Tree of Ages Box Set

by Sara C. Roethle

  “Are you well?” he asked.

  She turned and looked up at him. “Yes. I’m just nervous, I suppose. I have many things to tell you.”

  Iseult was silent for a moment, then nodded. “There are some things I should tell you as well.” He peered through the trees, as if he’d noticed something. “But not here. We should return to the ship.”

  Finn looked where Iseult was gazing, but saw nothing. She nodded and allowed him to lead her away. If someone was indeed watching them, perhaps it was whomever set the Archtree on fire. She would have liked to know who it was, but pushing an altercation with an unknown pursuer with many a possible power, seemed unwise.

  They walked on in silence. Finn was exhausted, and hoped Iseult’s ship was nearer than Anna’s. Those who’d gone the other direction would have a solid day of walking ahead of them, if not two.

  Finn thought again to what her mother had told her, that she wouldn’t let her become a monster again. What had she done in the past, and who else might know about it? She gazed at Iseult’s back as he walked down the narrow path, wondering what things he would tell her once they reached the privacy of the ship.

  Bedelia let out her breath as the party broke apart to walk to their respective ships. She’d never been much for the covert arts, and those two men had nearly spotted her. Óengus had given her the task of observing all who came to the island, while he waited for Keiren’s father. It rankled that Óengus was in charge of the more important task, but Bedelia was just glad to be away from him for a time.

  She followed a good distance behind Finn, figuring her the most important target to track. Bedelia had hardly believed her ears when Finn asked Maarav about her. She’d had no idea the lifesaving tincture had been Finn’s initial doing, even if it was Maarav who’d finally delivered it. They’d both saved her life, and she was thanking them with endless betrayal. Still, that line of thinking brought up a troubling question. What was Maarav doing traveling with Finn’s companions? She shook her head and continued to follow the party.

  All of this intrigue was too much. She should have just let the poison of the wolf’s bite take her.

  She cringed as she stepped wrong, straining her wounded leg. Perhaps it still would.

  Chapter Sixteen

  It only took an hour’s hike to catch sight of the ship. The vessel was a bit smaller than Anna’s, but seemed well made. There was a rowboat near the shore, which Finn, Iseult, Maarav, and Ealasaid took out to the waiting ship.

  Iseult had remained silent for most of their walk, and it had Finn feeling nervous. To increase her unease, she couldn’t stop thinking about who else might be waiting on board. Even though the ship they rowed toward was small, it would still need a few men to sail it. Since Maarav had initially offered himself and Ealasaid as collateral, there had to be other men waiting on board, else how had they expected Finn and Iseult to sail to Migris? The thought made her nervous. The thought of sailing with Maarav made her even more so.

  The little rowboat bobbed in the water as Iseult brought it parallel with the ship. He offered Finn a steadying hand as she grabbed onto the rope ladder that would lead her up to the deck. Iseult came after her. Then, two men from on board threw ropes down in preparation of hoisting the rowboat up. Ealasaid and Maarav remained below to secure the ropes.

  Once she reached the deck, Finn eyed the extra men nervously. One was small, with bright red hair, while the other was tall and lanky, with dark skin and dark eyes.

  “Hirelings of Maarav,” Iseult explained as he came to stand beside her. He frowned at them, then turned his attention back to Finn. “One of the many things I will explain,” he added.

  Finn nodded, then allowed Iseult to lead her toward the captain’s cabin above deck. She glanced back at Maarav and Ealasaid as they climbed over the ship’s edge to join the two men dealing with the rowboat.

  “I would speak to you privately before we cast off,” Iseult said softly, drawing Finn’s attention back to him.

  Realizing she’d paused mid-step, she jumped into motion again. She wasn’t sure why she was such a bundle of nerves in that moment. She knew part of it was leaving Kai and Anna behind, and entrusting them with Naoki’s care, but that was only a fraction of her worry. How would she explain to Iseult what her mother had told her? How could she tell him that she’d been a monster, and had been made into a tree for her own good. Or, did he already know?

