Chapter One

I am a Foundling. Normally, I would be seen as just another sorry wretch abandoned by those who had too many mouths to feed already, but I was found at Mid Summer in Ebensberg, the closest settlement to the Great Hallow Forest, and in a prosperous year to boot. No villagers had “lost a babe”, nor did any of the outlaying farms face the kind of hardships that would lead to the laying aside of future hands to till the land. Not even tinkers had been seen near by at the time I was found.

The villagers thought me a change-child and wanted no part of me. They would have left me to die of exposure had the Llyrasdan not intervened. Tani was a hedge-witch who took oath with the Order of the Golden Wreathes. Her slight Blessing was Small and Moving and so perfectly suited to the detailed work of a Healer. From her I learned my love of growing things and how to survive where others would starve. The Llyran priest examined me and declared me Man-child for the Fire that burned in my form. Furthermore, she guessed me to be early Spring born of that year.

Even this might not have been enough to save me if the Magistrate had not arrived the day before on his rounds. To this day I do not know the name of the man who gave me the chance to live. Magistrates, appointed by the Monarch, are a breed apart. Most are sworn to Hadri, God of Law and Ethic, and take His somber mien for their own. They switch circuits every five years and there are enough circuits in Corrum that a Magistrate may never see the same one twice in his life while still not having seen them all.

The Magistrate ordered that I be cared for and promised seven years of my service to the family that raised me to the Service Age. Furthermore, he promised that he would check to see that I still lived on each circuit and ordered a fine the size of the village’s annual taxes should I die under strange circumstances before my sixth summer. Tani, knowing that Laslyn had recently lost a child of my age to the sleeping death, convinced her and her union-mate, Arvin, to take me while she still had the milk to give.

Arvin and Laslyn already had Talya and Thom, though Thom had yet to be named, being Summer born and the year of my finding his second summer. It is my firm belief that Talya has ever despised me. She had seen six summers when I was found and was well enamored of her first sister. I became the easy scrape-grace for her grief. The other villagers certainly did not do much to change her dislike.

It seems to me that the only people in Ebensberg who ever forgave me for the strangeness of my finding were Tani, Laslyn, Thom, and Mordred. For some time I thought the six-pointed ward against evil was a greeting gesture; I saw it used to me so often. Even Arvin, as soft spoken and temperate a man as any I’ve ever known, was ill at ease with me. However, by the time I reached the Service Age, my sixth summer, the villagers had grown used to my presence and they rarely did more than grumble against me.

Laslyn arranged for Tayla to serve her apprenticeship with a Weaver in the village south and west of us, Verdantvale, the year after I was named. I like to think those three years she spent away were the happiest of my childhood, but I do not remember much of them. Tayla was raised in the home of a Cloth Guild member and though Guild law forbids children to apprentice to their parents, Laslyn had attained High Master rank when Tayla reached the age to apprentice. She was well accustomed to the basics of the Guild before being sent for her formal learning and had watched her mother attain Journeyman rank in the Craft of Weaving, so had more understanding of that Craft.

I was more fortunate with Thom, for he did not start his apprenticeship before his eighth summer and stayed within Ebensberg. He had ever been interested in the making of things and went to serve his apprenticeship with his father’s brother, Merrin, Craft Master Carpenter, while Arvin took on Jorrin, Merrin’s son, the year following. But that would not occur until after the babe Laslyn birthed the Harvest after Talya’s apprenticeship began saw her naming year.

The spring before my indenture was to start, the old Mayor passed on and Arvin was elected to his position. While some of the Crones, the circle of village elders, muttered about my place in his household, most agreed that Arvin was by nature the best suited to serve as spokesman and arbiter for Ebensberg.

That summer, just before the Mid Summer and the celebration of first harvest, Talya passed the journeyman exams in Hallows Watch and was sent to the Guild House in Dar Fallas for her journeyman term. To this day, when I think of beauty, it is Laslyn’s face I see, the pride and joy and the absolute love radiating from the warm rose-brown of her smile-stretched lips and spilling forth from the tear-bright glow of her honey-colored eyes as she gazed upon her oldest name-child. Her belly was just starting to stretch with another child expected after the Fall Harvest.

