It could not be a trap. Still he could not rid himself of the niggling sense of unease that prickled the back of his neck.
Nay, he did not truly believe that Ula would knowingly endanger them. She and Deirdre were kindred spirits, and from the wary curiosity he had seen in her vibrant violet gaze, the younger Shadow Dancer could learn from the elder.
How could he begrudge her that?
Yet he could not help but miss the way Deirdre had, before the arrival of Ula, freely touched him with unabashed pleasure. He longed again for the simple honesty of her kiss, for the lush sensuality of her body as it welcomed his.
By the Goddess, could he not even think of Deirdre without growing aroused? It appeared not, for again he was hard and heavy, as though her soft tongue had stroked him to life.
If Deirdre slept alone inside the cottage, he knew he would go to her now, and bury his swollen staff deep inside her.
He muttered a curse. His involvement with the lovely Shadow Dancer had become more than mere lust, more than a simple diversion. He could not allow himself – by thought or by body – to become so completely consumed by a mortal woman. Bad enough that he had given his oath to protect her, and to try and lift her curse.
He must find the amulet and be done with it.
Turning, he forced himself to concentrate on the rapid lightening of the sky. As he waited for the sun to make her daily appearance on the horizon, he found himself wondering what it would be like, never to have greeted the arrival of day. Around him in the squat, leafy trees, birds began to sing, welcoming the morning. The night insects, unwilling to be stilled just yet, continued their songs as well, blending into a cacophonic chorus. Streaks of rose and orange colored the sky, and the air grew still, expectant.
As the bright orange disc rose in the East, Egann lifted his face, feeling the lightening of spirit that the arrival of day always brought.
How he wished Deirdre could stand at his side, her hand tucked firmly in his, and greet the sunrise with him.
Thinking this, he remembered his oath, and his debt. Once he found the amulet, his task would not be done. He could not simply retrieve the powerful talisman and return it to Fiallan's waiting hands. Nay, for if there were a way to use it to remove the curse that Deirdre and her kind carried, he must find that as well.
Only when Deirdre was truly free could Egann seek his own freedom. This revelation worried him. He did not like to tie his own destiny so closely with another's. Therein waited nothing but grief and sorrow.
Weylyn nickered, echoed by Cinnie, reminding him that the valiant beasts were surrounded by fertile fields yet still wore bridles. Removed, the horse would be free to graze.
Once he had released the horses to graze, Egann lowered himself to a grassy area in the front of the cottage. Though he would have liked to search the nearest village for clues to the whereabouts of the Maccus, he could not leave Deirdre and Ula unprotected. Careful to keep the stone wall at his back, he would simply wait in the sunlight, and keep watch.
Still he could not shake the sense of impending danger.
A profound silence seemed to come over the day as the sun continued its brassy rise in the sapphire sky. The air grew warm and humid and, except for the drone of an occasional insect, he detected no obvious threat. As the perfect spring morning waned into afternoon, he ate one of the apples he'd taken from the orchard with a bit of bread and cheese. He took water to Weylyn and Cinnie, and then continued his restless vigil. No longer could he sit; instead he found himself pacing the exterior of the squat stone building, alert for signs of danger.
Nothing disturbed the peace of the abandoned farm. He saw no wildlife, not even a sparrow. Though he found this odd, he was grateful, as magic could take many forms. Still, he had lived long enough to trusts his instincts, and every nerve ending screamed silently that he'd better beware.
Only when the sun's amber orb dipped below the darkening horizon and the crickets began to chirp again, only then did he allow himself to relax. With dusk, he ventured inside the shadowy confines of the farmhouse.
His purpose was simple, yet so profound that his mind skittered away from the implications of it.
He wanted to be at Deirdre's side when she awoke.
From one room to another he went, finding each successively empty. The third room, one that had been added to the back of the farmhouse at a later date, had a tattered curtain hanging in the entrance. This makeshift door separated this room from the others, as well as keeping any light from penetrating its murky depth, which lay a few feet below the rest of the house.
This place then, must be the room where Deirdre and Ula slept.
The back of his neck, only tingling before, began to prickle.
Taking a deep breath, Egann pushed aside the torn blanket with a rising sense of urgency and went in. It took his eyes a moment to adjust to the darkness. He could make out the shape of a crude straw mattress, saw too the dark cloak that perhaps had covered them while they slept.
But that was all. No sign remained of the two Shadow Dancers. `Twas as if they'd disappeared into thin air.
For a moment he could not breathe. He could hear the loud thump of his heart, the blood roaring in his ears. His vision blurred as rage filled him, rage and an awful, certain fear.
They were gone. But how?
Chest tight, Egann searched the closed room, shoving against the walls with his hands, seeking a hidden doorway, a window, even some sort of storage room, large enough to hide two women.
He found nothing. Then how had they gone? They had not vanished by normal means. He himself had not left his post, not even once had he relaxed his vigilance beside the only door to the cottage.
Robbed. He slammed his fist against the wood that framed the doorway, feeling it splinter beneath his knuckles, welcoming the pain. Once again, some elusive thief had stolen something precious from him. Once more, he had failed.
