Read Online Flame of Sevenwaters by Juliet Marillier - Free Book Online Page A

out, beyond fence and wall, lay the forest, still sleeping under the violet-gray blanket of between-time. Somewhere in the trees a bird called a greeting to a morning not yet arrived.
    If it were Samhain now, the keep would be in darkness still. But I had returned to Sevenwaters in a brighter season, with the oaks in their summer finery and the meadows dotted with wildflowers. That did little to quiet the child within. As I walked across the yard she was whimpering in fear. Hush, I willed her. It is over. It was long ago . And I thought of Finbar’s words from last night: I saw you. You were trying to save your dog. I saw you in the fire . A shiver ran through me. Was my brother’s every day beset by such cruel visions? Was that what set the shadow in his remarkable eyes?
    Nobody seemed to be about, but I could hear horses moving in the stables, restless with the first trace of daylight. I hesitated, part of me wanting to go in and check on Swift, the other part recognizing that I was making excuses. I imagined Uncle Bran standing on one side of me, offering me his strong tattooed arm to lean on; Aunt Liadan was on the other side, telling me to breathe deeply and take one step at a time. Saying he and I were the bravest people she had ever met, and wasn’t she lucky to have the two of us right beside her? I kept on walking.
    Even in the uncertain light of early morning, it was plain that the annex was gone. In its place was a garden, not a practical herb or vegetable patch but a flower garden with a low wall around it, and in the middle a graceful young tree, perhaps a plum. Beneath were bushes of lavender and rosemary, and at their feet I thought I could discern the heart-shaped leaves of violets. Inthis spot the fire had raged. In this spot, or very close by, an elderly druid had perished in the flames and a younger one had sustained injuries that could not be healed. In this place my beloved Bounder had been trapped, and had howled for me, and had died waiting for me to come.
    I sank down on the wall. I could no more stem my tears than hold back a raging river. “I tried,” I whispered through the hot tide of my grief. “Bounder, I tried my best.”
    I stayed there, remembering, as the day crept closer. The fact that I had failed Bounder hurt far more than what had happened to me that night. I had loved my dog more dearly than anyone in my family could understand. How could I have let him die, alone, frightened and in pain? I bowed my head and closed my eyes. I was not sure I believed in any god, but I sent up a prayer to whatever deity might have a special interest in creatures. I prayed that Bounder’s spirit had been set free quickly; that he had not suffered much. I prayed that somehow I could make good my failure to save him.
    “Maeve?” The deep voice was my father’s; he had come up so quietly I had not realized he was there. Now he sat down beside me and took my misshapen hand in his. Well, he could see the tears on my cheeks; he, of them all, would be the one who understood. He had his two wolfhounds with him, long-legged gray shadows. They gave me a glance, then settled quietly at his feet.
    “Whoever planted this garden knew all the plants I loved,” I said. “Someone even remembered my fondness for plum preserve.”
    Father nodded. “The violets were your mother’s suggestion; she recalled a favorite gown you wore until it was almost in shreds, dyed in exactly that shade. Muirrin said rosemary denotes a strong woman. Clodagh remembered that you loved the scent of lavender. There’s a dog rose in the corner there—it may not surprise you that Eilis wanted those. Deirdre thought of the plum tree, and Sibeal worked out the most favorable alignment and shape for the garden, using an arcane druidic formula. Over the years since you went away all of us have spent time here, thinkingabout you. I wish more of your sisters were here to welcome you home. Even Deirdre is only with us a few days; she and