by P. C. Cast
“I know what she told you. I was there, hiding with Rigel under the willow tree at the Gathering Site.”
“So you did Wash Xander and Jenna?”
“Yes. Mama wouldn’t lie.”
Sora scoffed. “Apparently Leda lied all the time about you! She said you were sickly and couldn’t stand to be out in the sunlight.”
“That’s different. She was protecting me, not lying.” Mari pulled up the sleeve of her cloak and scrubbed her dirty forearm against the damp, mossy ground. Then she took a few steps back where a wan ray of morning sunlight had found its way through the dissipating fog. Mari lifted her arm, as if reaching for the sun. She felt the warmth tingle through her body immediately. She met Sora’s gaze at the same time she turned the bare spot on her arm toward her.
Sora gasped in shock. “Great Goddess! Your eyes! They’re glowing. And—and your arm. That’s so disgusting! Is your skin moving?”
Mari smoothed her sleeve down. “No, my skin’s not moving. It’s what happens when I draw in sunlight, and it’s no more disgusting than drawing down the light of the moon.”
Sora shook her head. “This is insane. Are you really Leda’s daughter?”
“Of course I am!” Mari balled her hands into fists. “Don’t ask that! Don’t ever ask that again!”
Reacting to Mari’s outburst, Rigel snarled and moved forward threateningly toward Sora. The young Clanswoman skittered backward, her heels digging furrows in the soft moss.
“Stop him! I didn’t mean anything bad!”
Mari touched Rigel soothingly. “It’s okay. Don’t bite her. Yet.”
“Yet?” Sora’s voice squeaked.
“Yet,” Mari said.
“Hey, I really am sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you or him. I think we need to calm down and reason through this. And that’s not me trying to tell you or your canine what to do. That’s just me trying to make sense of a very strange situation,” Sora said.
Mari drew a deep breath and then slowly she sat beside Rigel. She kept her arm around his neck, but that was more for comfort than control. Unless Sora actually attacked her, Rigel wouldn’t do more than growl and snarl at the girl. Or at least Mari didn’t think he would.
“Okay, let’s make sense of it,” Mari said. “Ask your questions. I’ll answer them. Then we’ll figure out what we’re going to do.”
“All right. Did a Companion rape Leda?”
“No! Mama and my father were in love,” Mari said.
“That’s impossible.”
“And yet here I am, so it’s obviously not impossible.”
“Okay, if that’s the truth then where is this Companion father of yours?” Sora asked.
“Dead.”
“I don’t want to offend you, but your Companion father being dead seems rather convenient.”
“No, it’s not. Had Galen lived he and Mama and me were going to leave here and find a place where we could be together as a family, but he was killed by his own people before we could get away,” Mari said.
“How do you know that?”
“Mama told me all about it—how they fell in love—their plans to go away—and how Galen was followed by his people and killed when he wouldn’t betray her or me to them. She watched it happen. I was just a baby, so I don’t remember it. But Mama remembered. She remembered it every day of her life.”
Sora studied Mari silently, and Mari saw something shift in the girl’s eyes. “What?” Mari asked.
“The sadness of it surprises me, that’s all,” Sora said.
“Ask your other questions and let’s get on with this.”
“Right now I can think of only one more. So, the truth is you’ve trained your entire life as a Moon Woman, and the only reason Leda didn’t name you as her apprentice and heir was because of that canine and your eyes and skin?”
“It’s more than just my eyes and skin. My face is different, too, but I cover it.” Mari’s fingertips brushed her brow and her nose. “So is my hair. I dye my hair. Well, I used to dye my hair.” She grimaced in disgust when she touched the matted mess. “I’ve stopped.”
Sora squinted at her. “It’s light colored, like a Companion’s hair, isn’t it?”
“Is that your last question?”
Sora frowned. “No, that’s just an observation with a question attached to it.”
“Yes, it’s light. Or I think it is. I haven’t seen it free of dye and clean for a long, long time.”
