GLOSSARY

AGIOI: A guild of Speakers loyal to the Orthodox Church and the Porte. See voivode.

BRANCHER: In falconry, a bird that has left the nest but cannot yet fly; to the Saints, an apprentice Speaker. See handler.

CADGER: In falconry, a man who carries birds to the field, in cages or on perches; to the Saints, a workaday who manages one or more falcons.

CLIENT: A workaday who has contracted with a cadger for the services of a falcon.

FALCON: Normally birds of prey used for hunting; a Speaker sworn to a cadger.

FIRST COMMANDMENT: A rule recognized by all Speakers, that talent must be exercised in secret.

FLEDGED: Of birds, having adult plumage; of Speakers, adult, with stable and reliable talent.

HAGGARD: In falconry, a bird taken from the wild as an adult and thus untrained; to the Saints, a self-taught Speaker.

HANDLER: In falconry, a general term for people who work with birds; to the Saints, a brancher’s trainer.

HIRELING: A falcon under contract to a client.

JESS (verb): In falconry, to fasten tethers ( jesses) on a bird’s legs; to the Saints, to bind a Speaker to a cadger by oath.

LOOK (verb): To see through the eyes of other people.

PORTE: The court of the Ottoman sultan in Constantinople.

SPEAKER: In popular usage, a person who can ask the devil to perform magic, a witch; to Speakers themselves, a person with talent.

TALENT: The ability to perform miracles.

TWEAK (verb): To use talent to change a workaday’s thinking.

VOIVODE, THE: Leader of the Agioi.

VOICES: Supernatural voices commonly heard by branchers but not by fledged Speakers.

WENDS: People of Slavic descent living in what is now eastern Germany.

WORKADAY: A person without talent.

WISE, THE: A (restricted) group of people who know the truth about Speakers.