Christine Feehan - Dark Curse 19

Francesca stood up slowly, her eyes meeting Shea's over the tops of both Raven's and Savannah's heads.

«We checked for foreign microbes. We scan the bodies of the women all the time,» Shea said. «Gregori would never miss something like that.»

«Maybe,» Lara said, «but Xavier is a master at working with microscopic amoebas. And when you're dancing to heal the earth, you're looking for modern-day toxins.»

Shea frowned. «Do you have any idea how many toxins are found in a newborn's umbilical cord or in breast milk? The soil is what we live in, what rejuvenates us, yet our children can't go to ground with us or use the most perfect nutritious milk nature can provide. I could name every chemical we've found in the soil, most of which cause cancer and…»

Raven laid a restraining hand on her sister-kin's arm. «Lara, our water supply and our soil are fed from the purest of sources, the glacier. Even with that, Syndil has to heal the earth.»

«I'm just saying maybe your glacier isn't the purest of sources. Xavier owns the ice caves. The caves run for miles beneath the mountains, an entire city really. His mountain is above your homes and his glacier feeds your water supply and seeps into your soil. You've discounted him because you think he's dead. Well, he's not. No one is going to kill him. And he hates the Carpathian people. If he could have, he would have found a way to introduce something into your systems to make your bodies reject a pregnancy.»

Lara ran a hand through her hair. «I'm not saying it isn't modern toxins, I'm only saying you might want to look to your past for answers as well.»

She couldn't believe she was voicing her opinion to the circle of women. Growing up outside the ice caves, she had stayed under the radar by remaining as quiet and meek as possible. She had learned that if she wanted to remain with a family or in a camp, she had to keep from being noticed-not too easy when her hair banded with color and her eyes changed as well. The gypsies she had been with had been kind to her, but they were superstitious and her strange appearance along with her psychic abilities often made her unwelcome.

«Don't be uncomfortable,» Francesca encouraged. «We need as many new ideas as possible.»

«Well, Xavier isn't just a possibility as far as I'm concerned, he's done something to cause this. He might be spreading toxins to the land, and the water, but I would bet my life that he introduced something to Carpathian women that cause them to reject their children.»

«We checked the women thoroughly,» Francesca said. «And not everyone has the problem.»

«Let's get this started again,» Syndil said. «Raven and Savannah need rich soil to aid them in strengthening their bodies.»

«Oh, my God!» Shea spun around, wide-eyed, her gaze meeting Francesca's. «We've checked the women, but men determine the sex of the child, both in human and in Carpathian. We didn't check the men. Our problems started with a disproportionate number of male children.»

Francesca obviously tried to suppress her own excitement, opting for caution after so many disappointments. «Maybe. It's logical, but we have to continue to explore every avenue open to us.»

Shea nodded her head several times, but squeezed Raven's hand. «We're going to help Syndil and the others make this the best soil possible for you and Savannah,» she said. «And then I'm going to my laboratory and figure this out. All you have to do is hold on a little longer.»

Raven nodded, but there were white lines around her mouth and desperation in her eyes. Lara had to look away from the open grief on her face.

Some of the other women must have seen Raven's face. They once again formed their loose semi circle. A fire in the corner held a large pot and Francesca put several large stones of various composition into the water along with bunches of the small blue flowers and the bitterroot mandragora. While she added other herbs and ingredients, several other women lit aromatic candles. At once the scents of lavender and jasmine filled the air. The women began to sing the Carpathian lullaby.

Lara found herself joining them, lifting her voice, feeling the overwhelming sense of love for the unborn children, calling to them to stay in the womb, safe and protected, waiting until the moment they were born and could be held in loving arms.

Power surged in the room and it held a subtle difference. Feminine energy was every bit as potent as male, but it held roots of nurturing and compassion. Part mage as she was, Lara was very sensitive to the differences, sorting through individual threads and finding that the layers being woven around Raven and Savannah held genuine love and absolute harmony. The women had come together with one purpose-to save the babies-and no matter how each was different, from different backgrounds, their minds and hearts held the exact same objective and intent.

The strength of the combined women was amazing. She felt bolstered by it and encouraged not just to be part of the amazing sisterhood, but to feel balanced and confident in herself and the others as a whole.

Lara looked around the cavern at all the women, drinking in the sight, soaking in the feeling of unity. Power lived in each of them, as it did in all living things and they gathered that positive energy and used it for the best of all purposes-saving lives.

She added her voice, a soft melodious plea, a soothing comfort to the unborn children. The women connected, so that they could feel each other, close in their minds, and they also felt Raven and Savannah, and through them, the children.

Savannah's two daughters were nestled close, listening intently and trying to ignore the spasms that occasionally clamped down on them. Raven's child was a boy. Her body was desperately trying to abort, laboring hard to rid itself of the intruder. The boy was in great distress, torn between fighting to stay with his mother, and gaining peace by leaving. Raven crooned softly to him, rocking gently, her empty arms folded over him as if she was cradling him.

Syndil signaled to Skyler to take her position at the corner of the immense bed of soil prepared for the two pregnant women. Natalya and Lara took the lower corners. A hush fell over the cave until the only

sound heard was Raven's labored breathing.

Syndil's arms rose into the air and the other three women followed suit. Her feet began a pattern of dancing, her body swaying gracefully as her hands flowed in elegant lines. Skyler waited several heartbeats, humming the melody in perfect tune with Syndil until her feet took up the rhythm and she started the first line of the chant two lines behind Syndil. Lara took her cue from Skyler, waiting instinctively until her feet and hands, of their own volition, began to move. She felt the song of healing rising from inside to burst out. The air shimmered with power. And then Natalya joined them.

Their voices rose in song and they danced an intricate pattern to the sound of their bare feet patting the dirt as if drawing music from the very center of the earth. Lara felt the song, felt the dance, through the soles of her feet. She knew each step before she took it, each graceful movement of her hand and sway of her body before she made it. The song was loud in her mind, in perfect harmony with the other three dancers, perfectly tuned to the notes of the earth itself.

Oh, Mother Nature, we are your beloved daughters. We dance to heal the earth. We sing to heal the earth. We join with you now. Our hearts and minds and spirits become one.

As she sang the song, this time it was right, the women merging into one unit with the earth, in accord with the sky above them and the hot core beneath them.

Oh, Mother Nature, we are your beloved daughters. We pay homage to our mother and call upon the North… Syndil bowed low and swept into a circle.South , Skyler repeated the move in perfect synchronization with Syndil.East . Lara dipped low, a sign of respect, spinning with the other two women as Natalya went next.West . All four women completed the fourth bow and turned at the exact same moment.Above and below and within as well .