Origins

10. Lughnassadh

Rising before dawn on the day of Lughnassadh, the celebration to honor the Sun God, I set off to my secret circle to complete the love spell. As I had done before, I placed the poppets facedown on the stone altar and consecrated the circle. I charged the girl poppet to be me, then picked up the boy, with feathery brown hair made of spun wool. Sprinkling it with salted water and censing it, I chanted: “This poppet is Diarmuid, my mùirn beatha dàn in every way. As Diarmuid lives, so lives this poppet. Aught that I do to it, I do to him.”

I kissed the Diarmuid poppet, then put him back beside the other on the altar. Kneeling before them, I moved the two poppets closer to each other, touching, turning, pressing face-to-face. As I moved them, I pictured myself reaching out to Diarmuid, meeting him, touching him, kissing and holding him so close in my arms, I could taste the salt on his skin.

When the poppets were face-to-face, I wrapped my red ribbon around them. “Now may the Goddess bind these two together, as I do bind them here,” I said. Around and around I circled them with ribbon, then tied it tightly so they would never, ever break apart. “Now they are forever one. May each truly become a part of the other. Separated, they shall seem incomplete. So mote it be!”

I rested my athame over the bound puppets, asking the Goddess to lend Her power to this and all spells I cast. Then I wrapped the poppets in a clean white cloth. I would stow them in the rafters of the cottage so that no animal or human could meddle with my magick.

After my task was done, I lifted my head to the bright midday sky. The heat was blistering hot today, casting a white glow across the land. Aye, ’twas the right day to honor the Sun God. I would go to Lillipool, but not until the sun had passed. ’Twas best not to make such a journey in the heat. Besides, of late my babe had drained me of strength. I no longer needed special herbs to calm my dizziness, but it seemed the babe wanted me to sleep the day away! I needed rest and a sip of cool tea.

By late afternoon, when the air had cooled and Ma was off preparing for the Lughnassadh celebration, I knew ’twas time to go. As I walked, I chanted bits and pieces of the love spell. “Now may the Goddess bind these two together, as I do bind them here. Separated they would seem incomplete...” The spell sustained me, and in no time the old mill of Lillipool loomed before me.

Today I was not so lucky as to find him in the dusty marketplace. I knew his coven would also be preparing to celebrate the sun festival, but what were his assigned tasks? To mull the wine—or consecrate the circle? I wouldn’t dare go near another coven’s circle, not that I would be able to find it.

Help me, Goddess, I prayed. Point me in the direction of my love.

I circled the dismal marketplace, hoping for an answer. Diarmuid did not appear, but as I paced, I came across a red feather. It sat in the middle of the lane, alone and abandoned, and the sight of it reminded me of the red feathers twined with ivy that I had used for our celebration of midsummer night. I had twined ivy around the feathers—red for sexuality—and festooned them around our circle.

Now this feather pointed down a lane. Was it pointing me toward my love?

I believed it to be so. Making haste, I followed the lane, which led past the church and quaint cottages to the countryside. My eyes followed the dark green patches of grass to a small hollow where a figure lay sleeping in the shade.

Diarmuid.

He was probably supposed to be tending sheep, though this summer heat would drive any lad to napping. I ventured off the road and crossed to him, my shoes whispering in the crisp grass. Although I did not call out to him, he stirred with my approach, rubbing his eyes. He turned toward me, saw me, then bolted upright.

“What vision is this?” he gasped. “Has the Goddess herself descended, or am I but asleep and dreaming of love?”

My heart melted. He was still the same Diarmuid, a poet and a tease.

“I have come to reclaim you,” I said firmly.

He took my hand and lifted it to his lips. “You will always have my heart, Rose.”

“I want more,” I said, thrilled by the spark of his lips upon my hand. “We summoned the Goddess to bless our union, and she did. She looks down upon us with favor, yet you allow another to become your betrothed?”

He stared at the ground. “ ’Twas not my doing, Rose.”

“Do you not remember your last words to me? That we were to be married forthwith?”

