heard already, but you won our little bet: Duke Vedris is naming Sandry his heir. Along with your winnings, I'd also like to give you something far more valuable: imagine the look on Berenene's face when she finds out.
You're welcome.
Briar
Dearest Tris,
I suppose by now you've already heard from Briar or Daja, depending on whose letter you read first, but Uncle asked me for permission to write me into his will as his heir today. I have to admit that I was very surprised when it happened – not because I thought he didn't want me as his heir, but because I thought he wouldn't disinherit his own son. (He got around that neatly – Frantsen will inherit Uncle's personal funds, while I'll only inherit the title and responsibility.) I may have overreacted when I found out about your wager. I suppose it's still surprising to remember that we can keep secrets from each other, even after everything. Although this secret was rather tame, as such things go – I've been subjected to what feels like more than my fair share of court intrigue since coming to live with Uncle.
In any case, there is one outcome of this that makes me very happy indeed: Briar has finally stopped calling me "Duchess" when he wants to wind me up. You and he will have to come up with a new nickname for me.
All my love,
Sandry
Year Four
Briar, Sandry, and Daja,
Yes, this letter is for all of you. It doesn't make much sense for me to write this three different times when you're all going to read it together anyway.
I was granted my license today, and I can now practice academic magic. Niko was present at the ceremony and looked fit to bursting with pride. I'm sorry that you all couldn't be there, too, but it was a very dry ceremony if you don't know the history of Lightsbridge. One of the rites involves the careful placement of incense so that – well, it would be dry in person and it would be unreadable in a letter, so I'll spare you. Particularly since I'll be home soon enough. I only have a few more days to finish packing, and then Niko and I begin the journey south again, me to Cheeseman Street and Niko to wherever he feels like. He says he may blindfold himself and stick a pin in a map at random. It seems our recent wanderings have still had too much structure for him.
I know what you're all wondering, and I decided not to use any of your suggestions for my mage-name. I simply don't feel like a Windweaver or Greenwind, although I did seriously consider Stormforge. (Did I ever tell you that Niko suggested Lightningtamer? I shouldn't have expected subtlety from the man who named himself "Goldeye.") My mage-name is supposed to represent the source of my magic and what I hope to bring into the world with it. When I thought about that, I thought about how I became who I am today, and there was only one name that I could choose. Even if it did make Niko turn a bit purple.
I'll see you all soon enough.
Trisana Discipline