Dee pulled her chemise down as she rolled off her husband, grinning, and staired at the ceiling of her mentor’s home, “Theus damn, I’ve missed you!”
Julia Fealey, the local midwife, was helping with Grace Henshawe’s first birth while her husband Paul, the local physician, had decided to go to the pub to let the couple become reacquainted after their two year separation. Silence and Dee had spent less than six months together in the six years they had been married, having gone to separate schools.
Silence kissed his beautiful wife and smirked, “But I sent ye so many ‘diagrams’.”
Dee poked him playfully in the ribs and made a face, “It’s not the same and you know it. I want to see the ones you drew for yourself.”
“Ye’re going to be disappointed. They’re all drafts of the drawings ye asked for,” he laughed.
“Well then, I guess I’ll have to think of something, myself.” She rolled over, draped herself over his body and kissed him.
They kissed passionately for a few minutes before Silence sighed, “Wa’re going to have to hold off a bit on that. Unless Julia or Paul ‘ave some powdered crocodile eyes.”
Dee’s pout turned into a teasing smirk, “It’s alright, it happens to every man at some point.”
It was Silence’s turn to make a face and poke. The couple had just turned 21 less than three weeks ago and Dee knew perfectly well why he was unable to continue. After all, she had been an enthusiastic participant.
Dee giggled and jumped off the bed “You know that crocodile eyes don’t work, right?” she called over her shoulder as she wandered toward the main bedroom.
Silence furrowed his brow, “Really, Dr Bernardo said adding powdered crocodile eyeballs to wine rebalances the humors and moves the black bile out of the way of the blood and yellow bile.”
“Trust me, it’s the primary male problem we midwives have to deal with,” Dee replied as she stoked the fire in the upstairs fireplace.
Silence got out of bed and gritted his teeth in pain as he limped into the main bedroom. He saw Dee watching him with concern out of the corner of her eye as he moved to where his staff and coat had been dropped. He knelt down and pulled a small bag out of his coat pocket then used his staff to stand. He pulled a white speckled black candy from the bag, “Would you like some licorice, dear?”
She shook her head and wrinkled her nose in disgust, “You picked up some nasty habits from the Vendel. I don’t know how you can eat that stuff.”
Silence smiled, shrugged his shoulders, and popped the salted candy into his mouth, “I saw the Wind Saint at the docks. I’m surprised Sorry Norden doesn’t have our fathers out chasing flounder. She’s usually out to sea by now.”
Dee’s shoulders slumped and she closed her eyes, “Zeal is missing.”
“What do ye mean yer brother is missing? What happened?” Silence asked in shock.
“He went to the loo during the overnight service on the third of Prophets Mass and never came back.”
Silence looked confused and slumped down in a chair. “Zeal just up and left? That’s unlike ‘im.”
Dee grimaced, “He’s not the only one.”
“I’m serry, wot? Who else is gone?”
“Let me start at the beginning, do you remember me writing you about the death of Rev. Pimple’s niece in Colkirk, two years ago?” Dee, began, moving to her mentor’s bed and sitting down.
“Yeh, she was so young.” Silence replied.
“Paul went to the funeral to pay his respects and noticed that she had only been in the water for a day or two, not the 29 days she had been missing. He also heard about similar deaths in Bredwardine and Pomitain. After he told Julia about it, she contacted other Snelling alumni to see if there were other, similar cases. The alumni identified eight similar cases and the history professors at the Snelling School also noticed a similarity between the deaths and some rites, that predate the Montaigne invasion, invoking someone called the Deep Prince.
“Not every victim left a note or had a diary but the pattern that we saw was the Deep Prince would find a young woman, of pure body and heart, and seduce her into eloping with him on the Winter Solstice by telling her he was a noble from some far-off part of Avalon. He was also moving eastward down the coast and the girls of St. Cleve could be his next target.
Julia and I figured out there were only two girls who fit the description of “pure body and heart” of the appropriate age in town, Annabel Wigglesworth and Bee Doddridge. Fortunately, they were both Theites. Unfortunately, we couldn’t figure out which of them was the target so, on the third night of Prophet’s Mass, before Rev. Pimple’s overnight service, I slipped sleeping tonic into both of their mulled wines and then watched over them to make sure they stayed put. A little after midnight, I went to get some air. When I opened the door, the light from the door fell on that silver birch tree at the end of the path and I could see someone’s hands and shoulders sticking out from behind it like they were trying to hide. I called out to the person but they didn’t move so I threw a small rock at the tree. That caused him to peek out. It was a Sidhe trying to appear human...”
“Wait, how do ye know it was tryin’ to look ‘uman?” Silence interrupted.
