LITMIR.BIZ

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Now dress yourself, Dyfi. Visit the backhouse and wash your hands, and we’ll be on our way. We can have a picnic breakfast on the beach.’

      The boy threw his clothes on and darted outside with a joyful shout, slamming the door. The maid Rusgann lumbered over to her mistress and stood, fists on hips, scowling in disapproval. ‘Your Grace, the spells protecting us extend only to the ring of white stones around this house and the outbuildings. If we venture outside the magic circle, the Beaconfolk could do us harm. Or some windwatching scoundrel of the king’s might scry us!’

      ‘Do you know what day this is, Rusgann?’ Maudrayne was serene and smiling. Her long auburn hair, freshly washed and hanging free as she stubbornly insisted upon wearing it, shone like burnished copper. ‘This is the Solstice Eve, a very lucky day. No wicked sorcerers or monsters – not even the Coldlight Army – can harm human beings today.’

      ‘Huh! I never heard of such a thing.’

      ‘That’s because you’re Cathran-born. We Tarnians know more about dark magic than you do. As for windwatchers – none of them know we’re in this godforsaken spot except Ansel, who brought us here. No one who matters even knows we’re alive! So I say we’re in no danger. And today my son and I will leave this dreary steading and walk free for hours along the sunny shore without a cranky old witch dogging our heels.’

      She wrapped the food in a cloth and put it into a basket, together with a long kitchen knife, a leather bottle of mead, and two wooden cups. There would be plenty of good water from freshets trickling down the cliff face. ‘The only question is, will you accompany Dyfi and me on our holiday, or stay behind and sulk?’

      The maid was hauling on her garments. ‘It’s not safe, Your Grace! There’s others that could find us here besides magickers. Like that blue fishing vessel that tarried offshore two tennights ago. Dobnelu said the crew peered at the steading with a spyglass! The old woman was in a rare tizzy about it. It seems that plain eyesight isn’t hindered by her shielding magic. The fishermen could have seen you out by the byre.’

      ‘Please God, they had! For I recognized the lugger as one belonging to Vik Waterfall of Northkeep Port, where my own family’s castle lies. And since catching sight of it, I’ve thought of nothing but how we might use such a boat to get away from here.’

      ‘Oh, no, Your Grace!’

      ‘Stop calling me that, you stupid creature! The only one here worthy of such an honorific is my son.’ She turned away, and her next words came through gritted teeth. ‘And I’ll see Dyfrig gets the crown he deserves…if I don’t die of vexation and melancholy first, trapped in this loathsome place.’

      The sturdy maidservant persisted in speaking her mind, as was her habit. Rusgann’s fierce loyalty had never equated with submissiveness. ‘My lady, you owe it to the lad to keep him secure. To obey High Shaman Ansel’s instructions and those of the sea-hag. Life here’s boring, I’ll give you that, but Mistress Dobnelu and the shaman know what’s best for you.’

      ‘Lately, I’ve had my doubts.’ Maudrayne stared out the window at the desolate grandeur of the fjord and the high tundra above it. The snow that had blanketed the windswept plateau was finally melted now, leaving outcroppings of pink and grey granite and patches of vivid green grass tinged with the purple, yellow, and white of short-lived arctic wildflowers.

      Rusgann sniffed. ‘I suppose doing housework and taking care of farm animals is a hard life for a high-born lady like you –’

      ‘You silly thing! That’s not it at all!’

      ‘Well, what, for pity’s sake?’ the maid muttered. ‘We have a snug place to stay, plenty of food to eat, and magic to keep your enemies at bay.’

      ‘We’ve been here for four years, Rusgann, hardly ever leaving the stone circle. I have only a small child and you and that senile witch for company, with infrequent visits from Ansel when he can spare us the time. God knows I’m used to northern winters that are eight months long, but not the isolation we have to endure here in this miserable hovel!’ Maudrayne gestured in disgust at the modest kitchen, which was neat and clean enough now thanks to her own efforts and those of the maid. ‘My family’s castle at Northkeep is a cheerful place, full of people. When I lived there we weren’t forced to stay inside during the long winter nights – not even when the Coldlight Army prowled the sky. My brothers and cousins and I played in the snow and went visiting and bathed in the hot springs. There was singing and feasting and games and bards telling wonderful tales. And in summertime we sailed and hunted and fished and gathered berries and went exploring. This wretched steading might as well be a prison. And Ansel won’t even tell me how long we must stay here.’

      ‘He said we must remain until there’s no danger to you and the lad. How can you dispute the wisdom of that?’

      She stamped away from the window with her blue eyes blazing. ‘And just when will the danger be over? When Dyfrig is a man full-grown? When his damned father is dead? All of life is fraught with peril, yet we don’t spend our time hiding safely under the bed!’

      Rusgann made a helpless gesture. ‘You seemed content enough to stay here earlier.’

      ‘When I believed we had no other choice. When Dyfrig was a baby who couldn’t understand the need for prudence and secrecy. But he’s four now, and wise beyond his years. He needs teachers and companions of his own age. If he’s forced to spend his entire childhood here, his spirit will be stunted – just like those tiny winter-blasted birch trees up on the tundra that never grow more than two handspans high. I can’t let that happen to my son! Surely there are better ways for Ansel to secure our safety. Why can’t we live under the protection of my brother Liscanor at Northkeep instead of in this cramped farmhouse?’

      ‘You could ask the High Shaman that question when next he visits us. But in the end, you have to trust his judgment.’

      ‘I used to think Ansel was my loyal friend, whose only interest was our welfare.’ Maudrayne spoke in a low voice and her expression was disillusioned. ‘Lately I’ve come to believe he may have other reasons for keeping us confined here that have little to do with our physical safety.’

      ‘I don’t understand.’

      ‘When last he came, just after the ice breakup, Ansel and the sea-hag were whispering together in the kitchen, thinking that little Dyfi was napping in his bed-cupboard. You and I were mucking out the byre. The boy heard Ansel say, ‘We must make certain he remains king. He’s the only one strong enough to hold them back. Without him, we have no hope of liberating the Source.’ The boy was clever enough to remember the strange words exactly and he asked me about them.’

      Rusgann’s brow wrinkled in puzzlement. ‘I suppose Ansel was speaking of High King Conrig.’

      ‘Yes. Both Dyfrig and I threaten him – but especially me, since I know a great secret of his that would cost him his throne. Perhaps Ansel hopes to eliminate this threat by keeping us out of the way.’

      ‘But who is it who must be held back by King Conrig? And what in Zeth’s name is the Source?’

      ‘I know not which particular enemy Conrig’s Sovereignty must hold in check. He has so many! As for this Source, the last time Ansel spoke of it was after I jumped from the parapet of Eagleroost Castle into Cala Bay. As he rescued me, he spoke mysteriously about what his Source would think if my unborn child and I had died in the icy water.’

      ‘My lady, I still don’t know what you’re talking about.’

      ‘From other things old Dobnelu has said, I’ve come to believe that Ansel’s Source might have something to do with the person the hag visits during her long trances. Perhaps they are even the same.’

      Outside, Dyfrig was calling. ‘Mama! Come out! Let’s have our picnic. I’m hungry.’

      Maudrayne Northkeep, who had been wife to Conrig Wincantor and Queen of Cathra, picked up the basket and headed for the door. She looked over her shoulder and said to Rusgann, ‘I believe that Ansel and Dobnelu

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