A Dance With Fate by Juliet Marillier

Author:Juliet Marillier [Marillier, Juliet]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781760982621
Publisher: Pan Macmillan Australia
Published: 2020-07-14T05:50:50+00:00

25

Dau

A promise. She’s given me a promise. Foolish as I know it is to hope, I find myself doing just that.

The scratches on the wall change. Not in appearance but in meaning. I’m not counting the dark days until Liobhan’s departure, when I’m released from my earlier promise and can make an end of myself with whatever sharp implement first comes to hand. Now I’m counting the days until she takes me up into the forest and through that portal and maybe, just maybe, I open my eyes and see again. See Liobhan’s bright hair and her steadfast gaze and her smile full of courage and heart. See the pathway opening before me, once more full of possibilities.

A man does not so soon begin to believe in the uncanny. Not if he’s a man like me. But living at such close quarters with Liobhan, who finds hope even in the darkest places, seems to be brushing off on me, just a little. The stories are ridiculous. Clurichauns. Tiny staff-waving druids. Miracle cures. But I cannot dismiss them as I would once have done. I have heard Brocc sing to save our lives in battle, then sing to win another man a crown. Liobhan is right. If those things can happen, then perhaps, just perhaps, if a blind man tried hard enough, he might have his sight restored. I have done little to deserve such a gift, and Liobhan says all such favours must be paid for in some way. I wish I had been a kinder man. I wish I had been braver. I wish I had stood up for myself when my brothers tormented me. I wish I had made my case well enough to be believed.

I use the crutch. I thank Corb for taking the trouble to make it. It is remarkably comfortable, just the right height for me, and well crafted. I apologise to him for all the times I have cursed him and fought him and thrown things. I think he is embarrassed by this, for he says very little. Or is he troubled about something else? I am the last person he would want to confide in, I should think. But I am starting to wonder if there is something wrong. I choose a time when Liobhan is off doing her exercises – my ankle is mending, but I cannot join her yet – and Corb is clearing the ashes from the hearth.

‘Corb? Could we go for a walk?’

I hear a clank as he drops the poker. He must have been deep in thought. ‘I’ll just finish this,’ Corb mumbles, and there’s more clanking.

‘When you’re ready.’

Not long after this, we’re sitting on a low wall near the field where the horses are let out for exercise. It’s a sunny day. I like the warmth on my face.

‘Anyone around?’ I ask. With the visitors expected soon, the place is a hive of activity and it’s hard to have a private conversation. Corb says there are two grooms out with the horses but nobody close by.

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