by A. S. Koutso
Still holding my hand, he took me into the next room as if he knew the place. He held his head high and nodded politely at the people walking by.
“Come, this way.” He pulled me closer as we heard a commotion starting in the next room. We walked through the corridor along with a few other people who were curious to see what was going on.
“It’s glowing!”
“Do you see that?”
“It’s never done that before.”
The guests were whispering to each other.
“What’s going on?” I asked in a voice just low enough for Cillian to hear me.
When we got close enough, I saw a green light emanating from a tapestry on the wall. Everyone crowded around it in awe. I heard the clanking of armor as the guards began to rush over to see what was going on.
“Make way. The king is coming.”
“Please clear the way.”
The guards shouted.
I tugged Cillian
“I think we should leave.” I said nervously, but he couldn't hear me. His focus was set on the hanging fabric.
“Please Cillian.” this time pulling his arm harder.
“There are too many people here and the guards are coming. I don’t want to get caught. We aren’t supposed to be here.” I continued to tug him toward the exit.
“Seal the castle. No one gets in and no one gets out.” A man said to the guards as he walked down the corridor.
The room went silent as the man entered. All heads bowed to him. Cillian instinctively followed and squeezed my hand indicating for me to do the same. A man rushed out of the crowd toward the corridor.
“My king.” He said bowing once again
“What happened Odhran?”
“Nothing my king. I walked in with Lady O’Callaghan when I noticed a light out of the corner of my eye. The court began to chatter so I turned to notice it was coming from your tapestry.”
“Daughter. Is this true?” The king spoke in a stern voice.
“Yes father.” The lady bowed as she answered.
“Well, who knows what happened? One of you must have seen something.” The king addressed the people of the court.
Our heads were still bowed but no one spoke.
“My king. I was on duty by the main entrance watching the court. No one approached the wall. It began to glow on its own.” A guard stepped in to break the silence.
The king gestured to the guard to approach him. In a low whisper the king spoke to the guard. It was hard to hear but I managed to make out “Intruder” and “Fae”. I squeezed Cillian’s hand one more time to let him know we needed to leave.
“My subjects.” The king addressed the court once more.
“Please continue the party, the guards will handle all of this.” He said waving toward the tiny man standing beside him.
“Please follow me to the ballroom.” The man said walking down the corridor.
When the crowd started to clear Cillian lifted his head and started to follow the rest of the people.
“And where do you think you’re going?” I asked letting go of his hand
“We need to blend in. I don’t know what’s going on but if we get caught, I don’t know what will happen, and I rather not find out. For now, we follow the king's advisor to the ballroom and act natural.” he explained in a low voice so that only I could hear. Grabbing my hand, he led me down the hall.
“If anyone asks, we are promised to be wed.” He whispered as we were about to walk through the doors.
“Promised to be what!?” I replied in a tone much higher than expected.
The couple in front of us turned to look at what was going on.
“So sorry, she gets a little excited.” He said apologising and patting my hand.
“Go with it or we’ll end up somewhere you don’t want to be.” Cillian explained in an annoyed voice.
“Ok.” I whispered back
There was music playing faintly in the background as we walked into the great hall. Servants were roaming with drinks for the guests. Food was spread across the table in the back of the room. It was exactly how I thought a royal party would look like. Guests were dancing in the middle while others were gossiping off to the side, most probably about the glowing picture they just saw.
I was taking in the scenery when I noticed a woman was walking toward us. She was dressed in a long green and white gown. Her long blonde hair was placed in a half braid flowing down her shoulder.
“Cillian.” She said in a familiar voice.
Chapter 10
“Lady O’Callaghan” Cillian replied bowing
“Oh please. You don’t have to be so formal. What brings you to Dunamase castle?” She asked in a friendly tone.
“Looking for work my lady.”
“And who is your lady friend?” Lady O’Callaghan asked, looking me up and down.
“This is Aisling, we are promised to be wed.” Cillian explained to the woman, grabbing my hand, placing a soft kiss on the top.
“Oh stop it. You. Married. I don’t think so.” She replied laughing
“My lady.” I said with a quick curtsy
“It is true.”
She stopped laughing and looked straight at Cillian
“How is that possible. I saw you not even a month ago.”
“I work fast.” he said shrugging
“Please Cillian. I am your oldest friend. The truth now.” She wasn't listening to his bullshit, that's for sure.
“OK, ok. She's just a friend. I wanted to show her around. Please don’t have her thrown out.”
“Nonsense any friend of yours is a guest in my house.” she said, putting out her hand to Cillian.
“A dance my dear, if that’s ok with your lovely wife to be.” she giggled as Cillian escorted her to the dance floor.