“That’s why you always look so dirty.” Sora raised her hands, stopping Mari’s words. “No, that’s not a question. It’s just an observation. And you haven’t answered my original question—or at least not all of it.”
“At first Mama didn’t name me her heir because my powers were too unpredictable. That started to change when Rigel came to me, mortally wounded. And then I drew down the moon without Mama’s help and Washed Xander and Jenna—and I healed Mama, too. Still, I was as surprised as you were when she told you she was naming me her apprentice in addition to you.”
“You didn’t know?”
Mari shook her head. “No. I had no idea she was going to do that. We’d talked about it, but she thought it would be too difficult for me to be parted from Rigel.”
Sora’s gaze flicked to the pup. “Why?”
“He and I are bonded. It’s not good for either of us to be apart.” Mari hugged Rigel, smiling at her pup as he thumped his tail and licked her. “When a canine chooses his Companion it’s for life.”
“Great Goddess! That monster is why the Hunters attacked the Gathering!”
“Don’t call him a monster! And it’s not Rigel’s fault that some guy who doesn’t have his own canine is obsessed with him,” Mari said.
“But I’m right, aren’t I? He’s what the Hunters were tracking, and not us.”
“That’s another question, and you said you only had one more. I’m done answering. Now it’s time to figure out what I’m going to do about you,” Mari said.
Sora grinned. “That’s easy! There’s nothing to figure out because there’s only one thing to do. I’m going to live in your burrow with you.” She paused and her smile faded as she looked at Rigel. “Does he stay inside all the time?”
“Sora, you’re not going to live with us. Yes, Rigel stays with me—all the time.”
“Well, that’s going to be inconvenient and more than a little frightening. I suppose it can’t be helped, though. You’re going to have to figure out a way to get him not to make those terrible sounds at me, or show his teeth, or bite me of course.”
“Are you really a man? Do you have Night Fever?”
“Of course not and no.”
“Then you’re just crazy. There is absolutely no way you’re going to live with Rigel and me,” Mari said.
“Okay, I didn’t want it to have to be this way, but you’re not giving me any choice. Mari, If you don’t let me live with you I’m going to tell the entire Clan who you really are—and about Rigel and how you and he are responsible for the latest attacks from the Companions. Your burrow is hidden, but how long do you think it, and you, will remain undiscovered if an entire Clan, mad with Night Fever, is searching for you?”
“I won’t let you do that. I won’t let you leave here,” Mari said, getting to her feet. Rigel, always in tune with her emotions, stood beside her, growling menacingly at Sora.
“You’ll have to kill me to keep me here,” Sora said. “And, since the day you threatened me, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. We’ve never been friends, and I don’t know you very well, but I don’t believe you’re a killer.”
“I may not be a killer, but I can’t say the same about Rigel,” Mari bluffed.
“You said he wouldn’t eat me.”
“I didn’t say he wouldn’t kill you,” Mari said.
“I’m going to bet that he won’t. Oh, I believe he can hurt me, maybe even kill me, but I don’t think you’ll let him,” Sora said.
“And why wouldn’t I?”
/> “Because you’re Leda’s daughter and you’re better than that,” Sora said. “Look, Mari, this can be a good thing for all of us. I’ll only stay with you long enough for you to teach me what you know about drawing down the moon. Once I can be a proper Moon Woman for the Clan I’ll leave.”
“But you said your burrow was destroyed,” Mari said.
“It was. Help me make my own hidden burrow. Please. I’ll live there then, and go about the business of caring for the Clan. You can go about the business of whatever it is you want to do with the rest of your life.”
“How do I know you won’t betray me, won’t tell the Clan about Rigel and me?”
“I won’t betray you if you don’t betray me. You’ll be the only person in the Clan who knows the location of my new burrow. If you don’t tell anyone my secret, I won’t tell anyone yours.”
Mari studied her. “Here’s what I don’t get—why are you so eager to be the Clan’s Moon Woman? If you think it’s an easy job, you’re wrong. It’s hard and exhausting and it never, ever ends.”
