Thanks Min ;D I have now gone back and fixed the formatting in Chapter 18 and 19, so they're ready to go into the Encyclopedia :D
Here is Chapter 20, 21 and 22:
Ashling, Chapter 20Pages 222-233 (2007 Penguin)
Characters: Elspeth,
Brydda,
Evan Bollange,
Gahltha,
Jaygar,
Ayle,
DaffydCharacters mentioned: Salamander,
Idris,
Gilbert,
Arkold Bollange,
Rushton,
Sallah,
Alad,
MarumanLocation: SutriumLocations mentioned: ObernewtynSummary:Elspeth refuses to go with Brydda until she knows what she is getting involved in. he obliges, explaining that on Idris’ body there was a piece of information written in code about a Councilfarm overseer called Evan Bollange who had offered the man Idris followed five Councilfarm workers whose death had been staged, smuggled into Sutrium, drugged and hidden. A time and place was arranged for a meeting with the man’s master to discuss terms. He claimed there was a high demand for slaves over the seas. The day after Idris vanished the man was found dead with his throat cut.
Brydda plans to take the place of the overseer as his fabricated brother Arkold Bollange. Elspeth is to go as his assistant and read the slave supplier’s mind to try and locate Salamander.
Elspeth agrees to take part, saying Rushton will be furious about it and her decision to meet with the rebel leaders.
Gahltha insists that Elspeth ride him and Jaygar offers to bear Brydda, who signals his thanks with his finger signal language.
It is early morning as they ride through a deserted part of town. Brydda plans to send birds off to the rebel leaders when they return so that they will know about the meeting with Elspeth, the messages making it sound as if they will miss out if they don’t attend.
Elspeth realises she has not seen Maruman since the previous morning, and Gahltha, thinking she was afraid without the cat promises to keep her safe.
Elspeth intercepts Evan Bollange as he heads towards the street of five inns, coercing him into forgetting what he was doing, replacing the memory with one of a night of drinking, sending him back to his lodgings. She erased all knowledge of the slaves after taking from him their location, making him believe they really died.
Leaving the horses they move to the public trough where Brydda drinks to indentify himself. A frightened boy tells him to go to the last inn on the street and ask for the man in the best room.
Outside the inn stinks, whilst the inn itself was constructed of slightly tainted rock. Gahltha promises to kick the rock down if she does not return.
Brydda gives the innkeeper a note for the slave supplier ‘from’ Evan, introducing Brydda as Evan’s brother and proxy.
When they are permitted to enter the room it is dimly lit by a lantern. The slave supplier sat at a table, behind him were two hired killers and a third man who was the slaver’s assistant. The hired men had orders to kill after a certain combination of words, whilst the assistant’s mind was shielded.
Brydda explains why he has come instead of his brother, acting as a self important fool. The slave supplier, who doesn’t like gypsies, tells Brydda to get rid of Elspeth before the next meeting. The two discuss payment, the slaver paying some gold in advance for the five slaves.
Elspeth remembers to probe the slaver but finds herself barred by another farseeking probe wrapped around the slaver’s mind, belonging to his assistant. As she readies to attack the other mind the slaver explains where Brydda should take the slaves and what he should do to gain entrance to the shed. When Elspeth lets her coercerprobe loose she finds that the slaver’s assistant, a Talented misfit, opens his mind to her.
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Ashling, Chapter 21Pages 234-250 (2007 Penguin)
Characters: Elspeth,
Brydda,
Gahltha,
Jaygar,
Dragon,
Kella,
Matthew,
DomickCharacters mentioned: Daffyd,
Henry Druid,
Lidgebaby,
Gilaine,
Maryon,
Salamander,
Ayle,
Reuvan,
Evan Bollange,
Maruman,
Ariel,
Louis Larkin,
Marisa Seraphim,
Atthis,
Maire,
Iriny,
Rushton,
Swallow,
Faraf,
GevanLocation: SutriumLocations mentioned: Obernewtyn,
White Valley,
Rangorn,
GuanetteSummary:When they come out of the meeting Elspeth tells Brydda that Daffyd had also been trying to get into the slave suppliers mind. She reflects back on her encounters with Daffyd and his friends from the Druid’s camp in the White Valley. He had left Obernewtyn to search for his friends who had gone missing, and found himself working for the slave supplier, trying for months to get into his mind which is sensitive. Daffyd plans to go to the safe house to speak further with Elspeth. If something goes wrong, like the promised slaves are not delivered, anyone known to be connected to the slave supplier will be slain.
Brydda asks what happened with Iriny, failing to understand why Elspeth is taking risks for her when she may not be grateful. Brydda leaves when they arrive at the safe house after getting the location of the slaves form Elspeth, planning to return the next night.
Elspeth farseeks Maruman, but does not locate him, which concerns her. She heads off for some sleep. She dreamed of being in a stone tunnel again with Ariel walking beside her, questioning her on why she burned the doors of Obernewtyn. Gahltha invited her to ride on him and she left Ariel in the tunnel, riding on a road which led into the sky. Gahltha bucked violently and Elspeth flew off him to be caught by a pure white Agyllian bird. She then wakes.
As she washes she realises she has not done anything about the mental barrier she set up to catch the pain as she was whipped. Overtime the pain would grow, so she slowly removes the barrier, puzzled when she finds that nothing remains.
She tells Kella and Matthew of the meeting with the slave supplier and is chided by both for doing so without letting them know where she was. She catches Matthew’s shielded memory of Dragon in the market, only Dragon is older and more courageous in his memory.
When he arrives Domick is unsurprised about Elspeth’s meeting with Daffyd and tells her that the search for her has shifted to Rangorn, following a rumour.
