Souls of Aredyrah 3 - The Taking of the Dawn (32 page)

Eyan tiptoed closer to Dayn and stopped to
gaze down at him. He would have welcomed some company, but Dayn’s
eyes were closed and his breathing steady. As Eyan looked down at
him, he realized how handsome his cousin was. He had always thought
so, but he could not help but wonder why he was currently more
aware of it. Surely it was just a casual observation. After all,
anyone, boy or girl, would be blind not to see it. Eyan thought of
Brenainn’s warning about lads and lads. Did his own admiration for
his cousin’s beauty apply? He analyzed Dayn’s features: straight
nose, pleasant mouth, but his eyebrows
were
oddly pale. And
his hair, so strange, so…golden. Eyan shook his head. Probably too
much cider.

He turned and made his way to his own bed,
then threw himself upon it. Propping his hands behind his head, he
stared at the ceiling. Music vibrated through the walls, reminding
him of how promising the evening had begun, only to die a cruel
death at the hands of Quillan. He felt like such a fool. Here he’d
been thinking he was making a good impression, when everyone was
probably laughing at him instead. How many people besides Quillan
still believed he was a demon—or worse?

Eyan shifted restlessly. What if he
was
what Quillan said. Was it possible he
had
given
the boy the evil eye? Had he really been sending messages that even
he didn’t understand? Eyan yanked the pillow out from under his
head and pulled it over his face. If he could just block out the
world and everyone in it—

“Eyan?”

Eyan peeked an eye out from behind the
pillow. Dayn, the bottom half of him anyway, could be seen standing
next to the bed, candle in hand.

“How was the dance?” Dayn asked, then
yawned.

Eyan hugged the pillow closer to his face.
“Fine,” he mumbled into the feathers.

Eyan felt the weight of the bed give as Dayn
sat down beside him. Dayn eased the pillow from Eyan’s face. “What
hap—” he began, but then his voice grew alarmed. “God, Eyan—what
happened to your
face
?”

Eyan lifted his fingers to his tender cheek.
He’d almost forgotten his face had been slammed against the barn.
“Nothin’,” he said, covering the bruise with his hand.

Dayn shoved Eyan’s hand aside and moved the
candle for a closer look. “Who did this to you?” he insisted. “Did
someone hit you?”

“I don’t want t’ talk about it.”

“Well you’re
going
to talk about it.”
Dayn set the candle on the night table next to Eyan’s bed. “Let me
get some salve,” he said, and hurried to the medicinal cabinet
across the way.

Dayn returned, a crock of ointment in his
hand. He dipped his fingers into the jar and reached out to smear a
glob on Eyan’s cheek.

Eyan jerked away. “I’m fine.”

“Don’t be an idiot.”

“I’m not an idiot!” Eyan snapped. He rolled
over to face the wall. “Or maybe I am.”

Dayn laughed softly. “What’d you do, flirt
with the wrong girl?”

“No.”

Dayn placed his hand on Eyan’s shoulder.
“What then?”

“I don’t understand how everythin’ works.”
Eyan sat up to face him. “There are things I should know, but I
don’t.

“Like what?”

“Like who I am, where I fit.”

Dayn’s brow creased in thought. He reached a
hand to Eyan’s cheek and dabbed the ointment on it. “I know how you
feel,” he said softly. “I don’t fit either.”

“At least your parents didn’t hide ye away.
They didn’t try to keep ye a child like mine did.”

“No,” Dayn said. “But it wasn’t any better
for me. Mine tried to pretend I was like everyone else. And they
wanted everyone else to pretend it, too. But I’m not and never will
be.” He shrugged. “But I don’t care anymore. Now I know where I
belong. I’m going back to Tearia, so it doesn’t matter what the
Kiradyns, or the clans, or anyone else thinks of me.”

“That’s not true,” Eyan said. “Ye just want
it to be true.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because I know ye care what Falyn thinks. Ye
love her, don’t ye?”

Dayn nodded.

“So why would ye leave her to go back to
Tearia?”

“It’s complicated.”

“For you or for her?”

“Her, I guess. For me, it’s simple.” He
forced a laugh. “But since she probably won’t have me, I’ll likely
be going.”

Eyan considered it for a moment. “What does
it feel like?” he finally asked.

“What? The way I feel about Falyn you
mean?”

“Aye.” He peered at Dayn with curiosity.
“What does that feel like?”

