Moons' Dreaming (Children of the Rock) (79 page)

“
Sorry.
”

Deprived of one reason to be annoyed, Doron transferred her attention to the woman who had arrived with Pirse. Brownmother Seildon was pleasant enough to look at, perhaps older than herself, certainly plumper and much shorter. In the warmth of the house she
’
d removed her black robes long enough to shed several layers of woolen tunics and trousers. Then she
’
d resumed her robes, rolled up her sleeves, convinced a still astounded Doron to allow herself to be examined, and sent Pirse to bring in extra firewood with the pronouncement that the baby would be born before the day was out. Doron had fumed quietly for an hour as Seildon and Pirse bustled about, moving her bed, foraging in her cupboard, and generally disregarding her venomous glares. She had almost worked herself up to throwing them both out, falling snow or no falling snow, when she felt her water break. She must have made some sound of surprise, because Seildon took one look at her and ordered her to bed.

After that she lost her desire to be alone. Seildon
’
s confidence and obvious experience was rather comforting. She fixed a hot drink for Doron that dulled the labor pains to manageable aches. Pirse obeyed the instructions she gave him immediately and without question. He
’
d spoken to Doron of Raisal and Rhenlan and the fact that Brown and Redmothers were still relatively common there. Still, she had never expected to meet one. She certainly hadn
’
t expected him to bring a Brownmother directly from Garden Vale, a student of Greenmother Jenil, just to midwife her. Juniper Ridge had several women skilled in midwifing. She
’
d intended to call one of them. What if they thought she didn
’
t trust them?

“
That
’
s another thing,
”
she complained aloud.
“
If you
’
d come a day later, you would have missed the birth in spite of everything. What would have been the use of your foolishness then?
”

Although she
’
d meant the words for Pirse, Seildon was the one to reply.
“
Call the journey dangerous, but not foolish. Even if we had been delayed I don
’
t believe it would have made a difference. The child would have waited for us.
”

“
Indeed?
”
Pirse sounded skeptical, which delighted Doron.

Seildon remained unperturbed.
“
Indeed. The gods speak to Dreamers, you know.
”

Another contraction swept through Doron, gripping her body as tightly as the confusion that gripped her mind. She kept forgetting this child would not be like her. Or like Pirse. Trying to forget. She didn
’
t know how to raise a Dreamer child! Pirse said there was nothing to worry about, that children were children, but Doron had heard enough tales to know that Dreamer children required special training. Bending of power, they called it. Dreamers had to be taught the laws of magic. Pirse said such training was years away. Far off it might be, but the moment was there, waiting for her, for this child she had yet to meet. This child, who was presently doing her best to burst into the world.

“
Are you comfortable?
”
Seildon asked. Doron looked up in disbelief, only to discover that the Brownmother was looking past her, at Pirse.
“
You have to be braced to support her.
”

Pirse shifted very slightly behind her.
“
I
’
m ready.
”

“
Good. With the next contraction, Doron, you push.
”

The contraction began an instant later. Doron lost track of everything except the demands of her body. At some point Seildon shifted from the bed to the floor, and knelt close between Doron
’
s legs, offering encouragement. Doron wasn
’
t sure whether the encouragement was for her or for Pirse or for the baby. It didn
’
t matter. Nothing mattered except the need of the baby to be free.

Doron was able to rest for a moment after the head emerged. She relaxed her crushing grip on Pirse
’
s hands. He bent his head to peer at her face, and gently brushed a few damp strands of hair from her forehead.

Another flurry of activity and it was over. Seildon lay the naked baby on her stomach and draped a blanket over them both while they waited for the afterbirth.

“
Her eyes,
”
Doron whispered.
“
She
’
s looking at me.
”

“
An alert, healthy daughter,
”
Seildon confirmed.
“
You should be very proud of yourselves.
”

Pirse reached over Doron
’
s shoulder to touch a tiny fist.
“
Should she be so small?
”

“
She is not small,
”
the Brownmother said firmly.
“
She
’
s a perfectly normal-sized baby.
”

“
Oh.
”

Seildon set the prince to work clearing away the soiled bedclothes and straightening up while she made Doron comfortable. As soon as she and the baby were clean and dry
—
admittedly a temporary state for her daughter
—
Doron snuggled the baby to her breast and contentedly closed her eyes.

* * *

The faint glow from the embers of the banked fire provided the only illumination in the sleeping loft. On the bed, a mound of blankets muffled the outlines of the sleepers. The black-robed figure materialized next to the fireplace. Cedar-scented smoke mixed unobtrusively with the other odors of the hearth. Leaning forward soundlessly, Morb peered at the tiny face beneath its cap of black hair. The mother, lying on her side with one arm crooked protectively over her infant, slept on. Behind her, the blanket moved. Morb straightened and disappeared.

