In my memory, my first sight of Mother’s realm has never faded. I need only close my eyes to see again, on the far side of a broad valley, the mountain ramparts of the Despotate soaring toward the clouds. I could hardly wait to reach them, for I felt that my new life would not truly begin until I was safe within their rugged embrace. Over the thirty-odd days of our journey I had become good friends with Dilara and Sulen, and we chattered incessantly as we rode. Our relationship with Tossi was different, and not merely because she was several years our elder. She was not unfriendly, but she maintained a cool reserve with everyone except Mother and rarely spoke to us—or to anyone, for that matter. Dilara said she’d always been like that, because of something horrible that had happened to her before she came to Mother’s school. I asked Dilara what it was, but she didn’t know; and I certainly wasn’t about to ask Tossi. I also got acquainted with Sertaj.
