The Tower: Part 6: Ostara
Post #63: In which aftermath and departures ...
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HEKS
Heks waited until they moved away and she could no longer hear anything but the night whispers of the trees and a far-off hooting of owls.
Ash hung from the collar of her cloak. He had spotted her as she toiled up the hill in the shadows, and he and Beatrice swooped down to join her. They watched Mingan and Rose Red set out together and followed, Heks as invisible in her way as Chattan in his. They witnessed Mingan’s transformation from man to beast, Heks breathing a sigh of satisfaction.
“Did you know?” Ash whispered to her.
“I suspected. Hush. I’ll tell you later.”
“There he is,” said Beatrice a few minutes later when Chattan stepped out of the shadows and sat, his coat dappled with lantern light and shadows.
The three watched the little scene unfold, tense with fear for Rose Red. Heks exulted fiercely when Rose Red drew the knife and crouched. She, like Artemis, recognized the snake-eyed thing buried deep within the sensitive, shy young woman. Rose Red was a warrior, a woman who understood life and death. Her appearance belied the deep well of strength, courage and rage within her. She was quick, too. Heks had seen the dawning of understanding at the sight of the bodark’s copper knife, and she’d seen the long look exchanged with Chattan. Never had Heks seen a man with eyes like that, and she didn’t doubt Rose Red recognized them.
“Why doesn’t he help her?” whispered Beatrice, agonized.
“She doesn’t need help,” said Heks, hardly moving her lips, just as the bodark sprang and Rose Red struck viciously at its face with a wild scream of rage.
In a moment it was over. In another moment, Rose Red was weeping, her arms around the strong, broad shoulders of the lynx, her blood staining his fur blackly.
Heks turned away.
“Where are we going?” asked Ash.
“To Rowan Gate. I want to see if this night’s work has opened the portal again.”
No light shone from Eurydice’s house near the portal. They passed soundlessly by and entered the three-sided enclosure around the spring.
“Will you go through?” Heks asked Ash and Beatrice. “See if you can get to Yggdrasil. If you can, give the Norns and Mirmir the news and then go through to Rumpelstiltskin. Tell him Persephone, Ginger and I are coming in the morning. I want to see Clarissa safely through the portal and let everyone have a night’s sleep. Then we’ll come.”
Ash stretched out his wings. Beatrice clung tightly to his fur.
“Ready?” he asked her.
“Ready,” she shrilled.
“See you soon,” he said to Heks. “Maybe very soon, if we can’t get through!”
He launched himself into the humid, mossy air, loud with the water’s burble, and dove toward the welling spring.
Heks stood alone in the dark, smiling, breathing the rich air. It was as she had suspected. Mingan and Seren between them had caused enough damage to the community and the Yrtym to cause the portal to close. Once again, working together with a common purpose and goal for connection and healing had opened it.
She left Rowan Gate and made her way back down the hill into sleeping Rowan Tree. No lights shone. She stood on her own threshold, probing the dark little house with her senses. From her bed by the wall, she heard Clarissa’s even, sleeping breath.
All was well.
Without making a light, she crossed the floor and entered her snug sleeping chamber. In a moment she lay naked in her bed. For a time, she lay listening for any disturbance or movement outside her open window. She heard none. Rowan Tree slept.
She turned on her side and shut her eyes.
***
The sound of Clarissa stirring in the next room wakened her. It was still early; the pale morning light filled with the birds’ dawn chorus. Heks rose and found Clarissa heating water for tea.
“Did I wake you? I’m sorry. We went to bed so early and I slept so soundly I feel wide awake.”
Heks thought she looked much better. The sleep had done her good.
“How do you feel?” she asked Clarissa.
“You mean about Seren? I feel …peaceful. I feel finished. We did the right thing last night. The spell, I mean. And I’m glad I didn’t run away. I don’t feel ashamed any more, but I’m ready to leave here. How will I do that with the portal closed?”
“The portal is open,” said Heks with satisfaction.
“It is? How do you know?”
“I sent Ash and Beatrice through last night after you fell asleep. I think you should go as soon as you can, before David and the others have a chance to organize and cause trouble. Persephone, Ginger and I are leaving this morning as well.”
“What about Maria and Rose Red and everyone else? Will they be right?”
“They will. Artemis is here, don’t forget, and Kunik and Eurydice. Seren’s in no position to organize revenge and violence, and David will find no one will join in more than ugly talk except a handful of disgruntled men, and they’re afraid of Maria. Things will settle down. People will get on with the work of the community; this is our busiest season. Other events will catch their attention. Most people here want to go about their business peaceably. I have a feeling Seren will soon be an unpopular guest. In the end, many may sympathize more with you than with him. The best thing you can do is leave. Go back and tell Rapunzel about it. She must be lonely there at the tower.”
“I will. That’s exactly what I want to do. I’d like to say goodbye to everyone, though.”
