Dark Magic (48 page)

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Kaavi
said. She grabbed up this cloak, folded it neatly and stowed it in the nets along the gunwales that were hung like baskets for storage purposes. There it wouldn’t be soaked with the water that sloshed at the bottom of the skiff.

All the while she worked, Brand’s eyes drifted to watch her. His heart quickened in his chest to see her, moving precisely and primly. Her shape was so attractive he found himself wondering why he had not volunteered
himself
to find a wife among the Fae. He envied the men he’d led to that mystical place. They were off bedding new wives like this…fantastic women who would never grow old, careworn and slow.

Brand shook his head suddenly, as might a man who awakens from a dream. He saw she was sitting beside him again, very close. Her body was in contact with his, and when he moved the tiller, he could not help but touch her.

“I say, could you move up to the prow again?” he asked.

“Whatever for?” she asked.

“I’m a married man,” he explained.

“So?”

“Well, I know it is not the same for your folk, but I’m feeling an urge to…” he said, and trailed off, not wanting to put his thoughts into words. “Anyway, it would be better if you did not sit so close.”

Kaavi stared at him for a time, then tilted her head charmingly and gave him a knowing smile. “Take me,” she said. “If that is your wish.”

“What?” Brand croaked. It was hard to think. He felt a surge of excitement run through him.

“Right now,” she said. “Before we get too close to your home.”

“I’ve just finished telling you I’m married—”

“I will not tell any tales!” she said.

“I don’t want to hurt her.”

“Exactly,” Kaavi said, almost in a whisper. She leaned conspiratorially close again, and he caught her wonderful scent. “You must hurry, if your wife is not to know!”

Brand kissed her suddenly. She responded immediately, passionately. He almost lost control. Something distracted him, however. Something that prodded at his spine tenaciously. It was extremely irritating. He felt a weight on his back, and he reached back to scratch it or remove it, with violence if necessary.

The axe handle slapped into his hand. A hot rush of rage coursed through him. His eyes bulged until they all but popped from his head. He stood in the skiff, causing it to slide and wallow. Kaavi, who had crawled up into his lap, fell to the bottom of the boat in shock. The axe rode high in the air, his white knuckles wrapped tightly around the haft. He could not recall drawing it, but there it was.

Ambros spoke into his mind:
Slay this witch before thou art lost, fool!

The axe released a yellow flash of silent lightning. The brilliance echoed back from the trees around them. A dozen birds launched themselves from branches, screeching in fright.

Kaavi crawled quickly away from him toward the prow of the skiff. He moved to follow her, but the sails got in the way and fouled his legs with infernal ropes and ties.

Brand’s axe struck and chopped through the mast, cleaving it down. The Golden Eye of Ambros flashed as it bit into the wood and cut right through it. With an oath, he heaved and kicked the mass of wood and canvas over the side. The sails were still attached by ropes to the skiff, however. They slowed the boat and caused it to twist around and become caught on boulders as they passed by. Brand paid none of this any heed. He advanced on the cowering elf girl, the temptress who’d dared place her spell over him.

Kaavi knelt before him in the prow of the boat. Clearly, by the terror in her face, she felt her life was forfeit.

“I am the axeman!” he roared, and he lifted the axe again.

“I plead for your forgiveness and mercy, axeman!”

“You have tempted me with your person!” he cried. “You must confess: you were sent here by your father to cause me discord and strife, weren’t you?”

“You asked to bring me here, milord!”

Brand blinked. Some part of him which was still whole and clear-minded asserted her words were truth, but he was not yet dissuaded. The axe had not tasted blood for months, and it hungered for a meal.

“Can you deny you have flirted and caused me no end of lustful thoughts? Was this not done purposefully?”

“I thought you enjoyed my company, Lord Rabing.”

Brand gave a roar of frustration through his gritted teeth. Spittle flew, and the elf girl cowered further. “
Of course
I enjoyed it! That is not the point! You were sent here to disrupt my family, to ruin my home. I beg you to deny it!”

“Then I do so: I deny your accusation.”

Brand knew now that he was in the right. His face split into a broad grin. The Amber Jewel in the axe flared bright with anticipation, and he took it into both hands at once. Ambros filled him with a sense of justice and well-being.

“Lies!” he roared. “You have compounded your slattern actions with
LIES!
”

Kaavi shook her head emphatically. “I cannot help my nature, Lord Rabing. I beg of thee, do not slay me as you have slain my twin sister!”