  There was no malice in his expression as he held the cabin door open for her. She went inside, feeling somehow safer to be out of the open air.

  Iseult closed the door behind her, and they both moved to sit on opposite sides of the cabin’s single bed, beneath a small, shuttered window.

  Finn glanced around at the rest of the cabin’s interior, from the small writing desk, to the multiple storage trunks, then to her hands in her lap. “Your room?” she questioned, not knowing what else to say.

  Iseult smirked. “Maarav’s,” he corrected, but did not say anymore.

  Finn felt like she needed to cry, or laugh, or perhaps to just explode. She bit her lip and turned wide eyes to Iseult. She could take the silence no longer. “How much about me do you really know?” she questioned. “You recognized me back in Garenoch, yet you’ve harbored me no ill will. From what I’ve gathered, I deserve ill will.”

  Iseult smiled sadly. “You’re correct. I know more than I’ve let on, but you are mistaken in how I should be feeling toward you.”

  Finn frowned. “I do not know the specifics, but I was told that I was a-” she cut herself off to take a deep breath, “a monster,” she finished.

  Iseult shook his head ruefully. “I’d like to tell you a story. A story perhaps I should have told you from the very start.”

  “Why didn’t you?” Finn interrupted, almost irritated that he’d withheld information that could have been useful to her.

  He sighed. “I did not want you to doubt my motives for helping you. I truly do want to right my people’s wrongs, but there is more at stake than the honor of my ancestors.”

  Finn wrung her hands nervously, not meeting his eyes as she asked, “What more could be at stake?”

  “Their souls,” Iseult replied flatly. “And mine.”

  There was shouting outside the cabin as the sails were raised, and the ship began to pull away from the island. There was a sudden pounding at the door.

  Iseult sighed. “What is it?” he called.

  The door opened and Maarav popped his head in. “Are we really going to meet the others and follow them to Migris? We need to chart our course. We could always return to . . . ” he eyed Finn as his words trailed off, then turned his gaze back to Iseult, “where we departed from,” he finished.

  “And confront the reivers on our way south?” Iseult asked, making it clear he thought the idea ridiculous.

  “Reivers?” Finn interrupted, as the memory of what had happened during her reiver encounter jumped forward in her mind. She felt suddenly ill.

  Iseult sighed, his gaze on Maarav. “I’ll be right out,” he said evenly.

  Maarav nodded and shut the door, then Iseult turned to Finn. “I apologize. I was anxious to speak with you, and did not consider that I would need to guide the men in the correct direction.”

  Finn nodded a little too quickly, glad for a reprieve from the intense conversation. “Speaking of Maarav,” she said as she stood, glancing over her shoulder to assure herself the man hadn’t popped back in. “How do you know him?”

  Iseult stood and walked past her toward the door, then turned to offer her a small smile. “He’s my brother, or so I’m told. Cursed right along with the rest of us.”

  Finn’s mouth formed an ‘oh’ of surprise as Iseult opened the door and went out onto the deck to speak with his brother. She followed him out, and watched as the men began to expertly maneuver the ship to sail around the perimeter of the island. She wasn’t quite sure where Anna’s ship was moored in relation to theirs, but they would likely have time to circl
e the entire island before Anna and Kai finished their long walk.

  Ealasaid came to stand beside her as the men continued their work. “So you’re Finn,” the young girl began kindly. “I must admit, I’ve heard next to nothing about you.” She aimed an eye roll in Iseult’s direction.

  Finn laughed as she cast her gaze upon Iseult as he directed the other men. “Yes, he tends to keep his words to himself.”

  “I’m on a mission to avenge my family, by the way,” Ealasaid added casually.

  Finn’s eyes widened in surprise as she turned her gaze away from the men to observe the innocent looking young girl, her blonde curls a puffed up mess from the sea air. “I’m on a mission to stay far away from mine,” Finn replied.

  Ealasaid shook her head, bobbing her curls back and forth. “I imagine you have a reason for that, but you might want to reconsider.”

