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"This," Mia said as the sun broke the sky in the east with an arrow of fire, "is for us The Midsu bounty, the warmth of the air, and the full power of the sun We are the Three"
"Yeah, yeah" Ripley yawned hugely "And if we can get on with this, I et home and catch another hour&039;s sleep"
"Your reverence is, as always, inspiring"
"You&039;ll re around up here at dawn Since it&039;s Sunday, both of you can go back to bed I&039;ed to make her voicethe longest day should begin when the day begins"
"I&039;m here, aren&039;t I?" Ripley scowled at Nell "You&039;re awfully bright and chipper for a pregnant wo sickness?"
"I&039;ve never felt better in my life"
"Or looked happier," Mia said "We&039;ll celebrate fertility today The earth&039;s and yours The first balefire has burned since sunset The dawn fire is for you to light"
She lifted a circlet she&039;d woven from lavender and set it on Nell&039;s head "You&039;re the first of us to carry life, and to take e are to the next generation Blessed be, little sister"
She kissed Nell&039;s cheeks, then stepped back
"Okay, that gets me misty" Ripley moved up, kissed Nell in turn, then linked her hand with Mia&039;s Nell lifted her arms and let the power ripple into her "Froht as the sun As light grows strong across the sky, I call the flames from air to fly Burn no flesh, no feather nor tree As I will, so old
Mia lifted another circlet froround Set it on Ripley&039;s head Though she rolled her eyes for form, Ripley lifted her arms The poarrant us e need Across her breast the dawn brings light, all through this day to shortest night We celebrate her fertility As I will, sothe circle
Before Mia could reach for the third circlet, Ripley picked it up, and kissed her "Just to make it official,"
she said and settled the flowers on Mia&039;s hair
"Thanks" She, in turn, lifted her arms Poas like breath "Today the sun holds its full power Its strength and light grow hour by hour Its bright fire warms the air and earth Its cycle sustains us birth to death to birth I celebrate the fire in ertips beams shot, to the sun, and fro shimmered with the birth of the day
She lowered her arms, joined hands with Nell, with Ripley "He watches," she told the about it?" Ripley demanded "The three of us are here, and like both of you keep ha home, it&039;s the solstice That&039;s a lot of punch"
"It isn&039;t the time to - " Mia broke off when Nell squeezed her hand
"Mia A show of force, of solidarity and strength Why not ht Perhaps the unbroken circle was the point At least for the h the link, Nell&039;s determination, Ripley&039;s passion
"Well, then, let&039;s not be subtle"
She gathered herself, and the pooled strength of her sisters
"We are the Three and of the blood," Ripley began,
"Froht that strikes the waiting dark" Nell&039;s voice rose to echo on the air "An arrow of light tohat bears our mark"
"Here we stand so you can see" With hands still joined, Mia lifted her arht spewed up fro as it geysered up Like the arrow Nell had called, it shot out of the circle, out of the clearing, and into the shadows of the sule furious howl
Then there was only the quiet breeze and thefrom branches
"So he slinks away," Mia reood" Ripley rolled her shoulders
"It did It felt positive" Letting out a long breath, Nell looked around the clearing "It felt right"
"Then it was right Today, he can&039;t touch us or ours" Whatever caht, they had made a stand
They had made their point She lifted her face to the sun
"It&039;s a beautiful day"
She intended to spend it in her garden, away froe and the traffic that would streas, the tasks that gave her pleasure
A day without worry, she thought A clean and clear day with all shadows brushed away like dust with a brooathered the herbs and flowers she&039;d selected for her midsummer harvest with a bolline, the curved white-handled knife she saved for that purpose alone The scents and shapes and textures never failed to delight her, the variety of their uses never failed to satisfy
So them in her kitchen, some in her tower room She would make charms fro balms and divination aids And some would simply be sprinkled into sauces and salads for flavor, or mixed into a potpourri to scent the air
Just before twelve she stopped to light the noon balefire She set it on her cliffs, like a beacon And stood for a ti the sea and the pleasure boats that skilint of binoculars and knew she atched as she watched There! the summer people would say Up on the cliffs She&039;s supposed to be a witch Such attention would once have caused her to be hunted and hanged Now, Mia thought, the possibility of ht people to the island and into her store
So the wheel ran, she arden When her herbs were tied and hung, she used the sun to brew a small pot of chamomile tea She had it iced with a hint of fresh mint when Sam stepped onto her path
"Traffic&039;s a bitch," he said
"Midsummer and Mabon draw the lass "Tourists who are interested in such things," she added "Did you light your balefire?"
"This , near your circle in my woods Your woods," he corrected when she arched her eyebrows Absently, he reached down to pet Isis, who had cos He noted the new collar and the charram carved on one side, a sun wheel on the other
"New?"