We were in the garden patch, Laslyn showing me which vegetables to pull for that night’s dinner, when Talya arrived. We had not expected her, thinking we would see her at the summer faire and learn then how her apprentice trials had gone. Talya’s Master, Eldric, had sent her early, though, expecting her rapid advancement and hoping to afford her this last visit before her long journey to the capitol and her journeyman term at the Guild House.

Laslyn called out the whole household, and most of the village, too, to greet Tayla and share the good news. We held an impromptu feast that night, celebrating not only the first harvest, but Talya’s success.

That night I lost a dream. In the years after my naming, Talya and I had only seen each other in the presence of Laslyn. I did not know why it was at that time, not that I had paid much heed to it. After all, the only times I remembered seeing her were at the summer faires. Talya had become a golden child in my mind, hearing only as I did of the love that Laslyn felt for her daughter and the pride that Arvin held for his mate’s first child. I hadn’t even known that she was born out of union.

I approached her at the feast as she held court. Talya was a gorgeous woman-child, with the promise of her mother’s humble beauty showing in the line of her brow, the curve of her jaw and the bow of her lips. The honey-brown of her eyes formed a peaceful blend with the sun kissed gold in her mahogany locks. Her lightly tanned skin was tinted with red from a mild case of road-burn and the glow of the bonfire by which her suitors surrounded her. Though Talya was but eleven summers, her breasts had began to fill and the curve of her hip to ripen. She and some of her girlhood friends had woven wildflowers into the fall of their hair and I thought how well she could have posed for a statue of the Lady of Grains.

In the morning of that day, Tani had taken me into the skirt-land of the Hallows. We had found strawberries and a bramble of boisterbuds and brought them home in the gather basket Laslyn helped me to make. That basket was such a pitiful effort to look at, but somehow always managed to hold what I wanted it to. I brought the ripest and sweetest of my gather to share with our village star, set on a platter of straw woven just before the feasting began.

There were no adults around, just Talya and the village children. At first, she took no notice of me. I tugged on her skirts to gain her attention, but when she looked at me, I immediately wished that I had not bothered her so.

The laughter escaped her honey-brown eyes as she said, to no one in particular, “Hasn’t anyone figured out how to get rid of this noxious changeling? What do you want, brat?”

Wishing I were anywhere but where I was, I answered, “I thought you might like some of the berries I helped Tani pick this morning?” and offered her my boon.

She looked at the straw platter I held and raised her hand as if to take a berry. Before she cleared the sides, she turned her palm up and knocked the platter from my hands.

“Clumsy creature! Who would want to eat from the dirt but a changeling? Clean up this mess you’ve made,” she scolded and turned her back to me, leading her circle to the other side of the fire.

Though she held her tongue before adults, for me that night marked the beginning of her small tortures and in the week she stayed, I learned to hide at the sight of her.

Talya stayed long enough to see her sister named. Tani Llyrasdan, as the only priest in the village, performed the Naming Ceremony. At mid night of the shortest night, she raised Babe Laslynsdan before the village and introduced her to the Divine Ones. The glow of her Small Blessing filled the babe and shone pink from her skin. After the glow faded, Tani offered her back to her mother. Laslyn stepped forward and took the babe from the Llyrasdan. She held her ear before the babe’s lips, her face intent. As she appeared to listen, a smile caressed her lips and then she straightened. Her eyes were as bright as when Talya returned home when she proclaimed, “This child of my name is Ruemella.”

Every voice in the village was raised in a shout of joy, though I think perhaps mine was the loudest. Even at that age, Rue was a charmer. That she would one day dedicate herself to the Laughing Goddess came as no surprise to me, or to any who knew her. Laslyn stepped back into the cheering crowd and the next name-parent presented his son for naming. In all, three other children were named that night.

The last Naming was usually the end of formalities, but Arvin caught my shoulder as I started toward Laslyn and the newly named Rue. He propelled me forward until we stood before the village. Tani gazed down into my eyes for the moment it took the villagers to quiet down once more.

When the silence fell, she turned me to face them. Laslyn handed Rue to Thom and came to stand on my other side, facing her union-mate with accusing eyes. Arvin looked only at Tani.

I didn’t understand, then, why Laslyn, who loved her mate so much, would publicly rebuke him with her eyes.

