“Oh good, a party,” said Bran.
“I guess not much happens here, if they take our arrival as an excuse for a party in this weather,” said Kelan.
Finn was chatting to Fearghus when Gwen skidded to a stop in the snow at his feet.
“Finn,” she said breathlessly. “We have an idea. You need Nialla and Ione to come with you to the Velvet Woods, right?” Finn barely had time to nod before she continued. “What if we made a portable version of the dampening spell? We could base it off the spell of a healing bracelet.”
“And we could adapt it to be stronger for those who need it,” Aidan added.
Finn frowned, but in thought instead of disagreement.
“It’s an interesting idea. I admit, I hadn’t considered the healing bracelet angle. We don’t know the dampening spell, though.”
“You’ve lived too long with the Breenan,” said Aidan. “You haven’t learned how to exercise your creative side. I’ll bet we can figure it out. Gwen and I make up new spells all the time.”
“What about the tribeless magic?” asked Kelan. “How can you make a spell for something you know nothing about?”
Finn gazed at Kelan in thought.
“I’ve gathered some knowledge, after living among the tribeless for years and talking to those who know more. The magic of the tribeless ones appears to be a mix of Ardra and forest people magic. It’s not unlike the magic of a realm’s ruler—an Ardra deeply connected to the land, with the ability to make long-lasting changes—but on a much smaller scale, of course. Their magic can come out in flashy, quick spells, such as those of the Ardra, but they seem to be stronger and more permanent, like those of the forest people. Hence their destructiveness. On Nialla’s boat crossing, the water sloshed around for a week after she was safely ensconced in the Forbidden Lands.”
“If you know all that, why can’t the tribeless ones figure out how to use it?” asked Gwen.
“It’s not that simple. How can they learn? No one knows enough to help. The forest people have no difficulty, as their magic is dormant until they need to access it. The Ardra attend training to corral their abilities. Most of the tribeless ones have been through the Ardra training, and it certainly did not give them the skills to harness their powers.”
“It’s a roadblock,” Aidan conceded. “But I think we know enough to try.”
“Please, Finn,” said Gwen. “Can you help us try? If we can’t figure it out, nothing needs to change here, and I’ll go be queen. But if we can make a dampening bracelet, would you consider being king?”
Finn stared at her for a long moment, then he looked to his wife, who had drifted to his side during their conversation. Nialla nodded.
“Yes,” he said finally. “I will consider it.”
Gwen gripped Aidan’s hand and he squeezed tightly back.
“Wait,” said Fearghus. “Are you saying that there might be a way for us tribeless ones to leave the Forbidden Lands?”
The villagers, already hushed to hear Gwen speak, ceased their murmuring. Ione took Finn’s hand.
“Is it true, Papa? Could I see the other lands like you do?”
Nialla looked annoyed.
“Keep your voices down. It’s not right to spread false hope. People are content here, mostly. If you give them hope only to snatch it away, that’s cruel.”
“But there is hope,” said Finn softly. He stroked his daughter’s hair. “Nothing more, but nothing less.”
“How can I help?” said Fearghus. “Anything at all.”
Gwen and Aidan glanced at each other. Gwen bit her lip in thought.
“We’ll need a way to get outside the boundary, to test the spell,” she said.
“A quiet place to think,” said Aidan. “Preferably warm.”
“And a bracelet,” added Finn unexpectedly. “Forged metal, something strong yet comfortable enough to wear always. We’ll need to affix the spell to an object.”
“All right,” said Fearghus. “I will make it happen.”
“And an escape from the Forbidden Lands for Gwen,” said Kelan. “We need to take her back to our father. She isn’t needed here anymore.” To Bran he said, “You know Father will kill us if she’s not there for the occupation. You take her back—Father will forgive you much more easily.”
Bran laughed.
“I suppose he will. You should stay here—they’ll need more power for their spell.” He smiled at Gwen. “Our poor halflings.”
Gwen wrinkled her nose at him, then turned to Aidan while Kelan wandered toward the awning with the steaming pot.
