by L. M. Roth
“I wish to purchase your fruit,” she said in a voice so satiny smooth that it should have warned the merchant.
“Something else instead,” he insisted, shaking his head at what seemed to be her incredible stupidity.
Tullia closed her eyes and clamped her mouth tightly shut and sighed heavily. Then she leaned over the merchant and put her face close to his.
“I said,” she drawled slowly as her eyes never left his face, “that I wish to purchase your fruit.”
He stared into her cool blue eyes.
“Now,” she said, never blinking as they locked eyes.
The merchant looked into her obstinate face and handed her the purple fruit, grumbling something inaudible under his breath as he did so.
Chapter XIX
Trouble In Eirinia
Cort stared at Marcus in disbelief. He had thought that Marcus of all people would believe him! For a moment he felt as if the ground beneath him had cracked open and threatened to swallow him whole; if he could not depend on Marcus Maximus, loyal and stalwart friend that he had always been, then who would he be able to trust?
Marcus noted the look in Cort’s eyes; like a faithful hound wounded by its master for some reason he could not understand. And yet…the account of Melisande as told by Cort seemed to lack credence. Was it possible that Cort did not know his own heart in this matter?
He let out a long-drawn sigh and turned to face the young man who looked at him with such pleas for understanding in his eyes.
“Cort,” he began hesitantly, not certain whether what he was about to say would only make matters worse. “When a man does not want a woman, the usual course of action is to reject her advances by harsher actions than you took with your sister-in-law. You say she kissed you, yet by your own account, you did not pull away from her. Nor did you fling her away from you as one who is truly repulsed by someone would. It can not be helped: it is a natural and instinctive reaction.”
He paused for a moment, uncertain how to proceed. He sensed that one false or misspoken word would devastate the grieving young man, already mourning the loss of his brother. He wracked his brain for the right words; he was suddenly inspired by the memory of a conversation with his own son on this very subject a few years ago when young ladies were a new source of attraction for Lucius.
“A man may not love a woman, but he may still have an attraction to her. It may be something in her eyes, her voice, a certain way she has of looking at him. You say you do not like Melisande, yet is it possible that you are still drawn to her in some way, even for reasons that may be unknown to you? Tell me if that is possible, Cort?”
The look of disbelief in Cort’s eyes hurt Marcus to see; yet he had to ask. He remembered all too well the love between the brothers, and Brenus would have rejected Cort for one of only two reasons: he thought his brother was lying, or he feared his wife was.
“I am telling you the truth, Marcus! Melisande shocked me with her behavior, and I froze where I stood. I could not move, so stunned was I when she kissed me. And it was the worst luck in the world that Brenus followed us and saw it. And he blamed me instead of his wife!”
Cort reddened to the roots of his blond hair, and Marcus suddenly believed him. He remembered the aversion Cort had felt even as a small boy to Fanchon, whom Dag had almost married, and who would have certainly led him a dance. It was not likely that he would have felt the slightest attraction to the daughter of the woman who would have been his stepmother had events taken a different turn.
“I am sorry, Cort,” Marcus apologized. “I see now that you are telling the truth. But I needed to be certain of that. Sometimes we do not know our own hearts, and for Brenus to threaten to kill you I felt he must have believed Melisande for a reason, and that reason was that he thought you were lying,”
“No, it was she who lied, Marcus. Melisande has lied from the moment she landed on these shores. She told my brother nothing of herself, and my father still does not know her true identity. I still wonder whether I should tell him, especially now that Brenus is dead and she has no valid reason to stay in Eirinia. I feel I should tell the truth and send her on her way.”
Marcus nodded his head: it would be best for Melisande to leave, and for her father-in-law to know the depths of her duplicity. After all the grief she had caused the family, the sooner she was on her way the quicker the hurts she had caused could heal.
“Yes, Cort,” he agreed. ”I believe that Dag should know the truth, and the sooner the better.”
It should have been easy, or so Cort thought, to find a quiet moment to talk to Dag. Yet with the family all huddled together in their seclusion, there was not a corner of the hut that was not occupied by a grieving family member who wished to be alone to mourn. His siblings all sobbed or wailed, each according to their individual temperament, and shared stories of Brenus that were intended to console the others as they recalled happier times.
Of all the family, Judoc was the hardest to watch; her mute grief was heartrending to witness. She sat in a chair and looked off into space with eyes heavy with unshed tears. Even Dag could bring her no comfort. Only Brit was able to bring a solemn smile to her face. Brit sat beside her and took her hand, offering silent solace. Judoc would turn to her at such moments and stroke the other woman’s cheek in gratitude. Of all present, only Brit knew what it was to lose a beloved son, and as her heart spoke to Judoc’s, the other woman was comforted.
Cort silently watched Melisande with growing contempt. Surely her mourning was entirely false! He noted how she would begin a sentence, some memory of Brenus, only to dissolve into tears that racked her body and shook her shoulders. He did not believe that she truly missed Brenus that much, as he recalled not only the incidents with himself that tore the family apart, but other incidents, equally disturbing in his eyes.
