Louise Cooper - The Sunlight on the Water

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The Sunlight on the Water by Louise Cooper

The Sunlight on the Water

Louise Cooper

Louise Cooper (b. 1952) was first discovered in America with The Book of Paradox (1973) - a

wonderfully exotic novel drawing upon the magic of the tarot — and it was some years before she really

became established in Britain, starting with her Time Master series (which began with The Initiate in

1985) and then with the long-running Indigo series, starting with Nemesis (1988). Cooper's work never

draws upon sword-wielding heroes or epic battles. Her stories depict the world of individuals trapped

by fate within their world of everyday magic. Such is the nature of the following story, written especially

for this anthology, and the closest we come to the literary fairy tale.

EVERYONE HAD ALWAYS SAID THAT TAIZU AND POLYENKA were the perfect couple. From

the day they had first held hands in the crocodile of small children walking solemnly to learn their letters

at fierce old Aunt Chanka's, the stars of their mutual fate had been set in their courses. Time passed, and

dame school was soon exchanged for the hard realities of work: Taizu went as apprentice to the

blacksmith, while Polyenka joined the chattering gaggle of girls labouring year-round in the fields. His

gangling frame filled out, she blossomed from gawky child to slender young woman, and neither they

nor anybody else in the village doubted what their future would be. Made for each other, everyone said.

One more summer, perhaps two, and there would be a wedding in the village. Even the shaman and his

three wise-wives nodded knowing approval and smiled as they anticipated the ceremony and the rituals

and the gifts that would be heaped upon them to bring the couple good luck.

And so it had been. Taizu worked well and diligently at his trade; Polyenka learned to cook and sew and

generally prepare for a change in her status. Both kept their virginity, encouraged (or intimidated) by

lectures from the shaman, who promised the gods' disfavour if either should dare to experiment before

the magical night of their marriage. The nuptials were to take place on the winter solstice - an auspicious

date, said the shaman - and it seemed that piety was its own reward, for just one month before the

appointed time the old blacksmith died and, as he had no sons to succeed him, the forge and its adjacent

small cottage and garden were Taizu's to inherit.

The wedding was a wonderful excuse for drinking and dancing and general merriment, and by the time

the young couple were allowed to escape to their new home half the village's adult population (and a few

of the more unruly children, who would be punished for it tomorrow) were laid out in a glorious stupor

on or under the tables where the feast had been served. Taizu had drunk his fair share, too, but when the

door was bolted and the fire was banked up, and for the first time in their lives they lay together under

the goosedown quilt that was the traditional village gift to newlyweds, the dizziness fell away from him

and a new, deep emotion took its place. He cupped Polyenka's face between his hands and, in the

firelight's glow, gazed with a kind of wonder at her warm grey eyes, the smiling curve of her mouth, the

luxuriance of her fair hair. He wanted to speak, but his heart was so full that words would not come.

Polyenka, though, found them for him. She said, "I love you, husband."

Husband. Wife. His wife. Always and for ever; the bond sealed and indissoluble. Taizu had not known it

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