by Jodi McIsaac
Brighid’s voluptuous mouth was a thin white line. After a moment of stony silence, she gave him a terse nod.
CHAPTER 15
Cedar awoke with a start. She was still clutching Brighid’s hand. The sky was a clear blue, and Cedar squinted in the bright sunlight.
“Are you okay?” Finn asked at once. Felix elbowed him out of the way and placed his hand on Cedar’s head.
“She’s fine,” he said after a moment. Then he gently untangled her hand from Brighid’s.
“Is she still alive?” Cedar asked. Felix nodded.
“What did she tell you?” Jane asked.
“She took me inside her memories—several of them. I saw why the spell was set, how it was cast, and I watched as she entrusted the jewels with a monk named Colum. I think he was—”
“Colum Cille,” Helen said eagerly. “You might know him as Saint Columba. The greatest of Ireland’s saints. It was he who began work on the Book of Kells. You saw him?”
Cedar nodded. “Yes. We were on Iona, I think, and they were just starting to build something—a church, maybe. She left a druid there to watch over the jewels.”
Helen’s gaze was envious. “I have studied the Book of Kells my entire adult life. To witness the founding of the great monastery at Iona…”
“What happened then?” Jane prompted. “Did you find out who took the jewels?”
“This is going to sound really odd,” Cedar said.
“Odder than everything else we’ve gone through?” Jane asked.
Cedar had to smile. “You’re right. I guess it’s on par. Brighid had a lover.” She stopped, wondering how much stranger her world could get. “Thor,” she finished. The rest of them exchanged glances, and she wondered if they were doubting her. “Like, from the movies. She told him about the jewels. He stole them and took them to his father in Asgard.”
“Thor?” Jane asked, her mouth gaping open. “Asgard? Are you serious?”
Cedar nodded. “I know it sounds crazy, but—”
“But no crazier than Tír na nÓg and stones that roar and portals in space,” Jane finished for her. “I get it. But holy jeez. Is every superhero movie I’ve ever seen real?”
“Hardly,” Felix answered. “The Thor from the comic books is a very, very loose interpretation of the actual Thor from Norse mythology. He’s the only one of the Avengers who exists in real life.”
Jane looked at him curiously. “You know who the Avengers are?”
He shrugged modestly. “I’m more of a Batman guy, myself.” At this, Jane actually giggled, but then she turned bright red and stared down at her Doc Martens.
“Brighid tried to get permission from the Elders to go to Asgard and get the jewels back, but they refused,” Cedar continued. “They basically told her that she and the Unseen had made this bed and now they had to lie in it.”
Felix rubbed the back of his neck. “That sounds like them, all right.”
“You saw the Elders?” Finn asked.
“I’m assuming that’s who they were. This all seemed to happen a really, really long time ago. That memory was definitely in Tír na nÓg, though; we were in the Hall.”
“I actually remember that day,” Felix said. “I wasn’t in the Hall, but everyone was talking about some scene that happened between Brighid and the others. She didn’t come back to Tír na nÓg very often after that.”
“Why wouldn’t they let her go to Asgard?” Jane asked.
“They thought it would start a war between the two worlds—Asgard and Tír na nÓg,” Cedar said. “And they said that if Brighid was so sure that the humans would continue to believe, it didn’t matter where the jewels were, as long as Odin didn’t destroy them.” She grimaced at the irony. “And now that’s exactly what we’re trying to do.”
“Did she tell you how to get there?” Felix asked quietly.
Cedar felt unsettled by the tone of his voice. “No,” she said. “Is it…hard?”
“It’s impossible,” he answered. “Asgard used to be connected to this world, just as Tír na nÓg was connected to it by the sidhe. The bridge was called Bifrost. But it’s been closed for centuries.”
“How did it get closed? Can we reopen it?” Cedar asked.
Felix shrugged. “No one knows. But I’m assuming it was done on Odin’s end. Maybe he wanted to sever all ties with humanity. It’s hard to say with Odin. He’s temperamental, to say the least. But I don’t think it’s something we can easily reopen…It’s based on the magic of their world, not ours.”
