Chosen by Fire

by Harriet Locksley

  He nodded then left, motioning four silent ones to follow him.

  Later, they were led up a twisting staircase into a room that smelt like a meadow. Water sloshed as it was poured into tubs and a silent one took Kaetha behind a screen to her bath. Her smile and her round, dark eyes were so like Naru’s that Kaetha wondered if they were related.

  “But Ma, I don’t need to bathe!” she heard Roddie say.

  “After all those days in worse than a gaol cell, you can’t object to getting a wee bit wet,” said his mother. Kaetha smiled.

  She removed her clothes and sank into the hot, herb-strewn water with a sigh, trying to ignore the pain in her hand so as not to spoil the moment. The silent one returned, attached a basin of water to the side of her tub and lowered Kaetha’s injured hand into it. The cold water swirled with white and pale purple petals.

  “Elderflower and comfrey?” she asked

  The silent one nodded, looking impressed, before leaving her to bathe.

  “You will find cloths to dry with and clean garments hanging over your screens,” called Meraud. Kaetha hadn’t even realised that her old clothes had been taken.

  Dressed in a smock and loose grey robes which were too long and baggy for her, she emerged from her screen. Meg sat, hugging her knees as she sat by the fire and Kaetha joined her. Now that the dirt was washed from her face, she could see purplish, green-edged bruises partly concealed under her loose hair. Similar dark smudges also marked her wrists. Whatever happened to her has turned her into another kind of ‘silent one’, Kaetha thought. Meg’s silence spoke as clearly of her suffering as if she had been shouting and screaming. Perhaps what weighed upon her was the betrayal of those she loved and trusted, perhaps it was the imprisonment in that cramped, dark, stinking hut, but perhaps more had happened to her than anyone knew but her. Kaetha didn’t ask, she simply took a wide-toothed comb and started running it through Meg’s hair.

  “None of this was your fault, Meg,” she said. “Remember you’re safe now.” “Would you come here a moment, Kaetha?” said Meraud.

  Kaetha joined her at a small table, sitting when Meraud tapped a stool with her long fingers. The silent one who had tended her hand with the herbal infusion now came to sit beside her too and opened a pot containing a yellowish balm. Her dark hands moved gently over Kaetha’s pink, raw, blistered skin but, despite her gentleness, her fingers hurt so much that she had to hold her breath to stop from crying out. But when the silent one had finished, the tingling cold of the balm gave some relief to her burned skin, numbness seeping deep into her fingers.

  “Why are you doing this for me?” asked Kaetha.

  The silent lass just smiled.

  “What are our gifts for if not to serve others?” said Meraud, her voice as smooth as seal skin. “Thank you, Kahina.” The lass got up and walked away. “May I see?”

  Kaetha held out her hand.

  “How did you burn it?”

  “On a cooking pot. I didn’t realise how hot it was.”

  A smile playing briefly on Meraud’s lips and Kaetha knew she was unconvinced. Then Meraud placed her hand on Kaetha’s. She was surprised that this touch didn’t hurt at all and, when Meraud lifted her hand away, some of the redness had faded from her skin.

  “Your skin will return to normal quickly now,” she said, “Kahina’s balm will help. Time will heal the bones,” she said, fixing new splints to her two broken fingers, binding them with cloth.

  “I have to be leaving soon.”

  “All are free to stay or leave as they wish.”

  “When do you think there will be any news about my stepmother?”

  “I assure you, I shall tell you as soon as I find out.”

  “I could help look for her.”

  “The best thing you can do right now is rest. Trust us to find her.” She stood up and bowed her head. “We are appointed to serve.”

  “Thank you, Meraud.” Kaetha felt her Air magic swirl softly, subtly, but she could sense nothing of substance from Meraud’s thoughts, only a questioning and a watchfulness.

  TWENTY THREE

  Neul Carraig

  Kaetha woke, foggy-headed from a deep sleep. Pale flames danced in a hearth set into the wall. There was no fuel or smoke, just fire like plumes of moonlight unfurling. They made her feel sleepy to look at but she knew she’d slept enough. The wall was cut with a pointed arch of black. Night had fallen and, feeling hungry, she realised she must have slept through dinner. She got up, putting on the soft leather slippers which she found by the bed, and crept across the room, careful not to wake Catrin, Roddie or Meg. Donnan’s bed was empty.

