REALM'S END (BOOK OF FEY 1) (8 page)

         Briok stopped near the edge of the field of stalagmites, from there he could see Gwenth laying across the room, asleep on the sandy floor, around her the cavern walls pulsed and glowed. He could make out a low humming noise that he found soothing. The sound came from the crystalline walls. Perhaps it was a healing for the girl, even from across the cavern she looked worn out.  Briok flew near her and the wall nearest briefly flared up. Briok sat the water container near the sleeping girl. His mind reeled with the events of the day. He flitted over to the cavern entrance and leapt out into the air. His only thought was to take his tired body home, and discuss all that had transpired, with his parents.

Of Fears and Gods

“God, woman, can’t you see she is sick, maybe even dying,” James yelled! “Either we need to get a doctor up here, or I should take her to town.”  James having slept very little for the last week looked wildly about the cottage. His fear was palpable to Meredith, and like a caged animal, he had spent all of his waking hours wearing away the floor in front of the girl’s door.

     “What, now you think my skills as a healer aren’t enough? She might heal better if you would stop stomping all about the house.” Meredith reached out taking James hand, as he passed by, on his way to check on Gwenth again. “I know why you are afraid, but you must understand husband your fear doesn’t help her, please come and eat some soup and afterward, go out and care for the sheep. When she wakes, we will need all that they can offer to build up her strength,” her tender voice pleaded, with him.

     James’ fevered mind cleared for a moment, and finally seeing Meredith’s own exhaustion, he went quietly to the table and sat down. He looked away while she served him, and then mechanically forced himself to lift the spoon to his mouth. The soup was good, and hot, and the herbs Meredith had added began to work on James’ fear. He had not realized how little he had eaten lately and as he sat spooning in the warm soup he focused in on his lovely wife, sitting across the table. There were new lines around her eyes. “You must eat more too,” he said fumbling, as he rose to bring her a bowl of the warm mutton stew. James sat the steaming bowl on the table before her, and grabbing his own dish he sat down at the seat nearer her.

     Meredith watched in relief as the food brought her beloved husband back from the place of deep fear. She gratefully lifted her spoon to her mouth as well and gave thanks as she chewed the hearty stew.

     “I’m sorry,” he said, as he laid the spoon in the empty bowl. “I only know I would go mad if I lose her too.” James reached across the table and took Meredith’s hand into his own.

     She looked into his face and saw the buried sorrow. His eyes were bright with unshed tears, and she began to understand how deeply he loved. Meredith caught her breath, as she wondered, if this was to be how deeply he would come to love her. She felt the tears fill her own eyes, “Darling, I can imagine how frightening her illness is, but my people raise some of the wisest medicine people in all the land. I promise you I will not lose her,” she said reaching out to stroke his face.

     James looked at his beautiful wife, he saw in her black pupils a deep knowing, and he saw her great love for him welling up. “I don’t know where this comes from, but I’m sure somehow you are right,” he sighed as he pushed back his chair and rose. James ran his fingers through his black locks, making the hair even more unruly. “I’m going out, and staying out all day. The sheep need to get out of the paddock.”

     Meredith rose, and walked around the table. She let herself be taken into his arms and kissed deeply. “I packed you a meal.”

     James picked up the food wrapped in waxed cloth and hurriedly shoved the food into his coat pocket. Walking to the door he stepped out, and quickly pulled it shut behind him.

     “That is one stubborn man.”

     Meredith turned and there seated at the worn wooden table were her two sisters, each holding a bowl full of the mutton stew. “Didn’t you think you should at least wait till he is gone with the sheep?”

     “Nah, we can see he is very determined, and will not come back no matter what.”

     “Sister, this is exquisite, and I don’t even taste any magic,” Reval said, greedily slurping up the soup.

     “Well that is because, I cooked it myself. There is no magic.”

     “But how could you cook so well. You never had that skill before?”

     “I don’t really know I just assumed cooking was easier than it looked.”

