by Rye Hart
A moment later, the druids appeared next to Eva, their cloaks still concealing their faces. "This way," they said in unison. They motioned to Eva to follow them deeper into the woods.
"This way," the female druid said as she led Eva toward a large tree.
Eva gaped as she watched the druid disappear into the trunk of the tree. "How?" she sputtered as she looked at the spot where the druid had stood only a few seconds ago.
"There is a veiled door," the male druid explained blankly. His voice continued to hold no hint of emotion as he spoke. "Follow me," he said flatly, right before he, too, disappeared into the tree.
"Okay?" Eva took a step closer.
But as Eva moved nearer to the spot where the druids had disappeared, the sun caught the tree trunk on an angle and brilliantly illuminated the optical illusion. Indeed, a concealed entrance opened up to a passageway that led into the base of the tree.
Eva looked wildly around her. Now was her chance if she chose to try and outrun the two druids. But even as Eva considered her option of simply running away, she couldn’t move her body.
The tree had opened into a passageway connected directly to the castle. Eva had followed the druids silently down the dimly lit corridor as they made their way into the keep.
I wonder if Bhradain knows about this passageway? Eva wondered. It was a brilliant invention, as it would allow one to move about the surrounding lands with precise efficiency. It was probably how the druids were able to find me so easily, she thought.
It didn't take long before their small party was back inside the stone fortress. The druids guided Eva down deserted hallways as they made their way to the center of the keep.
They stopped abruptly before two large double doors that Eva suspected led into the castle's great hall.
"We leave ye here," the female druid said mysteriously.
Eva had a sudden sense of déjà vu. She remembered the moment when Lady Drummond had left her to the druids and she had narrowly escaped their attempted murder.
Eva nodded her agreement. She still felt like she was trapped inside of a body she had no control over. She turned toward the large doors and pushed them open.
Eva was relieved that her nostrils weren't assailed by the sickly smell of incense. Rather, it was a typical great hall, with long tables placed along edges for when the household took their meals. However, the shutters were closed against the noonday sun and the only light came from a large fireplace and a few candles placed about the room.
"Close the door lass," Lady Drummond said in a gentle voice from across the room. She was seated in a large chair situated near the fire. She had been so quiet when Eva first entered the room, that she hadn't even noticed the small woman at first.
Eva moved toward Lady Drummond, waiting for her to start explaining why she was here and why she kept sending her druid henchmen after her.
"Will ye take a seat," Lady Drummond nodded in the direction of a chair perfectly situated across from her.
Eva was a bit hesitant of becoming too comfortable, but neither did she want to aggravate Bhradain's mother. Eva took a cautious seat.
The whole time Lady Drummond kept her gaze trained on Eva, as if examining her every move. It made Eva feel especially fearful.
"Why did you bring me here?" Eva asked one of the hundred questions swirling in her brain.
Lady Drummond laughed softly. Her voice sounded like a hauntingly sad ballad, as if she was struggling to hold back intense grief. The thought made the hairs on the back of Eva’s neck stand on end.
"Is Bhradain ok?" Eva blurted out.
Lady Drummond didn't speak at first, but rather she studied Eva warily. "Bhradain is nae fine," she said softly. "Today is the day of his birth," she added cryptically.
Eva looked confused. "What do you mean?" She looked wildly around the room. "Where is he?" she asked before turning her attention back to the elderly woman.
"I do not ken," the woman tossed her hands up in the air. "I believe ye would ken the answer to that," she said pointedly.
“Well I don’t know where he is!” Eva nearly shouted. “If you were so concerned about his whereabouts, why did you send him away?” she asked in frustration.
She stood to face Eva, her eyes blazing with a mixture of fury and sadness. "I am the reason why he is controlled by the beast within, I brought the curse upon him, and now I must watch as it robs him a future," she bellowed. Her voice continued to rise, as her tone grew more urgent. "I went to a witch all those years ago with a sick babe," she lamented, "and in order to save him, I agreed to the curse," she wailed sorrowfully. "And now, I have lost him to the beast within." The woman collapsed in a pile back in her chair, sobbing uncontrollably.
Eva was too shocked to move. All along, it had been his mother who had cursed him in an attempt to save his life. The burden that threatened to destroy him was the reason why he was even alive today. Eva suddenly saw the situation with new eyes, and her heart went out to Lady Drummond.
Eva crouched down before her. She brought her hand up to stroke the mother’s hair as she tried to comfort and sooth the distressed woman. "It was not your fault, he is here today because of you," she added.
"Nae, he will be dead before the night is over because of me," Lady Drummond sputtered in between sobs.
Eva froze. No, she thought. She had just seen Bhradain last night. "What are you saying?" she asked shakily.
Lady Drummond took a moment to compose herself long enough to form a coherent sentence through her tears. "The curse needed to be lifted before his twenty sixed year of birth. Tomorrow is that day," the woman said bluntly, her eyes conveying their tragic meaning.
