“I fail to see how any of this is relevant,” he replied, lifting his chin.
“It is relevant because if the course continues as it has, you will need more power than you currently possess to keep control of Blaidd and Seabhac.” She paused, letting out a low breath. “More power than I even possess.”
He studied her, pursing his lips. Months ago, when she had first spoken to him of blood bonds and blood oaths, he hadn’t believed her stories. But now… now he had felt Cigfran’s power for himself. It was real and he knew that he had only scratched the surface of what was possible.
“What are you suggesting?” he asked.
“There is time yet for you to make your choice,” she replied. “But soon the tipping point will be reached and you will have to decide what you are willing to risk.”
Bleddyn slowly nodded, his thoughts swirling as he studied the bird on her shoulder, the raven squarely meeting his gaze. It wasn’t the first time he and Fiadh had had such a discussion. Soon, he would have a decision to make: whether or not he would be willing to offer up both the clans of Seabhac and Blaidd along with his very soul in exchange for Cigfran’s power.
Chapter 22
Lies and Secrets
Niall’s pant legs were rolled up to his knees and he stood barefoot in the waters of the Gwych river. It was their last day along its banks before they headed south, and there wouldn’t be any other significant bodies of water around them for some time. Rising before the others, he had set out to catch a few fish before the opportunity no longer presented itself.
The harsh glare of the early morning sun glinted off the water, causing him to squint. Focusing on a few fish that swam nearby, he tried to ignore the nagging feeling of guilt that left his stomach tight. Technically he had broken their agreement to not venture out alone, but when a vision had come to him in the early morning hours, he had been desperate for space.
Luckily, no one else had noticed his abrupt awakening or his departure. He had scribbled a note on the edge of one of the maps, leaving it out for the others to find, and he had brought Rhew with him. The wolf lounged on the riverbank a few feet away, watching him with interest. If there were any unwelcome visitors nearby, Rhew would be sure to alert him.
Taking in a deep breath of crisp morning air, he focused on the fish darting around his feet. Conor had shown both him and Bleddyn how to catch fish with their bare hands when they were boys. At the time, Niall had been in agreement with Bleddyn that it seemed a rather useless thing to learn, but now he felt less resentment toward their father’s insistence that they both learn survival skills.
A few fish darted closer and Niall went perfectly still. When one swam within reach, he dived for it. For a moment, he thought he had the slippery creature in his grasp, but his foot slipped on a stone in the riverbed and he fell forward. Sputtering and swearing, he came up onto his knees, fully drenched up to his waist. Shaking his head, he rocked back on his heels, wiping water off his face. He’d at least had enough sense to leave his shirt, socks, and boots up on the riverbank with Rhew.
With a frustrated sigh, he glanced over at where the wolf had been lying, his chest tightening when he realized she was missing. He scanned the bank, his tension evaporating when he spotted Rhew at the tree line with Ciara. She was petting the wolf with one hand while her other covered her mouth. Even with the distance between them, he could see she was trying to stifle her laughter and he couldn’t help but grin back at her.
“Go on,” he called. “You can laugh.”
His grin broadened and warmth flooded him as he listened to her, hardly caring that it was at his expense. It had been too long since he had heard her truly laugh, and he was pleased to see a genuine smile on her face. She walked down to the river, Rhew at her side, while he waded back over to the edge of the bank. He slicked back his wet hair but it was a few moments too late when he remembered that he had left his chest bare.
Ciara’s eyes widened as she closed the distance between them, her gaze drawn to the tattoo running across his collarbone. He silently cursed his own foolishness. He had fought hard to keep the mark of his gifting from others, but there would be no hiding it now. The tattoo, with its swirling black lines that created a wolf’s head at its center, had appeared the same day as his abilities. Conor had called it a mark of honor, not that Niall had ever agreed with his father’s assessment. He got out of the water, averting his gaze as he hastily grabbed his shirt.
“When did you get that?” Ciara asked, motioning to the tattoo.