“Don’t you need me? Can you figure it out on your own?”
“I’ve been self-taught since I first realized I had magic. I can do this. I’ll bounce ideas off Finn—hopefully he’s lived in our world long enough for some creativity to rub off on him.”
Finn chuckled.
“I’ll do my best. I was a choreographer, remember? You may stay the night in our cottage, of course, and Gwen and Bran can leave at first light. Come in when you’re ready.”
He moved off. Nialla lingered for a moment.
“Please don’t fail. You have brought a disruption that I fear we won’t recover from if you don’t succeed. Longing for something that can never be is a poison.”
“I’ll do everything in my power to make this a reality,” said Aidan. “My future is also dependent on success.”
Nialla nodded and followed Finn and her daughter inside. The remaining villagers, those who had not rushed off with Fearghus, were talking and gesturing under the awnings, their drinks largely forgotten. Kelan strolled back with a drink in his hand.
“You could have brought one for me,” said Bran.
“You have legs,” said Kelan amiably. He took a sip then said, “No one in the realms will like this.”
“What do you mean?” asked Gwen.
“Tribeless ones living among us? It won’t be easy to get past the prejudice and fear. We’re brought up with stories of the Forbidden Lands. Monsters and wild men and the like.”
“I always loved the Tale of the Tribeless Tunnel,” said Bran. “Terrifying at night before bed.”
“Most know the tales as folklore to frighten children,” said Kelan. “Warn them from seeking out the Forbidden Lands, from getting too close to the forest folk, but dig deep enough and even marked adults have those prejudices. Even if you can find a way for the tribeless to leave the Forbidden Lands, it will be difficult for them to gain acceptance.”
“But they’re just regular Breenan,” said Gwen in exasperation. “Once they meet them, it will be fine.”
Kelan shrugged.
“Hopefully.”
“Well,” said Bran. “I think they’re great. Look how nice they are! I’ll bet they make delicious drinks, too, if someone had bothered to get me one.” Kelan took an ostentatious slurp and Bran shook his head. “Besides, people can change. I used to think humans were stupid and stinky, and now look who my friends are!”
“Thanks, Bran,” Aidan said. “No offense meant, I’m sure.”
Gwen yawned with jaw-cracking ferocity.
“I need to lie down before I fall down. Come on, let’s get inside.”
The cottage was small, but a fire burned brightly in the hearth set into the stone wall, and the floorboards were covered with woven mats in welcoming reds and oranges. A ladder led to a dark loft above. Nialla waved them in.
“If you’re hungry, I have some fish stew. It’s plain, but it will fill you.”
“Thank you,” said Gwen. She was almost too tired to eat, but the bowl Nialla handed her smelled too good to resist. She couldn’t remember the last time she had eaten. A pre-dawn breakfast at Winterwood, perhaps?
There weren’t enough stools for everyone, so Gwen and the others sat cross-legged on the floor. No one spoke much. There was too much to talk about, and not enough familiarity between them. Gwen didn’t know if she could string her rambling thoughts together into coherent sentences—her
mind wandered in its sleepiness.
Soon, their bowls were empty. Finn banked the fire and Ione shyly presented them with blankets.
“You’ll have to sleep on the floor, I’m afraid,” said Finn. “The loft is small enough for the three of us. But the fire should keep you warm, at least.”
“Thanks for putting us up, Finn,” said Gwen. “The floor is great.”
The little family disappeared up the ladder. Aidan and Kelan spread out their blankets, and Gwen lay down.
“Wow, that’s hard,” she whispered. She didn’t want their hosts to hear her, but it had to be said. Bran stretched out as if he lay on a luxurious down mattress.
“I’ve slept on harder. We pack light during patrol.”
“I would have thought you’d be soft, being a prince and all,” Aidan said. A gentle snore was his only reply. Aidan looked at Kelan, dumbfounded. “He’s asleep already?”
Kelan laughed.
