The Mask of Mirrors by M. Carrick; (different e readers txt) 📕

underdress and surcoat of lavender broadcloth were as simple as the bun that held her dark hair; the tendrils snaking free were a product of absentmindedness rather than artifice. And her gloves, as always, were spotted with ink stains.

“Donaia, Leato, I’m sorry I wasn’t able to visit sooner. Indestor and Coscanum each want a different date for the wedding, they can’t agree on which one, and none of them believe me when I tell them the date isn’t the problem.” Rising, she set down her satchel and clasped hands with Donaia, eyes sparkling.

“You don’t need to apologize for being busy. And really, there was no rush.” Donaia’s friendship with Tanaquis was proof that Leato was wrong: She didn’t treat outsiders only as enemies or tools. The woman was more than ten years her junior, from an insignificant delta family that had largely died out. They didn’t share any interests; Tanaquis was practically made of paper and ink, whereas the only books Donaia had time for were ledgers. Any one of those differences would have been barrier enough—but Donaia counted Tanaquis as a friend.

“But you were so concerned when you—” Tanaquis’s glance faltered toward Leato. Donaia supposed she should be grateful that her friend realized this might be a sensitive topic, even if it was too late to stop her from speaking.

“I shouldn’t have imposed on your time in the first place,” Donaia said. As a sop to Leato’s frown, she added, “It was just my fears talking. Foolish of me to listen to them.”

“Caution is never foolish. You told me that.” Sitting, Tanaquis studied Donaia and Leato with eyes trained to gaze into the cosmos and find truth. It was a struggle to meet such perusal without blinking. “But it sounds like your concerns have been allayed.”

“They have,” Leato said at once.

“Oh?” A sly grin curved Tanaquis’s lips. “Should I draft a chart for an auspicious date?”

Leato twitched in his chair, cheeks going red. “What? No!”

Such an emphatic denial, it was almost a confession. Amused that her son could still be flustered so easily, Donaia joined in the teasing. “Leato is very fond of his cousin, but it’s far too soon to consider anything of the sort.”

“Mother!”

“Oh, you’ve nothing to worry about.” She patted his flushed cheek. “Renata has too much sense to be turned by a pretty face.”

But would it be a bad thing if she were? A month ago, Donaia would have said Renata would bring nothing into the marriage. But Donaia had been refusing all opportunities to sell Leato off for a profitable alliance, and if he liked the girl, who was to say Renata’s acumen wasn’t dowry all its own?

“Does she? Interesting. Speaking of which…” Tanaquis pulled a scroll out of her satchel. “I should thank you for asking me to do this. It was the most puzzling chart I’ve drawn up in some time. Quite unusual.”

The word brought Donaia’s suspicions lurching back to half-life. “Unusual? How so?”

Unrolling the chart, Tanaquis walked them through the maze of intercrossing lines that laid out Renata’s personality and fate. “A daytime birth in Colbrilun means she was born sunwise under Eshl, making her Prime Illi direct, with no influence from Uniat. That indicates a powerfully spiritual person, a conduit that ever strives to open herself further for cosmic energy to cycle through her—though that energy can turn inward, making her oblivious to the world and people around her.” Tanaquis pushed a stray wisp off her brow and cocked her head. “To illustrate, my Prime is also Illi direct.”

“Renata’s the opposite of oblivious,” Leato said, finger tracing the lines spanning from planet to planet. He’d always had more interest in such things than Donaia. The chart might as well have been a Vraszenian pattern deck for all the sense it made to her.

“I thought as much. So I went to my almanacs to see if there was any unusual celestial activity that might alter it, but found nothing. No eclipses or comets. Corillis was waning gibbous and Paumillis was full, which might indicate some influence from Tuat, but not enough to explain this. It’s honestly baffling.”

Then Tanaquis flipped the chart. “Her birth date makes more sense. Second day of the fourth iteration, so her Alter is Tuat influenced by Quarat. The path she walks through life is a long one of duality and intuition, with many stops along the way. Alliances and exchanges during her journey will lead her to wealth and luck—both good and ill. However, in walking this path she may encounter difficulty finding a home. More likely her home is found in the people she meets on her path.”

That was plausible. The girl certainly enjoyed luck, and as for wealth… those difficulties with her letter of credit didn’t seem to be hampering her much. And it might explain her wandering.

Tanaquis said, “I won’t get into the yearly details. Those are always rather general and boring. She’s the same year as you, Leato, so I’m certain you know it all.”

“Yes, but what does it mean?” Donaia asked, wondering if she might have been wiser to seek the astrologer’s help from the start.

Tanaquis rolled up the chart and handed it to Donaia. “I’m not sure, but it does make me wonder… is it possible she lied? From the little I know of her, I would have put her birth month in Suilun or possibly Equilun, but…” Pressing her lips together, Tanaquis leaned closer. “Is it possible she was conceived before Letilia left? That her father isn’t who Letilia says?”

Letilia hadn’t said anything about who Renata’s father was, because Donaia still hadn’t written to her. Come to that, Renata herself talked only rarely of her father. Could that be because—

Donaia’s eyes widened. If Renata was conceived before Letilia left… then her father might be here in the city. And perhaps that—not some naive hope for reconciliation—was her real reason for coming to Nadežra.

“Who would it be, if not Eret Viraudax?” Leato demanded, quick to defend his cousin as though she