Leaf and Branch (New Druids Series Vol 1 & 2)

by Donald D. Allan

  "Shh, hon. I understand. Gaea made this happen. The fault rests on her. Not you. Never you!"

  William held her tighter and then pulled back and spoke quietly. "The Church let me go then. I walked out of there with calls of 'demon-lover' following me. I'm not stupid, though. They only let me go so that I could lead them to you. They tried to follow me but I lost them in the chaos. They forgot I was born and raised in the streets of Munsten." William bowed his head and his shoulders shook.

  Belle wrapped her arms around her husband and cried with him for a spell. Will stirred and complained about being hungry and they broke apart and gazed at each other. Clear streaks of skin were washed by his tears and marked his face. Belle had never seen him cry before. At that moment, she felt a stirring of hatred for Gaea that startled her.

  "I've only ever wanted what is best for our boy, Belle," he whispered. "All those years working extra shifts. It was so I could be promoted. As a major I would no longer do shift work. No more duty watches. You, Will and I could have had all the time in the world together. Now..."

  "I see that now, love. I should never have doubted you."

  "You are my life and soul. Without you I am nothing. I cannot live in a world where you and Will are no longer a part of it. I couldn't survive the loss. I couldn't. I'm not strong enough."

  Belle nodded and kissed him. She soaked in his love and gave it back. This man would do anything for her and their son. She had never loved him more than right now. She forgave him for killing Dalton. The blood was on Gaea. She told him so.

  "Never mind killing Dalton. It was a loss but he was correct. We need to flee. Gaea is pushing me hard to move, William. Even now. I swear I can feel her hands on my shoulders shoving me."

  William tried to smile but failed. "Good thing I have my secrets, then, huh? And even better that I grew up in the streets of Munsten. No one knows their way around this city like I do. There is a hidden way out. Used by criminals. Come. Let's be off. It's far from here."

  "Dad, where are we going?" asked a frightened Will and William looked down at his son and Belle watched his chin tremble.

  "Away for a wee while, Will. An adventure like in the tales. You and your mum, okay?"

  "Okay, dad. That'd be grand. Grand! But, why are you so dirty, da? You need a bath, dad. Mum will be cross with you if you come home like that."

  "Aye, son. I do. That I do." William looked up to Belle and she raised a hand to cup his cheek. William leaned his head into that hand for a moment before lifting Will up in his arms. "Come, love. We need to be quick."

  Thirty-One

  Nadine's House, Jergen Waterfront, 900 A.C.

  NADINE WAS ASLEEP in her bed with Dog lying on the floor next to her. She was worn out and, because she didn't have too much reserve in her, she had fallen asleep soon after telling me what had befallen my mom and dad that night. The past hours had taken too much out of her physically and emotionally and she had gone to bed as soon as she finished the tale. It was a tale of conjecture and some things she said she had pieced together over the years. It was truth as far as she knew. I checked on her and covered her better with a blanket. I looked around her house for a moment and went outside.

  I sat on a wooden, double-seated, swing seat she had placed to look out over the bay entrance and the ocean. Jergen rose dark and shadowed to my right. Street lamps were not present this far off the main roads but the skies were clear of cloud and the stars filled the night sky. The moon was high over the city behind me and I sat in quiet contemplation with enough light to see everything around me. I was neither warm nor cold. The only sound was the waves against the cliffs below. The gulls had gone to bed for the night. I should be enjoying myself but I wasn't.

  My father was not the man I thought I remembered. I had spent the last ten years of my life hating the man. Now I knew he had loved me and my mom so very much he had sacrificed his own life so we could escape. I couldn't begin to understand having to make that decision. Daukyns had warned me years ago that my memories were likely not perfect, to give my father the benefit of the doubt.

  "Will, you were six years old. Seven? Just a boy. You've admitted as much that you only remember a couple of things," said Daukyns after a long sip of wine. I recalled we were seated in front of the common house in Jaipers last summer.

