Lady of Poison_ The Priests - Bruce R. Cordell [35]
Ususi rose and approached the perimeter of the circle. She moved to stand between the gap in two stones that faced generally west. She grasped the Keystone, which then glowed with light as strong as a torch but steadier. Ususi held it in the palm of her left hand. She closed her eyes, standing quietly. After a few minutes of studying the mage's preparations, Marrec realized there probably wouldn't be any other signs of Ususi's mystical navigation, or was she 'posting,' whatever that meant?
He pulled himself to his feet and approached Ash. The girl sat on the grassy floor of the bowl staring at her hands, as she had been doing for the last several minutes. Marrec pulled out her bedroll and gently laid the child down for a nap. Without complaint, the child sighed and fell into a light sleep. He lightly touched the girl's face with the back of his hand, considering her plight.
"What's your part in all this?" Another thought struck him. "Who are your parents, little one? Your real parents, I mean. I bet they're worried about you. A parent always worries…"
Ash began to snore, very light, but audibly and endearing. ‹§›¦¦©¦
Young Marrec's mind reeled at Thanial's revelation.
Who… what? Snakes? He scrubbed at his head, feeling again the scars hidden by his hairline. His fingers shrank from the touch.
A dark bubble rose from the shrouded recesses of his consciousness, prodded by Thanial's words. The bubble popped. Images and feelings of a forgotten childhood flooded the young man.
… He was happy. He scampered down a forest path, screaming in childish delight, clutching his rattle. He was playing his favorite game with Aunt Sthenno. Hide and Seek! He laughed and dived beneath a holly bush.
"Where are you, little one?" called the voice of his aunt, farther up along the path.
Young Marrec managed to stifle a giggle. He squirmed back beneath the bush. Aunt Sthenno had been known to miss him before. Not so Aunt Euryale. That's why he didn't play Hide and Seek any more with her. She was no fun.
Mother never played. She left games for her two sisters. She was always involved in her work, though she made time for her boy for an hour every night. Sometimes she spoke wistfully to Marrec about his dear departed father, but Marrec was too young to understand her meaning. His aunts never liked it when Mother brought up that topic, responding with, "It could never have worked, sister. He was not of our kind. He was so vulnerable." That only made Mother sad. For little Marrec, it was just more talk that he was too young to comprehend.
"Are you… here?" Sthenno was still a little way down the path. She was looking under a stone she had pried up with her foot. With an effort of will more concentrated than he'd thought possible, young Marrec managed to keep from laughing at his aunt's antics. She moved a little farther down the path and peered into the tiny knothole of a tree. "Here?" The boy clamped his hand over his mouth to keep from chortling aloud.
Sthenno frowned, then moved quickly back the way she'd come. He'd fooled her. Usually, Marrec betrayed his spot with some small noise of childish glee. He grinned, then settled back to wait more comfortably.
It might have been the extra comb of honey he'd taken without Mother's knowledge earlier or perhaps the warm, pleasant day with a cooling breeze that kept him from becoming too hot. Whatever the reason, he fell into a doze, then a true sleep, all cares falling from his child mind.
When Marrec finally startled awake, it was dark. More than that, it was cold, and a night mist had sprung up all around, making the path hard to see and effectively blurring all the points of familiarity that the child had recognized before sleep claimed him.
He didn't like the dark.
Then he couldn't avoid making a small noise, but of alarm, not amusement. The importance of not wandering off had been impressed upon