Cedar stood and started pacing around the balcony. She could feel the eyes of the others on her, but she ignored them. Brighid had told her there was another way, and then she’d shared these memories with her. Why would she have done that if it weren’t possible to get to Asgard? You have a knack for achieving the impossible, Brighid had told her. But how? What did she need to do?
“Have you been to Asgard?” she asked Felix. “Do you know what it looks like?”
Felix shook his head. “No,” he said. “I thought of that, but I don’t know if the sidhe would work, anyway.”
“Why not?” she asked.
“The sidhe are meant for traveling from Tír na nÓg to Ériu, or within either world…just as Bifrost was intended for travel between Asgard and here. I don’t know if travel between the two Otherworlds is possible.”
“But haven’t any of the Tuatha Dé Danann been there? Didn’t you have meetings with the other gods or something?”
“It might have happened, but I was never privy to such knowledge. I’m pretty sure none of the other gods has been to Tír na nÓg. I think that if such meetings happened, they would have been here on Ériu. Neutral ground.”
Cedar considered this. Even if Brighid was right and there was another way, she was running out of time. Soon all of the Unseen would be gone, and there would be no one to save. “Listen,” she said to the others. “We don’t know how to get to Asgard, and we’re running out of time. I think we should stick to my first plan—proving that magic is real. By the time we figure out how to get to Asgard—if it’s even possible—most of the Unseen could be dead. We have to act now.”
“Try,” Finn said quietly.
“Try what?”
“Try to open a sidh to Asgard.”
She stared at him. “You know I can’t. I don’t know what it looks like.”
“Maybe you don’t need to.”
“Of course I do—we’ve already tried to get places I can’t see, and it doesn’t work.”
“Why don’t you just try, Ceeds?” Jane asked, standing beside Finn. “Eden used to need a door, and now she doesn’t, right? So maybe if you try hard enough, you won’t need to know what it looks like.”
Cedar closed her eyes, took a long, deep breath, and tried to calm the disquiet inside. She imagined that she was alone, back in her poppy field under a gentle morning sky, about to practice a new skill. She repeated the name over and over again in her head: Asgard, Asgard, Asgard. She tried to imagine what it would look like, even tried to remember how it had appeared in the movie she’d watched with Jane. But she could not picture even that clearly. She concentrated on the warm center of power she felt right beneath her rib cage and placed her hand on it. Then, without opening her eyes, she made a motion with her hand, imagining a door opening in the air in front of her, imagining the eight jewels lying on the other side.
When she opened her eyes, there was nothing there. Her eyebrows knit together, and she fought the ridiculous lump that was growing in her throat. “See?” she said, her voice breaking. “There’s no other choice.”
“Eden can do it,” said Helen, who had been silent throughout their exchange.
“What?”
“Eden can open the sidh to Asgard. I am almost certain of it.”
Cedar narrowed her eyes at the druid. “Why would you say that? How do you even know about Eden?”
“I’ve heard the guards talking about her,” Helen said. “And I have the Sigh
t. I’ve seen her in my visions. And it is my belief that her powers far outstrip your own, if you’ll forgive me for saying so. If she were to try, I think she would succeed.”
“It’s worth a shot,” Finn said. “It would take less than a minute for her to try, so we won’t be wasting too much time. If it doesn’t work…then I’ll do as I promised.”
Cedar wanted to object. She didn’t want Eden to get wrapped up in this. What if Eden failed, and then blamed herself for Brighid’s death? But if she didn’t fail…well, maybe they should give her a chance.
Wordlessly, she made a sidh back to Tír na nÓg and stepped through it, leaving the others to follow her into the outer common room of her home.
“Where’s Jane?” she asked as Finn, Felix, and Helen emerged from the sidh.