Niall froze, the all too familiar anxiety rising within him and causing his heart to race as his chest constricted. He longed to tell her the truth and yet he couldn’t dare.
“After my mother died,” he answered, his mouth dry. It wasn’t a complete lie.
“It’s beautiful.”
He blinked rapidly, her response not at all what he had expected. He knew that her father, along with her aunt and uncle, had taught her many of the island’s traditions, but perhaps fate was on his side for once and she’d never learned how to recognize a seer.
As if hearing his fears, she tilted her head to the side, pursing her lips. “It almost looks like…”
His breath caught. “Like what?”
“Nothing.” She shook her head. “I’m being ridiculous. You’re— you look… more grown up, that’s all.”
“Eight months made that much of a difference, did it?” he teased, pulling on his shirt.
Her blush deepened and she cleared her throat. By some small miracle, he resisted the urge to take the conversation farther in spite of the spark that lit the air between them, the one that felt as if it were ready to burst into flame with the slightest encouragement. The morning sun bathed her in a soft light, and the flattering lines of her clothing, along with the sparkle in her brown eyes, drew him toward her like an invisible thread. Spirits knew it wasn’t physical attraction that was keeping them apart.
“We should probably get back,” he said, tearing his gaze away from her.
She nodded and he shoved his feet into his boots, choosing to sling his dry socks over his shoulder for now. Rhew walked between them as they trekked back through the forest to their camp. Birdsong echoed through the trees and the dense woods were peaceful. The idyllic moment left a stabbing pain in his heart. He wanted this—quiet, peaceful moments with her and his wolves—but they were never to be his.
“I take it you saw the note,” he said as they picked their way across a particularly rocky section of terrain, trying to get his thoughts off such an impossible future.
“Maura did, actually,” she replied. “Odran is the one who noticed you missing. I volunteered to fetch you back.”
He winced. “I know we all discussed not going out alone.”
“Odran was a bit put out, but Maura settled him down.” She sent him a sidelong glance, a hint of a smile on her face. “I can see why you choose her for your warrior chief. She’s a bit of a force to be reckoned with when she wishes to be.”
He let out a quiet laugh. “She is. Just like you.”
“Like I was,” she said, her voice so soft that he almost didn’t hear it.
He gently grabbed her wrist, pulling her to a stop. “Like you are.”
She went still, her expression softening, and he couldn’t help tucking a few errant strands of hair behind her ear. The air had changed between them again and his gaze unwillingly fell to her lips. In his dreams, he kissed her, showing her how much he cared for her in ways that he could never allow in his waking moments. It felt as if they were teetering on the edge of a cliff, far too close to a point that they wouldn’t be able to step back from, not without considerable hurt for both of them. She angled her head even closer and the movement was almost his undoing, but he swallowed hard and looked away, releasing his hold on her before taking a few steps back.
“I was trying to catch a few fish for breakfast,” he said, starting to walk again and struggling to settle his pounding heart. “You
saw how that turned out, unfortunately.”
“Well, lucky for you, Maura and I already have our hunting plans for today.” Her tone was light, but he noticed that she wouldn’t quite look at him.
The realization made his chest ache. No matter what he did, it seemed that he was always destined to hurt her in some way. They passed through a clear patch of forest and Rhew wandered a few feet away from them, intently sniffing. Niall frowned, striding over to see what had caught the wolf’s attention. Ciara followed and he tensed when he saw the set of pawprints that Rhew had discovered in a muddy patch of ground. He bent down to get a closer look. They were wolf tracks, though slightly larger than Rhew’s.
“What is it?” Ciara asked, peering over his shoulder.
“I’m not sure,” he answered.
“Another pack, perhaps? Or did you come this way earlier?”
“It would be a bit odd not to see other tracks if it were a pack, though it’s not completely unheard of for a wolf to be traveling on its own. These are too big to be Rhew’s and they’re at least a day or so old.”