“I do,” he said sheepishly. “But ’tis not so simple a matter.”

“Aye, there are complications, but I have come to help you through them.”

His blue eyes sparkled with regret. “I’m afraid you can’t help, Rose. No one can help me. I have learned that a man cannot cross his elders or defy his clan. I need the approval of my coven, and they have vowed not to give it.”

“Aye, I face the same challenges,” I said, thinking of my ma and the coveners who wanted to rail against rival clans. “But this is no surprise, Diarmuid. We talked of it often. ’Twill not be easy, but you must remain steadfast and strong, lower your head and charge, like the ram in yonder field.”

“Would that I were a ram, destined to chew grass and laze in the sun.” He reached for his throat and nervously squeezed the pentagram concealed by his shirt. “Instead, I am a marriageable lad, a property of my parents dangled like a carrot before a horse.”

“Tell me you don’t love her,” I said.

“She has her fair attractions,” he said, cutting me.

My knees nearly buckled beneath me. Was this my love, the one who had pledged his love in the Goddess’s circle? He had promised to love me and only me. He was supposed to see only my charms.

Did he kiss her the way he had kissed me? Did he touch her and. oh, excruciating torture! I could not think of such things now. Think of the spell, I told myself. Your reason for being here—your baby.

“But mostly, it is the ease with which my life will progress if I take her hand.”

His words gave me some relief. I realized it was time to tell him. “Yet I offer not a life of ease, but a sign of our bond.” Boldly I took his hand and placed it on my belly. “There is a child within, Diarmuid. Do you feel it stirring?”

He gasped, stepping closer to me. There was power in his touch, magnified all the more by the glow of the child growing inside me.

“The Goddess has given us a babe, a sign of our union. ’Twill be the child that unites the Wodebaynes and the Leapvaughns. Perhaps our child will unite all clans. Oh, Diarmuid, this is how the Goddess intended it. Could you deny such a powerful destiny?”

“I could not,” he gasped. “I will not.” His face softened as he stroked my belly. “A man does not abandon his child, no matter what the obstacles.”

My spirits lifted. He understood. He knew that our baby was a sign from the Goddess.

“We must marry now—today!” he said, pulling me into his arms for a kiss. Then he pulled away and dropped to his knees to kiss my belly. “My child. Goddess be praised!” He kissed the baby over and over again.

I smiled. “How would you marry? In a church? Or do you think one of our covens would add a highly unusual handfasting to the Lughnassadh rites?”

“We’ll do it any way we can,” he insisted. “Mayhap your village is best, away from Siobhan and my family. We’ll go to the Presbyterian reverend first—tonight. Surely he will help us.”

My heart lifted. Diarmuid was coming home with me. We would be together—married!

“After that we’ll arrange a handfasting,” he went on. “No one dare deny us once we’re together. I must first run home for a few belongings, then I shall meet you.” He glanced up, gauging the position of the sun. “Let us meet at our circle in the woods before the sun sets.”

I put my hand in his hair, loving the feel of it. “Would that we could travel together.”

“Aye, but your presence would raise too much of a stir at my cottage right now. We’ll meet in the woods at our circle before sunset.” He stood up and kissed me again. “Oh, Rose, you are the world to me. After today we shall never be separated again.”

“Never,” I said, thinking of the words of the love spell. “Never.”

The journey back to my own woods was cooled by afternoon breezes and dreams of lingering in Diarmuid’s arms. On the way I stopped at the brook for a drink of water, then headed off to prepare the circle for our formal reunion. I swept the circle, then decided to rest on the moss for a while, as the long journeys had taken their toll on my strength. I sat there chanting from the love spell and picturing Diarmuid in my bed each morning when I arose. Where would we live? Perhaps Ma would have us once she got over her initial anger. Besides, she would want to be near the babe, to help nurse her, then to teach her the ways of the Goddess as she grew older. Listening to the sounds of the woods—to the trill of birds and the rustle of wind in the trees—I dozed off.

When I awoke, it was dark but for the sickly glow of a yellow moon.