“She said she’d stay with Brighid,” Felix said, his face soft. “She didn’t want her to be alone if…”
“I’m glad,” Cedar said. “Someone should be with her. Stay here. I’ll go get Eden.” She stepped into the inner courtyard, shoving willow branches out of her way as she rushed toward Eden’s room and opened the door. She tilted her head up and called, “Eden!” There was no answer. It was still morning in Tír na nÓg, but Eden should have been up by now. When she reached the top of the tree, though, her daughter was nowhere to be found. Cedar picked up the glittering starstone that hung from a knot in the tree next to Eden’s bed. She raced back down the stairs and into the courtyard, then knocked on Rohan and Riona’s door. After a few minutes, Riona appeared, looking at Cedar with surprise.
“There you are!” she said. “Rohan!” she cried over her shoulder. “She’s here!”
“What has happened?” Rohan said, looming behind his wife. “What have you done?”
Cedar drew back, stung. “I just need Eden,” she said. “Do you know where she is?”
“She went to Niall’s,” Riona said. “Is Finn here? He said he would bring you back.”
“Nice,” Cedar muttered. “He’s in the front room. We have a druid with us, so I didn’t want to bring them inside.”
“A druid? Why—”
“I don’t have time to explain,” Cedar said. She held up Eden’s starstone. “She didn’t take this with her. Can you tell me how to find Niall’s house? I need to get her. We’re just…trying something different.”
Several minutes later, Riona and Cedar were knocking on Atty’s front door. Finn and the others had stayed behind in case Eden came back early.
Atty looked surprised to see them when she opened the door. “Riona! Queen Cedar! What an unexpected pleasure. What can I do for you?”
“We’re here to get Eden,” Riona said. “She came here this morning to play with Niall.”
Atty looked taken aback. “I’ve been here all morning, and I haven’t seen her.”
“How did she get here?” Cedar asked, turning toward Riona.
“She made a sidh. I saw her go through it. It brought her right outside of this house. She waved to me to show me that she’d arrived and that Niall was home, and then she closed it.”
“Well, I haven’t seen Niall all morning, either,” Atty said. “I assumed that he was playing out in the forest, like he usually does in the mornings. But it’s strange that he wouldn’t tell me Eden was coming over.”
Cedar’s stomach started to feel uneasy, but she pushed the feeling away. Just some miscommunication, was all. Eden and Niall had gone off to play and forgotten to tell his mother where they were going. “I’ll go look for them,” she said.
“They usually don’t go far,” Atty said, pulling on a cloak and joining them outside. The three women walked through the forest, calling for their children. After several minutes, it was clear that Eden and Niall were nowhere within earshot.
Cold hands reached in and wrapped themselves around Cedar’s heart. She told herself to breathe, that it was impossible for this to happen again.
“Cedar?” Riona was looking at her with concern. Cedar realized she was clutching her stomach.
“I’m sorry, I—” She sat down hard on the nearest log, her head swimming, her breath coming in quick, shallow gasps. The next thing she registered, Riona was kneeling beside her, murmuring something comforting into her ear. Cedar tried to pull herself together. This was no time for panic. She need to be cool, collected…regal. She had to find Eden and get to Asgard. She stood up and waited for the wobbling in her legs to subside. Then she took a deep, cleansing breath and made a sidh back home. When she stepped through it, Riona and Atty on her heels, Felix and Finn rushed over. She waved them off.
“We can’t find her. She went to visit Niall this morning, but we can’t find either of them. Her starstone was still in her room so we can’t use it to get a hold of her. Let’s split up. Finn, go to your brother’s and see if they’re at his place. Felix, do you think they might have gone to your house? I saw Niall there once. Probably best to check.” She opened sidhe for both of them, and they set out at once.
“I’ll get Nevan,” Rohan said. “Eden’s mind is closed to her, but she might be able to contact Niall telepathically.”
“Good idea,” Cedar said.
“I can look for her as well,” Helen said. She had been standing behind the others, half concealed by the shadows in the corner of the room. “But I’ll need someplace quiet. I’ll go back to my room.”
Cedar hesitated, but then nodded. While she couldn’t think why Helen would want to go back to her cell, she didn’t have time to worry about it.
