When she is gone, Perrin asks, 'Is lana really your mother?'
'No, silly. Grandmama is my mother. lana is my teacher in the Church.'
'Aba,' says Perrin. He knows about Aba. 'Aba is a god,' he says.
'Aba is God beyond gods,' says mother. 'He is first among kings.'
Perrin is confused again. 'I thought Uvenchaud was the first king.'
Mother laughs. 'Uvenchaud was the first king of Faerie, yes,' she says, 'but he was not a god.'
'We are descended from Uvenchaud.'
'Your father likes to say that, yes. But that was many thousands of years ago. I think at this point in history, more Fae are descended from Uvenchaud than not.'
Perrin thinks about this. He points down to the villagers working at the wall. 'Mother, are they descended from Uvenchaud too?'
'So many questions you have!' scolds Mother, smiling.
'Are they?'
Mother makes a funny face. 'I suppose.'
'Then aren't they noblemen as well?'
Mother laughs again, this time out loud. He loves the sound of her laughter. 'Yes, I suppose they are.'
'Then why don't they live in a manor like we do?'
Mother's smile fades. She looks at Silverdun. 'Being noble has nothing to do with living in a manor, Perrin. That is the world's way, not the true way.'
'Are you an Arcadian then?'
'Yes I am.'
'Will I be an Arcadian too?'
'When you are older, you will go off to school in the city and you will learn many things, and then you will decide what sort of man you want to be.'
Perrin doesn't really know what she means. 'Can I go with you to the prayers? I want to hear you read them. Please?'
Now mother becomes very serious. 'No you may not, and you mustn't ask again. And Perrin,' she says, almost in a whisper, 'you are never to speak of Aba, or of my conversations with lana, or of our prayers to anyone. Do you understand?'
'Even Father?'
'Especially Father.'
'But why?'
'Your father and I agree on most things,' says Mother. 'But on one very important subject we have a fundamental difference.' She looks so sad when she says this, and Perrin hugs her tight.
'Can't you compromise?' says Perrin. 'You always say if I have a disagreement with another child I should compromise.'
'In some matters there is no compromising.'
Perrin feels a tightness in his stomach. 'Do you want to watch me go all the way around the wall?'
'Of course I do,' says Mother, and her smile returns. She stands him up and brushes his hair with her fingers. 'You're getting so very big.'
'Make sure you watch,' Perrin says.
'Come here,' says Mother. She hugs him, puts her face against the top of his head, and inhales. 'My sunlight.'
He turns to run off, but Mother catches his collar. 'Remember what I told you. It's very important, and I must know that I can trust you.'
'I promise,' he says.
As he's running down the south lawn, she calls out, 'Don't disturb the noblemen fixing that wall!'
'I won't!' he shouts back.
He makes it almost all the way around, but falls by the back gate, scraping his knee. He cries, and Mother comes and scoops him up, carries him into the house, and there is warm supper and music and play and the softness of sleep.
