is something I must live with.”
The ladybird flew from his shoulder to a crack in the bark of a nearby tree.
***
They buried Thomas near a rowan tree, digging the grave together, their argument put aside for the moment, and burned a twist of herbs and a pine branch on it as was the custom.
“Will you not stay here with me for a while?” asked Tisian.
Morgan shook his head. “No. I must go back and find her. This is not yet finished.”
“Rest first. At least wait until morning.” Her hair had come down as they dug and hung halfway to her waist.
“No.” He got to his feet and they faced each other over the grave. “I must go now. She may not be too far away.”
She could see that there was no point in trying todissuade him. Instead she walked with him to the edge of the briar glade. “Take care,” she said.
“Why?” he asked as he disappeared along the path.
The glade would not let him reach the pool. The path wound around and about, but would not bring him to it. He forced his way between the rose vines until his arms were torn, trying to cut a way through with his hunting knife. At last, he reached the pool, only to find it was overgrown with an impenetrable tangle of wrist thick stems. It was impossible to reach it. He let out a howl of frustration and forced his way out, no longer feeling the thorns tear his flesh.
When he emerged again, Tisian was still there. She said nothing.
“The Door has closed to me,” he panted. “I have to go back. I must go to the Empty Place. They will send me there.”
“No! Not that way.”
“There is nothing else I can do. The other Doors are too far away. I must go back before I lose her trail.”
She held up a hand. He could see her struggling with herself.
“Wait. There is another way. There is a Door you know nothing of. In my house.”
“Your house? But …”
“Why do you think I choose to live out in the Wildwood away from everything? I was set to guard it long ago, but now comes the time it was made for. I cannot pretend any more that it is not.” She sighed. “I am late in life to come to fear, but it seems I must. I had hoped that this would not happen in my timeof Guardianship.” She said no more and he was too weary and sick at heart to question her further just then.
They walked back to the house in silence, Tisian twisting her hair back up into its untidy knot. Walking behind her, Morgan saw the earth stains on her green and blue skirt from Thomas’s grave and had to stop, his hand on a tree, while he caught his breath again.
The sagging door of Tisian’s house stood open, as it always did. He followed her in, both of them ducking under the lintel.
After the bright afternoon light outside it took Morgan’s eyes a moment to adjust to the relative gloom. He had been here many times before, but now he looked about him as though seeing it all for the first time; the bed with its patchwork quilts set in an alcove, the shelves of cooking pots and dried herbs and things that had caught Tisian’s fancy when she was out walking in the wood: pine cones and feathers and birds’ eggs and seed heads and a score of other things. More patchworks hung on the walls, so that from the inside it seemed as much a tent as a house.
“Wait for morning,” she entreated him again.
“No. I must go now. Show me how.”
She lifted aside one of the patchwork hangings and there was a door of blonde wood with an iron latch. He turned to her before he lifted the latch.
“Thank you. I will come back, don’t worry.” A small spider clung to his boot as he opened the door and stepped through.
Tisian closed it behind him and let the patchworkfall, then went to the window and stood, looking out at nothing, for a long time.
***
The lights had gone out all over Edinburgh and the power had stayed off for the best part of two hours. The lightning must have struck some crucial part of the supply network, the staff said.
Kate found herself strangely unsettled
The ladybird flew from his shoulder to a crack in the bark of a nearby tree.
***
They buried Thomas near a rowan tree, digging the grave together, their argument put aside for the moment, and burned a twist of herbs and a pine branch on it as was the custom.
“Will you not stay here with me for a while?” asked Tisian.
Morgan shook his head. “No. I must go back and find her. This is not yet finished.”
“Rest first. At least wait until morning.” Her hair had come down as they dug and hung halfway to her waist.
“No.” He got to his feet and they faced each other over the grave. “I must go now. She may not be too far away.”
She could see that there was no point in trying todissuade him. Instead she walked with him to the edge of the briar glade. “Take care,” she said.
“Why?” he asked as he disappeared along the path.
The glade would not let him reach the pool. The path wound around and about, but would not bring him to it. He forced his way between the rose vines until his arms were torn, trying to cut a way through with his hunting knife. At last, he reached the pool, only to find it was overgrown with an impenetrable tangle of wrist thick stems. It was impossible to reach it. He let out a howl of frustration and forced his way out, no longer feeling the thorns tear his flesh.
When he emerged again, Tisian was still there. She said nothing.
“The Door has closed to me,” he panted. “I have to go back. I must go to the Empty Place. They will send me there.”
“No! Not that way.”
“There is nothing else I can do. The other Doors are too far away. I must go back before I lose her trail.”
She held up a hand. He could see her struggling with herself.
“Wait. There is another way. There is a Door you know nothing of. In my house.”
“Your house? But …”
“Why do you think I choose to live out in the Wildwood away from everything? I was set to guard it long ago, but now comes the time it was made for. I cannot pretend any more that it is not.” She sighed. “I am late in life to come to fear, but it seems I must. I had hoped that this would not happen in my timeof Guardianship.” She said no more and he was too weary and sick at heart to question her further just then.
They walked back to the house in silence, Tisian twisting her hair back up into its untidy knot. Walking behind her, Morgan saw the earth stains on her green and blue skirt from Thomas’s grave and had to stop, his hand on a tree, while he caught his breath again.
The sagging door of Tisian’s house stood open, as it always did. He followed her in, both of them ducking under the lintel.
After the bright afternoon light outside it took Morgan’s eyes a moment to adjust to the relative gloom. He had been here many times before, but now he looked about him as though seeing it all for the first time; the bed with its patchwork quilts set in an alcove, the shelves of cooking pots and dried herbs and things that had caught Tisian’s fancy when she was out walking in the wood: pine cones and feathers and birds’ eggs and seed heads and a score of other things. More patchworks hung on the walls, so that from the inside it seemed as much a tent as a house.
“Wait for morning,” she entreated him again.
“No. I must go now. Show me how.”
She lifted aside one of the patchwork hangings and there was a door of blonde wood with an iron latch. He turned to her before he lifted the latch.
“Thank you. I will come back, don’t worry.” A small spider clung to his boot as he opened the door and stepped through.
Tisian closed it behind him and let the patchworkfall, then went to the window and stood, looking out at nothing, for a long time.
***
The lights had gone out all over Edinburgh and the power had stayed off for the best part of two hours. The lightning must have struck some crucial part of the supply network, the staff said.
Kate found herself strangely unsettled
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