The cursed towers 262
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"It's our birthday."
Iseult nodded. "Yes, and today I march to war. Already the frost is melting and yet we still have no' set
foot in Arran. May the White Gods blast those stupid lairds to dust!" Her voice and face were bitter.
"And Lachlan? The curse still holds?"
Iseult nodded, though surprise flashed briefly across her face. "Ye ken o' the curse?"
"I have watched ye through the scrying pool before. I saw what happened at Ardencaple."
"I thought I felt ye then, and other times as well. I tried to reach ye once through the scrying pool at the
Tower o' Two Moons but ye were too far away or too preoccupied, or something. It was cold, snowing,
and ye were crying. I thought, I had a feeling that ye were at the Haven but surely no' . . ."
Isabeau nodded. "I spent the previous two winters there. They shake their head over me and say I shall
never be a Scarred Warrior like ye."
A smile flashed across Iseult's face. "I should think no'!" She paused and frowned and fingered her
weapons' belt. "The Ensorcellor's babe?"
"Bronwen is safe wi' me at the Cursed Towers," Isa-beau replied, rather defensively.
Iseult straightened her back and smiled with relief. "I knew ye had no' betrayed us! They were saying ye
had given the Ensorcellor's babe to Maya and the Awl but I knew ye would no'."
Isabeau's smile faltered but Iseult did not notice, saying, "I canna stay. It is time for me to march out and
we have already tarried too long. Glad I am indeed to see ye and speak wi' ye this way, peculiar as it
seems. I was just thinking that all whom I love are far away or lost or cursed, and indeed they were
unhappy thoughts."
"Meghan?" Isabeau cried in sudden alarm, and Iseult smiled in reassurance. "Auld mother is here and
safe. I know no' what I should've done without her these dark months. Have a care for yourself, Isabeau
..."
"And ye," Isabeau whispered. "I hope all goes well wi' ye and that ye win this war and break the curse."
Iseult's face darkened. "Auld mother says the curse can only be broken by the person who cast it. If it
was Margrit o' Arran as we suspect, then I just hope we can win through and force her to our will. It
seems so unlikely though. She is a powerful sorceress and rules the marshlands."
"Beware the Mesmerdean," Isabeau whispered, filled with dread. There was so much she wanted to say
but could not find the words.
Iseuit said with a little shudder, "I do, believe me, I do. I dread them more than anything, such a spell they
can cast over me . . ." She squared her shoulders, blue eyes somber. "Let us no' think o' them. I must
go."
"Happy birthday, twin," Isabeau said, her eyes stinging with tears. "Ea be wi' ye."
"And wi' ye."
Iseult's face blurred away as Isabeau's tears fell into the pool, breaking the image up into little, dark
ripples. She sat back, wiping her face with her hands. "May Ea's bright face be turned on ye this day,"
Isabeau whispered, and rose to go back to the Tower.
