The Tenth Power Read Online Free PDF Page B

the barn would be almost as bad as camping in the open, especially now she’d lost her cloak. But Ursca tutted, and shepherded them along.
    ‘This way, dears. You too, young man. Go on, up the ladder, into the hayloft. There you are, you see? Snug as a burrower’s den!’
    Calwyn clambered up the ladder and was surprised to find a cosy space, walled with bales of hay. There was a gap above the hay bales where the icy wind still whistled through, and the hay-lined room smelled of must and damp. A single candle-lamp faintly lit the loft, and a tiny stove sent out a fitful warmth. Mica shrugged off the heavy pack and sank to the floor, utterly exhausted.
    ‘This isn’t so bad,’ said Trout. ‘Once we fill in that gap –
    ’ Ursca clucked. ‘That’s as high as I could reach, young man! We’re not all as tall as dear Calwyn!’
    But Calwyn wasn’t listening. ‘Marna! Oh, Marna!’ She flung herself down beside the blanket-wrapped bundle that lay in one corner protected from the draught.
    ‘Careful, dear.’ Ursca drew her away. ‘Our Lady Mother is sleeping. Don’t disturb her. And you know, of course, you mustn’t touch her skin.’
    Calwyn couldn’t tear her gaze from the small, frail figure of the old woman, wrapped in layers of quilts and blankets. The long, silver-topped staff of the High Priestess lay on the floor at her side. ‘But Lia told me – ’ She stopped. No, Lia had not said that Marna was dead.
    ‘Safer to let you think the worst, dear. I told Tamen that Marna had died and been buried, mayTaris forgive me, a turn of the moons ago.’
    ‘What did she say?’
    ‘Do you know, I think she was relieved? Yes, I think even Tamen, bold as she is, would have been unwilling to close our Lady Mother into theWall, when it came to it. She was glad to have the decision taken from her.’ Ursca sighed. ‘Only Lia and Gilly and I know the truth.’
    ‘Gilly?’ Calwyn remembered Gilly as an empty-headed, silly young novice, more interested in flirting with the village boys than in chantment or her duties to the Goddess.
    Ursca smiled sadly. ‘Gilly has changed. These dark days have changed us all.’ She leaned over Marna and smoothed her blankets. ‘Our poor Lady Mother was weakened by the battle with the Merithuran – you remember, dear. She was ill for a long time after that. She was just beginning to recover when she caught the snow-sickness. How it happened, I don’t know. I nursed her myself. I have wondered whether Tamen… ’ Ursca’s voice faltered.
    ‘ Tamen ?’
    ‘Only Tamen and I tended her, you see. Someone who was already ill must have touched Marna’s skin, it’s the only way to pass on the snow-sickness. And certainly that never happened while I watched over her. So Tamen must have permitted – or perhaps even forced – But there, I mustn’t speak evil where I don’t know the truth.’ Ursca looked around, her manner suddenly brisk and efficient. ‘Calwyn, dear, would you sing a chantment to melt the snow in those buckets?’
    Calwyn opened her mouth, then closed it.
    ‘Well, go on, dear! You’ll need water, and I know Taris will excuse the use of magic for such a simple thing, in these dreadful times! I daren’t haul the buckets up and down that blessed ladder as well as everything else!’
    ‘Cal’s too tired, ain’t you, Cal?’ Mica looked up quickly. ‘I’ll melt the snow with the Clarion.’
    But Ursca had heard only the first part of what Mica said. ‘Of course, my dears, you must all be exhausted.’ She laid a hand on Mica’s head. ‘This little one is ready to drop! Have you eaten?’ She rummaged in a corner of the loft and produced a round of stale cheese, some old flat-cakes, some spander-nuts, and a handful of dried apple pieces. ‘Our dear Lady Mother can’t swallow much more than bitterthorn brew now, but I always keep a titbit or two here to tempt her.’ She looked ruefully at the unappetising morsels. ‘Never mind. I’ll have Gilly bring