Outside, a row of three black-hooded figures leaned with various degrees of patience against the yard fence. The row became four. Sheyn and Keyn floated high above the treetops; their light sparkled on the snow. Aage
’
s teeth flashed in a quick, appreciative grin.
“
She
’
s going to be a beauty,
”
he told the other wizard.

Jenil buried her hands in her sleeves.
“
You might give the child a decade or two to grow up.
”

“
They should move to a warmer part of the world.
”
Morb shifted from one sandal-clad foot to the other.
“
Wherever the child is trained, it won
’
t do to have her snow-bound here half the year.
”

“
Be honest,
”
Jenil said.
“
It
’
s the Prince
’
s mobility you
’
re worried about.
”

“
The dragons aren
’
t going to stop coming,
”
Morb warned.

Savyea glanced over at him.
“
You should have worn boots, dear.
”

“
Too uncomfortable,
”
Morb grouched back.

“
Parenthood won
’
t make the Prince give up monster-slaying,
”
Aage said.
“
According to Sene, if anything, a wife and family will make him more diligent.
”

“
More aware of the needs of this village, certainly,
”
Jenil said.
“
No harm in widening his perspective.
”

They contemplated the silent house and its unsuspecting occupants for a long moment.

Savyea spoke, voice warm with approval.
“
They named her Emlie.
”

“
I
’
m glad,
”
Jenil agreed.

“
Well, time we all got back to work,
”
Morb said.

One by one, the cloaked shapes, black as their double shadows, winked out of sight.

Snow squeaked beneath Vray
’
s boots as she emerged from the river path onto the village square. The thinly clouded sky was bright, almost as white as the layer of snow that blanketed the landscape. The cloth cover of a mattress propped against an upended table was a conspicuous splash of color in the center of the square. A short distance to Vray
’
s right, at the edge of the square in front of the smithy, Jordy and his three archer apprentices stood in a loose line, facing the mattress.

Vray paused. She had spent an entire morning trying to establish a chronological order for some of old Cannisi
’
s ramblings, and she longed for the comforting silence of lunch with Cyril. It was not the least bit amusing to find her route blocked by the makeshift archery range Jordy had set up just after the midwinter gathering.

Today
’
s archery lesson seemed to be taking longer than usual. The only safe course would be to go around behind Jordy and his pupils. That would require exchanging at least a minimal greeting with the carter. Vray
’
s seething dissatisfaction intensified at the thought. She had managed to avoid him for nearly a nineday, mostly by making herself aware of his plans and then arranging to be elsewhere herself. So far he
’
d ignored her absences from meals, but she couldn
’
t guess how long such permissiveness would continue. Tob and Pepper were already annoyed with her, and Matti regarded her with wide, troubled eyes when she came down for her late breakfasts. Neither girl had asked for a bedtime story for the past three nights. Cyril, as always, seemed oblivious to the people around her.

The rest of the village, as far as Vray knew, was equally unaware of any tension in the carter
’
s household. That would change, however, instantly and irretrievably, if she snubbed Jordy publicly. She didn
’
t want to become the focus of village attention. She wasn
’
t ready to be any kind of center of attention. It would serve no purpose.

To her left, the gate to the inn yard squeaked lightly as it swung open. Herri smiled when he saw her, the sleeves of his sweater pushed up past his elbows and the ever-present apron protecting his thick gray trousers.

“
Iris.
”
His breath misted and drifted upward in the cold air.
“
You
’
ve been busy these days. How
’
s Canissi?
”

“
Verbose,
”
she replied, then smiled to blunt the edge of bitterness that had crept into the single word.
“
Getting information from an untrained source is difficult.
”

She found herself moving with Herri in the direction of the archery class. As they drew near, Jordy
’
s voice became audible, offering Lim instructions for his next shot. A corner of Vray
’
s memory noted the advice, compared it with similar lessons she
’
d heard long ago, and acknowledged the carter
’
s expertise. Most of her attention, however, was on Lim and the other young people, and her continued nagging unhappiness with what they were doing.

This particular lesson at least seemed nearly over. Fifteen-year-old Heather and her elder sister Haant were unstringing their bows even as they listened to Jordy. Lim pulled the last arrow from the quiver at his back and took aim at the defenseless mattress sixty paces away. When the arrow left the string, she could not resist turning her head with the rest to watch its flight. Old straw dribbled from the new rip in the mattress cover as the arrow buried itself next to a dozen others near the center of the target. Vray fleetingly, trivially, wondered who had donated the mattress and if they had entertained any unrealistic hope of reclaiming the poor thing when Jordy and his apprentices were finished with it.

“
Well done, lad. All of you can retrieve your arrows.
”
Haant and Heather started for the target. Lim caught Vray
’
s eye and grinned proudly as he unstrung his bow.