Page 49 of As Many Souls as Stars
Esther gasped as if she had been underwater. ‘That felt strange.’
‘Well done.’
She didn’t acknowledge the praise, although a brief, small smile betrayed her sense of accomplishment. Then she surveyed the surroundings and frowned. ‘This is the Dark Walk. We ought to leave.’
Miriam didn’t know what the Dark Walk was, but she could guess from the name’s connotations. The trees surrounding them scored lines of shadow across the lilac sky. The path beneath their feet was a meandering ribbon of uneven paving stones, punctuated every so often by a steadfast weed sprouting through the cracks.
‘I find it quite pleasant here,’ Miriam said.
‘It isn’t proper.’
‘Why not?’
‘People come here to…’ Esther made a sound of frustration. ‘A lady ought not to be seen here. She could be ruined.’
It was obvious enough what she meant. Miriam chuckled and reached for the shadows once more; they rose and curled languidly around her forearm. ‘Sex, magic, it is all the same,’ she told Esther.‘Desire and its fulfilment; this is a good enough place for either. Shall we continue?’
‘Continue?’
Miriam stepped in front of her and laid her hands lightly on Esther’s shoulders. Esther’s breath hitched.
Bending to whisper in her ear, Miriam said, ‘Close your eyes.’
‘Why?’
‘You wanted me to teach you, didn’t you?’
Esther still looked displeased, but she sighed and closed her lids. She was pale enough that Miriam could see the lavender web of her veins through the skin, a fisherman’s net that trembled with the movement of her eyes beneath; there was a curious beauty to the way humans sought to see even in darkness.
Do you hear me?Miriam asked, within Esther’s mind.
‘Yes,’ Esther gasped. ‘How did you do that?’
Reply to me like this. Consider the thought—shape it, give it form—then bid the shadows to send it to me.
Esther’s brow furrowed, and then something pressed tentatively against the edges of Miriam’s consciousness, feathered and fluttering. Esther had made her thought a bird and sent it flying; how sweet. Miriam caught it in the air and split it open.
Hello?
You are a quick learner, Miriam returned.Now, if you—
I want to leave this place.
Why is that?
It is too dark here, Esther said,eyes open or closed.I am afraid.
Why are you afraid?
Because sometimes, in the darkness, I see things. I see terrible things.
Murky images emerged: a man’s face, indistinct, hovering over her; the roar of a great fire; a dark corridor, tall windows, a great and ceaseless silence.
Miriam let her hands fall along Esther’s arms, until she was circling Esther’s wrists.You aren’t there anymore, she told her.You are here, with me. You are Esther Harding. The year is 1813. We are in the Dark Walk.
‘I am Esther Harding,’ Esther murmured to herself. ‘We are in the Dark Walk.’ But around them, the trees seemed to grow taller, moreancient, and the pavement beneath their feet was softening to soil. Clouds rolled over the twilit sky like a cavalry charge. It was an illusion only—a vision made by memory—but still one far greater than Miriam had ever seen a mortal accomplish. She tightened her grip on Esther’s wrists and pulled her closer. Esther was too lost in her reverie to notice.
I often hear a woman screaming, Esther whispered in her mind, and then aloud—‘I hear her screaming now, Miriam; do you hear it?’
