Medieval 03 - Enchanted

prized among the
Learned.”
    Meg watched Simon’s fingers stroking the
fabric as though it were a cat.
    And like a cat, the fabric seemed to cling more
closely in response.
    “Does Dominic need me?” Simon
asked.
    “Now? Nay. But we leave tomorrow for
Blackthorne Keep.”
    As though in silent protest, Simon’s hand
clenched on the fabric.
    “Ariane isn’t well enough to
travel,” Simon said carefully.
    “Aye. Duncan promised that he would care for
Ariane as though she were his own,” Meg said.
    “I will stay with her,” Cassandra
said.
    Simon made no response.
    “Don’t worry,” Meg said.
“Cassandra is as skilled in healing as I am.”
    Simon nodded and said nothing.
    There was no question that his duty lay with his
lord and brother, the Glendruid Wolf. For the first time, such duty
was more burden than pleasure for Simon.
    Broodingly he looked at Ariane, who had saved his
life at the risk of her own, yet had refused to share her body in
the marriage bed as God, custom, and necessity required.
    Reckless little nightingale.
Will you be pleased to have me gone from your side ?
    Will your songs be happier
without me ?
    Cassandra put aside her embroidery, stood, and went
to the bed. Thoughtfully she looked down at Ariane’s relaxed
body and Simon’s taut one.
    But most of all, the Learned woman looked at the
fabric stretched between the two.
    “Come, Simon,” Cassandra said softly.

“Stand by me.”
    His black eyes narrowed at the gentle command, but
Simon said nothing. Instead, he set aside the violet fabric and
eased from the bed so as not to disturb Ariane.
    When he stood, the dress fell forward over its own
soft folds until it brushed against Simon’s thigh.
    “Farther,” Cassandra said, stepping
backward.
    Puzzled, Simon followed.
    The fabric slid away.
    Simon had to bite back an instinctive protest. Only
now did he realize how rewarding it was for him to touch the
weaving.
    “Watch,” said the Learned woman to
Meg.
    After a few moments the posture of Ariane’s
body changed subtly. No longer was she relaxed in a healingsleep. Rather she lay slackly. Her skin seemed more
pale, more chalky, less supple.
    “What is it?” Meg asked Cassandra.
“What’s wrong?”
    “A few times within Learned memory, the
Silverfells clan has woven cloth that covers more than the
body,” Cassandra whispered. “Serena is from that
clan.”
    Simon made a hoarse sound and spun to face the
Learned woman.
    “Are you saying there is witchery woven into
that dress?” he demanded harshly.
    Cassandra gave Simon a measuring glance.
    “Nay,” she said flatly. “I am
saying the Learned know that there is more to the world than that
which can be weighed, measured, touched, and seen.”
    Simon’s expression became hard, closed.
“Explain.”
    “Of course.”
    Simon waited, his body taut.
    “But first,” Cassandra said coolly,
“you must explain a moonrise to Edgar the Blind, and relate
the call of a nightingale to the miller’s deaf
child.”
    The blackness of Simon’s eyes narrowed into
two glittering strips of midnight. He turned to Meg.
    “Is that cursed dress harming Ariane?”
he demanded.
    Thoughtfully, Meg bent and rested her hand on the
dress, seeing the dress as she would
have seen a person, with Glendruid
eyes.
    “’Tis of a surpassing odd
texture,” Meg said, straightening, “but there is no
whiff of evil.”
    “Are you certain?” Simon asked.
    “I am certain of this,” Meg said.
“No other cloth could have kept the life’s blood inside
Ariane’s body. Is that evil?”
    Simon closed his eyes. His jaw clenched visibly as
he struggled to contain his temper.
    Will I never be free of
witchery ?
    Will I ever be clean of what
Marie’s witchery did to me, and I to Dominic ?
    Simon let out a pent breath. His eyes opened clear
andsavage with all that had not been said, the
past a poison within his soul.
    “I have no fondness for witchery,” he
said finally.
    The stillness of his voice was more dangerous than
a shout would have been.
    “Except yours, Meg,” Simon said, his
expression and voice gentling. “Yours I abide because it
saved Dominic’s life. And because you would die before you
would betray him.”
    “What of Amber?” Meg asked.
    “She is Duncan’s to contend
with.”
    Ariane groaned softly. Her head turned from side to
side as though she were searching for something.
    “It is you she seeks,” Cassandra
said.
    Simon looked at the Learned woman.
    “I?” he