The warm breeze pushed gentle little waves across the pond,
waves that caught the rays of the sun and reflected them like
sparkling jewels.
Kirah cursed the breeze, the waves, the pond, and the sun. Her
slippers were full of weeds and brambles, and her arms ached from
lugging the heavy water bucket so far. She stopped by the pond's
edge, and tried to rake her hair back out of her face. It
had been a long, tiring slog.
Mistress Eleny had spied the glints of the sun on the water
from her chamber window. The well water, she had told Kirah, no
longer pleased her. It tasted stale. The well had gone bad. She
sent Kirah to draw water from the pond, if it appeared suitable
for drinking.
Kirah had never seen water that looked more suitable for
drinking. The pond was perfectly clear, scattering sunlight in
glittering shards from its surface. She put her bucket on the
ground at the water's edge and knelt there beside it, staring into
the most perfect water she had ever seen. She could see everything
around her reflected flawlessly in the water. The trees, the
sun shining bright in the cloudless blue sky, and her own
reflection
she
sucked in a gasp of shock.
Her reflection was that of a middle-aged man.
She could see him as clearly as if he stood there with her; his
graying hair and his eyes with lines around them, from laughter or
tears. He looked back at her, and she thought he looked sad.
How was this possible? She raised her hand to her face,
and the reflection raised his hand, mirroring the action as
accurately as if it really had been her own. Kirah leaned
forward, and reached her hand out to touch the surface of the
water.
Quicker than thought, a hand shot up from the pond and grasped
her wrist. Before she could scream, before she even realized
what was happening, a strong man's hand hauled her under the
surface of the water.
***
Jeran stood at the edge of the pond, regarding the bucket
thoughtfully. He glanced back at the pond, shining in the sun, and
shook his head.
Smoothing his graying hair, he walked away.
***
Mistress Eleny scowled, stumbling through the scrubby brush
toward the pond. What had happened to that ignorant maid of hers? How could she possibly have gotten lost on the short walk to the
pond? When she found that girl . . .
She stopped at the edge of the pond. The water shone clear and
beautiful in the sun. The bucket lay on its side by the shore. So Kirah had made it this far. But where had she gone then?
She glanced down at the water, and saw a young blonde girl
looking back at her. How was such a thing possible? How did her
reflection come to look so much like Kirah? Some devilry was
afoot here.
She leaned over, reaching for the glistening surface of the
water.