  Finn frowned, thinking of the evils the Cavari had committed. “And why is that?”

  Ealasaid gazed out at the ocean. “Because once they are gone, you will no longer have a choice.”

  Finn went silent as the ship picked up speed. What the girl had said might have been true, but some part of Finn told her that if she rejoined her family, she would have no choices at all.

  She turned her gaze back to Iseult, wondering what choices he’d made to lead him to where he was today.

  Maarav kept Iseult busy for some time, and eventually Ealasaid moved to help. Finn, feeling utterly useless with no way to help, retreated below deck. It was probably best for her to simply remain out of the way.

  She peeked briefly in each of the rooms, hoping to find one that appeared unoccupied. Each chamber, however, had various belongings strewn about, and two appeared to be storage for food and other supplies.

  Finally, she reached the last room. There was a bed and a stool, but no other belongings. With a sigh, she entered, thinking the space seemed rather lonely without a dragon sleeping on the bed, or without Kai banging on the door.

  She was looking down at the small, lonely bed, feeling morose, when a knock sounded on the doorjamb behind her. She turned to see Iseult waiting in the doorway, a kettle of tea and two empty mugs in hand. “I see you found your room,” he observed.

  She nodded, then waited wordlessly as he came in. She was anxious to hear the rest of his explanation, but also terrified.

  She sat on the bed and took the mugs Iseult offered, and held them while he poured the steaming tea. He set the kettle on the floor, then sat beside her. She offered him his full mug, then they sipped the hot liquid in silence, neither meeting the other’s eyes.

  Finally, just when Finn thought she couldn’t take the silence a moment more, Iseult turned to her and spoke. “When I was a small boy, my mother told me a story,” he explained. “She said it was very important to remember every detail.”

  He paused, and Finn nodded for him to go on.

  “She told me of the events that had led to the start of the Faie war. There was a clan called the Cavari, and we stole a special shroud from them, the shroud of the Faie Queen. To get it back, they not only killed many of our people, but their high priestess cursed us.”

  Finn gasped. Did he mean her? Cursing sounded just like something a monster would do, and that was apparently what she was. Iseult surveyed her face, and Finn wondered what he saw there. Did he sense her terror and repulsion at what she might have done? Did he think that she remembered doing it?

  “What kind of curse?” she asked weakly.

  Iseult looked down into his mug of tea, but did not speak.

  “Please tell me,” she begged, her voice a strained whisper.

  He met her eyes. “Finn, you took away our souls.”

  She jumped and spilled scalding tea all over her lap. Quickly setting the mug on the floor, she stood and brushed at her legs, but the hot liquid had already soaked into her breeches. Tears began to stream down her face, not from her scalded skin, but from what she had allegedly done. Such an act didn’t even seem possible.

  Her body began to shake as she wrapped her arms around herself and cried. Iseult set down his cup of tea on the bedstand and stood, then surprisingly, embraced her.

  She tensed. “Why haven’t you killed me?” she sobbed.

  He rubbed small circles on her back, attempting to soothe her. “I was not alive at the time, but there’s more to the story.”

  She pulled away slightly so she could see his face, though they remained in a loose embrace. His grayish green eyes held sadness. “I do not think the rest of it matters,” she mumbled. “If I truly did such a thing, there is no excuse.”

  Iseult guided her to sit back down. He sat beside her and took her hand. “Remember, this is how the story was told to me,” he began, “I cannot account for all circumstances, but there is one very important memory you seem to have lost, and I am reluctant to return it to you.”

  She met his eyes as her tears continued to flow. “You’ve already told me the most terrible thing possible. Nothing can harm me more than this.”

  He glanced down at his lap, then seemed to force himself to meet her eyes. “Finn,” he began again, “you were a mother. My people killed your child. Your grief was so great, that you used all of your energy to curse us. You used the Faie Queen’s shroud to do it.”

  Finn felt like she might vomit. “I don’t have a child,” she murmured. “Your mother told you wrong.”

