Page 37 of Song of the Dark Wood

“I am. I cannot save you. We all must save ourselves. Now finish your tea.”

The Crone stood and beckoned Sarai back inside as Rowan drank her tea down to the dregs.

“Sarai, check the leaves,” the Crone instructed.

Rowan grinned as she flipped her cup onto the saucer, spun it in a circle, and pulled it away so that Sarai could read the leaves. It was a recently emerged talent of Sarai’s that the Crone did not possess.

Sarai stared at the pattern on the saucer, and her eyes unfocused. Her voice took on a strange, singsong tone. “There’s life in the darkness. Violence and blood. A song that’s haunting, lovely, and full of longing. A bright light and a life-saving bargain. Take it.”

Sarai blinked rapidly, and her eyes refocused on the leaves before she looked up at Rowan.

“What was that?” Rowan asked. Panic crept into her voice. “What does it mean?”

Sarai stared at her. “What did I say?”

“Calm down, girl. Sarai doesn’t always remember, nor does she know the exact meaning of prophecies. Some things aren’t understood until they are set in motion,” the Crone admonished her.

Rowan crossed her arms over her chest and sat back in her chair. She studied the tea leaves—the answers to all her questions were written among them in a language she didn’t speak. Every answer and every new bit of information only led to new questions. There seemed to be no bottom to the well of knowledge she lacked.

Rowan stood and stormed out of the cottage. She walked down the wood bridge to land, listening to the hollow echo of her footsteps on the old wood.

“Rowan, wait!” Sarai’s voice and hurried footsteps trailed along behind her.

Rowan stopped where the dock met the land and waited for her friend.

Sarai linked arms with her. “Let’s walk. Tell me about the Wolf.”

Rowan walked through the Borderwood with her friend and told her about everything that had happened. When she was finished, Sarai stopped walking and turned to face her. Sarai didn’t judge her for falling asleep, and she seemed just as surprised that the Wolf and his reaper were so accommodating.

“So what are you going to do?” Sarai asked.

Rowan shrugged. “I don’t know what choice I have. I have to entice him. As worried as I am about what will happen with him, I’m more worried about the elders. Elder Garrett has had it out for me since?—”

“I know,” Sarai interrupted. “Finn told me. He was distraught. He came to my mother hoping she would do something.”

Rowan stared at her, jaw slack. “He did?”

It was so unlike Finn to ruffle feathers like that.

“She told him what you did,” Sarai sighed. “That no one would believe you, and unless he witnessed it himself, the only one whose character it would hurt would be yours.”

Sarai reached out and took her hand. “Rowan, I told Mama I don’t remember my prophecies, but that’s not always true. I do remember a part of that last one, but it’s just a message for you alone.”

Rowan stared at her friend.

“Love is the thing that holds back the dark,” Sarai whispered.

“What does it mean?”

“I don’t know, but it’s important. Maybe it’s about Finn,” Sarai teased.

Rowan cocked her head to the side. “Sarai, do you think that Finn really loves me?”

“I think hethinkshe does, and in this world, that’s all you can really hope for,” Sarai replied. “Maybe that is the root of love that the big bloom grows from.”

Sarai could be both eloquent and pragmatic, and the simplicity with which she viewed the world left Rowan feeling like a silly romantic. They walked in silence for a while, leaves crunching under their boots.

“I don’t know what is happening, but something in our world is shifting, and it’s not just the new religion in the north,” Sarai said. “My mother has been poring over Grandma’s prophecies and she won’t tell me why. Regardless, I think your path will become clear the more you walk it. For now, you only need to see the next few steps ahead of you, like walking with a lantern. The path will reveal itself as you go.”

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