The Island of Mists
Page 36
“I want to go see Eweln first to let her know that I’ve come back. Then, I want to explore the Island to get reacquainted with it.” I said happily but felt a strange aura enter the room. “I have to say that I was surprised that she wasn’t there to greet me at the shore. I thought that she of all people would be there.” I looked at my aunt, enthusiastic about seeing my dear beloved friend again. It was an enthusiasm that quickly died. Aunt Leena went from joyous to stricken and pained. From the dour look, I knew something was wrong. “What is it?” I demanded in a tone that I know she had never heard come from me before. Sternness was something that I learned when I was on my own.
“Eweln died two winters after you left.” Aunt Leena confessed. The news stole the breath from me while the shock struck me to the bone. I didn’t want to believe it at first. If Eweln had died, I would have known it. I would have sensed it. Ache and regret settled heavy in my chest and my eyes filled with tears. Leena held me close as I sobbed against her shoulder. My friend was gone. Eweln, the one person other than Ralf, who understood me completely, was gone. I would never see her in this life again. “I am sorry to give you such news.” Leena whispered against my hair as her hand stroked my shoulder in soft soothing motions. “She died peacefully in her sleep. I found her the morning she died when I went to get a draught to help ease Ravene’s labor with her son. Eweln lay on her pallet, her silver hair spread out around her with her hands clasped on her chest and a smile stretched across her face.” To hear that did nothing to lessen my grief but knowing that she went quietly gave me peace.
“You know very well that she wouldn’t want you to dwell on it. She would tell you to get up and get back on your feet, not just for your sake, but for your child’s as well.” Aunt Leena placed one tender hand on my stomach and the other rested softly against my cheek. Aunt Leena was right. I gave her a brief nod, acknowledging what she said. It was true. If Eweln was still alive, she would be standing over me, gently ordering me back on to my feet, urging me to keep going despite what happened.
“There is no use in continuing to cry over something that you cannot change.” Her voice echoed in my mind and her presence suddenly appeared beside me. “Mourn the loss but don’t forget to celebrate the life.” Her words concluded. My aunt left me to have a few moments to collect myself and make myself ready for whatever I chose to do. Allowing a few more tears for my sweet friend, I rose to my feet and washed for the day. Once my absolutions were completed, I dressed and drew in a deep breath as I walked to the front door of our living quarters and prepared to reintroduce myself to a once familiar world that now seemed so foreign.
************
The air outside was fresh and a soft breeze blew in from the North. Winter was just on the verge of arrival. Within a weeks’ time, we would see the first fall of snow. The trees were mostly barren of their leaves and the birds that normally sang their lovely songs were now absent from their perches. The time for their yearly migration to warmer climes had come and we would not see them again until Spring returned. I walked from our dwelling, stopping at the crossroads. Eweln’s hut was a few paces away. To know that she wasn’t inside tightened my throat, leaving it hard to breathe. It was no use going towards her former dwelling. She was gone. The wind gusted and carried the scent of poisonous mushrooms to my nose. The kind of mushrooms that grew at the base of large, shaded trees and within an hour of ingestion, shut down the body’s systems and carried the one who ingested it off to be with the Goddess.
“Eweln,” I gasped, realizing the purpose of the scent. “Why would you eat that?” I asked, confused and angry that Eweln had chosen to kill herself. “Why would you take your own life?” My hand went to my throat as horror turned my body cold.
“I was dying,” Eweln’s voice followed behind the mushroom’s aroma. “There was a lump in my breast,” The cadence of her voice rustled like leaves skittering across the path. “By the time I discovered the lump, it was too late. The wasting sickness was apparent, and I did not want to meet my death as a skeleton wrapped in skin, nor did I want my last moments to be agonizing.” She explained but it did nothing to staunch the flow of tears that poured from my eyes and ran down my face and neck until the neckline of my dress was soaked through. I waited for her to speak again, my tears coming harder with each minute that remained silent. I don’t know how long I stood there at the crossroads. All I remember is wanting to hear her voice one last time but cognizant that no matter how much she spoke, it would never be enough.
