Page 74 of Dragon Cursed
Poppy nodded.
Her aunt led them down the hall to her study.
The room was small and cluttered with books.The walls were lined floor to ceiling with shelves that had given up imposing any system on themselves a long time ago.A worn green leather chair by the window.A desk with a green-shaded lamp.
The lamp was already on.
A stack of three reference books was laid out on the desk, marked with slips of paper — as if Niamh had spent her afternoon preparing for an interview that hadn’t yet been requested.
"A book you need me to translate, yes?"She held out her hand.
Poppy took the Elvish book from the canvas bag and laid it in her great-aunt's palm.Niamh's hands shook a little.
Niamh's hands hadn’t, until that moment, shaken at all.
"Oh, child."Her voice was soft."I’ve never seen this one before."
“It was behind a loose brick in the hearth.”
“Yes, child.My mother gave us each a letter before she passed, as her mother did for her.I read your grandmother’s letter, just as she read mine.I’m glad the wait is finally over.”
She gingerly took the book to the desk.Sat in the chair beside it.Turned on the second lamp on the wall — the brighter one — and pulled a magnifying glass from a drawer.Put on a pair of reading glasses that had been folded into the neck of her cardigan.
She opened the book and read in silence for a long time.
Alsander took a position behind her left shoulder.Standing.His arms folded.His face unreadable.Poppy stood at her aunt's right shoulder.Niamh's lips moved, sometimes, around the shape of words neither of them could hear.Once she muttered something under her breath in what Poppy thought might be old Irish but might have been older than that.Twice she paused, lifted her head, and looked at the wall as if checking a memory.
Once she made a small softah— as if a thing had clicked into place.
After perhaps twenty minutes she sat back.
She took off her glasses.Rubbed the bridge of her nose.
"Right.Okay.Let me tell you what this is."
She turned to face Alsander.
"The pendant," she began, "is the gift of Mairin's spirit.The book says so plainly.When Mairin fell — after she gave the last of her magic to Caoimhe — a fragment of her spirit remained, as well.A phantom.A ghost.Not the whole of her.But enough to be aware.Enough to grieve.Enough to act."
Alsander didn’t speak.
"That fragment entered the dragon pendant along with her magic.The pendant was her last gift.Akey."
"A key to what?"His voice was very careful.
"To breaking the curse.To the undoing of what she had done."
Alsander's arms unfolded.
"Whatshehad done."
Niamh didn’t look away from him.
"This is going to be hard for you to hear, dear."
"Say it."
"Your sister loved that forest more than was healthy."
