by P. C. Cast
Soon we were enfolded in a wave of jubilant people and centaurs. As we went through the rear entrance, Epi trumpeted a joyous welcome. Then I heard a familiar voice, and I looked into the courtyard to see Alanna and Carolan running to join us. ClanFintan wearily helped me down. Carolan gave me a quick inspection.
“I’m fine—I’m fine. Take care of him,” I brushed him off and, after giving me one more look over, he began examining ClanFintan’s many wounds.
“Come with me,” he ordered the centaur in a grim-sounding voice.
ClanFintan kissed me quickly, whispering, “I will join you in your chambers as soon as he is finished with me.” Then he did as the doctor ordered, much to my relief.
I stepped into Alanna’s arms, returning her embrace.
“I believed you would return.” Her voice shook with tears.
“Get me out of here,” I said softly.
She slipped her arm around my waist, and began guiding me quickly through my adoring welcomers. I waved and thanked them, saying I would be fine and I just needed rest.
Still, it seemed to take forever to cross the courtyard and make our way down the hall to my bathing chamber. Before following me into the room, I heard her give orders to the smiling guard.
“Bring wine, water and fresh fruit. Then have a full meal sent to her chambers.”
She closed the door and we clung to each other like schoolgirls. I was the first to pull away.
“Oh, I’ve gotten you filthy,” I said as I sniffed and wiped the tears from my face.
“I do not care, but here, let me get you out of those things.”
For once I didn’t mind her nurturing ministrations.
“I can’t seem to stop shaking,” I said, laughing. Detachedly, I realized this must be what hysteria felt like.
Alanna took my hand and led me to the warm pool. Two knocks sounded at the door and an exuberant nymph entered carrying a loaded tray.
“Oh, my Lady,” she bubbled. “We are all so happy you have returned safely to us!”
“Thank you.” I tried to smile around my chattering teeth, “I am pleased beyond words to be home.”
She curtsied and scampered out the door. I let myself lie back in the water with a deep sigh.
“Here—” Alanna handed me a goblet “—drink.”
I did as I was told, gulping down the cool water.
“Easy, not all of it at once.”
I came up for air, waited, then took another long drink.
“Thanks.” I handed the empty cup back to her. I suddenly realized how filthy my hair was, and I wanted nothing more than to get it clean. I put my head back in the warm water, shaking it from side to side.
“Help me, I have to get clean.”
Alanna didn’t ask any questions, she simply poured a bottle of soap on my hair and set about helping me scrub. When that was done, she handed me a sponge and I lathered up my entire body. Then I dived into the middle of the pool, rinsing the filth from me. I returned to my ledge, and Alanna handed me another cup of cool water. As I drank it, I noticed my hands had quit shaking.
“Better?” she asked.
“Yes, girlfriend, thank you.”
She sat cross-legged near me on the side of the pool, exchanging my cup of water for a goblet of wine. She slid the platter filled with sliced fresh fruit within my reach. I smiled gratefully, and popped a cube of melon into my mouth, chewing slowly, letting its sweet juice cover my tongue.
“It’s so incredibly good to be home.” I breathed a relieved sigh.
“Is there not some way we could stay?”
Her words reminded me that Dougal had been ordered by ClanFintan to begin evacuating the people across the river.
“ClanFintan doesn’t think so.” I remembered the scene of devastation at the Muses’ temple. “And I think he’s right. Did any other people from the Temple make it here?”
“Yes, a large group came in just before dawn this morning, escorted by centaur warriors and five Huntresses. Carolan has tended the wounded, and they are all resting quietly now. Victoria and Dougal arrived shortly after, with word that we must leave the temple. We should be ready to begin crossing the river at dawn.”
“Was Thalia with them?”
“Yes, she is well.”
“Sila?” I held my breath.
“No,” Alanna said sadly. “No one saw her cross the river.”
“Have no more centaurs come back?”
“Yes, another group arrived this morning shortly after Victoria and Dougal. They were escorting humans who are very ill with the pox.”