“It has been a long time since Ebensburg saw a Foundling indentured. I ask you before the Gods, Arvin Yorgensen, Craft Master Smith, and Laslyn Umasdan, Guild Master of Cloths, do you intend that this child be made a child of your union or an indentured servant?” Tani’s voice, clear and bright, held a note of censure. I did not see it, but Thom later told me that she held the same censure in the gaze she locked on Arvin.

I felt fear well up in me, for I did not understand quite what was happening, but then a glow the pale green of spring growth spilled from behind me. It was the color I most often associated with Tani’s Blessing and the sight of it calmed my nerves.

Arvin did not flinch under the Llyrasdan’s censure. For all that he could be an easy man to live with, when he came to a decision he stuck to it, until proven beyond his doubt that his decision was wrong. His voice was as firm as his resolve when he answered.

“I am aware of how long it has been since a child has been allowed to serve an indenture within Ebensberg. As mayor, it is my understanding that the Royal Magistrates have dictated this future for the Foundling Cassendra and so I will not have her as a child of my union. I will not endanger the prosperity of the village for her sake, though I will not have her treated as aught but a child of my union-mate’s name.”

The glow of Tani’s Blessing grew stronger, enveloping all of us who stood before the village. The voice that issued from her form reverberated with an otherworldly tenor.

“So shall it be noted, so shall it be done. Cassendra you are named. Foundling you are called. Before the Gods are you given to Serve for a term of Seven Years, after which time, Your life is in your own hands.”

The words reverberated throughout my body so greatly that I hardly noted the feel of a three-inch metal band being clasped around each wrist. As the glow dimmed, I felt at first numbed as I saw the fear on the villagers’ faces and the stoicism on Arvin’s. When I turned back to look at Tani, she appeared pale, as shocked and bemused as Farmer Habberssen had looked when his cow gave birth to a two-headed calf. The numbness fled when I looked to Laslyn and saw the tears falling from her eyes.

“Please don’t cry, Mama! Please don’t!” I remember whispering into her waist as I hugged her. I wanted to comfort her the way she so often comforted me. She held me tight and only cried the harder.

Tani drew a deep breath and visibly shook herself. “I hope you know what you have done, Arvin Smith, I truly do,” she said, her voice now her own once more.

“Only what was needful, Llyrasdan,” he answered. “’Tis the Time of Judgments this year and I’ve no fear of the Lord of Scales watching over us.”

The next day, Talya returned to Verdantvale and her former Master, who accompanied her to Hallows Watch. From there, she joined a caravan going to the capitol and I had another two years to enjoy without her presence.

Several days after the last harvest, I woke in the night. I’m not sure what it was that woke me, but I heard the sound of harsh breathing coming from the far side of the family bed. Only one person seemed to be having trouble breathing and the quality of it made me think of Laslyn, thick with a child ready to leave her womb. I climbed out from beside Thom, stopping only to make sure Rue was still comfortable, and went to Laslyn’s side of the mattress.

She still seemed to sleep, but sweat beaded on her forehead and her face kept scrunching up. There was a strange odor coming from Laslyn’s sleeping form. It was not unpleasant and somewhat musty with an undertone of blood and flesh. Gently, I shook her shoulder. She didn’t seem to notice me, so I found a spare piece of yarn and tickled it under her nose. After an endless moment, she woke sneezing.

When I saw her looking at me, bleary-eyed, I asked, “Are you in labor?”

Whatever her answer might have been, it was cut off as she bit back a moan. That sound was answer enough for me. I took off running, leaving the front door open as I bolted for Tani’s cottage on the edge of the village.

She was just closing the door, her medicine bag in hand, as I rounded the last house between our dwellings. She turned, I think hearing the sound of my running feet, and almost dropped her bag upon seeing me.

“Mama Laslyn’s having the babe!” I cried, remembering at the last moment to keep my voice down. Tani’s eyes opened wider and she hoisted her bag to her shoulder as she took off running. For all that Tani was two summers older than Laslyn, she was a spry woman and easily kept up with me as we charged back home.

In the time it took me to fetch Tani Laslyn had gotten up and moved into the front room. She was stoking the fire as we arrived, with our large kettle sitting beside her. Without looking up, she told me, “Fetch some water from the well. The Llyrasdan will want boiled water before the night is over.”

Tani laughed softly beside me. “You know me well, don’t you, dear Les?”

“Aye, well, we’ve only been here a few times, now haven’t we? As much as I miss our sisterhood, I can’t think of anyone I trust my babes to more,” Laslyn answered.