Where was Diarmuid? I sat up suddenly, and my sacred place seemed like a strange wilderness. My life force hammered in my chest as reality hit me.

He was not here. Was he coming?

What had happened? “Oh, Goddess, keep and protect him,” I whispered, sure that something dreadful had happened to him. There could be no other explanation. I had seen the determination in his eyes, I had felt his commitment. Nothing could stay him from me. Nothing but. something terrible and evil.

I stood up, brushing dust and seeds from my hair. I would return to Diarmuid’s village. I had surely missed the coven circle, but I planned to miss many more in my life with Diarmuid. Who knew where our adventures would take us? And right now he needed me. I had to go to him.

Darkness closed in around me as I crept through the woods, following my familiar landmarks to the road. I started on my way, wending over a rise. Glancing up, I saw a girl my own age approaching.

Swanlike neck. Flaxen hair.

Siobhan MacMahon.

I was gripped by hatred for her—everything about her, from her sun-kissed hair to her long, graceful neck. But as she caught sight of me, I realized that perhaps I was being unfair. Perhaps, in Diarmuid’s troubles, he had sent her to come for me. Perhaps she was the messenger of my love. I stepped toward her, eager for news.

“Hark!” I called out to her. “Have you come in search of me, Rose MacEwan?”

“Aye.” She drew close, a sourness pinching her mouth. “I have come in search of Diarmuid’s harlot.”

I felt stung.

“I have just come from him, the poor lad,” she said. “He was about to ruin his life by running off with a woman who could satisfy only his base desires. A Wodebayne! Such foolishness. I stopped him in the nick of time.”

“How did you stop him?” I asked, afraid of the harm she might have done to him. “Did you hurt him?”

“ ’Twas not necessary. I needed only to sate his desires to remind him of his attraction to me. He’s fine. Sleeping like a babe, if you must know.”

I felt my hands clenching into fists at the implications. Had she lain with him? I could not believe it to be true. He had sworn to be my first and last love and I his. “I don’t believe you,” I said. “I do not believe a word you are saying.”

“Aye, but then, you Wodebaynes aren’t bright, are you? That’s what I told him. Why throw away a beautiful life with me so that you can waste away with a savage, uneducated Wodebayne?”

“Perhaps he does not want to be counted among warmongers like the Vykrothes?” I jabbed.

She cocked her head, as if weary. “He is perfectly fine with my clan. That’s part of his problem. Diarmuid gets on with everyone. At least, every lass. I guess you might call it the charm of the Leapvaughns. They do like to trick us. You are not his first little mistake, you know. He has had others before you.” She folded her arms contentedly. “But he always comes back to me.”

A mistake? A trick? Her words darted through the air like arrows. I sized her up. If I were to battle her, I felt, I would win, and the temptation to cast her to the ground was irresistible.

“How dare you!” I seethed, reaching for her arm.

Siobhan stepped away, avoiding me. “Take heed.” She smiled like a cat who has fallen but landed on her feet. “You cannot fight the forces at work here. He and I were promised by our parents long ago. ’Twas a plan to unite the Vykrothes and Leapvaughns. And although my Diarmuid has strayed with the likes of you, he always comes back to me.” Her pale gray eyes were full of spite. “He loves me. You are just a passing fancy.”

“So you say,” I said tartly, though I felt my strength washing away in the rising tide of doubt. I stood there, trying to fight the feelings that swept through me at the implication that Diarmuid had lain with another, perhaps many others. Oh, Goddess! I wanted to fall to the ground and sob but wouldn’t give Siobhan the satisfaction of witnessing my fully blossomed pain.

Would he betray me?

Would he lie with another?

Oh, Diarmuid.

“I’ve come here not to fight with you, but to give you a warning,” Siobhan went on. “I know of your silly magick and your Wodebayne tendency to turn to the dark forces.” She reached into her pocket and took out a small object. She held it up to the moon, then tossed it to my feet.

The rose stone! How had she come to have it?

“It is worthless now,” she said. “I saw to that.”

