Meri by Bohnhoff Maya Kaathryn

Author:Bohnhoff, Maya Kaathryn [Bohnhoff, Maya Kaathryn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: fantasy, mer cycle, meri, maya kaathryn bohnhoff, book view cafe
ISBN: 9781611382334
Publisher: Book View Cafe
Published: 2012-12-18T21:56:49+00:00

Chapter 9

The goal of the Osraed must be to open the hearts,

fill the stomachs,

calm the minds,

brace the bones,

and so clarify the thoughts and meet the needs

that no sly meddler could touch

those he has touched.

— Book of the Meri, Chapter 9, Verse 72

Meredydd woke with a start, unknowing how long she had slept. She did not feel particularly cramped and the embers in the big hearth looked about the same; she thought she must have merely napped. Reluctantly, she uncurled herself and raised her head. She was still in the wayhouse and the little village of Blaec-del was very likely still outside its doors.

Yawning silently, she began watching the room. There were few people in it, and most of them were involved in eating breakfast or drinking hot beverages. Behind the bar worked a sturdy, crane-like woman who, though her clothes were poor, exuded an aura of cultivation. She held her head high, even while cleaning up after her more careless patrons.

At the end of the bar opposite the door was a staircase on which sat a girl about Meredydd’s age. She was huddled in a misery which seemed no less abject than Meredydd’s own, and rocked continuously back and forth, back and forth. While Meredydd watched, the woman behind the bar called to the girl sharply and she rose, moving awkwardly to the woman’s bidding.

Even in the half-light, Meredydd could tell she was pregnant. The woman continued to speak to the cailin harshly, gesturing with both hands. The words were lost in the field of chatter and mumbles that lay between them, but the gestures were clear enough to Meredydd. The girl was lazy, they said, had left something undone, had not listened, had not obeyed.

Her sympathy was immediate. She doubted this poor creature could have managed a disobedience comparable to her own and no one deserved to be derided before a room half-full of people. Not, Meredydd had to allow, that anyone was paying the least bit of attention. That implied the scene was not an unfamiliar one.

The front door opened a crack just then, and a small, shapeless figure appeared for an instant before the room was plunged once more into shifting gloom. Meredydd sat up straighter and strained her eyes in the direction of the door.

In seconds she was looking into a pale, grimy face that wore an incongruous grin.

“Hello, mistress,” said Gwynet and plopped down next to her on the hearth. “I thought you might be here after what happened...” She jerked her head toward the mercantile.

“How did you know about that?” Meredydd puzzled.

“I was about. I’m always about. Kind of have to be. Ruhf always needs somethin’ done.”

“Ruhf...he’s not-not your father, is he?”

The little girl let out a trill of laughter. “Oh, no, mistress! Whatever’d make ye think tha’? My folks’re dead. Ruhf, he just...looks after me.”

“He’s your guardian, then.”

“He gives me a place to sleep when I’m not on outs with him. Otherwise its the stable.” She grinned as if she had not just said something that twisted Meredydd’s heart.

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