The longer he stared at the tracks, the more there seemed to be something odd about them, an almost tangible feeling of power, one that was similar to what he felt when he was pulled into the Spirit Realm. He straightened, his thoughts flitting back to the unusual raven that he had seen in Caoirigh the day that Bleddyn’s men had found them. He hadn’t seen the bird since, but Cigfran continued to appear in his visions. The power from the tracks didn’t feel as dark, but an uneasy feeling settled in the pit of his stomach all the same. There were things at play here, things that he didn’t understand, and that knowledge was enough to put him on edge.
“We need to get back,” he said. “We have a lot of miles to cover today.”
Niall called Rhew off the scent and they continued on, but his unease remained, even with Ciara at his side. He didn’t feel like they should linger where they were for long.
∞∞∞
Niall pushed them hard for the next two days. Each day, they traveled until the horses would tire, forcing them to stop for the night. On the second evening since leaving the river behind, after a long, cold day of traversing the rugged mountain peaks, they made camp in a small valley. He and Odran had gone out to hunt while Ciara and Maura set up camp. Since their encounter by the river, Ciara hadn’t spoken again of the mark of his gifting, but the knowledge that she was aware of it felt like a physical weight.
They had yet to see signs of pursuit over the past few days, but the tracks that he and Ciara had found still niggled at him, leaving him extra cautious. Rhew trotted along next to him as they wandered the woods that covered a large portion of the valley. His wolf was far better at finding and flushing out game than he was; his family had trained their packs for generations to aid them on hunts. He and Odran had fanned out through the dense trees, though they had agreed not to stray far from one another. Every now and then, a whistle would ring out in the air, the two of them letting each other know where they were.
Rhew suddenly grew rigid, jerking Niall’s thoughts back to the matter at hand, and she took off through the brush at a quicker pace, getting slightly ahead of him. He followed her, hopeful they had managed to find something. In the distance, he could hear the noise of another creature barreling through the underbrush. As they came to the edge of a small stream, Rhew stopped and the noise ceased. The wolf circled the same area, trying to pick up the lost scent, and Niall let out a sigh. The water could have easily broken the trail of whatever creature Rhew had stumbled upon.
He walked over to the stream bank, curious to see if he could find any tracks. Crouching down near the water’s edge, his breath hitched. A single set of wolf prints was visible in the mud, prints that were eerily similar to the ones he had seen days ago. Surely the creature hasn’t followed us this far? He told Rhew to stay before wading through the shallow water. When he reached the other side, his blood ran cold.
The wolf tracks were gone, replaced by human footprints. He glanced back at the other side of the stream, thinking that he must have gone mad. It can’t be. Shaking his head, he jogged farther down the stream bank, searching for more tracks and hoping that the wolf had perhaps emerged from the water farther down. Finding nothing, he returned to the human prints. His stomach churned and he scarcely believed what laid in front of him.
There hadn’t been a wolf shifter on the island for over a hundred years. And yet, the knowledge of his own gifting, combined with the scene before him, left him with a knot in his belly. A nearby whistle broke him from his racing thoughts and moments later Odran appeared, pushing his way through the trees. The other man carried his bow in hand, his quiver slung over his back, looking far more at ease than Niall felt.
“Almost had a deer,” Odran said. “Got away from me though.”
“I think we have a bigger problem,” Niall said, pointing to the footprints along the stream bank.
“Those are probably mine. I came through this way not too long ago.”
“And the wolf tracks on the other side?” Niall asked, raising a brow.
For a moment, Odran went unnaturally still before giving a slight shrug. “There’s wolf packs in Seabhac just like there are in Blaidd. How do you know that it wasn’t Rhew?”
Niall crossed his arms, holding his gaze. His cousin was hiding something. He could see it in the set of Odran’s jaw and the tightness in his shoulders.
“Because Rhew was with me the entire time,” Niall answered. “If you have any secrets you’d like to share, I would prefer to know them sooner rather than later.”
