My Voice for My Heart

Chapter 30: One Shirt

(A/N- Thanks for continuing to read! Just a quick note- "Aghaidh" is pronounced similar to "eye," but weirdly enough, it means "face." Okay- that's it. Thanks!!!~ Ripley)

Keela

My hands shook and my head pounded, but I still worked. I spent the rest of the day with my back against my door, focusing entirely on weaving the shirts. I would take a break, stand with one hand pressed against the door, and stretch my neck before sitting back down and starting over.

Magda knocked on the door at dinner time, and I opened it carefully.

"I brought you something," she said.

I opened the door a bit warily, and she came inside. She put the tray on the bed and faced me, her hands clenching her apron.

"Those men went out today," she said. "I shouldn't have told you to go to the lake. Did they find you?" 


I paused, wondering how to answer. I turned my head to the side, waiting, deciding that no answer was better than lying.

"I have no advice for you, except to be very careful," she said. "I thought it was right to send you to the lake, but what if they had found you there?"

I nodded in understanding, not agreement. I limped over to the bed, and sat down.

"Are you hurt?" she asked, looking me over.

I shook my head quickly.

She patted my arm, and I bit my lip, holding in the hiss that wanted to escape me when she hit the bruise.

"I'll leave you then," she said. "There are some rolls here for your breakfast. Wrap them up so they don't get stale."


I nodded again, stepping away from her so she couldn't touch me. She closed the door behind her and I awkwardly picked up the tray, setting it on the floor so I could sit against the door. I ate my dinner quickly, then lit a candle, and continued weaving. The moon was bright tonight, and from the floor I could see its size. It was almost full. I wondered if I'd see the men in their human form when it waxed large and hung over the sky. If I finished a shirt, would I be able to hang it over their neck and transform one?

Somehow I doubted it. Even thought the undine hadn't been specific, I had a feeling that all the shirts would need to be completed in order to change the men back.

I worked as long as I could, until the pounding in my head got to be too much, and I needed to rest my eyes. I contemplated my room, feeling nervous and unsafe. Finally I decided to drag the bed toward the door. I could sleep in it that way and not on the hard stone floor. If anyone tried to come in, it would jar me awake, and I would have a chance at escaping through the window before they could push their way through.

I slept fitfully. Every noise made me wake up, every time I turned, my eyes popped open and I had to figure out if I'd woken myself up, or if someone else had, attempting to get in.

I woke one last time just as the sun was rising. I splashed cold water onto my face, and looked out the window. People were up and moving around. I sighed, realizing it would be my first day away from my swans since I'd arrived.

I saw a few students leave the house and head in the direction of Phillip's cottage. I climbed back onto my bed, snuggling back into the blankets for a moment. Finally I sat up, wrapped a blanket around my shoulders like a shawl and pulled my work into my lap. By the time my stomach was growling and I had to stop work to take a bite of my roll, I had all the pieces I needed to sew together my first shirt. I spread the material on the bed, standing back to look at it. I popped a piece of bread into my mouth and turned my head. It was small. It would fit Rab or Aohdan, and even Balthair if he yanked hard enough. I counted up the number of skeins it had taken to make this one, and then counted the skeins I had left. I would need a third more to make a shirt that would fit Athol, Dand, or Ciaran, and maybe a quarter more for Finn and Iasan. My stomach clenched as I calculated. I started making piles. Nine piles with enough skeins for each man. I stepped back after I finished, and eyed my basket. There were extras.