************
Composing myself, I headed to the center of the island—the Marketplace. Nothing had changed in the time that I had been gone. The same stalls were in the same places with the same faces tending them. People moved in a casual bustle. Many conversations were taking place all around me and I could hear bits and pieces of them all. I made my way through the throng and standing in the very center when I heard my voice ring out through the clear, crisp air.
“Yvaine!” I spun on my heel to see a dark, walnut-colored head bounding towards me. My heart flowed with instant joy.
“Ibira!” I shouted as she waved at me enthusiastically. We met in the center of the forum and threw our arms around one another. “Ibira!” I broke our short embrace. Ibira was my favorite of my grandmother’s Acolytes and my friend. During my brief stay on the Sacred Island, we had grown very close. To see her was a genuine, yet delightful surprise. “What are you doing here?” I held her out at arm’s length to see her better.
“I moved here after Leanan was taken from us,” She touched my face, smiling at me with her large, russet-colored eyes. “Most of us moved back but there is time for that later. But pray, tell me, what are you doing here? The last that I heard, you had run away. Have you come back to us, my dear friend? Are you back to stay?” She grabbed hold of both of my hands and held them tightly in hers. I said yes and Ibira threw her arms around me again, squeezing me tightly. “Now we are whole once more. We have many things to catch up on. Will you walk with me while I get food for my family’s supper?” Her eyes sparkled as the corner of her mouth twisted upwards. I glanced from her eyes to the basket she carried and noticed that it was filled with an assortment of fruits, vegetables, and a sack of grain.
“Ibira? That is a lot of food.” I asked her, seeing the answer clearly on her face. “How many people are you feeding?”
“Do you remember Brawyn, the carpenters’ son?” I said that I did. Brawyn was a large, hulking man with the tenderness of a dove. I thought him a gentle soul, one that seemed unassuming and tender, despite his massive size.
“I do. I liked him very much.” I said truthfully.
“We married eight years ago, and our son was born last summer.” The pride on her face was a pure reflection of the joy she felt. I shared in her joy.
“Ibira, I am so happy for you. You deserve all the happiness in the world. May the Goddess continue to bless you.” Ibira fully thanked me again. We locked arms and moved together, slowly through the forum. Attentive to the wound in my knee, she matched my pace while I listened attentively as she filled me in on all that I had missed.
“Not much happened the year of your Rites,” She said honestly, and I believed her. It wasn’t in Ibira’s nature to lie. “The crops came in just as expected. No livestock died, other than from old age. The world went on like it had before. All was well until just before the following Rites. That Spring something changed. New saplings and new planted seeds failed to sprout, and the rains flooded out what managed to survive. So many people caught sick and many died before the day of celebration arrived. Even though we had had a successful Spring Rites where your sister was the Huntress and her husband, Dennen, was the Hunter, things didn’t get better and some of the people still blamed you. They said it was the ‘Goddess doling out her punishment’.” She hesitated before continuing, waiting for my reaction. This knowledge was no surprise to me but what she said next was. “So many people accused you, crying that your failure had tainted
all Rites to come. In the heart of winter, when a third of the people were dead, Reena called for a gathering at the Great Well.” We stopped at a vegetable stall whose attendant greeted her with a smile but cast a suspicious glance towards me.
“Don’t you dare look at her that way, Myra,” Ibira scolded the young girl who couldn’t have been more than sixteen years old. “Now, continue with your work or I shall let your mother know about your behavior. Lest you remember that you’d be dead if it weren’t for Yvaine! Who do you think it was that treated you when you caught the coughing sickness? Hmmm?” She added sharply as the young girl quickly glanced away and went back to her work. Ibira, who I had known as docile and soft-spoken, had grown a backbone in the time that I had been gone and it pleased me to witness her strength. “Eleria’s daughter. Too full of herself and stubborn, just like her mother.” She said once the girl was out of earshot. “Back to what I was telling you. Your mother called everyone able to attend a mandatory gathering. Once all of us who could come were there, she made an announcement that left a lot of people feeling both stunned and a bit chastised.
