The Danu (3 page)

"I did not think it
would be that obvious," she finally said, wondering if Deni might have
been wrong about her ability to blend in and what it would mean for her life
expectancy.

"It is not so
obvious now," the woman finally answered. "When you first stepped
through the gate, well..."

It was not Amelia who
finished the thought.  She trailed off looking suddenly embarrassed by what she
would have said.  The boy spoke with the same awe still in his eyes leaking to
his excited voice.  "You glowed."

Katrine looked at her
normal looking hands still presented in front of her with the weave draped over
her arms, and thought about that first touch with the garden.  She dropped her
eyes and shook her head, a touch humor, a touch embarrassed.  "I suppose
if I want to keep the secret that I'm not like everyone else I should probably
not do that?"

The boy giggled, making
Katrine smile, and some tension left his mother’s shoulders.  Amelia finally
looked at the fabric Katrine still held, then a determined look taking over she
stepped back pulling her son with her and presenting her open door.  "We
do not mind different so much as others might.  I know a little about not
fitting in, and being a widow besides.  Would you like to come in and discuss
the job?"

For the first time since
she entered the black gates of Haven, Katrine allowed the tension to leave her
shoulders.  She licked her lips and smiled, hoping the shine of her eyes did
not give away exactly how desperate she had hoped for a place here among this
small patch of garden, even if only for a short while.   "I would like
that very much."

When she passed the other
woman, the boy reached forward and brushed his hand over her arm, as if looking
for magic, no doubt.  It was the first innocent touch Katrine had felt in so
long, the foreign feel of it brought a momentarily stumble to her gliding
walk.  Amelia berated her son, her words softly uttered and just as much for
Katrine as the boy.   "And we can keep secrets, can't we Jaak?  Even
really good ones?"

"Yes, mima." 
Then the boy stepped away from his mother and grabbed Katrine's hand pulling
her faster into the house with a determined tug.  "Except you have to meet
Jud."  Her last look back she saw Amelia smiling as her son dragged the
strange Danu witch into their house.  A house with open doors on both sides
that led to overgrown gardens on both sides.  Their home was in the center of a
garden.  Just like that, Katrine knew she was safe.  At least as safe as
someone of her heritage could be.  At least for a little while.

"That's him,"
Jaak called in his most excited voice.  Pointing out over the heads of the
masses to the coming soldiers.  "That's the prince.  They say his horse is
a demon tamed from the wilds and black as night.  That must be him."

The streets were packed
with more people that Katrine thought could live in one place and it made even
the cold north seem over warm with the autumn sun shining on the town. 
Everyone from all over Haven were concentrated on the one street this day. 
Katrine would not have been anywhere near it if Amelia, and Jaak’s home and
shop did not sit smack dab in the middle of it.  As it was, she should be
hiding in the house until the procession passed but Jaak’s excitement and
curiosity was catching.  Besides, the chances of being picked out of this crowd
was slim to none, and the chance to see her families great enemy up close was
too much to deny.  Prince Khalon Morten may be one of the younger of the Kings
sons, but he was known throughout the North as his father’s enforcer.  Chances
were good he had spent some of his youth with his father’s armies, invading the
North, and killing Danu.

She must not have been hiding
the thoughts in her head too well because Amelia kept giving her worried looks
from her spot beside her son on the wall.  Unlike most of the people populating
the cobblestoned streets of Haven, Amelia had not donned her best clothes, but
wore one of her usual high quality but simple gowns.  This one in a soft rose.

Katrine was pacing back
and forth in the garden behind them in a similar dress, though hers was green
and still held the proof of her last fabric dye splattered on the arms and
skirt.  She was pretending she was above looking.  With Jaak’s announcement,
she gave up all pretense and joined them on the wall.  It was not a high wall
so like Jaak and unlike Amelia who was seated, she stood and looked upon the
Southern Army under the leadership of Prince Khalon Morten.  It was not the
guardsmen that caught her attention.  It was the Prince himself.  He did indeed
look to be riding a demon horse, but it in no way looked tame, nor did the man
who rode him.

All the Southern Warriors
were big men, the Prince was no different.  In fact, she could not say what
convinced her the man with the black eyes sitting on the black beast was the Prince;
he was as hard and muscular, and dressed identically to all the other warriors
that surrounded him, but while the other warrior’s exuded menace, the one on
the black horse reeked of danger. When his eyes suddenly turned in her
direction Katrine saw the arrogance honed into the savage face.  His eyes
flowed over the crowd searching for a target and she knew beyond any doubt that
this was a man who would never be caught unawares in any situation.  He had the
look of a killer.

