‘With the loss of her powers Lette also lost the ability to stay youthful. That day she told me she was carrying you inside her, she looked much the same age as I do now. By the end of the pregnancy she was an old woman. She fought with all her strength to give life to you, Lann. But once she had done so, there was nothing left.’

Lann swallowed, trying to hold back the tears. His mind was a frenzied turmoil of conflicting thoughts and emotions. ‘You are my aunt,’ he said, forcing the words out.

‘Yes.’

‘We share the same blood.’

‘We do.’

‘Then why did you give me away to the Fetlangers? You did, didn’t you? Everything Gord told me was true. You left me there in that barn, to be discovered as a foundling. Why?’

The witch paused before answering.

‘I am a witch, Lannigon. I use my powers to help the people of this community and the kingdom in which it resides. I deliver babies, I do not bring them up. And for good reason. Being a witch carries certain dangers, dangers that it would not be right to expose a young child to. There are things in this world that would prey on such an innocent, and I would not have the son of my sister imperilled by such dark creatures.’ She paused, and he heard her give a little sigh. ‘And if I am being honest, I think I was … resentful of you, and that deep down I somehow blamed you for what happened to Lette. That was wrong of me. I hope that someday you will forgive me for harbouring those feelings. I knew Lae Fetlanger had failed to conceive on a number of occasions, and I also knew she was a good woman. I knew she would care for you.’

‘So you gave me away.’

‘I put you in a safe place.’

‘You gave me away!’

Fleya laid a hand on his arm but he pulled away. She didn’t try to follow when he struggled to his feet and felt his way to his room at the back of the cabin.

Sitting alone by the embers of the dying fire, she thought about what she had done to protect him – and what she must continue to do.

6

Lann and Fleya barely spoke to one another in the three weeks following the revelations about his past. Lann spent all his time in the garden, only replying in the briefest terms whenever his aunt spoke to him.

Fleya knew better than to push the matter. Even so, the boy’s hostility stung her in a way she found surprising.