The cursed towers 294
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"So am I," Niall said, very low. She looked up, trying to read his face, but it was too dark under the
trees. Then he surprised her by kissing her, very hard.
When at last he released her mouth, Lilanthe stood very still, leaning against his shoulder. She felt very
safe in the circle of his arms. She said nothing, dazed and tremulous.
"Ye remember once ye asked me what I would like to do once the war was over?" Niall said. She
nodded. "Would ye like that too? A wee cottage somewhere in the woods, with a garden and some
beehives, and a pool for ye to bathe in and sweet earth in which to dig your roots? For I want ye,
Lilanthe. It is ye I dream o' beside me in that cottage. Do ye think ye would like that too?"
She nodded again and leant her head against his broad shoulder. "Aye, I would," she whispered. "I'd like
that very much."
Isabeau found her guardian waiting by the Pool of Two Moons, in the center of the labyrinth. It was very
quiet there, with the stars thick as daisies in the dark sky. She came and sat at Meghan's side, leaning her
head against the sorceress's knee. Meghan smoothed the unruly curls away from her face.
"Ye have learnt a lot since ye've been gone."
"Aye."
"Ye've lost all the veils over your third eye. Ye see clearly now."
"Aye."
"It's been a stony road for ye, my lass."
Isabeau nodded. "Aye, that it has."
"Tell me?"
Cuddling the little owl in her hands, Isabeau told Meghan everything she had done and learnt. For
Meghan, there was no judicious editing or softening of the truth. Occasionally the sorceress asked a
question or made an exclamation, sometimes of horror, more often of exasperation. Once she said, "Och,
ye were always an impulsive lass! Ye'd think ye would have learnt some wisdom by now!"
Isabeau finished with the lifting of the curse and Maya and Bronwen's departure from the secret valley. "I
watched them through the scrying pool. They reached the sea safely. I saw them swim into the waves."
Tears choked her, then she went on with a catch in her voice, "I couldna see them after that, though. I do
no' ken where they went."
"The sea distorts the far-seeing," Meghan said. "Like the mountains. Ye did well to see so far, even with
the scrying pool."
"I hope I did no' do wrongly," Isabeau said, her voice rather shaky. "She could've just turned me into a
toad and taken Bronwen but she did no'. I do no' ken why."
Meghan shrugged. "Who understands the heart o' a fairge? No' I." She brooded in silence for a while,
then said, "And who is this wee white owl?"
"This is Buba," Isabeau replied with a tender smile. "Is she no' bonny?"