  Iseult took a deep breath. “I did not want to tell you, for fear that you would hate me. Perhaps my people deserved to lose their souls, but I cannot stand the idea of leaving them trapped. When I die, my soul will remain trapped as well. None of us can ever move on.”

  Finn shook her head over and over. None of it could be true. She’d never had a child. She didn’t have the power to steal people’s souls.

  Worry tensing his eyes, Iseult continued his explanation, “When I told you the shroud was a way to contact my ancestors, it was not a lie. Anna is correct in her belief that the shroud can take away magic. Souls are a type of magic, and you used the shroud to claim them from the living, and to curse any borne of the blood of Uí Néid. Most who survived the original curse refused to have children, lest they pass the curse on to innocents. As far as I know, Maarav and I are the only ones left, though there could be others.”

  Finn took a deep breath. Her emotions all seemed to desert her at once, leaving her utterly numb. She met Iseult’s earnest eyes. “I must ask you again. Why have you not killed me?”

  Iseult took her hand. “I do not believe you deserve to die. In fact, quite the opposite. My ancestors believed you were the only one who could remove the curse, and you needed the shroud to restore our souls. Only, you disappeared, along with the shroud. The stories were passed down to the few children borne to my original clan after the curse. Eventually they were passed to me.”

  “You need me to lift the curse,” Finn said, feeling silly for not coming to the conclusion sooner. “And after I lift it, you will kill me.”

  Iseult flinched as if she’d slapped him, then he suddenly looked angry.

  Finn cowered in the face of that rage.

  “I will not harm you,” he said through gritted teeth. “All of the sacrifices made would mean nothing if this were to end in bloodshed. I want to right the wrongs of my people.”

  Finn felt so many emotions at once, it was overwhelming. “And I want to right the wrongs of mine,” she said shakily. “We will find the shroud, and I will lift the curse. I swear it.”

  Iseult nodded and squeezed her hand, but looked suddenly sad.

  “What is it?” she asked softly.

  He lifted his free hand to wipe a tear from her cheek. “I only wish I could restore what you lost in return.”

  Finn’s mind went blank. It was like a mighty stone wall barred her memories of her child from sinking in. She could not remember a thing.

  “If I truly had a child, they are lost to me in every way,” she explained. “I do not know if my memories were warped b
y my grief, or if my people took them away, but I do not want them. I want to help you, and I want to be a person. I do not want to be a monster, a member of my clan, or even a tree.”

  Iseult laughed suddenly. Tears strained his voice, but did not fall from his eyes. “As I recall, when we first met, you wanted nothing more than to be a tree again.”

  She smiled as she felt a measure of her will to live return. “That was before I went on an adventure. I escaped an enchanted forest, visited one of the grand cities, and braved mighty storms on a ship in the middle of the ocean. There’s simply no going back from that.”

  “Well there’s more where that came from,” Iseult assured. “Our journey has only just begun.”

  Finn’s smile widened into a joyous grin, though tears still stained her face. Iseult knew everything about her, and he still wanted to travel by her side. She’d done terrible things, but she might have the chance to right them. They would meet Kai and Anna in Migris, and hopefully Áed would be there too. Then they could all set out on yet another adventure, and this time, they would all know each other’s true stories.

  Finn continued to grin. She may have been a monster in the past, but Kai’s words echoed in her head. There’s always a choice. No one can force you to be something, if you choose not to be it. She could choose what she wanted to be in the present, just like any other human. In that moment she chose to be a friend, and someone who would keep her promises. No matter what.

  It had taken Kai and Anna longer to catch sight of their ship than they had hoped. They were both utterly exhausted from the previous day, making it a necessity to rest frequently along the way.

  They had spoken little on their journey, and it was only once they’d pulled their rowboat back out of the bushes, and had dragged it across the sandy beach toward the shoreline, that Anna finally brought up the discussion he’d been dreading.

  “You knew all along that Iseult would be here,” she commented as she stepped into the little boat for Kai to push it into the water. “You tricked me.”