I pressed a hand to my bodice, worried about the child within. I was convinced my bairn was a girl—another future high priestess. But she could not come into a world of hatred and chaos; this rancor had to subside before my child entered this life.
“ ’Twould be wise to calm your tempers and your fears,” came a firm voice. Coveners looked to my mother, who spoke with the authority of the high priestess. “I daresay this is nothing new.”
“But Síle, it’s getting worse!” old man Bigelow claimed. “I’ve half a mind to cast a dark spell upon the Wyndonkylles to show them what real black magick is. We’re taking the blame for it; we might as well do the deed!”
My mother remained quiet while people grumbled, then answered, “Howland, I know you are far too gentle a man to ever wish harm upon another.”
“Oh, I can wish,” he said. “I can wish the Goddess would send a mist over their fields to dampen the soil. Ruin their planting!”
“He’s right!” Aislinn pushed into the center of the group. “Haven’t we endured enough hatred? Isn’t it time to fight back?”
People murmured in approval, nodding.
I couldn’t believe how eager the folks in our coven were to engage in a war between clans. I winced, realizing how impossible it would be to see Diarmuid if we took to fighting.
“That is quite enough!” Síle said sternly.
The coveners fell silent as she demanded their attention. “We’ll have no more talk of evil spells. Have you all forgotten your own initiation into the circle? Your vow to do the Goddess’s will? Have you forgotten that you committed yourself to foster love and peace under the Goddess’s sky?”
Aislinn tucked a loose tress of red hair behind her ear and let out a disappointed sigh, but most of the others seemed thoughtful. They seemed to be listening to Ma’s words.
“Remember the Witch’s Rede?” Síle asked in a commanding voice. “Whatever you desire, whatever you ask of the Goddess, let it harm no one. And remember that as you give, so it shall return threefold.”
“ ’Tis right thinking, Síle,” Ian MacGreavy said. “This coven will never engage in dark magick, so ’tis futile to waste words upon it.”
I looked at him in awe, remembering his own dark rite. What a hypocrite he was!
But Ma seemed satisfied as the coveners broke into small groups and talked of other matters. My mother had calmed the uproar, but discontent hung in the warm summer night. I worried that this could brew into a terrible storm and vowed to share my fears with Diarmuid.
The next morning as I went to meet Diarmuid, I felt a strange heaviness inside. The coven’s anger was still roiling inside me, along with my breakfast. I realized that the sour feeling might be from carrying my baby. Perhaps there was a spell in Ma’s Book of Shadows to alleviate it? I would have to take another look. I had been reading up on many of her spells lately—including one I wanted to try with Diarmuid. Although Ma had encouraged me to study her Book of Shadows, I didn’t think she had expected me to find the entry on love magick. It claimed that couples sometimes made love in the center of the circle, offering their love force to the Goddess! Nothing like that had ever taken place in our coven circles, but I felt drawn to the idea of making love magick with Diarmuid.
I was also unsettled by the fact that I had lost my love charm. I had taken to carrying the rose stone in my pocket ever since Diarmuid and I first shed our clothes, but I had not come across it for weeks now. ’Twas not the best of days.
Diarmuid was in a far better mood. He chased me through the clearing, swiping at my skirts and wrestling me onto the grassy moss. The carefree play lifted my spirits, but after we kissed for a while, he sensed that something was wrong.
“Rose, there’s no light in your eyes today. What is it, love?”
I told him about the trouble brewing between the Wyndonkylles and Wodebaynes.
“I’ve heard the same tale,” he said. “But surely the Wodebaynes aren’t involved.”
“We are not, but we’re being blamed, and I fear a storm brewing among the clans. A war that would destroy our chances of ever seeing each other again.”
“I won’t let that happen,” he insisted.
“Then we must take action now.” I paused, reluctant to push. “Let me ask you, Diarmuid, when you think of us, how do you picture us being together?”
“I have always wanted to marry you, Rose,” he said, his eyes bright with promise. “Can’t you see us two in the circle for a handfasting?”
“I’ll wager I’ve imagined it,” I said, studying his beautiful face. “Oh, Diarmuid, we should marry. And soon. Let it happen now.”
“Today?” he joked. “Let me run and fetch my ma, for she won’t want to miss it.”
“Would that it could happen so soon.”
“Aye, sooner. That it happened yesterday and we’re an old married couple, with me poking around the cottage and asking you what’s for dinner.”
“ ’Twould be a blessing. Far better than what I fear might happen.”
“Stop that!” He pressed his hands over my eyes, then over my ears. “Don’t listen to what the coven folk say. We are going to be married.” He stood up and straightened his white shirt. “I’ll go to my coven today and tell them everything. That I love you, that you’re the best thing under the Goddess’s blue sky, and that we’re to be married.”
“And if they argue that you’re marrying a Wodebayne—”
“They won’t. I will not give them the chance.” He pulled me to my feet. “I love you, Rose. I’ll make things right for us.”
In that moment I knew he would. The Goddess had chosen a true hero for me.
I went up on my toes and kissed him. “And I have a spell to help us through. Have you ever heard of love magick?”
Diarmuid smiled. “No, but I think I will like it.”
The spell in Ma’s Book of Shadows was simple. I swept the circle and told Diarmuid to shed his clothes, lie back, and think of what we wanted to dedicate ourselves to.
When I had finished the preparations, I lay beside him, staring at the cloudy sky. “Picture us together,” I whispered, “our union accepted by our clans, by all clans.” I reached over and touched his shoulder. He quickly turned on his side and kissed me.
“Would we be together like this?” he asked, running a hand along my thigh.
“Aye, always.”
“As close as this?” He lifted his body over mine and pressed against me.
“Aye,” I whispered, focusing on our union, offering our act to the Goddess. Within the circle our bodies rose in heat and splendor, and I felt the glow of our love rising to the heavens.
“Aye, Goddess, we are here for You,” I whispered as Diarmuid and I tumbled into passion.
Our love magick was strong. That night when I left our circle I heard thunder rumbling overhead. I felt sure the Goddess had received our offering. She was shaking up the heavens in preparation for Diarmuid’s big announcement.
But the next day, when Diarmuid was to have met me at our secret place, he did not appear. Nor did he make it there the day after that. On the third day I sent him a tua labra: Where are you? Why can you not meet your love? But I received no response. I wondered whether he had received my message. Had something terrible happened? As each day passed, I waited for the rumble in the heavens to manifest itself on earth. Surely if I looked carefully, I would see Diarmuid tramping up the path to our cottage, his parents marching dutifully behind him, eager to work out with Síle the details of our union.
With the dawn of yet another morning I pushed open the shutter and peered out, longing for the glimpse of a Leapvaughn tartan or a flash of Diarmuid’s lovely blue eyes. The path was still but for a jackrabbit searching for greens. My rescuer had not come for me. at least, I thought, not yet.