  Crossing the landing, she eased open a heavy door and stepped out onto a canopied walkway which edged the mountainside. The air smelt like snow. She wondered it that meant it had no fragrance. The hairs on her arms rose and she shivered, covering her hair with her shawl to keep it from blowing everywhere. Moonlight caressed grey rock, deep shadow slicing through it in the distance – a glimpse of the forest. She paced the walkway, chewing her bottom lip.

  “They’ve not found her yet.”Donnan was standing beside her. “I’ve just spoken to Branna. They’re willing to try again in the morning.”

  “We should leave in the morning, anyway. Find her ourselves and carry on south.” His face was in shadow and she wondered then if she was being too hasty. “Or I can look for her with Naru and the others and bring her here. You might benefit from more time with the healers. They’re very good.”

  “I know. They gave me a potion of dachas flowers or something.”

  “Dochas?”

  “Aye, that.”

  “I heard Nannie mention it once. It’s very rare.”

  “Anyway. I’m feeling better than I have done for,” he paused, “for a long time. They said that dochas would banish shadows of the mind, if the mind was ready, and that the opean only masked them briefly. They gave me enough for a few more doses and said it should be all I needed but . . .”

  “But what?”

  “They said the shadows could come back and that it was important that I talked to someone if I felt that was happening.”

  Her heart went out to him and she took him in her arms. “I hope you know you can always talk to me.” He hesitated, then wrapped his arms around her too, holding her close. They stayed like that for a while. Embracing him felt good, a warmth amidst the biting cold, something simple, uncomplicated. “I’m hungry,” she said.

  He laughed. “Come on, let’s find you something.”

  Meraud emerged from around a corner as they made their way down to the refectory.

  “It’s late to be about,” Meraud said.

  “We’re just looking for some food,” said Donnan.

  “Go through the refectory to the kitchens. Take what you like.”

  “Thank you,” said Kaetha. Meraud bowed and walked away. “Wait. You’re chosen by Water.” Meraud turned, stepping into a pool of light from a lantern set into the wall. It held the same kind of white flames as the hearth in their chamber and gave Meraud’s face a spectral paleness.

  “I am.”

  “I know someone else like you. She can see where people are. The water helps her. My stepmother’s name is Mairi Baird. Can you find her in that way?”

  “I have tried, I assure you. I see nothing that will help. You must be patient.”

  “Well, we’re going to leave tomorrow anyway. I’m sure we’ll find her,” said Kaetha.

  “Of course,” said Meraud. “You may leave whenever you wish.”

  The creaking grunts of a ptarmigan woke Kaetha. Morning light streamed into the room and Kaetha got up, pleased to see her old clothes clean and dry on her bed. She dressed and laced up her boots.

  Back on the canopied walkway, Donnan aimed and threw a stone down the rugged mountainside.

  “Alright, Roddie. Best of three?”

  “Alright Donnie!” chuckled the boy.

  “Donnan?” she called.

  She made
him jump as he threw his next stone and Roddie laughed.

  “That one doesn’t count,” he said as he left the lad to his stone throwing. “So, we’re going now?”

  “I think we’ll need to take people with us, to get through the stone barrier of the cave tunnel. I’ll find out and meet you back here.”

  No one was in the refectory and only silent ones were in the kitchen. Her footsteps echoed through the empty, great hall. Heaving the door open, she walked into the swirling wind outside.

  “Deorsa?”

  He turned around with a smile and a bow. “Kaetha. How is your hand?”

  Preoccupied as she’d been, she hadn’t even inspected it herself this morning, only realising now that it hadn’t hurt to use it as before.

  “Just a little tender,” she said, holding it out, noticing that the blisters had gone down. It startled her when Deorsa cradled her hand in his. Her eyes shot to his face and she drew her hand away.

  “It’s healing well,” he said.

