Chapter 5 - Chapter IV

Meg sat inside Hasim’s wagon, holding Mari’s hand with a firm grip. She could feel the other girl shaking. Hasim sat opposite them, his back against the end of the wagon, though he was nearly hidden behind a large trunk. What was inside, Meg had yet to find out.
“As I had said in Gypsies Forest, I shall instruct you in the naming, which takes place tonight, when the full moon will be high into the night sky and the Sacred Pool in which the ceremony is preformed is at its calmest. In this trunk are two dresses, both to be worn from now until the next midnight. Marietta, your dress has been passed down through each of your own family lines for generations, as the tradition hold. Meg, my wife, Maple, has taken them time to make you a dress, and hopefully, if you decide to come back to our Caravan, it will begin its journey from there. Please meet me by the bonfire at midnight.” Hasim inclined his head, stood, and swept out of the wagon, descending the steps gracefully, before turning out of sight.
Meg and Mari looked at each other, and it was a while before either of them dared to move towards the trunk.
With trembling hands, they lifted the lid.
“I’ll freeze in this!” Mari exclaimed, holding up the grey-blue dress to her front.
Meg burst into a fit of giggles, which became full laugher as she rolled about the floor of the wagon.
Mari coloured, grinning. “Oh, wait till you see yours!”
Meg stopped laughing abruptly and Mari showed the dress. Meg blanched, looking utterly dismayed.
What Mari held up could hardly be classified as a dress. Both girls muttering, they changed into the dresses, looking at themselves in the full-size beryl-glass.
“I look like an overly-large snowflake,” Mari commented dryly, but Meg was dumb with horror at her own dress; the crimson silk fell to the floor in graceful fold, but the back came down extremely low, as did the front. The silk was decorated with gold thread on about the waist, hem, and cut off sleeves.
Mar whistled. “I’m impressed with old Maple.” Looking down at her own dress, Mari sighed enviously. It was a simple grey-blue silk dress, but the silk, unlike Meg’s, was near to becoming lace-like.
Meg swiped at Mari. “Come on. Grab a cloak and let’s go.”
When both had wrapped themselves in furs, hey stepped out the wagon, to be greeted with applause and whistles.
Mari’s face became darker than Meg’s hair are a particularly loud whistle came from Leon, who was grinning and clapping like and idiot. Meg watched as Mari went shyly over to Leon, giving him a small kiss on the lips, before both disappeared. Leaving her alone. Damn Mari for leaving, Meg thought.
“Meg!” Lynx called, pushing his way through the people to come up beside her. “You look beautiful!” he said, peeling back the furs.
“Thanks,” Meg replied, huddling deeper into the warmth.
“Come on, I have something to show you,” Lynx said, gripping her hands and pulling Meg into the snow, towards the glaciers. She laughed, following.
From a distance, cloaked in shadow, Hawk watched with an ugly expression on his face as the two slipped away.

***

“Oh Lynx, it’s beautiful,” Meg breathed, huddled in Lynx’s arms. She shivered as the cold bit through the cloak, and her breathe came in iced clouds.
Looking down at the clear glacier, everything was silent.
Lynx smiled. “I thought you’d like to see it. Every time we come here, I always slip away before the Naming starts, and I sit here for hours, just watching the ice. Sometimes, if the moon is late to rise, I can catch it behind the largest piece, like now.”
Luminous light shone through the clear chunk of ice, bathing them in eerie light.
Bending over, Lynx pressed his lips to Meg’s neck, and the kiss lingered there as he moved to her cheek, and then to her eyelids, and then to her lips. Turning Meg around, he held her tight, lips pressed against hers.
“I leave tomorrow,” Meg whispered, laying her head on his chest, feeling his warm breathe on her neck.
“And that is why I am coming with you,” he whispered back, holding her close again.

