And death shall have no dominion.
Dead mean naked they shall be one
With the man in the wind and the west moon;
When their bones are picked clean and the clean bones gone,
They shall have stars at elbow and foot;
Though they go mad they shall be sane,
Though they sink through the sea they shall rise again;
Though lovers be lost love shall not;
And death shall have no dominion."
"Wisteria," the petite girl said as she sniffed the swaying flower her mother hung in front of her. Over her eyes and tied behind her head was a thick blindfold. Though the sun poured through the open archways and trellises of the small stone building, Bryoni was helpless to see through the dense black fabric.
Bethany, beautiful beyond measure, reached her pale hand above her and plucked a bundle of dried herbs from a hook on the low ceiling. The marble surface above them was crisscrossed with wooden beams that dry the herbs from the elaborate garden just outside their walls. Bryoni's face changed as she caught a whiff from the new plant.
"Very good. Try this one."
"Hyssop."
"Excellent! Now, if ya can't guess this one, you're grounded for life. Understand?"
Bryoni grinned wide, ready for the challenge. She fidgeted on the stool as she waited. Then, it came to her, and her face lit up.
"Rosemary!"
Bethany blinked and chuckled, poking Bryoni hard in the shoulder. "No fair! I hadn't even took it off the hook yet. Ya won't learn if ya keep lookin' ahead... Now quit it, or you're scrubbin' dishes tonight."
Unable to stop grinning, Bryoni nodded nonetheless. Carefully, watching her daughter's expression, Bethany reached for another herb and then brought it down to her.
"Think about it for moment..."
"Uh... calendula?" Bryoni replied uncertainly. Her young face twisted slightly as she struggled to identify the scent.
"Chamomile." Bethany smiled slightly at her daughter's obvious frustration. "Close, love. It's alright."
Bryoni pulled the blindfold from her eyes and sighed. "I don't think I'm any good at this, Mum..."
"Nonsense. Ya got them all right but that one. Don't worry your pretty little head any." She beamed at Bryoni. On any other day her cheerfulness would have rubbed off on Bryoni, but since she woke that morning, the girl seemed uneasy. Rather than smiling in return, her head dropped and she stared at the tiles on the floor.
"What did Ethan want last night?"
Bethany stared at Bryoni and for a moment she considered lying. She hadn't realized that the girl was awake when the surly man banged on their door, deep into the woods of Gilneas. "He wanted me to come to town for a drink." This made her daughter frown.
"Why does he chase after ya like that?"
With a chuckle, Bethany shrugged and then sighed. "He's just mad I picked a man that was kind, not rich. He likes wavin' his money around bcause he thinks it'll make me think twice."
"Will it?" Bryoni looked up at her mother, truly uncertain.
"...Are ya kiddin' me?"
The teen simply shook her head in response.
Bethany kneeled in front of Bryoni and rested her palms on the tops of Bryoni's legs. "I wouldn't trade ya for wealth, Bryoni. I wouldn't give up your father for the fancy gifts from a bitter fool. I wouldn't sell your brother to the gypsies, even though he tracks mud on the carpet every day. Ya know why?"
Bryoni shook her head, frowning.
"Because here in the forest, the trees watch over ya when ya sleep. The flames in the hearth rise in happiness when ya walk in the room. Ya can hear the mermaids singin' their songs by the bay. Here, a book is more valuable and more dangerous than a thousand swords, and ya walk carefully on the grass because it means somethin' to ya that it's alive."
Bryoni finally begins to smile as her mother continued.
"Moonbeams are more than just rays of silver light; they're blessin's, every one of them. The wolves and the wild boars flock to our home for refuge because they know those who walk with nature are a peaceful sort... and peace, family, and happiness mean more to me than the opportunity to be a rich man's wife." Bethany raised her eyebrow as she waits for a response from the grinning girl.
"...Okay," Bryoni says after a few moments. Though her father was the poet of the family, both parents had a remarkable way with words. "I believe ya." Leaning down to hug her mother, Bryoni closed her eyes and relaxed, her cheek pressed against her mother's. Peace came over her, but in the back of her mind, a festering thought remained.
"Would ya like to continue?"
Bryoni released her mother and looked out through the windows to the garden and then into the distance. Past the pear trees, farther than the mushroom rings, somewhere down the sloping hills, a familiar rhythm traveled to meet her ears. "I think I'll play a while."
She was met with a smile and a nod. Her mother ruffled her hair and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. Bryoni didn't follow the sound immediately. It was several hours later before she came home, tired from unabashed exploration, and communion with every living thing she came across.
The cold clap of a hammer against steel echoed between the trees at her father's forge. Bryoni watched him with a warm smile as he curved the blade over the horn of the anvil with every strike. As he put the unfinished sword into the forge once more, he removed his heavy gloves and smiled at her in return. She had her mother's gift, just as all of the other women before her, but her heart belonged to her father.
Liam turned his gaze skyward. The nebulous clouds of a Gilnean storm had begun to creep on the horizon. Soon, a blackness would cover their land. Not even the moon would shine tonight. "Ya ready to read some, then?"