Magic? It had to be, though he had not sensed the tell-tale ripple in the air that always before had warned him of its presence.
The fact remained – Deirdre and Ula were missing. If the Maccus had taken them, their lives were in grave danger.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Awakening from a sound slumber, Deirdre sensed immediately the wrongness in the air. She rubbed her eyes and looked around, her head beginning to ache. The straw mattress in the cramped little room had vanished, the abandoned farmhouse as well. The place she now awoke in was dark, as it should be. But, scrabbling to her feet, she realized she stood on rough rock that had a slippery feel, and around her she saw naught but stone walls. Indeed, it appeared that she'd been transported by ethereal means, to a dank place that had no sky.
She could see little, except the distant glow of a fire. The air smelled of sulpher and smoke, stale air, stirred by no breeze. Once when she had been only a small girl, a Christian friar had traveled to her village and told vivid stories of demons and their home. This place reminded her of that; deep within the bowels of the earth, in the pits of the Christian Hell they seemed to be.
"Take my hand," Ula appeared before her and commanded, her voice no longer sounding quite so weak, nor so old.
Deirdre did not move. Instead, she regarded the older woman thoughtfully, tamping down her anger. This could wait, at least until she had some answers.
"Where are we?"
The other shadow dancer gave a mocking laugh. "In a place where neither the moon or the sun, nor the whims of others can affect us. Come with me and I will show you a place the likes of which you could only have dreamed.
"No." Keeping her voice flat and unemotional, Deirdre stood her ground. "I want to go back to the farmhouse. Egann will be looking for us there."
"The Prince of Fae?" Ula's expression soured. "What do you want with him? He is the opposite of all our kind."
"I value him, as he does me."
"You delude yourself, child." The older woman spun in slow circle, her silver hair fanning behind her. "His kind belon
g to the light and the sun. Once he finds that which he seeks, you will never see him again."
"You cannot know this."
"Ah, you need to think on it, young one. What would one such as he want with a woman like you, beautiful or no? You are mortal and can only move about in the darkness, while he must have the bright light of day to survive."
That Egann had promised to remove the curse, Deirdre dared not say. The hope of a cure, however remote, would be far too cruel of a thing to dangle without reason.
"Let me go back," she stubbornly said.
The other woman's smile turned sly. Eyes glowing in the dim light, she moved closer. "Do you wish to help this Egann of yours?"
Deirdre stiffened, but held her tongue.
"I know where the talisman is hidden." Ula held out a hand, her voice wheedling. "Come with me and I will show it to you. How wonderful would be your welcome, were you to return to your Egann with the amulet he seeks?"
Though she knew giving in might be foolish, such a powerful lure she could not resist. Ignoring the other woman's outstretched hand, Deirdre inclined her head briefly.
"I will go with you then," she said, letting some of the icy contempt she felt show in her tone. "Goddess help you if you have spoken falsely…" she let her threat trail off. She did not trust this woman, even if Ula was of her own kind. But if there were even a chance, however slight, that Deirdre could help Egann in his quest for the amulet, she would have to take it.
"Take my hand. We cannot go down the path unless together."
Deirdre did as the older woman asked, noticing immediately that the hand she took was not knarled and coarse now, but soft and smooth, the hand of a much younger woman.
Magic.
If the light were better, she would have liked to see what the silver haired woman looked like now.
"Was it you who did brought us here?" Low voiced, Deirdre squinted into the all-encompassing darkness, trying to make out the features of the landscape they passed. She might need to remember the way if escape were necessary. Unfortunately, lit by flickering torches, all she saw were dark stone walls, rough with the passage of time and wet from some unknown source.
"Nay, not I." With a tug on Deirdre's hand, Ula pulled her forward, moving in the darkness as if by memory. "You know as well as I do that our kind does not have that kind of magic."
"If not you, then who?"
The other woman ignored her and simply increased her pace.
Deirdre dug in her heels, trying futilely to yank her hand free of the Ula's surprisingly strong grip. When she finally succeeded, stumbling backward, she folded her arms across her chest. "I would have answers, first."
"And you will get them." Frustration sounded in the older woman's tone. "But you must come with me to get them."
"No. I will not follow you blindly."
"Even if doing so means you will get the amulet?"
Ah, again the lure, again the tone of utter insincerity. Still, she could not help but think of Egann and how pleased he would be if she were able to retrieve the talisman.
"How can I be certain that the amulet is even here?"
Ula spread her hands, palm up. "How else do you think we were brought here? `Twas only with the power of this talisman to aid him that gave him strength to work such a spell."
"Him?"
"He who wears the amulet."
"Who is he?"
Her question brought only silence, while the older dancer smiled, an expression of utter serenity on her pale face.
"I have given you my real name, and the truth of what I am. You and I are the same, Shadow Dancer. Have you spent much time with others of our kind?"
Reluctantly, Deirdre shook her head. "You are the only other I have met."
"Many of us have assembled here, to follow one who would unite our people."
Deirdre narrowed her eyes. "Who is this man?"
"No man, nor even mortal. He who wears the amulet awaits us. Come with me to meet him and see for yourself."
