Page 1 of Up from the Earth

Prologue

Birth Pains Are A Magic. Those Of A Rebirth At The Cauldron Even More.

EversinceIwasyoung, perhaps even before I had been born, three things had always been true.

One, I dreamed of running, my footsteps carrying me through a vibrant green forest, across swamp and marsh, and into an archway made of stone. The bricks seamlessly blended into the edges of the woods, and all light was swallowed by the empty space beneath and between the curved arc.

Two, magic had suffused me always. I felt the beat of it in my pulse before I could put words to it. Moreover, I remembered the day that the Queen of the Shadowed Summer Sun had become what she was, leaving the ranks of our Sisters to fulfill her own destiny. She had gifted me well that day.

Kneeling before me, the woman hovered a finger over my one blue eye.

“Speak always with purpose.” She moved to the green eye. “Heed the natural cycle.”

Warmth surged through my young body, and I smiled. But when the woman’s eyes peered into me, I felt the weight of her words beneath my skin, grasping my veins with an unseen force.

“Give me your name.”

She required me to give it to her. The woman could not take it. I’d known her before…before she became Queen. She had been like me. Was I to be like her? My child's mind swirled, an understanding in my bones that I couldn’t articulate or place. The knowledge was there inside me, but I had not unlocked it yet.

Still, I couldn’t fight it.

“Cerridwen Adaire Locke.”

I looked up at her, this dark Queen, and my heart thumped against my ribs.

“Thank you, Cerridwen. I will call.” She blinked and gestured toward the house, “But now is the time for play. Go on.”

Running off, I left the ominous foreboding behind for the adults, choosing to embrace the light and laughter that was my youth. Some part of me knew I wouldn’t have it for long, compared to most, and I needed to take this time while I was here.

Three, which was very much tied to the previous truth, was that my life did not belong to me—at least notsolely.

Neither in nor out. Neither young nor old. I had as yet existed as purpose balanced on the edge of a blade. My birth had been a day of joy and sorrow, my entering the world and my father leaving it. I had been born with my two-colored eyes, and each day since, my life had been centered around the precarious balance of the Equinox.

Equal night and day, the death of one season for the birth of another, and a child born of the flaring light of the dawn and the silent depths of midnight.

I was Cerridwen, daughter to my human mother and the unknown future wife of the Beast King of the World of Below.

One

Heed Thy Mother & Stay On The Path.

In the past…

Thesunfeltwarmand alive as it fell over my fair skin. I’d lain in the field here outside of my Mother’s and the Sisters’ house for much longer than I’d intended. It was just starting to warm up, the harshness of winter falling away and revealing a fertile earth that was no longer dressed in white.Like a bride, I thought.

Mother had told me to go into the woods and fetch more of the mushrooms for the house. Drying and powdering the things was a constant task that needed to be done, and we seemed to go through the spot-capped fungus so quickly.

I’d dallied a bit. She would be expecting me to return with a full basket, and I couldn’t very well appease my mother with the wildflowers that were beginning to push up from the earth around me.

Getting up, the back of my checked dress was patched with brown, the damp soil having soaked some into the fabric. I would do the washing next so that Mother wouldn’t have to worry about it. Besides, I liked to scrub the clothes and tablecloths up and down the metal board. It made a wonderful sound, and I felt strong wringing the water out of the loads.

Still, I needed to fetch mushrooms, and I wouldn’t be caught eating all the nontoxic ones again.

I brushed my hands down the skirt of my dress, grabbing my empty basket from the fallen branch I’d hung it on. At the edge of the woods like this, there were lots of logs and tree trunks covered in moss that made excellent chairs or tables.

My skirts were too long to walk through the underbrush without tripping, so before I got started on my task to find the mushrooms, I hoisted up the edges and stuffed them through the loop of my thin belt. The belt held pouches and a dagger for cutting thick-stemmed herbs, and it was perfect for keeping the lengthy fabric from tripping me.

Heed me, Cerridwen. Stay on the path. Collect your mushrooms, and don’t dally in the forest. There is old magic there. Magic you aren’t ready for.

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