Tree of Ages Box Set

by Sara C. Roethle

  His mind made up, Iseult nodded.

  Ealasaid slumped in relief. “You won’t regret it,” she assured.

  Iseult turned back to his meal without a word. He had many regrets in his life. The decision to let a young, naive girl join on his travels would never measure up to the others, even if she somehow managed to sink the ship.

  Ealasaid was wildly curious about the hidden city, but not curious enough to stay there. The woman, Slàine, made her feel on edge. She didn’t like the calculating glances the older woman was throwing her way as she stood at the bar conversing with the rail thin innkeep.

  The rest of the city dwellers seemed normal enough, though she was glad she’d mustered the courage to join Maarav and Iseult at their table. While she related to the refugees, she could not remain among them. She needed to find out which men of An Fiach had been responsible for her family’s deaths, then she needed to kill them.

  Traveling the open seas with two knowledgable warriors seemed a much better way to eventually meet her goals than leaving the hidden city on her own, even if she hadn’t a clue to what their ultimate destination might be. She assumed Iseult was still looking for the girl Àed had mentioned, and Maarav seemed to want to do whatever Iseult wanted to do. She hoped they would find the girl soon, as spending yet more time alone with Iseult and Maarav was unnerving. They were pragmatists, of that she was sure, which meant she would only be kept around as long as she was useful. Another woman amongst the group might show her more sympathy than the men.

  She shook herself and looked down at the food the barmaid had set in front of her once she’d joined the men at the table. Sitting around feeling sorry for herself would do her no good. She might not particularly like Iseult and Maarav, but the two had ensured her safety, at least to an extent. In fact, if it weren’t for Maarav, Ealasaid would still be huddled in a heap crying about the loss of her family.

  The thought made her eyes suddenly sting with unshed tears, but she pushed the tears back down. There would be time for crying later. Later, after she’d had her vengeance. Perhaps then, she could return to this hidden city and make a life for herself, far away from those who would persecute her for her gifts. The doorway into the city had been disguised by magic, which meant there were others like her here, in addition to the refugees, many of whom possessed terrifying magic, far exceeding Ealasaid’s.

  She picked at her food. She’d been given a mug of wine to wash things down. She’d never had a full mug before, only sips from her father’s. The thought of her father made her eyes tear up again.

  Seeming somehow uncomfortable, perhaps because he sensed she was about to cry, Maarav excused himself to speak with Slàine. Iseult watched him go, expressionless. The man showed as much emotion as a rock.

  She took a sip of her wine, attempting to gather some composure. Once she was sure she could speak without her voice breaking, she asked, “What will happen to the settlers when we leave?”

  Iseult took a sip of his whiskey. “As it has been explained to me, they will be able to live as they would in any other city, with added protection from An Fiach and the Faie. Whether this is actually the case, only time will tell.”

  Ealasaid frowned. “So you don’t know if they’ll be okay?”

  Iseult sighed and pushed his dirty black hair out of his face. Normally it was held back by a leather clasp, but the coastal winds had pulled much of it free, giving him a wild appearance.

  “I do not know this city,” he answered blandly. “To say that the settler’s safety is guaranteed would be a lie.”

  “Maybe we can bring them with us,” she said hopefully.

  Iseult shook his head. “We will bring only those needed to crew the ship, one or two extra men in addition to the three of us. It is not wise to outnumber yourself with strangers.”

  “They’re not strangers,” Ealasaid pouted. “They fought beside us, and fled the reivers with us.”

  Iseult’s eyes narrowed. “You’ve no idea of their pasts or motivations. To trust so blindly is folly, especially for a young girl like you.”

  Ealasaid frowned and thought back to her village again. She’d trusted most everyone there, and had never thought much about someone taking advantage of her until she was on the road alone. Her first instinct was still to trust. She supposed she’d have to break herself of that habit.

  Her eyes filled with tears again.

  “It will get easier,” Iseult assured, the hint of sympathy in his voice surprising her.

  “Learning not to trust?”

