So, the minister went on, it was no surprise when this young maiden came to me with proof that Rose MacEwan is a witch. He gestured toward Siobhan. Tell us what you know, please.
Siobhan stepped forward, her long neck craning as she lifted her chin proudly. She is a witch! she said in a tinny voice. I have witnessed her performing her craft.
Although she was hardly convincing, she smiled gleefully.
I turned to Diarmuid, wondering what he thought of his betrothed now. Had he known that she was a backstabbing hypocrite?
Diarmuids face was pale, his blue eyes flashing with something I couldnt determine. Surprise? Perhaps he hadnt heard that Siobhan was my chief accuser.
Step forward and make her cease,I ordered him. You have the power to stop her. Dont let this drag on!
But he didnt seem to be receiving my messages. Where was his mind today?
What have you seen Rose MacEwan doing? Reverend Winthrop prodded Siobhan. Remember what you told me?
Aye! Siobhan answered. I have seen her dancing in the woods at night! Dancing with the devil!
Her words lashed out like the crack of a whip. How could she say that? Even if she hated me, did she not realize those words would be my death sentence? I pressed my hands to my hot cheeks, too afraid to respond, too frightened to cry.
The crowd gasped and murmured.
Quiet, please! the reverend shouted. Lets not waver from the point at hand. Did you or did you not see Rose MacEwan in her dance with Satan? he asked Siobhan.
I did! she shouted. And I can prove it. She pointed a finger at me, hatred gleaming in her pale gray eyes. Rose MacEwan is with child! She is carrying the devils spawn!
I felt stung. How did she know I was with child? Had Diarmuid told her? It would have been a huge betrayal, something I could not believe of him. She must have found out some other way. But how?
The crowd was rumbling with speculation. Ma had collapsed onto Miller MacGreavys cart, and I saw Norn embrace her. I tried to catch Diarmuids eye, but he was blocked by one of the villagers, who was laughing heartily. Should I send him another tua labra, or was that a waste of time? Oh, Goddess, help me!
Is it true, Dr. Wellington? Reverend Winthrop asked the physician. Is Rose MacEwan with child?
Dr. Wellington stroked his bristly beard as if the answer lay there in the folds of his chin. Well, aye, tis true.
My child is not the devils spawn, I cried. She is a healthy, human child with a father who will love her!
Liar! Siobhan shouted. There is no father! Rose MacEwan has lain with the devil. That is why her belly is swollen with his evil seed!
Reverend Winthrop made the sign of the cross, and those standing closest to me took a step back, as if my evil could spread to them.
There is a father for my child! I insisted. He is among us now. I dared not name him, for fear that the crowd would turn on him, too. The answer had to come from him; Diarmuid had to be the one to stand up and lay claim to me as his future bride and mother of his child. By doing so he could turn this scandalous dilemma into something honorable in the eyes of the Christians, who at least believed in redemption.
I glanced toward him, beseeching him, but he did not move. What was he waiting for? I need younow! Its time for you to save me. Denounce Siobhans lie. Claim me as your own true love and lover.
A father among us? Reverend Winthrop said tartly. He glanced over his shoulders at the men in the crowd. All right, then. Let the father of Rose MacEwans child step forward. What human among us has lain with this woman?
I looked at Diarmuid, begging him to act now.
But he would not meet my glance. It was as if he were cast in stone, a useless pillar of rock.
Please!I thought, beseeching him with every fiber of my being. Please. theyre going to kill me and our baby!
But he did not move.
Oh, Goddess, I mumbled under my breath. Let it not be. He is choosing her! He is choosing her over me!
Just as I suspected. The reverend shook his head, eyeing me with mock sadness. There is no father, is there? His eyes glittered with malice.
There is! I insisted.
I wanted to protest, but my throat had gone dry.
Going over to a horse trough, Reverend Winthrop pushed back the sleeves of his gown, making a show of washing his hands. I wash my hands of the matter of your redemption. I do believe you are guilty as charged.
Aye, she is guilty! someone cried.
Guilty! Guilty! The cry became a chant taken up by the villagers around me.
I felt myself collapsing against the hitching post, my hands hugging my belly. I couldnt let them hurt my babe. But how could I stop the swell of hatred that raged out of control?
