Korinne was not repulsed. Compared to what she'd heard in tales of the lost folk, this witch was almost attractive.
"Have you seen enough?" said the witch, waving her hand at the fire once more. The flames suddenly died down and the inside of the cottage was once again dim. "Now, why is it that you've come? What is it that you want?"
Korinne's heart was racing. It felt wrong to be here, but she'd come this far and she refused to give up now. "My name is Korinne Soth, Lady
Korinne-" "Who you are, I know," said the witch, cutting off Korinne's words. "What you want, I know." She smiled on one side of her mouth, showing the women several of her dirty brown teeth. "But I want to hear you tell me anyway."
Korinne paused. She'd spoken about her troubles only with her husband and Mirrel. No one else. But she was surprised to learn that she had no qualms about telling this hedge witch that she could not conceive.
Somehow, she knew that what was spoken here tonight would never leave the stone walls of the cottage.
"I am barren," said Korinne, a hint of sadness in her voice.
"Despite all my efforts, I have not been able to conceive." "No?" the witch asked playfully. "How do you know that you are the one unable to conceive?"
Korinne was silent.
"How do you know that the problem does not lie with the great Lord Soth, Knight of the Rose?"
Korinne gasped. She'd never even considered such a thing.
"How do you know," continued the witch, "that Soth's seed is not to blame?"
Korinne felt compelled to answer. If she didn't the witch might continue to ask the same disturbing question. "I don't," she said, a slight tremor in her voice. "I don't."
"Then perhaps you should come back when you know."
"How could I find out?"
The witch let out a small, dry laugh. "Take a lover, or wait until your mighty lord produces a bastard."
"No," whispered Korinne. "I couldn't."
"I see. So what you want is not for me to make you fertile, but to give you a child."
Korinne was silent. She turned to Mirrel for some help, but the young maid seemed as befuddled as Korinne was.
Finally Korinne simply said, "Yes." "Well, I cannot," said the witch.
"Why not?"
"What you are asking me to do is very dangerous magic. Even if I did try and help, you wouldn't know if I was successful for many months. And by then it would be too late."
"Too late? For what?"
"To undo," whispered the witch. "If my magic works well, then everyone is happy. But if it does not, people might-" "You must help me,"
Korinne said, getting out of her chair and moving closer to the witch until she was crouched at her feet.
Mirrel remained in her chair.
"And why must I help you?"
Korinne thought about it for a few moments, but couldn't think of much of an answer. She lowered her head and remained silent.
"Eh?" asked the witch. "What was that? Speak up dear, I cannot hear you."
Korinne felt her face getting flushed. There was no reason for the witch to talk to her in this way. No other reason than because she could talk to her this way under the circumstances.
Korinne let out a sigh, finally conceding that she was in no position to make demands upon the witch.
When the silence became prolonged, the witch spoke again. "So, tell me again why I should help you."
Korinne thought about it again. Why should this witch, someone she barely knew existed until two days ago, help her. Lady Korinne Soth of Dargaard Keep?
"Because I love my husband dearly and want nothing more than to make him happy."
"Ah…" The witch's scraggly face brightened. "Sure of that, are you?
Sure that a child would make Soth happy?"
Korinne considered it. Even though she couldn't be absolutely sure, she answered the question with as much conviction as she could muster.
"Yes."
The witch nodded. "Then I might give you what you ask for after all."
"Might?" asked Korinne harshly. She was about to say something else when she thought better of it.
"Yes, might." The witch paused. "There is still the little matter of a payment for my services." "I can pay you any amount you desire," said
Korinne confidently. "Anything you want, tell me what it is and it will be yours."
The witch's laugh sounded like boots sliding over a sand-sprinkled floor. "Look around you. Does it appear that I treasure material wealth?"
Korinne and Mirrel glanced around the cottage. It was obvious that the witch cared little for material things.
Korinne's previously soaring heart fell into a deep dark chasm. If the witch wanted no material wealth, then what type of payment could she make? "What is it that you want?" The witch smiled at the question. "I want," she said, "the one thing you value most."
Korinne thought about it. What was it that she valued most? It only took her a second to realize the answer was a simple one. She wanted a child more than anything else in the world. Soth wanted one as well. The value of a child in their lives was immeasurable. Priceless! But, how could she give up a child as payment when she couldn't have one in the first place? She decided to pose the question to the witch.
"How can I give you what I value most, when that thing is exactly what
I've come here to ask you for?"
The witch suddenly smiled and for a moment it was almost as if there was a quality of beauty about her.
Korinne nervously smiled along with her.
"A very wise answer," said the witch. "The right answer."
Korinne let out a long sigh. So did Mirrel.
"If a child is the one thing you value most, then perhaps you deserve to have one." The witch got up from her chair.
For the first time Korinne saw the misshapen curve of her back, legs and arms. She wondered for a moment: about what might have caused such a deformity, but quickly decided it was probably best she didn't know.
"I will give you a child," said the witch. "But I must tell you again that the magic you ask of me is very black and very, very dangerous."
Korinne chewed her bottom lip, afraid that if she spoke she might end up changing her mind.
