Marillier, Juliet - Sevenwaters 02 - Son of the Shadows by Marillier Juliet

Author:Marillier, Juliet
Language: eng
Format: epub

Chapter Ten

After that my behavior was exemplary. I made no more secret trips outside the walls, no sentries observed me venturing into unusual parts of the fortress. I helped Aisling carry out a full inspection of the brewery, and I advised the household's resident herbalist on the stocking of her stillroom shelves for winter. I did not tell Niamh exactly what was going to happen, or when, for I could not trust her to keep it quiet. Instead, I simply told her all was arranged, and she was content with that. On the surface I was calm and capable. Underneath I was stretched tight as a harpstring. I went back over what Bran had said

to me, and what he had not said, time after time. I admitted to myself that it had been his help I had wanted all along. I tried not to think of the things I had longed to say to him, and had not dared to voice.

Impossible things like, Stay with me; and, You will have a son before Beltaine. Putting these thoughts from my mind as best I could, I simply thanked the Old Ones, from the depths of my heart, for bringing him to my aid when I had thought all hope lost, for somehow sending him back to me when I believed he had put me, and mine, behind him forever. What had wrought such a change was a mystery to me. I was not foolish enough to believe I might some day hold him in my arms again and hear him speak words of love. These were the thoughts of a silly, romantic girl, I said to myself severely. But I spoke to our son and told him: He is your father. A man who is the best at what he does, always. A man you can trust with your life.

The night before he was due to come for us, I told Niamh as much as she needed to know. That she was to get up quietly when I woke her, before dawn, and dress in the warm, dark clothes I had set out for her. That we must then leave fast and silently, going by secret ways down to the edge of the marsh. That a man would be there to guide her across and then take her to a place where she would be safe. It might be a long time before she saw me again.

"A man?" She blinked at me as she sat there in her nightdress, a little frown of puzzlement creasing her brow. "What man?"

"A friend of mine," I said. "You must not be alarmed by his appearance. He is the best protector you could possibly have."

"How did you . . . how could you . . ." Her words trailed off, but I could read the real message in her jumbled thoughts, for she was ignorant of the art of concealing what was in her mind. She was wondering how a little homebody like me could possibly know the sort of man who could be of any use to us.

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