The cursed towers 246
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prompted at last.
Maya sighed and turned back to her. "Wonder how different my life could have been if only I'd been
allowed to love my Jaspar freely and live without the dread o' failing my father and the priestesses. I tried,
ye ken. When Bronwen was born I left Sani in the shape o' a hawk and I did no' contact my father as I
should have. I tried to pretend I was free, but it was too late. Far too late."
She leant forward, putting out one hand to touch Isa-beau's knee. "Can ye no' see that all I want is to find
my daughter and live in peace somewhere? Some place where my father canna reach me and where
Bronwen will be safe?"
Isabeau was torn. She had to fight hard to resist the wistful pleading in the other woman's voice,
reminding herself of the hundreds of witches and faeries that had died horribly because of Maya's
machinations. The sight of her own maimed hand firmed her resolve and she said neutrally, "Ye can see
your daughter is no' with me."
Maya sat back, exasperation flashing briefly across her face. "But I ken ye took my baby!" she cried.
"Where is she? What have ye done with her?"
"How do ye ken?" Isabeau asked. "And how did ye ken to find me here?"
Maya was silent. When she did not answer, Isabeau busied herself clearing away their dirty bowls. The
water barrel was empty so she wiped the dishes out with a cloth, adding filling the barrel to her list of
things to do in the morning. She was very tired and her head was full of all that she had been told. She
needed time to sort through her emotions and reactions. She turned back to the other woman and said,
"We should rest. It is growing late. In the morning I'll take ye back to the loch and ye can swim again."
Maya nodded wearily and put her hand to her head. Isabeau unhitched the ladder from its hooks and put
it up to the trapdoor in the roof. She climbed up and passed her hand over the lock, searching for wards.
As she had expected, the trapdoor was guarded and it took her some time to work out the sequence of
enchantments. She was familiar with Meghan's system of warding, however, and so eventually was able
to make a series of complicated signs with her fingers. A symbol of green fire flared up for a moment and
then disappeared. With her arms full of the fire-warmed quilts, Isabeau led the way to the room above,
which was much smaller and quite round in shape.
A narrow bunk hung with green velvet curtains was set into one curved wall, and a carved wooden chest
stood on the other side. There was barely room to stand between the two pieces of furniture, particularly
since books were piled everywhere and the ladder came up through the middle of the floor. Maya had to
press her back against the curve of the wall to make room while Isabeau set up the ladder to the next
floor.
"Ye can sleep upstairs," Isabeau said brusquely, not wanting to put the Fairge in Meghan's own bed. She
knew there was nothing in her old room that Maya should not see, but this room was filled with Meghan's
books and artifacts and Isabeau did not want to risk the Fairge fingering through them. "Do no' try and
reach the floor above for the trapdoor will be guarded and ye could lose a few fingers, if no' your life. I
will wake ye in the morning. There are some clothes in the chest there that may fit ye. Throw down those
wet rags when ye are ready."
Maya nodded and clambered up the ladder, her arms filled with quilts. Isabeau climbed into the little
bunk, surprised at how hard and narrow it felt, and winked out her candle with a thought.
For the next few days she and Maya feinted and bluffed, each seeking to trap or beguile the other into
revealing what they knew. Isabeau found it hard not to succumb to the Fairge's charm for Maya had a