“He can sleep anywhere. As can I, in fact. Good night.” And with that, he closed his eyes.
Aidan lay down beside Gwen and pulled the blankets over them.
“Are you warm enough, Gwen?”
She snuggled into his side in response.
“Now I am.”
He kissed the top of her head. They lay in silence with only the red glow of the banked fire for company, until the soft breathing of Kelan’s sleep drifted past them.
“Do you really think you can make this work?” she whispered in his ear. He squeezed tighter.
“Yes. It’s our only chance. I won’t rest until I find a way.”
Gwen pulled back to see his earnest green eyes, dark in the dim light.
“Don’t be silly. You can’t think properly without pacing yourself. Sleep, eat, then solve the riddle.”
He just squeezed her tighter in answer.
“I don’t like leaving you in the Otherworld,” Gwen said. “How can I contact you, especially if tracker rings don’t work with the magic-dampening spell?”
“I don’t suppose my mobile works here.” Aidan reached into his backpack and turned on his phone, kept dry in a plastic bag. The screen showed no signal. He put it away with an expression of resignation. “We’ll have to rely on optimism.”
Gwen didn’t like that at all but couldn’t see any alternative. She nestled in closer, then stiffened.
“Aidan. Kelan said the healing bracelet was like a gate, blocking the pain. What if our dampening bracelet worked the same way? Keep the magic behind a gate, and they can open and close it when they want to access their power.”
“And that’s how they can train,” said Aidan with suppressed excitement. “Letting more and more out at a time, until they can control it at will.”
“Yes, and you can have different sized ‘gates’ for different amounts of magic. Like that Culain boy, he’ll need more.”
Aidan sighed.
“That’s figured out. Now, to find the right series of spells for all those specifications.”
She poked him.
“Let’s not think about it anymore. Tell me something normal. What do you do on Christmas?”
Aidan rubbed his cheek against the top of her head.
“It’s pretty quiet. Mum and I open gifts, drink eggnog. Aunty Lucy comes over about mid-day, and we finish making dinner together. What about you?”
“Something like that. It’s usually Dad and me. Sometimes we visit my cousins in Campbell River, or sometimes Ellie’s family has us over. It’s nice.”
They lay in silence for a moment.
“You know what would be nicer?” said Aidan at last.
“What?”
“Spending Christmas with you.”
Gwen pressed her face into his chest.
“Yeah, that would be nice.”
***
Gwen woke before dawn, her body stiff from the hard floor. Kelan was rolling up his blanket and Bran stretched beside him. Finn was building the fire and Nialla cut bread on the table.
“Good morning, sleepy,” Bran said when he spotted her open eyes. “Ready for a boating adventure?”
“Adventure is the polite way of saying it. How are we getting out of here, anyway? I’m not paddling up that waterfall.” Gwen stood with a groan and shook her arms to work out the kinks.
“Finn says that if you follow the river, it will pass through another tunnel through the mountains,” said Kelan.
“Oh, great,” Gwen said.
“But this tunnel is wide and calm, and much shorter.” Kelan smiled. “You’ll be fine.”
“I hope you’re right. We could use a break,” Gwen muttered.
Kelan and Bran moved away briefly to say their farewells, and Gwen threw her arms around Aidan.
“Be careful traveling the river with Finn, when you figure this out. Tunnels are still tunnels, no matter how calm.”
“You too,” he said, and then his lips pressed against hers, fiercely, urgently, as if it were their last. Gwen melted into him, twining her fingers in his hair and pushing her body against his. She didn’t care who was watching—they needed this moment, right now.
But a moment was all they had. Bran approached.
“Sorry to interrupt, but we should leave soon, Gwen.”
“Nialla,” said Finn. “Would you take Gwen and Bran to the river? I will begin our work with Aidan.”
“Of course,” said Nialla. She put slices of bread into Gwen’s and Bran’s hands. “Here, eat this on the way.”
Gwen nodded quickly and gave Aidan one last kiss.
“You can do it,” she said to him. “I know you can.”
