Maggie of the Mist by Madeleine M. (best ebook reader for ubuntu txt) 📕

“Shall I play?” Maggie asked in a quiet voice. Keith wasn’t sure if she was asking him, but he nodded anyway.

“Do you honestly think that we’re here staring at you for the fun of it?” Redd joked, lifting the mood. “For the love of the Maiden, girl, play!”

Maggie laughed softly and leaned against a large rock. She closed her eyes for a moment in thought, and then pulled the horses’ hair across the strings.

The song was calming and yet very sad. As Keith watched, he saw Maggie’s feelings come through the melody. He smiled to himself. This girl reminded him a bit of his mother.

Maggie finished the song to go on to play a well know tavern jig at Redd’s request. The group listened and ate their soup that Vika dished out. Keith found it surprisingly delicious. When he asked what it was, Maggie told him it was farmers’ soup. He made a mental note to have Maggie write down the recipe and have a cook make it for him once he reached Koal.Then Vika gave in to both Redd and Maggie, and sang several songsaccompanied by Maggie. A few of them Keith couldn’t understand. So he inquired about them.

“They are in Tìrish.” Maggie answered him. Her mood was much lighter.

“What?” Keith wasn’t sure he had heard correctly.

“Tìrish. The native language of Tìrbogha.”  Maggie answered again. “It was derived from the ancient language of Aosda, used in the original kingdom before the divide. Curta did use Aosda long ago, but the Tine’la kings eventually pulled away and created Labaid from their version of the Aosdan dialect.”

Keith sat back and took a moment to think. Despite all the history lessons he had taken, he never once realized that his language was completely different from what it had been originally.

Then Maggie got up and played a fast song.

Before Keith knew what was happening, Redd and Angus were bothup dancing in time to Maggie’s quick tempo, dragging him along. He had never danced like this before. It had always been minuets and waltzes with girls who annoyed the living daylights out of him. This was very different, but a nice sort of different. His blood pumped through his body rapidly, giving him a warm sensation. A smile came to his face as the three of them paraded around the fire, while Vika laughed and clapped, and Maggie’s fingers flew across the strings. The stars shone brightly above their heads as their laughter and shouts echoed among the large trees of the forest that had surrounded them for the past three days.

The beauty of the Maiden’s moon soon rose and pierced through the dense foliage of the large trees above the group’s heads. It made the forest around Keith seem almost as bright as it was with the sun shining during the day. He was leaning back against a large stone half cover with green moss, watching the fire glow.

The music had been packed up, ready for the next cheering-up session – except for Maggie’s quiet singing. She moved around their little camp, washing dishes, spreading bedding, and checking packs. Vika was on the branch the horses were tethered to, half asleep. Angus and Redd were playing a children’s game with cards near the fire for light.

“That was fun.” Keith commented to the bright flames.

“Don’t you ever do things like that where you’re from?” Vika asked through a yawn. She slide off the branch and pulled off her over shirt. Keith kept his eyes glued to the coals for fear of being smacked if he were caught looking. He took the sound of the fabric of her bedding rustling as an indicator of her lying down.

“Nothing quite like that,” Keith replied thoughtfully. “Usually dancing is a way of formally getting to know someone. The songs are slow and boring with precise steps. Once you memorize the steps, you can focus on the conversation. Be it with the wife of a businessman, or a potential candidate for courtship.” He shivered at the thought of the stiff outfits and the even stiffer people.

“Sounds boring,” Redd said without looking up from his hand. “Hah! Pick up five, Gus!” He slammed a card down on the pile between them.

“Gah!” Angus groaned and reached for the deck. “How do you survive parties like that?”

“I don’t think that is a fitting description of a party.” Vika mumbled from her sleeping pallet.

“I agree,” Keith nodded. He had to smile at the rare occasion of his agreement with Vika. “But honestly, I think of sword fighting to get through such events.”

“Really?” Maggie asked, interested.

“Yeah, I replay the last sword fight I have seen and pinpoint the mistakes and point scoring moves the fighters made.”

“Alright,” Vika waved a sleepy hand in the air from where she lay on one side of the fire. “Hearing about Keith’s interesting life is all well and good, but unless you have all forgotten, we are still being followed. So shut it and sleep!” The girl made a big show of flopping over onto her side.

“Vika’s right,” Maggie said. She was over getting a small brown bottle out of one of the packs. “Put it away, boys. You can play again tomorrow.”

Angus and Redd both whined like children told to eat their vegetables but pack up the cards like they were told. Angus took off his outer shirt and made himself comfortable on his pallet between Keith and Redd’s.

Keith looked questioningly at the trainer as he came and sat next to Keith.

Redd smiled and said, “I’m on first watch.” Keith nodded in understanding.