The small stone looked dim and gray in the dust of the road. I felt too startled to pick it up or respond.

“Stay away from Diarmuid, or you will regret it for as long as you live.” With that, Siobhan turned away and marched off toward Lillipool.

I stared after her in utter shock. Ordering me away from my love? Crossing my magick charm! Defying the Goddess! Malice rose within me, churning, burning. The urge to shoot dealan-dé at her made my hands twitch. I lifted my hand.

But she turned back with a scowl.

I held the fire within me, held on to the desire to blast her in the face. “You haven’t seen the end of me!” I shouted. “You will not have Diarmuid, and you will pay for foiling our plans.”

Siobhan laughed. It was a cruel, cold sound that seemed to dance on the summer breeze. She was still laughing when she turned away and strode off. Even from behind, her long neck and pale beauty were regal and comely. I wished she would shape-shift into a fat swan and fly away!

There in the center of the road, I stretched my arms out to the Goddess and lifted my face to the sky. I was so frustrated! Why did I keep losing my love at every turn? Despite Diarmuid’s weaknesses, I knew the Goddess intended us to be together. I knew he was destined to be a father to the child in my womb.

The moon above me was ringed with a watery halo—a sign of disruption. As I watched, it moved like a ring of oil, snaking in and out. A ring of madness. It made me wary. Nothing in the air tonight was reliable. It was a moon of illusions and interruptions. I half expected the ground beneath my feet to buckle and give way, dropping me deep into an earthly grave.

Oh, what was I doing, suffering hysterics here in the middle of the road, where murderers, thieves, and disapproving Christians could come along at any second? Overwhelmed, I moved off the road to hide behind some bushes, pressed my palms to my face, and began to cry. It was too much to bear—losing my love again! And it hurt all the more now that he knew of our child. He was not just turning against me: he was rejecting the tiny babe in my womb!

I was on my knees, sobbing, when I sensed another blood witch in the brush behind me. I turned and stared into the darkness, using my magesight. Aislinn, the young witch from Síle’s coven, was closing in on a rabbit. She leaped into a patch of watery moonlight, trying to catch it, but the animal slipped away at the last second.

She was probably on her way home from the Lughnassadh circle, but what was she doing trying to catch a rabbit? “Aislinn?” I called through my tears. “What are you doing?” Could she be trying to capture a creature to spill its blood in a dark spell?

“Oh, just having a game with the creature,” Aislinn said, closing the distance between us. Her mouth twitched a bit, making me wonder if my suspicions were correct. “What say you, Rose? Your ma said you were ill, but here, collapsed along the road?” She hurried over and helped me to my feet. “Can you walk?”

“I think so,” I said, “though I have nowhere to go now that...” A new wave of hysteria came over me, and I choked on my words.

Aislinn patted my back. “Come now, Rose. I’ve never seen you in such a state. We must sit.” She led me to a fallen log, where we sat amid the fireflies. “We missed you at the circle tonight, and I know your ma was worried, though she made your excuses, claiming that your sickness had arisen once again. I sense that it is not sickness that kept you away, but some other distressing matter.”

As she talked, I dried my eyes with the hem of my summer skirt. When she pushed back her red hair, I noticed that she had inscribed runes of plant dye on her forehead as part of her devotion to the Sun God. I gasped. It was typical Aislinn, but Reverend Winthrop of the village would have her hanged for the pagan practice if he saw the markings. It seemed as though she were risking her life to flaunt her devotion to the Goddess. Aislinn had always been a rebel, and I found much of her behavior shocking. I was not sure that I could trust her, but she was a member of my coven, and at the moment I had so few choices.

“You have guessed right,” I told her. “It seems I am caught in a terrible love triangle, and I have spent the evening grappling with a vicious Vykrothe girl who intends to steal my love away!”

Her face was awash with moonlight and interest, so I told her of my sorrows. Of my love for Diarmuid despite our clan differences. Of his intentions to run away with me. Of Siobhan’s interference. I managed to exclude mention of my baby, not wanting to give Aislinn more than her share of sordid details. And it seemed that her ardor was fired by the situation alone.