Tani shook herself and moved into the house. I missed the rest of their conversation as I grabbed our water bucket and ran to the well. It only took me two trips to fill the kettle, though I had the presence of mind to hoist it onto the cooking hook before I poured in the first bucketful. Then I filled the bucket a third time, leaving it beside the front door.

When I finished, I went to the garden and pulled some fresh clottswood leaves and a couple sprigs of merry sweets. I brought them in and rinsed the soil off in the water bucket before offering them to the Healer.

Tani had been busy, checking on Laslyn and setting up a birthing pallet. She looked at me sharply when I proffered the herbs. “Do you’ve an idea what these are for?” she asked.

“I thought I smelled blood and Mama Laslyn’s used a clottswood leaf poultice to stop up cuts and such like. Merry sweets, in a tea, it helps to ease cramps and it takes the edge off of sharp pains. I didn’t want to grab too much of those, cause the cramps help push babes out, right?” I was nervous, not from fear so much as from excitement.

She took the herbs from me and laid them on a stool near the cook fire. “Aye, well, there is some blood mixed in with the birth waters, not enough for concern, mind, but some. Did you know that I was just thinking an infusion of these two would make a good tea right about now?”

I frowned, “But isn’t it a bad thing to drink clottswood?”

“It’s what’s called an abortificant when it’s ingested. That means it can induce labor, or speed it up. It’s mild enough that when given to a woman already in labor, it helps to strengthen the contractions. The merry sweets don’t stop the clottswood, and you’re right that it eases pain.” She returned to her patient and put her hands on the swell of Laslyn’s stomach, where the babe currently resided. A spill of new-growth green flowed from Tani to the child inside Laslyn. Tani frowned as she brought the green glow back slightly dimmer than when she sent it.

“What is it?” I asked.

Tani started to force a smile as she looked at me, but I cut her off before she could say something meaninglessly comforting. “Don’t try to say it’s nothing. It may be minor, but it’s not nothing. Your glow wasn’t as bright as you brought it back.”

Both Tani and Laslyn looked at me in surprise. Tani asked, “You actually saw me use my Blessing?”

“Well, yeah. Your Blessing is the color of new growth. Mama Laslyn’s, hers is the color of the fields after the last harvest has been gathered, and Thom’s, his is the color of the clay that Herder Bevinsen brings to Master Merrin every spring.” I looked in confusion between the two women. Surely this wasn’t news to them?

“But I don’t have a Blessing!” Laslyn protested, followed by a moan as a contraction took her. Tani had not taken her hands from Laslyn’s belly and she sent her Blessing back in

I waited until the easing of their features told me that the contraction had passed before saying, “I see it, your Blessing, when you spin and weave and sew. It’s not as bright as Tani’s. Nobody in the village has a glow as bright as Tani’s, but it’s still there.

“Now, Tani, please, what is it?”

She sighed as she looked up at me. “I thought the babe wasn’t quite ready yet as I was leaving. When you showed up, I was concerned. My Blessing usually tells me when I’m needed, and that is usually before I’m summoned to a birth.

“Knowing you can see Blessings, though, well, that helps explain why you showed up so soon. Everything’s actually right as it should be. I wove some of my Blessing around the child so I could better monitor the birth.”

The two women made eye contact and a silent message seemed to pass between them. Tani nodded to Laslyn and said to me, “You’ve done well, child, but you’re still a bit young for the rest of this. I know it’ll be hard, but try to get some more sleeping done. You’ll need it come the morning, for I’ve a feeling you and Thom’ll be the only ones fit to look after the chores.”

Laslyn laughed softly and sighed, “You’d think after all the times we’ve been through this that Arvin would be as calm as you and I, but, no, he’s always as nerve-shot as if it were his first child!” Turning to me, she beckoned with her near arm, “Come, give me a hug before it’s back to bed with you, lass.”

I came over and hugged her, clinging a bit before I drew back and gave her a mock-stern look. “Fine, but just because you’re making me! If you need me, you get me, you understand?”

She grinned up at me and tickled my ribs. Squirming, I giggled and broke away from her. “I love you, Mama, and I’ll see you and the sweetling come sun-up.”

I retreated to the backroom, checked on Rue, and climbed back into bed. Sleep came easily, now that Tani was there to keep Laslyn well and see to the babe.