“My daughter, Yvaine, is not the one to blame for our tragedies.” Ibira repeated Reena’s words. “Many of you have come to blame her for something which she could not help. Many of you blame her for the failure of the Spring Rites but I tell you now, it is not her fault. If anyone is to be blamed, it is Cal. He is the one that attacked and killed Canwyn. He is the one that went to the First Dwelling and viciously attacked and corrupted Yvaine in the most sacred of all places. He is the one that cursed us with this sickness and the blight. His malicious, self-centered actions corrupted all that the Goddess was to bestow upon us and from this point forth, no one shall cast blame upon Yvaine again. Anyone who is caught defaming her name shall suffer the most extreme of consequences.” Ibira described Reena’s voice was forceful, commanding, and that not a sound came from the crowd while she had addressed them.
“As for Cal’s family, they shall not be punished for what their son has done. Cal’s deeds were for his own purposes and shall have no bearing on them. His family members are good, decent, and faithfully devoted people who are in no way any representation of Cal himself or his actions. No one from this point shall judge them, treat them unkindly, or refuse them service in the marketplace. I have spoken with the High Council about this matter and they are in agreeance with me. We should learn from the mistakes of the past. Anyone who finds complaint with this decree will be banished from this point hence.”
“Your mother walked from the site of the Great Well and did not look back. From that point on, no one spoke of you openly in an ill fashion, all though there are still whispers about Cal and how they never found his body.”
Ibira’s recollection left me reeling and suddenly, I felt as if I was going to be sick once more, right there in front of everyone. “Ravene told me that they never found his body yesterday.” I stuck my hand out, catching the side of the stall and using it to support myself because my knees were no longer certain that they could hold me up.
“They only found a blood trail,” Ibira went serious and it caused the hairs on the back of my neck to rise. “Everyone believes that the wild pigs ate him.” She tried to be as delicate as possible, sensing that the subject was still a tender one. “Although he deserved to rot if you ask me.”
I continued to stand silently, wondering if he had survived somehow. With all my being, I believed that he was dead. The problem was that I didn’t feel that his body and his diseased spirit had been released from their earthly binds. My inner voice was eerily quiet and secretly, I feared the worst.
“Yvaine, let us not dwell on the past,” The touch of Ibira’s hand on mine brought me from out of my thoughts. “The Island is a happier place now that you are back. Let us focus on the future instead of worrying on what’s past.” She added sweetly and appeared as if she had forgotten something. “Oh, time seems to have gotten away from me. My family is waiting but please say that you will come and sup with us one night?” I nodded my head and said that I would. With a peck on the cheek, Ibira left me and headed for home. Alone once more, I wandered through the market, seeing people that I had not seen in over ten years. Friendly faces popped up everywhere, coming from out from behind booths, tables, and stalls to greet me with hugs and kisses. There were just as many that cast long, suspicious, and wary eyes my way and did their best to avoid me altogether. Despite my mother’s decree, there were still those that still held me to blame for the hardships that they had suffered through.
I spent what remained of the day reconnecting with the Island. Despite the pain and stiffness in my knee, and with the aid of my crutch, my feet carried me through the market, the gardens, down the footpaths where the drinking springs were located, onward to my beloved herb sheds, and alongside the forest. The last place I went was the lookout on the Hilltop. A young boy lounged just at the base and offered to help me to the top. To my surprise, the boy was my nephew, Desten. He was a sweet-natured, kind-hearted youth who stated that he would be back to help me down once his chores were over. I thanked him with a wave and watched his dark head disappear down the hillside. Once I was alone, I released the breath that I had been holding for far too long. Sitting here in the soft grass while the sunshine shone warmed my shoulders, memories of my childhood came flooding back. My heart slowed its rhythm as I relaxed. I gingerly eased myself down and lay back in the tall grass, staring at the cloudless sky above me.
