Raven's Shadow (Raven #1)(19)

"She said she'd leave," said Ciro. "She hurt no one."

"We'll leave in the morning," said Tier.

"Strangers who come to Redern and work magic are condemned to death," said Alinath in a tone of voice he'd never heard from her.

He looked at her. She should have appeared ridiculous, but the cold fear-driven anger on her face made her formidable despite the coating of white powder settling on her.

Someone gave a growl of agreement.

The ugly sound reminded Tier of the inn where he'd rescued her - or rescued the villagers from her. He realized that unless he managed to stop it, by morning his village might not be in any mood to let Seraph go.

An odd idea that had been floating in his head since he'd talked to Willon and then held Seraph in the wake of her night terrors crystalized.

"She is not a stranger," lied Tier abruptly. "She is my wife."

Silence descended in the room. Seraph looked at him sharply.

"No," said Alinath. "I'll not have it."

She was in shock, he knew, or she'd never have said such a ridiculous thing.

"It is not for you to have or not have," he reminded her, his voice gentle but firm.

"I won't have her in this house," Alinath said.

"We would have had to leave in any case," said Bandor, who'd pushed through the crowd and into the baking room. He walked over to Alinath, and put his hand on her shoulder. "Once Tier had chosen his wife, whoever she was, we'd have had to leave. I've made some inquiries in Leheigh. The baker there told me he'd be willing to take on a journeyman."

"There's no need," said Tier. Now that his choice was made, the words he needed to convince them all flowed easily. "There's a place I intend to farm about an hour's walk from here. I'll have to get the Sept's steward's permission, which won't be difficult to obtain since the land is not being used. There's time to build a house before winter. We'll live there, but I'll work in the bakery through the spring when planting season comes. Then I'll deed it to Alinath."

"When were you married?" whispered Alinath.

"Last night," lied Tier, holding out his hand to Seraph, who'd been watching him with an expression he couldn't read.

She stepped to his side and took his hand. Her own was very cold.

"Yes," said Karadoc, coming forward and putting a hand on Tier's head as he used to when Tier was a boy. "There have been Rederni who were mages before. Seraph will harm no one."

The crowd dispersed, and Bandor took Alinath to their room to talk, leaving only Karadoc, Tier, and Seraph.

"See that you come by the temple tonight," said the priest. "I don't like to keep a lie longer than necessary."

Tier grinned at him and hugged the older man. "Thank you. We'll stop by."

When he left, Tier turned to Seraph. "You can stay here with me and be my wife. Karadoc will marry us tonight and no one will know the difference." He waited, and when she said nothing, he said, "Or I can do as I promised. We can leave now and I'll go with you to find your people."

Her hand tightened on his then, as if she'd never let it go. She glanced once around the room and then lowered her eyes to the floor. "I'll stay," she whispered. "I'll stay."

PART TWO

Chapter 3

When Seraph reached the narrow bridge, the river was high and the wooden walkway was slick with cold water from the spring runoff. She glanced across the river and up the mountainside where Redern hung, terraced like some ancient giant's stone garden. Even after twenty years, the sight still impressed her.

From where she stood, the new temple at the very top of the village rose like a falcon over its prey. The rich hues of new wood contrasted with the greys of the village, but, to her, that seemed to be merely an accent to the harmony of stone buildings and craggy mountain.

Seraph crossed the bridge, skirted the few people tending animals, and headed for the steps of the steep road that zigzagged its way up the mountain face, edged with stone buildings.

The bakery looked much as it had when she'd first seen it. The house was newer than its neighbors, having been rebuilt several generations earlier because of a fire. Tier had laughed and told her that his several times great-grandfather had tried to make the building appear old but had succeeded only in making it ugly. Not even the ceramic pots planted with roses could add much charm to the cold grey edifice, but the smell of fresh-baked bread wafting from the chimney gave the building an aura of welcome.

Seraph almost walked on - she could sell her goods elsewhere, but not without offending her sister-in-law. Perhaps Alinath would be out and she could deal with Bandor, who had never been anything but kind. Resolutely, she opened the bakery door.

"Seraph," Tier's sister greeted her without welcome from the wide, flour-covered wooden table where her clever hands wove dough into knots and set them on baking tiles to be taken back to the ovens for cooking.

Seraph smiled politely. "Jes found a honey-tree in the woods last week. Rinnie and I spent the last few days jarring it. I wondered if you would like to buy some jars to make sweet bread."

Tier would have given it to his sister, but Seraph could not afford such generosity. Tier was late back from winter fur-trapping, and Jes needed boots.