Master Hydarnes

Master Hydarnes du Novarra is a swordmaster of the Fire School of the First Circle -- the highest honor the Fire School can bestow, held by perhaps half a hundred men in all the galaxy. Tall and rapier-thin, with a pointed beard and mustache, he has taught at the Fire School since long before Hadrian arrived there.

Hydarnes is Hadrian's sparring instructor, besting him six times in ten and calling him Al Brutan. He instructs the Tower Dance exercise and serves as judge of neophytes' readiness for the Trial of the Heart. His son Mardun -- whose name, Marduniya, means mild or gentle in the old tongue -- took the Trial before he was ready and did not return, a loss that shapes Hydarnes's careful assessment of those in his charge. He approves Cassandra for the Trial and visits Hadrian the night before to assure him she will come down the mountain, describing her as having wings.