Children of the Lake

Chapter Fifteen

Nimue held her head high, resolved to stay strong, no matter what Myrddin showed her. He knelt by the bowls of water, and she followed. All emotion wiped from his face as he picked up a bowl and held it close to the flames. Nimue leaned closer as an image blossomed on the water's surface. Another woman, almost blazing with hellfire as shadows lurked behind her.

"This was my other aunt," Myrddin said.

Even in that glimpse of the past, Nimue could feel the power burning from her. It was like looking into Myrddin's eyes when he was lost in the grip of magic. The woman lifted her angular chin and almost seemed to look right at Nimue.

A shiver ran through her as she shifted and the woman's eyes followed her movement. "I didn't know you had another..."

Myrddin frowned at the image and shook it until she had disappeared. "I don't like to speak of her. I'm afraid I'll follow her path..."

Despite her proximity to the fire, all warmth had fled Nimue. "Buried alive?"

"Oh, no." A chilling smile crossed Myrddin's face, an almost inhuman expression. "She saw what happened to her sister and decided that wouldn't be her fate. I never met her, but my mother told me what happened. According to her, the demons wanted her father's daughters because they were virgins. So her sister took matters into her own hands and made sure her virtue wouldn't be the death of her. She embraced the life of a common woman."

"A prostitute?" Nimue asked, too much of a soldier's daughter to mince words. "That protected her from demons?"

Myrddin let out a short laugh. "I think that was a kinder story for my mother to tell me than the truth. Sometimes she would forget that I could always see through lies." He closed his eyes. "My aunt embraced the darkness. She gave herself to the demons. She thought eternal damnation was preferable to the justice of man. In truth, she might have been right."

"That's terrible," Nimue said.

"Not enough for the demons, of course." He flinched when the wind rattled the walls, as if demons were trying to force their way inside. "They still wanted my mother. Her sister did everything she could to force her to join them."

His face grew blank, and he gazed into the distance. He seemed unaware of another image growing in the water, but Nimue watched in horror. Shadowy beasts stalked a beautiful maiden who she recognized from the lake. Led by another young woman, they chased after the maiden.

"My mother wanted help, but everyone refused her. At this point, people believed evil was in my family's blood." Myrddin's eyes remained closed as the watery depiction of his mother knocked on doors with frantic determination before running up a path to a church. "She sought the help of a priest. He told her to never use her magic and never relinquish her virtue."

Nimue chewed her lip. "That... does not sound helpful."

He barked out a harsh laugh, and his body swayed, shaking the water. "The priest might as well have handed her to the demons."

When the water settled, another image formed on it. This time of his mother locking a door and praying. Myrddin finally looked at the water and shook it violently, splashing drops on Nimue. It sloshed out as he shook it until she grabbed his hands and struggled to steady.

"You don't have to show me the rest," she said.

"I see it all the time." He sucked in a breath. "Every day... I have to live with the guilt about why I exist."

Darkness seeped into the little pool at the very bottom of the bowl. Nimue snatched it from him, just as a demonic shadow crept into his mother's room. Once his connection was broken, the water ceased reflecting painful memories that weren't even his. Only firelight glimmered on the water's surface now.