“I’ve brought you home,” I said to my child, my hand laid protectively across my stomach. “Here you can be safe. Here you can grow and experience the love that I never had.” I sighed and allowed my eyes to close.
I napped soundly in the patch of sweet mint until a cool breeze rushed through the grass and woke me. I sat up to streaks of the sunset cascading across the sky. Desten crested over the hill just as I got to my feet. To his credit, he helped me down, taking painstaking care that I did not fall or further injure myself. I thanked him again and promised that I would drop by soon to meet the rest of the family. Desten said that he’d pass what I said onto his mother. I watched his dark head disappear down the trail and up the curve that led to where Ravene now lived. With a sigh, I set off in the opposite direction. The walk back home was leisurely and spent taking in the last of this peaceful day. When I appeared in the doorway, Aunt Leena was standing over a cooking pot, slowly adding dried herbs into the bubbling mixture. “I trust that you had a good day?” She greeted me with a smile, her eyes never leaving the simmering cauldron.
“I did. I saw Ibira and explored the island.” I told her, stepping into the warm room and went straight to the preparation tables. “Do you need any help?” I offered as I reached for an apron.
“You need to rest,” Leena told me in a calm voice. “You sit down. I had everything taken care of more than an hour ago.”
“I’m sorry that I wasn’t here to help.” I apologized, suddenly feeling guilty for having dozed off.
“Think nothing of it. There will be other chances, Yvaine.” She stirred our dinner with a massive wooden spoon. “Besides, you need a few days to rest and to acclimate.” Leena joined me at the table, taking the seat across from me due to my legs propped up on the one closest to me. My feet ached and were adorned with sore blisters. My exploration today had not helped them either. “How did you find the Island?” she asked.
I watched as she poured us each a drink of water from a clay jug resting on the table. “Not much has changed,” I spoke honestly. “There were several faces that I didn’t recognize but as for the rest, it was all the same.”
“How did it feel?” She asked me further.
“Familiar, yet strange. The aura of the island has changed so much since I was last here.” I took a sip of water before continuing. “So many people greeted me and said that they were happy that I had come home. Yet, there are people that still hold resentment towards me for what happened.”
“Your mother addressed that many
years ago.” Aunt Leena’s voice went on the defensive. “It’s just ridiculous that so many still blame you instead of that loathsome maniac.” She spat the last of her words. She, of course, referred to Cal. “That’s it! I am going to make another announcement tomorrow.” She seethed. It was then that I realized that my Aunt had finally come into her own. Now that she no longer was blocked out by Reena’s shadow, Leena grasped her light without hesitation. “I will tell them just what the cost of their judgment will be if they cannot put their pettiness aside!”
“There’s no need for that.” I waved it off, assuring her that it was something that I could deal with on my own.
“I most certainly will and there is nothing that you can say to stop me!” Aunt Leena said protectively. “I am the High Priestess, after all.”
In all the time that I had known her, Aunt Leena had always seemed like a part of her was missing. Now that she sat across from me, she was complete. Being the High Priestess was what she always yearned for, even though she believed she would be forever denied the chance. “Enough of that now. We’ve dwelt on things that we cannot change long for far too long. Tell me about their father,” She pointed to my stomach and looked me straight in the eye.
Beside the popping and crackling fire, I recalled how I found Ralf lying near death and through weeks of careful tending, how he recovered. I recalled our marriage, out in the open, under the expansive skies with the Goddess as our only witness. It was difficult for me to speak of the short life we spent together. I told her of how I had loved him from the first time that I brought him to my home and that, he too, loved me in return.
“He was such a unique soul,” I told her, gazing down at the cup resting in my hands. “Ralf was so strong, yet gentle. He was also an excellent craftsman. All the furniture that adorned our home, he made with his own hands. And intelligent! He was so smart that it took my breath away. There was a table that he sat at every night, writing the history of his people and the great stories of their heroes. I have them in my bag. He insisted that I carry them. The man had a true gift for storytelling. There were so many things that he taught me, too. The most important that I had harbored the demons of my attack for far too long and that I let them rob me of my peace.”