Fire Dragon - Katharine Kerr [23]
“Lilli?” Elyssa said. “Could you spare me a moment?”
“Of course.” Lilli jumped up and curtsied. “What shall I do?”
“Just come walk with me a while.”
Elyssa led her outside to the main ward. In the hot spring sun, flies hovered, jewel bright as they darted back and forth. Over by the watering trough a groom curried a dun palfrey, who stamped a lazy hoof and flicked his tail whenever a fly tried to land upon him. Otherwise the dun seemed wrapped in silence like some enchanted fortress. For a moment Elyssa stood staring at the cobbles; then she looked up with a little shrug.
“I see no reason to mince words,” Elyssa said. “Are you minded to forgive the princess her fit of temper?”
“Me forgive her?” Lilli heard her voice crack. “I'm the one who's done her harm.”
“You're not. It's Maryn who's paid her the hurt she feels. In her worst moments she's blamed you, certainly, but when she's herself again she knows where the fault lies.”
“Truly?”
“Truly.” Elyssa gave a firm little nod. “Now, you know about the awful sadness that takes her after she's given birth.”
“I do. Is it happening again?”
“Not yet. The other two times, at least, she's done well for the first few days.” Elyssa looked away, frowning. “I wish the midwife understood it. Neither she nor the herbwoman can say aught but ‘it passes, it passes.’ So it always does, but ye gods! The cost it takes while it lies upon her!”
“It's terrible, indeed.”
“So, I was wondering somewhat. Bellyra told me about that brooch of your mother's, the one that had some sort of evil spell upon it. Nevyn said that a thief would feel uneasy or suchlike from the handling of it. Is there such a thing as a spell that would cheer someone up, like, rather than cursing them?”
“There is.” Lilli thought for a moment. “I wonder if I could make such a thing? I think I know how, but I'm not sure I have the skill. I'm but an apprentice.”
“I know, but I thought mayhap you'd try.” Elyssa reached into the folds of her kirtle and drew out a small silver ring brooch. “This belongs to her.”
“I'll gladly try.” Lilli took the brooch and clasped it in her hand. “The worst I can do is naught. You can't curse someone by accident or suchlike.”
“I did wonder about that.” Elyssa suddenly smiled. “It's good to talk with you again. If the princess's grief comes upon her, it would be a splendid thing if you'd come to the women's hall. Any distraction would be a boon.”
“Even her getting enraged at me?”
“Even that, but I doubt me it would happen.” Elyssa paused, glancing at the sky, when the sun had started its slide toward evening. “Is it too late in the day to send the messengers off?”
“To the prince, you mean?”
“Just that. You know the lay of the land around Dun Deverry. Is there a dun nearby that would shelter them for the night?”
“A good day's ride east. Most of the duns near the city have been razed and gone for years.”
“That's what I was afraid of. Very well. I'll have the scribe compose the messages today, and we'll get the men on the road tomorrow at dawn.”
They walked inside together and climbed the staircase, but when Elyssa went to the women's hall, Lilli returned to her chamber. She laid the little brooch upon her table beside the book and for a moment gloated over the task ahead of her. She too needed a distraction from her worrying over Branoic and the prince both. It did occur to her to wonder if Nevyn would approve this independent foray into dweomerwork, but since he wasn't there to ask, she went ahead with the job.
Nevyn's dweomer book devoted a page to the process of charging a talisman, and Lilli had seen Nevyn work its opposite twice now as well. She would need to cleanse the brooch first of any and all evil influences it might have been exposed to over the years. That very evening, by candlelight she drew a magic circle around her table and chair to mark it as her place of working.