“We’ll go see Maria and Ginger after breakfast. Persephone will be out and about. She’ll either come here or go to Maria. We’ll stop and say goodbye to Rose Red and Eurydice on the way to Rowan Gate.”
Clarissa fried bacon while Heks cracked eggs. When Persephone appeared, Heks broke two additional eggs into the pan. Heks kept the conversation general and light, teasing Persephone about the hay in her thick, corn-colored hair and speculating on what Rapunzel had been doing. Once or twice Persephone gave her a questioning look. Heks was not normally so talkative. Heks shook her head slightly when Clarissa wasn’t looking, and Persephone obligingly chipped in with musings on Pele and what they might find when they visited Dvorgdom.
As soon as they finished, Heks swept them out the door and up the path to Maria’s house. She refused more food and tea, allowed a few minutes for good-byes, and led Clarissa along a tree-lined path up the hill, out of sight of most of Rowan Tree.
They found Rose Red breakfasting with her door wide open and a smell of toasting bread coming out. Blood-stained linen wrapped her arm. Heks, who had managed to pull ahead of Persephone and Rose Red, poked her head in the door first.
“Don’t say anything about last night,” she warned a startled Rose Red.
Then Clarissa and Persephone arrived, and Rose Red made little of her injured arm, saying she’d scratched it climbing a tree. As everyone knew of her delight and agility in climbing trees, they accepted the excuse. Clarissa hugged, kissed, and thanked her, Rose Red returning her affection.
Then they were off to Eurydice’s house and Rowan Portal. Persephone caught Heks’s urgency and realized Heks was keeping certain events of the night before from Clarissa, so she kept them moving through good-byes with Kunik and Eurydice, who breakfasted together.
Eurydice was amazed and delighted to learn Rowan Gate had once again opened, and she and Kunik accompanied Clarissa, Heks and Persephone to the spring.
Clarissa threw her arms around each of them one last time. For a moment, Heks was crushed in her young embrace, smelled the faint sea-odor of her skin and hair, and felt Clarissa’s kiss on her cheek.
“Thank you. I can’t thank you enough.”
“I’ll see you again. Send Rapunzel our love and tell her the news. Keep yourself safe, my dear. I’m proud of you.”
Heks moved back and they watched as Clarissa stepped lightly down into the spring and slid from sight.
They stood silently a moment before Persephone turned, hands on hips, and asked Heks, “What on earth is going on?”
Heks felt suddenly tired. “I need another cup of tea,” she said.
They decided Eurydice would be the one to find the bodark’s body. She, so far as anyone knew, had not been involved in silencing Seren. She and stalwart Kunik were accepted as a couple, which provided her some protection. No one would suspect her of killing such a creature.
They arranged she would go to Gabriel, who had long suspected Mingan, and explain the night’s events. News of Mingan’s disappearance would mingle with news of the dead wolf. While Rowan Tree was distracted, Persephone, Ginger and Heks would leave quietly. Sometime later in the day, Eurydice would pretend to discover the portal was open again. Possibly, no one would notice the absence of Clarissa, Heks, Ginger or Persephone for at least a day, and by the time they did there would be other events to talk and wonder about.
Kunik would see to Heks’s house, shuttering the windows and locking the door. He would make sure Rose Red saw Maria for her wounded arm. Chattan had not returned to Kunik’s house, where he stayed, during the night. He often roamed at night, and Kunik had thought nothing of his absence. He suspected Chattan kept watch over Rose Red after the bodark’s death, either from inside or outside.
“I’ll go see,” he told Heks. “Don’t worry. Will the bite be poisonous or infected?”
“Maria will deal with it,” said Heks. “The sooner the better, though.”
“I’ll tell Artemis, too,” said Kunik.
“Artemis stayed with Gwelda last night.”
“Then I’ll tell them both. Don’t worry, Heks. We’ll look after her.”
“It doesn’t sound to me like she needs much looking after,” put in Eurydice. “Good for her. I didn’t know she had it in her.”
“I did,” said Heks.
Heks and Persephone took the concealed path back down the slope. Persephone slipped away to the haymow for her possessions. Heks had already packed. She left the breakfast dishes for Kunik to deal with, closed her windows and shut the door firmly behind her. At Maria’s, she found Persephone and Ginger waiting and ready to go.
“Persephone’s been telling us,” said Maria. “I’m proud of Rose Red.”
“I’m awed by her,” said Ginger. “What courage!”
“Will the bite be a problem?” Heks asked Maria.
“I’ll manage,” said Maria. “Did it bleed a lot?”
“Like a stuck pig,” said Heks.
“That’s good.”
“I hate leaving you,” said Ginger to Maria.
“I’m not afraid of David,” said Maria. ”He’s a coward.”
“Cowards can be dangerous,” Persephone cautioned.