“The best way I can describe it is that I could see both the Sidhe and the human at the same time. Like the human image was laid over Sidhe as a thin gauze or veil. He was about 6’9”, 250 pounds, with sharp features, pointy ears, and light brown hair. He looked at me and realized I could see him and ran off. We’ve been able to confirm that Bee was his intended victim. Annabel gave herself to Increased Cheeseman during the Spring so we only had to worry about Bee come Prophet’s Mass. We were hoping the Deep Prince would move on to Canguine but we think he took Zeal instead and Bee won’t talk to me because she figured out I gave her the sleep tincture. Julia is the one who’s been speaking to her.”
“Good Theus, I dunna know wot to say.” Silence stated as he moved to the bed to embrace his wife. ‘Ow are yer parents takin’ it?”
“They don’t know it was a Sidhe. Zeal left a note so they think it was some Highland grifter pretending to be a lord. We’ve been trying to keep the fact a Sidhe is involved quiet because we’re only going to have one shot at bringing the Deep Prince to justice. Paul tried to get Rev. Pimple to help us, which is why we’ve had the overnight services on the Solstice the last two years, but other than that all he did was double down on ‘obedience to one’s parents’ and condemn Queen Elaine for her association and tolerance of the Sidhe.”
“Got it. Dun tell anyone who doesn’t need to know. Wot do ye need me to do?” Silence asked.
“Wait here.” Dee got up and went downstairs. Silence could hear her rustling around in the Fealey’s office. When Dee returned, she brought two octavo sized books. One was one of the sketchbooks he had given Zeal for Yule two years ago. The other was unfamiliar and had some papers stuffed in it. “We know what the Deep Prince looks like, or at least his human appearance.” She opened the sketchbook to a bookmarked page and handed it to Silence. It showed a pencil drawing of a handsome man with long hair.
“Zeal started drawing after you gave him those sketchbooks and pencils. He wants to become an artist, someday. This picture of his is the human image of the Sidhe I saw outside the church. Bee confirmed it was the noble lord that asked her to marry him, so we’re pretty sure that’s the disguise the prince is using. Bee said he started courting her around mid-Tertius, so I’m guessing around the Spring Equinox...”
There was banging on the door downs stairs and a child’s voice yelled, “Mistress Fealey!”
“’Ell and damnation!” Dee cursed as the High Avalon accent she cultivated in school disappeared into her native Wandesboro. She threw the other book onto the bed, grabbed a dressing gown, and ran downstairs as the yelling continued.
Silence listened as Dee opened the door.
“Yer not Mistress Fealey.” The child said.
“Come in.” Dee replied, returning to her High Avalon voice. “No, I’m Mistress Johnson. I help when she’s not around. What’s your name?”
“I’m Lamentation Rutherford but everyone calls me Lament. Gran said Aunt Mattie’s twins are comin’ so she said to get Mistress Fealey. Why are ye only wear’n your unmentionables?”
There was a loud pause as Dee tried to think of a reply. “My husband just got back from overseas. Wait here.” Dee stated as she ran back up the stairs.
“Wot?” the child pleaded up the stairs.
“We’ll ask your grandmother when we get to her house!” Dee shouted back down as she stripped out of the dressing gown and started to gather her clothes. She turned to Silence and quietly said, “We don’t want the drawing damaged so we need you to copy it so we can have it turned into a wood cut for printing.”
“Roight…” Replied Silence, realizing he was going to have more recovery time than he had hoped.
Dee quickly dressed, “I’m sorry I have to go. Minerva Harder is insisting her daughter is going to have twins. I’ll answer any questions I can when I get back.” Dee kissed him in a way that had him fully recovered and hurried down the stairs and out the door.
Silence put the sketchbook down on the bed and used his staff to balance himself. He rose up and limped over to pick up the clothes that had been spread across the floor in Dee and his earlier race to get to the bedroom and began to get dressed. Silence winced in pain as he pulled up his breeches. He still didn’t know whether to curse or thank Rev. Pimple for convincing him that the pain from his poorly mended leg was penance for his sins. The Reverand’s encouragement meant that he could still walk but his first theology professor had laughed at the idea and asked him if he had been raised Vaticine. Any atonement for his sins was between him and Theus and it was hubris for a chaplain to declare his injury to be Theus’s will.
After getting dressed, he carefully banked the coals in the fireplace, gathered the books, and went downstairs.
He put the books on the table and then coaxed the downstairs fireplace back to life and added another log for good measure. He opened the unknown book and removed the papers.
The first loose paper was a list of the names of the eleven victims, the town where they had lived, their age, the date when their bodies had been found, and a noble’s name or simply the word “unknown.” The last two names had “unknown” crossed out a noble’s name written in.