Guilty! Guilty! Guilty!
Strong arms clamped around me. I felt myself being lifted, then dragged off through the crowd. Villagers stared at me, their eyes full of scorn or pity or curiosity. One woman snatched her children away and tucked them behind her skirts, as if I would harm them. How wrong she was. Didnt she know I would defend any child, especially my own, to the ends of time?
Another useless Wodebayne to the gallows, I heard a Vykrothe man mutter just loud enough for me to hear.Tis no loss for us.
Is that what all of this had boiled down to? Hatred and prejudice? I wondered, but my thoughts were clouded with pain and confusion.
At last shell be getting what she deserves, said a familiar voice.
I glanced up to see Siobhan sidling up to Diarmuid, a smug expression on her face. Beside her Diarmuid stood staring at the ground.
Not man enough to defend me! I wanted to say, but the words were caught in the painful lump lodged in my throat.
I dug my heels into the ground, making the guards halt for a moment. Mark my words, Siobhan, I told her, my voice cracking with emotion. Your evil will come back to you threefold!
Begone! she said, waggling her fingers at me like a sprite. Youll not harm me again.
Without thought I was upon her, grabbing and scraping in an attempt to shatter her silly composure. I felt my nails dig into her skin, scratching the side of her cheek.
Aaah! she yelped. The witch has attacked me again!
The men quickly yanked me off her, but before they dragged me away, I had the satisfaction of seeing her sad little pout, along with a trickle of blood running down her graceful neck.
That is the neck that should be snapped at the gallows! I wanted to scream. She had tried to kill my mother, had she not? The urge to send dealan-dé her way was strong, and it took all my restraint to control myself as the men took me off to my tiny prison.
My cell was actually the springhouse behind a villagers cottage. The roof was made of leaky straw thatching, but the mud-plastered stone walls prevented my escape. Tossed onto the dirt floor there, I curled into a ball and thought of Diarmuid, my heart truly breaking. What had happened to the power of our love?
He had said that I was destined for great thingsto become high priestess! And he knew the Goddesss plan for our unionthat together we could unite all the clans!
But no. The path to redemption had been crossed by Siobhan, and Diarmuid had succumbed to her. He had failed me, failed us, failed our child.
Oh, Goddess, how could he be so disloyal? Disappointment overwhelmed me as I fell into a dark state, my hand resting upon the child within my belly.
13. A Spell for the Darkest Hour
The creak of a door. A sliver of light.
Someone was entering my chamber.
Hark! he said, peering over the flame of the candle.
I sat up on the dirt floor. Diarmuid? My head was clogged from sleep, but indeed it was him, coming into the cell.
Where are the guards? I asked in surprise.
They are blind to me, he said as the door creaked closed behind him. I cast a see-me-not spell, rather successfully, I might add. And those bumblers are spelled deep asleep.
How could he joke at a time like this? I turned my face away, not willing to meet his eyes. Have you come to gloat over my demise? I asked.
Of course not. Ive come to extract one last promise. I was pleased by the way you held your tongue today, not mentioning my name. I trust youll keep silent till the end.
I spun around to glare at him. Silent! I shouted. Silence is the reason I am here! Why did you not answer my messages? I stamped the ground with my foot. Why did you not come forward to defend me and claim your child?
He lowered his chin, his blue eyes abrasive. How am I to know the bairn is mine?
Furious, I took a swing at him, but he bobbed so that my fist caught only air. As I stumbled back, he caught my arms and held me in place. His eyes swept down my body to my breasts, my swollen belly. And you thought I would claim your child? he said with sudden disdain. Knowing your wanton ways, youve probably bedded dozens like me.
His words infuriated me, but my fury was checked by my revelation. The man standing before me was not noble nor true nor even kind. And he had never been the sweet perfection Id glimpsed under the Goddesss sky.
His pentagram dangled at his neck, glinting mockingly.
Suddenly I wanted to scratch out his glittering eyes and smite the grin from his pretty face. I did not love this man. How had I ever loved one who so cagily used me, took of my body and my heart, then abandoned me for dead?
Get out! I growled. I kicked at his legs, aiming high but just glancing off the top of his thigh.
