Meri (35 page)

“Yes. Yes, you do. Now go and spread it about.”

He grinned. Grinned and turned and galumphed back to shore,
splashing water all about him.

It was a beautiful sight, that grin. She had never seen him
wear it and, gazing back at his childhood, she knew it had been a rare bit of
apparel even then. She watched him mount the beach and hurry to where his silly
Weard had fallen in a stupor to the sand. He was all concern for the boy and
soon had brought him around and installed him in a sitting position. Then he
turned back to face the Sea, his expression quizzical.

She sighed. “Ask.”

He came back to the water’s edge. “Well, there is one bit of
knowledge I would like to have but...which You didn’t give. What happened to
Meredydd-a-Lagan? Please, I must know.”

“Must you?”

“Yes. Surely, You know what happened to her.”

“Aye. I know.”

When She spoke no further, he prompted Her. “They say...she
was transformed.”

“Aye.”

“Some say into a water silkie, others, into a sea snake.”

The Meri’s laughter pealed out over the water. “So We’ve
heard.”

“Well, is she—?”

“Ask Osraed Bevol. He will tell you. Say I wish him to tell
you.”

“But I’ve asked before and he won’t say. How will he know I’m
telling the truth?”

She laughed and raised a blazing hand to her forehead.

He raised an echoing hand to his own and grinned again. “The
Kiss.”

“Aye.”

He nodded again and began to turn away, but paused yet
again, and glanced back at her. “I loved her,” he said. “I loved Meredydd. I
still love her.”

Ah, was that an Eibhilin tear, that little drop of flame
that seeped from a bright garnet eye? She let it fall. “I know,” she said. “Meredydd
knows.”

He nodded, smiled. “Thank you,” he said and turned back to
his groggy comrade who had not ceased to stare at what his eyes, not liberated
by spiritual sight, could not hope to comprehend.

She watched them make their way back up toward the half-laid
camp.

Forgive me, Wyth, for there is
one other bit of knowledge I have not given you, and never will
.

She slid back into the Sea then, liquid in liquid, and
withdrew Her glory from the shallows. It was a big world, this, and She had
other shores to visit.

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aislinn
: (áy-slin)
1. related to the spiritual realms; 2. a dream or vision with spiritual import

anwyl
: (án-weel)
beloved

cailin
: (káy-lin)
maiden; girl; unmarried woman

Caraid-land
: (ka-ráid-land)
the country in which Meredydd lives

Creiddylad
: (kray-deé-lee-ah)
the capital city of Caraidland

Cyne
: kine: King;
Ruler

duan
: (dwan) A
prayer or spell song used to focus the spell weaver’s power

eibhilin
: (éh-ve-lin)
literally “of light”; spirit, angelic, divine

Eiric:
(éye-rik) a
lord or a man of landed gentry

Gwenwyvar
: (gwén-wy-var)
a spirit being associated with the Meri. Some legend portrays her as a facet of
the Meri.

Meri
: (méh-ri)
literally “Star of the Sea”; the Being who stands between the asilinn realms
and the physical realm. God’s Emissary to the shores of men.

Moireach
: (mwa-reek)
a married noble-woman

Osraed
: (óz-raid)
divine teacher; a teacher of the Divine Art

Wicke
: (week) a
witch or sorceress

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The Meri

Book One of the Mer Cycle

Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff

Book View Café Edition December 18, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-61138-233-4
Copyright © 1992 Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff

First published: Baen Books

Cover illustration & design by Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff

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New York Times Bestselling author of
Star Wars: Shadow Games

Maya became addicted to science fiction when her dad let her stay up late to watch
The Day the Earth Stood Still.
Mom was horrified. Dad was unrepentant. Maya slept with a night-light in her room until she was 15.

She started her writing career sketching science fiction comic books in the last row of her third grade classroom. She was never apprehended. Since then her short fiction has been published in
Analog, Amazing Stories, Century, Realms of Fantasy, Interzone, Paradox
and
Jim Baen’s Universe
.

Her debut novel,
The Meri
(Baen), was a
Locus Magazine
1992 Best First Novel nominee (now available as a trade paperback from
Sense of Wonder Press
). Since, she has published ten more speculative fiction novels, including collaborations with Marc Scott Zicree and Michael Reaves.

Maya lives in San Jose where she writes, performs, and records original and parody (filk) music with her husband and awesome musician and music producer, Chef Jeff Vader, All-Powerful God of Biscuits. The couple has produced five music albums:
RetroRocket Science
,
Aliens Ate My Homework
and
Grated Hits
(parody), and the original music CDs
Manhattan Sleeps
and
Mobius Street
.
To top it off, they’ve also produced three musical children: Alex, Kristine, and Amanda.

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Website:
www.mysticfig.com

Star Wars: Shadow Games
Del Rey/Lucas Books 2011
with Michael Reaves

A Princess of Passyunk
Book View Café 2010

Taco Del & the Fabled Tree of Destiny
Book View Café 2010

Mr. Twilight
Del Rey 2006
with Michael Reaves

www.bookviewcafe.com

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Prologue