The Nature of a Curse (Volume 2 of the Year of the Red Door)

by William Timothy Murray

  Robby was pale with shock and surprise at these revelations, But many strange and mysterious aspects of his mother's behavior now seemed explained, at least in part.

  "Perhaps you ought to get rid of it, Mother."

  She smiled and nodded.

  "Perhaps I shall. When it is truly no longer needed. Let me tell you more. After my brother's death, when I made it back to Vanara, I just kept walking. Sick with grief and sadness, I abandoned the army and slowly wandered, desiring no company, relying on no one to help me along my way. A year later, I came home to Tallinvale. The wretched news I brought with me was the death of my mother, so grieved was she at the loss of her last son. My father became hardened in his sternness, and I became a recluse, existing only in the gardens of our estate or in the high chambers of my father's manor. Years passed. More than I counted. My father invited many suitors to our home. Elifaen and high-born Men. They came, and they went, but I rejected them all. Eventually my father tired of trying to marry me off.

  "That's the way it was until, one day, a young man came to sell grain. While he waited to receive his silver, he wandered into the gardens of Tallin Hall, and it was there we met. Thinking I was a maidservant of the house, perhaps because of my plain way of dressing, he was rather fresh with me, though kind and witty, telling me about his home and the plans he had for his future. His way of silence was in his prattling on, ever watchful of my reactions. My way of screaming in pain was my silence, yet he pierced my soul with his bright smile and his laughing brown eyes. He was simple without being a simpleton, and sincere while at the same time of irrepressible spirit. His talk made me laugh, and I could see that my laughter pleased him. I did not tell him who I was, not even my name. When my father's purser came to pay him, I shrank away into the hedge as coins were counted out to him. The young man looked around for me, and then he departed. My sadness immediately returned to take his place, and my melancholy thoughts returned, too. Even so, all that afternoon, my thoughts wandered back to the bright-eyed country fellow. I made it a point to find out where he was from, and when he might come back, but none could say for sure. That night, my heart was troubled by the memory of his company, and I was sadder than ever. I remember crying myself to sleep, so lonely I felt.

  "But, guess what? He came back the very next morning, asking for the cheery maidservant with red hair. When he was told there was no maidservant with red hair, he was thoroughly abashed. They told him, 'There is only one woman with red hair in this hall, but she is hardly a maidservant and, anyway, she is anything but cheery, being none other than the Lady Tallin who has shunned the merry company of all for many years, and is as dour and gloomy as a dark wood on a rainy day.' He was not convinced at first, thinking they made jest with him. Eventually they prevailed, so he reluctantly departed. When I learned of all this later that afternoon, I was mortified that I had missed him and immediately rode out to catch up to him. I found him on the road, letting his mules pull his cart without even bothering to hold the reins while he slouched back on the bench lost in thought with his eyes closed. So engrossed in his own cares was he that he did not notice me riding alongside gazing at him. Nor did he seem to notice when I slipped from my saddle and onto the bench beside him. I spent a long while looking at his face. He was not the most handsome young man I had ever seen, nor the best dressed, and certainly not the most graceful as he slouched there with his head tilted back to the sky, his eyes closed and his brow furrowed with some problem he was trying to work out, and the long curly locks of his hair wild in the breeze. But I thought his was the most beautiful face I had ever seen, though I could not say why. When he opened his eyes, he was not startled to see me sitting there right beside him. He sat up slowly, and smiled.

  " 'Are ye some kinda sprite? Er, spirit-like creature?' he asked easily. 'For I was just thinkin' on ye, an' wonderin' what kind of charm was laid on me. I suppose yer a garden sprite, inhabitin' the gardens of the Tallin place an' capturin' what hearts might happen along?'

  " 'No, I'm flesh and blood,' I assured him. 'You came back to look for me.'

  " 'Yes, I did. I had somethin' to ask ye. But I was told ye don't exist.'

  " 'And you believe that?'

  " 'No, I don't. I don't pretend to understand the ways of folk what live in fine castles an' great estates. But ye exist for me regardless of what they say,' he said, 'if even in a dream.'

  " 'Why did you come back to find me?'

  " 'Well, that's easy to answer: I wanted to ask if ye was spoken for.'

  " 'Oh! Well, the answer to that is, no, I am not.'

  " 'Well, in that case, I'd like to ask if ye'd have me for a husband an' if ye'd consent to bein' me wife?'

  "Well, I nearly fell off the cart! Your father—for naturally that is who I am talking about—he saw that I was greatly perplexed and began telling me, all in the most gentle of ways and perfectly at ease, all about his plans for a store and how he promised a comfortable life, though full of hard work, and that he'd be the best father to my children that a man could be, and on like that."

  " 'I'm afraid I cannot speak yes or no this moment,' I told him. I told him I had to think about it. But, in truth, I had already made up my mind. I had already fallen in love with him, just as, I suppose, he had fallen in love with me. 'Though I am not a maidservant to Fairoak, I owe my fidelity to that household unless I am released from it. If you can gain the consent of Lord Tallin to release me, I will be your wife.'

  " 'I will present meself afore Lord Tallin this very night,' he said to me.

