Comet Fall (Wine of the Gods) (13 page)

"Nil said it might just wear off, that spells that aren't reinforced periodically did
that," Rustle said.

Never nodded.
"I expect Nil will keep a close eye on his grandson."

"Oh yes, that's for sure.
" Question hugged Never. "We're getting too domestic, you and I. We need to go out and do something outrageous."

Never snorted. "My . . . father wants me to come to Karista and politic again," she glanced guiltily at Rustle. "It was certainly outrageous the last time he dragged me there."

"Actually, Mom, there is something you could do in the City. Havi and I've got some diamonds that need to be sold, and I think Havi's got stuff that he needs to buy, not to mention the Land Grant seems to be stuck in the bureaucracy, and once unstuck needs to be paid for. With the diamonds I think he can just pull it off. You two could go and be assertive witch and wizard, talk politics and the military applications of magic, and use the commerce as an excuse to leave as soon as possible."

Never and Question swapped looks.

"And isn't Uncle Lefty stuck somewhere around the City for the winter?" Rustle grinned.
Sold!
"And when you talk to the Military types, do be sure to remind them of the sixteen year old witch who beat up eight Young Bloods
after
she'd been knocked unconscious."

Rustle plowed through late winter snow several times for wizard style magic lessons.
Then she learned the feel of the wizards' tower and merely landed knee deep in snow. Ech, Zip and Joffe lived at the tower, and grinned as they dragged her into the wizards' work area to show her their grasp of power. And gripe about the exercises Nil was forcing upon them.

"You're a witch, you shouldn't be able to do wizard spells." Joffe complained.

"I've got a wizard gene from my father." Rustle frowned. Two power genes. Not the same two the gods have, but . . .

After Nil drilled her, she retreated to gossip with Xanthic and Young. She was, unfortunately, still the main topic, and the rumors were building and spreading.

"Even Tromp, Zenith and Cost
all
getting knocked up didn't pull much attention away from you." Young shrugged. "Makes me glad to be a wizard, not a witch."

"People are blaming
any unexplained deaths on witches. Not here; nobody's died recently. But in the poor parts of Karista . . . Answer is furious, says you've set witches' reputations back a century. Take our advice, and stay out of the village for a while longer." Xanthic rolled her eyes. "Idiots."

Rustle
remembered some older advice as well. "Don't let the best in yourself be ground down." Wolf was talking about the burden of the baby. But it's nearly everyone else that is grinding at me. "I doubt the fuss will last too much longer. People do have common sense, and they know what young lords often act like."

A week before the Winter Solstice, Rustle talked her sisters into babysitting, and walked into Ash. The road had been cleared of snow, but it was iced over and slippery. She decided against riding.

Answer wasn't home.
Ultra raised her nose and pointed across the road to the tavern.

Oh  great. I get to do this in public.

Answer was sitting at a table with Furious and Glorious.

Rustle tried to not be obvious about noticing the Auld Wulf sitting in his usual spot, chatting with Harry and Romeau.

"Good morning, Senior Sister." Rustle waited . . . "I thought that I should ask if I was welcome at the Winter Solstice meeting, or if you would prefer I stay away."

Answer finally shrugged and looked at her.
"It is our duty to the Pyramid to keep it running well, to protect the witches from prejudice, and protect the ordinary people from witches using their abilities to harm people, or with poor control and rebellious ways that can lead to dangerous magic and a backlash against the Pyramid.

"If." The old witch raised her voice as if to drown out protest. "If you comported yourself modestly and obediently, as Particular does, we could overlook your being a Black Widow."

Rustle rocked back on her heels. "I isolated myself last summer, meditating and working. I am not rebellious, and I certainly don't have poor control."

"You disobeyed when you experimented on humans.
But cutting you off from lessons in genetics didn't stop you, did it?"

Havi and goat boys
. . . well, it wasn't genetic, but it was a crass and uncontrolled experiment. "I take it you don't want me at the solstice."

"You are no concern of mine. By your own actions, you have shown that you are not part of the pyramid."

Rustle braced her shaky knees. Forced steadiness on her diaphragm. "I hope my disgrace does not reflect on my family."

"Oh.
Now
you worry about how your actions might affect other people? Begone."

"I am just asking you to not treat my family the way you are treating me. Shunning me."

Answer's nose rose, her tones cooled. "We are not shunning Obsidian and Topaz. They aren't even old enough to be considered New Moons, and they don't live in the village. Never . . . has left the village voluntarily."

Rustle
shrugged wearily. "I accept your ejecting me from the Pyramid. I'm eighteen. Legally an adult. When the weather permits, I will leave Ash. Just . . . stop hurting my sisters.
Your
great granddaughters."

"I am not hurting them. As they show signs of approaching power, they will be welcomed into the Pyramid. Your departure . . . will no doubt make the other children's mothers less apprehensive about visiting." The old woman smiled faintly.

