Posted 20 May 2008 - 09:16
I do not know where the food and juice comes from, and I won't ask; I learned long ago one should not question such gifts in times like these. Solvang tells me the fruit are from a small, prickly plant called 'cactus', and only the Sisters and some of the Brothers know where they grow now. The meat is a rare delicacy, and it comes from a small furry creature called a 'rabbit'. I laugh at him and crawl over the incredibly soft cushions to his side and sit close to him. "My protector, I know rabbits, we have them on my world. I've had the flesh before." He nods and offers me piece of sun roasted meat, saying, "not, I think, like this." I take a small bite and the flavor is just incredible. "See," says he, "the food they eat gives their flesh a certain flavor, but that flavor is only fully brought out when it is sun-roasted." He savors it with me and adds, "you must have some dried. It makes marvellous pemmican." He tells me to try some fruit and meat together, then quickly drink some juice; I do and the taste is just so incredible I could melt. It's almost as good as the smoked river drake from home, and OH! I wish I could have them together.
We do as Saysha said and have our fill, then after wrapping the food and drink and safely stowing it, we make a bed and settle down to sleep. I think of my feelings and of Solvang's words, and I know that he is right, but I know too that I care very much for him. As strange or ironic as it seems, it makes me realize how deeply I still love Solanales, how much I need him, and how terribly I miss him. I think I understand now why I am so drawn to the Devils I found myself with once I arrived in Gothador, especially Nyghtshayde. They remind me so very much of the Devils in my Clan; their strength and magicks, their appetites and humor, and their kindness. Solvang may not be a Devil, but he could certainly stand well among them. My mind is so full and busy that I can't sleep; I feel so much more connected to this world now and I don't know why.....and I feel charged with energy. I snuggle up against Solvang and nip his ear.....I didn't mean to but I couldn't help myself, and he nips me back. "Now," he whispers, "you stop that, little minx. You could temp me easily, and I told you I will not take those liberties," he speaks so firmly but there is something akin to hunger in his voice, and I feel as though I'm on fire.
"Right, right.....we musn't cross that line," I whisper as I settle against him and try very hard not to giggle. "You hush now," he tells me, nipping my ear again, then adds, "life is full of challenges, and we must be strong." I quiet down and he settles himself with his arms around me, and sleep comes soon for him. The sounds of his heart and his breathing, along with the gentle motion of the wagon, gradually lull me to a light slumber. Visions dance behind my eyes and I can not be certain if they are dreams, or Sight.....
An armored horseman rides away from a great castle, on a mission with a message. In a tower behind him is a beautiful Lady, heavy with child and surrounded by her family. She watches the horseman until she can see him no more, then silently weeps; she turns from the window and to her sisters' arms as they lead her away. A Matron in the doorway waits to recieve her, but she does not make it to the door; her water comes and she clutches her belly. Her sisters cry, for there is red in her water. They help her to the bed and the Matron calls for the King's Witch, but the child will not wait. By the time the Witch and her Familiar arrive the baby's head is clearly visible and the Lady's sisters are struggling to help him. The Witch sets about her Sacred Work immediately, and the Lady is soothed by her ministration, but the Familiar meows plainitvely that there is distress. The baby seems to be holding on to something, but soon is free and is handed to the Matron for cleaning and clensing. The baby, a boy, is hale and healthy, but the Familiar insists there is distress. In a moment's time the Witch gasps with shock as she delivers the Lady of a second child, a girl, small and frail. There is much bleeding and the Witch can not Bless the girl; she and the Familiar must fight to stop the crimson river, but it will not be dammed. The Matron and the Lady's sisters try to help the girl breathe, but she is not 'right', and lives but a moment more. As she passess the boy begins to wail, high and keening, and his elder aunt holds his sister and weeps. The boy's wails fill the tower, and handmaidens of the Queen gather to help in any way they can, for the Lady is beloved of them. For an hour they do their best to save her, but alas the Lady can not hold on. Before she passes the boy is taken to the nursery; the Familiar follows, and will not leave him even when her Mistress calls. The Lady is tended to and the Matron reports to the King, who is heartsick with the news. Lady Anor was dear to him, as like a daughter, her husband his favorite Knight. The King blames himself for allowing the Lady's husband to go on the Queen's errand; he believes if her husband had been home he could have saved his wife, for he has Healer's Hands, so rare in men nowadays. The Queen too is griefstricken, and orders a special dispensation for the boy's care until his father returns. The King's Witch is inconsolable; she has never lost any mother, nor infant, and this day she has lost two precious lives. She swathes the baby girl in a Sleeper's Clothes, then places her in her mother's still arms. As she removes her own cloak to cover the Lady and her child, she notices something unusual about the baby's right hand. It looks like someone had been holding her hand for a very long time, and she knows, dear Goddess, she knows what the boy was holding on to. She sits beside the Lady and names the girl Alianor, "little Anor", and softly weeps until the Matron fetches her. When the Witch comes to the nursery, she finds her Familiar curled around the boy, purring loudly, and the boy's tiny left hand closed on the Familiar's ringed tail. She gives the boy his sister's Blessing, and intrusts her Familiar to be his Guardian. He is named Jocelyn, in honor of his father's father, who had been a great Mage, and the Matron says they should give the boy his mother's ring as a keepsake. But, the handmaidens say, Lady Anor had dreams that she would not see her beloved husband again, so before he departed she gave to him the ring she'd worn since their betrothal, so that he would always have a reminder of her. Their son would be the true reminder, the Witch says, but none of them could know that his father would never come home.....
My tears wake Solvang and he wipes them away gently, whispering, "my Lady, I know you miss your Beloved, but-" I sit up and tell him, "I do, but that's not-" I shake my head and tell him that I'll be alright. He sits up as well and moves to my side, saying, "Ogee, how can I help you feel better if I do not know what hurts you?" I take his hand and kiss it, and caress his ring. "Sir Gwythen's wife died before he did, my protector," I say quietly, and he asks me how I know. "I have a special Sight, but that doesn't fully account for what I Saw, not in this world. The only thing I can think of is the ring helped me. Her ring. Maybe the Crystal ring as well, they are both of this world, and embued as well, so....." He asks me what I Saw and with a heavy heart I tell him everything. "If Jocelyn lives, we need to find him," I say and Solvang sighs deeply. "Jocelyn MacGwythen might have gone searching for his father, or might have gone seeking a better life in another land or Regency, for by the time Solanales arrived and made me, Hauntsforth was virtually deserted. There's precious little left of it." My heart won't let this go; I feel in some way that Jocelyn is like my brother in sorrow. We were both deprived of our parents by vicious twists of Fate.
"Maybe there's something still in Hauntsforth that can give us some clue--" he kisses me lightly on my forehead and chuckles softly at me. "Darling Ogee, I was made in Hauntsforth, I know there's not much left." I sigh and nearly cry with frustration, because anger would not do me any good, and he hugs me to him. "Just sit here with me, little one, until we reach the Temple. Let's just sit here, and maybe have a little snack."
"In the end, you will always kneel."
"Last time I trusted someone, I lost an eye."