Kushiel's Justice - Jacqueline Carey [175]
"Morwen," I said. "What do you want?”
"You sought to make a bargain with the Maghuin Dhonn," she said. "I come to offer one. Will you hear it?”
Dorelei's fingers dug into my arm. "Speak your piece," I said tightly.
"It seems the future has chosen its course. I wish to show you a glimpse of what will come," Morwen said. "In exchange, I will give you the mannekin charm you covet. The Maghuin Dhonn will relinquish all claim on you.”
My heart gave a fierce leap in my breast, but I schooled my features to stone. "Why?”
"You will understand when you see," she said.
"Why should we trust you ?" Dorelei asked. Her brow was damp with sweat, but her voice was cool. "You've done us nothing but harm.”
"Have I?" Morwen smiled slightly. "All throughout these endless winter months, you've had a husband who loves you to warm your bed, Dorelei mab Breidaia. Can you say of a surety it would have been so without Alban magic to tame his restless heart?”
"No," Dorelei said steadily. "But I would have welcomed the chance to try.”
A flicker of uncertainty crossed Morwen's face. "It is too late.”
"Too late for what?" I asked.
"Many things." The uncertainty vanished. "Knots are undone, the skein is unraveled. If naught changes, only one thread is certain. Will you see it and understand?”
I took a deep breath. "How?”
"Come with me tonight to the standing stones," Morwen said. "And by the light of the full moon, I will show you." I made no answer. "The oath of the Maghuin Dhonn stands, Prince Imriel. By all that is holy, I swear I will do you no harm. You may bring your men if you wish. They may not enter the ring, but they may stand outside it and watch." She read my face. "Once it begins, I will give you the charm. As soon as it ends, you may destroy it. You will be free. Free of all bindings, free of all claims. Free to welcome your son into the world as your own true self.”
"This is a trick," Dorelei murmured.
"No," Morwen shifted her gaze and fixed her pale eyes on her. "No trick, little sister. You will be free, too; you and your kinswomen. Free to dream, free to see past the fog that clouds your vision. It is the gift of your bloodline, of blood we share. You hunger for it, do you not?”
Dorelei swallowed. "Not enough to trust you.”
The bear-witch shrugged. "Then you will hunger all your life, all of you, for visions that will not come. Imriel is bound to us, and you are bound to him.”
"Only on Alban soil," I noted.
"Our magic?" Morwen inclined her head. "That is true. But what binds Dorelei mab Breidaia and her kin are ties of love and blood.”
"There are worse things," I said.
"Than love and blood?" She smiled. "To be sure. But these are gifts meant to be given freely. If they are not, love may be poisoned, and blood may turn bitter as gall. Such is the heritage that runs in your veins. Is that what you wish, Imriel de la Courcel?”
I thought about the terrible sorrow in my father's face and turned to Firdha. "Daughter of the Grove, what is your counsel?”
The ollamh looked stricken. Still, when I called upon her, she squared her shoulders and approached Morwen. She held the gilded oak branch of her office so tightly her knuckles whitened. Urist jerked his head, and the men of the garrison spread out. I beckoned to Alais, who hurried to my side, her fingers locked around Celeste's collar.
"Where is the talisman?" Firdha asked.
"It is near," Morwen said calmly. "But you will not find it.”
"Give it unto my keeping, and I will hold it," Firdha said. "I swear it by the grove.”
Morwen considered; or pretended to. "No," she said at length. "Not until he has seen. That is the bargain I offer." She tilted her head. "The price of freedom is knowledge, lady. You ought to know its worth. If Imriel accepts this bargain, he will understand why we made it, and we will be at quits for all time. But I cannot change the terms.”
Firdha studied her for a long, long time. Morwen bore her scrutiny in silence.