{"id":58,"date":"2017-07-25T01:49:51","date_gmt":"2017-07-25T01:49:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lynthornealder.com\/sidequest\/?p=58"},"modified":"2017-07-25T01:49:51","modified_gmt":"2017-07-25T01:49:51","slug":"eleven-the-diamond-raven","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.lynthornealder.com\/sidequest\/2017\/07\/25\/eleven-the-diamond-raven\/","title":{"rendered":"Eleven: The Diamond Raven"},"content":{"rendered":"

Esteronzerai was the biggest town Raizel had been in yet, and it was where the carriage\u2019s route diverged from Raizel\u2019s, whether or not she had been stopping to lasso a wizard. \u00a0She bowed to the driver and, her grandfather\u2019s words in her mind, tipped him, although she had not been responsible for the payment for this trip.<\/span><\/p>\n

He bowed a little back to her, and did not seem offended by the amount. \u00a0\u201cGood luck on your journeys, child.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

She had, at home, outgrown \u201cchild\u201d when she was old enough to watch the next-youngest children. \u00a0It was strange to put it back on for this trip. <\/span><\/p>\n

She smiled at the carriage driver anyway, because she thought he meant to be kind, and then turned her attention to Nadya. \u00a0\u201cWhere do I find your Diamond Raven?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s not mine, but he\u2019ll be right down this road.\u201d \u00a0Nadya pointed down a long stone-paved road, wider than Raizel had seen before. \u00a0\u201cAt the end of the road, there\u2019s an old stone chapel on the left. \u00a0Good luck, and I hope you succeed.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t forget me if I do.\u201d \u00a0She had to be crazy. \u00a0Why was she doing this with no hope of payment, when the wizard in question might want to just be \u2026 well, to have a relationship? \u00a0Why was she messing with a wizard at all? \u00a0That was one of those things you Did Not Do, like talking to pixies or upsetting fairies. \u00a0You didn\u2019t bother wizards or anyone else who might be able to turn you into a tree for a hundred years. <\/span><\/p>\n

(The <\/span>Ennizaba family had legends of an ancestor who\u2019d had just that happen to them. \u00a0How <\/span>true <\/span><\/i>the stories were, Raizel didn\u2019t know, but, on the other hand, that wasn\u2019t the sort of thing you really wanted to risk. \u00a0The family probably would not be able to explain that their daughter had been turned into a tree on the way to the Census and had, while in tree form, still been holding on to the pack with the tax money and the census forms and thus, sorry to say, the family couldn\u2019t pay their taxes. \u00a0Raizel had no doubt that it had been tried, and even less doubt that the Empire would not accept one word of a story like that). <\/span><\/p>\n

All that, and here she was, walking up to an old stone chapel. \u00a0It had the look of one of the Ancient buildings, before the Tzar, before the Empire. \u00a0The lintel and threshold were made out of red marble and the arch above the door was inscribed in runes that Raizel couldn\u2019t read. \u00a0Someone had scratched out a few of them, as sometimes happened in the oldest places. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This was a poor idea, and yet – to have her name carved in a city building, that was something, something more than money. \u00a0That was the Ennizaba name, that was her name, here, where anyone could see it. \u00a0That was saying to Amos and Emma, <\/span>look, look what I managed. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Raizel pulled her lasso out of her bag and readied it. \u00a0She walked through the doorway of red marble and shifted a little as she felt the power. <\/span><\/p>\n

He wasn\u2019t here because he was regretting a lost love, was he? \u00a0He was here because the place had power. <\/span><\/p>\n

She wondered if Nadya knew it. \u00a0She wondered exactly how tricked she\u2019d been. <\/span><\/p>\n

She huffed silently. \u00a0She could always release him. \u00a0She caught sight of him, sitting in the central room cross-legged, staring at a flame. <\/span><\/p>\n

Flames made everything trickier. \u00a0She moved carefully, making sure the candle flame didn\u2019t move with her passage, and then swirl, drop, tug, and he was hers. <\/span><\/p>\n

He swore, cursed, and yanked against the rope. \u00a0He was no match for an upset goat. \u00a0Raizel set her feet and tugged. \u00a0He grabbed out, reaching for something to stop his movement, but his worn shirt slid easily on the worn stone of the floor. <\/span><\/p>\n