“Yet another example of the other clans conspiring against us!” she railed. “Oh, you poor girl! To be the victim of their hatred.”

I felt new tears slip down my cheeks at her words. At the moment I didn’t care so much about the hatred among the clans, I just wanted Diarmuid back.

“I don’t blame you for crying,” Aislinn said. Her red hair fell over one cheek like a thick veil as she leaned toward me. “It’s a heavy burden upon your shoulders now, made all the worse by the fact that your ma doesn’t understand at all. She keeps telling Wodebayne folks to lie down while the other clans trample over us!”

I sniffed, surprised that Aislinn understood how difficult it was to be the daughter of a high priestess, especially one with such strong views. Although the Wodebaynes had endured bigotry throughout my life, my mother had never wavered from her position of peace among the clans. I wondered about Ma now. She would be annoyed at my disappearance. But her true fury would pour out when she learned of my love for a boy from another clan and of my pregnancy.

Pressing a hand against my belly, I realized I would have to return to Síle tonight. It was late, and it would be far too dangerous, not to mention foolhardy, for me and my babe to try to make the journey into Lillipool tonight.

Oh, how had I gotten myself into such a position?

“You cannot let this matter rest,” Aislinn said, her eyes lit with determination.

“Aye, my heart will not let me.” Nor will the child inside me, I thought as I slid off the log.

“You must fight back,” Aislinn went on. “Síle and her coveners keep trying to tamp down the fires, but there’s no quenching the blaze now. The other clans have struck the first blows, and now it’s up to us to show them the strength of our magick. We have the power to punish the other clans. Why don’t we use it?”

“Indeed.” For once I agreed with Aislinn. I had borne so many slights as a result of hatred against the Wodebaynes. It was all too much. I could barely hold my head steady as I started to trundle home.

“I will see you home,” Aislinn said, slipping an arm around my waist. “We’ll talk more when you’re feeling better.”

Grateful for the firm hand at my waist, I tried to concentrate on making my way home. What would I say to Ma when I got there, and how would she react?

I meandered up the path to Ma’s cottage cautiously, expecting her to fly out the door and have at me. But the cottage was silent and dark, and when I opened the door, I saw that Ma was not there. I stepped inside the shadowed house and slipped off my shoes, greatly relieved. Sleep could not come soon enough. Wanting nothing more than to fall into bed, I removed the girdle at my waist and slipped off my light summer gown. Standing before the washbasin, I tipped the water pitcher over it to rinse my face and hands.

And out hopped a frog.

I shrank back. A frog? In the cottage? As I went to light a candle from the fire, I heard a croak. And when I turned back toward the room, I saw them—frogs everywhere! Bumpy, spotted frogs dotted the floor, rode the chairs, perched on the bed.

I shrieked. They were surrounding me! How had they gotten in here?

Feeling as if I had nowhere to turn, I grabbed the broom, threw open the door, and began to coax them out. “Begone!” I said. “Back to where you belong!” I didn’t want to harm the Goddess’s creatures, but their presence unnerved me. I scooted them off the bed, pushed them from the chairs, swept them across the floor. The fat, slimy creatures burped in response. I swung the broom, sending them hopping. “Begone!” I cried through tears of frustration.

As I shooed out a tiny creature who seemed determined to turn back, I noticed a lantern bobbing along the path. It was Ma. Her face seemed placid, even amused as she ventured closer for a better look. She eyed the creatures now dotting the path to our cottage. “Frogs?”

“The cottage was riddled with them when I returned.”

“What sort of infantile spell is this?” she asked, stepping aside as a frog skittered out the door.

A spell! Of course. ’Twas a spell from Siobhan, the wicked wench.

“I haven’t seen the likes of it since I was a young girl,” Ma said. “ ’Tis a silly little thing, usually in a child’s Book of Shadows.”

I stopped sweeping as a tear rolled down to my chin and fell, plopping onto a frog. Suddenly something inside me snapped, and my tears turned to laughter. The tear-struck creature hopped out the door, croaking its complaint.

