Darkwitch Rising by Sara Douglass

There was something else, but for the moment that possibility so terrified Louis he could not elucidate it.

He thought he had felt the power of a Darkwitch, his one certain enemy, rising from the very pores of Noah’s skin.

Twenty

London Bridge

NOAH SPEAKS

“Believe me,” Weyland said to me, and I couldn’t. “Believe me,” I pleaded with Louis, and he hadn’t.

All this disbelief, tearing my life apart.

All I wanted was a firm footing somewhere. Someone, or something, in which I could believe.

I wandered for a time, first through the Faerie and then through London, knowing Weyland waited for me, and knowing he was undoubtedly fretting and edging closer to doing something unpleasant with each minute that passed, yet even so I was determined to discover some means by which I could find that elusive firm foothold.

I wandered as Eaving, and thus very few people realised my presence. But some did. A gaggle of wide-eyed children who stopped their ball game as I passed. I smiled at them, and one or two, braver than the others, returned it.

A carter, hunched exhausted over the reins, started and stared as he passed by.

I inclined my head, and smiled for him also, and the exhaustion lifted from his face.

A vicar, who went white, and who reminded me of John Thornton for no other reason than their shared calling.

He passed, stumbling and staring, and I turned aside my head…and, as I did so, thought of something I could do.

I stood very still, thinking furiously, realising I had found a means by which I could discover the origins of this plague. Whether it was Weyland or Catling, knowing the truth would enable me to move forward: the truth would show me the right path to tread.

But, oh, this was so dangerous. It would upset and frighten many people, but it was so…daring.

And for the first time in my life, in my many lives, I felt like embracing the “daring”.

It was not something my enemies, known as well as unknown, would expect me to do.

I began to walk towards London Bridge, my stride now filled with purpose.

There was someone with whom I needed to speak.

London Bridge was a crowded, joyous place. It leapfrogged across the river from Southwark to the city itself in a series of leaning, creaking, ponderous piers. These piers were so wide and thick they acted as a part dam to the river—as I could see, the water level on the eastern and seaward side of the bridge was a full four feet lower than the level on the western side. The river banked up and then swept through the narrow openings between the piers in a series of tumultuous waterfalls. Boats which wished to travel upriver generally had to wait for high tide, while those wishing to continue on downriver under the bridge dared an exciting ride.

Not a few were capsized during the dangerous passage.

River-watching—hanging over the side of the bridge and shouting at those daring enough to attempt the passage beneath—was a favourite pastime for those living on, or travelling over, the bridge, and one I enjoyed myself. Not so much for the pleasure of watching boat masters undertake the hazardous travail of the bridge passage, but because scores of water sprites played around the piers and upon the small islands on which the piers had their foundations. The city fathers spent much angst, and many pounds each year, trying to keep the narrow passages between the piers clear of the branches and refuse which swept down the river and stuck between the piers (cow and horse carcasses creating the most blockage) intensifying the damming effect of the bridge. No sooner had one dredging effort been made, than, within days, the problem was as bad as ever it was.

London’s aldermen and councillors had no idea that mischievous water sprites spent much of each night carefully putting back all the branches and carcasses they could find. The sprites adored the wild waters created by the bridge’s piers, and loved chasing the boats through.

Mortal dredging efforts were always going to be in vain.

I walked to the central portion of the bridge—that part free of the houses, shops and chapels which had been built atop the bridge for virtually its entire length—and leaned over the balustrade. The water below was thick, grey-green and foaming as it tumbled about, seeking a way under.

I could see the copper glints of water sprites’ hair as they darted below the water, and within moments they became aware of my presence and floated to the surface. There they bobbed calmly, apparently unaffected by the turbulence of the water, and stared up at me with their bright green eyes.

I need to speak with our Faerie Lord, I said to them. Will you send word?

They waved in response, and slipped under the water again, and were gone.

I leaned back against the balustrade, relaxing, thinking, and watching the people passing.

An old woman saw me, and nodded companionably.

A nobleman, riding by on his glorious steed, saw me. He paled in shock, but recovered enough to grace me with a salute, which must have surprised most of his retinue and many of the bystanders who watched him.

A small dun dog, trotting from Southwark through to London on his own canine business, interrupted his journey long enough to snuffle about my feet before giving a small yelp of recognition and deference and continuing on his way.

Soon enough, the Lord of the Faerie joined me.

“Noah,” he said, appearing at my elbow and leaning down to kiss my cheek.

I turned my head, and offered him my mouth, and was happy that he accepted the invitation without hesitation.

“You cannot blame Louis,” the Lord of the Faerie said, “for not abandoning his loyalties and ambitions and needs as Kingman all in one moment. Each life, Noah, you have undermined his world. I think he is growing tired of it. He does not know what you will do next.”

For the Lord of the Faerie, that little speech constituted a considerable chastisement. But it was true enough, and I nodded, accepting what he said.

“I do not blame him,” I said, “although I confess a considerable disappointment. Not at him. At circumstances, I think.”

We stood there in silence for a little time, enjoying each other’s company, both of us, I’m sure, remembering all that had been between us.

I took one of his hands between both of mine. “Do you remember, so long ago, when we made love atop Pen Hill and you promised to me that you would be a companion along my path ahead?”

“Aye,” he said. His eyes were very gentle as they looked into mine. “I have had reason to revisit that day recently, as well.”

“Do you believe that what I do, I do only for the good of the land?”

“Aye,” he said. “I do. I trust you, Noah.”

Oh, gods, I was so blessed in him! “Coel,” I said, calling him by his most ancient and beloved of names, “I want to bring Weyland through into the faerie realm.”

I think days might have passed as he stared at me in shock. I could not read his emotions, because the instant those words were out of my mouth his face shut down completely, and his hand went cold and stiff in mine.

“Coel,” I said, “I need to know for certain who is causing this plague. This sickness has infected the land as well as its people. You and I both know that if I bring Weyland to the borderlands of the faerie realm, then, if he is guilty, the land will reject him the instant his feet touch the land. It will not allow the architect of this pestilence entry into the Realm of the Faerie.”

“The Faerie will not allow him entry in any case.”

I thought that it might (for how else could the Faerie have allowed Weyland to build his Idyll to its very borders?) but for the moment I said nothing about that. “My Lord of the Faerie,” I said, “I need you to grant dispensation for him. I need to know if he is the one who has blighted land and city with the plague. This test will eliminate or damn Weyland once and for all, and it will show me if I have taken the right path, or one so blighted that I risk all of creation. This is a test as much of me and my choices as it is of Weyland. My lord, and my love, please, please, tell me you understand why I ask this.”

“Noah, Louis said he could smell Weyland on you. He said you stank of Weyland’s taint.”

I felt cold. “Then all the more need for this test,” I said softly, holding the Lord of the Faerie’s eyes.