     “Sister, father made us come you know. He says there is more going on here than meets the proverbial human eye,” Hectain said laughing.

     “Oh you made a funny sister,” Reval said her high voice, tinkling with laughter.

     “Father says that you are pregnant by the human and...”

     Meredith cut Hectain off. “What? Pregnant by a human, now that surely would be a miracle.  Are we to believe now in the human’s God? Do you think he has interceded somehow,” she asked, laughing?

     Reval and Hectain sat staring at their youngest sister as she laughed.

     “Sister, how is it you don’t know that you’re pregnant?”

     “Why are you carrying on this farce, Hectain? I assure you if I were pregnant I would know,” Meredith said, reaching for the dishes covering the table.

     Reval and Hectain looked across the wooden table at one another.

     Reval cleared her throat. “Sister did you know there is an old magic, much older than our own which is so different than our own, we often can’t see it clearly. I think that old magic is somehow, somewhere in this house, and I think we need to look for it.”

     Meredith sat the stack of dirty bowls back down on the tabletop and looked keenly from Hectain to Reval’s face. “You’re serious then?”

     “Aye, we are. You are pregnant, and unless James is a God this could not be so, for even your love darling sister isn’t strong enough to change the laws concerning such things, and if he is a God, then we have to ask, why isn’t he behaving like a God?”

     Meredith stared unbelievingly at her sisters, and then put her hands across her belly and quieted her mind. She lowered her body into the empty chair at the table and began breathing deeply. Slowing her breath, calm washed over her, as she sent her mind to search through the auric field of her body. Meredith pushed herself deeper into the trance searching. Finally she came across a narrow trail of blue light flowing off into the distance.  She traveled along, following the cord of light down through her energy; the trail continued on deeper, and deeper into her unconscious. The trail of light wound through the caverns of her deepest mind, weaving its way around boulders, and cutting straight through stone walls. This made travel difficult for Meredith. Several times, she lost the trail and had to double back to locate the blue ribbon of light. Meredith continued to follow the trail down into her psyche, until it suddenly came to an abrupt end.  She found herself standing before her an ornately carved door. She admired the bass relief carving of a leaf and tree that glowed in the body of the heavy wooden door. Finally, she reached out her hand, and not feeling any repulsing magic she grasped the latch to open the door. The latch was stuck fast and the door seemed wedged tightly in its frame, it wouldn’t budge. Meredith redoubled her effort, and pulled using her magic. The sealed door held against even her strongest magic for what felt like a long time, but then it slowly began to give way. The door opened a bit and then a bit more. As it opened, a fiery light began to seep out through the widening crack. Meredith gave one last pull, heavy with her magic and at last the door stood completely open. Meredith could see and infant, wrapped in a golden leaf, and surrounded by intricate branch work. The growing child and its magical cradle threw off such light; it was hard for even her energetic body to look directly upon the baby. Stepping outside, Meredith pushed the door shut, closed it firmly, and came up out of her trance.

     “Meredith, James would have to be a God, to co-create such a being as that. Never have I seen such light coming off anyone,” Reval stood and moved around the table to Meredith. “Here sister, I think you had better have a draught of father’s concoction,” she said pulling a tiny bottle out of the air.

     Meredith sat down and stared at the table top. She was pregnant. The thing she had hoped for most since she understood she really loved James had happened.

     “A very strong God from the looks of that fetus,” Hectain said, snapping her fingers which caused all the dishes to be washed and put away in their places in a second. “There that’s better. Now we have room to work. We need to know what God we are dealing with and why is the child hiding so deeply. That can’t be a coincidence. Meredith, are you even listening? Why haven’t you drank the potion yet? Give it to her Reval, quit dilly dallying you two.”

     Reval tried to hand the small engraved flask to Meredith. “Sister, take it. Father sent it along in case you were distraught, and you do seem to be distraught. Of course seeing what we saw, I can’t blame you one bit.”