“I think if we’re discussing secrets,” Odran said, pressing his lips into a thin line, “perhaps we should start with yours.”
“I don’t have any.”
Odran scoffed. “You think I’ve forgotten what I saw in Caoirigh?”
“I was exhausted. Nothing more.”
“My parents knew Maeve and the old stories just as well as yours did. I don’t know who you think you’re fooling.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about. You couldn’t possibly even begin to understand.”
“I couldn’t understand?” Odran’s nostrils flared, his brow furrowing. “Do you even hear yourself? Do you even know why I ended up working for your brother? It certainly wasn’t because I wanted to. I had a good life going for me in the southern part of Arth until someone found out what I was and I was run out of the village. My mother pulled strings at Ciall and by some small miracle, I was able to get hired on as the castle healer. So don’t you dare try and tell me that I don’t understand this.”
Silence fell between them, Niall’s stomach clenching as he digested the other man’s words. “And what exactly are you?”
“Oh, I think you know. Just like I’m fairly confident that I know what you are.”
“You’re a shifter,” Niall said, his voice low.
Odran nodded, his expression solemn as he held Niall’s gaze.
“Who knows?” Niall asked.
“My parents and my siblings, though they speak of it to no one.” Odran paused, shifting his weight and wincing slightly. “And Maura.”
“Maura?” Niall echoed, his eyes widening. “Why in the blazes would you—”
“She saw me when we were out hunting and I couldn’t lie to her! I’ve sworn her to secrecy. She won’t tell a soul.”
Niall rubbed the back of his neck, his heart pounding. He was torn between the relief of having someone else who might understand his struggles and having yet another thing to hide.
“I’m assuming, based off my conversations with Maura and Ciara, that no one knows that you’re a seer?” Odran asked.
“No,” Niall answered, grimacing. “And no one can know. I’m barely able to hold any support from the people of Blaidd as it is.”
Odran stared at him for a long moment before giving a slow nod. “Are you intending on at least telling Ciara?”
“Absolutely not.”
“So, you’re just planning on lying to her for the rest of your life?”
“Ciara has already made it clear that she wishes to return home as soon as we reach the castle. I won’t be in her life for much longer.”
Odran frowned, pressing his lips together. “Your choice, I suppose.”
Niall held his gaze, pleading with him to understand. “I can’t pull her into this life. I won’t. It’s not what she would want.”
“Have you even asked her what she wants?” Odran raised a brow. “If you tell her the truth, she just might surprise you.”
“I don’t have that luxury.” Niall averted his gaze, calling for Rhew. “We need to find game before it gets much darker.”
“Might have better luck together. I’m about as good as Rhew is.”
Niall nodded, watching his wolf trot through the stream to join them. Odran leaned his bow and quiver up against a nearby tree before morphing into the form of a large grey wolf. Niall was barely able to keep his mouth from falling open. It was a bizarre sight. Though I suppose anyone watching me get pulled into the Spirit Realm would find that equally bizarre, he thought. Rhew showed no misgivings over Odran in his new form and the two of them took off into the woods. Niall grabbed Odran’s bow and quiver before following them, the two tracking something that only they could hear and smell. As Niall jogged behind them, he couldn’t help but feel that their futures had just gotten infinitely more complicated.
Chapter 23
True Strength
Ciara’s stitches had been gone for almost a week and she was starting to feel as if her old strength was returning. She’d been taking the tinctures that Odran had given her for her lungs, along with a salve when her chest felt tight. Though there had been nothing easy about traversing the mountains and even the best of Odran’s remedies weren’t a cure for her lungs, in many ways their journey had become almost cathartic for her. She was standing on her own two feet again and she was reminded daily of all of the things she could do: ride, hunt, build a fire, cook a meal. Caught up in Bleddyn’s games, she had started to lose the deepest parts of herself and now it felt like she was finding them again.
The Betrayer: Tales of Pern Coen (Legacy Book 1) Page 18