Ma laughed, too, and we fell together, embracing in the midst of the ludicrous scene. Soon after, we recovered enough to shoo the remaining frogs out the door. As Ma moved about with the lantern, checking the corners of the cottage for stragglers, she spoke. “I have been worried about you. I was just out searching, knowing how unlike you it is to miss a Greater Sabbat. Are you ill?”

“’Tis terrible, Ma,” I said. “Though I am not ill.” I sat down at the table and told her. I told her how I had fallen in love with someone from another clan, another coven, and how I had lost my Leapvaughn love because of his arranged marriage to a Vykrothe. I told her everything—omitting only the mention of the babe, for ’twould be too much to lay upon her in one sitting.

“ ’Tis no wonder I’ve been concerned,” Ma said. “I knew you were carrying a heavy load these days, though I did not know the specifics.” She stood up from the table and went over to her cupboard of magickal things. “I must admit, Rose, I was quite alarmed to discover this just before I left for the Sabbat.” From the cupboard she removed a white satchel. No, not a satchel—a white cloth. She lifted it to reveal the two poppets I’d made! But they were no longer bound together with red ribbon! They were separated. Ma placed them on the table between us.

“Where did you find these?” I asked.

“On the floor.”

They must have dropped out of the rafters! And Ma had been the one to cut them apart. “Why did you meddle with them?” I asked. “Why did you foil the magick?”

“I was going to leave them together until I noticed the runes you’d embroidered upon them.” She held up the one that said Diarmuid. “You put a boy’s name on this! Truly, Rose, you know it’s wrong. I’ve said that time and again. This is dark magick, and I’ll not have it coming from my daughter, or any Wodebayne, if I can prevent it.”

The sight of the unbound poppets frustrated me so, I barely heard her words. So my spell had worked until Ma had discovered the dolls and separated them. I felt fresh anger, this time at Síle. She was putting her beliefs about magick before me.

And what of Diarmuid’s own love for me? Was it not strong enough to see our marriage through without help of my magick? It was all so confusing.

“Rose...” Ma’s voice interrupted my thoughts. “You’re not listening! You have no right to tamper with that boy’s destiny! It may seem like ’tis the easy way out, but your intrusive spell will come back to haunt you—threefold! And I worry about you tangling with a Vykrothe girl. They are a fierce tribe, and you have a history with them that I’ve dared not speak of before this.”

“I do?” I winced. “When did I engage a Vykrothe?”

“Do you remember your trip to the coast with your father?” she asked. When I nodded, she went on. “While you were there, the rains fell, causing terrible coastal flooding. Many of the neighboring Vykrothe homes and fields were flooded. ruined. And there’s rumor that the floods came as a result of a spell cast by your father.”

“So Da did practice dark magick?”

Ma sighed deeply. “I do not think so, but that is how the rumor goes. They say there was an angry confrontation between Gowan and a Vykrothe man in a village inn. As a result, they say, your father cast a black spell upon the village. Hence the flooding.”

“Did you ever ask Da about it?”

Ma looked down. “I didn’t even know of the flooding at the coast until after your da was gone.”

I shook my head. “ ’Tis quite a tale.”

“Aye, that’s what I believe it to be—a fanciful tale.” Ma rose from the table and poured fresh water into the basin. “Now, off to bed. We’ll talk more of this come the morning.”

I washed off and curled onto my sleeping pallet. Sleep would come quickly, I knew, as my body and mind were worn weary. But as I drifted off, the image of Aislinn popped into my head. Her fiery red hair was aglow in the moonlight, her eyes wild. “We have the power to punish the other clans,” she’d said. “Why don’t we use it?”

Because power could be dangerous? But witches wielded the Goddess’s power all the time. Did not the Goddess impose her own sense of justice? Besides, I had not cast the spell of frogs. And I had not stolen another’s love away. Diarmuid had pledged himself to me under the Goddess; his bond with Siobhan was a business matter determined by his parents. Could I not defend myself against this vengeful girl? I was merely protecting myself and my babe. Even as my father might have defended himself from a Vykrothe all those years ago.

