Witches, Princesses, and Women at Arms by Sacchi Green

Author:Sacchi Green
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Witches, Princesses, and Women at Arms
ISBN: 9781627782289
Publisher: Cleis Press
Published: 2017-03-22T16:00:00+00:00

THE MARK AND THE CAUL

Annabeth Leong

A desperately poor woman gave birth to a baby girl and rejoiced because the child came into the world with her face hidden by a caul. The woman knew that sailors would pay good coin for the bit of flesh, since legend told that it would protect its bearer from drowning.

As soon as she recovered from her time abed, the woman walked with the baby and the caul to the riverside docks to find a sailor. In a loud and dirty inn, she negotiated a transaction that would keep her family fed for several weeks and even allow them to buy a little meat. She turned toward the door with a smile, but before she could escape, an ancient soothsayer grabbed her by the elbow.

“Let me tell the child’s future,” creaked the crone.

The woman would have dodged away, but the sailor raised his glass and demanded a prophecy, and she did not wish for him to change his mind about the coin he’d given her.

The soothsayer brushed her thumb through the soft, black hair atop the baby girl’s head, and peered into her still unfocused eyes. “I see a life of good fortune,” she intoned. The onlookers at the bar drank to that and cheered, and the poor woman tried again to tug free. The soothsayer’s grip remained strong. “At nineteen,” she continued, “the babe will marry the king’s daughter.”

The bar’s patrons burst into guffaws, for they knew the child was a girl. The soothsayer frowned, and the poor woman hugged her daughter closer. One never wished to anger those with strange powers—a prediction of good fortune could become a curse at any moment. She bowed deeply. “Thank you, Mother. I will hold your words close to my heart.” The moment she could, she broke away and returned home, praising God for her windfall.

The poor woman thought no more of the soothsayer’s prophesy, but the sailor carried the story far and wide, laughingly repeating it to any who would listen. Before long, it reached the ear of King Harold himself. Rather than waving the prophecy away with a chuckle, as his advisors did, the king, who was a deeply superstitious man, spent several sleepless nights pondering its meaning.

He intended for his daughter, Lucinda, to marry a neighboring king as soon as she was of age. Over barley wine, he and his friend had hammered out the details of the marriage before Lucinda was born, and the king was looking forward to the strategic trade routes he would control as a result of the union. What’s more, King Harold was disturbed by the thought of his daughter bound in an unnatural union with another woman.

He made his decision and set out to find the baby girl who had been born with a caul. Thanks to the king’s money and power, the task was not difficult, and before long, he disguised himself as a wealthy foreign merchant and knocked at the poor woman’s door.

“Good woman,” the king

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