Part 22 (2/2)
”I cannot,” the woet I-Roore that neither would ever forget the other, no ht destroy”
”Yes,” Lute murmured, ”but surely Roould not have wanted this-that you lock yourself away fro-not even thanks!-in return Roas never so ers twisting 'round theenerous”
”As you are Coain to your ishers Tend the garden your niece has started for you, clear the flowerbeds and rake the gravel Soon enough, the vines will need you, too It will not be the same as if Roorked at your side, but-I pros will soothe you In tiet!” Veverain interrupted violently ”No! I will not forget! Every day, I read his journals Every day, I sit in his place in our roo I et a syllable, the timbre of his voice, the lines of his face-”
”Veverain!” Lute reached for her hands, but they fluttered away from capture
”You do not understand!” Her voice was shrill with agony ”Before you first cae a woman called Redfern, her man-Velix-and their babe That su therieved and would speak to no one, though she accomplished all her usual business In the fall, she shut up her house and went to her sister in another village Two years later, she returned to us, with a new babe and a e” Veverain's fluttering hands lighted on the coolingAutomatically, she raised it to her lips and drank
”I saw Redfern in the street,” she continued, sos had changed in the village in the years she had been gone from us I mentioned Velix, and she-she stared at otten him, Master Lute! It chilled me to the heart, and I vowed I would never so dishonor my love”
”Veverain, this is not the way to honor Rowan” Moonhawk had never heard the ician's voice so tender
Veverain turned her face away ”You have had your tea,” she said, hardly ”There are houses in the high village ill be happy to guest you”
Moonha Lute's shoulders tense, as if he had taken a blow He sat silent for a long moment, until the woman across from him noticed either the absence of his voice or the presence of hiain to his”Lute-”
He raised a hand, interrupting her ”How,” he said and there was an electric undercurrent in his voice that Moonhawk did not entirely like ”How if you were shoay to return to life at the same time you honor your vow to remember?”
There was hesitation, and Moonha, for just a instant, the woh the dirief-wracked creature who sat across froic?” she asked
”Perhaps one of us can,” Lute replied and stood ”Excuse me a moment, Housemother I must consult with my apprentice”
”FORGET?” LUTE REPEATED ”But it is the possibility of forgetting that is terrifying her out of all sense!”
”Nonetheless,” Moonhawk said, with rather etfulness is all I have to offer I know of no spell or blessing that will insure memory I only kno to reood and decent woman's life, she suffers much, and I may ease her-will ease her, if she wishes it But I think she will choose instead to honor her vow” She hesitated, caught by a rare feeling of inadequacy ”I ae,” Lute snapped Moonhawk felt a sharp retort rise to her tongue and ed, just, to keep it behind her teeth After all, she reminded herself, Lute, too, had taken losses-not only Rowan, but Veverain, was gone beyond him
”Your pardon, Lady Moonhawk,” his voice was fore of irony that often accompanied his use of her title ”That was ill-said of reedy, that she must always call the best so soon How are the rest of us to find the way to grace, when our Rowans are snatched away before their teaching is done?” He sighed ”But that is matter between myself and the Goddess, not between you and I”
Moonhawk inclined her head, accepting his apology ”It is ” she sand formally, and bit down on the last word before it escaped, silently cursing herself for fool
”Forgotten,” Lute finished the phrase, tiredly, and looked past her, up into the starry sky ”Therelitter of stars, for all the world as if he had entered trance
Finally, he shook hi trance, to re-acquaint herself with the physical body He brought his eyes down to her face
”I must try,” he said, soberly ”Roould want htly on the sleeve ”You are a Witch and have the ear of the Goddess Noould be a good time to pray”
VEVERAIN SAT AT the table where they had left her, hands tucked around the empty tea cup, shoulders slu with tears in the la her thus, Lute paused, and Moonha hirandiose gestures, plucking a bright silk scarf froone Lute took a breath
”There is so that ician's full perforic”
Veverain opened her eyes, looking up at hiic,” Lute assured her soleht me by my master, who had it from his, who had it from his, who had it from the Mother of Huntress City Temple herself From Whose Hand the lady received the spell, we need not ask But!” He raised his hand, coic, there is a price Are you willing to pay?”
Veverain stared into his face ”I ain!” Lute's hands carved the air in the saesture that had lately su forward, he placed an object on the table: a small, extremely supple leather pouch
Moonhawk had seen thousands like it in her life-a co, made to be suspended from the neck by a ribbon, or a leather cord
”Into this bag,” he intoned, ”will be placed five items evocative of Rowan No less than five, no more than five” He stepped back and looked sternly into Veverain's face ”You will choose the five”
”Five?” she protested ”Roas multitudes! Five-”
”Five, a number beloved of the Goddess No more, no less” Lute was implacable ”Choose”
Veverain pushed herself to her feet, her eyes wide ”How long?” she whispered ”How long do I have to choose?”
”Five minutes to choose five items Listen to your heart and your choices will be true”
For a ht the other woman would refuse, would crumple back onto the bench, hide her face in her hands and wail But Veverain had been woven of tougher cord than that She swayed aa flash, perhaps, of the woman she had been
”Very well,” she said to Lute ”Await me here” She swept frorand with embroidery and the stone floor not thick with dust
When she was gone, Lute looked up at the bea bunches of herbs, reached up and snapped off a single sprig It was no sooner in his hand than it vanished, where, Moonhawk could not hazard a guess
That done, he went over to the table, pulled out the bench and sat, his hands flat on the table, apparently content to await Veverain's return in silence
Moonhawk drifted over to the wall bench and settled in to watch
”HERE,” VEVERAIN SAID, and placed them, one by one, on the table before her: a curl of russet-colored hair, a scrap of paper, a gray and green stone, a twig
”That is four,” Lute said, chidingly”I have not done,” she answered and raised her hands to her neck, drawing a rawhide cord up over her head Soain as she had it off the cord and placed by the others
”His pro,” she said quietly ”And that is five, Master Lute”
”And that is five,” he agreed, hands still palainst the table-top, in an attitude both quiescent and entirely un-Lute-like
”What will you do now?” Veverain inquired Lute raised his eyebrows
”You misunderstand; it is not I ill do, but you If you expect that you will sit there and be done to, pray disabuse yourself of the notion”
”But,” she stared at hi, no talent How am I to build a spell?” Moonhawk could only applaud the house, it required some number of years to become proficient in spell-craft