“So, how many centaurs have made it here?” I held my breath.
“At last count a little over three hundred,” Alanna said softly.
Out of one thousand, only a third survived? It was unimaginable. I closed my eyes, praying that more centaurs had lived, and that they were making their way back to their homelands.
“My warriors?” I asked.
“Two barges left, each with fifty warriors. One barge returned. The warriors said the creatures were waiting for them as they disembarked.” Her voice sounded hollow.
“Woulff and McNamara?”
“Their arrival was too late. Connor sent word that they were forced to retreat. They lost many men.”
I breathed deeply. “It’s a living nightmare.”
“There must be a way to stop them,” Alanna said in desperation.
“Yes, and we will find it.” But my words sounded empty, even to my own ears.
CHAPTER 21
Dressed in clean clothes, with my hair combed through, two glasses of wine and a lot of fruit inside of me, I felt a little less gloomy. Alanna placed the coronet around my head, and we walked arm in arm to my room. We were almost there when a little handmaid rushed up, curtsying apologetically.
“Forgive me, my Lady, but there is a problem in the laundry room. Some sheets caught afire, and they were extinguished, but now there is a huge mess and much confusion about what should be done. And Una is arguing with Nora about who was responsible,” she added to Alanna under her breath.
Before I could respond, Alanna smiled sweetly at the girl and said, “I will come.” She turned to me and gave me a quick hug. “I will take care of this. Carolan will probably release your husband shortly. Dinner is waiting within for both of you. I will return later this evening.” She followed the girl down the hall.
My guard opened the door for me, and as it closed securely behind me I realized that I could use some alone time. My room looked welcoming and familiar. The frame of my bed had been removed, and in its place the “marshmallow” was neatly made up. The drapes were partially drawn, allowing the rainy non-light of day to give the room a cozy, curl-up-with-a-good-book-and-a-glass-of-wine ambience. The table was laden with food; delicious smells wafted to me enticingly. My stomach gave a loud roar, prompting me to walk quickly over to the waiting smorgasbord and to commence chowing down.
Just as I was lifting a delectable leg of some small, fat bird, a sound from the library room drew my attention.
“Hello,” I called, wondering what nymphet was in there dusting or something. No one answered. I shrugged my shoulders and decided it must have been my overworked imagination.
The bird was melting in my mouth when I heard the sound again. This time it was louder—a thud like something heavy and hollow had been dropped.
Great. Some timid little girl had probably broken something, and now she was too scared to come out here and face Rhiannon the Bitch. That’s what it probably was—but something brushed at the back of my mind. An uncomfortable feeling that was hard to define.
I sighed and wiped my mouth on the gold linen napkin and, giving the laden table a desirous glance, walked reluctantly to the library.
I knew it was ridiculous, but the closer I got to the arched doorway, the more uncomfortable I felt. I stopped, suddenly fearful that a Fomorian had somehow slipped into the temple.
No, the feeling wasn’t one that po
rtended evil. It was simply uncomfortable. And it was a familiar discomfort—I just couldn’t place it. As I stepped into the room, I realized my stomach had started to hurt and I was gritting my teeth.
The library was lit by many flickering candles, all in the sconce skull decor. The room looked like it had the last time I’d been in it, only the map had been rolled back up. Books lined the shelves, giving the room a comfortable appearance that was in direct contradiction to the sick feeling in my stomach. I was beginning to think maybe I was just overtired and some of the fruit hadn’t agreed with me, when something about the center table caught my attention.
And the breath rushed out of my body as if I’d been hit in the gut.
It was sitting in the middle of the table. The same pot I’d bought at the auction. The same pot that had caused my car wreck and my exchange of worlds. I tried to catch my breath, suddenly overwhelmed with dizziness. The room began to waver, like I was standing in a giant fishbowl looking out. I tried to step backward, but my body wouldn’t obey me. I felt like I was being sucked into a giant whirlpool; I couldn’t breathe; I was drowning. Then the pot began to glow, and I knew it had been sent there to pull me back to my old world.