Brand faltered then. His grin faded, and he stared at her for a time. She spoke further, but he heard none of it. Her voice was like the babbling of the River itself that flowed beneath his boat. His axe stayed upraised, lifted high and shining brightly, competing with the sun itself.

He knew now why her face had been too lovely to him, why he had almost recognized her and felt so haunted by her beauty. This girl was full-grown now, but she was the same as the elf girl he had once cut down upon a Fae mound in the Twilight Lands. He had carried a silver lock of her hair for years, and had only recently set it aside in a cedar box for safe-keeping.

Brand sank down onto the boat’s stern bench and replaced the axe on his back. It went reluctantly, squirming to get past its master’s will as might a hound that smells fresh meat. He forced it away and felt tired when it left his mind. He sat there on the bench for an hour while the elf girl wept. Brand ignored her, lost in thought.

At long last, he cut free the wrecked mast, rope and sails. He began to pole the river bottom, pushing the skiff toward home.

Kaavi watched him all the while, not daring to speak further. Her eyes were wide with fear. Each time he moved suddenly, she winced or ducked away from him. He handed her his cloak again.

“Put this on,” he said.

This time, she did so without argument.

When the sun had almost set, they arrived on Rabing Isle, tired and late. Brand wondered what Telyn would say when she met this pair on her doorstep. It was sure to be an awkward homecoming.

Chapter Four

The Houseguest

When they arrived, Telyn was in the upstairs window. He could see she had out one of her enchanted candles. He didn’t like when she made such things, as one never knew what they might attract. This time, however, he decided he would say nothing. He’d been gone a month, rather than the few promised nights, and she was with child. How could he complain if she’d done whatever she could to guide him home to her?

“Brand?” she cried out.

“I’m home, love!” he shouted back. He tried to inject as much joy into his voice as he could. It wasn’t difficult to do. Home had rarely looked so good to him.

She ran down from above, but it was Jak who threw the door open first and came out, lifting a lantern. Lanet and Telyn rushed out after him. There were shouts and greetings from all sides. Brand trotted forward and hugged everyone. To him, he’d only been gone a few nights, but to them it had been a long and worrisome wait. His joy was not based upon the length of absence, but the degree of peril the journey had presented. He felt as if he’d truly been away a month or more.

The biggest shock for Brand was the swelling in Telyn’s midsection. Soft but firm, she was definitely showing. The outward signs of her pregnancy befuddled Brand. He was not quite sure if he should acknowledge it or not, knowing that some women worried overmuch about their appearance at these times. To him, it was not unsightly, but wondrous instead.

“Brand?” asked Telyn after the initial rush of greetings subsided. “Who’s that?”

She pointed at the edge of the apple orchard. Kaavi’s small form stood there, lithe and quiet, almost hidden among the trees.

“Oh yes,” said Brand, clearing his throat with a touch of self-consciousness. “Come on forward, Kaavi. I’d forgotten to introduce you in the excitement. My apologies.”

Kaavi came forward, but she did so with huge watchful eyes and a mouth that trembled more than smiled. Damn the girl, did she have to look so frightened and guilty?

“This is Oberon’s daughter,” Brand explained. He quickly told them she had been left without a matching husband after that fool, Bret Silure, managed to drink himself into a stupor and wander off the path around the mound. The others gasped in horror at the idea he was lost in-between the two worlds. He did not share with them the grim details of his death.

“Poor thing,” said Lanet, coming up to Kaavi, who had stepped further from the shelter of the apple trees. They could all see her silver hair and her lovely face, which still wore a worried expression.

The shadows were getting long, and the world was growing much darker. Kaavi looked around at her surroundings suspiciously. “Is this darkness? I’ve never really seen it before. I’ve only spent the one night here, at the Inn.”

“Yes dear,” Lanet said, standing at the strange girl’s side. “This is night. We see quite a bit of it here, I’m afraid.”

“It gets beastly cold at night, doesn’t it?”

“Oftentimes, yes.”

“Lord Rabing refused to allow me to share his bed last night,” Kaavi said. “Will I be forced to sleep alone and cold again this eve?”

Everyone stopped talking. They all turned and stared at Kaavi for a second. Telyn wore a particularly strange expression. Brand thought it was a mix of shock, dismay and embarrassment.