  “Donnan and I are leaving shortly. Will we need silent— that is, Appointed ones in order to get out of the tunnel?”

  “I can manage that for you.” Her gaze shifted uncomfortably as he studied her face. “Perhaps, before you go though, you might wish to talk with Naru about his search yesterday?” He descended a staircase. “Follow me.”

  He led her to another walkway, lined by a shallow wall, little protection from the sheer drop below. Ahead was what looked like a natural cave. Kaetha gasped as roaring flashes of firelight lit up the rocks around the arched entrance. “What the—” she breathed. The scales, claws and teeth of a dragon carved into the mountainside caught her eye. “There’s no such thing as dragons, is there?”

  Deorsa grinned. “There’s a whole herd of them in that cave. Go and see.”

  As she peered inside, a blaze of fire circled the ceiling. Silent ones sat around the walls. When the fire went out, she blinked, seeing swirling patterns in her vision.

  “I call them dragons anyway,” said Deorsa.

  One by one, flames of different colours sprang into being, hovering in the air before each person. She walked into the cave. Naru approached, walking down the middle of the cave, bowing his head in greeting to Kaetha. He joined Deorsa outside but she couldn’t hear what they were saying. An exasperated sigh made her turn. A young silent one gritted her teeth, her flame sputtering and shrinking, as tired as she appeared to be. Then, she reached out to touch the lichen growing on the cave wall. The lichen turned brown and dry, dying, whilst her fire flared healthy and strong again. Even she seemed brighter eyed and more alert now but when Naru loomed beside her, she snatched her hand away from the wall.

  “I did not give you permission to draw from other living things, Innes,” he said.

  Innes bowed her head humbly and returned her attention to her fire. Kaetha thought about how she had drawn energy from the sea in order to free Tam. She hadn’t known that energy could also be drawn from living things too. Naru clapped twice. And the flames from the basins shot up, twisting into pillars of emerald green. Kaetha’s mouth hung open and Naru clapped again, the fires shrinking again.

  “What do you think?” he asked her.

  “It’s beautiful. But what’s the purpose of such tricks? To entertain people?”

  Naru’s smile showed his gapped teeth. “No, Kaetha. Control over the flames is what the Appointed are practising today. It is not a performance but an exercise. Control is necessary in order to direct the gift effectively in its more practical uses. Deorsa tells me that, like the rest of us in this room, you are Chosen by Fire.”

  “So he—?”

  “Sensed your gifts, aye. Those with Earth magic can do that. I could teach you, if you are willing. Train you the ways of Fire.”

  “I didn’t come here for a lesson, I came here to ask you about your search for my stepmother,” she said, hurrying along after him.

  “I was unlucky.” He stopped. “At one point I found a trail of paw prints which might have been from the dog you spoke of, but the tracks ended near the village of Doocot and we lost the trail.”

  Kaetha affected a puzzled look, considering that Tam had probably shifted from dog to squirrel. “Thank you. Donnan and I will be leaving soon. We’ll start by looking near the village.”

  “I’m sorry I was not more help.”

  Deorsa had gone when she stepped out of the cave. “Damn,” she muttered. “Where is he?” She hurried back to the great hall but saw no one there.

  “Kaetha.”

  She jumped as Meraud stepped out from the shadow of an alcove. “I didn’t see you there.”

  There was a cold stillness to Meraud’s face, like the snow frozen on the mountaintops, but then the hint of a smile appeared to thaw it. In the alcove, Kaetha saw a basin of carved stone which twisted and curved like river weeds, the water inside it glimmering in the coloured light from a window.

  “You had the disadvantage,” Meraud said. “I saw you coming. And,” she stepped slowly towards her, “now that you are here, I sense the burdens you carry. Such worries and cares. I see things like that, Kaetha, it’s part of my gift, I understand people’s feelings and how they affect them. You are capable of much, Kaetha, but your emotions will set you back, stop you from doing what you set out to do. They will be your biggest enemy, if you let them. Anger, fear . . .”

  “What fear?” she snapped.