By the time he thought to raise his arms up to push the lasso off of him, Raizel had him at her feet. \u00a0She let the lasso ride up until it settled around his throat and gave it a nice tug. \u00a0\u201cI do hope you\u2019re the Diamond Raven.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd what it – urk, careful there! – what if I\u2019m not?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWell, then, I\u2019ve lassoed the wrong wizard, and I will be quite embarrassed. \u00a0Come with me, Diamond or not, and let us talk about what\u2019s happening here.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Esteronzerai was the biggest town Raizel had been in yet, and it was where the carriage\u2019s route diverged from Raizel\u2019s, whether or not she had been stopping to lasso a wizard. \u00a0She bowed to the driver and, her grandfather\u2019s words in her mind, tipped him, although she had not been responsible for the payment for… Continue reading Eleven: The Diamond Raven<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-58","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-quest"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8Tn4Q-W","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":60,"url":"http:\/\/www.lynthornealder.com\/sidequest\/2017\/07\/27\/twelve-watch-what-you-say\/","url_meta":{"origin":58,"position":0},"title":"Twelve: Watch What You Say","author":"Lyn Thorne-Alder","date":"July 27, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The man who might or might not b the Diamond Raven struggled, but he couldn\u2019t seem to do anything about the cord around his neck and, rather than have Raizel tug it tighter, he followed her. \u00a0\u201cI have things I should get-\u201d he protested, but she didn\u2019t listen, and then\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 2 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 2 comments","link":"http:\/\/www.lynthornealder.com\/sidequest\/2017\/07\/27\/twelve-watch-what-you-say\/#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":117,"url":"http:\/\/www.lynthornealder.com\/sidequest\/2018\/01\/05\/twenty-seven-the-train\/","url_meta":{"origin":58,"position":1},"title":"Twenty-Seven: The Train","author":"Lyn Thorne-Alder","date":"January 5, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cAm I really here?\u201d Raizel muttered to the Diamond Raven. \u00a0It felt unlikely. \u00a0She had been trying for this for what seemed like months, even if it had only been days, and here they were, on the platform, buying two tickets for the train. \u00a0 That she had the Diamond\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Quest"","block_context":{"text":"Quest","link":"http:\/\/www.lynthornealder.com\/sidequest\/category\/quest\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":98,"url":"http:\/\/www.lynthornealder.com\/sidequest\/2017\/10\/16\/twenty-three-cleaner\/","url_meta":{"origin":58,"position":2},"title":"Twenty-Three: Cleaner","author":"Lyn Thorne-Alder","date":"October 16, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"They made it to the bathhouse without further incident. \u00a0Raizel had never been inside a place like this, but she\u2019d heard the stories and descriptions from people in the town that went down into the flatter lands: There were rainfall devices where you soaped off, and then big drinking-trough tubs\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 5 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 5 comments","link":"http:\/\/www.lynthornealder.com\/sidequest\/2017\/10\/16\/twenty-three-cleaner\/#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":54,"url":"http:\/\/www.lynthornealder.com\/sidequest\/2017\/07\/21\/nine-yederya-wizard\/","url_meta":{"origin":58,"position":3},"title":"Nine: Yederya Wizard","author":"Lyn Thorne-Alder","date":"July 21, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The woman studied Raizel. \u201cYou have skills I don\u2019t?\u201d \u201cWell, I can\u2019t design a building,\u201d Raizel admitted, \u201cor build one. \u00a0But in the last two days I\u2019ve been dusted by a pixie, blessed by a spectre, and kissed by what might have been a goddess.\u201d \u00a0Also by two whores, but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Quest"","block_context":{"text":"Quest","link":"http:\/\/www.lynthornealder.com\/sidequest\/category\/quest\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":69,"url":"http:\/\/www.lynthornealder.com\/sidequest\/2017\/08\/16\/fifteen-singing-of-fire\/","url_meta":{"origin":58,"position":4},"title":"Fifteen: Singing of Fire","author":"Lyn Thorne-Alder","date":"August 16, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Diamond Raven was fussing at her as she walked over to the veiled Tzarin - but he walked with her the whole way. \u00a0Raizel didn\u2019t listen so much to his words as she listened to his tone. \u00a0He wasn\u2019t happy with her, no, but he was also worried for her.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Quest"","block_context":{"text":"Quest","link":"http:\/\/www.lynthornealder.com\/sidequest\/category\/quest\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":121,"url":"http:\/\/www.lynthornealder.com\/sidequest\/2018\/01\/16\/twenty-eight-the-people\/","url_meta":{"origin":58,"position":5},"title":"Twenty-Eight: The People","author":"Lyn Thorne-Alder","date":"January 16, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The Raven had done something, she was sure of it. \u00a0She had expected to be in the part of the train where people crowded onto benches or sat in the aisles. \u00a0That was cheap part, the part where most people like her rode. 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