"For the Midsu" She cut a slice of bread from a fresh loaf, drizzled it with honey, and offered it to him "I made more than the faeries need"
He took a bite, but she noticed that his restless gaze roaarden It was rich and ripe with su in the breeze, the bird flash by, then drink frolove Roses, red as passion, climbed up the trellis to her old bedroo flesh and bone to reach her
The scent of summer roses could still make his heart ache
Now he sat with her, in the sun and dappled shade of her garden Adults with ined
She wore a sleeveless dress, green as the lush leaves that surrounded the
"Where are we, Mia?"
"Intea with bread and honey It&039;s a lovely day for it" She lifted her cup
"But judging from your mood, perhaps I should have served wine"
He rose, paced away He would, she knew, tell her as on his h Whether or not she wanted to hear it Only a few nights before, he&039;d been lighthearted and playful enough to coax her into a swim But today there was a cloud around him
He&039;d always been a ," he told her
"Ah"
"Ah," Saed to make the syllable a bite "He&039;s &039;displeased with my perfor too much time and money into the hotel here"
"It&039;s your hotel"
"I pointed that out My hotel, my time, and ht&039;ve saved erous financial and career decisions He&039;s pissed off that I&039;ve sold eted so much for the rehab at the hotel, and irked that I sent a proxy rather than attending the June boardpersonally"
Because she felt for him, Mia rose and rubbed his stiff shoulders "I&039;ainst parental disapproval It doesn&039;t s when they don&039;t understand us"
"The Magick Inn is our first and oldest asset He&039;s figured out that I finessed it fro back from me"
"And you&039;re just as determined to keep your teeth in it"
He shot a furious look over his shoulder "Dao if he hadn&039;t been legally bound to keep it in the fah, but now he&039;s realized I intend toof it, so he&039;s irritated It&039;s a thorn in his side So aainst his back And for aher unhappy, moody love "Sometimes you just have to take a step away, and accept what is"
"What is," he agreed, turning to her "He never could Neither he nornot to be discussed, as if I had so condition"
Furious, as ain as by the facts theh an arbor where
"It&039;s in his blood as much as mine" He saw her start to speak, then stop herself "What? Just say it"
"All right, then It&039;s not the same for him You respect what you have, you celebrate it For him it&039;s awell, a pesky inherited trait: He&039;s not alone in that And because of it, you have more - are more - than he can ever have or be"
"He&039;s asha with pity "I know It hurts you It always has You can&039;t change what he thinks or feels You can only change what you feel"
"Is that how you handle your family?"
It took her a moment, and that was a jolt, to realize he meant her parents and not Lulu, or Ripley and Nell "I used to envy you on some level Just the fact that your parents worked up the interest and energy to push at you Even if it ued here"
She turned back to study the house she loved "They never noticed if I was angry My rebellions were completely wasted on them There came a point when I had to accept that their disinterest wasn&039;t personal"
"Oh, for Christ&039;s sake"
She nearly laughed at his impatient explosion "It was healthier, and more practical, and certainlymy heart over it, when they wouldn&039;t have noticed? Or if they had, it would have baffled them They&039;re not bad people, just careless parents I&039;h for me"
"You alere sensible," he replied "I could never figure out whether I ad I still can&039;t"
"You alere oes Still, it&039;s a shaet over it" He slipped his hands into his pockets again, fingering the tuotten he carried "He expects me back in New York within the month, to resuripped the edge of the bench to balance herself, then forced herself to her feet Forced shut that piece of her heart she&039;d allowed to be touched by his pain "I see When will you leave?"
"What? I&039; back Mia, I told you I was here to stay I , she turned to start back to the house
"Darabbed her arm, pulled her back
"Watch your step" She said it coldly
"Are you just waiting for o?" he de for anything"
"What do I have to do to get us past this?"
"You can start by letting go of o is just what you expect" To prove her wrong he took her other ar each other in the dappled shade of the path "So you won&039;t let me touch you, not where it matters most You&039;ll take me to your bed, but you won&039;t come to mine You won&039;t so much as sit and have a uise of business You won&039;t let me talk about the years without you And you won&039;t share ic with me e make love Because you don&039;t trust me to stay"
"Why should I? Why should I do any of those things? I prefer my bed I don&039;t choose to date I&039;ic during the physical act of love is a level of inti to explore with you"
She shoved his hands aside and stepped back "I&039;ve given you cooperation in business, some friendly companionship and sex This is what suits me If it doesn&039;t suit you, find soame"
Her voice was sharp "Oh, isn&039;t it?" He stepped toward her, and she held up her hands Light, spitting red, shot between them "Be careful"
Heblue water struck the light until there was nothing but the sizzle of vapor between them "Was I ever?"