The cursed towers 207
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An old couple who had lived there all their lives maintained the castle. Meghan noticed the piercing
brightness of the old woman's slanted green eyes and said knowingly to Jorge, "It would no' surprise me
if she proved akin to Lilanthe o' the Forest. They used to say there were many born in Aslinn who had
tree-changer blood."
They stayed there a week, for it had been arranged to attack Ardencaple a month after Beltane, when
both the moons were dark. They had reached Castle Lochsithe more quickly than expected, thanks to
the fair weather, and so had time to scry to Lilanthe, hunt for fresh provisions and enjoy the tranquility of
the forest.
Their last evening at Castle Lochsithe, Iseult and Meghan sat out on the balcony that ran the length of the
central building, enjoying the dusk falling over the loch and watching the tiny sliver of the blue moon rise.
"Tomorrow Gladrielle will be dark," Meghan said, "and it will be time to attack Ardencaple. Let us hope
we find them unprepared, though I ken it is a vain hope."
Iseult said nothing, resting her head on her hand.
The old sorceress leaned forward and touched her shoulder. "Why have ye no' told Lachlan?"
Iseult did not pretend to misunderstand her. "He would have tried to make me stay behind in Dim Eidean
if he knew."
"Would that have been such a bad thing?" Meghan said. "Ye must have a care for the babes ye carry
within."
"Babes?"
"Aye, twins again," Meghan replied.
Iseult's face was shadowed. "I have a misgiving in my heart about this campaign," she said. "I have to stay
near Lachlan and protect him as best I may. I have had strange dreams ..."
"Jorge too has had uneasy dreams," Meghan said. "Tell me what ye've seen."
Iseult shrugged. "When first I wake I can remember clearly but always the dreams slip away from me in
the light o' day. Last night I dreamt I saw Lachlan walking away from me down a strange, flat, shadowy
road and though I called to him he did not turn or look around."
"That is no' such a bad dream surely?" Meghan said. "Happen it means ye must just be separate for a
while— which indeed I think would be a good idea, Iseult. Ye must have a care for the babes ye carry."
"It was no' so much what happened in the dream as the way I felt," Iseult said in a low voice. "Such
despair . . ."
Suddenly the warm blue of the twilight was split apart by a great crack of lightning which irradiated the
sky from horizon to horizon. The pattern of twigs and branches sprang out black against its white shock.
When the lightning was gone they could see the black fretwork imprinted against the fizzle of their vision.
So unexpected was the flash of light that they heard involuntary cries from the camp out in the woods and
from inside the castle hall. Again the lightning came and they heard the distant rumble of thunder.
"Lightning from a clear sky," Meghan murmured. "Indeed, no good omen the night before a battle."
"But for us or for them?" Iseult asked, getting wearily to her feet.