Still unsure if I like her or not. I need to take this chance to sneak away, there was a powerful energy coming from that tapestry, I’d like to find out more. The guards are blocking the door, so I doubt I’ll be able to get out the way I came in, but there has to be a servant’s entrance somewhere. I watched as Cillian danced with Lady O’Callaghan, I felt a rage growing inside me. This must be jealousy; I know I have feelings for him but it’s foolish. I’m here to find out about the Tuatha de Danann and to see if there actually is a portal to Tír na nÓg. Not to fall in love with a boy.
I pushed my concentration onto the servants who were walking around handing out drinks. One in particular who only had one drink left on their tray. I waited for her to hand off the last glass and watched as she slipped behind a nook in the wall, that must be the entrance. While Cillian was still distracted, I made my way over and peaked through the door. There was no one there; it was just a hall leading to the kitchen. Now was the best chance I had so I rushed down the hall passed the kitchen to where we had come in, now I had two options: leave the castle all together while the guards were watching the main entrance, or I could go and look for the portal. Considering I was already here I might as well find out as much as possible about my people. I started walking toward the courtyard when I heard heavy footsteps coming from ahead of me,
even if I turn back now the guard will see me and it might make things worse, if I confront the guard I could use an excuse like I was at the party and got lost looking for a servant, with time running out I started to panic when I felt something from behind grab my waist and pull me. I spun around to see Cillian’s dark green eyes staring at me. Without a second thought, he grabbed my chin and pulled my lips to his, my heart skipped a beat and my body tensed up, he released my face and looked into my eyes again, caressing my cheek with his hand. My body poured into his and he wrapped both arms around my waist and pulled me in closer, he tilted his head and puckered his lips, my breath quickened but it felt so right, forgetting where I was I got up on my tiptoes to reach his lips when a man shouted from behind us,
“Hey! What are you two doing? How’d you get in here?” He approached with his hand re
sting on the pommel of his sword. Cillian released me and pulled his hand through his hair.
“So sorry Sir, we were at the party and wanted a little privacy, we saw a servant leaving out the back, so we followed her. We will make our way back now.” He explained in a calm manner
“Alright. Please stay in the ballroom. King's orders.”
“Yes Sir, my apologies.” Cillian gave a bow with his head and pulled me back toward the ballroom.
“No, I don’t think we should go back.” I said resisting
“Well we can’t stay here.” He replied a little confused with my answer.
“I think we should leave the castle, if we get caught again, we could get in serious trouble.” I explained
“Don’t worry I spoke to Orla; she says you’re more than welcome as a guest here.”
“You spoke to who?”
“Lady O’Callaghan, her name is Orla. We’ve been friends since I was a young boy.”
“So, we didn’t have to “sneak” in?” I asked getting agitated
“It was more fun that way, no?”
“No. I don’t like being lied to.”
“It wasn’t a lie, I just thought you would enjoy yourself a little more if it was new to me too.” he explained
“Well I think I’m going to leave now. That would be fun for me.”
“No please stay.” he begged with his hands together in front of his face.
“Fine.” I replied with the most pissed off tone I could muster.
When we got back into the hall we were greeted by Cillian’s friend.
“Aisling, right? Cillian explained everything to me. I had my handmaid set you up a room, you two can stay in the castle tonight. Come with me I’ll show you.” She said waving over a servant.
“Make sure our guest here has enough to eat and drink please.” She whispered to the woman.
“Alright come along Aisling. I will be right back Cillian.” Orla instructed as she led me to the main entrance.
“I will be bringing our guest to her room. Please let us pass.” She said in a firm tone.
The guards happily complied and opened the doors for us.
“Lady O’Callaghan.” A man shouted from a distance
“I will be right back Odhran.” She replied without looking back
“But your father…” he continued but the guards shut the doors before we could hear the rest.
“Why are we in such a rush?” I asked trying to keep up to Orla as she pulls me down the hall.
“My father needs to meet you, and he will explain everything.”
We headed back to the courtyard where the tapestry was still glowing green. The guards who blocked the hall moved as soon as they saw her rushing toward them.
“My Lady. Is everything alright?” They asked while we ran past.
“Yes. Not to worry.”
We went straight to the king who was hovering over the tapestry with two guards at his side.
“Father.” Orla said bowing her head
“Orla? What are you doing here? I told everyone to stay in the ballroom until we figured out how the portal was triggered, and who is this behind you. Address yourself.” he demanded
I bowed my head and responded, “My name is Aisling.”
The king grabbed my shoulders “Oh my. You really shouldn't be giving just anyone your name child. That could get you killed.” He explained with a worried look on his face.
“Why would my name get me killed?” I asked hoping he didn’t know my secret.
“Come Aisling. Walk with me. I need to show you something.” we started to walk down the hall when he looked back at his daughter.
“Orla thank you. Now please head back to the party and entertain our guests. No one must have any idea who she is.”