Maggie walked over to the fire with her little brown bottle. She whispered a few strange words while swirling her finger along the edge of the stopper. Then she opened the bottle and let three drops of a clear liquid fall onto the tongues that licked the wood and put the stopper back on. No sooner had the drops landed than the fire was dimed and then extinguished. There wasn’t even a smoke trail left.

“What was that?” Keith asked her as she put the bottle back.

“Well water with a minor magic enchantment. It douses the fire and prevents it from smoldering afterwards. But I let the heat of the fire stay for a few hours.”

“Did you speak to it in Tìrish?”

“You’re a good guesser.” Maggie smiled sleepily at him. He found his heart race slightly and his face warm. He averted his eyes as she removed her jacket and crawled under her bedding. “Don’t stay up too late. We have to leave early if we want to stay ahead of them.” The she too rolled over and was soon breathing a slow steady rhythm that matched the others.

Creatures of the night called to one another as the Maiden’s light climbed higher in the night sky.  Redd and Keith sat quietly listening to the night sounds. Redd was the first one to speak.

“She’s quite something, isn’t she?” He nudged Keith. The moonlight was bright enough for Keith to see his smirk.

“What do you mean?” Keith tried feigning innocence and force down the blush he knew lit up his cheeks.

Redd laughed quietly. “You’d be surprised at the number of young boys I’ve had come to me for training because of both Maggie and Vika. Two pretty girls fighting. It seems to be a hard thing to miss.” He leaned back on his hands and gazed at the stars through the tree tops. “But I bet you might not be as surprised at the amount of them that ran away with their tail between their legs once they tried to spare against them.”

Keith chuckled. “I can just imagine.” Those girls were better fighters than some of the soldiers in his uncle’s close guard.

“But there was one boy who never ran, especially from Maggie. He only left because his father had to travel for work. So the whole family packed up and left.”

“What was so special about him?” Keith found himself more attentive, but decided to think more on it later.

“He was partially deaf in both ears,” Redd glanced over at Keith and a knowing light hit his eyes. “But he heard every word Maggie uttered. No matter how soft her voice was. I guess something like that had never happened to her before. She has a soft voice, but has some pretty interesting things to say. All she needs is someone to listen.” Keith sighed. Redd chuckled. “Food for thought. Well, I better get to sleep as well.” And he began to stand.

“Wait, I thought you had first watch?” Keith stared at him a little confused.

“I did, but it seems that you’ve got some serious things to think about,” Redd walked over to his pallet next to his sleeping brother. “Besides, I trust that you won’t let us all be killed in our sleep. So don’t soil my trust and do something stupid. G’night.” The tall man lay down and was asleep faster than any of the others had been.

Keith sat and stared at him. Then over at the packs piled up next to a tree. Then he glanced at the sleeping forms of Angus, Vika and Maggie.Should I risk it? With a quick glance up at the clear sky, then back at the sleeping cousins, Keith let his curiosity get the better of him. He tiptoed over to the packs and reached for the one he thought was Maggie’s main pack.

Someone stirred behind him and he froze. He counted five antagonizing long heartbeats and went back to snooping. He opened the top of it and found his guess to be correct. There was a sewing kit, a hair brush and hair ties scattered on the top. He took each out one at a time and set them next to him on the ground.

As he went to continue digging through the top of her bag, a cloud drifted over the moon. Keith felt an uncomfortable chill spread throughout his body like a warning. He looked up at the spot where the moon was supposed to be, but he could no longer see it. He could have sworn there had been no clouds mere moments before. In the dark he heard what he hoped was a stick snapping under the hoof of a sleeping horse. He didn’t dare move, afraid he’d wake someone up.

Then came a gap in the clouds, and his sight was restored. The next thing in the bag was a white paper folded up. It reminded Keith of the letterhe had received from his uncle Camshron not five days before. Tentatively, he reached for the paper and opened it hoping the moon would stay out long enough for him to read something.

“‘If you are reading this, it means that your time has come’?” Keith read the first line of the letter in a whisper. He skimmed the rest of the letter written in blue ink. The fact that it was blue ink gave him a nagging feeling at the back of his mind, like he should know something about it. But it just wouldn’t come. He stared at Maggie’s sleeping form. She was a McGregor? Other things were possible, why not that? But his mind wasn’t accepting it as a true fact.

The moon was slowly being hidden by clouds again, but Keith managed to read the last three lines before his light disappeared again. “‘Let the First Family protect you. The path set before you will have many challenges. Be brave, be strong, and do not let fear control you.’” He stared at the wrinkled paper in the darkness. He had heard that saying before. His mother had used it, many times. He knew that it was an old saying, but hardly anyone could recite it. It was an ancient parting one would say to a warrior.

Suddenly, in the blackness surrounding him, Keith heard a muffled scream. He reached for his sword, drew it and stood at the ready. The discarded items and paper were forgotten. The