Chapter 32 #2
‘They would know the strengths and weaknesses of the smaller forts,’ said Cordelia, ‘we visited them regularly when we were younger. Perhaps they gave the information to their husbands but it sickens me to think either of my sisters would be barbaric enough to authorise such bloodshed.’
‘You have been gone a turn of the year, Cordelia, and much has altered. Goneril has yet to conceive a child and every moon when she fails, her bitterness increases. When Regan carried a baby, Goneril’s spite and fury intensified but after Regan lost her daughter, her temperament became worse than Goneril’s,’ said Gloigin.
‘She was pitiless. I believe they are under Angarad’s curse. ’
‘Tell her the rest,’ murmured Oudar.
‘There is more?’ said Cordelia, her heart sinking lower.
‘Sisillius and his men have sent word that Regan has taken a lover,’ said Gloigin and her voice was sorrowful.
‘She flaunts him before Henwinus and has been heard saying she will raise her lover to the high position her husband holds. It is driving Henwinus to distraction and he has threatened to murder both Regan and her lover.’
‘Who is the man?’
‘Ivor Locrinussunu,’ said Gloigin.
‘Ivor!’ Cordelia exclaimed, covering her mouth and looking around to see if her outburst had been overheard but no one was listening. ‘Lagon said he and Gael had left and not returned.’
‘They came here to Credenhill but after Gael died in childbirth, Ivor returned to Golden Dobvnni,’ she said. ‘By then, Lagon and Locrinus had escaped.’
‘Why?’ asked Cordelia.
‘Gael’s death maddened Ivor, then we heard of Goneril’s punishment of Locrinus,’ interjected Oudar. ‘We believe he wished to revenge himself upon Goneril for her treatment of his father and he is using Regan to torment her.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Cordelia, did you never notice? Goneril and Ivor had been lovers since they were sixteen summers old,’ said Gloigin. ‘He wanted to marry her but she refused; she wanted a rich husband.’
‘How did I not know this?’
‘You were young, your priority was the temple,’ said Oudar. ‘Once your powers showed, we tried to protect you from external influences. Angarad claimed it was important to keep you pure, this would enable you to interpret your visions with clear eyes, rather than those occluded with worldly woes.’
‘Did Lagon know?’ she asked.
‘Of course but he was always too busy swooning after you to care,’ Gloigin said.
‘Lagon?’ said Cordelia in astonishment.
‘Even you in your innocence must have noticed,’ said Gloigin.
‘No,’ admitted Cordelia. ‘I had no idea.’
Gloigin laughed. ‘Sweet Cordelia, you have always been the kindest of us.’
A draught caused the candle to flicker and a shadow fell across Gloigin’s face.
As it did, Cordelia had a vision of her friend when she was older, her features strong and more beautiful but with sun-lined skin, the bloom of youth replaced by the softness of middle age and, in a heartbeat, Cordelia understood.
Gloigin, her twin sister, Ignogin, and Oudar, they were the shadow daughters of Lear.
The dream of the three sisters’ quest she had shared with the woman, Caitlin, was the world that might have been, the other path, the other daughters if she and her sisters had died while they were young.
Understanding flooded her with such force, she pushed herself away from the table.
‘Cordelia, are you well?’ asked Gloigin.
‘The man, he is Fa,’ she said. ‘In the Everywhen, you are his daughters, are you not?’
Gloigin stared at Cordelia in surprise.
‘You are my sister?’ Cordelia whispered, demanding confirmation with her tone.
‘Yes,’ replied Gloigin. ‘It was after your mother died, leaving no living male heir, your father invoked the Golden Dobvnni creed of the Shadow Wives: a woman to share his bed for a year and a day in an attempt to bear a boy child. My mother, Anor, was sent from Kamber’s court to your father’s.
She was the first Shadow Wife but when she gave birth to twin girls, she was sent home and we were raised in the temple by Angarad and the Mother of the Temple before her, Medlan. ’
‘And Oudar?’
‘Her mother was your father’s second Shadow Wife, Galaes,’ said Gloigin. ‘She died when Oudar was less than one summer old. After this, your father refused another Shadow Wife. Before his plan to wed Angarad, whenever marriage was suggested he said, he could not risk any more daughters.’
‘Does he know you’re his children?’
‘Of course,’ she said. ‘It’s why we were kept at the oppidum. We were there in case you or your sisters died. We were your shadows, to step forward into the light if we were required.’
Cordelia stared at Gloigin, shocked at her matter-of-fact tone.
‘Did you resent me and my sisters?’ she asked.
‘No,’ replied Gloigin. ‘We were well treated, we were happy and, above all, while your father lived and was in his right mind, we were safe.’
‘Angarad’s curse, she claimed he would suffer all the pain from lost love. I have seen you all in the Everywhen. You were the second part of the curse,’ she said. ‘You, Ignogin and Oudar were on an endless quest for love.’
‘You have seen us in the Everywhen?’ said Gloigin, her eyes alight with curiosity.
‘Yes, but I didn’t realise until now,’ she said. ‘You save Fa.’
‘We do?’
The words of the chant returned. The fourth is the Charmed One who will heal the curse. ‘You are the fourth daughter of Lear, perhaps you are the answer to the entire curse.’
‘No, Cordelia,’ said Gloigin, ‘Angarad said the one who could break the curse was the third daughter of a third daughter. My mother is the eldest and has three brothers.’
‘Does your mother have any other children?’ asked Cordelia.
‘No, we are her only offspring.’
Cordelia turned away, the belief she had solved the riddle fading. Angarad’s words had been clear and the chanting in her dream had also proclaimed the third was also the fourth.
Perhaps we are doomed to carry this enchantment for eternity, thought Cordelia, then the image of Caitlin, the woman who bore the same silver lines on her skin, flashed through her mind and the small flame of hope burgeoned once again.