  " 'Then I wish you well, good sir,' I told him. 'And I leave you my name. It is Mirabella.'

  "So I joyfully leapt back onto my horse and galloped home. I remember I had no care of my father refusing him. I thought that he would be so relieved to be rid of me that he would readily assent. But things didn't quite work out in the way I hoped they would.

  "That evening, your father appeared again at our gates and bid his way into the manor house, saying he had business with none other than the Lord and Master himself. While I watched from the far shadows, he was led into the great hall of our home and before my father who was seated on his chair.

  " 'What business have you with me?' my father demanded.

  " 'I bid ye release the one called Mirabella from yer service and from yer fidelity so that she may become me wife,' is what I heard your father boldly state. You should have seen the stir it caused! My father sat bolt upright. His chief lieutenant of the guard stepped forward as if to strike Robigor, but my father's gesture stayed him. Others, hearing the commotion, pushed into the room and watched.

  " 'You are most impertinent!' my father said. 'Do you know what it is that you ask?'

  " 'A man may have no peace if long separated from his love, nor may any woman, good lord,' said Robigor Ribbon, unmoved by the glares given him. 'I will provide for Mirabella's welfare an' well-being as well as any, an' better as years go by. What work an' toil she may do will be of her own pleasure an' desire, an' not at the pleasure an' whim of others. I ask only that ye release her to her own decision, that she might say yea or nay her own self.'

  " 'Do you know who it is that you ask to marry?' asked my father indignantly.

  " 'I care not, sir, what family, high or low, she might have. Nor do I care for any dowry or boon from her family, however great er small. I care not if she be useful to ye or a burden, whether she be clumsy an' witless, or whether she be careful an' diligent in service to ye. Neither do I care whether she be a joy to ye or a shame upon yer house.'

  "Oh, I was truly in love then! Never had I seen anyone speak so to my father. And never had I heard words so ardently spoken.

  "My father thought about it for a moment and even conferred, over his shoulder, with his counselor. Then he looked at Robigor for a long while.

  " 'How will I be assured of you?' he asked at last. 'What means have you to support her and what honor can you bring in union with her?'

  " 'What means I have will, like me h
onor, only increase as the years pass.'

  " 'I will consent, then, only if you succeed in carrying out one task,' my father said.

  " 'Name the task, an' I will abide by yer word if I succeed or if I fail,' your father said.

  "Well, the task he was given was this: My father bade Robigor wait while he and his counselor departed the room. After a short while they returned. My father gave to your father a little chest, no bigger than two hands wide and one tall. The box was not sealed, nor was it locked, but my father instructed Robigor not to open it for one year. He was to return with the box so that it could be examined. My father gave his word that if the contents of the box were still within it after one year, he would give his consent to marry me, if I also then consented."

  "What was in the box?" Robby asked.

  "That is getting ahead of the story somewhat," Mirabella answered. "But in fact it was full of precious jewels. Anyway, I did not know at the time what the box contained, and I did not understand what my father was about, either. Soon after Robigor took the box and departed, my father came to me.

  " 'Mirabella,' he said, 'I have turned away a suitor this day whom you would have surely scoffed at, just as you have scoffed at all those who have come before.'

  " 'Why do you tell me this, Father? Do you think I care?' All the while, I was trying with terrible determination not to let him see my worry!

  " 'No, I do not think you care,' he said. 'But he may be back. And if he does return, it may be that I will give my consent to his marriage to you, should you then have him.'

  " 'Why should it be different when he returns than when he left?' I asked. 'Will he be handsomer? Will he be a king? Will he be more worthy of me than now in any way?'

  " 'I cannot say. I only tell you this because I think I saw in him something I have rarely seen in my fellow mortals. I set for him a simple task, knowing it is in the simple things that men most often fail. If he succeeds, he will have proven his honor and will set himself somewhat apart from other men. At least in my estimation.'

  " 'What task did you set?' I asked him.

  " 'To abide one year and to remain an honest man.' "

  "What did he mean by that?" Robby asked.

  "He meant that your father was not to take any jewel from the box, not one, much less run off with the entire treasure. He was not even to look within the box. My father was testing him, you see. As I learned later on, my father and his counselor laid obstacle after obstacle before Robigor. They sent their agents to buy at a higher price the trade goods that your father had deals for. They took notes of exchange from all the farmers and made them to sell not grain nor product to any but them. So Robigor struggled to live, you see, and yet, with each obstacle before him, he found some other way to profit. When the farmers sold all their goods to my father's agents, rather than to Robigor, they had no way to transport the material. Robigor had in the meantime made a deal with Mr. Furaman for contract on all the wagons and carts as agent, and so any transport costs were paid to Robigor. When my father realized that Robigor could not be outwitted that way, he turned against Robigor's neighbors, or so one tale of it goes. It is said that three witches from the north were hired to brew hail and storm against all of Barley. I doubt if that is so, but it is true that there were awful storms. Houses were destroyed, crops were ruined, and Passdale starved. My father then sent his agents, pretending to be emissaries from Tracia offering the sale of badly needed goods. But they would only take jewels or precious metal in exchange. The people came from all over with their meager rings and bracelets and their gold combs. Each was made to sign a deed naming themselves as rightful owners of the item exchanged. But no diamonds, no sapphires or emeralds appeared, none of the jewels from the chest. However, it came to pass that Robigor approached the men and offered to buy all their grain and all their blankets, in fact all of their goods, on the spot, wagons included, for one hundred pieces of gold. Well, my father's agents agreed, thinking he had sold the jewels, and they took Robigor's gold. But it wasn't Robigor's gold at all. Robigor had bargained with the Passdale masters to allow him to use the town treasury for the relief of the townspeople. Passdale was so grateful to him that they talked to him about becoming mayor, but he declined."