Elspeth is puzzled at the ferocity of the search. Domick suggests that the soldierguards might want revenge, hence the search and numbers sent, of the numbers might be because the search is being used as a training exercise. Elspeth asks him to find out the real reason and to look into the Council’s relationship with the Faction since the plagues. The Herders may be pushing the search because one of their people was killed by gypsies.
When Domick leaves for the Councilcourt, Kella teaches Matthew how to make bread. Elspeth plans to take Iriny to Maire at dusk, so she spends the afternoon fixing the horses’ hooves for the city. As she grooms the horses she ponders Domick’s change and his carelessness in shielding his thoughts. She decides to let Rushton have to final say about Domick returning to Obernewtyn, though that is her instinct. She decides that she’ll never exchange safety for freedom. Gahltha sends that danger is a part of freedom, which is something easy to forget when it is not you. Honour is too little a word to describe what it is, some things will not be tamed by words.
Going back upstairs she discovers that Matthew’s first attempt at baking bread failed. Dragon’s head still hurts, and Elspeth plans to take Iriny home after eating.
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Ashling, Chapter 22Pages 251-267 (2007 Penguin edition)
Characters: Elspeth,
Iriny,
Kella,
Matthew,
Brydda,
Swallow,
Sendari,
MaireCharacters mentioned: Daffyd,
Roland,
Rushton,
Domick,
Maryon,
Garth,
D’rekta, Guanette Herder,
Caldeko,
ZadeLocation: SutriumLocation mentioned: GuanetteSummary:Daffyd hadn’t arrived before Elspeth left with Iriny. Iriny is awake briefly, allowing Elspeth to tell her that she is going back to her people, before Kella imposes another sleepseal. Matthew and Kella carry her down to the rig whilst Elspeth changes into the Twentyfamilies attire. Deciding to remove the bandages Elspeth finds that her back has completely healed and she outs this down to Maire’s salve.
As Gahltha is bound to the false gypsy rig Kella admires Elspeth outfit, making a comment about Rushton seeing her dressed as such. Elspeth ponders her comment and her awareness of something between Elspeth and Rushton as she heads towards the gypsy green. She and Gahltha have a discussion about hiding the truth before they arrive. They make their way through the parked gypsy wagons and are greeted by an older Twentyfamilies gypsy who points her in Maire’s direction, though they still need Sendari’s help to locate the wagon.
The gypsy man who had rescued Elspeth sat with a gypsy girl and two gypsy men at a fire. Noticing Elspeth and Gahltha he dismisses his companions.
Elspeth goes to show him Iriny but he stops her to prevent anyone from seeing her. When Maire comes out of her wagon she hugs Elspeth gratefully. She and the man lay Iriny on the ground after checking no one is looking. Maire proceeds to examine her, declaring her fine and orders the man to move her into the wagon.
Elspeth asks who Swallow is and finds out that is one of the gypsy man’s names. She proceeds to ask him to give her the mark of the Twentyfamilies, and is slightly horrified when she realises the design is pricked and not painted. Swallow goes to pack the equipment away but she orders him to keep his promise.
He tells her it was called a tattoo in the Beforetime. Elspeth endured the pain, rather than catching it, only Swallow’s story of the gypsies coming from the sea to the land, led by one who vanished when they arrived helped Elspeth to endure the pain. When he has finished the tattoo wonders what she’s done when she looks at her arm.
Maire gives her a foul potion to drink at dawn and proceeds to bandage her arm. Swallow declares that to finish the process he will make an honorary toast in place of his father the D’rekta. Maire tells Elspeth that a D’rekta is the leader of the Twentyfamilies. Elspeth realises this means that he is descended from the original D’rekta who led the gypsies to the land.
Swallow returns with a jewelled goblet and raises a toast to Elspeth that causes Maire to react angrily, accusing him of mocking the ancient promises. Swallow disagrees, saying Elspeth is a part of them. He explains to Elspeth that the toast he offered is an oath of fealty to the ancient Twentyfamilies promises, by those whose fate is bound up in them. She questions this and he tells her that if his father knew he had given her the Twentyfamilies mark he would be hunted to death, and the truce between the Twentyfamilies and the Council would end, and the gypsies would be forced to settle. He reveals that Iriny is his half sister, born of his father to a halfbreed gypsy before he was forced to become D’rekta due to his sister’s death. Swallow is his pet name, given by Iriny. Elspeth believes that Swallow is the gypsy the Guanette Herder wanted Iriny to name. Maire reveals that Swallow is her grandson.
Swallow tells Elspeth that when he is D’rekta he will dissolve the Great Divide so that all gypsies will be one. Swallow is the name he bears when he walks among the halfbreeds and helps Iriny and them. He says that he warned Iriny that not all Landfolk are grateful towards those that aid them. Elspeth asks how he knew they had Iriny and he tells her he was the archer in the trees, with lour in his hair. He knew it was too late for Iriny’s bondmate Caldeko but he was willing to lose his identity to save Iriny, planning to kill himself if he was caught before he could be questioned. He is grateful that Elspeth saved Iriny, allowing him to keep his identity.
Swallow warns her to keep the tattoo hidden. He explains the reason for the toast and why he said she was a part of the ancient promises, as in Guanette he saw Zade go to her without being signed or called that he could hear, kneel at her side as if to pay her homage and receive Iriny gently, and when Elspeth as struck by the knife, he rode out of the village without letting either woman fall. Swallow rode to Sutrium so that he was present at the Council tithe, thinking that Elspeth would follow with Iriny. When she didn’t he began to wonder if she really was a gypsy, concluding that the only person who would disguise themselves as a halfbreed gypsy would be someone with a greater secret to hide than he.