“I’m aware of that. Or, at least I’m aware that working hard, being exhausted, and never, ever getting a break is the kind of Moon Woman Leda was.” Sora raised her hands quickly, and continued before Mari could respond. “I respected your mother. She was a great Moon Woman. But here’s the truth—I have no delusions about my greatness. Being a good Moon Woman is fine for me.”
“Leda believed being Moon Woman was a calling—a responsibility.”
Sora nodded. “Yes, I am well aware of that, too. I heard many lectures from Leda on that particular subject.” She raised a dark, expressive brow at Mari. “Don’t tell me she didn’t lecture you about that, too.”
“Mama was passionate about her Goddess-given gifts. You could have learned a lot from her.” Mari realized she sounded defensive, but there was no way she was going to admit to Sora that she had shown disdain for her mother’s dedication to being the Clan’s Moon Woman.
“Well of course I could have learned a lot from her. Now I’m going to learn a lot from you. I’ll try to be the best apprentice I can be, and you won’t lecture me about my many, many responsibilities to the Clan. Will you?”
“No, I won’t. I don’t care about the Clan. I care about Rigel and me and keeping our secret.”
“Then we should get along just fine,” Sora said happily.
“You still haven’t explained why you’re so eager to be Moon Woman when you’ve made it clear you don’t feel the way Mama did about it,” Mari said.
Sora didn’t say anything. She just chewed her lip and refused to meet Mari’s gaze.
“Look, I’m not even going to consider this if you’re not completely honest with me,” Mari said.
Sora’s gray eyes met hers, and within them Mari was surprised to see vulnerability. “Okay, that’s fair.” She drew a long breath, let it out, and then spoke in a rush. “I want to be Moon Woman because I want to be so important to the Clan that no one ever leaves me again.”
Mari blinked, not sure she’d heard her correctly. She stared at Sora, who looked sad and shy. Where was the pretty, arrogant girl who hated to work and only had time for the young males of the Clan?
“Leave you? I guess I don’t understand,” Mari said.
“Of course you don’t. You don’t even know me.” Sora sighed again. “My father was part of the Miller Clan. He met my mother at a Trade Gathering. After he and my mother mated, and she became pregnant with me, he left and went back to his old Clan. As soon as I was born my mother followed him. Without me.”
“Your mama left you? Just like that?”
Sora looked away and nodded. “Just like that. And I don’t ever want that to happen again. No one leaves a Moon Woman. No one. She’s too important—too well loved.”
“Oh,” Mari said, shocked by this new version of Sora. “I’m sorry.”
“You understand now, don’t you? I won’t be as good as Leda, but I will take care of the Clan.”
“And in return they’ll take care of you,” Mari said.
Sora nodded. “I hope so. It’s really all I’ve ever wanted.”
“I do understand.” Slowly, resolutely, Mari stood. “You can move in with us, but we’re going to do things my way and not yours.”
Sora’s smile lit her face. “That’s just fine with me. I’ll be a good little apprentice. When do I start trying to draw down the moon?”
“Sadly, that’ll be tonight when I would rather be sleeping. But first you are going to help me do some digging and hunting.”
“Huh? Whatever for? Digging and hunting doesn’t have anything to do with drawing down the moon!” Sora looked around the grove as if Mari had just asked her to begin building a burrow there, from nothing, with nothing.
“Well, first, you’re going to find the biggest fern in the area and dig it up. We’ll use it tonight while you’re practicing drawing down the moon. No!” Mari stopped Sora’s question before it left her mouth. “I’m not going to explain why right now. Second, you’re going to help me gather mushrooms. For dinner. Until you’re a true Moon Woman and you are paid tribute, you’re going to have to hunt and dig and forage like any other Clanswoman.” She patted Rigel on the head. “Come on, sweet boy, sniff out some of those mushrooms for Sora so that she can practice her gathering skills.” Mari strode off, heading into the scrub pine where the mushrooms liked to hide with Sora trailing after her.
23
“This bramble thicket is impressive,” Sora said. They were standing just outside one of the hidden openings to the trail system that snaked around Mari’s burrow. “How long did it take to get it this big?”