  “Of not being able to control your powers as others with your gift can. Your magic is raw and untrained and might flare up in a surge of emotion. Perhaps it has done this before. The fear that it will do this again twists inside you like a knife.” Meraud stepped closer to Kaetha than felt comfortable. “Fear makes magic harder to control. I could help you.”

  “Help me? In what way?”

  “I can use my gift to help you to control your emotions. They won’t be gone but neither would they have mastery over you. Only then will you have a better chance of reaching your potential, of using your magic to achieve what you desire.”

  To rescue Pa. She couldn’t fail him because of her own fear. Meraud was right. “Alright. You can help me.”

  A look of satisfaction passed over Meraud’s face and she placed her hands on either side of Kaetha’s head.

  She felt tensions she didn’t even know had been there melting away. She couldn’t stop her eyes from closing. She knew what she had been worrying about before but wondered why she had been. What use was worrying? Things would happen or they wouldn’t happen. She might succeed. She might not. She was like a piece of driftwood floating in the sea, cut free from what had held her down. Nothing mattered now.

  “Better?”

  “I feel good,” said Kaetha, mirroring Meraud’s lukewarm smile. She heard footsteps and turned leisurely to see who was coming. “Donnan.”

  “I’ve been looking for you. What’s the plan? I’m ready to leave now if you are.”

  “Leave? Why would I want to leave?”

  “Kaetha?” His face contorted in disbelief. “We must find Mairi. We need to leave as soon as we can if we’re to have a chance of getting to Aedan.”

  “But what could we do for him even if we did find him? It’s time to let this go.” She smiled. “I don’t know why you’re looking at me like that.”

  “What’s wrong with you?” Donnan looked from Kaetha to Meraud. “What’s wrong with her?”

  “Nothing is wrong,” said Meraud.

  Kaetha gazed at her face, thinking then that there was a look of her mother in those refined features, something she hadn’t noticed before.

  Meraud’s subtle smile was beautiful as she fixed her eyes on Kaetha. “Her place is here now.”

  TWENTY FOUR

  Beneath the Surface

  Arms spread wide, Kaetha stood, feeling the tightening of her robes as Appointed ones hovered around her with pins.

  “No point in putting up with robes I keep tripping over,” she said.

  “None at all,” said Meraud fro
m a high backed chair.

  Donnan burst into the room. “You’re here then,” he said, a little out of breath.

  “Still that face,” said Kaetha. “I don’t see how I’ve offended you.”

  He ignored her comment. “I’ve spoken to Branna and she’s sending people to unseal the tunnel for me. Then I’m going to go looking for Mairi. On my own.” He paused. “Unless you’re coming with me?”

  “When?”

  “Now, damn it!”

  “Calm down. As you can see, I’m busy now. But I wish you luck.”

  “This is not right.” He charged up to Meraud. “What in hell have you done to her?” His face was close to hers, his hands gripping the arms of her chair.

  Meraud did not flinch. “I’ve helped her to see that she need not worry so much.”

  “That’s not all you’ve done, witch!”

  “Donnan, you really shouldn’t say ‘witch’ in that tone, as if magic is bad,” said Kaetha. “But I see that you simply don’t understand.”

  He gave a sorry laugh. “The Kaetha I know would have snapped at me if she thought I’d said something I shouldn’t have. But now – what’s come over you?” He shook his head as he walked up to her. “I don’t understand this,” he said in a low voice. “Where are you, Kaetha?” He sighed. “I’m going. Mairi needs me so I’m going. She needs you too by the way, you’re her stepdaughter after all.” He hovered in the doorway, a pleading look in his eyes.

  “Kaetha is more than just a niece, daughter, stepdaughter and friend now,” said Meraud, taking up a piece of sewing, pulling the thread with fluid motions. “She’s part of a wider family here in Neul Carraig.”

  “You’re looking at me like I’m ill, Donnan. I assure you I’m not,” she said, offering him a reassuring smile. “Can’t you believe me?”

  “I’d sooner believe I never knew you.” And he left, the door banging heavily behind him. “This isn’t you, Kaetha,” came his muffled voice. His footsteps faded into silence.