Free The Pool of Two Moons by Kate Forsyth Page A

old they were worn deeply in the center. The rafters of the vaulted ceiling were black with age, the walls below decorated with gargoyles. Though Lilan-the had not been within four walls for many years—and had thought it would stifle her to be so again—she felt comfortable and at peace. Through a broken gap in the wall the night flowed dark and warm, and outside she sensed the forest pressing close. The old woman, huddled in shawls, was kind and sang as sweetly as any bird, and Lilanthe had been alone for so long. With a sigh, she nestled back into her blankets, casting a glance over the recumbent forms of the others. Dide was curled on the blankets near her foot, his mouth half open, his olive cheek flushed. He had a tender, vulnerable look about him that gave Lilanthe a strange wrenching in her rib-cage. She felt Enit's eyes upon her, and flushed.
    "How long will they sleep?" she whispered.
    "All night long, I imagine. I hope the Satyricorns will sleep as long. I have no' yet told ye the news. Your friend, Isabeau—Meghan's young apprentice. She's alive! Somehow she managed to escape the witch-sniffers and made her way here, sick with fever. Brun tended her nigh on a full moon, for she was close to death, he says, and then the Celestine hiding here healed her." The tree-shifter exclaimed in excitement and relief, the cluricaun Brun saying happily, "I knew she would make Is'beau better."
    "There was a Celestine here?" Lilanthe's eyes gleamed green with excitement.
    "Aye, one o' the few Celestines still willing to consort with humans. She is Cloudshadow, a witch-friend who has often helped the rebels in one way or another. She and Meghan o' the Beasts are very close."
    "So Isabeau is alive! She really and truly is still alive?"
    "Aye, she's alive, though maimed in body and spirit. Brun says Cloudshadow healed her as best she could, but Isabeau still lost two fingers o' her left hand. She was tortured, ye see, and given the pilliwinkes."
    "What are they?" Lilanthe's voice was faint.
    "Thumb and finger screws. They crush your fingers at the joint . . ." The tree-shifter gave a shudder. "Poor Isabeau, how awful! But at least she's alive."
    "She was last we heard, but the Satyricoms are on the prowl, and she had a long way to ride still . . ."
    "On her quest."
    "Aye—" Enit began, but was interrupted by the cluri-caun, who sat up solemnly, rocking forwards and back. "What force and strength canna get through, With a mere touch, I can undo." When they looked at him blankly, his tail drooped in disappointment. With one paw he made a gesture, like unlocking a door. Their expressions did not change, and he chanted the rhyme again. Enit said kindly, "I am curious still about the Celes-tine, Brun. Tell me, what else did Cloudshadow say?" Brun dropped his paw, bouncing a little in excitement. "She said Is'beau's head was wrapped in a veil, and that she had faery blood running in her veins . . ."
    "Isabeau's uile-bheistV Lilanthe gasped. "She's a half-breed like me?"
    " 'As much faery as human, if the people o' the Spine o' the World are included in your classifications,' " Brun quoted. Then in his normal voice, he said, "And she said that the answer was in the dark stars, and the coming o' winter is the time."
    "The coming o' winter? Dark stars?" Enit whispered, tangling her gnarled fingers in her amber beads which glittered with sunshiny fire. "She sounds as enigmatic as all the Celestines." Silence dropped over the little party as Enit's eyes grew dreamy and distracted. Then she stirred and rattled her beads. "I have told Brun he must come with us. It is no' safe for him here with the Satyricorns so unsettled. Even if he can keep them away from the Tower itself, they will have sent word to the Banrigh o' activity hereabouts, and soldiers will come, or witch-sniffers." Her voice was contemptuous, and they knew she referred to the seekers of the Awl as much as to the bounty-hunters that plagued the countryside. "There has been too