He didn’t say anything. He just nodded and watched Gwen as she walked out the door with Bran and Nialla.
***
Nialla led Gwen and Bran through muddy grasslands edging the river. Their inflatable boat was pulled up in the grass, with the oars neatly shipped.
“It’s still here,” said Bran.
“And it still has air,” said Gwen. She gave the boat a grateful pat.
“Follow the river. It will lead you through a tunnel, wide and calm. Past that, I do not know. Finn tells me you can easily paddle to the shore and disembark.”
Gwen turned to look at the mountain range downstream.
“Are you ready, Bran?”
“Always.” Bran grinned at her and she smiled weakly back.
“Then let’s take it to the tunnel.”
“I think the snow will hold off for a while,” said Bran after they had dragged the boat to the river. His eyes squinted against the breeze as he gazed up at the sky. “See, Gwen, you always need me along. I bring good luck.”
Gwen laughed aloud at this.
“Yes, that capsize we had on the way here was so lucky.”
“But we made it!” Bran bowed with arms extended and a twirl of his wrists. “You’re welcome.”
“Best of luck,” said Nialla. She rubbed her hands together. “I hope we may meet again soon, far from here.”
“I hope so too,” said Gwen. “I really do.”
Nialla climbed up the riverbank. Gwen moved to the back of the boat.
“Come on, Bran. Let’s get this over with.”
They pushed hard at the boat, and it scraped against the frozen mud and slid into the water. The current pulled at the light boat. Bran waved at Gwen and she climbed in, hissing when cold water rushed into her boots. One final push, and Bran nimbly leaped in. Bran settled into position and fitted the oars into their oarlocks.
“And heave!” Bran shouted with a playful splash of the oars. “We’re on our way!”
They flew down the river, Bran’s strokes helping the current push them along. Within minutes, they approached the edge of the mountains. Ahead was a dark gash in a cliff wall.
“Here we go,” said Gwen. “I’ll turn the flashlight on.”
Bran stopped rowing and they gazed forward in an attempt to pierce the utter blackness of the tunnel. Gwen’s flashlight cast a feeble ray that illuminated nothing.
The arch of the entrance passed overhead, and they were inside.
Gwen’s eyes adjusted slowly, and she looked around at the rough walls of the tunnel. It was more of a cavern—its roof was twice as tall as Gwen, and the walls were wide enough for four boats.
“Nialla was right,” said Gwen. “So far, it’s a smooth ride.”
“Did you doubt her? Finn must have done this a dozen times, if he was gallivanting off to the human world on a whim. Lucky man.”
Bran dipped the oars in from time to time to correct their course, but for the most part he and Gwen enjoyed the calm of their journey. Soon enough, a pinpoint of light shone through the blackness, and grew until it became the exit to their tunnel. Brighter and brighter it glowed, until the river whisked them out into the light, wind, and chaos of another stormy winter’s day. A pulse of pressure passed through Gwen and she gasped.
“There’s the boundary,” Bran said. He held up a hand and blue fire appeared. “It feels good to have my magic back.”
“Row to the right shore,” Gwen called out over the wind. “I’ll make a portal there.”
They beached the boat and jumped out, then hauled it up the bank. Gwen called her father to mind and sent her magic out of her hand. A ragged portal ripped open and she and Bran leaped through onto a paved road between soggy fields. Gwen pulled her phone out of her backpack.
“Dad really thought of everything.” She unzipped the plastic bag her father had insisted on buying at the store before their voyage and pulled out her phone to call.
“Gwen!”
“Hi, Dad. We’re out. Can you pick us up? We’re…” She looked around for a landmark. “Somewhere to the northwest of the lake. I can see it in the distance. There’s a big red-brick house not far away.”
“I’ll be right there.”
Ten minutes later, the rental car roared up the road. Her father waved his hand wildly through the windshield before the car lurched to a stop.
“I think he might be happy to see you,” Bran said with a grin. Gwen laughed in relief.
Breenan Series Box Set Page 62