Pure

Maigred found herself staring at Finten’s retreating back, feeling helplessly furious. Again. This time, however, she didn’t have a bottle of expensive alcohol to hurl out the back door.

She grabbed Finten’s dirty dishes and scooped up the the pile of gifts that she had brought out of the kitchen. She had set the gifts on the work table that morning after getting another vision from the earth sister last night.

She was getting very irritated with the earth sister. Finten clearly didn’t want to have anything to do with helping the town fight off the wyrm, and Maigred clearly didn’t want to have anything to do with Finten, so why did she keep sending those dammed visions encouraging Maigred to propose to the lily-livered man?

Maigred put the dirty dishes on the back table to be washed, then put the set of clothes and bundle of food back in the pantry, hoping she wouldn’t be pulling them out for another dammed proposal.

After that, preparations for the dinner rush took her mind off her irritation and she didn’t think of Finten again until the end of the day when she brought dinner up to her brother. She put her hand into her pocket for the key and her fingers brushed the stone, that for some reason she was still carrying around with her.

Maigred frowned and all her anger came rushing back. She stood there, her hand in her pocket, wondering if it was even worth trying again to talk Cathal into eating, today. She certainly wasn’t in the proper frame of mind for it.

There was a light tap on Cathal’s door.

Her anger vanished. She quickly dug the key out of her pocket and unlocked the door.

“I’m coming in, Cathal,” she said quietly.

There was no reply, but she slowly pushed his door open anyway, the candle on the tray she was carrying cast its light into the tiny, dark room. Her brother was standing next to the door, with his back to her, one shoulder leaning against the wall.

“Cathal?”

“Is everything okay?” He mumbled.

“Of course everything is okay. Will you eat for me now?”

He hunched his shoulders.

“Please, Cathal?”

“Tell me why you’re angry and- and I’ll try to eat. Just…don’t look at me.” His voice was hoarse from dehydration.

“Deal.” Maigred said before she could think about what holding up her end of the bargain entailed.

He gave a nod and lowered himself to sit on the floor.

Maigred took the candle off the tray, knelt down and placed the tray on the floor, then slid it towards her brother. She sat down and leaned back against Cathal’s broad back. “Not looking.” She reassured, setting the candle down beside her.

She heard the tray scrape across the wooden floor. Then she heard her brother take a swallow of the water she had brought up for him. It was followed by another swallow and then more gulps in quicker succession. The back of his head bumped the top of hers as he finished the cup off. He poured himself another cup from the jug on the tray and drank some more before setting the cup down and picking up the bowl.

The spoon stirred through the stew, scraping along the bottom of the bowl. “Why are you angry?” Cathal asked in his quiet baritone voice.

“I’m angry at you, silly.” Maigred breathed a laughed. “Do you know how much trouble you could have gotten in?”

Cathal’s body went still and Maigred wondered if she had pushed him too far.

“Maigred, please tell me what’s wrong.”

She let out a sigh and rested her head back against him. “Don’t be angry, Cathal.”

He went stiff. “What happened?”’

“Nothing happened. Well, I had a vision.”

“A vision? Was it of Sinead sleeping again?”

“I almost always have that one when I go to the grove, so yes, but that’s not the kind of vision I’m talking about. I had a vision from the earth sister, telling me to offer the gifts of courtship to…to Finten.” She held her breath and nervously bit her lip, waiting to see what his reaction would be.

He took a sip of the stew. His body relaxed a bit against hers.

“Aren’t you even surprised?” She asked, exasperated.

“A little. Yeah.”

She stared at the bare, white wall in front of her, a frown on her face.

“What do you want me to say? Do you think he’s too old for you? He’s only what, thirty-nine? Forty?”

Maigred let out a breath. “He’s thirty-six.”

“So, only ten years older than you.” Cathal’s shoulders moved in a shrug. “That’s not so bad.”

“Don’t you care that he’s a dammed coward?”

Cathal went still again. “What do you mean?”

“Why doesn’t he fight the wyrm? Why does he just let it chew the people of this town up and spit them out?”

There was a long silence. “Why don’t you ask Finten?” Cathal finally said before taking another sip of the stew.

Maigred let out a frustrated sigh. “Well, he refused my offer of courtship. Twice.”

Cathal drank another spoonful of broth.

Maigred thumped her head back against Cathal. “Cathal!”

He was quiet for a moment. “Is that what you’re angry about? I don’t understand. If you think he’s a coward, you should be glad.”

“I…I am glad.”

“You don’t sound glad.” He ate another spoonful of stew, more than just broth this time.

Maigred let out another breath and sagged against her brother. “I’m angry, because I don’t understand. Why did the earth sister send me two visions, telling me to court Finten when all he did was refuse me? What good could it do anyway? Finten let Caevah down, he’s let the land down, he’s let everyone down. And how come you’re not angry that I asked to court him?” She almost turned her head towards Cathal, but remembered in time to keep staring at the wall in front of her.

Cathal didn’t say anything for a long time, he just kept eating the stew. Maigred didn’t interrupt, happy that he was finally eating something after two days. His spoon scraped the bottom and sides of the bowl, then he set the empty dish back on the tray.

“That was good.”

“Thank you for eating.”

“Thank you for not giving up on me.”

Maigred frowned. “I would never give up on you, Cathal. You’re my brother.”

“So is Lon,” he reminded her softly.

Maigred stiffened. “He betrayed us.”

“He wanted to save mother and father’s lives.”

Maigred let out an angry breath and moved to get up, but Cathal reached back and put his hand over hers. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have brought that up.”

Maigred clenched her jaw.

Cathal let out a resigned breath. “I’m not angry that you asked to court Finten, because I think he’s a good man. I think he refused you, because he could see you didn’t want him. I think that if the earth sister sent you a vision twice, telling you to do the same thing, it’s important. And I think the gods try to guide us, but we make our own fates.” He took his hand off hers.

“How can you believe that Finten is a good man after everything that’s happened to you?” Maigred asked in an incredulous tone.

Maigred waited, but Cathal didn’t say anything else. She pressed her lips together. “Do you want me to lock your door?”

Cathal didn’t answer.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. She picked up the candle, carefully grabbed the tray, without looking back, and got to her feet. “Thank you for eating, Cathal.”

She slid the key into the lock on the inside of the door and shut it behind her. Before she reached the end of the hall she heard the key turn in the lock and then heard the key shoot under the door sliding along the floor into the hallway.