I felt my sense of what was real dissolving. As the pot glowed brighter, I thought I could see an image of myself standing naked in an unfamiliar room. Plate-glass picture windows reflected the lights of a modern skyline behind the mirror image of me. My arms were spread and I was walking forward.
Suddenly I was flung backward and ClanFintan hurled past me, knocking the pot off the table so that it shattered against the tiled floor. Then he repeatedly reared up and came down with all his weight on the pieces of pottery, until it was nothing but rubble under his hooves. Slowly, the glow disappeared.
I realized I was still not breathing, and my legs gave way beneath me as everything faded to black.
“Rhea…Rhea,” I heard someone calling, as if from far away. “Rhea…wake up,” the voice continued calling. I couldn’t answer it—I couldn’t find my way out of the blackness.
“Shannon Parker! Open your eyes and return!”
My eyes flew open. I was lying on our mattress in ClanFintan’s arms. His face was white with worry.
“What happened?” I asked, trying to remember. Then I remembered, and I struggled to sit up. “The pot! It tried to take me back!” A wave of dizziness passed over me.
“Lie still. I destroyed it.” ClanFintan pressed a kiss against my clammy forehead. “I have sent for Carolan.”
“I think I’m fine,” I said, but I didn’t try to sit up again.
“You look like a ghost.”
“You don’t look so great yourself.” I touched his face gently.
Before he could answer, Carolan burst into the room, with Alanna close behind.
“What happened?” he asked as he knelt next to me. He touched my face and felt my wrist, checking my pulse.
“The pot appeared. Rhiannon tried to exchange places with her again,” ClanFintan said.
“Oh, Goddess, no!” Alanna’s hand flew to her mouth.
“I was outside in the hall,” ClanFinton said, “and I heard her scream inside my mind. I ran in here. She was in the library. The pot was glowing and the room seemed to be wavering, like a rippled pool of water. I pulled her out of the room and destroyed the pot. Then she fainted.”
“I feel better now.”
“Can you stand?” Carolan asked.
“Yes.” They helped me get slowly to my feet. The room stayed put. “Help me walk over to the table, I’m starving and I seriously need a drink.”
“She is better.” ClanFintan sounded relieved, but he kept his arm around me as he guided me to the table.
ClanFintan took his normal place on the chaise, pulling me securely against him. Alanna handed me a goblet of wine, then she and Carolan sat across from us.
I took a long drink, focusing on getting the trembling inside me under control.
“She’s trying to come back.” I was surprised at how calm I sounded. “I should have realized this would happen. She left here a Goddess Incarnate whose every whim was anticipated and fulfilled, to become an Oklahoma English teacher. Fifty out of fifty on the national pay scale. Please—who wouldn’t want to return?” I knew they didn’t understand everything I was saying, but they let me babble. “She somehow eavesdropped on my world. She saw cars and planes, huge skyscrapers and superhighways, the ‘magic’ of TV and computers.” I giggled, feeling light-headed. “She thought she would be Goddess queen over it all. Hardly. Teachers are underpaid and overworked. We have to put up with absentee parents blaming us for the problems their poor choices have caused. I mean, really, some of us are even thinking about wearing bulletproof vests to school.”
“Love…” ClanFintan’s voice of sanity stopped my tirade. “I will not let her take you away from me.”
“How are you going to stop her?” I was shaking again.
“Did I not stop her today?” He put his arms around me and I clung to his warmth and security.
“We will make sure everyone knows what the urn looks like.” Alanna smiled reassurance. “We will say it is being used by the forces of evil. If another appears, it will be destroyed before it can harm you.”
“Not if, when. I know she’ll try again.”
“Let her,” Carolan said. “She will not be allowed to succeed.”
ClanFintan’s strong hands kneaded the tension out of my shoulders as I allowed myself to believe I was safe.
“Eat, love,” he whispered into my ear. “It will make you feel better.”