Rustle turned and reached for the doorknob.

"Oh. And do try to not kill anyone. Or experiment with
them. Again. Especially their genetics. Again. I would hate to have to hunt you down like those Goat Wizards."

"Answer." The Auld Wulf's usually soft deep tones held a bit of a growl. "As the Land Grant Holder of Section Two, Foothills Province,
I
can kick someone out.
I
can declare someone an outlaw.
You
may organize your Pyramid in any way you wish. Be content with that power."

The old witch narrowed her eyes.

Rustle winced. "She is not sending me away. I am leaving to end the shunning of my mother and sisters." Rustle looked back at her great grandmother. "You've already won. I advise against turning it into a war." She got up and walked out. Hunched against the cold.

"Rustle . . ." The Auld Wulf fell into step with her.

"Well. That washed a good deal of dirty laundry right out in public."

"Rustle . . ."

"If I stay, it will get worse. I
will
not destroy the Pyramid." She kept her head down, watching her footing. "It's my fault. I did experiment on Havi and the goat boys."

He sighed. "
Gisele says it's brilliant. Havi went to her, before he talked the other boys into going to you."

"He did?" She huffed out a foggy breath. "Wise of him. I should have gone to her first."

The Auld Wulf shrugged. "With magic . . . there's no way to know, without trying it. You stopped puberty, or at least lowered hormone production to where puberty will be delayed.
No one
knows if that will have the same empowering effect on wizard abilities."

"Yeah."

She could feel the Auld Wulf's searching gaze. Didn't meet it.

He stopped walking.. "
You know that silly game witch girls play, putting charms on boys' names to find their true love?"

"Yes."
She stopped, and looked back at him.

"If you charm a piece of paper with my name and put it in the pouch, I will receive it.
Please, if you need supplies, send me a note. And if you want to come home from further than you feel confident to travel yourself, just ask. Never's house is, technically, out of the village. And if you get into trouble, just yell for the God of War." He smiled wryly. "Or the God of the Roads, if you are on one. And if you set up markers every evening, you will be on a road."

She couldn't help but smile. "Yes, Mother. I grew up wandering the New Lands. I'll be fine. And I own a piece of Havi's settlemen
t, so I will have a place to go. But I think Xen and I will both be the better for a bit of traveling." She turned and walked away.

They couldn't go until the weather moderated.

But the days lengthened and the snow melted; she started packing.

***

Rustle was meditating by the Teakettle when she heard her mother's laughter.
Mother's home from Karista!
She stretched and walked back to the house.

Her dad was just handing Never down from his lap.

Ridiculous way to ride double!
Rustle could feel herself grinning. Havi had abandoned his latest wagon, Obsidian and Topaz were running over from the house.

Xen looked out the window and turned his back. Rustle's good mood crumpled. She forced a smile.

Havi got his hug in first. "How did it go? Did you find a buyer?"

"Yes, all the diamonds are sold and so we brought you a present," Never handed over a rolled parchment. "Not really from us, since you paid for it, but we did the legwork and suggested a location and are therefore proud to deliver your land grant."

She turned and hugged the girls. "Goodness, I was only gone a few weeks."

"It felt like forever." Obsidian glanced at Rustle and bit her lip.

"It's actually everyone's land grant," Havi pointed out. "Two hundred miles by two hundred miles, enough for a village to grow into for generations."

Rustle leaned into the crowd to give and receive a hug from her mother.

His father
eyed the parchment. "Where is it?"

"On the east side of the Rip," Never said. "The
Old North Road is the northern boundary, the river the western one. It holds most of those grasslands where we killed those two huge bull bison, on our fourth trip."

"Grasslands?" Havi perked up. "Wait, I remember the bulls. They were fighting each other, and you practically walked
right up to them before you sliced them. Aunt Question said the pair of you were insane."

"Yep, that's the place. I wanted to make sure you could at least graze your animals," she grinned at him. "I hope you won't have any troubles with building your homes."

"Yeah. We figured we'd start with tents for the summer, up on the plains, and build solid homes down in the Rip. Where we will eat lizard all winter while lolling about in hot springs. Nobody believes me about the lizards."

"No one ever doe
s, until they see for themselves." Dydit smirked, glancing at Never.

Havi cuddled the parchment. "We're leaving as soon
as the pass is clear."

"That will b
e another couple of months, boy." His father protested.

"Yeah, and a good thing this is the last wagon, because we need to start filling them now."
He shot a nervous look Rustle's direction.

Never frowned. "Have you decided to go with them, Rustle? You kno
w you need a lot more training . . . " She looked around at them all. "All right. What did I miss?"

"I had an argument with Answer." Rustle shrugged. "I am no longer a member of the Mount Frost Pyramid. I think I'm going to do a bit of exploring around the New Lands, maybe even get down to Cadent."