Sister Light, Sister Dark by Jane Yolen

Author:Jane Yolen
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
ISBN: 9781504034517
Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media

THE SONG:

Prophecy

The babe as white as snow,

A maiden tall shall grow,

And ox and hound bow low,

And bear and cat also.

Holy, holy, holy.

THE STORY:

When the song ended and the echo of it was gone as well, Jenna started up. “I am not the White Babe. Our Mother Alta said I was, but I reject that utterly. Look at me. Look!” She turned to her friends, her voice pleading. “Do I look like something from a prophecy?”

Carum reached up and pulled her down beside him. “Hush, Jenna,” he said, stroking her hand. “Hush. This is just an old woman’s whim. Let me deal with this. It is scholar’s work.” He spoke to the priestess. “That is a Garunian prophecy, Mother. The white babe and the bowing of hound and ox and the rest. But no one takes it seriously, no real scholar.” He smiled.

“Ah, young Longbow, and did you think you were the only scholar, the only real scholar, on the Isles?”

Carum’s cheeks flushed. “Of course not. But I surely didn’t expect to find one here.”

“Here, in this backwater, you mean? Amongst the warrior maidens? But we are not all warriors here, much as I must look the part to you.” She chuckled pleasantly. “Some of us must cook and some of us must clean and some of us must keep the rota of events, just as it is amongst you of the outer world. And some of us”—she leaned forward—“are real scholars.”

Settling back in her chair, she continued. “Who knows what I might have been in your world, Carum, for I am a daughter of a Garun lord. Yes, even I. But look at my hands, look deep into my eyes, and you will see the signs of my abandonment.” She held her six-fingered hands before her face. “I was a babe wrapped in cloth of gold and left on a heath long years after white-haired Alta had reaped the hillsides. Still the women of the Hames, to honor her, culled that forbidden crop. I was brought to this Hame and raised up to lead. Years later, when my father’s line had come to its barren end, a messenger sought out all the Hames to ask whether a blind child with twelve fingers had miraculously weathered the years. But my foster mother and sisters would not give me up, nor would I have gone if asked. I had pledged myself to Alta, and Alta’s I remain.” She stopped and tapped a finger to her mouth.

“It was clear to all that I was a strange child bound for a stranger destiny than death on a hillside. Yet no one knew what role I would play. I chose to study, and was curious about my father’s world, learning of it as I had learned all else, with my ears, the good, strong daughters of the mind. I have learned—through these ears, Carum—more than you shall ever through your eyes.”

“I apologize for my thoughtlessness, Mother,” said Carum, striking a fist against his chest.

“It is youth’s privilege to be thoughtless,” Mother Alta replied.

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