In The Beginning Gail Daley (best books to read all time TXT) 📖

trousers, Rebecca was sitting on a folding campstool, brushing her hair with the aid of a hand mirror.

A pan of sliced meat was sizzling on the fire, and Catrin, similarly dressed, with her long curly hair tied back was making sourdough wafers, her face flushed from the fire.

Owen was brushing the mud from the stranger’s unicorn. Blackfeather seemed to enjoy it, one hip cocked as he sleepily munched a bag of grain.

Lewys Mabinogion surveyed his brood proudly. They were good kids all of them. Owen was growing tall and straight as a young fire tree. He was gangly still, but his green eyes met a man head on.

His twin, Catrin, took after Lewys’ mother, being tall and buxom with thick, curly dark hair. For all she was starting to draw the men’s eyes like bees to nectar, she was still enough of a child not to notice their admiring stares.

His gaze dropped to his oldest granddaughter. With her hair drawn back, the resemblance to his dead wife was eerie. Rebecca wasn’t the looker Catrin was; her red-lipped mouth was too wide, and those gray eyes under her slanted brows gave her heart-shaped face an unearthly beauty, but he knew from his own experience many years ago just how potent a spell her exotic loveliness could cast. He had been caught in just such a web years ago when he first laid eyes on his dead wife, Anghard.

"All of you, come here," he said. "I need to tell you what I learned in the village yesterday. Catrin, leave those biscuits alone. We won’t starve in the next ten minutes.

Obediently, Catrin and Owen seated themselves on a nearby log. Rebecca turned to face him on the folding campstool, a thick black braid lying over her shoulder.

"John Thomas Lazarus has put out a reward for our arrest for unauthorized magic. I saw it posted on the wall outside the sheriff’s office."

"But we haven’t done anything!" Catrin cried, tears trembling on the ends of her lashes.

Rebecca said nothing, but she shut her eyes and clasped her hands in her lap. Magic users were regulated by the Shan. Powerful and mid range users were recruited to serve in the Shan's Magi Proctors. Less powerful magic users were required to buy a license to use magic, or if proven to be of the right bloodlines, used as breeding stock. In either case, Magi were tested and licensed and paid a fee to the King to practice their arts. At least it worked so in theory. In practice, the rule of the Proctors over Askela’s Magi gifted was absolute. Almost no licenses to practice magic were ever issued. Unauthorized users could be hung without trial if they committed crimes using magic. Their only choice to escape this fate would be to join the Wild Magi, if they could find them.

Owen started to curse, and was immediately called to order.

"Owen I’ll not have you using words like that in front of your sisters," Lewys said sternly. "Besides, saying a thing like that about a man can get you killed in a challenge."

"Even when he deserves it?" asked Catrin wryly.

"Yes," her grandfather said flatly. "Especially if he deserves it. It's about how powerful he is, not if he deserves the name."

After a short struggle with himself, Owen said, "Yes sir. Sorry, girls."

"Never mind that," Catrin said. "What are we going to do?"

Her grandfather patted her hand. "I’ll think of something," he said. In fact, he already had a plan in mind, but he wanted to talk to their guest before he came out with it.

"Now, how about breakfast? Am I to starve to death today?"

"Grandfather, what exactly does the notice say?" demanded Rebecca.

He took it out of his pocket and handed it to her. She frowned as she read it aloud. Travelers such as themselves always had a bad reputation in any new town, being automatically suspected of thievery and other less savory actions. Combined with hints of outlaw magic this spelled real trouble. Lewys and Owen were wanted for the assault and attempted murder of John Thomas Lazarus, Catrin and herself for a magical assault on Mrs. Charity Lazarus and for burning a wagon. All were hanging offenses, and the even though most of it was a tapestry of lies, it wouldn’t matter. In fact, only Rebecca had used any magic; Catrin had used a shovel, and Owen and Lewys had both arrived after the incident was over. Although defending herself hadn’t been a crime, with the memory of the day the Proctor took her mother fresh in her mind, Rebecca didn’t think being turned over to the Proctors was a better fate.

They had left Joppa quickly after the incident hoping to avoid notice by staying off the regular trade routes. They never gave their real names when plying their trade as sellers of herbs and medicines, but the descriptions of them on the flyer were good. Upon fleeing Joppa, they had turned the gaudy signs on the wagon’s side inward and whitewashed the outside so the wagons looked more like ordinary travelling wagons. Unfortunately, Lewys’ treasured herd of beautiful, golden draft unicorns were highly conspicuous. They had been forced to stop several times and reapply the dye to turn their golden coats to a muddy brown.

"Sorcery my foot!" Owen exclaimed. "That old hag probably died of spleen when she found out what her supposedly God-fearing husband was up to!"

"Look for the mote in your own eye," quoted Lewys, "before speaking of the one in your neighbors."

Owen made an angry noise. "I don’t care! And don’t quote that stuff at me! I’m sick to death of—"

"Stop it! Please!" Rebecca cried.

Everyone looked at her in astonishment. She was weeping. Rebecca never cried.

"This is all my fault," she sobbed. "I should have just done what he wanted—"

"Wash out your mouth of that filth girl!" Lewys roared. "No granddaughter of mine and Anghard's would make a whore of herself for any reason! You did just as you should have," he added