  "Yes, but one of those memories was watching my dad's back as he walked away from mom and I. My mom was crying and he just walked away. That seems pretty clear to me."

  "I agree, that doesn't sound very promising. Still, I'm a little bit older than you. Trust me in this: no father or husband would abandon their wife and child. Not willingly. Think about it. Leave a spot in your heart for another truth."

  I thought about it now and the Truth Nadine had shown me. I wasn't finding it easy to look back at a lifetime of hating someone only to find out I should be loving them instead. I felt so much guilt. It hammered at me nonstop and so I sought solace in the night. My brain knew I wasn't to blame. I just had to get my heart to understand. I had to find out if I was capable of loving someone who deserved it but for whom I had no memories to tie a love to.

  After an hour, I gave up. I hadn't saved a spot in my heart. I'm sorry, dad, I said to the stars. I know I should love you but I can't.

  The silence grew deeper and my eyes closed. The waves on the cliff were a pleasant repetitive sound and in a short time they lulled me to sleep.

  * * *

  I jolted awake when Nadine settled next to me on the double-swing and set it swaying. I blinked my blurry eyes, and rubbed the grit from my lashes. I struggled to sit up properly against the swing motion. A sweet, smoke smell wafted over me and I saw Nadine was smoking a weed pipe. I stared at her for a moment before looking out at the ocean. It was halfway through the morning by the brightness of the day. She patted my leg for a moment and took another puff from her pipe. I liked the smell of the smoke.

  "Did you sleep well, Will?" she asked.

  "Aye. I can't believe I slept this long. Sorry."

  "You needed it. You've been running for so long you were tired up here." Nadine poked my head sharply with the stem of her pipe.

  "Ow!" I said and rubbed my head and looked around for Dog.

  "He's off finding breakfast. He loves to hunt rabbits, did you know?"

  "Hmm. Yes. He caught one by accident on the way here. He was very proud of himself."

  "Good," she said.

  I looked out over the morning sea. It was calm with the lack of wind and the blue of the water sparkled. I watched a cargo ship fight for wind as it left the harbour approaches. Sails fluttered and I could make out the men climbing the rigging. Two seagulls bobbed and spun behind the ship, their cries lost in the distance.

  My sleep had let my mind settle what had bothered me. Daukyn's words about leaving room in my heart for another truth seemed to let what Nadine was telling me seep in. I looked over to her. "Thank you," I said.

  Nadine raised an eyebrow and looked at me. "For what, now?"

  "For telling me what happened to my mom and dad."

  Nadine puffed out smoke. "You're welcome. It's what I was able to put together over the years. Most of it is accurate. Your mom was killed soon afterwards. Hunted down by the top assassin of the Sect. The man named Seth Farlow. An evil man. Cut off from Gaea herself."

  "What does that mean, cut off? Is that even possible?"

  "You wouldn't think so but it happened to Seth and the Archbishop. Your mom talked about the Archbishop all the time. Seth was one of those strange fellows that flitted about the castle in Munsten. Always spying and sneaking. He reported to the Archbishop. Everyone knew that. The Archbishop thought he was so smart and secretive, but the draoi knew of him. We followed him closely ever since the Revolution. Well, your mom and the Freamhaigh knew. They told the draoi."

  "Yes, but cut off from Gaea. Shouldn't you be dead or something?"

  "I don't know. I don't understand it either." Nadine took a final puff from her pipe and then lo
oked into the bowl. She blew out smoke and then leaned forward to tap the bowl out on a flat rock laying in front of the swing. I could see the remains of ashes scattered around the rock.

  "This is your spot. Out here, I mean, on this swing."

  "Yes, I've spent many, many evenings out here. Never a morning, though. And I never slept out here either. How was it?"

  "Nice, actually."

  "Ah, the resilience of youth," Nadine slapped my knee, squeezed it, and stood up. It was such a smooth movement I was a bit shocked at seeing it. Nadine looked down at me and I could see she was shocked as well. "Well, I seem to be moving a bit better today."