Still, it was enough to scare him off. He released my hands as he doubled over.
Reaching out, I grabbed at his pentagram and pulled. He did not deserve to wear this! He did not deserve to pay homage to the Goddess! He made a little choking sound as it snapped off. With a feeling of righteousness I dropped the pentagram to the ground.
Diarmuid rubbed his neck. Youre rather feisty for a condemned woman, he said. And I should be the one throwing punches, what with the way you charmed me. I found the rose stone in your pocket. Powerful magick you make. Twas lovely while it lasted, but love soon fades to lust and needs. And my needs are well fulfilled by my own coven.
Fury burned inside me. And Siobhan, I said. You have lain with her because. because tis the easiest path to take.
He shrugged. A man has certain obligations to his clan, and to marry a Wodebayne, I would have been falling short of everyones expectations. You truly caught my eye. Even when Siobhan undid the power of your charmed stone, my desire to take you did not abate. Even now. I long to hold you one last time... He reached for me hungrily.
In a pigs eye! I shouted, pushing him away. Begone from here, Diarmuid! For our passion was not about lust nor favor! Did you not stand in the circle with me and summon the Goddess? Did we not pledge our love under her sky and promise to
A witch says many things, chants many things, he said. Often we say words we do not comprehend. Tis part of the
I knew what I was saying! Hatred swelled within me as all illusions of beauty and goodness melted away from him, revealing a diabolical monster. I pointed to the door. Begone from here before I have at you, for I swear, I will tear the hair from your lovely head.
Dont you threaten me, Rose! Diarmuid lunged at me, backing me against the wall. For despite your powers with the Goddess, I have the physical power to overcome you, and aye, I am stirring at the very touch of you, wench! His eyes sparkled deviously. I felt stunned, unable to move. Was it possible that this boythis boy I had seen as the answer to all of my prayerswould ravish me by force?
I struggled to get away, but he only tightened his grip.
I will have you, Rose, for who will stop me? You are locked in prison, completely alone. Do you think the guards will answer your cries? The pleas of a witch sentenced to die? He pressed his hips against me, pushing me into the cold stone wall.
I felt sickened by his touch, furious at his determination to overcome me. And I had loved him! How had I ever loved this cruel, conniving beast? Feeling it was hopeless to fight him, I collapsed against the wall. He was stronger than I. I knew I had to summon magick, but my mind was wild and scattered.
Seeing me relax, he released my hands and lifted my skirts. Come on, Rose, he said, fingering my thighs. I shall make it painful if you fight me.
Seizing the freedom of my hands, I grasped his face and pressed my nails in, hoping to scratch his pretty blue eyes out. Aye, then lets make it painful!
He gasped as my fingers penetrated his skin. His hands quickly encircled my wrists and pried me off, but not before Id managed to scratch his cheeks. Are you mad?
So they say! I wrenched my hands free of him and backed away, rubbing my wrists. But Ill not spend my last night on earth being defiled by the lust of a lying coward.
He pressed his fingers to his cheek and saw the crimson smear there. You drew blood, he said in horror. For a moment I thought he would weep with despair.
Focusing my mind, I held up my hands to ward him off. Next time Ill use dealan-dé, I told him. And if I had an athame, I would plunge it right through your festering heart.
Holding a hand against his cheek, he sucked in his breath. I cannot wait till the morrow. His face was hollow and angular in the candlelight, a hideous, hateful specter. I will relish the moment of your death.
Before I could respond, he fled from the cell, leaving only a lit candle behind.
A lit candle. Fire of the Goddess.
Diarmuid had left behind the one element I needed to balance out my circle. I had earth, wind, water, air. and now, despite all the attempts of the guards to keep it away from me, I had fire.
My fists clenched, I stared at the flame as fury raged within me. I burned for all the Wodebaynes who had suffered injustice at the hands of rival witches. Fire raged within me for Diarmuidnot the fires of passion, but the fires of hatred and fury. I burned with vengeance for Siobhan, who had stolen my place as Diarmuids wife and sentenced me to death, who had tried to take my mothers life, too. And above all I was afire with love and sorrow for the babe in my belly, the child who had been condemned before shed had a chance to take her first breath.