Then those cold predatory
eyes snapped to Katrine, finding her unerringly even in the midst of the
crowd.  Every breath in her body whooshed out of her in one go and she knew
beyond a shadow of a doubt that she was not safe from his notice, even in this
crowd.  With one look from him, she felt hunted.

"He's looking over
here," Jaak yelled excitedly and almost fell trying to wave.

A tug of her arm had her
nearly falling into Amelia’s lap.  She sucked in the breath she had not noticed
she was holding and turned to look in Amelia’s frightened eyes.

"He's talking to one
of his warriors," Jaak squealed excitedly.  "He has the war hammer on
his back!  That has to be Ragnar Stalrask, ‘The Hammer’.  They say he killed a
thousand men in the battle for Horth."  Amelia and Katrine were looking at
each other, Katrine learning to breathe again.  "He's coming this
way."  She saw the fear spike in Amelia's eyes and knew the same was in
her own; she lost her breath all over again.
 Could the king’s enforcer
recognize her as Danu from such a distance?

"Go," Amelia
hissed not a second later as the murmuring of the crowd turned both curious and
fearful.  Ragnar the hammer was indeed coming their way. Katrine went, heading
into the house and then out the other side as fast as she could, thankful that
this side of the street was deserted.

Katrine climbed one of
the orchard trees and then sprang from there to the rooftop.  She made very
little sound and was safely hidden well before ‘The Hammer’ pushed his way
through the crowd.  She found out later that he had stopped to ask Amelia about
the woman in a green dress that had been standing there.  Amelia said she had
seen the woman he meant but she did not recognize her, and she had run off into
the crowd.  Jaak thankfully had been struck dumb by the sight of the warrior he
had heard so many stories about and had been unable to speak.  Not that his
mother would have given him the chance.  Ragnar had looked around once and
moved on, clearly on the hunt.

For weeks they waited to
hear word of a Danu being searched for, but there was nothing, and eventually
the army marched back out of Haven and they all breathed a sigh of relief and
went on about their business.

Katrine never wore that
dress again, and it was only when the news came that Prince Khalon had left that
she finally felt safe.

***

Katrine was in the
gardens.  After her first winter in Haven, she had been happy to feel the
warmth of the spring on her face, and the dirt in her hands.  The ground had
still been hard and the ice barely thawed when she started working it, the
roots and seeds beneath the soil starting to warm up.

Now it was spring again,
and Amelia's garden flourished as much as her fabric business had in the year
since she had taken a chance on a Danu in hiding.

Sitting in the garden, Katrine
had her hands deep in the healing soil for no reason other than she liked the
feel of it.  She thought back to the year that had passed so quickly.  It had
taken her at least half that time to establish herself as a weaver.  Most
people looked upon Katrine as an oddity and warned Amelia about associating
with strangers when she had a small child in the house.

Amelia ignored them, just
as she had ignored them when they protested her marriage to a common soldier, a
southern warrior at that.  Amelia let none of them talk her out of giving
Katrine a chance.  Then she took a greater chance and allowed Katrine to show
her how to sell outside the gates on market days when travelers from all the
cities came each season to the trading fairs.  It was unheard of for a highborn
woman to enter the markets, and ridiculous to think she would get any kind of
good price selling to vagabonds and gypsies.  Amelia, with Katrine as her guide,
did just that.  Not only did they make a profit, it brought them to the
attention of Southern tradesman who offered them top dollar for the fine
fabrics they produced.  Amelia could afford to hire more weavers, and with the
reputation she was building for fine fabrics she was able to attract and afford
higher caliber weavers, even two certified masters. Between that and the
vegetable garden and fruit orchard that did not just bloom but rioted in
Katrine's Danu hands, business boomed.  There was just one shadow over their
bright days.  Katrine could not stay.

Katrine sighed, a leaf
fluttered across her cheek and she brushed it away with no thought to the dark
smudge of dirt she was leaving behind.  She was too busy thinking about the
young widow and her son that had, despite her attempts to keep them distant,
wormed their way into her heart.  Neither of them had listened when she told
them she was here temporarily.  The time she would have to leave was fast approaching. 
The wilds called to her. While a few visits every few months to the green had
sustained her longer than she had reason to hope for, the draw was becoming
painful.  If Katrine did not move on soon, she would find herself a permanent
part of the weave.  She knew it; she just did not know how to say good-bye.

"Kat, can you watch
Jaak while I deal with an appointment."