“Not as dangerous as I am,” said Maria grimly.
Persephone laughed.
“You go and see what you can do for Pele and Rumpelstiltskin,” said Maria. “Leave Rowan Tree to us. The Yrtym is the most important thing. If we can’t repair that, none of it will matter anyway.”
Artemis appeared at the door with Rose Red.
“Kunik’s gone to speak to Gabriel,” she said. “As soon as Eurydice sees you at the portal, she’s going to the community hall with news of the body.”
“Bodies for breakfast,” said Heks.
Persephone snorted.
Heks took Rose Red’s hands in her own. Rose Red’s face was calm, though weary. “Lady,” said Heks, and inclined her head with respect.
Rose Red’s eyes filled with tears. Artemis smiled.
Heks leaned forward and kissed Rose Red. “We’ll talk later,” she said. Persephone and Ginger embraced Rose Red and then the three women left for Rowan Gate. From the forest’s shelter, Heks looked across the slope and saw people working among the animal sheds and pastures. The community hall door stood open and people went in and out to cook and eat breakfast and begin food preparation for the day. She wondered if any stew remained. The previous night seemed days away already.
Eurydice waited at the portal. She gave them each a kiss and turned away, hurrying along the path through the rowan trees as they entered the rock-walled shelter around the spring.
CHAPTER 22
ASH
“Mirry! Wake up!” Ash tickled Mirmir under the chin, but the giant snake remained motionless and unresponsive.
“He looks like he’s awake,” said Beatrice. “His eyes are open.”
“His eyes are always open,” said Ash, exasperated. “Snakes don’t have eyelids.”
Mirmir draped in thick loops over a sturdy branch of Yggdrasil. Ash and Beatrice had been trying to wake him for several minutes.
“If you don’t wake up, we’re leaving without telling you the latest news,” Ash threatened. “You’ll miss out!”
He gave Mirmir a slap with his brown suede wing, though he knew it would feel like a falling flower petal to the big reptile.
“Bite him,” suggested Beatrice.
“I can’t bite him!”
“Why not?”
“I don’t bite people!”
“You bite bugs.”
“He’s not a bug, Beatrice!”
“It won’t hurt him, but it might wake him up,” she said.
Ash opened his jaws wide and bit Mirmir on the end of his flat head where his nose would be, if snakes possessed a nose.
Mirmir twitched.
“Wake up!” Ash and Beatrice shrilled together.
Mirmir gaped in a wide yawn. His mouth looked like a tunnel entrance.
“Oy!” shouted Ash, moving back hastily from the snake’s fanged mouth. “Be careful!”
“Did you jusst bite me?” Mirmir inquired with hurt dignity.
“Beatrice told me to.”
“We’ve been trying to wake you up forever,” said Beatrice severely. “We’re in a hurry, but we thought you’d like to hear the news. Ash couldn’t possibly hurt you with his little teeth. You shouldn’t sleep so hard. Don’t be a baby.”
Mirmir’s body rippled and undulated in the snake version of stretching. He yawned again, more politely.
“Very well,” he said, grumpy. “Now you’ve woken me, the newss better be worth hearing.”
“Judge for yourself,” said Ash, and he and Beatrice related recent events at Rowan Tree. In spite of their need to rejoin Rumpelstiltskin, Ash, irritation forgotten, took the time to imitate Seren’s performances, as well as the moment he realized his voice was gone. He mimicked Clarissa’s simple and powerful telling of Feathers, Heks’s spell work and Rose Red’s decisive thrust and slash with her knife of the pillow.
“Ha!” exclaimed Mirmir. “I wish I’d been there to ssee.”
“That’s not the best part,” said Ash, and described the scene between Mingan, Chattan and Rose Red.
“Weeelll,” Mirmir said when Ash stopped speaking, drawing out the word, “thiss iss newss! So Rowan Gate is open again, as is the portal in Yggdrasil’s roots. That’s good. The Norns will be pleased.”
“How are they?”
“Oh, they’re managing. They’re still weaving with the beginnings and endings we made last winter. The quality and quantity of materials and thread are not what they were, but they do the best they can. Skuld is back on her feet, and that’s an improvement. Our portal stays open. That seems a good sign. They do each day’s work and try not to worry too much. They’ll be glad to hear this news. Verdani’s ability to glean current events is sadly diminished with the Yrtym’s breakdown.”
“We must get on to Rumpelstiltskin now,” said Ash. “I can smell morning coming, and I want to let him know Heks and the others are on their way and be safely underground before sunrise. It’s been a long night.”
“I’m glad you sstopped. I hope this bite doesn’t become infected. You don’t by any chance have rabies, do you?” Mirmir’s eyes gleamed sardonically.
“Idiot!” said Ash. Beatrice sniffed.
“I’ll watch for Hekss,” said Mirmir. “Good luck with Pele and those dratted Dvorgs.”