Now she began to see. "He would be king?"
"Enough of this." Fingers like claws, Ula grabbed Deirdre's arm. "Come with me now and meet him. You will have your answers soon enough."
Truly curious, this time Deirdre went, allowing the other woman to lead at a brisk pace.
It appeared they walked along a stone path, for that which sounded beneath her feet had the feel of the cliff ledges of her former home. After a moment, they rounded a corner and Deirdre could see that they indeed walked along a mountainous pass of some sort. Steep walls of smooth stone rose on either side. Below lay utter blackness, a deep pit. Ahead the ginger glow from the fires grew brighter, the air grew heavier with smoke.
Fire. Always would the leaping flames remind her of the Maccus, as they served their red and angry god.
She tamped down her rising panic. Ula had mentioned other Shadow Dancers. Surely no Maccus would have been allowed to infiltrate their home.
The dancing fires brought more light. Now she could better see. The woman who pulled her along looked both the same and yet different than the elderly Shadow Dancer Egann had rescued. Her hair was still the color of milk, startling in this dim light because it seemed to glow. Many lines remained and deepened the skin around her mouth and eyes, proud symbols of her advanced age.
`Twas in the way she carried herself that had changed. Where once she had walked with stooped shoulders and bowed back, she now moved with her head held high and her shoulders straight. Her stride no longer seemed little more than a painful shuffle; rather she walked with the determined gait of a much younger woman. A woman with a purpose.
Who served the man who wore Egann's amulet. Another who would be King. `Twould be well to remember that.
* * *
Egann spun on his heel, ready to go outside and summon Weylyn, when a tiny mew came from the bed. Deirdre's kitten poked her head up, bits of straw clinging to the tufted ears.
This gave him pause. When had the animal changed from horse to cat? And how? Studying the small, furry beast, he saw no answer. He had not wanted this kitten, and now it looked like it had been foisted on his regardless. Though perhaps it would be easier to travel with a kitten astride his Weylyn, what was he to do with the small beast?
With a frustrated sigh, he reached down and scooped up the creature that Deirdre had named Cinnie. Of course he must take it - he had no choice, not really. Deirdre would never forgive him if he left her pet.
Outside, Weylyn waited, as though he'd heard an unspoken summons. Rested, the sleek beast exuded power and strength.
Leaping on his steed’s back, Egann scented the wind. To find them would require even more skill than searching for the amulet, for Deirdre had no way of calling to him across the miles and the amulet had gone silent.
Cinnie yowled, her sharp claws digging into Egann’s shoulder. With a shake of his head, Egann shifted the small cat, so that she might rest more comfortably. `Twould all be much easier were he to simply use his magic to travel, and so he would, once he had determined the direction they must go.
He sent out his mind to seek Deirdre. Surely it would not be so difficult to locate a tendril of her essence, a hint of her being.
It took but a moment to find that which he sought. A faint flash of vision – cliffs, the sea – then darkness. Deirdre, one moment he sensed her, the next she vanished. Puzzling, but he would have answers soon enough.
Egann turned Weylyn west, towards the coast and began to speak the words of a spell to send them. They would go to the ocean, to the northern cliffs and the caves, so like Deirdre's home in the south.
It seemed he was forever doomed to fail those who trusted him most. Even now, Deirdre's life was in danger – because he had failed to protect her.
He thought of calling to Fiallan; the wise man had been like a father to him, his closest friend and greatest confidant. Yet how could he bear to see the look of disappointment that would surely come into the older man's eyes once he learned that E
gann had failed yet again?
Twice now had Egann let his mentor - and his people – down. And Deirdre! Forever would he see the absolute trust shining in her ever changing eyes as she gazed at him, forever would her words of confidence haunt him. She had become more important to him than he would have believed possible.
He must rescue her. This time, there would be no possibility of failure. For, were he to fail, he would no longer desire to live.
In the instant before the air began to shift, Egann glanced at the sky. The moon, no longer merely a crescent, was half full. Soon it would be time for Deirdre to dance. He wanted to make sure he was with her when she did.
They appeared on the coast with the sunrise. Shimmering into the sharp air of day, Egann dismounted, freeing his faithful companion of bridle and saddle with a wave of his hand. Immediately the great beast dropped on his side and rolled in the fragrant sea grass that grew along the tops of the rocky cliffs.
With an yowl, Deirdre's kitten leapt from the discarded saddle, scampering over to join Weylyn in the grass.
Watching them frolic, Egann pushed off his own exhaustion. Though the Fae needed less rest than humans, the use of magic was taxing and his body was weary. Yet he knew he could not afford to stop until he had found Deirdre and knew she was safe.
Here, with the air smelling of salt and the gulls wheeling overhead, the sense of her felt stronger. And, because she and Ula had to rest during the day, now would be the best time to seek her.
Crossing to the edge of the cliff, Egann saw that a rough path had been cut into the side. After glancing once more at Weylyn and the kitten, who still played in the tall grass, Egann took a deep breath and began his slow decent to the caves below.
* * *
"Maccus!" Recoiling in horror, Deirdre yanked her hand free from Ula's.
Shadow Magic Page 15