  “All of it,” he clarified. “The pain of loss will fade, and you will find new people to connect with. People that will make you feel like you have a family again. You will not always feel as alone as I imagine you’re feeling now.”

  Ealasaid’s jaw went slack with surprise. She’d been under the impression that Iseult was incapable of saying nice things. “Do you have those sorts of people?” she asked, then instantly bit her tongue. The question had been far too forward. She was a fool.

  Iseult’s expression set into its normal stony lines. “No,” he answered. “My life has other purposes.”

  Ealasaid frowned. She knew she should not ask any more, but he was actually talking to her, and she didn’t want to miss the opportunity. “Not even the girl you seek?” she questioned.

  His expression softened just a touch for the briefest moment. “She is part of my purpose,” he said simply.

  “You want to save her,” she clarified.

  “For a purpose,” he replied. “I made certain promises, and they must be fulfilled.”

  Ealasaid bit her lip. This man was absolutely exhausting to speak with. She wasn’t sure what gave her the bravery to say what she said next. Perhaps it was fatigue, or perhaps she just realized that she had little to lose. “Àed claimed you’re in love with her.”

  If Iseult’s face was stone before, now it was ice. Ice so cold that it would burn your skin if you touched it. “I know nothing of love,” he replied, then stood. “Get some rest. We leave at first light.”

  With that, he walked out of the inn. Noticing his departure, Maarav excused himself from Slàine and hurried after him.

  If Ealasaid’s foot could reach her mouth, she would have shoved it right in. As it was, she stared down at her food with no appetite, wondering where she was supposed to sleep, and wondering even more if she would even be capable.

  Chapter Fifteen

  They boarded Maarav’s ship at first light. Two crewmen had been chosen to accompany them. Maarav had offered up their compensation, as Iseult was running low on coin.

  Iseult now stood at the mast of the ship, charting out their journey in his mind. His map detailed a route to the Archtree in relation to Uí Néid, but it shouldn’t be hard to navigate from a little farther North. In fact, their current location put them even closer.

  He glanced over his shoulder at Ealasaid, who huddled near the center of the ship, looking petrified. She’d only just seen the ocean for the first time within the last week, and now she was about to cast off into the middle of it. Someone, presumably Maarav, as he seemed to enjoy caring for the girl, had provided her with a new dress to replace her dingy blue one. The bodice was a dark red, edged with black, that made her pale coloring and blonde hair stand out in contrast. The black skirts were divided for riding, though Ealasaid had been forced to leave her horse behind. Both Maarav’s and Iseult’s horses were trained to remain calm on ships. Ealasaid’s gentle village horse, was not. She’d cried when she parted with the animal, her last remnant of home. Maarav had assured her it would be waiting for her should she return.

  Iseult turned his thoughts back to their course. It should only take half a day to reach the island. If the winds were right, they might reach it by noon. If not, then the evening at the latest. If all went according to plan, Kai would be waiting on the island with Finn . . . and Anna . . . and likely whomever crewed Anna’s ship.

  He knew it would have been wise to bring more
men to fight, but he had no one he could trust. Finn was valuable, as was the Archtree. He could not risk the possibility of mutiny with a larger crew. Maarav had assured him that the two men they brought along had been trained from childhood within the hidden city, and would gladly fight as ordered, but Iseult had his doubts.

  One of the men, Tavish, appeared around thirty years of age. He was small of build, with red hair and dark eyes, reminding Iseult of a fox. His lighthearted demeanor made him seem innocent, and not at all dangerous, though Maarav had promised Iseult otherwise.

  The other man, Rae, was older with dark skin, hair, and eyes. He was tall and lanky, and would have almost seemed weak and clumsy if he didn’t move with such graceful efficiency. Iseult could tell Rae would be useful in a fight. Of Tavish, he was not so sure.

  Ealasaid gave a little yip as the ship cast off, and Maarav went to stand next to her. He must have told her a joke, because the girl laughed nervously.

  Iseult shook his head as the wind caught the ship’s sails. If Kai came through on his end, he might very well find Finn that day. It was both an exciting prospect, and a terrifying one, for reasons Iseult would not admit to anyone. For at times, he could not even admit them to himself.