For how many times had she shamed his brother in front of others for contradicting her on some matter, only to have her glare at him with a clear threat in those secretive green eyes? Had she ever truly loved Brenus? Cort did not believe she did, not for even a moment.
No, Marcus was right: the sooner he told Dag the truth the better for all concerned.
When the time of seclusion was fulfilled, Cort went back to his own dwelling with Siv and Brit. He reveled in the space and quiet of his own hut, and being with the women who loved him above all others. They also were grateful to be back in their own home. Siv especially breathed freer, released from the presence of the grieving widow whose sincerity she doubted as much as Cort did.
Cort watched for an opportunity to speak to Dag, and decided that their return to the field on the morrow would be the best time. They would be away from Melisande’s prying eyes, and out of earshot of everyone else. Yes, that would be the best time to tell him the truth about the woman who had become his daughter-in-law.
Before he had the chance, however, life gave him one of those unpleasant surprises for which it was known.
After the evening meal when Siv and Brit spent the cleaning up in companionable silence, he decided to refresh himself with a walk in the woods. He never tired of the mild spring air, and strolled for his usual ramble under his favorite grove of maples, so ruby-red in the autumn, but now emerald green in the full foliage of late May. He was not to be left alone for long, however, and the intruder of his privacy was the last person in the world he wished to invade it
“Hello, brother,” a husky voice called out to him.
Cort groaned, and turning, saw Melisande approaching him with long measured strides that sent her cloak flowing in graceful draperies about her body.
“Yes,” he huffed with an impatience he did not bother to conceal.
“Why so unfriendly, Cort? Surely you have a kind word to say for your grieving sister-in-law?” Melisande purred in a low velvety voice.
She dropped her eyes, and then looked up at him from demurely lowered lids. This gesture merely served to enrage him: since when was modesty an attribute to Melisande’s
character!
Noting his anger, Melisande merely laughed at him.
“Poor Cort! How easy you are to read. You truly hide nothing of yourself from the world, do you?”
“I have nothing to hide from the world, Melisande,” he snapped. “It is a shame that I can not say the same of you!”
Melisande now bent over in gales of giggles. For a moment Cort fought the temptation to slap her, but managed to resist it. He had never hit a woman, and he knew it would displease Dominio, but his sister-in-law tested the limits of his self-control.
“True,” she nodded her head as she mocked him with pursed red lips and a cold smile that did not reach her eyes.
“But I have news to share now, that I shall be telling all of my family,” she said in slow measured syllables that sent off the alarm bells in Cort.
“Family?” he queried. “What family? Do you mean your family you left in Gaudereaux? For if I were you, Melisande, I would make all haste to leave for there at once. That would be the best plan for your future, as there is nothing to detain you in Eirinia now that your husband is dead.”
This suggestion only served to fuel her mockery into a higher and hotter flame. She burst into laughter that doubled her over and brought tears to her eyes. She wiped them and laughed again, this time drawing close to him and laughing directly into his face.
“Oh, I do not think I will be going back to Gaudereaux, Cort,” she purred, but in the manner of a lioness who is stalking her prey, knowing that she will ultimately feast on its flesh. “No, indeed I will not.”
“I would advise you to do so,” Cort said stiffly, refusing to take her bait. “For surely you must realize that no one in the family truly wants you to stay in Eirinia. Not in view of the trouble you caused between Brenus and me.”
Now Melisande’s green eyes glittered with the savagery of a wild cat waiting for the opportunity to lunge at her victim to tear it to pieces. Cort felt a momentary chill of fear: how savage she looked when the mask of civility dropped from her pretty face!
“Oh, I think they shall want me to stay when I give them my news,” Melisande snarled through teeth so tightly clenched that her jaw muscles suddenly stood out.
She paused for a moment and gazed at Cort until he had her full attention. When satisfied that his eyes were riveted on her face, she proceeded to impart the news that would impact his family for years to come.
“It has broken my heart to witness Judoc’s grief at losing her eldest son,” Melisande stated in a voice so sweet it would have lulled Cort had he not known her true nature.
She paused to watch his reaction: he said nothing, but waited for her to continue.
“So you can imagine how it gladdens my heart to be able to give comfort to hers,” she continued. “Just think how delighted Judoc will be when I tell her that I shall soon give her a grandchild, the child of her eldest son. I think that news will bring her tremendous comfort. Don’t you think so, Cort?”
Chapter XX
Unexpected News
The family received Melisande’s news with various reactions. Judoc could scarce believe it and she clasped her daughter-in-law to her with tears of joy. Melisande appeared to revel in the embrace and shed happy tears.
“Oh, I am so happy that you are pleased!” Melisande cried. “For I did so long for it, and wished to comfort you by giving you a child of Brenus’. It will be as though a part of him lives on.”
“Yes,” Judoc murmured softly. “It will seem like he is with us still. And what a comfort that shall be, to be sure.”
