north the Earl of Arkney married a Highland princess and the line continued. That was what pleased me so much when Raul Raubert stood tall alongside the Morningstar. He is the last of that line, and the blood is still true.’Once more she fell silent, then she smiled again, her eyes sorrowful. ‘But the line also produced Gilbaud Azrek.’ She sighed. ‘I have lived too long and seen-too much.’Her voice faded away and I called her name. Her eyes flickered and her voice whispered into my mind.
‘You will see me again, Owen, but I will not know you.’And she died there, slipping away without pain.
I held her hand for a little while. Then I covered her face and left the cabin.
I found Mace sitting by the lakeside skimming flat pebbles across the surface of the water. I sat beside him, but he did not look at me.
‘Bastard life!’ he said, hurling yet another stone which bounced six times before disappearing below the water.
‘You liked the old woman, didn’t you?’Don’t try to climb inside my head!’ he stormed.
‘I do not wish to be intrusive. But she is gone, Jarek; she passed away without pain.’He said nothing, but turned his face from me.
‘How did you meet her?’ I asked him.
He shrugged. ‘I was sitting by a camp-fire when she just walked from the trees. She sat down as if I was an old friend and began to talk. You know? The weather, the crops, the fishing. Just talk. I shared my meal with her. It was cold, and around dusk she stood and said she had a spare bed in her cabin. So I went with her.’Have you known her long?’No – maybe a month before I saw you in the forest. But she was good to talk to. She didn’t ask for anything. And she liked me, Owen… for myself. You understand? Just for me -Jarek Mace.’Like a mother?’I told you not to get inside my head! She was just an old woman. But I was comfortable with her. I didn’t have to think about bedding her; I didn’t have to woo her. You can have no idea how
good that is sometimes. Just to talk to a woman, and to listen. No seductive voice,- no easy charm. And she was a good woman, Owen. Back there when she faced the Burning, I did want to help. I wanted . . .ah, what does it matter? Everything dies. Gods, you should know that by now.’It was as if he had slapped me, for Ilka’s face flashed into my mind and I felt the weight of grief.
‘I’m sorry, Owen,’ he said swiftly, reaching out and gripping my arm. ‘I didn’t mean to hurt you. She was a good girl; she deserved more.’Well,’ I said, unable to keep the bitterness from my voice, ‘she was bedded by the Morningstar, so her life wasn’t a complete waste.’Don’t say that!’What would you have me say? She was barely eighteen and she’s dead. I made love to her nine times; we had merely days.’That’s all any of us has, Owen. Just days. A few moments in the sun. Yours were shorter than most – but you had them. My mother gave me very little, but she offered one piece of advice I have long treasured. She used to say, ‘What you have can be taken from you, but no one can take what you have already enjoyed.’ You understand?’I wish I had never met her,’ I said, and at that moment I meant it. The sharpness of my sorrow seemed immensely more powerful than the love we had experienced.
‘No, you don’t,’ he assured me. ‘Not even close. You said it yourself . . . her life was one of tragedy. But you supplied something pure, something joyful. You gave her a reason for being. Be proud of that!’I looked at him with new eyes. ‘Is this the Jarek Mace who led a woman to suicide? Is this the robber who cares only for gold?’He struck me then, a sharp blow with the back of his hand that made my head spin, and pushed himself to his feet. ‘Wallow in self-pity if you must,’ he said coldly. ‘I have more important matters to attend to.’We buried Megan in a meadow beneath the branches of a willow – an open spot overlooked by the mountains, with a stream close by. We made no headstone, nor even marked the spot. Such was the way of death in the forest at that time.