Eleanor Stanwix, Culcheth, age 15, found Primus 27, 1658, unknown
Mildred Aubrey, Pomitain, age 15, found Primus 27, 1659, Lord Edric MacMar
Janet Cobbe, Haling Cove, age 15, found Primus 29, 1660, unknown
Marie Carlyll, Dumbarton, age 14, found Primus 27, 1661, Lord Ewart Murdoch
Margery Chancelor, Lanercoast, age 14, found Primus 28, 1662, Lord Eamon O'Muir
Lettice Good, Wimborne, age 13, found Primus 27, 1663, unknown
Dorcas Beel, Harnsey, age 14, found Primus 29, 1664, Lord Adair Murphy
Bethia Galey, Bredwardine, age 15, found Primus 28, 1665, Lord Edwyn Pemorgan
Praise-Theus-As-Almighty Pimple, Colkirk, age 15, found Primus 27, 1666, unknown
Beloved Doddridge, St. Cleve, age 15, saved, xxxxxxx Lord Eadbhard O’Manannan
Zeal-Of-The-Land Brickhouse, St. Cleve, age 14, missing, xxxxxxx Lord Edward MacLear
The second paper was Zeal’s letter explaining why he was leaving. He guessed it was a copy because it was written in Dee’s hand. The letter said he was going to become one of Lord Edward MacLear’s grooms and that he would be sending back part of his salary. Silence sincerely hoped Zeal had meant someone who tended to his liege’s horses or some other duties rather than bridegroom.
The other papers were a three paged letter addressed to Julia Fealey. Out of propriety, he decided not to read that and put it behind the list.
The unknown book was titled Gens, which was the Théan word for nations or people. The author was an Old Empire scholar called Tatius. Silence had read Tatius’s other books, Chronicles and Antiquities, when he was learning Théan, but he had never heard of this book. A ribbon had been enclosed in the book and when he opened it to the bookmarked page, he discovered the book was handwritten in Théan. He started reading the bookmarked passage and discovered it was describing a yearly fertility ritual of the pre-Imperial invasion Avalons. The Prince’s bride was chosen by lot at the Spring Equinox. The Prince would then court his bride until they were married on the Winter Solstice. The marriage ceremony culminated with the bride being given a sealed ceramic jar of slimy green liquid which she would hold tightly to her chest while the Deep Prince carried her into the sea. After 28 days, the bride would return alone and eight to nine months after that, she would often give birth to a child. Bride would usually become a priestess and her child would be prominent in the community.
Silence reread the passage again and a third time to make sure he was not mistranslating it. He stood up and hopped on his right leg over to his sea chest, which had been dropped by the door when he arrived. He pulled out his pencils and grabbed the first sketchbook with empty pages he could find. He remembered Dee’s admonition to keep the Deep Prince secret and dropped that one and grabbed a sketchbook that was tied shut. It was his sketchbook of the diagrams Dee had requested in her letters. He stood up, hopped back to the table, sat down, and opened the book to the first blank page. He smiled as he looked at the left-hand page, which contained a draft of Dee’s most recent request. A diagram of Silence helping her with her anatomy studies. He was startled out of his revelry by an owl hooting outside and realized it was going to get dark soon. He started at the top of the blank page and began to write questions.
“Why did the Deep Prince take Zeal?”
“Does the Deep Prince know his brides are dying?”
“Is the Dark Prince attempting to continue the old rites?”
“Are the old rites working? How did the fishing this past year compare to the last few years?”
“What was the slimy green liquid the ancient Avalons gave the Prince’s brides?”
“How are any of these questions going to help find Zeal?”
He wrote the last question with a sigh and closed the sketchbook then reached for Zeal’s sketchbook. As he flipped through the pages of the book he noted, with a tinge of jealousy, that Zeal’s drawings were much better than his. The boy had talent. He had found the portrait of the Deep Prince and opened his sketchbook to the last page when he heard a tapping at the window by the door. He looked up and thought he saw movement in the corner of the window. The tapping happened again. Silence stood up, took his staff, limped to the door, and opened it. He was startled as a small bird flew up to the corbels. He looked around and no one was there. He looked up at the bird. It was a robin. It chirped at him and flew off. He watched it fly toward a nearby tree, where he saw the outline of an owl. It was probably one of the two owls Dee had told him about that kept Julia’s garden free from rodents. He winced, as he expected to see an example of nature in all its horror. Instead, the robin landed on the branch beside the owl and chirped and the owl hooted back. Silence dropped his staff and hopped back to the table to get his notebook and pencils. He would copy Zeal’s drawing later, by lamplight. He had to draw this right now. Dee wasn’t going to believe this.
Background: Liberated (4)
