Days of Air and Darkness - Katharine Kerr [52]
“They’re in Belgwerger now,” Babryan finished up. “So we wondered if you’d like to meet her.”
“That might be most amusing, even if she is common-born,” Davylla pronounced. “Perhaps we can send a page to find out where she and Rhodry are staying.”
“Or would that distress Lady Taurra?” Sevinna put in.
“Why would it?” Taurra turned dark eyes her way. “Frankly, I should like very much to see this lass. Probably she needs the Old Lore to handle a man such as this Rhodry seems to be. Perhaps I can offer her some advice.”
On the morrow, Lady Taurra kept to her private chamber all morning, and Sevinna was frankly glad of it. While Lady Davylla was busy with her servants, Babryan and Wbridda took Sevinna to visit Clamodda, the Wise Woman who lived in a hut inside the ward of the palace. Since Clamodda had spent most of her life on a farm, she would have been uncomfortable living inside the palace itself, preferring a tiny wooden hut among the other servants, or so she told the girls. A tiny, wrinkled woman with wispy white hair, she’d lost all of her teeth years ago and was now losing her sight.
“The eyes aren’t so keen anymore, my ladies. But thanks be to our Lady Davylla, I won’t starve before the gods see fit to take me to the Otherlands.” Clamodda peered into Sevinna’s face. “Now, here lass, you seem to be as pretty as your cousins here.”
“I’ll hope so,” Sevinna said. “My thanks.”
“I do hope you’re courteous to our Lady Davylla. Best woman in the world she is, and the kindest. I’ll be doing my best for her, I will. It’s a son she needs now, not another daughter, you see. Oh, you should have heard her husband, carrying on and berating her when the little lass was born. Well, we’ll just see about that, we will. We’ll just see if the next one isn’t a son, as nice and fat as you could want, too. I’m a-working on the charms right now, I am.”
“We’ll pray so, too,” Babryan said. “And we’ll leave you to your work.”
Arm in arm, the girls wandered out into the ward, where they found a page searching for them.
“There’s a silver dagger at the gate, asking for Lady Sevinna. Should I have the captain chase him away?”
“It’s a her, silly!” Sevinna said. “I’ll bet it’s Jill, anyway.”
The girls followed the page down to the gates, where, indeed, Jill was lounging against the wall in her dirty men’s clothes. Sevinna ran to her and caught her arm.
“Jill dearest,” Sevinna said, “it truly gladdens my heart to see you.”
“My thanks, but what’s wrong? You look so worried.”
Only then did Sevinna realize that indeed, she did feel that something was wrong, and maybe badly so. Before she could say so, Babryan and Wbridda ran up, calling out greetings, to sweep Jill along with them up to the broch. They took Jill up to their chamber above the women’s hall, then sent a maidservant with a message to Lady Davylla. Jill started to ask after their mother, but Babryan was too excited to have time for pleasantries.
“Oh, Jill, we’ve met Lady Taurra, and she’s not ill at all. The poor woman! What a tale it is.”
“Indeed?” Jill said, all wide eyes. “Tell me.”
As Babryan rattled off the story, Jill listened, feigning a little squeal of amazement every now and then. Sevinna was sure the squeals were feigned, anyway. She wondered how she ever could have thought that Jill was just an ordinary lass like they were. She realized that meeting Lady Taurra had put her on her guard, like a doe who hears one hound barking and begins testing the wind to smell out the pack.
“Do you know this Lord Gwell?” Jill said.
“We don’t,” Babryan said. “But there’s lots and lots of lords in the kingdom, aren’t there? Why?”
“Just an idle wondering.” Jill gave them all an impartial bright smile. “But does she truly know the Old Lore?”
They were happily discussing love charms when Lady Davylla came to their chambers and brought Lady Taurra with her. After Babryan introduced Jill, Davylla took them all down to the woman’s hall where they’d be more comfortable and sent a servant for a plate of dried fruit dipped in crystalized honey. They all sat