“Yes father.” she replied with a curtsy and took off
The king brought me upstairs and when we were out of sight from everyone he started to explain.
“You see Aisling, I come from a long line of kings who believe in the trinity, as I’m sure you’ve seen on the flags in the city. The trinity stands for the Gods, the Humans and the Tuatha de Danann.
Our city is one of the last to protect the Fae, we fought side by side in the ancient war and that is why the Goddess Danu placed one of the portals to Tír na nÓg here in Dunamase castle. My job is to keep it safe. You may have noticed in the city there are Fae that live among the humans.
In fact if I’m not mistaken your outfit was made by one. You can tell because there is a slight bit of power radiating from it. Might I ask who made it?”
“It was in the lower part of the city, his name was Ceardaí.”
“Yes, he must have known you were Fae, or else he would not have woven the blouse and corset with protection magic.”
“But aren’t you human? How can you sense the magic?”
“My family is trained to protect the Fae, in order to do so we must be able to detect even the slightest trace of magical energy. That's how Orla knew who you were before even seeing the paintings.”
“Paintings?” I asked with a puzzled look on my face.
The king laughed
“Oh so you really weren’t taught much of your people then?”
“No. My guardian only recently explained to me what Fae was.”
“Ah yes Cara. She is amazing isn't she. Her cooking never gets old, I asked her numerous times to come stay in the castle with me, but she believed you needed to live a tougher life.”
“How do you know Cara?”
“Well my dear when you were just a youngling Cara brought you here after the elders placed you in her care. You stayed with us for a few weeks until Cara could arrange for a safer place to stay, far away from the people who hunted you.”
“But I only met Cara when I was a kid. How could she have brought me here.”
The king stopped to look at me.
“That is strange. I believe you can find the answer to that question yourself.”
“My spirit door?”
“Precisely, but before all that I’d like to show you who you are.” He said, turning to face the wall in front of us.
There was a massive painting hanging on the wall wrapped in a gold border. It depicted a battle between the Fae and what looked like the church based on the Celtic cross on the knight's armor.
“What's so special about this painting?”
“Look closer to the Fae in the sky.” he explained
I took a closer look and noticed the ivory and gold-plated armor. The woman had long white hair flowing behind her and was wielding a longsword with an ivory hilt, instinctively I bent down to grab my dagger. I placed it beside the image.
“Notice anything familiar?” The king asked as he placed his hand on my shoulder.
“I’ve seen that woman before, in a vision.”
The king giggled
“That woman my dear, is you.”
That's right. The warriors were calling out my name around the fire in the woods.
“I’m sure Cara explained how rebirth works, right?” The king interrupted my thought.
“Yes, but I didn’t think it would be so literal.”
“In your case the resemblance is uncanny. This painting was done over two hundred years ago, but all of this aside you need to be careful who you give your name to. If the church gets news of your rebirth, they will send someone to assassinate you. You were one of the front-line warriors in the ancient war. You must come up with a new name. Aisling is a sacred name that only the Fae should speak.”
“Ok, I understand.”
“Come now, I will show you to your room. You can get settled in.”
We walked in silence for a moment, the halls echoed with our footsteps. Interrupting the silence, the king continued to ask me questions.
“So, what brought you to Laois?”
“I’m just passing through, I need to find the doctor that took my wings.” I explained
“Oh, I see, and Cara didn�
��t want to join you on your adventure?”
“No, she has a son to take care of.”
“A son you say. When did this happen?”
“Well Harland isn't her son per say, she took him off the steps of a church in Ballymacahara when he was just a baby.” I explained
“So, I take it he's not human then.”
“No, she told me he’s a changeling, but he doesn’t know that. He lives life as a human and I think that’s how she wants to keep it. At least for now.”
“I see, and what made you want to come to Dunamase castle?”
“I heard stories that there may be a portal to Tír na nÓg here, so I wanted to check it out.”
“That makes sense, but unfortunately by doing so you put yourself in danger.”
“How so?”
“The portal hasn’t been active for a very long time, only a powerful Fae, such as yourself can activate it. Now that it glows, I’m afraid people in the city will start talking and word may get around to the church. You are a big threat to them.”
“I haven’t seen a church in town, why is that?”
“Well because my family protects the bond between the three factions, long ago there was a law passed that banned the knights of the church. Of course, they did not like that, so they waged war on Laois. The citizens at the time went against the church and drove them out. Since then they abandoned their house of warship.”
The king stopped in front of a large wooden door.
“This will be your room for the night, I don’t think you should stay past morning. You will always be a guest in this castle, but at the present time I believe it to be too dangerous for you my dear.”
“Thank you. I appreciate everything. I came with someone today; won’t he be suspicious if I don’t return to the party?” I asked before entering the room.