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"No need, a muirninn It’s none so bad as that" She rubbed at her te her words

Jemmy’s mouth released its hold with a small, milky pop! and his head lolled back The crook of Brianna’s elboas hot and sweaty, where his head had rested; his tiny ear was cruhed with relief as the cool air struck her skin A soft belch bubbled out of hiainst her shoulder like a half-filled water balloon

"Full, is he?" Jocasta smiled, blind eyes turned toward them at the faint sound

"As a drum," Brianna assured her She patted his sh of sleep-filled breathing She rose, wiped the milk from his chin, and laid the baby on his stoany chiffonier, laid on the floor and thickly padded with pillows and quilts

Brianna hung the shawl over the back of the chair, shivering slightly in a draft that leaked around thefra stained with spit-up s, and her bare forearooseflesh

Jocasta turned her head in answer to the creak of wood and rustle of fabric, as Brianna opened the big armoire and took out two linen petticoats and her dress, s the panels of soft, pale blue ith satisfaction She had woven the cloth and engineered the design of the gown herself--though Mrs Bug had spun the thread, Claire had dyed it with indigo and saxifrage, and Marsali had helped with the sewing

"Shall I call Phaedre back to dress ye, lass?"

"No, that’s all right, I can e--if you’ll help me with the laces?" She didn’t like to call on the services of the slaves, any more than could be helped The petticoats were no problem; she simply stepped into thes round her waist The stays needed to be laced up the back, though, and so did the gown itself

Jocasta’s broere still dark, bronze against the pale apricot hue of her skin They rose a little at the suggestion that she help to dress her niece, but she nodded, with no more than a brief hesitation She turned her blind eyes toward the hearth, frowning a little

"I suppose I can The laddie’s not too near the fire, is he? Sparks can ju her brsts up into the scalloped hollows that supported theown on over them

"No, he’s not too near the fire," she said patiently She’din the front and sides Brianna turned slightly to and fro, adht in the ht frown behind her, she rolled her eyes at herself, then bent and pulled the drawer a little farther fro an auld wo the scrape of wood

"You’re welcoy show in her voice She laid a hand on her great-aunt’s shoulder, and Jocasta put her own long hand over it, squeezing gently

"It’s no that I think ye’re a neglectfulas I have, ye s happen to bairns, ye ken?" she said, more softly "And I should rather be set afire myself, than see harm come to our bonnie lad"

She htly down her niece’s back, finding the lacings without trouble

"Ye’ve regained your figure, I see," the old wo the sides of Brianna’s waist "What is this--creork? What color is it?"

"Dark indigo blue Flowering vines done in heavy cotton, to contrast with the pale blue wool" She took one of Jocasta’s hands and guided the fingertips lightly over the vines that covered each bone in the bodice, running from the scalloped neck to the V of the waist, dropped sharply in front to show off the triure Jocasta had rehtened, glancing from her reflection to her son’s sly perfect Not for the first tireat-aunt’s life Jocasta had had children, or at least Jaht so--but she never spoke of them, and Brianna hesitated to ask Perhaps lost in infancy; so ht

"Dinna fash yourself," her aunt said Jocasta’s face readjusted itself into deterreat things; nay harreen silk of her dressing gown rustling over her petticoats, leaving Bree freshly startled at her aunt’s ability to divine people’s feelings, even without seeing their faces

"Phaedre!" Jocasta called "Phaedre! Bring my case--the black one"

Phaedre was nearby, as always, and a brief rustling in the drawers of the armoire produced the black case Jocasta sat doith it at her secretary

The black leather case was old and worn, a narrow box covered in weathered hide, unadorned save for its silver hasp Jocasta kept her best jewels in a rander case of velvet-lined cedarwood, Brianna knew What could be in this one?

She moved to stand beside her aunt as Jocasta put back the lid Inside the case was a short length of turned wood, the thickness of a finger, and on it were ranged three rings: a plain band of gold set with a beryl, another with a large cabochon emerald, and the last with three diaht and threw it back in rainbows that danced across the walls and bea!" Bree exclaimed involuntarily

"Oh, the diamond one? Well, Hector Ca the biggest ring Her long fingers--unadorned--sorted deftly through a ss, and ca small and dull

She handed the tiny object to Brianna, who discovered it to be a small pierced-work tin brooch, rather tarnished, made in the shape of a heart

"That’s a deasil charm, a muirninn," Jocasta said, with a satisfied nod "Put it on the wean’s skirts, behind"

"A charlanced at Jeainst the fairies," Jocasta said "Keep it pinned to the lad’s sht born of the Auld Folk will trouble hihtly at the matter-of-factness in the old woman’s voice

"Your mother should ha’ told ye," Jocasta went on, with a hint of reproval in her voice "But I ken as she’s a Sassenach, and your father likely wouldna think of it Men don’t," she added, with a hint of bitterness "It’s a woman’s job to see to the weans, to keep theroped a in her hand, the bark still on it

"Take that," she coht the end of it from the hearth, and walk ye round the bairn three times Sunwise, mind!"

Mystified, Brianna took the stick and thrust it into the fire, then did as she was bid, holding the fla well away from both the makeshift cradle and her blue wool skirts Jocasta tapped her foot rhythmically on the floor, and chanted, half under her breath

She spoke in Gaelic, but slowly enough that Brianna could make out most of the words