"NO!" Eva cried. She backed away from the weeping woman. Her eyes began to sting with their own tears, but she refused to allow them to fall. If I mourn him, it means it is true. "But there is still time?" she nearly shook the older woman. "Tell me there is still time!" she cried out.
Lady Drummond slowly raised her eyes to meet Eva's. "There is only one way, but I ken nay ask ye to pay that price..." she trailed off.
Eva didn't need Lady Drummond to voice the words in order to convey the meaning. "I can still break the curse, can't I?" Eva could feel the tears welling up, "It's my life or his -" she broke off before she could finish.
"Aye," Lady Drummond nodded. "But you would not only be saving Bhradain, but the entire kingdom from the darkness that has slowly been encroaching us."
"I'll do it," Eva nodded while tears streamed down her face.
Eva shuddered when she felt the chilling presence of the druids as they in beside her. She hadn't realized that Lady Drummond and her were not alone, but then again, she couldn't help but feel that everything that had happened to her over the past few days was meant to lead up to this moment; and with that realization, a hypnotic calm settled over her.
"Here milady," the male druid's chilling voice resonated through Eva. She felt him take her right hand and wrap her shaking fingers around the cold hilt of a dagger. Eva could barely see the glint of metal as it was reflected off of the dim lit of the fire; so bleary was her vision with tears.
"What do you need me to do?" Eva asked through muted sobs. She wished she had done more with her time with Bhradain. He would be devastated to learn what had to happen, but she knew that the strong, resilient, fearless man would know that the sacrifice she was about to make was for him and for the kingdom he loved so dearly. "I love you," she whispered to the one man who was not here with her.
"Here," the male druid guided the point of the blade until it was positioned over her heart. "The blood of a willing sacrifice," he murmured gently.
"Ok," Eva said shakily. "I am ready -"
Eva's words were broken off by a loud, frightening growl that chilled the very air in the room. The fire went out pitching the room into darkness. The room went deathly silent in response as everyone froze.
The clamor of the dagger hitting the hard stone floor set the room off as the deafening sound
of battle erupted.
Eva lost sense of what was happening around her, as cries of the druids and Bhraidain's beast echoed off the walls and enveloped her. She couldn't see a thing, but she could feel the air as the whipped around her with inhuman speed. She dared not move, afraid that she would be hit.
"Enough!" Shrieked Lady Drummond as the room came ablaze with light as the fire roared back to life.
As the room was illuminated, Eva saw that Bhradan was in full beast form and had cornered the two druids. He growled, his eyes appearing feral as they darted between the trapped druids and his mother.
Only Lady Drummond no longer looked like the regal, aging queen. Instead, a striking, young, hauntingly beautiful woman stood before them.
Eva balked at the sudden change as her mind attempted to wrap around what had just happened.
"Oh stupid girl," mocked the woman. "Have ye not figured it out by now?" Her laugh was both beautiful and chilling, the fire whipped menacingly in response to its mistress. "You're not the witch here, I am."
Bhradain's beast emitted a sickening roar as his body tensed before the beastly form began to melt away. As soon as the man appeared before them, the druids took the moment to strike when he was at his most vulnerable. In a second, they had his arms bound and a chain looped through a hook in the wall and wrapped around his neck in a tight bind.
"How could ye," Bhradain spat at the new figure of Lady Drummond.
The woman tsk'd. "Oh Lord Drummond," she feigned a shocked expression, "how could ye be so rude to your mother." As she spoke, she slowly twisted the dagger that, moments earlier, Eva had thought she had dropped to the floor.
"Ye are no mother of mine," Bhradain roared once again. "I sense the evil in ye, the darkness that is within ye is the same darkness that enveloped my kingdom."
The woman eyed him with amusement. "Ye were always such a smart lad. It's too bad that you weren't my own son. But then again, we would nae be here if ye were."
"What have you done with the queen?" Bhradain roared as he strained against his chains.
"Oh stop that, I don't want ye to hurt yourself. At least not prematurely." The witch moved toward the fire and brushed her hand against the mantle as she thought upon her next words. "Your mother made the ultimate sacrifice, all those years ago, when you were just a babe," the lady spoke in a menacingly gentle voice. "Your life for hers," she said as she stared into the roaring fire.
"Murderer!" Cried Bhradain. The chain clanged as he strained against it.
"Oh Bhradain," the lady sighed. "I did not kill her directly. She was nae the strongest witch I ever thought, but she was the cleverest." The woman's voice conveyed amusement. "When I had successfully cursed ye with your beastly affliction, I thought ye mother retaliate with magic and I would easily overpower her and then destroy all of ye and finally take this kingdom for my own," she explained. "But the crafty woman gave her life to save ye, and it has been that spell that has kept me and my powers at bay for almost twenty six years." The woman placed the dagger on the mantle and moved toward where Bhradain was still chained to the wall. "Poor babe," she mocked.