“How long will you be staying with us, Kaavi?” asked Telyn quietly.

“Until I find a bedmate to warm me!” she said brightly. “That’s why I’m here, after all.”

There was another moment of uncomfortable silence. Everyone except Kaavi was embarrassed. She seemed to have lost much of her fear. She walked forward between them and looked into the doorway, turning her face this way and that. She stood on tiptoes and kept her hands on the doorjamb, leaning inside as if she were examining a house full of spiders.

“Do you have any luggage, dear?” asked Telyn from behind her.

“Luggage? What’s that?”

“Never mind.”

Lanet came up to Telyn and touched her shoulder. “I’ll take her inside and find our guest a room upstairs.”

Telyn nodded and Lanet went inside, leading Kaavi. The two women gave one another significant glances. Brand watched this interplay uneasily. Telyn and Lanet got along so well, they often seemed to know what the other was thinking. He wondered what the secret was this time. He hoped perhaps the women would be equally accepting of Kaavi—different though she might be.

Jak quietly followed his wife into the doorway. Throughout the greeting, he’d scarcely said a word. Now, however, when Telyn’s back was to him, he caught Brand’s eye. He grinned hugely at his brother and made a slashing gesture at his throat. Brand watched him disappear, frowning. Did he mean Brand was in some kind of danger?

He only had to return his gaze to Telyn’s face to grasp Jak’s meaning. His wife’s arms were crossed and her mouth was a tight line of disapproval.

“Yes,” she said, “I’m still here. Nice of you to tear your eyes from your nymph and look at me again.”

“What?” he said.

“She’s nearly naked, so I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised.”

“No,” he said, “I was looking at Jak.”

She rolled her eyes at him. “You can do better than that, Brand.”

“No, really.”

Telyn whirled and stepped very close. He saw she had a knife in her hand. Damn, the girl had always been quick with her blade. She brought it up into his face, but he caught her wrist. She glared at him, and he stared back in shock. The axe trembled on his back, begging to be let loose, but he ignored it. This was his wife, after all.

“Just tell me one thing,” she said. “Have you put your hands on her?”

“What do you—”

“You
know
what I mean.”

“Keep your voice down,” he hissed. He could not recall having seen her so jealous before. He had never really given her cause before, however.

“Did you, or did you not—” she began.

“She told you herself I refused to let her into my bed,” he said.

She stared at him, and nodded at last. “All right. But something happened, didn’t it? You’ve had your hands on her. I can smell her on you. I can smell your guilt, too.”

Brand tried not to look even more guilty. “The Fae are not like us, Telyn. She doesn’t mean anything by it. She tempted me—and I almost killed her. I brought her here, because I lost her promised husband, and then I almost cut her in twain. That’s why I feel guilty.”

“All right,” she said again, and this time she put away her knife. “But I’m a Fob girl Brand—not some silly Drake princess. I’ll cut her eyes out while she sleeps.”

Brand knew she meant it. “You won’t need to,” he said.

Finally, he walked into his house and sought a comfortable chair and a mug of berrywine. He listened to the sounds of feet on the floorboards over his head. The women were finding a place for Kaavi and providing her with bedding and the like. Their voices sounded cheerful enough, but he knew better. He decided he would have to rid himself of Kaavi as soon as possible to know peace in his house again.

He gulped his wine and cast the swill at the bottom of the mug into the fire, where it hissed and sizzled. It had not been the homecoming he had anticipated.

* * *

Mari had named her baby boy Trev after his great grandfather Trev Bowen, who’d been the leader of Clan Bowen many years ago. Her husband Puck had offered no objections to the name. A year had passed and Trev had grown strong, but he was still silent. He almost never cried, and when he did, his mother had to lean close to hear him. She hoped the boy would not turn out to be a mute. On top of being the only half-elf Mari knew of in the Haven, such a further disappointment would be hard to bear and would permanently move her son onto the list of persons none wished to associate with.

Her mother had whispered of odd things that could go wrong when a woman dared give birth to a child of mixed heritage—that creatures like trolls and ogres were born of such unions. Trev looked normal enough, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t twisted up inside somehow. Mother had warned of possible horrors with a hushed voice and narrowed eyes. Sometimes, Mari caught mother looking into Trev’s ears or peering down his throat as if he might be hiding a second tongue. Mari hated mother more than usual when she did these things. She told herself it was all foolishness—but she couldn’t help but worry all the same.