"And I warn you," said the witch, "the success of the spell will depend entirely on the virtue of your husband, on the virtue of Lord Soth."
Lady Korinne thought about it. Mirrel had seen Soth and the elf-maid kiss, nothing more. How much harm could there be in that? And if she didn't do this, there was a chance they might do more than kiss the next time they met. And besides all of that, Soth was a Knight of Solamnia, a
Knight of the Rose, a noble and honorable man whose life was dictated by the writings of Vinas Solamnus. The Oath and the Measure. This one small indiscretion with an elf-maid would hardly put a black mark on Soth's soul after years of living honorably in accordance with the strict knight's code. If such was the case, the witch's stipulation would be a blessing more than a curse. "He's a good man," Korinne said at last.
"Are you so sure?" asked the witch.
"Yes." There was a slight tremor in Korinne's voice, as if her conviction was losing some of its strength.
"You love him, don't you?"
"Y-yes."
The witch moved closer. "Perhaps you should fear him instead. There are dark branches in his family tree and it is only a matter of time before the darkness infects the entire trunk, all the way down to the roots."
Korinne's heart was pounding. She swallowed and reassured herself that the witch was merely playing games, trying to scare her.
"You still want the child, do you not?" asked the witch.
Korinne nodded.
"Then you shall have it."
The witch's eyes rolled back in their sockets as she placed a hand on
Korinne's belly. The gnarled hand felt warm, almost hot, against her skin. The fire flared and the witch's lips mouthed an unfamiliar string of syllables and words.
/> Korinne felt a strange tingle inside her, the blossoming of something straining to make room for itself. Her eyes began to feel heavy with sleep. She tried to keep them open, but eventually was forced to give up the fight as all of her energy and strength was being drawn by the new thing inside her.
She could feel it.
Growing.
"Milady, wake up!"
Korinne felt a gentle pat against her cheek. "What? What is it?"
"We must be going. It will be light in a few hours."
Korinne's eyes fluttered open. Mirrel was there standing over her. She glanced around, and slowly recalled where she was. "Have I been asleep long?"
"Only a short while."
"Then we best be leaving." She tried to get up, but couldn't. Her limbs ached with exhaustion. Mirrel hooked an arm around her body and helped her to her feet.
As the two women made their way to the door, Korinne turned in the direction of the old witch and said, "Thank you."
And suddenly the cottage was filled with the sound of the witch's raspy laugh. "Don't thank me," she said. "You might want to curse me later."
The words made Korinne shiver.
Chapter 17
"How was your trip, my dear Loren?" Lady Korinne asked as both she and her husband retired to their chambers following his return from Vingaard
Keep.
"Strange," said Lord Soth, a sour expression on his face.
"Oh, how so?" said Korinne, barely able to hold back a smile. She lay back on the bed and raised a closed hand over her mouth.
"Well, Eward Irvine is a fine and experienced knight. In fact he's been a Knight of Solamnia longer than I have."
Soth paused to remove his boots. "Yet he called me with such haste to Vingaard Keep that I had thought there must be something happening there of grave importance, an insurrection or a rebellion of knights."
"But that wasn't the case?" Korinne prodded.
"No, far from it," said Soth. "When I got there he failed to greet me, then kept me waiting for hours. And then, once we finally met, he asked me to help him plan strategies for mock-battles between detachments of knights."
Korinne was silent, chewing her bottom lip to help keep her good news from spilling prematurely from her mouth.
"That's a task for pages and squires," said Soth. "Well, at least one thing is for certain. I'll be thinking twice before I answer the call of your cousin again."
He turned around to see Korinne lying on the bed, smiling gleefully.
"What?" asked Soth. "What is it?" He looked himself over to see if there was anything amiss with his clothing.
"Do you recall that you didn't want me to speak of children until I was sure I was with child?"
Soth thought about it. "Yes."
"Well, I am now sure."
Soth's mouth opened slightly and stayed that way for a long while. Then he swallowed and asked, "You are absolutely sure?"
Korinne couldn't blame him for asking. She had raised his hopes on the subject far too many times. In answer she simply nodded, then smiled.
"Paladine be praised!" Soth shouted, crawling onto the bed next to
Korinne. He took her in his arms and hugged her.
Korinne felt tears welling up in her eyes.
"My wife is with child," he whispered. "This is wonderful news." Then he kissed her.
As her lips touched his, Korinne began to cry. And despite the joy of the moment, she couldn't help but taste the bitterness in the tears as they rolled down her face.
"A celebration!" said Lord Soth later that day. "In the grand hall.
Everyone in the keep shall attend." "What's the occasion, milord?" asked the keep's cook, an elderly yet still quite stout man named Pitte who had been preparing meals for three generations of Soths. He had been called into the grand hall along with several of the keep's other key stewards.
"I — he paused and began again-"I am going to be a father."
The assembled men and women inhaled a collective gasp.
A broad grin broke across Soth's face as he finally had the long-awaited pleasure of telling someone-anyone- of his good fortune.
Lady Korinne stood by his side, holding his hand tightly and grinning from ear to ear.
