Tamlyn by James Moloney Page B

bring a message from Vonne, from your mother, Ezeldi,’ he said finally.
    â€˜You’ve spoken to her?’ Tamlyn was eager to hear more. ‘I sent her news, but we’ve heard nothing from her.’
    Miston nodded as though this news did not surprise him. ‘I think you know, Tamlyn, that Lady Ezeldi has spoken to me many times over the years. She first sought me out to learn more about the Wyrdborn: where they came from, and why they are the way they are. She came to rely on my word, even to trust me, which is unusual among the Wyrdborn.’
    â€˜Unheard of,’ said Tamlyn.
    â€˜Yes, that’s the truth of it, I suppose. Your mother seemed different from the others of her kind.’
    â€˜She is different,’ said Tamlyn, ‘and she wants me to be the same as her.’
    â€˜So she told me, and that was why I helped all I could. In recent weeks, though, after you disappeared from Vonne, she seemed deeply concerned about matters she would not explain. Those worries led her to give me this.’
    He took a small pouch from his pocket, loosened the drawstring and tipped something out onto Tamlyn’spalm. It was a ring, made of silver and heavy in design; a man’s ring, not a woman’s. I was surprised because I’d expected it to be something of Ezeldi’s.
    â€˜Along with the ring came instructions,’ Miston said. ‘If she were to die, no matter what the reason given for her death, I was to find you and deliver this ring. She said you would know what to do with it. That was all. I can tell you no more.’
    â€˜If she were to die?’ Tamlyn repeated.
    â€˜I’m sorry. I would not have come searching for you, otherwise. She told me where you were, on the morning before …’
    â€˜When did it happen?’
    â€˜Five days ago. No cause was announced, but rumours were quickly rife on the streets, coming from the household servants, most likely. Murder. How else would a Wyrdborn woman of her age meet her end?’
    Tamlyn’s features contorted in grief. ‘Who would dare murder a Wyrdborn?’
    â€˜Another Wyrdborn, it seems. Suspicion has fallen on her husband.’
    â€˜Coyle! You mean my father has returned to Vonne?’
    â€˜Yes, and barely two days before the crime took place. The news must be a double blow for you, Tamlyn, for it seems your father has murdered your mother.’
    I had been right to dread Miston’s news, but not even my wild imagination had prepared me for this. I had never met Lady Ezeldi, never so much as heard of her until Nerigold had told me of her unexpected kindness only weeks before. I couldn’t help wondering whether I would have liked her and whether she would have warmed to me. After all, commonfolk often grow close to one another when they share the love of the same young man, one as mother and the other as … Well, that was getting ahead of myself by a long way. Right now, my concern was for poor Tamlyn, not only for the grief and pain he must feel at the death of his mother, but because of how it had happened.
    I didn’t care if a handful of my neighbours were watching from only twenty paces away. I stepped forward and put my arms around him, resting my head upon his chest. He put his arms around me in turn, but his entire body had stiffened and there was no exchange of feeling in our embrace. He didn’t seem able to accept the sympathy I offered, and I couldn’t feel him sharing his grief with me so that it might lessen within himself. Wasn’t that why human beings hugged one another at times of tragedy?
    I broke away to look at his face. What a shock that was. It was filled with a darkness and hatred I had seen in the faces of other Wyrdborn, but never Tamlyn’s.
    Did he see his own grim visage in my eyes, or simply guess what was happening to him from my worried expression? Whatever the reason, he turned away from me and began to walk briskly towards the