Dag received the news in silence, only the frown that creased his brow any indication of inner turmoil. Cort puzzled over this, and wondered if it had already occurred to Dag that the best medicine for the family was for Melisande to return to from whence she came. Except that Dag did no know from whence she came…
Nolwenn embraced her sister-in-law rapturously and immediately began to assist in the selection of a name. Melisande giggled as happily as a young girl, but to Cort’s surprise Maelys watched her silently, her lips twisting sardonically. Could it be, he wondered, that his sister shared his doubts of their brother’s widow?
Cort looked at Maelys with new eyes. Heretofore she had always been a child, albeit the eldest daughter. She had frolicked with the other maidens of the village, and now flirted with the young men, and had not shown any deep devotion to Dominio, being content merely to attend the weekly meetings and never sharing her faith. Since his return, however, she had surprised him with remarkably astute comments about Alexandros and the providence of Dominio.
She had remarked on his courtship with Siv and how Dominio had brought them together.
“How wonderful that Dominio led you to Siv, Cort. And just when you needed comfort the most! For I’ll swear that you were in low spirits when you were driven away from home last autumn: how delightful that you found Siv. And your mother as well!”
“Yes, it was truly the hand of Dominio that led me back to Trekur Lende,” Cort agreed. “For I never expected to return there, thinking that all I left behind was lost to me forever.”
And tears sprang to his eyes, as he recalled again his reunion with his mother, and how she had longed for her only son.
Maelys saw the tears, and compassion softened her eyes as a gentle smile lit her face.
“How wonderful it is to see you with Brit,” she cooed. “And what a good friend she is to Mother already. Why, they are like two sisters who have been parted for a long time and reunited, and not like strangers at all!”
And Cort rejoiced with her as he shared again his journey back to his homeland. Maelys listened attentively and stroked his arm affectionately when he had finished.
“Ah, how good it is to have you back, brother,” she whispered as tears misted her blue eyes, giving them the appearance of a lake misted with a morning fog.
Her tone changed suddenly as she shot a venomous look in the direction of Melisande.
“But how awful that you were driven away; driven by one who came here with no good purpose, I’ll be bound! You mark my words: the day will come when we shall all regret this folly our brother committed when he took Melisande as a wife.”
And Maelys shook her coppery cascade of curls in the manner of one who knows that evil is impending, but knows not how to prevent it.
Cort reflected back on this conversation, and silently observed his sister watching Melisande with the tension of a guard stationed on the watch. Strangely, it did not reassure him that another member of the family shared his doubts, but only increased his apprehension. A double witness, he thought: confirmation that all is not as it appears with this strange woman whom our brother rushed into such a foolish marriage.
And the child born of their union: would any good come out of that?
In the months that followed the announcement of the coming child, Cort found increasing cause for concern. For Nolwenn, who had always admired her sister-in-law, seemed to come under the thumb of her domination. She developed a new and disconcerting habit of looking to Melisande before answering a question when in company with the family.
Cort remembered how often his brother had done the same, and wondered what it was about this woman that intimidated first her husband, and now her sister-in-law so greatly that they feared to speak lest they incur her disapproval? He watched Melisande with renewed vigilance and mentioned the puzzling matter to his wife.
“I have noticed that also, Cort,” Siv concurred, nodding her head so vigorously that her braids swung wildly on her shoulders. “There is something almost frightening about Melisande, something that cows those who wish to keep her favor. I have never seen anyone quite like her; she appears to inspire a ferocious desire and a deadly fear, all at the same time!”
“Yes! That is what has eluded me,” Cort concurred. “She seems almost mystical in some way, and those who wish for her favor learn they had best not incur her wrath!”
And what the consequences of her continued stay i
n Eirinia would bring upon the family and the village was a matter upon which Cort did not like to ponder.
Chapter XXI
Journey Through Valerium
Marcus realized it was time to leave Eirinia. There was nothing more he could do for his friends, and it was time for him to return to his own family. It was with a heavy heart and a sense of foreboding that he took leave of his Dag and his family. How they would miss Brenus! And what evil would come out of his impulsive and hasty marriage and his widow’s continued stay with his family Marcus shuddered even to think about.
Before he parted from his friends he had one more private talk with Dag.
“Take care, my old friend,” he warned. “For I sense some evil is afoot in this land, and the consequences will be dire if it is not stamped out at once.”
Dag nodded his head as they walked side by side through the woods that bordered the village. The air was soft and the breeze bore the scent of fresh grass to their appreciative nostrils. The call of the morning songbirds came to their ears, and Marcus thought it must be the most delightful song in all the world. The sun shed her radiance in a sky of dazzling blue, just as she had countless days before, and so would do again. Surely it was too lovely a day for evil to overcome it!
“Yah,” Dag agreed, his head bent as his shoulders hunched, appearing to be deep in thought. “First my son made his foolish marriage, and then the village wants to turn back to their idols. And now Melisande is carrying Brenus’ child and will stay here, when it would have been for the best for all of us if she had left.”
Marcus was struck with a sudden thought. His head jerked abruptly in Dag’s direction.
“Dag,” he said urgently, “do you know whether your daughter-in-law has any god she serves at all? It is evident she does not serve Dominio: does she serve another? One of the ones that the Eirini used to serve, for instance? Is her arrival the reason they want to turn back?”