“I’ll escort you on my way to Nevan’s,” Rohan said, and the two of them left.
Cedar went back to Eden’s bedroom, on the extreme off-chance her daughter had left a note or some sort of clue. But there was nothing. If she had planned on being gone long, surely she would have taken the starstone. She could feel the cold edges of panic creep in again, but she pushed them aside. A child who could travel through portals at will was unlikely to stay in one place for long. She sat down on Eden’s bed and picked up the latest book her daughter had been reading: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. They had read the first three books in the series together, but Cedar hadn’t had time to read this one with her. This is the last time, Cedar said to her daughter silently. This is the last time I’ll involve you in something like this, I promise. You deserve a childhood.
She sat for several minutes, half-expecting to see a patch of shimmering air appear before her, followed by Eden and Niall. She thought about Brighid and wondered if she was still alive. What if they couldn’t find Eden and they weren’t able to open the sidh to Asgard? There was no way Cedar could put Plan B into action without knowing that her daughter was safe first. Her thoughts were interrupted by Finn’s voice down at the bottom of the tree. “Is there any sign of her?” he hollered. Cedar leaned over and peered at him through the branches.
“No. So she wasn’t at Dermot’s?”
“No,” he answered. “They haven’t seen her. Felix is back too; they’re not at his place.”
“What about Nevan?” Cedar asked as she ran down the stairs.
“They’re just getting back now,” Finn answered. Together they headed to the common room. Rohan had just entered, Nevan with him. “Did you find them?”
Nevan bit her lip as she came up to Cedar. “Your Majesty…Cedar…I don’t think they’re here. I think they’ve left Tír na nÓg.”
“You didn’t have to come, you know,” Eden said. She and Niall were standing in the hallway of her old apartment building in Halifax. Eden knew Jane still lived in the building, but she didn’t know which apartment was hers. She was missing her morning lesson with Helen, but this was more important.
“Why’d you come and tell me you were going here if you didn’t want me to come with you?” Niall asked, staring in wonder at the fluorescent lights and the carpeted floors. “I think it’s awesome. No one gets to come to Ériu anymore!”
“We’re not here for fun,” Eden reminded him. “We have to find my mum before she tells peop
le who she is.”
“Why didn’t you just use your starstone?” Niall asked.
“I tried that, but it didn’t work. She didn’t pick up.”
“Pick up?”
“You know, answer it.”
“Maybe she just wasn’t wearing it or something,” Niall suggested.
“It doesn’t matter,” Eden said. “I can find her this way.”
“So you’re just gonna knock on every door?”
“If I have to.” Eden took a deep breath and knocked on the door in front of her. After a few seconds a man opened it. He was wearing a white tank top and black track pants, and he looked like he hadn’t shaved in a few days. His belly hung out a little from the bottom of his tank top. Eden wrinkled her nose as the smell of stale beer wafted into the hallway.
“Yeah?” he said.
“Do you know where Jane lives?” Eden asked boldly.
The man stared blankly at the two children standing in his doorway. “Where are your parents?” he asked, squinting at them.
“They’re visiting their friend Jane,” Eden said. “We’re trying to find them. We just don’t know which apartment she lives in. She has tattoos and crazy hair and stuff.”
“Don’t know her,” the man said gruffly. “What’s her name again?”
“Jane,” Eden repeated. “I…don’t know her last name.”
“How come you kids are out here by yourselves?”
“Never mind,” Eden said, backing away. “We’ll find them.” She started to walk down the hallway toward the next door.
“That man is still watching you,” Niall whispered as he followed her. Eden knocked on the next door, but there was no answer. She glanced back over her shoulder, where the man with the big belly was leaning out into the hallway, his eyes fixed on them.
“Why don’t you come in here, and I’ll call them for you?” he yelled down the hall.
“They don’t have cell phones,” Eden answered, grabbing Niall’s hand and continuing down the hall. There was no answer at the next door, either. “Everyone must be at work,” she muttered.