  "I'd say," I said and reached out with my senses to examine her. The swelling around her joints was gone and I could see her mobility was better. I didn't understand how so much had happened so quickly and didn't know what to say to her. I didn't think my tea was the cause.

  "Did you just examine me again?" she asked. "You're always doing that you young rascal. People will talk. Sure as they will." She waggled her eyebrows at me. I saw her then in a different light. I could see the younger woman she probably was and still is inside. She was what Daukyns used to call spunky and interesting. I laughed out loud and Nadine smacked me again. "Mind your manners!" and I laughed even harder. "It's not funny to laugh at an old woman!"

  "Sorry, Nadine! My fault!"

  "Come on inside, you cheeky young thing. I've boiled water for tea and made oats. It's time you broke your fast. Dog will be back soon and we need to talk about those pages of yours."

  We soon settled inside at the table with steaming mugs of tea and a bowl of porridge with honey and dried apples and peaches in it for me. It was wonderful. Nadine had placed the manuscript pages on the table next to us and she was reading them.

  "Your friend Daukyns was a very smart man. A wordsmith, you said?"

  I nodded, my mouth full of porridge.

  "He translated this well. Very well, indeed. I'm impressed. It was written in a language long forgotten. I taught it in the years at the castle in Munsten followed by years longer working with the young Duilleogs at one of our locations. Rarely did I find anyone who was truly interested in the written word. Especially in a dead language. Daukyns seemed like a special find. I'm sorry I didn't get to meet him."

  I swallowed. "He would have liked you, I think. He had an eye for beautiful women. Told me all the time."

  Nadine looked at me funny and then continued to read. She moved a page closer to me and pointed to one of the drawings. "See here, this is basil. But not just any basil. This one comes from the Northern counties and has a stronger tie to the mint family. You can taste it. Makes this a wonderful component for medicinal purposes."

  "It would. Good for the stomach and the blood."

  "Yes," said Nadine pursing her lips and nodding appreciatively at me. "Exactly right. What is important though is the drawing is not correct. It is close to the original but whoever copied it got lazy. The colouring is incorrect and not all the leaves are here on this stem in the background. See?"

  I saw where she was pointing but had no clue what the difference was she was talking about. "Not really, Nadine. I've never seen the original — or the plant for that matter."

  "I'm just proving it's a copy. Pay attention. What's important here is the colour selection. The colour used here is more commonly found in copies of the book of the Church of the New Order. The use of that colour is predominant in the panes drawn at the end of the first book of John or some other fellow."

  "And you know this how?"

  Nadine smacked me again. "Don't be insolent. I've seen the book many, many times here in Jergen. Dyes are unique, Will. That green colour is unique. Whoever copied the draoi manuscript used the same dye used to create their book. Therefore, this copy of the draoi manuscript had to have been made at the same place where the church prints their books. Here at the Cathedral of Jergen. Imagine that." Nadine looked radiant and proud.

  I could see the lines around her face were less prominent and I was starting to see a glimmer of the young woman she once was, her eyes such a bright green they shone. I could now see a hint of red in the roots of her white hair.

  I blinked and focused on what she had just said. "Daukyns had mentioned the library in Jergen, not the Cathedral."

  "They are the same, Will. But I'm not surprised he didn't mention that. The Library of Jergen is attached to the Cathedral. Most people from outside of Jergen think them separate but they are not. The Church owns the Library. Hard to miss actually, they are made from the same white stone."

  "So you think this copy of the Draoi Manuscript will be found inside the library?"

  "Perhaps. Perhaps not. I really don't know. But I think it important that we look. Really there shouldn't be a copy. Gaea shouldn't have allowed it but if it exists then obviously she must have made an exception. Peculiar, no? Coincidence? We must find it and remove it. It may be the only copy we have now."

  "What do you mean the only copy? I thought there were many originals?"

  "There are, somewhere. But not many. Only four. Their location died with the owners, I'm afraid. The Purge did more than just kill draoi. It killed our lore, too. We have nothing left of our order. It was ripped from the earth. You are the last, Will. And I the last of the knowledge. Without Gaea guiding us we are stumbling along."

