“ ’Tis worse than you say,” said Ian MacGreavy. “For that woman’s coven believes that she was turned in to the authorities by two of our own! They’re accusing Wodebaynes of naming her as a witch!”
“No!” everyone grumbled. “It can’t be!”
“But there are no Wodebaynes residing in the south,” said Falkner’s mother.
“Aye, but at the time two of our own happened to be traveling south, right through the Wyndonkylles’ village,” the miller answered.
“Will we never have justice?” one elder railed. It was Howland Bigelow, an old woodcrafter. “Once again we’re being blamed for someone else’s evil! Why don’t they just heap more condemnation upon our already burdened reputation?”
I felt the ire of the coveners rising as folks broke into smaller groups to tell their own tales of hateful acts against Wodebaynes. A few times in the past we had discussed bigotry in the circle, but never with this level of unrest and anger. The glitter of hatred in Ian MacGreavy’s eyes harkened me back to the time I had witnessed him casting a dark spell, and I wondered if any of the other coveners had turned to black magick in private. Perhaps Aislinn, the young rebel, not much older than me, who often railed against the bigots who hated us?
I pressed a hand to my bodice, worried about the child within. I was convinced my bairn was a girl—another future high priestess. But she could not come into a world of hatred and chaos; this rancor had to subside before my child entered this life.
“ ’Twould be wise to calm your tempers and your fears,” came a firm voice. Coveners looked to my mother, who spoke with the authority of the high priestess. “I daresay this is nothing new.”
“But Síle, it’s getting worse!” old man Bigelow claimed. “I’ve half a mind to cast a dark spell upon the Wyndonkylles to show them what real black magick is. We’re taking the blame for it; we might as well do the deed!”
My mother remained quiet while people grumbled, then answered, “Howland, I know you are far too gentle a man to ever wish harm upon another.”
“Oh, I can wish,” he said. “I can wish the Goddess would send a mist over their fields to dampen the soil. Ruin their planting!”
“He’s right!” Aislinn pushed into the center of the group. “Haven’t we endured enough hatred? Isn’t it time to fight back?”
People murmured in approval, nodding.
I couldn’t believe how eager the folks in our coven were to engage in a war between clans. I winced, realizing how impossible it would be to see Diarmuid if we took to fighting.
“That is quite enough!” Síle said sternly.
The coveners fell silent as she demanded their attention. “We’ll have no more talk of evil spells. Have you all forgotten your own initiation into the circle? Your vow to do the Goddess’s will? Have you forgotten that you committed yourself to foster love and peace under the Goddess’s sky?”
Aislinn tucked a loose tress of red hair behind her ear and let out a disappointed sigh, but most of the others seemed thoughtful. They seemed to be listening to Ma’s words.
“Remember the Witch’s Rede?” Síle asked in a commanding voice. “Whatever you desire, whatever you ask of the Goddess, let it harm no one. And remember that as you give, so it shall return threefold.”
“ ’Tis right thinking, Síle,” Ian MacGreavy said. “This coven will never engage in dark magick, so ’tis futile to waste words upon it.”
I looked at him in awe, remembering his own dark rite. What a hypocrite he was!
But Ma seemed satisfied as the coveners broke into small groups and talked of other matters. My mother had calmed the uproar, but discontent hung in the warm summer night. I worried that this could brew into a terrible storm and vowed to share my fears with Diarmuid.
The next morning as I went to meet Diarmuid, I felt a strange heaviness inside. The coven’s anger was still roiling inside me, along with my breakfast. I realized that the sour feeling might be from carrying my baby. Perhaps there was a spell in Ma’s Book of Shadows to alleviate it? I would have to take another look. I had been reading up on many of her spells lately—including one I wanted to try with Diarmuid. Although Ma had encouraged me to study her Book of Shadows, I didn’t think she had expected me to find the entry on love magick. It claimed that couples sometimes made love in the center of the circle, offering their love force to the Goddess! Nothing like that had ever taken place in our coven circles, but I felt drawn to the idea of making love magick with Diarmuid.
I was also unsettled by the fact that I had lost my love charm. I had taken to carrying the rose stone in my pocket ever since Diarmuid and I first shed our clothes, but I had not come across it for weeks now. ’Twas not the best of days.
Diarmuid was in a far better mood. He chased me through the clearing, swiping at my skirts and wrestling me onto the grassy moss. The carefree play lifted my spirits, but after we kissed for a while, he sensed that something was wrong.
“Rose, there’s no light in your eyes today. What is it, love?”
I told him about the trouble brewing between the Wyndonkylles and Wodebaynes.
“I’ve heard the same tale,” he said. “But surely the Wodebaynes aren’t involved.”
“We are not, but we’re being blamed, and I fear a storm brewing among the clans. A war that would destroy our chances of ever seeing each other again.”
“I won’t let that happen,” he insisted.
“Then we must take action now.” I paused, reluctant to push. “Let me ask you, Diarmuid, when you think of us, how do you picture us being together?”
“I have always wanted to marry you, Rose,” he said, his eyes bright with promise. “Can’t you see us two in the circle for a handfasting?”
“I’ll wager I’ve imagined it,” I said, studying his beautiful face. “Oh, Diarmuid, we should marry. And soon. Let it happen now.”
“Today?” he joked. “Let me run and fetch my ma, for she won’t want to miss it.”
“Would that it could happen so soon.”
“Aye, sooner. That it happened yesterday and we’re an old married couple, with me poking around the cottage and asking you what’s for dinner.”
“ ’Twould be a blessing. Far better than what I fear might happen.”
“Stop that!” He pressed his hands over my eyes, then over my ears. “Don’t listen to what the coven folk say. We are going to be married.” He stood up and straightened his white shirt. “I’ll go to my coven today and tell them everything. That I love you, that you’re the best thing under the Goddess’s blue sky, and that we’re to be married.”
“And if they argue that you’re marrying a Wodebayne—”
“They won’t. I will not give them the chance.” He pulled me to my feet. “I love you, Rose. I’ll make things right for us.”
In that moment I knew he would. The Goddess had chosen a true hero for me.
I went up on my toes and kissed him. “And I have a spell to help us through. Have you ever heard of love magick?”
Diarmuid smiled. “No, but I think I will like it.”
The spell in Ma’s Book of Shadows was simple. I swept the circle and told Diarmuid to shed his clothes, lie back, and think of what we wanted to dedicate ourselves to.
When I had finished the preparations, I lay beside him, staring at the cloudy sky. “Picture us together,” I whispered, “our union accepted by our clans, by all clans.” I reached over and touched his shoulder. He quickly turned on his side and kissed me.
“Would we be together like this?” he asked, running a hand along my thigh.
“Aye, always.”
“As close as this?” He lifted his body over mine and pressed against me.
“Aye,” I whispered, focusing on our union, offering our act to the Goddess. Within the circle our bodies rose in heat and splendor, and I felt the glow of our love rising to the heavens.