A little distance away on Korinne's right stood Mirrel, who was also smiling broadly.
"Wonderful news, milord."
"A grand reason to celebrate." "I'll prepare a grand feast, milord," said Pitte, obviously happy to soon be serving a fourth generation Soth.
"It's a little early for the harvests to come in, but I can whip up a grand banquet with stews and soups, pastries and pies."
Soth nodded. "I'm sure it will be a fine meal, Pitte.
You've never served us anything but."
Pitte smiled, revealing the few remaining teeth in his head. "Thank you, milord. When would you like this feast to occur?"
"As soon as possible, of course."
"Is two days soon enough?" "Yes, wonderful," said Soth.
"Then excuse me, milord. I have many things to prepare."
The stout old man bowed his head and turned, then scurried off to the kitchen. "Now," said Soth. "As for the rest of you…"
Pitte had been good to his word and despite the short notice, he and his staff had done an exemplary job preparing the feast. In addition to the many varieties of meats and cheeses available, Pitte had also prepared many different colored dishes using vegetable dyes such as parsley for green, saffron for yellow and sandalwood for red. It was a small detail, but one that made the celebration all the more festive.
But best of all, was the celebratory cake that Pitte had baked in the shape of a cradle, frosted with white sugar and gilded with decorative roses.
Soth was grateful to the old man and couldn't help but think that even before his child was born, it was already being treated as something special by those within the keep. Whether it was a boy or a girl, its childhood would be filled with countless happy days.
The feast lasted for hours, the wine and ale flowing like water into the glasses of the gathered knights. One sign that they had drunk far more than was proper was their terrible renditions of songs praising the virtue of Vinas Solamnus. The songs droned on, one word sliding into the next until mercifully the sound would end with a raucous round of applause. Soth was grateful when Caradoc was persuaded to stand before the high table and offer the parents-to-be a token gift on behalf of the knights.
"My lord," said Caradoc, nodding first to Lord Soth, and then to his fellow knights. "I know it is perhaps too early for gifts for the unborn child, but the joy I and my fellow knights felt upon hearing the good news was far too great to let pass without even a token gesture."
He nodded at a pair of pages at the entrance to the hall.
"So, as a symbol of our heartfelt happiness over the news that a young Soth will soon be roaming the keep, the knights and I would like you to have these gifts"-he gestured to the items being carted in by the pages-"so that your offspring will grow up to be as great a knight as its father has already become."
The pages put down the gifts. Inside two crates were finely crafted wooden swords, shields and intricately tooled leather armor, all sized to fit the hands and body of a growing child through each of its stages of development.
Soth was speechless. Many of these items were family heirlooms, passed on from generation to generation. They would be just as at home on a mantle as in the hands of a child.
Soth rose from his seat, bowed concession to Caradoc and then to the rest of the knights. "I thank you, all. And a toast to the Knights of
Solamnia, the greatest collection of uncles a child could ever wish for."
The knights erupted in a loud cheer, then the room was silent as everyone drank to the toast.
Soth leaned down, turned to Korinne and said, "I must thank them all individually."
"After such a gesture," Korinne said, shaking her head, "it's the least you can do."
Soth left the
high table and immediately made his way to Caradoc.
"Korinne and I were touched by your gesture, Caradoc," Lord Soth said as he slapped a hand onto the shoulder of his seneschal.
"We've had them collected for months, milord," Caradoc answered. "We were simply waiting for the right time to present them."
"And waiting…" "And waiting…" said a few of the other knights.
"Well, nevertheless, your thoughtfulness is greatly appreciated."
Caradoc waved his hand in a gesture that suggested that Soth should think nothing of it. Then the knight took a sip of wine.
Soth pulled away from the table of knights and was heading for an adjoining table when he ran into Isolde.
She had been wandering the hall playing her harp for those attending the banquet. But from the look on her face, Soth knew she had something on her mind other than making good music.
"I wish to speak to you," she said.
Soth realized he was in an awkward position. To the rest of the people within the keep, Isolde was a special guest.
And, because of her elven heritage, to some others she was a great curiosity. Either way, she hardly mingled without being noticed. If Soth spoke to her now, dozens of eyes would be watching.
"Very well," said Soth, stepping to one side of the hall where he could lean casually against a wall while the elf maid talked to him.
"First of all, let me congratulate you and Lady Korinne on the good news."
Soth smiled politely. "Thank you."
Isolde glanced around the room, careful to make it look as if this was nothing but a simple meeting of two friends.
"I wanted to tell you that since Korinne is with child and your problems seem to be over, perhaps it might be better if I returned to
Silvanesti." She strummed her harp, tuning several of the strings after each pass of her hand.
Soth knew she was right. There was no place for her in the keep, especially now. But as he looked into her eyes and saw the overwhelming beauty of her face, he knew he wasn't ready to let her go, or perhaps he wasn't able.
Whatever the reason, she had to remain close to him.
"No!" said Soth in something of a harsh whisper even though the noise within the hall was more than enough to drown out any part of their conversation. "You must stay…" His voice trailed off, then suddenly gained strength. "Please."
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