Tower of Thorns by Juliet Marillier Page B

morning.”

4
    Blackthorn
    G rim and I were in our chamber preparing for bed. “No sign of Lady Geiléis at supper,” I said. “That was something of a relief.”
    â€œLong ride from Bann,” said Grim. “Four or five days, the fellows were saying. She must be tired out. And upset. Hoped for more from the prince. Made that plain enough.”
    Geiléis’s arrival had set me on edge. Perhaps that feeling was a warning. Perhaps it was only the anticipation of change. I knew Grim felt the same, and I had learned that his judgment was reliable. His appearance and manner might once have earned him the name Bonehead, but beneath the blockish exterior and straightforward manner was a person of sharp instincts and natural wisdom. It had taken me a long time to see that fully.
    â€œThe prince can do whatever he wants for her,” I said. “As long as nobody asks me to help. Going to Bann and dealing with this monster is not the way I planned to spend the summer.”
    â€œThe prince won’t want you heading off. Not with Lady Flidais and the child and all.” Grim’s was the voice of common sense. “He’ll wait for the druid. No need to worry.”
    He was wrong, and he knew it as well as I did. A magical puzzle to be worked out; a task only a woman could perform. An entire districtdepending on the problem being solved by midsummer. Lady Geiléis clearly desperate for a solution . . . Surely it was only a matter of time before she asked me directly to help her and put me in an impossible situation. Oddly enough, part of me wanted to set things right for her. The story of the screaming monster in the tower intrigued me. But I couldn’t go. Getting involved in a matter right on the border would be asking for trouble. I had promised Conmael I would stay in Dalriada. Take one step into Tirconnell and I’d be bound to my fey mentor for an extra year. A river, an island . . . It would be all too easy to take that step without even realizing I’d done it.
    Besides, if this was an uncanny curse, a doom that might have been in place, on and off, for years, it would not be easily lifted. It could not be up to me, or indeed to any ordinary person, to do so. I knew in my bones that the cleansing ritual, though it might help, would not be the complete answer. Someone needed to find out what had brought that being to the tower.
    â€œYou could ask Conmael,” Grim said.
    â€œYou reading my thoughts now?”
    He smiled. “Nah. Just having the same ones. What do you think?”
    â€œConmael’s not here.”
    â€œCan’t he pop up anywhere he wants? By magic? Remember when we were on the road. Him and his friends did that when it suited them.”
    â€œWhen it suited
them
. Not us.”
    â€œSeems to me,” Grim said, “that fellow’s on your side, even if he’s been hard on you. Wants you to get on, you know? Don’t much care for him, myself, but he’s been a help. You can’t say otherwise.”
    â€œI don’t want to ask him. And I don’t want to go to Bann. I want to stick to his wretched rules and get the seven years over.”
And then I’ll go back to Laois and make Mathuin pay.
    â€œMm-hm.”
    â€œI’ll stay out of Geiléis’s way. I’ll keep as busy as I can. You can help by warning me if you see her coming, so I can avoid her. With luckMaster Oisín will get here soon, and she’ll be off home again before she has a chance to ask me outright for help.”
    â€œMm-hm.”
    â€œStop saying that! It sounds as if you’re saying yes and meaning no.”
    â€œNight, then. Sleep well.”
    â€œHah!” Neither of us ever slept well. Our nights were a tangle of bad dreams, the ghosts of the past come back to torment us. “You too, Grim.”
    â€¢Â Â Â â€¢Â Â Â â€¢
    I was not best pleased next morning when, just