It was all too much to sort out this night. I yawned as Ma came close, tucking a light blanket over me. “Good night, Rose. We’ll undo your spell in the morn.”

Mayhap, I thought. Or mayhap I would find a way to cast a new spell upon Diarmuid. I breathed softly, feeling coddled by her love. ’Twas a lovely feeling for now, but I knew it would not sustain me.

I had reached a time when a mother’s love was not enough.

I needed Diarmuid.

The next day the Sun God sent splinters of sunlight into the cottage. The light awakened me, infusing my body with refreshed strength and hope. I thought of the words from the Lughnassadh rites.

“Goddess, we thank thee

for all that has been raised from the soil.

May it grow in strength

from now till harvest.

We thank thee for this promise of fruits to come.”

I rubbed my belly. My baby had been but a seed at Beltane, but ’twould be a fine child to be born around the time of the Imbolc rites.

Grow in peace, little one, I thought as I rose from my bed. Your ma will take care of these difficult matters and bring your da to you.

That morning I enlisted Kyra’s help in fighting the battle. I knew if I wanted to get to Diarmuid, I would first have to stave off Siobhan.

“A minor spell is necessary,” I told Kyra. “Something to scare her off.” After some thought I added, “Something to mar her lovely golden hair.” We were sitting in my sacred circle, trying to remember anything we’d ever heard of dark spells. This was not the sort of thing you learned at the circle or looked up in your mother’s Book of Shadows.

“I’ve heard tell of turning a person’s nails black,” she said. “Or perhaps you can send a lightning bolt upon her head?”

“That’s a bit too much,” I said. “I can’t be causing her serious harm, though I must say, ’tis tempting.” We meandered through the woods, talking about what we knew of herbs and spells. When we came upon a thorny plant, I went over and circled it with my bolline. “ ’Tis just the thing to tangle her lovely hair. Can you imagine Siobhan stuck among a bramble of thorns?” On the way back to my altar I cut a lovely purple iris to give me the wisdom to work a new spell. Working together, Kyra and I swept the circle and consecrated the thorns. Then I made up a chant:

“O Goddess of Light, Goddess so fair,

Please bring these thorns upon her hair.

Let Siobhan know my wrath,

Let her nevermore cross my path!”

“So mote it be!” Kyra said, her eyes lit with expectation.

Afterward we could barely contain our curiosity. Would our spell be a success?

“Perhaps we should go and see with our own eyes,” I said. “Besides, I am due a trip to Lillipool. I must speak to Diarmuid and try to work things out.”

Kyra tucked a cornflower behind her ear. “Perhaps we should pay a visit to Falkner at his father’s shop? If he can get use of a horse, we’ll be in Lillipool in no time.”

I smiled. “Is it because you want to see the spell or because you want to see Falkner?”

A mischievous gleam danced in her eyes. “Both!”

At the Kirkloch blacksmith’s shop we found Falkner, who talked his da into making a run to a merchant in Lillipool. Falkner had met Siobhan at market on more than one occasion. “That one thinks she’s the queen of the Highlands,” he said, rolling his eyes. “ ’Twould be quite satisfying to see her get her comeuppance.”

In no time we were in the dusty Leapvaughn village, searching the marketplace for Diarmuid. It turned out that he was off tending sheep in the hills, but Falkner managed to learn the location of Siobhan’s cottage. We left the horse tethered near a water trough in the village and went out to the MacMahon cottage on foot. The house was a small affair, overlooking a field of dry heather that gave way to a bog. The shutters had been thrown open from the windows, and smoke rose from the chimney.

We perched on a nearby hillside, just behind a fallen log.

“Is she home?” Kyra asked. “I don’t see anyone about.”

“I don’t know,” Falkner said, “but I cannot stay here watching a lone cottage all afternoon. Da’s got work to be done. Besides, ’tis deadly dull.”