With a groan, Mari put Rigel down, and then picked up her walking stick so that she could move aside a thick, thorny bough. Rigel moved inside the cover of the thicket, and Mari used her foot to smudge away his paw prints. “It’s been like this for as long as I can remember, but it doesn’t stay this way without a lot of work, and the channeling of a lot of moon energy.” Mari frowned, studying the brambles more closely. Leda hadn’t even been gone for one full cycle of the moon, and already she could see that the new growth had slowed and some of the thorny branches were looking unusually sparse.
“Wait, you draw down the moon for these brambles?”
Mari looked at Sora. “You don’t know much about being a Moon Woman, do you?”
“No. Leda died before she could begin training me.”
“I thought you’d been working with Mama for a while now,” Mari said.
Sora fidgeted restlessly, shifting the big fern Mari had made her dig up and carry with her from one arm to another, grimacing at the streaks of dirt left on her skin and brightly colored tunic. “I was supposed to be observing her. You know, while she Washed the Clan. I’m willing to admit that I could have been paying better attention, but I don’t remember seeing her do anything with any plants. Well,” she added quickly, “I know that Leda used plants to heal sickness and tend wounds. But that’s not the same thing as drawing down the moon for a plant.”
“Actually, it’s exactly the same thing. I’ll show you what I mean as soon as the moon rises. The thicket is definitely in need of some care.”
“Really? It looks good to me,” Sora said. Tentatively, she touched one of the unnumbered thorns that were on guard, pulling her finger back with a little squeal and putting it in her mouth. “They’re so sharp!”
Mari’s gaze grew soft and far off. “Fireflies and moonlight. Mama used to say the thorns are made of fireflies and moonlight.”
“Well that’s odd. Why would she say that?”
“I’ll show you tonight.” Mari motioned for Sora to move with Rigel within the thicket. “Come on, you’ll have to stay close to me, just like Rigel does. We have another walking stick. Eventually you’ll learn the ways in and out of the thicket, but until then it’s going to be pretty confusing, and even dangerous, for you.”
“Ouch!” Sora squeezed a long, deep scratch on her arm.
“I don’t want to get too close to him!” Sora said in a fierce whisper, pointing at Rigel.
“You’re going to have to get over that. Don’t bother him—or me too much—and he won’t bother you,” Mari said.
“He’s just so big. And his teeth are ridiculous.”
“Okay, stop whispering. Rigel can hear better than either of us. And he understands way more than you’d believe. Plus, his teeth aren’t ridiculous. They’re supposed to be big and bad. He’s only going to get bigger and badder, too. So get used to him and stop acting like a silly Scratcher.”
“Don’t call me that!” Sora said, causing Rigel to give her a hard look as he bared his teeth at her. “See what I mean.” Sora pointed at the pup. “We can’t even have a conversation without him threatening me.”
Mari lifted a shoulder. “Be nice and he’ll stop doing that.”
Sora blew out a long, frustrated breath. “I’m not being intentionally mean, but he is scary.” Then she gave a little squeal of pain as a strand of her long, dark hair got caught on a bramble.
“You are giving me a headache,” Mari said as she jerked Sora’s hair free.
“That hurt!”
“Just keep up with me. And now you know why I keep my hair braided.”
“Leda’s hair wasn’t braided,” Sora said stubbornly, smoothing the strand back and rubbing her scalp.
“Leda was a lot more graceful than me—or you for that matter. Okay, watch out. We’re taking a sharp turn to the right, and then an immediate turn to the left. Than we start climbing up in a zigzag pattern.”
“Can I put this fern down?”
“No.” Mari held another bramble branch aside. “It’s not much farther.”
“So, even if someone thinks they know where your burrow might be, they couldn’t get inside this bramble thicket,” Sora said, scooting past Mari carefully.
“That’s the idea.”
“Do you ever get used to coming and going through all of this?” Sora asked, looking up at the wall of thorns that, like the walls of an ancient labyrinth, almost blocked out the evening sky.