Dayn set the jar aside. “Well…” he began
slowly. “I’d say, most of the time it feels good. Like when I think
about her, I…well I guess I tingle or something.” He frowned. “But
it hurts, too. Because I know I’ll probably never have her. Then I
have to convince myself all over again that there’s still a
chance.” He paused. “It’s like a part of me is missing.” He
attempted a smile. “Does that make sense?”

“Have ye ever touched her?”

“Touched her?”

“Ye know, like
really
touched
her.”

Dayn blinked. “You mean like—”

“Like for pleasure. I’ve been thinking about
it, and I think there’s more to men and women gettin’ together than
procreation.”

“Well, yes. There is.” Dayn’s face went red;
he released a slow breath. “Maybe you should ask your father to
explain it.”

Eyan shoved Dayn from the bed. He leapt from
the mattress and planted his feet on the floor. “
This
is
what I get for all my father’s
explanations
!” he said,
aiming a finger at his own throbbing cheek. “What does it mean for
a boy to like a boy?”

Dayn took a step back. “
What?
” he
asked, nearly choking on the word.

“I got this from a boy who thought I was
givin’ him the evil eye at the dance. I don’t know what that means,
but
he
sure did!”

“Who?
Who
thought that?”

“It doesn’t matter who,” Eyan said.

“What did he do to you? Tell me.”

“He got as far as slammin’ me against the
wall and accusin’ me o’ things I didn’t understand, that’s what he
did. If Brenainn hadn’t come along—”

“
Brenainn?
”

“Aye. Brenainn put a stop to it. Then he gave
me a warnin’. He said to be careful about things like that because
I could be burned at the stake for it!”

Dayn collapsed onto the edge of the bed.
“God, Eyan. How could this have happened?”

“I don’t know,” Eyan replied. “Don’t you
understand? I don’t
know
.”

Dayn looked up at him. “Who else knows about
this?”

“No one. Just me and Brenainn, and—and the
other boy.”

Dayn rose to his feet and gripped Eyan by the
shoulders. “No one else can know about this, Eyan.” He gave him a
harsh shake. “You understand me?
No one
.”

Dayn’s tone made the hairs on Eyan’s neck
rise. “Why? What’ll happen?” he asked.

“You heard what Brenainn said. The penalty is
death.”

“The penalty for what?”

“God, didn’t Haskel tell you
anything
?” Dayn glanced over his shoulder. “All right, but
you’d better sit down.”

Eyan sat on the edge of the bed. Dayn paced
for a moment, then slowly began the explanation. Eyan nodded with
understanding, but then his eyes grew wide. Much of what Dayn said
he already knew. But there were some things he had not been
expecting. By the time his cousin had finished explaining “the sins
of the flesh”, Eyan’s world felt a little off kilter. It wasn’t
from the details of what Dayn was telling him. It wasn’t even from
the anger he felt toward his parents for keeping him in ignorance
all these years. No, it was due to fear, but it was a fear unlike
anything Eyan had ever experienced. At the beginning of Dayn’s
speech, Eyan’s emotions, his body, his very soul seemed to have
awoken, prompting him to ask his cousin question after question.
Some answers Dayn had been prepared to give, but the concern in
Dayn’s expression, coupled with occasional evasiveness, told Eyan
that some things were better off not said.

His questions finally stopped, and both he
and Dayn grew silent.

Eyan pondered his cousin’s words for a
moment, then said, “Thank ye for tellin’ me. I think I understand
now.”

“Are you sure? I mean—”

“Yes. Now I know why I felt like I did when I
was dancin’.” Eyan turned his eyes away. “I’m tired,” he said. “I
think I’ll go to sleep now.”

“All right,” Dayn said. “See you in the
morning, then.”

“In the mornin’.”

The candlelight moved with Dayn away from
Eyan’s bed. Eyan climbed under the covers and yanked the pillow
back over his face. He stared into the muffled blackness and hugged
the pillow tight. But this time it was not to block out the world.
It was to hide from it.

Back to ToC

Chapter 26:
Divination

A
s promised, Dayn
took the Chieftains to the cave. Eyan refused to go; he felt guilty
enough for betraying his father’s orders and had disappeared
shortly before they left. Alicine insisted on going, of course, as
had Eileis and Haskel and even Uncle Nort. Vania stayed behind to
see to the needs of her guests, while Morna and Seela remained at
the house to offer her their support.