“A bit of waiting would be well worth the sight of seeing Siobhan in distress,” I said, watching the cottage.

Over in the bogs a few birds squawked. It was a lazy, still August afternoon. “Perhaps we could take turns napping while we wait?” I added.

Just then the wind kicked up over the heather, rattling through the weeds. It swept up from the bogs, bypassing our little hill but heading straight toward the cottage. As it churned, it blew seeds and thistle toward the house.

The door of the cottage swung open, and Siobhan flew out in a fury.

“There she is!” Kyra cried.

With her skirts gathered high Siobhan raced about the cottage, trying to shutter the windows. She pressed a shutter closed, but the strong wind sucked it back open. She reached for the shutter again, but dust and thistles and seed clods were swarming to her face, forcing her to cower. The thorny seeds blew directly upon her, hooking onto her skirts and apron. Dozens of burrs snagged in her hair, but when she reached up to tug them out, they pierced her fingertips.

“Eeow! Ow! Ooh!” she yelped, dancing about as the thorny seeds flew under the straps of her sandals.

“Ha!” I laughed with satisfaction. The three of us no longer hid behind the log but sat up for the best view of our quarry.

“Oh, Goddess, look at her!” Kyra laughed with me. “She’s a sorry sight.”

“From what I know of her, she quite deserves it,” Falkner said. “I never thought I’d see the likes of her yelping about.”

“Indeed,” I said as Siobhan continued to hop around, pulling burrs from her clothes and hair. “At least this should stop her from sending more spells my way.” And, I thought, perhaps it will keep her away from Diarmuid, too!

“Oh, dear,” Kyra said, her hand flying to her mouth. “She sees us! She’s coming this way.”

I arose and stood tall, not afraid of this petty Vykrothe whore.

“It’s you!” Siobhan yelped, stomping toward me. “This is your magick, is it not?”

“Aye, though I must admit, I had to practice restraint,” I said. “It’s far less than you deserve.”

“Blast you all!” Siobhan said, raising a fist in the air. “I’ll curse you and your families, too!” She was quite a sight, her blond hair matted and tangled like so many rough cuttings of dirty wool. She moved without grace, as if every turn pained her.

’Twas satisfying indeed.

“Easy!” Falkner stepped toward her and gently touched her shoulder. “Easy, now! You rail like a savage beast. Perhaps you’re in need of soothing!”

“Don’t touch me!” she shrieked, stepping away from him. “I’ll have you know that I’m betrothed, and you must mind your hands.”

Falkner lifted his hands defensively. “I apologize! I was just trying to help.”

“Take your leave, all of you!” Siobhan cried as she turned back to the cottage. “Begone, you and your vicious spells.”

“Likewise to any witch who would summon frogs from the pond,” I called to her.

As Siobhan slammed into the cottage, I turned to my friends. “That was worth waiting for, and you’ll be back to your da’s shop in no time,” I told Falkner.

“But wait!” he said mysteriously. He held out one hand as if he were cradling an invisible tool.

“What’s this?” Kyra said. “More magick?”

He smiled. “When I touched Siobhan’s shoulder, I managed to extract a valuable item—a strand of her hair.” He waved his closed fingers before me, and I saw it—a thin line of gold.

I was most impressed. All this time I had thought Falkner a bit dim-witted, but perhaps he had simply been keeping his thoughts to himself. In any case, I had to admire his foresight in stealing something that could prove quite valuable—especially if I needed to cast another spell against Siobhan. “Thank you,” I said, sweeping the golden hair from his hand and tucking it into a tiny pouch from my pocket.

Kyra brushed off her skirts as we headed back toward the center of Lillipool. “That was amusing indeed, though I think Siobhan is a waste of your time and power,” she told me. “You need to go directly to Diarmuid. Speak to him. The true power is with him, not that silly girl.”

“I do believe you are right,” I said as we walked along. “And I shall go to him tonight when he has returned from the fields. The Goddess will give him the strength to defy his name and clan. I know it to be our destiny.”

I could not wait for the evening.