  "He did become mayor, didn't he?"

  "Yes, he did, but that was later."

  "So a year passed."

  "Yes, and all kinds of tribulations, though Robigor never knew they were aimed at him. During that year, I met a person who lived in Barley and who knew Robigor, and through her I was able to find out what had been happening. I'm talking about Frizella, who at the time was a young house servant for hire. I hired her and paid her to be my housemaid, but instead of working at my father's estate, I arranged for her to take employment in Barley, too."

  "So she was your spy!"

  "Well, more like a hired busybody. And we became fast friends. Though very different, we both had certain romantic interests that we shared with each other. Her eye was on a certain Boskman, and you know how that turned out. Anyway, Robigor returned the little chest after a year and repeated his bid for my hand. My father counted out every jewel, twice. And even he was amazed, I think, at your father's integrity and honesty. But I'm afraid my father was quite shocked when I actually consented."

  The two had by now made it to the main road leading through Janhaven and they walked along between the cottages at a good pace.

  "On the day of our wedding, held in the gardens where your father and I met, my father bid me farewell. He told me that my world was now the world of Barley. My father never told Robigor who I truly was. No one did. Robigor was obviously taken aback by the pomp of the ceremony, though it was a small, private affair. And, though he was a happy man that day, he was perplexed by the way I was treated, with such fine elegance for a mere servant. And Robigor may have even thought it impertinent that I kissed the Lord of Tallinvale when we parted. I did not tell him until that night that I was the daughter of the Lord Tallin. Your father was shocked, at first. Then we laughed until we cried."

  Robby and his mother smiled at each other.

  "Why did you never tell me before now? It is a wonderful story!"

  Mirabella shrugged and nodded.

  "We kept too much from you, Robigor and I," she said. "We thought it was better that way. We were wrong. I'm sorry."

  "Well, I don't resent it. I might have done the same. Tell me, have you heard from your father recently? Do you think the Redvests have attacked him, too?"

  "I have not seen him in years. As for the Redvests attacking Tallinvale, perhaps they have. His is a powerful land, and it would take a powerful army to threaten it. At any event, he should be informed of these events. When things settle down around here, I'll send word even though he has likely already heard what has happened."

  They drew to a halt in front of Mrs. Bosk's kitchen.

  "I suppose you will be meeting with Ashlord and Ullin soon?" she asked as she pushed a strand of curly hair from his brow.

  "Yes. I expect we'll be leaving any day. As soon as we can pull ourselves together."

  "Do you know who will be in your party?"

  "I have a good idea. Ashlord, Ullin, and Billy. Ibin, I expect. And Sheila."

  "Sheila?"

  "Yes, she insists on going with us."

  "Is that wise?"

  "Maybe not, but she's determined, and I think I want her to come along. In fact, I know I do."

  Mirabella shook her head, shrugging. "We'll miss Sheila's abilities. It's bad enough to lose five good men."

  "I know, Mother. I'm sorry."

  "Don't be. There's no getting around it. You need Ashlord and Ullin. Billy's determined, and Ibin cannot be without his friend. And Sheila has apparently made up her mind. Alas! I wish I could come!"

  "I wish you could, too. Truly, I do."

  • • •

  That night, they all met again at the same place and made their plans. Ullin said they would need horses for each and two pack an
imals, since their journey would be long and the ways rough, and winter was coming.

  "If I understand right," he told them, "Ashlord means to take us west, to Vanara, and then northward from there to Duinnor. Under the most favorable summer conditions, it would take us at least a month and a fortnight to reach Vanara. If we only had to contend with the road and the weather. This time of year, who knows? From Vanara to Duinnor won't be so long or hard. Once we leave here, there are few places to lodge or to reprovision until we reach Vanara. So we will have to travel light, carrying only clothing, blankets, weapons, and food. Fodder should not be a problem, but we should take some, just in case. Our mounts and two pack animals, at most."

  "That is so, Ullin," Ashlord said. "I think we should stay off the roads as much as possible, especially the well-known ones, and travel cross-country as much as we can. Yes, yes. I know that will slow us even more, but we should risk the fewest encounters as possible. We will have a hard enough time explaining ourselves. The curious or the well-informed may see through any yarn we may spin. Our story should be like this: We travel from the Eastlands to Duinnor to plea for aid against the Tracian Redvests. If asked why we travel the way we do, we say that we take a circuitous route in order to baffle those of the enemy who may try to stop us from reaching Duinnor. Let us not try to explain too much, nor spin too much yarn to tangle ourselves in. We have our own business, and it is ours alone."