Cate Tiernan - Origins

I dipped my hand into the opening of his shirt, pressing against his warm chest. “My friends cannot believe I have fallen into the arms of a Leapvaughn. Yet here I am, body and soul.”

“We are mùirn beatha dàns ,” he whispered.

I nodded silently. Yes. my love knew it, too.

Two days—we’d had barely time to know each other. Yet I was utterly certain that he spoke the truth. We were soul mates. “So mote it be,” I said.

“Aye, the Goddess has certainly brought us together.” His fingers stroked the hair at the tender nape of my neck. “Who could imagine that She would bring me a tiny Wodebayne girl, with hair as black as a Samhain sky?”

“ ’Tis an extraordinary match, to be sure. But the Goddess must have a purpose.” I stared at the sky, watching as two fast-moving clouds raced into each other’s path, melding into one. “Do you think we are to be the example to all clans? To prove that if the two of us, members of rival clans among many rivals, can come together in peace, so can all the clans?”

Diarmuid sat up and pulled my shoulders from the ground. “We are to be the champions of love. Our union will settle clan differences. End the age-old wars.” He smiled proudly. “Could it be that the Goddess has chosen us for this noble task?”

“We will be the example of harmony under the Goddess’s great blue sky.” I leaned forward, brushing my cheek against his. “A noble task, yet hardly a task at all.”

“Mmm...” His lips met mine for another deep kiss.

I melted against him, knowing it was true. We had been chosen. Ours would be an extraordinary love. The charm glowing at my breast was just the beginning of it all, thanks to the Goddess. I knew that we needed to pay homage to Her.

When the kiss ended, I arose and prepared a circle, sweeping it clean with my broom. Without wasting words, Diarmuid joined the cleansing ritual, working with me so naturally I felt as if we’d been raised in the same coven. He picked up two handfuls of dirt and spread them around the circle, moving so beautifully I nearly lost my way in the cleansing ritual.

Diarmuid turned to the east and stretched out his arms. “Ye Watchtowers of the East, I summon you, stir and call you, to witness this rite and watch over this circle.” He waved his hand through the air, drawing something. A star? No, a pentagram.

I watched in wonder as he moved to the south quarter of the circle and beckoned the Watchtowers there. This was a practice I had never witnessed, and I wondered at the many things I might learn from him.

When he had called to the Watchtowers of the West and North, we ended up together in the center of the circle, facing the altar.

I lifted my hands to the moon. “The circle is cast, and we are between the worlds. We are far from the bonds of time, in a place where night and day, birth and death, joy and sorrow meet as one.”

The forest seemed suddenly silent, our circle a haven of peace apart from the wars of the nearby clans and dreary villagers.

“O mighty Goddess, I have come this day to honor Your presence and to give thanksgiving for bringing Diarmuid to me. We who once were two will become one, Goddess, as we dedicate ourselves to You.” I went to the altar and removed a pouch from my pocket. It was filled with dried sage, good for protection and wisdom. I poured the sage onto the altar, crushed it fine with a smooth stone, and pushed the tiny flakes onto the palm of my hand.

“We offer sage,” I said, returning to Diarmuid’s side. “Sage for protection against those who would harm us.” I sprinkled the flaked herb over Diarmuid’s head, then over my own. “Sage for the wisdom to fulfill the Goddess’s will.” I held my hand to his face, and he tipped back his head. I sprinkled sage onto his tongue, then poured the remainder into my own mouth. “Sage for protection and wisdom,” I said, feeling a mist come over me.

“But you are wise already,” Diarmuid said, taking my hands. He began to turn us in a circle. We moved slowly, but the earth seemed to race under our feet. “We have been chosen. The Goddess looks upon us with favor. How is it that She knows you so well?”

“I, Rose, am the Goddess incarnate,” I answered. I was beyond thinking. Where had those words come from? Had I heard my mother chant them in an Esbat rite of long ago, or had the Goddess lifted my tongue like a winged bird at my back?

My whole world was spinning, my head dizzy with the whirring motion. Hands joined with Diarmuid, I lifted my face to the sky. It opened up upon me, sending a crushing blade of lightning to my chest.

The jolt lifted me off my feet. Suddenly my stomach was sour, my knees turning to mush beneath me. The ground seemed to rush up, sucking my body onto it.

The next thing I knew, my cheek was pressed to the earth, my knees curled beneath me like those of a child suckling its mother. My eyes were closed, but the whirring noise had stopped. The only sound was Diarmuid’s voice calling my name.

“Rose? Are you all right?”

His hands were upon me, rubbing my shoulders, stroking my cheek.

“Aye.” I sighed and sat up in his arms. “What happened? I’ve never been struck like that before.”

“I don’t know.” Diarmuid pulled me closer into the cradle of his chest. “Are you sure you’re not hurt?”

“Just. feeling in a haze.” I brushed a lock of dark hair out of my eyes. I was stunned at the Goddess’s sudden attack. Had I displeased Her? “I’m so confused. Why did that happen to me?”

“I’ve seen something like that, but only once. Our coven was gathered in a circle for Esbat rites, and the Goddess struck one of the witches down, very much like that. The coveners saw it as the hand of the Goddess reaching down, pointing to Her chosen one, her priestess. Soon after, the woman was anointed high priestess of our coven.”

“High priestess...” I rubbed my eyes, still queasy from a churning inside me. “But I’m not in a coven looking for a leader.”

“Ah, but the Goddess has chosen you,” Diarmuid insisted. “I know that deep down inside me, Rose. You are destined for greatness. Have you not thought of inheriting your mother’s role as high priestess?”

“Aye, but not for many years. Ma is not ready to relinquish her role, and she still sees me as a babe in the ways of the Goddess. She’s always checking my Book of Spells and trying to pry into my rituals. Truly, she has no confidence in me.”

“Well, on that she’s mistaken.” Diarmuid slid a hand around my waist, nearly knocking the air from me. “I’m sure you’re destined to lead your own coven—or something even greater. You are special, Rose. Not just in my eyes, but in the eyes of the Goddess.”

“I have to get home,” I said, trying to rise. I coughed, and Diarmuid knelt beside me, then lifted me to my feet.

“Can you walk?” he asked. “For I can readily carry you there, such a wisp of a thing.”

I tried a few steps. “I can make it. But I hate to go.”

“I’ll help you to the path,” he said, lifting me into his arms.

I held fast to his shoulders, allowing myself a few moments of rest and protection in his arms. I had asked for protection, and the Goddess had answered already.

Diarmuid. He would be my pillar.

My soul mate.

As darkness fell, the whirring pain within me began to settle, though the memory of it still frightened me. As Ma and I ate our stew thickened with the potatoes from Diarmuid, I noticed that she was still in a dour mood. I kept myself steady, not wanting to draw her ire upon me.

After I had cleaned the supper dishes, Ma brought out a clay jar to prepare for the spell of protection. “I don’t believe you’ve ever done a witch’s jar before, have you?”