     “I’m not distraught sister, I’m happy,” Meredith said, smiling up at her sisters. “I’m pregnant, and James and I are going to have a baby, and Gwenth is going to have a sibling. I don’t care how it happened,” Meredith giggled like a school girl. “Well I know how it happened but…oh well you both know what I mean. I need to knit some things for the baby, she said rising up.”

     Hectain pushed her chair backward across the worn floorboards, as she rose. “Wait just a minute; you are not going off willy-nilly right now! You have months and months, till the child will be born, plenty of time to do all the knitting you want to do, but right now we must try to understand who James really is. Don’t you see, Meredith? It could be that you are being fooled by James. Clearly he is a powerful God. We need to know which God Meredith, for your safety, for the child’s safety and the tribe’s safety. You well know, not all the Gods are friendly with the Corvine. Now sit down this instance,” Hectain bellowed.

     Reval and Meredith stared at their sister, who was beginning to resemble more of a giant crow with each word than a human.

     “Sister your feathers are showing.” Reval pointed at Hectain’s arm, which had already begun to turn back into feathered wing.

     “Oh well, yes then,” Hectain said, looking down at her arm. She shook herself and the feathers were once again smooth skin covered in a long shawl. “Sorry, I slip sometimes when I get riled up.”

     Meredith took that moment to reach up and grab the bottled potion from where it hung mid-air, and threw it into the fire, where both the glass and the spell shattered. “I’m not going to drink any potion, so forget about it. Father has never in his life, not meddled,” she said, pointing at the spell dissipating in the flames. “See, there’s my point.”

     Reval and Hectain watched as the flames consumed the unused spell, releasing the magic back to its owner.

     “He won’t like that.” Reval said, her double chins jiggling as she shook her head.

     Meredith turned to her sisters. “No I know he won’t like it, but no one will bring any harm to my child, so if you are determined to please him over me, you had better go home now,” she said, staring at her two half-sisters.

     The sisters stared back at Meredith. “We had considered you would do that, and we’ve decided already that while we will not go against him at this point, we also shall not allow him to bring any harm to you or the child, if you chose to go forward with this.” Hectain said. “Now then, that being said, I do think we should still find out who James is, for he is clearly not human.”

     Meredith breathed easier, as she listened to Hectain’s remarks. She quickly scanned her sisters’ energy patterns, they were not lying. They would stand by her, at least for now. “Alright there must be much more here than meets the eye. The question that I keep mulling over is: if James is a God why wouldn’t he watch over his own daughter better? Why act as only a human would, and not like a God? We are missing important information sisters. Let’s start there.”

     “I will go consult the akashic records, maybe there will be something relevant in this world’s timeline,” Reval said, and with a snap of her fingers she disappeared.

     Hectain made a rye face as she looked over at her youngest sister, “I’ll see what the Corvine will divulge, if they are willing to share anything. While I’m there I will try and preen father’s feathers a bit, so that perhaps he will not look too hard at what we do. Be careful sister.” Hectain reached out and pulling Meredith close.

     Meredith let herself be hugged. “Thank you sister,” she whispered, into Hectain’s raven-colored locks. “You will need to be careful around father, he will be very angry that I didn’t drink that potion.”

     Hectain sighed, “Of course you’re right sister. I wonder, did he really think we would acquiesce to his magic so easily? I mean, my God you could smell the spell on that potion a mile away. Do you think perhaps he is getting old?”

     Meredith laughed. “I see you are as sharp as ever, and you will need to keep your wits close when you arrive home. Be careful Hectain; remember brains did not save our mothers.”

     Hectain hugged Meredith close again. “Take your own advice sister. Don’t underestimate what is going on here, there are Gods a foot, and those of us who are halflings often get crushed between them when they fight,” she said, looking deeply into Meredith’s dark eyes.

     Meredith looked at Hectain. She often forgot that both her sisters were halflings. Obviously Hectain forgot that Meredith was not a halfling, but was a full blooded Goddess in her own right. She stood for a moment after Hectain left, resting her hand on her belly, feeling the life that was growing within her.