All this time, Eva had remained silent. She was shocked by the revelation, but the moment that they took Bhradain her mind went into overdrive as she looked for a way to save them both. Perhaps, if I could get the dagger - Eva made an attempt to move toward the mantle.
"Not so fast dearie," the witch blocked Eva's meager attempt. "I am not done with ye yet!"
"Do nae touch her!" Bhradain cried out. In that moment, the chain and his bindings snapped and he once again was in a stand off with the two druids. Bhradain cast the witch a murderous look from where the druids blocked his path.
"But she is the final piece!" the witch mocked. "The death of someone who loved ye is what had protected ye, but the death of someone ye love will undo the enchantment," she revealed.
Bhradain froze. "It ken nae be," he breathed.
In a moment, the witch had an arm banded around Eva's throat and the cool steel of the dagger resting against it. Eva struggled against the bind, but when she felt the sharp prick of the edge of the blade she stopped.
"Never," Bhradain spoke menacingly a moment before all hell broke loose. In a second the two druids were on the ground, the blade was whipped away from Eva's neck, and Bhradain had the witch pushed against the mantle, his hand slowly closing around her throat.
"Ye are making a mistake," the witch threatened Bhradain between strained gasps for air.
"I think the tables have turned," Bhradain mocked back.
The witch began to laugh. "Oh dearie," she mocked before she raised her hand to point behind him. "Just look."
Eva felt the chilling hands of a druid grasp her arm, but before she could register what had happened, the world around her shifted and began to fade away. She watched in horror as Bhradain faded from view and the world slowly went dark.
Eva knew that she wasn't dead, as she could hear herself breathing.
At least she didn't think she was dead.
"Bhradain," she called out into the darkness, but there was no response. She knew she had failed Bhradain, that it was too late. The witch had won and there was nothing either one of them could do.
Eva shut her eyes tightly, trying to banish the pain from her heart. When she finally did open them, she was surprised by what she saw.
She was back in her room. The door was propped ajar, her hand still gripping the handle. Grief overwhelmed her and she sunk to her knees, defeated.
Eva shook her head. "I failed you Bhradain," she said, "and I'm so sorry."
Chapter Ten
In the few weeks following Eva's return, she tried her best to conceal her grief. The last think she needed was her aunt and uncle becoming concerned over her sudden change — especially since they had no idea what Eva had gone through. While time had barely passed for them, Eva had met and lost her soul mate.
At first she felt like a zombie, just barely living. She didn't want to return to his world, didn't want to think about him, and didn’t want to acknowledge that she was the reason why he was gone.
A week had passed before Eva finally allowed her mind to start to process all that had happened. When she had returned, she must have died in that room. And if she had passed on, her death would have broken the protection curse and have left Bhradain - and his kingdom - vulnerable. That is, if she had actually died. If her time had simply been up and whatever magic had brought her there had simply returned her to this world, then perhaps there is still a chance that she could return to Bhradain and help him defeat the witch.
Eva began to spend all of her free time at the local library, reading as much material as she could gather on curses and witches. Slowly, Eva began to piece together the information she had gleaned from Bhradain's world, while taking in whatever knowledge she could find on the subject in her own.
Lady Drummond's imposter had insisted that Eva was a witch, and that was why she was able to cross into a different reality to respond to the druid summons. Eva began to do some digging into her family history and discovered that several relatives had been referred to as witches. Before her journey, Eva would have chalked up those claims as unfounded gossip. But Eva had learned that reality was not always as it seemed, and sometimes the rational answer, wasn't the right one. She took the information she gleaned on the subject and tucked it away for further consideration.
But while Eva had learned a few things about her family history, she did not find anything that might help her return to Bhradain. Slowly, Eva began to come to terms with the fact that even if Bhradain was still alive in his world, she would never be able to replicate the circumstances that had allowed her to cross the veil of worlds to be with him.
One bittersweet morning, Eva discovered that she was pregnant with Bhradain's child. While the thought of raising his child without him grieved her, she was still thankful to carry a part of him with her.
Eva knew that she could no longer rely on her a
unt and uncle's generosity. Although she knew that they wouldn't consider her a burden, Eva still felt that it wouldn't be right of her to continue to rely upon them once the child was born. It was time that she moved out on her own, so she found a decent job as a receptionist and packed her bags.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" her Uncle Mark asked as he aided Eva in the move to her own apartment.
"This is something I need to do, for myself," she said. She had yet to tell any of her friends and family about her pregnancy. Eva figured she would only cause others to worry about her so until she could work up the courage to break the news she would keep things to herself.
"You are welcome to come visit anytime," Aunt Marie offered, as she placed a box of kitchen stuff on the dining room table. "Do you want us to stay and help unpack?"
"No, no," Eva waved them off. "You both have done enough and I am forever grateful," she smiled. "But I am exhausted and would like to rest," she explained.