Puck was gone often from their modest cottage in the Haven Woods. He left to perform the strange doings of his kind every fall and winter, but generally returned in spring and summer. Mari had often grilled him on the topic, making sure he had never frolicked with the nymphs of his homelands. Many times he had to assure her his duties were more mundane, such as the transport of messages from his father Oberon to other lords in other lands. He explained that a few days of travel in the Fae lands might make weeks pass here in her world, so it seemed he was gone longer than he really was.

Mari accepted his explanations, but she also knew the reverse was often true—sometimes a year in her world went by in a day in the Twilight Lands. She trusted her husband, of course…but she worried. It was not natural for his kind to forsake the pleasures of feminine company for so long. Had they not met as he did his best to seduce her in the woods? What new maiden was he off wooing with his pipes and his dancing?

It was one fresh morning after a light rain in spring
when a knock came at her door.  Puck was due home but had yet to return. It was a heavy knock, and it made her cottage door shake slightly with the rapping. She hesitated at the door before opening it, knowing it could not be Puck. He would have come home piping in the woods or calling sweetly to her.

Mari glanced over toward Trev, who sat near the fire. He could walk now, but did not do so often. She sucked in her breath, because Trev was standing. He stood freely, with his hands out to his sides to balance himself. His wide, staring eyes were fixated upon the door. His silver locks hung around his shoulders and reflected the dancing light of the cookfire.

The door shook again as three sharp raps rained upon it. Mari stood, uncertain. If she did not open the door, perhaps the strangers would go away.

She heard voices then. The twitter of one that was high and light of tone. A girl’s voice, or that of a young woman. Another spoke after her, and she was able to make out muffled words.

“No. There is nothing for it. You will have to search elsewhere for what you require.”

Mari sensed the man was about to rap again, and that this pair had no intention of leaving her doorstep. The fact another female was present eased her mind. She told herself she had worried about nothing, and she opened the door.

“Lord Rabing?” she asked in surprise. Brand stood before her.

“Sorry for the intrusion, Mari. I did not know where else to turn.”

Mari admired this man, this hero of the Haven who stood on her doorstep. She smiled at him, pleased to have such a guest.

“I’m honored, please come in,” she said.

It was only as he passed her at the door that she saw the other who had come with him. She was tiny and perfect in form, with a face that shone with beauty. Mari knew right away she was looking at an elf girl. A young one, but still mature enough to attract any man who was in sight of her.

“And who might you be?” Mari asked.

“I’m Kaavi!”

“I’m sorry,” said Brand, addressing Mari. “I should have introduced you. This is Kaavi, she’s an elf maiden from Oberon’s court. She is in fact, his daughter.”

Mari blinked at him. Slowly, her mind calculated the situation. She knew Brand had led a pack of fools off into the Twilight Lands to meet arranged wives among the Fae. Could this visit be related?

“Oh, look at him!” exclaimed Kaavi. With startling speed that made Mari twitch protectively, the elf trotted to Trev and swept him up in her arms. “He’s so lovely, so perfect. You must be proud, Mari.”

“Yes, I—we are very proud of him.”

Kaavi studied Trev’s eyes, and he studied her with great seriousness. “I’m your auntie Kaavi,” she told the baby boy. “Can you say that? Can you say
Kaavi
?”

Auntie
Kaavi? It was only at that moment that Mari realized Kaavi was her kin by marriage. As Puck was Oberon’s son, and Kaavi was his daughter, that made this elf her sister-in-law. It was something of a shock to Mari and it was as if she was jolted out of a dream.

“Oh dear! My stars!” she said. “Kaavi, I’m so sorry. Welcome to my home. I just didn’t even see you standing out there behind Brand, he’s such a mountain of a man.”

“Isn’t he though?” asked Kaavi, giving Brand a wink.

“Ah…” said Mari, her eyes drifting between the two wonderingly. Brand looked embarrassed and annoyed. Mari wondered for an instant just what had gone on between these two, but knew better than to ask. “In any case, I welcome you to my home, Kaavi. A sister of Puck’s is of course a sister of mine.”

“Thank you, milady,” Kaavi purred. She still held Trevor up and gazed into his face. He was returning her stare, as he was apt to do.

“Ahem,” said Brand, clearing his throat. “I’m here to ask a favor, Mari.”