"I don't want to lie," the newly named Seirach said firmly. "I've had enough of lying."
"Not a lie. Just a slight… exaggeration. Ah well, we'll see."
I raised my arm. Seirach, puzzled, raised his own, and I let my hand rest on it, feeling it warm and solid and, yes, human. The first rays of the morning sun dazzling us, we went together back to Woodedge.
ELISABETH WATERS
Amber awoke with a start, her heart pounding. She had fallen asleep—over a spell book and dreamed the same dream again. And even though she was awake now, she could still feel the presence of the spirit who had been lurking in her dreams for more than two weeks. It was getting harder to convince herself that they were only dreams and that the feeling of not being alone in the house was only her overactive imagination.
She sat up, stretching cramped muscles and forcing herself to breathe deeply and slowly in an attempt to calm her rattled nerves. The sun shone brightly through the window she had left unshuttered the night before, highlighting the supper dishes she had pushed to one side when she started reading. A flower lay on the plate: a single blossom that had not been there the night before. One forget-me-not.
Her breath came quickly again as she lifted the flower with a shaking hand. "So now I know," she said aloud. "He is still here."
As she automatically gathered up and washed the dishes, a task she had always found calming—if not mind-numbingly boring—she thought back on the events of the past few weeks. She had been traveling for the better part of a year before she had come here; her magic school required a year of wandering from each journeyman mage. After that, they could settle down anywhere they wished or return to the school for more study.
Amber planned to return to the school as soon as was permitted. Not only did she have a passion for the study of magic, but Sammel, her betrothed, waited for her there. He had done his year of wandering during her last year of apprenticeship, and they planned to marry when she returned from hers. She had been slowly heading back towards the school when she entered this village.
It was not unusual for the entrance of a mage into a small village to attract attention, but it seemed to Amber that the entire village came to stare at her. The headman approached her as rapidly as his dignity allowed and gave her a bow much deeper than her journeyman status warranted. This was strange enough to arouse Amber's curiosity, her strongest character flaw—or strength, depending upon who was describing her and what her curiosity had led her into lately.
The first part of the mystery was explained easily enough when the headman told her that their mage had died recently—he even admitted that they didn't know how or why—and begged her to stay. The villagers all seemed to feel strongly that they needed a wizard. Amber knew that a mage could be useful, but she didn't suffer from such self-importance as to believe that a village could not survive perfectly well without one. These people were clearly terrified of something, but what?
Then the headman told her that the former mage's house and books were hers if she would agree to remain. The house was a simple cottage, although it had a very nice herb garden, but when Amber saw the books, she accepted his offer on the spot. There were enough volumes to keep her occupied for several months, there was a mystery to solve, and she would not willingly leave anyone to face the terror these people so obviously felt. She still had almost two months before her year was up, and if she were delayed, which she hoped she wouldn't be—well, Sammel shared her love for books and would understand. So she settled in, determined to find out what was going on before her journeyman year was up.
The dreams had started the first night, but she had thought they came merely because she missed Sammel and was thinking of him. There was nothing particularly frightening in the early dreams, just a sense of someone watching her and finding her beautiful, and the touch of a hand on her hair. As the nights went on, the dream lover grew bolder; Amber was fairly certain that he had been kissing her throat before she woke up this morning. This was outrageous and not something she was prepared to tolerate.
This was no simple dream; this was an earthbound spirit, trying to get her attention. Well, he has it now, she thought grimly, and I will deal with him. The first step was to determine who was haunting her—and why. She had her suspicions, and they would be easy enough to check.
She looked out the window. In the herb garden outside the cottage, Ysetta knelt in the dirt, carefully pulling weeds from around the herbs.
Ysetta was the headman's youngest daughter, sixteen years old, and very much indulged. She was interested in herb lore, so her father had allowed her to work in the wizard's garden and learn what he was willing to teach her. He had been happy that Amber agreed to keep the girl on—and even happier that Amber was a woman. Probably he suspected that Marius, the former wizard, had taken advantage of Ysetta's youth and innocence. Amber, whose specialty was healing magic and who had the sight that went with it, could tell that someone had. Ysetta was almost three months pregnant. She wasn't showing yet, but in another two months, it would be obvious, even to those without the mage Gift.
Amber sighed, picked up the forget-me-not, and went outside.
"Good morning, Ysetta. How are you feeling today?"
"Well, thank you, lady," Ysetta replied cautiously, casting a sidelong glance at Amber as if she suspected the reason behind the question. Then she saw the flower in Amber's hand and burst into tears. Amber hauled her to her feet and hurried her inside the house. No sense in letting the neighbors see this.
She passed Ysetta a handkerchief and let the girl cry herself out. When she had reached the sniffling stage, Amber tried again.
"Did this flower come from the garden here?"
Ysetta nodded. "Marius used to give them to me. Where did you find it?"
"On the table, when I woke up this morning." Amber shrugged. "But I fell asleep while reading last night and didn't even shutter the windows. Anyone could have put it here."
"Oh, no, lady." Ysetta shook her head decisively. "No one from the village would dare to disturb you or your things. It had to be Marius. He said he would come back."