“It always does,” I muttered and plunked a piece of delicious whitefish in my mouth. I was just beginning to relax, listening to Carolan and ClanFintan discuss the dynamics of the morning evacuation, when there was a quick knock and the door to my chamber flew open.
A sweat-covered guard saluted hastily and said, “Fomorians have been sighted outside the temple grounds.”
ClanFintan surged off the chaise and lunged to the door.
CHAPTER 22
“Get Dougal. Have him assemble the centaurs and the rest of the Temple Guard at the entryway to the top of the northeast wall,” ClanFintan ordered, and the guard nodded and rushed off. The four of us moved resolutely down the hall in the direction of the entrance to the courtyard.
“How could they be here so soon?” My voice was incredulous.
We entered the courtyard, which was a scene of milling people.
“The rain,” Carolan said grimly. “It has kept the sun shrouded, and they have used it to their advantage.”
“I should have anticipated how quickly they can travel,” ClanFintan said, turning to face us. “Carolan, get all of the centaurs and warriors to the top of the temple wall. I do not care how badly wounded or how ill they are—tell them we have no choice.”
Carolan nodded, kissed Alanna briefly and rushed away.
“Alanna,” ClanFintan said. “Have the women gather all the cooking cauldrons in the temple and bring them here to the center courtyard. Then have the barrels that hold the oil for the lamps carried out of storage and brought to the courtyard, too.”
“Yes, ClanFintan.” She rushed off.
“Don’t even think about sending me on some friggin errand; I stay with you.”
“I never thought otherwise,” he said as we jogged across the courtyard.
We went in the direction that would take us out through the wide walls to the rear of the temple, but instead of passing through the exit, ClanFintan followed the wall around to the left. Soon we came to a ragtag-looking group of centaurs and humans assembled at the bottom of a narrow staircase that was built into the wall itself. It led up.
Dougal stepped out of the group. Victoria was at his side.
“Fomorians.”
Dougal nodded. “We heard. What now?”
“Where is the sentry who notified the guard?” ClanFintan asked.
A young man stepped forward and saluted crispl
y.
“Report,” ClanFintan ordered.
“My Lord, I was stationed at the northernmost watch point this side of the river. I heard a series of unexplained noises, so I climbed an old grandfather oak near my station. To the north, as far as I could see spread creatures with wings. I ran back with the news.”
“Victoria, get your Huntresses to the top of the wall. We have need of your crossbows.”
Vic and her Huntresses moved immediately to the steep stairs and began climbing to the top of the battlements. ClanFintan addressed the rest of the group, which was made up of members of my battered-looking guard and a third of his original legion, who were exhausted but determined.
“The women are collecting cauldrons and oil in the central courtyard. Get them up to the top of the wall. Bring torches and firewood. It may be the only way we can keep them from gaining the temple.”
The warriors sprinted away, leaving us alone with Dougal.
“Let us join the Huntresses,” ClanFintan said and led the way up the stairs.
It was steep going, and I had a sudden, uncomfortable flashback to just a couple of days before when I had followed Victoria up similarly steep steps, and into disaster.
The walkway that ran the length of the wall was smooth and wider than the roof battlements at the Muses’ temple had been. Epona’s balustrades were thick and well placed. We went up, and the Huntresses spread out, notching their crossbows at the ready. I stood between ClanFintan and Dougal, peering with them out into the murky evening light, trying to distinguish shapes from fog and mist. Nothing moved except the rain.
Noises from our side of the wall drew our attention as the warriors clambered up the stairs, straining under the weight of the heavy cauldrons and oil barrels. We concentrated on helping the warriors while the Huntresses and centaurs kept watch for the creatures.
Between every third or fourth balustrade, smoothed-out holes had been carved into the floor of the walkway. Hanging over the holes were iron hooks that were screwed securely into the side of the marble teethlike balustrades. The warriors began filling the holes up with hot coals and firewood. Then they suspended the cauldrons from the hooks, filled the cauldrons with oil and lit the fires.