  "If you know the lore so well can you not just rewrite the manuscript?"

  Nadine laughed. "No, Will. The manuscript contained so much more than the knowledge I had. I taught the young ones about the simple truths about draoi. Life cycles. How to care for plants and animals. Our history and what it meant to be draoi. Nothing more, I'm afraid. I have no knowledge of the depth of the magycs draoi wield. And without powers of my own, I cannot teach any new draoi. You see?"

  I did but remained silent. I had come to Jergen to find answers and thought they were in a book. It turned out Nadine alone was providing the answers I was truly after. I now knew where I had come from and why I had been on my own for all those years. Like last night watching the stars and looking for a way past the anger I still felt toward my father, I now struggled to find direction in my life. I thought of the wonder I felt when I had healed the poor woman and her son in Jaipers. I hadn't told Nadine anything of that. But when I had healed her, her son and the others, I felt I was doing something important and I wanted to do more. I wanted to heal the world if I could.

  The sound of paws digging into the dirt announced the arrival of Dog. He bounded into the room with a quail clenched in his jaws. He dropped the bird when he crossed the threshold and bounded straight to me and jumped up to place his front paws on my knees. Before I could stop him he was slathering my face with his tongue. Nadine laughed and tried to shoo Dog away but he was too enthusiastic for anyone to control. He calmed down, but remained leaning against me with his head in my lap, still staring directly at me.

  I tore my eyes away from Dog and saw Nadine looking at me in a strange way again. "Okay, so we find the copy. Once we have it we can figure out what happens next. How do we get in the library?"

  "Oh, that part's easy. The head librarian relies on my ointment to relieve a problem he has. He'll let me in no problem at all! The hard part will be in taking the book out of there."

  The next morning we left Dog at home and Nadine and I made our way to the Cathedral. It wasn't a long walk but we had to climb the steep Highborn Street back to the central park. Nadine didn't complain once and she seemed much stronger today. It was mid-morning and Nadine felt the library would be at its quietest. It felt strange walking the street without my backpack — I felt so light. I also never had a friend to walk alongside me. I enjoyed Jergen a bit more now and I was starting to see its charm. It was large and hugged the cliffs. Trade flowed in and out. People all seemed to be in a hurry to be somewhere else. Few people said hello or wished you a good day.

  "How can so many people be so alone?" I muttered.

  "Huh?" asked Nadine then I sa
w her looking at the people we passed.

  I shook my head and we kept walking. The day was profusely hot already and Nadine carried a small parasol to shade her. We looked like a strange couple. But perhaps most people would assume we were a mother and son walking the streets. Either way, I didn't care. I was comfortable with Nadine and we talked of simple things en route. I think we were trying to avoid talking about what to expect in the library.

  "I think I look a wee bit daft with this parasol," she declared once we reached the top of the steep street and breathed heavily. Nadine had managed the hill with no bother at all.

  I looked her over pretending to think about it. "Might be you are correct, ma'am."

  Nadine closed the parasol and then hit me with it. "Such cheek!"

  "Hey! Why are you always hitting me?"

  "You need it. Keeps you honest."

  "Honest? Who said I wasn't honest."

  "Don't need anyone telling me that, I can tell. Your eyes are too close together."

  "W-what? What do my eyes have to do with honesty?"

  "Everything. Trust me. I'm old and know things."

  "Like how to hit people..." I murmured under my breath.

  "I heard that!" she declared and then stopped walking. I took a step past her and turned to look at her. "I heard that, Will. Say something else — quiet like."

  "You mean in a whisper?"

  "Of course, I meant in a whisper!" she shouted and swatted at me. This time, I moved out of the way and she missed. She glared at me.

  I lowered my voice and whispered to her. "You are an evil old woman..."

  "Dear Gaea! I heard that! I heard that Will! My hearing is coming back. Dear Gaea, what is happening to me?"