Belladonna

then moved closer. "I'm Nathan."
    Glorianna tipped her head. "You're the anchor." He frowned at her, but she smiled because there was a shimmer of recognition in his eyes. The word itself meant nothing to him the way she was using it, but the meaning did. "You remember what Raven's Hill used to be."

    "I'm not that old," he grumbled. But he also nodded, "My grandfather used to tell me stories. It was a good village, and a fairly prosperous one when the quarry was open. Fishing was better in those years. There was more game in the hills. And people were kinder."
    They can be again. "It wasn't their fault," she said gently. "Michael, Caitlin, and Brighid."
    "Of course it wasn't their fault," Nathan snapped. The snap was automatic — a habit established long ago — but underneath there was uneasiness and doubt. "A young girl can't turn a fountain foul beyond any hope of cleaning or ruin a vegetable garden just by looking at it. A boy can't bring someone good luck or bad just by wanting something to happen to someone. That's all a load of —"
    "Truth." She watched his mouth fall open, then waited for him to regain his mental balance. He'd known it was true — had known Caitlin and Michael were capable of such things, but he hadn't expected anyone to acknowledge what they could do without condemning them for it. "In many ways, it was unknowingly done, unwittingly done, and the legacy of unhappiness was inherited along with this house. But Caitlin is a Landscaper who can alter the world to some extent, and since the village was already predisposed to brand her a sorceress, they helped shape her and, in return, she helped shape the world they had to live in. But even she couldn't influence Ephemera beyond a certain point. Because you were here."
    He shook his head. "I don't have any magics."
    "You love this place. Despite the troubles that plague this village, you love it. And your heart holds the memories of what this landscape used to be. You haven't let go of the memories that were passed down to you or the hope that Raven's Hill will be what it once was."
    He looked sad. "So everyone was right about Michael and Caitlin?"
    "Yes and no." Glorianna looked at the burned ruins of the cottage, feeling the knot of Dark currents directly under it. Why would anyone have built a home on a spot that must have made all the workers uneasy?
    And how much courage had it taken to live in the cottage, even if the people living there had no knowledge of the currents? Sorrow's ground. The words came like a whispered memory. She closed her eyes against the pain of it.
    "What's the matter? Are you unwell?"
    A light hand on her arm. Concern in Nathan's voice.
    She opened her eyes and looked into his. He can change things.
    "If you want to help your village and your people, this is what you must do." Ephemera, hear me. She scuffed the ground, then picked up a palm-sized stone that matched the stone in the quarry. She made a sweeping gesture that took in the ruins of the cottage and the meadow around it. "Know the true names of things. This is Sorrow's Ground. It is not a place that should be built on or lived on. It belongs to Sorrow, to the hard feelings that plague the heart. It belongs to regrets, to disappointments, to loss. In season, pick a wildflower from the meadow or bring a flower from the home garden, or select a simple stone, and whisper what troubles you as you give your offering to Sorrow's Ground." She demonstrated by tossing the stone into the ruins of the cottage.
    "All well and good if people don't think it's too daft to do," Nathan said. "But what is it supposed to accomplish?"
    "It's a cleansing," Glorianna replied. "Since there are already hard feelings about this little piece of Raven's Hill, people won't find it that difficult to believe this is the village's dark place."
    "If you're not careful, Sorrow could become a mysterious, black-haired sorceress who walks among the ruins or out in the meadow and listens to the grievings and regrets," Nathan said.
    She heard the unspoken question, felt the yearning in his heart — and felt a moment's regret that her own yearnings pulled her toward a man whose heart was clouded enough that even though she was drawn to Michael, might even be falling in love with him, she wasn't sure she could trust him.
    "Caitlin and Michael won't come back to Raven's Hill. Neither will I. So if you think it will help your people, then tell the story of a sorceress called Sorrow who came to