***

“Where is she?” Hawk asked pacing around and around the bonfire. The moon was almost centre in the sky, and still Meg had not come. And now Lynx was missing, and only Hawk knew where he had gone. With Meg.
The murmuring of apologies drew Hawk’s attention as Meg hurried up to the fire, depositing her cloak next to Mari, who stood shivering, trying to draw in the fire’s warmth.
“Your late,” Mari growled, and Meg replied lowly, glancing at Hawk.
Hawk kept his face impassive, and concentrated on Hasim, who had come silently towards to the two girls.
“It is time,” Hasim said gravely, beckoning Mari forward.
Hawk watched as his sister walk into the snow-covered forest, followed by Hasim, and was hardly aware of Lynx coming to stand beside him, until he spoke.
“Our little sisters growing up,” Lynx sighed.
“Where were you?” Hawk asked coldly, watching the place where the two had entered.
“I was with Meg, down by the glaciers, showing her the sights,” Lynx replied, equally as cold, though the edges of his mouth lifted into a smile.
Hawk was conscious of Meg’s eyes on him, but he kept his face still, resisting the urge to turn and face her. “You seem to have taken quite an interest in her,” he mused.
Lynx laughed softly. “And why shouldn’t I? She’s a beautiful young girl, soon to be woman. What is it to you?”
The silence that followed seemed to last for an eternity. The Gypsies stood still, the only movement that of the dancing flames of the bonfire.
Meg stood, shivering and waiting, dreading her turn.
Branches moved, and a sodden, quivering Mari stepped from the trees, greeted with cloaks and hot food and drink.
“What is your Name? What is your Name?” Gypsies called, clambering around her.
“My- my- my-“ Mari stuttered, shaking from cold violently. “My- my name- is- is- Heron. My name is Heron.”
Cheering erupted.
“Meg, it is time,” a voice spoke quietly in her ear, and Meg followed Hasim into the forest, unnoticed by anyone, not sparing a glance back as the forest closed around her.
Hurrying to keep up, Meg walked quickly, the snow numbing her bare feet and skin, a slight wind whipping her hair around her face.
-Stop.-
Hasim stood at the edge of a pool, its waters eerily black and still. The full moon was reflected on its glassy surface, a luminous globe of silver.
-We must not speak like mortals in such a place. Speak as you would to Stealth/MoonRider,- Hasim sent.
Meg, startled, almost cried out, but caught herself in time. -I shall remember WiseHeart,- she replied, and was surprised at Hasim’s Mind-Name.
-Step into the water Meg/FlameSoul,- Hasim commanded, and Meg could do nothing but obey, lowering herself into the pool.
She was unaware of Hasim’s low chanting, as the coldness struck her full on, knocking the breathe from her, numbing her and making her sink into the water.
Full of fear, Meg tried to swim up, but found she was unable to move. She was trapped in a water prison.
The world around her was silent and black, and it seemed an age that she had been falling. Would she never hit the bottom?
A vision flashed past her closed eyes; a vision of a fireball, and the fireball shaping itself into something with wings...
She concentrated harder, and found that she could make the shape out. The creature spread its crimson wings, flying towards her, green eyes flashing-
The vision ended, and Meg found herself able to move, lungs aching for air.
Fumbling with numbness, she slowly kicked her way towards what she hoped was the surface - she had lost all sense of direction in that endless blackness.
Braking the surface, Meg drew in a shuddering breathe, and one look at Hasim told her that he had seen her vision.
-You may go now,- he said calmly.
Shaking with cold and dripping with water, Meg dragged herself from the pool, and stumbled blindly through the forest, almost falling head-first into the snow as she burst through the trees into the open.
She was greeted like Mari, given warmth and food, but nothing could warm her, and she refused to eat anything. How could she after what she had seen?
Lynx hurried over, bundling Meg into his warm arms. Looking over his shoulder, Meg could see Mari leaning against a grinning Leon, half asleep.
The familiar question rang once more from the Gypsies.
“What is you Name? What is your Name?”
Meg took a gulp of air, whispering into Lynx’s ear.
Lynx blanched. “Her name is Dragon.”
Murmuring took over the Caravan, and Leon called out from his place, “Hasim is it true? Is Meg’s Soul Name Dragon?”
A weary Hasim brushed the snow from his white hair as he came through the forest towards the bonfire. He nodded.
“Meg,” Hasim said, turning to her. “You are now not only a sorceress. You are Meg the Sorceress and Gypsy. Now, sleep. Your journey begins tomorrow.”
“Not before the gifts are presented!” Davyd said jokingly, making Meg smile.
“Lynx, in Stealth’s saddlebags, there is a scarf. Can you get it?”
Lynx nodded, sitting her down next to Maria and Leon before pushing his way towards Stealth, who still wore his saddlebags. Rummaging in them, he pulled out the waist-scarf she had made, presenting it to Mari.
“Oh Meg, it’s beautiful,” Mari sighed, running her hands softly over the stitching. “Your present is out in the open.”
After being gathered into Lynx’s arms, and Mari into Leon’s, they made their way towards where the horses were.
“Oh Mari, she’s beautiful!” Meg gasped, holding back tears. Tethered to Stealth was a white-grey mare.
-Hello/Greetings mistress,- the horse sent. -I am Pilgrim/LoneMoon.-
-Hello/Greetings Pilgrim/LoneMoon. I am Meg/FlameSoul.-
“Thankyou Mari, thank you thank you,” she breathed, and a tear slid down her cheek.
“I knew you couldn’t ride Stealth all the time, what with such a journey planned by fate. The mare will carry you when Stealth is tired-”
-When have I ever been tired/weary/exhausted?- Stealth sent indignantly.
“-and she looked so lonely with no owner, being a spare for the other Gypsies. I hope you like her.” Mari began stroking Sunny, who had trotted up for attention.
“I adore her,” Meg declared. “Now, take me back. I feel like I could fall asleep at any moment,” and she did, still in Lynx’s arms.

***

You are not authorized to comment here. Your must be registered and logged in to comment