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eBook Category: Fantasy
eBook Description: Octavia had been chosen to foster a Blue Sister's daughter, and she knew that she would have to give the child up on her second birthday. But when she discovered that the Blue Sisters killed their children if they had no magic, she resolved not to give up the child, no matter what she had to do to keep her.

eBook Publisher: Marion Zimmer Bradley Literary Works Trust, Published: Sword & Sorceress 9, 1992
Fictionwise Release Date: November 2008

26 Reader Ratings:

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Available eBook Formats [MultiFormat - What's this?]: eReader (PDB) [18 KB] , ePub (EPUB) [36 KB] , Rocket/REB1100 (RB) [12 KB] , Adobe Acrobat (PDF) [175 KB] , Palm Doc (PDB) [12 KB] , Microsoft Reader (LIT) [65 KB] , Franklin eBookMan (FUB) [83 KB] , hiebook (KML) [61 KB] , Sony Reader (LRF) [48 KB] , iSilo (PDB) [10 KB] , Mobipocket (PRC) [13 KB] , Kindle Compatible (MOBI) [46 KB] , OEBFF Format (IMP) [22 KB]
Words: 3688
Reading time: 10-14 min.
Microsoft Reader (LIT) Format: Printing DISABLED, Read-Aloud ENABLED
Adobe Acrobat (PDF) Format:  Printing DISABLED, Read-Aloud ENABLED
All Other formats: Printing DISABLED, Read-aloud DISABLED

"This story fascinated me from the first line."--Marion Zimmer Bradley

The Blue Sister turned her impenetrable gaze on Octavia. "I have come to see my child."

Instinctively, Octavia's hands tightened around Ara. "Your child? I did not think--" She stopped, remembering to whom she spoke, and stood rigidly, feeling the heat of the sorceress' stare.

The Blue Sister's thin lips twisted into a slight smile. "You did not think we knew our children? But of course we do. How else could we keep the bloodlines pure?" The Sister's smile faded, replaced by a stern look of command. "Bring her to me."

Octavia took a reluctant step forward. Ara, as if sensing her foster mother's fear, clung hard and whimpered.

"Here, now." The Blue Sister pulled the baby from Octavia's arms. Ara's whimpers turned to screams, but the Sister paid no heed. She turned Ara this way and that, frowning. "It's no good. I simply can't tell." She handed Ara to Octavia and stood scowling, hands on narrow hips.

"Do you think there's something wrong with the baby?" Octavia ventured, once she had comforted Ara enough to quiet her.

The Blue Sister's vivid blue eyes focused on Octavia. "She's my third. The others didn't have enough magic, but this one was sired by a Gold Adept. I thought she'd already be showing the signs, but--" The sorceress shrugged. "I do not seem to breed true."

Octavia felt a faint stir of hope. "Then she will not be a sorceress? She will not be collected?"

The Blue Sister raised a narrow brow. "Whether or not she will become a sorceress remains to be seen. But she will be collected, have no fear. We do not leave our mistakes alive to breed new magics. The Blood Demons always thirst."

Octavia's heart seemed to freeze in her breast. Oh, it could not be true! She had heard rumors of the wickedness of the Sisters, that each year they sacrificed half their children, but she had not believed it. Not when the Sisters who had placed Ara with her had seemed so kind.

Octavia remembered her first sight of the wrinkled, red face of the tiny newborn. For a year and a half now, Octavia had been the only mother Ara knew. Now, seeing Ara's true mother, Octavia finally understood why the system of fosterage had developed. A cat had more feeling for its kits than this sorceress had for her child. Had the Blue Sister raised Ara herself, she could not possibly have been so cavalier about the child's fate. No, not even the hardest-hearted witch on the island would be able to make such a sacrifice.

The Blue Sister laughed, a dry chuckle. "Oh, do not stare at me so. Every peasant on the island is aware of our customs. I have merely spoken openly of what is whispered behind hands." She gathered her robes about her. "Take care of her until I come again. She might, after all, have the magic." She glided from the cottage, blue robes floating behind her slender form. From outside, Octavia could hear Sorrel's soft whine as the sorceress passed.

Octavia put a hand to her mouth, stifling the scream that threatened to pour from her throat. By all that was holy, by the name of Melyra, Goddess Protectress of babes and beasts, she could not let the Sisters take Ara. She had known all along that the parting, which was scheduled to take place on Ara's second birthday, would be difficult, wrenching, for she had grown to love the child as much as she would have loved a baby of her own. But she would not let the Sisters spill Ara's blood, no matter how powerful they were. Even if Ara did have the magic, and her life was not at risk, she would not turn her over to an order that bred such women as Ara's natural mother. Octavia shuddered.