Book One, page 45

bravo1102 on July 10, 2017

This refers back into Searsha and Larya's conversation a few pages back. Searsha felt Glorreaka's presence but it was unfocused. And now Glorianna has “tuned” into it.

Scrying is a time honored form of magical remote viewing. Fill a special silver basin with water and look deep and you can see what you want. But in here magic is like electronic warfare. It's a battle of measure and counter measure on the different wavelengths spell casters use. Every sorceress has her frequency and if a sorceress can focus on that frequency she can effectively block any magic.

A tiny detail, the cheer is “long may he reign” because the office of High King is not a lifetime appointment. It is expected that a High King unable to serve would step down and another election held. Also if the Council of Clergy felt the High King was way out of line they can remove him from office. There is no divine right of kings here. This is more like the Chinese “Mandate of Heaven” where the emperor only rules with the blessings of heaven but once those blessings are gone it is the duty of the people to remove him from power. But then for every king unmade in Europe during the Middle Ages similar reasons were formulated. See the reigns of Richard II and Henry IV of England. Once there was an heir or a rival claimant to the throne there were always those willing to support that claim over another. Stephen and Maud, Henry II and his sons to the whole Wars of the Roses. Makes Game of Thrones look like a casual stroll in the park.