I shook my head. “The entire place is asleep.”
Uald frowned hard. It was not like Epona to miss that a visitor was coming.
“Why are you here?” Uald asked.
“Tavis is gravely ill. I must wake Druanne. She must go at once.”
“Oh, well, this will be interesting,” Uald said with a chuckle then rose.
“That’s why I need you. Will you go with her? I need to see Crearwy, but Tavis…”
“No. You stay. I will take Druanne.”
“I have a man at the old camp. He will ride with you.”
“Corbie has another man. That’s not much of a surprise.”
“Not that kind of man,” I said. I had enough problems to sort out without complicating things further by entertaining a romantic dalliance.
Uald rose and grabbed her things. She nodded to me.
We crossed the coven square to Druanne and Aridmis’ house. Uald knocked on the door.
There was a shuffle inside. A moment later, Aridmis, her blanket wrapped around her, opened the door.
“Good evening. Or is it morning?” she said.
“Who is it?” Druanne called.
“It’s Uald. And Cerridwen.”
“What?” Druanne asked sourly. Her bed creaked, and a moment later, Druanne appeared behind Aridmis. She scowled at me. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m here for you,” I said, biting back the hundred or so nasty words that wanted to spew from my mouth. “Tavis is with Madelaine at the keep. He took a sword wound and is gravely ill. The wound has festered. I think it may be in his blood. I have no proper medicines with me, and Fife’s healers are unlearned. We need you.”
“Where is Epona?” Druanne demanded.
“Asleep,” Uald answered, a sharp tone in her voice.
Aridmis looked at Druanne.
“And you want me to go…out there?” Druanne asked.
“I will ride with you,” Uald said. “And Cerridwen has an escort for us.”
“Oh…wonderful,” Druanne said, rolling her eyes so hard it must have hurt.
“Enough, Druanne. Tavis is dying. That man has been true to the secret of this coven and one of its daughters for many years. Please. Please come,” I said.
Druanne blew air through her lips then turned and went back into the house. I heard the rattle of boxes, bottles, and tools as she began collecting her things.
“I’ll get the horses ready,” Uald said then turned and headed back to her smithy.
Aridmis stepped outside, pulling her blanket more tightly around her.
“I wish you many felicitations,” Aridmis said. “I saw it there, your crowning,” she said, pointing to the heavens. “But wish I had seen it with my own eyes. Queen of Scotland.”
I nodded. “May the Goddess guide me.”
“Hmm,” Aridmis mused with a heavy shrug.
I looked at her. “Aridmis, you’re making me nervous.”
“What’s fair is foul and foul is fair,” she said.
“You’re not the first to say that to me,” I told her, remembering that Andraste had said those very words to me just before my entire life turned upside down.
“I know,” Aridmis said with a wink.
A moment later, Druanne reappeared, bags and boxes in hand. “I’m ready.”
I nodded to her then the three of us went to join Uald who was leading the horses. I took the reins of Uald’s steed, so she could mount.
“My man’s name is Killian,” I told Uald. “He is a loyal man. Ask him to take you to the keep. Please reassure him that I am safe here.”
Uald nodded.
I took Druanne’s things, so she could get on. As she settled in, I secured her bags and cases. “Thank you, Druanne.”
“Who am I to say no to the Queen of Scotland?” she said then turned her horse and headed toward the coven exit.
Uald shook her head then followed Druanne into the night.
Wordlessly, Aridmis and I watched them go.
I cast a glance around the coven. It was so quiet. It seemed to me some of the buildings had fallen into disrepair. Everything looked run down.
“What do your raven eyes see?” Aridmis whispered.
“I don’t know.”
“Decay. Decline.”
“Yes.”
“You must prepare yourself. As do we.”
“For what?”
Aridmis took my hand and led me to Epona’s house. Moving quietly, we went inside.
The light from the hearth made the place glow a soft orange color. Someone stirred in one of the rooms in the back. And a moment later, a shadow appeared in the eating area—but it wasn’t a person.
It was a dog.
A black puppy.
“Thora?”
The dog wagged her tail then walked over to me.
No, this wasn’t Thora. This pup had a spot of white just above her eye. I recognized the puppy. She wasn’t Thora, but she was one of the pups from Thora’s litter. Eochaid had done as I’d asked and delivered the puppy for me.
“Well, grand-dog-daughter, how do you fare?” I whispered, patting the dog on her head.
“She appeared in the coven not long ago. Uald swore she looked just like your dog. But Sid…Sid knew,” Aridmis said.
The puppy licked my face then went and lay down in front of the fire.
Aridmis lit a taper, and we headed to the back of the house where Epona slept.
At first, I was confused. In Epona’s bed was a woman whose advanced age put me in mind of Andraste. The woman had white hair tinged yellow. Her face was deeply lined and marred by age. She looked old and frail under her heavy blanket.
She sighed in her sleep.
It was then that I realized that the woman was Epona.
“Aridmis,” I whispered.
She nodded. “Her time is coming to an end.”
A soft sigh sounded from the other room. Aridmis shifted the candle, panning the light therein. On a small pallet was a little body lying under a heavy bear fur. A mop of dark hair fell from the bed to the floor.
Crearwy.
There was no denying she was my child, but in her placid face, relaxed with sleep, I saw the mirror of Gillacoemgain’s sister.
“That’s not possible,” I whispered.
“What’s not possible?” Aridmis asked.
“She looks like Gillacoemgain’s sister. Just like her.”
“And why isn’t that possible?” Aridmis asked.
“Because…”
Aridmis set her hand on my shoulder. “Goodnight, Cerridwen.”
I stared at Crearwy. It didn’t make any sense. Certainly, Gillacoemgain’s sister did share some looks with me, some small features, but it was almost as if I was starting at the shade herself.
“Aridmis,” I said, my heart thudding in my chest.
Aridmis turned and looked back at me. “Cerridwen, why should you be surprised? All children resemble their family,” she said then turned and exited Epona’s house, leaving me standing there, reeling at her words.
It wasn’t possible.
It just wasn’t possible.
Both Epona and I had seen a vision the night I was assaulted, a vision that showed us I would have twins. And Andraste had plainly stated that I carried Duncan’s children.
But Andraste tells lies.
The words echoed through my head. But whose words were they? My own? The Goddess? The raven?
Setting my candle down on the table beside Crearwy’s bed, I slipped onto the pallet beside her. Covering us both, I wrapped my arms around my daughter and pulled her close to me.
She stirred a little in her sleep then sighed contentedly.
Exhausted from the long night’s ride, worried for Tavis, confused about Epona, my mind in a fit of confusion, I lay staring at the wall.
Crearwy took my hand into hers. “Welcome home, Mother,” she whispered.