Contents
11 South
Overview
Tunuva tells Esbar that Siyu has secretly met an outsider from Carmentum, Anyso, and is pregnant, planning to flee. Esbar insists the outsider must die to protect the Priory, while Tunuva considers offering herbs to end the pregnancy. As tensions rise, the sacred spring boils, and Siyu departs east with companions.
Summary
Tunuva visits Esbar at night to disclose a long-hidden breach: after being swept downriver months earlier, Siyu befriended an outsider boy from Carmentum, Anyso, and is now pregnant. Siyu had planned to flee to Hróth with him, explaining her recent distress and defiance.
Esbar, fearing exposure of the Priory and its tree, condemns the risk Siyu has taken. Tunuva argues for compassion and proposes giving Siyu a choice, hinting at a herbal means to end the pregnancy and erase evidence. Esbar agrees to conceal the matter from the Prioress only if the outsider is killed to secure the Priory’s secrecy, offering to take the blame.
Tunuva seeks Siyu but fails to find her in the men’s quarters or at the hot spring. The spring suddenly begins to roil and steam, an ominous sign that heightens Tunuva’s alarm.
When Tunuva meets her ichneumon Ninuru, she learns that Siyu has already departed eastward with Yeleni, Lalhar, and Farna. With Siyu gone and the spring boiling, the Priory faces both a potential external exposure and a troubling portent.
Who Appears
- TunuvaReveals Siyu’s secret liaison and pregnancy; negotiates with Esbar; searches for Siyu and witnesses the spring boiling.
- EsbarReactes sternly; agrees to concealment only if the outsider is killed; prioritizes the Priory’s safety above all.
- SiyuPregnant by the outsider Anyso; planned to flee; ultimately leaves east with companions before she can be found.
- AnysoOutsider from Carmentum; befriended Siyu during a river mishap; now the target of Esbar’s planned elimination.
- YeleniOnce lost in the river incident; departs east with Siyu.
- LalharCompanion from the earlier river incident; leaves east with Siyu.
- FarnaAbsent from the Priory; departs east alongside Siyu’s group.
- NinuruTunuva’s ichneumon; informs Tunuva that Siyu and others have gone east.
- ImsurinDozing watch in the men’s quarters; suggests Siyu might be at the spring.
- JedaEsbar’s ichneumon; present during Tunuva’s revelation.