An unusual number of clan folk stopped by the
house that morning, hoping for a hint of where the chiefs were
going and what they expected to find. Vania and the other women
feigned ignorance, though in truth they were not entirely sure what
the men would discover. But they refused to give the busybodies any
more fodder for gossip, so said it was none of their concern and
that they would just have to wait to find out like the rest of
them.

It was hours before the expedition returned,
but when the group entered the doorway, the looks on their faces
revealed more than words could say.

Brenainn plopped down onto one of the kitchen
benches. “Ne’er seen anythin’ like it,” he said.

“What did you see exactly?” Morna asked
anxiously, but her focus was on Haskel, not Brenainn.

“Just stories,” Haskel replied. “Told in some
old drawings on the walls of the cave. Eyan found ‘em several
months ago and took me to see ‘em.”

“Stories?” she said. “Why hadn’t you
mentioned them before?”

“Didn’t want to give ye anythin’ else to
worry about, what with your children gone and all.”

“Lord, Haskel. What kind of stories are
they?”

“Stories of the past,” Eileis said. “Maybe
even the future.”

Haskel bristled.

“You can’t deny what you saw, Haskel,” Eileis
said.

“I don’t know what I saw,” Haskel replied.
“All I know is they dispute the Written Word and the Vestry won’t
accept ‘em lightly, if they accept ‘em at all.”

“I agree,” Peadar interjected. “The images
could be the ravings of a heretic or a madman.”

“Or a seer,” Eileis said.

“Careful,” Vania whispered. She crept to the
window and peeked out. “Folks have been comin’ by all mornin’,
askin’ Morna and me if we know anythin’. That’s all we need, for
someone to overhear us speakin’ of divination.”

“What do you mean?” Alicine asked.

“The Vestry is apprehending anyone suspected
of the art,” Eileis said. “But I say the Vestry’s nothing but
fools. Prophecy is a gift from the Maker. It shouldn’t be hidden
away as if it’s something to be ashamed of!”

“Prophecy is a gift,” Alicine said with a
tone of authority. “I learned that in Tearia. But with it comes
great responsibility.”

All eyes turned to her.

“Dayn’s cousin Reiv had it,” she continued.
“He’s a Transcendor.”

Brenainn leaned in and rested his fist on his
thigh. “Watcha be meanin’ there, girl—he’s a what?”

“A Transcendor. The Word tells us that when
we die, if we go to be with Daghadar that is, we gain all
knowledge, right?”

Heads nodded in agreement.

“Well, Reiv died.”

“Then how can ye be knowin’ what he knows,
eh?”

Alicine rolled her eyes. “He’s not dead
now
of course.”

Brenainn threw his arms into the air. “Would
ye mind explainin’ what it is yer tryin’ to explain because I’m
sure not understandin’ it.”

“Reiv drank a potion. It was poison, but he
did it to save the life of Kerrik.” Faces remained blank. “Kerrik
is a boy who lives on the other side of Aredyrah. He had been
injured, and legend said that if someone drank the potion and went
to the After Place, they could ask the gods for knowledge.”

“
Gods
?” Uaine said in his usual curt
tone.

“Yes,
gods
,” Alicine said. “So Reiv
drank it and died. But he came back to life and when he came back
he knew things, all kinds of things. And one of those things was an
ingredient that could make a medicinal to save Kerrik.”

“Do ye think the body in the cave, assumin’
he, or she, was the artist of the drawings, could have been a
Transcendor?” Ionhar asked. He had been quiet thus far, but now
seemed genuinely intrigued by what Alicine had to say.

“Perhaps,” she replied. “The drawings
indicate knowledge that we are already aware of, but it also
suggests things we don’t know, or don’t want to know.”

“Such as?” Peadar said.

“There’s no denying the paintings are old.
Yet they show things that happened recently, and some that are
happening now.”

Uaine scoffed. “I saw nothing in the cave
that depicted any such thing.”

“What about the people being burned at the
stakes?” Dayn said.

“The very same thing happened after the
Purge,” Uaine countered.

“Aye, tis true,” Brenainn said.

“What about the migration of the Tearians to
the valley?” Dayn added.

“Who’s to say that didn’t happen generations
ago?” Peadar said. “Those could be demons that crossed over durin’
the War o’ Konyl.”