  Finn and her companions had walked through the remainder of the night, and well into the morning. The smoke surrounded them continuously, never seeming to ebb. A normal tree would have burnt to ash in such a long expanse of time, but this was obviously no normal tree. Finn felt they were getting close, just judging by the blaze she’d spotted the night before, but it stood to reason that the fire should have spread. It should have spanned outward, meeting them before they reached the tree, but all they encountered was smoke.

  Her lungs ached from the impure air, though she kept her mouth continuously covered. Still, no visions had come upon her from the tree, nor had she fainted from lack of oxygen. Perhaps drinking a tea from the leaves was the only way, and the smoke was useless. She glanced to her right at Kai. His eyes were downcast, and sweat beaded on his face as he held his sleeve up to his mouth. This was the warmest weather Finn had encountered since she’d first awoken from her long spell as a tree. Or perhaps it was just the heat of the smoke.

  “There,” Anna said as she crested a large hill ahead of them. She looked just as bedraggled as Kai, her dark clothing damp with sweat. Little particles of ash danced around her slender form as a gust of wind rushed over the hilltop.

  Finn and Kai hurried to catch up to her, and Finn gasped at what she saw. An enormous tree stood on its own. Barren ground surrounded it, as if no other vegetation could grow near its massive roots. Its trunk was as thick as Kai, Anna, and Finn put together, twisting upward to branch off into what was once likely grand foliage. Now it was a solid wash of flame. The tree burned from halfway up its trunk all the way to the smallest branches, but the flame did not seem to eat away at it. It was like a giant candle, blotting out the morning sky with smoke.

  Kai coughed as he stood beside her, staring at the fiery spectacle. “What do we do now?” he asked. “I don’t imagine we’ll be able to pluck any whole leaves from the inferno.”

  “I feel dizzy,” Anna commented.

  “Too much smoke in your lungs,” Kai replied, still staring at the tree.

  “No-” Anna began to argue, then fell to her knees.

  Finn moved to catch her, but then nearly fell over herself. Her vision went gray, and she slowly crumpled to the ground. She felt someone’s hand gripping hers. She thought it was Kai’s. Then she lost consciousness.

  Finn coughed and sputtered as she fought her way into wakefulness. Everything around her was gray and misty. She vaguely remembered following the smell of smoke and finding the tree, but the smell was gone, as was the awe inspiring spectacle of the fire. What surrounded her now felt more like fog, dampening her loose hair and chilling her skin.

  She sat up, not remembering when she’d fallen, and looked down at her legs. The dark fabric of her breeches was covered in soil. Upon closer observation, so were the sleeves of her shirt. It even stuck in her hair. Her breath came too quickly as she began to panic. She glanced around, but the mist was too thick for her to see anything more than a few feet in front of her. She vaguely remembered Kai’s hand in hers, but there was no sign of him now.

  She stood, thinking again of the tree’s smoke. They’d inhaled so much that she thought it had no magical properties at all, but then, what had happened? Had she simply fainted, and now she was stuck in an illusion as her body shut down, or was this all a smoke-inspired dream where she would find the answers she sought?

  Though she felt shaky on her feet, she hurried forward, not sure where she was going, but wanting to find her answers as soon as possible. She could not accept that perhaps she was dying. She’d come too far. Suddenly her boots splashed into water and she cursed. The fog was too thick for her to even see the ground at her feet, but she must have run into some sort of pond or bog. She’d seen no bog anywhere near the burning tree.

  “I wouldn’t go in there, if I were you,” a voice said from behind her.

  Finn jumped, then stepped back out of the water to face the voice, though no figure was apparent in the fog.

  “This is not a normal sort of place,” the voice continued. “Who knows what creatures may lurk beneath the water’s depths?”

  Finn took deep breaths as she tried to slow her heart from leaping out of her chest. “Who are you?” she questioned bravely.

  The voice did not answer.

  “Are you the Archtree?” Finn asked impulsively, knowing her question likely sounded crazy.

