Page 26 of The Daughters of Avalon
Chapter
Eleven
They ate quickly. Elspeth ate sparsely—barely enough to settle her raging belly. And, then, whilst Malcom prepared a pallet for their slumber, she took the opportunity to dry hissherteby the fire. Once that was done, she went foraging for wildfenylto settle her belly. She found none, but she did happen upon lovage andAlchemilla, and she harvested a bit of those herbs to begin a new medicinal supply. And then, when she thought she’d discovered all there was to find, she also discovered a bit of coltsfoot as well, which pleased her immensely. She could use it toseewith. And it could be used one of two ways, either by sprinkling the herb into a fire, or by infusing it in a tea.
The second way was more effective, but it was also less healthful—particularly since the side effects of a seizure could be the straight edge of an axe or a burning at the stake.
Unfortunately, her grandmother discovered this the hard way.
As for theAlchemilla, it would serve Malcom’s wound well enough, though she wished she had betony instead. That herb grew aplenty around Llanthony—not just in their garden—mainly, because Seren once happened to mention to Ersiniusthat it could be useful in protecting against witches. Elspeth rolled her eyes over that nonsense, because it grew everywhere now—under windows, beside doors, in small pots in the vestibule. Of course, Seren had been jesting with him, but Elspeth had this to say to Ersinius: Witches werenotspirits to be vanquished. They were flesh and blood men and women and bled like everyone else.
Annoyed, Elspeth turned onto her side, listening to night sounds: Crickets chirping, Merry Bells snorting. Some distance away, a fox cackled.
Malcom had said he’d hoped to rest and rise early, but now she couldn’t sleep. And considering how long she’d fought off that strange, annoying languor all day long, she found it rather curious.
On the other hand, Malcom himself appeared to be fast asleep, and she wondered how he could sleep so peacefully when his wound was festering so terribly.
Of course, he’d had some help from her herbs, and now she wished she’d drunk some herself. Huffing a sigh, she turned to stare at him in profile—his strong chin and aquiline nose.
Look to your champion, her sister had said.
Aye, well, she was looking, wasn’t she?
Can you hear me, Rhiannon?
Silence.
Rhiannon…
Silence.
Elspeth frowned. As far as she knew, the ability to communicate outside proximity simply did not exist for any witch from time immemorial. But itwaspossible to consult a scrying stone, and for that reason, no one was ever truly out of Morwen’s reach.
A few times, Elspeth had awakened to catch Rhiannon creating shapes out of mist, but what came so easily to her sister, did not come so easily to Elspeth.
Rhiannon?She tried again, even despite that she knew it to be useless.
But why?Why was it useless?If the Goddess could hear them wherever she might be, and, indeed, the entirety of the world was connected, why couldn’t she speak to her sisters wherever she might be? Why was this so different from the sight, which could be invoked over great distances?
She studied the contours of Malcom’s face.
Betimes she had the strangest feeling he could hear her. She thought about his demeanor this morning… in the woods… when she’d beguiled Merry Bells. His body had gone taut, and he’d looked about the same as Merry Bells—searching the tree tops for Elspeth. In fact, Elspeth had only pounced when she had because she’d feared being discovered.
Was it possible Malcom could hear her?
Her grandmamau claimed all living beings had inherent knowledge of thehud,but they didn’t know how to use it. Perhaps tomorrow she would test this theory.
For a long, long while, she tossed and turned under the heavy cloak he’d given her, shivering and thinking how best to engage him—but more importantly, whether she dared.
And, finally, when her teeth began to chatter, she moved closer to Malcom, and gave him a bit of her cloak, not caring overmuch about propriety. What good was modesty if the poor man froze to death? Where would she be then? And then she worried: He was lying so very still.
Looking closer, searching for signs of life, she worried even more when she couldn’t hear him breathing.Oh, no!Now that she had convinced him not to call upon Amdel, he would die here and leave her and Merry Bells all alone!
It was just like a man to think himself invulnerable. The fool had refused to allow her to cauterize his wound, but she’d tried. And now, fearful of what she might discover, Elspeth placed a hand before his nostrils, exhaling in relief when a light stream of warmth blew against her hand.
She could heal him… now… But what would he do when he awoke to find himself healed? Would he suspect her?
She had put a poultice on his wound, but if he’d ever suffered a wound of any kind, he would know very well that it wouldn’t heal overnight, with or without any poultice.
