“She seems old to begin her training here.”
Corinthius shook his head. “She is well-grown for her age, but she has only ten winters. And Helena is not without education. She has been taught to use her mind as well as to do the work of a woman. She can read and write in Latin and knows a little Greek, and has learned her numbers as well.”
Suona did not seem very impressed. I lifted my chin and met the dark gaze steadily. For a moment I felt an odd tickling sensation in my head, as if something had touched my mind. Then the priestess nodded a little, and it ceased. For the first time she spoke directly to me.
“Is it your wish, or that of your father, that you come to Avalon?”
I felt my heart thump, but I was relieved when my words came out steadily.
“I want to go to Avalon.”
“Let the child break her fast, and then we will be ready,” said Corinthius, but the priestess shook her head.
“Not you, only the maiden. It is forbidden for an outlander to look on Avalon except when the gods call.”
For a moment the old man looked stricken, then he bowed his head.
“Corinthius!” I felt tears prick my own eyes.
“Never mind,” he patted my arm. “To the philosopher, all affections are transitory. I must strive for more detachment, that is all.”
“But won’t you miss me?” I clung to his hand.
For a moment he sat with closed eyes. Then his breath came out in a long sigh.
“I will miss you, heart’s daughter,” he answered softly. “Even if it is against my philosophy. But you will find new friends and learn new things, never fear.”
I felt Eldri stirring in my lap and the moment of anguish began to fade.
“I will not forget you—” I said stoutly, and was rewarded by his smile.
My fingers tightened on the rail as the boatmen shoved down with their poles and the barge slid away from the shore. Overnight, another mist had risen from the water, and the world beyond the village was more sensed than seen. Only once, when we crossed the Tamesis at Londinium, had I ever been on a boat before. I had felt nearly overwhelmed by the river’s tremendous, driving purpose, driven close to tears when we reached the other shore because I had not been allowed to follow it down to the sea.
On the Lake, what I felt most strongly was depth, which seemed odd, since the bottom was still within reach of the boatmen’s poles, and I could see the wavering lines of the reed-stems below the waterline.
But the evidence of my eyes seemed to me an illusion. I could feel waters that ran below the lake bottom, and realized that I had begun to sense them as soon as we started to cross the Levels, even when we were on what passed here for dry land. Here, there was little distinction between earth and water, as there was very little separation between the world of men and the Otherworld.
I gazed curiously at the woman who sat at the prow, cloaked and hooded in blue. To be a priestess was it necessary to become so detached from human feeling? Corinthius preached detachment as well, but I knew he had a heart beneath his philosopher’s robes. When I become a priestess, I will not forget what love is! I promised myself then.
I wished very much that they had allowed my old tutor to come with me this last bit of the way. He was still waving to me from the shore, and though he had bade me farewell with the restraint of a true Stoic, it seemed to me that there was a brightness in his eyes that might be tears. I wiped my own eyes and waved back harder, and then, as the first veil of mist blew between us, settled back onto my bench.
At least I still had Eldri, tucked securely in the fold where my tunica bloused over my belt. I could feel the puppy’s warmth against my chest and patted her reassuringly through the cloth. So far, the little dog had neither barked nor stirred, as if she understood the need to keep silence. So long as the puppy stayed hidden, no one could forbid me to take her to Avalon.