The Moonshawl: A Wraeththu Mythos Novel Read Free Page A

laughed. ‘You could say
that! There are some very colourful stories.’
    ‘I’ll show you over to the tower
shortly,’ said Rinawne. ‘We’ll need to take supplies. I thought everything
should be fresh for you.’
    ‘That’s wonderful, thank you.’
    ‘Yes, settle in,’ said Wyva,
‘then please join us here for dinner later. We can discuss how you wish to
proceed. If you need volunteers, we can supply them.’
    ‘Volunteers?’ I was puzzled.
    ‘Well, for the majhahns you’ll
write,’ Wyva said. ‘Get hara to perform them, get feedback.’
    ‘Oh, yes... I see.’ I paused,
wondering if now was the right moment to broach what had sprung back to mind,
then pressed on. ‘The keephar at The Boar seemed to think I was being appointed
as your new hienama. Is that in fact what you’re looking for, ultimately?’
    Wyva laughed. ‘I think perhaps
that is what hara hope for, not necessarily what I had in mind, at least
not with you.’
    ‘I agree a community benefits
from a spiritual leader,’ I said, ‘and perhaps I can help train one up for you,
but I’m not really in the position to commit myself to staying here in that
role.’
    ‘I understand,’ Wyva said
amiably. ‘It wasn’t what I asked for. The hara in the town jump to
conclusions.’
    Rinawne snorted. ‘Is that what
it is?’
    Wyva gave him a sharp glance,
said nothing.
    ‘I take it you had one before...
a hienama that is?’
    I could see Wyva attempted
swiftly to cover a silence. ‘We did, yes – Rey – but he left the post. Hara are
simply feeling the loss of that, mainly because they enjoy the seasonal
celebrations. As you said, I’m sure it wouldn’t be difficult to train somehar
else to take charge of that.’
    I realised then that something
had happened here. A shiver went through me, for I was no stranger to
communities being affected by “happenings” concerning hienamas.
     
    We could see Dŵr Alarch long before we reached
it, so the trees didn’t do that good a job at hiding it. The tower was
hexagonal, a dark column atop its hill, surrounded by soaring beeches where
crows roosted. There were many long, arched windows and it was crowned by a
crenellated battlement, over which was a high, domed glass roof. ‘The top floor
is a nayati of sorts,’ Rinawne told me. ‘Wyva had that roof put in around
fifteen years ago, so that whoever lived here could see the stars.’
    ‘Without going outside,’ I
added. I was leading Hercules, who kept bumping his nose into my back.
    Rinawne chuckled. ‘Indeed. It’s
a good room, however.’ Before we entered the tower, Rinawne indicated a stable
where Hercules could be housed. ‘There is a field below you may use if you want
him to roam free.’
    Rinawne now led me to the foot
of the tower and removed an enormous black iron key from his coat pocket. Before
applying it to the lock, he held it out for me to see. ‘Isn’t this marvellous?
It should open a door to secrets.’
    ‘Perhaps it does,’ I said
lightly.
    Again, Rinawne laughed and
opened the door. ‘As long as the secrets aren’t mice and damp, I’ll be happy.’
He led the way inside.
    The entrance hall, if it could
be called that, was tiny. A door led off to a hidden series of rooms, which
Rinawne told me comprised a laundry, a second toilet, a generator and the
heating arrangements. ‘Most ghosts can be traced to the wheezing of the
boiler,’ he said. ‘Any trouble with it, and we’ll send somehar from the house.
We have a har who is a boiler whisperer; he gets it to obey.’ Rinawne indicated
the stone stairway that curled around the inner wall. ‘First floor is the
kitchen. Shall we inspect?’
    We’d brought with us panniers of
supplies and together hauled them upstairs. The steps were steep. There was a
rope affixed to the wall to aid the climb and the air was chill, even though
the day outside was not. The cold seeped from the very walls. Yet the long
windows around every corner dispelled any tendency to gloom