  “No,” the voice answered, “but you were in danger. Someone was watching you while your helpless lungs filled with the tree’s smoke. I had to remove you from the situation, even if it meant taking away the answers the tree could have given you.”

  Finn froze. If she had been in danger, that meant that Kai and Anna were too. She hated that she cared, but she did. “Where am I?” she demanded. “I need to go back.”

  “I will send you back when it’s safe,” the voice replied.

  Anger and desperation overcame her fear, and she stomped forward through the fog. A dark shape came into view, roughly her size, and cloaked in black. As she continued forward, the figure did not move.

  Soon they stood face to face, though Finn could see nothing beyond the dark cowl. She lifted a hand to push it back, and the figure grabbed her wrist, lightning fast.

  Finn looked down at her wrist in shock.

  “I fear I’m not ready for your reaction,” the figure stated.

  “Too bad,” Finn growled. She’d had enough of being kept in the dark, and now her answers that she’d worked so hard to find had been stolen from her. She jerked her wrist free.

  As if resigned, the figure removed its cowl. Finn’s face stared back at her, outlined in fog, only it wasn’t Finn’s face. The jaw was sharper, the eyes smaller, and blue, compared to Finn’s dark brown. The hair was also different, a brown as dark as Finn’s eyes.

  Finn wasn’t terribly surprised.

  “Anna told me about you,” she stated apathetically.

  The woman, possibly Finn’s mother, frowned. “The one you’ve been traveling with? I’d wondered how I could see her.”

  “Why am I here?” Finn demanded.

  Her mother’s face fell. “Out of all of the questions you could ask, that’s the one you choose?”

  Finn glared. “There’s no point in asking questions if I choose not to believe the answers. I’ve traveled all this way to find the Archtree for answers. I do not want them from you.”

  “I’ve been protecting you since you on your travels,” she argued. “Why do you harbor me such ill will?”

  Finn snorted. “Protecting? Who was protecting me when I was left as a tree for one hundred years? Who was protecting me when I awoke, naked in a field, with no recollection of who or what I was?”

  “I was,” she insisted. “You could not come to terms with your
guilt.”

  “My guilt over what?” Finn demanded. “What did I do?”

  Her mother’s face might as well have been made of stone, for all the answers it gave her, but suddenly her stony pall broke as her eyes shifted nervously. “I will send you to the one who can protect you from our people,” she said, voice suddenly urgent. “You must stay by his side. He’s the only one who can truly guard you against what is to come.”

  “Who?” Finn questioned as her mother began to drag her by the arm. “Protect me from what!”

  She paused and leaned her face close to Finn’s. “I travel with the Cavari. They cannot know I have access to you. He can shield you from them, from me.” She continued walking, dragging Finn along. “The seasons are changing,” she chanted. “The lines are faltering, undoing the old and bringing life to the new. Trees will fall, and changed earth will be left in their place. A storm is coming.”

  Finn recognized the Traveler’s words instantly, though she did not understand them any better than she did upon first hearing them. “Please, wait!” she begged.

  Her mother stopped, but only to crouch near the ground, dragging Finn down with her. She met Finn’s eyes intently as she kneeled beside her. “The ghosts of our past deeds haunt us. Stay away from the Dair. I can say no more.”

  She pushed Finn to the ground as roots snaked up around her. They spiraled Finn’s limbs, binding her to the earth. “Please,” she cried. It had all happened so fast. She still had so many questions. “What am I?” she sobbed.

  “You’ve brought the earth up to swallow entire cities,” her mother whispered as she hovered over her. The roots continued their progress, encasing Finn in their leathery embrace. “Nations have trembled at your feet,” she continued. The roots wrapped around Finn’s neck, and began to crawl across her face. “You are both an anomaly, and a force of nature, but you are still my daughter, and I will not let our people use you. I will not let them make you into a monster again.” There was a moment of silence, then her mother added. “I buried the object you seek beneath your roots. There it still lies. If that is truly the path you wish to take, go back to where you began.”