Page 34 of A Skirl of Sorcery
A flush rose up his neck from beneath his wrinkled shirt. ‘I’m fine. I didn’t sleep well last night, that’s all.’
Uh-huh. I offered him a sympathetic look.
Obviously I wouldn’t tell him where Keres was; if she’d wanted her husband to know, she would have told him herself. My silence on the matter would be deafening, but I was still going to do whatever I could to winkle information from him. I took a leaf from the church deacon’s book. Martin used a soft-sell approach because it worked.
‘I’m very sorry to hear that,’ I said. ‘Lack of sleep is no joke. I can recommend some excellent witchery stores and sleep potions. Do you suffer from nightmares? Is your insomnia related to a physical complaint or is it more psychological?’ I managed to sound neighbourly rather than prying. Go me.
‘I don’t need a potion,’ Harvey replied. ‘I have a lot on my mind, that’s all.’
‘I’m a good listener,’ I said. ‘Sometimes it can be easier to talk to strangers than people you know well. And I don’t judge.’ Not much, anyway.
As he heaved in a shuddering breath, Tiddles got to her feet and ambled towards him. For a painful moment I thought she was planning to use the leather sofa to sharpen her claws, which wouldn’t have helped in the slightest, but instead she leapt ontoHarvey’s lap and rubbed her head against his folded hands. Almost immediately he untwisted his fingers and stroked her.Clever girl, Tiddles.
‘She’s cute.’
I smiled. ‘She is. And she knows it.’
‘I’ve always thought we should get a pet. Keres wanted a dog but I like cats. I admire their independence.’ On cue, Tiddles started to purr.
It is well documented that petting a cat can decrease cortisol, though since I’d learned that cats were demons I’d suspected that was a deliberate move on their part: be kind to me and I’ll help your stress levels. Then I’ll suck you into my vortex and you’ll be my happy slave for life.It was a feline version of a strong contentment spell, only far less dangerous. Depending, of course, on your point of view.
Whether it was a deliberate ploy on Tiddles’ part or simply because she wanted some attention, it was smart because Harvey was visibly relaxing. Thirty seconds later, he opened his mouth and spilled the beans. ‘She’s gone.’
I played dumb. ‘Who?’
‘Keres.’ He swallowed. ‘She packed a bag last week and left. I’ve been searching but there’s no sign of her. I’ve checked with all her friends – or at least the friends I know about.’ He looked pointedly at me. ‘Nobody knows where she is. It’s as if she’s vanished into thin air.’
I chose my next words carefully. ‘Were you having problems? Is that why she left?’
Harvey continued to stroke Tiddles. ‘Things have been tense lately. Not,’ he amended hastily, ‘because of our relationship, but because of what’s happened to her.’ His eyes filled with tears. ‘She’s lost her ban sith powers and it’s all been too much for her.’
I evinced surprise. I didn’t do a particularly good job, but fortunately Harvey was distracted enough by Tiddles and his confession to notice. ‘She’s lost her powers?’
He nodded. ‘It happened overnight. She was at a property in Danksville, singing for a man who was about to die. Everything started out fine but on the third night, right before the man passed, she lost her voice.’ He grimaced. ‘I mean, she could still speak – she still had her physical voice but not her magical one. And she’d lost her thread to death.’
‘Just like that?’
Harvey sighed. ‘Just like that. One minute it was there, the next it was gone.’ His eyes reflected deep, miserable resignation. ‘We tried everything we could to bring it back – spoke to the community elders, visited the local doctor. We tried so many different spells but nothing worked and Keres grew more and more depressed. After a month, she gave up. She said there was nothing more to try and it was making her sick. Staying here with all the other ban siths wasn’t helping.’
‘The community wasn’t supportive?’
Harvey’s eyes widened a fraction. ‘Everyone has been hugely supportive! Nobody has said a mean word. But Keres has always felt so much pressure to perform. Her great- grandmother Nessie was a very powerful ban sith, and Keres came into her powers so young that everyone thought she would become stronger than her great-gran. The expectations were so high that they were a lot to deal with even before all this happened. Keres felt like she’d let everyone down – and people were getting scared, too.’
‘Because if Keres could lose her powers, they could lose theirs?’
Harvey nodded sadly and a single tear escaped down his cheek. Tiddles immediately responded by licking his handvigorously, but unfortunately a spot of feline grooming wouldn’t be enough to heal this particular hurt.
‘She’d already said she wanted to leave. I…’ He hiccupped. ‘I argued with her, told her to stay and her voice might come back. This is our home – these are our people. She told me I didn’t understand. Eventually she calmed down and said she’d wait a bit longer and maybe try a few more things. Then, when I was out at work, she packed a bag and she left.’
His gaze dropped to his shoes. ‘She wrote a note:I’m sorry. I can’t stay here.Eight years of marriage and all she could leave me were six words. I don’t know where she’s gone or if she’s alright. I just want her home with me so I can take care of her. Keres is my everything. Without her I’m lost.’
And without her ban sith voice Keres was lost, too. Man. What a mess.
I believed Harvey loved her with all his heart and was prepared to do anything to get her back, but that didn’t alter my stance. Keres didn’t want him to know where she was and I had no choice but to respect her wishes, but if she died as a result of her loss and without Harvey by her side, it would destroy him body and soul. Now I wasn’t only fighting for Keres, I was fighting for him.
‘The man in Danksville,’ I said. ‘The one she was singing for when she lost her voice. Do you know who he was?’
‘His details will be logged in her work journal.’ He nodded to a small oak desk by the window and I spotted a leather-bound notebook on top of it.