Katrine looked up and
into Amelia’s blue eyes while she stood at the open door to the house.  She was
dressed in her best lavender linen and shiny soft boots that wove up the side
with delicate straps.  "Of course.  Is he still napping or does he want to
play in the garden?"

"He's asleep and my
appointment is not until after the lunch hour, but I need to open the store and
pull some stock before he comes."

Katrine pulled her
vegetable basket closer and started pulling ripe greens for their dinner. 
"I'll finish up here and be in."  Katrine stopped her with another
question, remembering the excited conversation they had a few days ago. 
"Is this the envoy to the Southern traders you were talking about?"

Amelia's face flushed in
her excitement and between that and her clothes, she looked as beautiful as
Katrine had ever seen her look.  "He is meeting more than one merchant
while he is here, but if he likes our fabrics it could mean great things for
us."  Her smile brightened along with the sparkle in her eyes.  "It
is said he deals directly with the Royal house of Morten."  With that, she
turned in almost a skip in her excitement and did not see the flash of fear
cross Katrine's face at the mention of that name.

Katrine turned back to
the garden her jaw clenching as she pulled in a deep breath and sought peace
among the garden weave.  Just because this man was said to deal with the house
of Morten did not mean he was a danger to her.  After all, many merchants might
claim the same to drive up their prestige.  Even if her fabrics were bought and
taken to the Kings people in Dunsen, it did not mean anything.  The Danu were
known for their abilities in the forest, not weaving.  At least not of fabric. 
She was still safe.  She found her calm center and embraced it, before
gradually pulling herself back out of the garden weave.

"If I had known what
beauty hid among the gardens in Haven I would have visited more often." 
The voice was deep and playful and not one that Katrine had heard before.

She looked up and on the
other side of a wall a man she had never seen sat atop a high stepping horse. 
She absently noted the fine boned animal and the costly garments of the
gentleman over a trim figure and a pretty face.  Dressed in royal blue and
gold, with a decided appreciative gleam in his light blue eyes he was looking
Katrine over boldly where she knelt in the garden.  She looked him up and then
down and turned back to her vegetables.  So that is what a Northerner looked
like when he dealt directly with the house of Morten.  Apparently, butchers
paid well.

"If you have
business with the cloth merchant, she will see you around the front door,"
she said dismissively.

"And if I would like
my business to be with you?"  He asked with a smile that Katrine supposed
was meant to be charming.

Katrine stood up; it was
obvious by the look in his eyes that he would not be leaving her to her peace
anytime soon.  She nodded her head with a forced serenity and then turned her
back on the man making her way to the wide open doors behind her.  Her answer
was the firm closing of the doors and not another word.

The rich man on the
pretty steed she forgot immediately.  She did not see the charm slide off his
face as soon as he was alone. 

"How
interesting," he murmured looking from the closed doors to the overflowing
garden.  His new smile was both cold and calculating, and would have had
Katrine reassessing the danger the man presented.  She did not see it, and she
had no way of knowing what that small encounter would lead to.  Nor did Katrine
make it out beyond the black gates that day.  Jaak and then an excited Amelia
claimed her attention and then for the next few days she was busy weaving
fabrics to meet the demand of the Southern delegation.  She let the call go a
bit longer, knowing her time with them was limited as it was, and how much
Amelia counted on her fabrics for her business.

The next days were filled
with work.  An order had indeed been made after the trade delegate Ambar Genith
saw what Amelia had to offer.  To say he was impressed with the quality of her
fabrics was an understatement.  It meant that all the weavers were slammed with
orders, and Katrine's fabrics were the most sought after.  So she sat in the workroom
beside Amelia, long after the other weavers had headed home, with Jaak playing
at their feet losing herself in the fabric she wove by instinct more than
anything else.  It would have been a peaceful time even with the work if
something in the back of her mind were not calling her away.  She ignored it as
long as she could; knowing instinctively that the next time she left it would
have to be for good.  Wanting to do as much for Amelia and Jaak as she could
while she was still here.

Sensing a new pressure to
her work, Amelia spoke quietly over the sound of the weave going on around
them, misunderstanding her drive.  "You do not have to fill the entire
order yourself.  If you never worked another moment you would have earned your
place here ten times over."

"I would not like to
leave you in dire straits," Katrine said just as softly aware of the
sleeping child at their feet.  The fire light was soft across the room,
highlighting the snugness and warmth of the scene.

Amelia's weave stopped
and the absence of sound was loud.  "You need to return to the wilds
soon," she said and it was not a question.  Then the whisper of her loom
started again.  "How long?"