by Heidi Hanley
“Which part of that sounds like I’m a queen?” she mumbled to Silas under her breath.
He’s misunderstood the situation. I think this is where we have to tell him about our gift.
She asked Epona to stay with Jonathan and followed Silas to confront their moment of reckoning.
The lord marshall led them away from the brook. Briana adopted an innocent demeanor.
“I’m glad you’re okay, Sigel. You had your hands full out there.”
“Aye, and I still do,” he grumbled. “Either, or both of you, care to tell me what you’ve been about? In particular, Silas, I’m curious where you’ve been since you disappeared from your post.”
“I did not ‘disappear.’ The men knew I was going to help you find Briana.”
Sigel’s eyes narrowed to slits. “Really? I don’t recall giving you that order, nor did I ever see you arrive at our side to ‘help.’ Instead, the two of you arrive here, alone.”
“He saved me, Sigel.” Raising an accusatory finger to his face, she went on. “Perhaps you’d care for some facts before you continue making assumptions. Fact one, you saw my abduction. I was taken to Aurum Castle. Fact two…”
“You were in Aurum Castle? With Shamwa?” Panic streaked across his face. “Sweet Maker, what did he do to you?”
“He didn’t do anything to me, though he was about to, when I escaped.” She paused. “You should probably sit down for this. It’s a long story.” She sat on a flat boulder and Sigel leaned against one, beside her. Silas sat against a nearby oak. She related the sequence of events, ending with Silas pulling her out of the river and tending to her needs.
Silas finished the story of getting her to Shannon Abbey and all that transpired there. “I’m certain the abbess is up to something wicked.”
“It will hurt Cailleach terribly, if she is,” Briana said, wondering how she could break the news to the witch.
Sigel was quiet. Cocking his head at Silas, he finally asked, “How did you know where to find Briana?”
Well, a mhuirnin, here it is. Time to come clean about this.
Briana nodded.
“It’s like this, Sigel. Briana and I are able to talk to each other in our heads.” He let that statement sink in for a moment. “She can think something, or say something without words, and I can hear her. It’s the same with her when I’m…”
“I get it,” Sigel interrupted. “How long?”
“Have we been able to do it? Since Cailleach’s. Maybe before, but that’s when we realized it.”
“And you didn’t think you should tell anyone?”
Briana sat straight up. “We considered it, but you know, Sigel, some things really are none of your business. I decided,” she said, taking the onus for the decision until Silas gave her a cockeyed look, “we decided that should it ever be necessary for you to know, we would tell you. Otherwise, our thoughts and conversations are our own. Today’s the day it becomes necessary for you to know.”
“Does Cailleach know?”
“No,” she replied.
No one said a word. A blue jay screeched overhead, making Briana jump. She and Silas shared a look.
Finally, Sigel stood away from the boulder and turned to Silas. “So you know everything she’s thinking and feeling?”
Silas nodded.
“Well, that is going to be damned uncomfortable on her wedding night, isn’t it?”
Briana’s hand flew to her chest.
With that, Sigel walked away. A minute later, his voice boomed through the forest. “Make camp, men. Tomorrow morning we take the castle and rescue the king.”
*
Cheerful banter rippled among the troops the next morning as they struck camp. Not that there was much to do: they had no tents, just bedrolls to put away, and campfires to douse. Most of their battle gear, other than their personal weapons, was still at the castle, caught by the enchantment – a problem that would be solved today, Sigel said. The crow soldiers continued to guard the perimeter, as they had through the night. They’re perfect guards, Briana thought, able to shift in a moment and fly away when necessary, strong and skilled on the battlefield.
Magic had served them well in this battle. Unlike Lord Shamwa, she was very grateful for it.
Briana tightened the girth on Banrion, watching covertly over the horse’s back to where Sigel, looking tired and concerned, was having a conversation with Silas. She couldn’t hear their words and couldn’t read Silas’s mind, but it was evidently a tense discussion, with Sigel doing most of the talking and Silas nodding, while looking mostly at the ground. Then Silas said something that made Sigel look away. When he looked back, he placed a hand on the bard’s shoulder. Silas broke contact and walked back toward Briana, joined a moment later by Sigel.
What was that about?
Nothin’. At Briana’s disbelieving look, he added, Just tyin’ up a few loose ends.
His evasion troubled her but Sigel was already giving the order to move out. She sighed, slipped the reins over Banrion’s head and mounted.
Silas moved to the front of the line. Sitting tall on Aldebaran, his voice rang out with conviction and pride,
“Rise up, O men, to save your king,
His banner we will fly.
Taranian! Taranian!
Our glad shout shall prevail.
Rise up, O King, and sleep no more,
Your queen is on her way.
A new day dawns, Uisneach restored,
Brave destiny fulfilled.
Will he rise?”
The men of the Uisneach army shouted of one accord, “Yes, he will.”
“Will we bow?” Silas demanded.
“We will bow.”
“For king and queen, we forward on!”
Epona moved to Briana’s side, joined by Jonathan, who was a little wobbly, but otherwise no worse for wear. The swelling was nearly gone. He had a black eye, and what Epona called a “dashing scar,” which made him blush and sit up straighter on his horse. Dara pranced around Banrion, who also seemed eager to go. Briana pasted on her best queenly smile and took her place behind Sigel. Silas, his bardic ritual done, fell in behind her, with a line of men forming behind him.
They didn’t speak until they found a comfortable rhythm and were assured of safe passage. Well, we begin a new chapter. I wonder what it will be like for us.
I’ve been thinkin’ about that. Sigel made a good point about how difficult it will be for us once you and Brath are a… couple.
She shivered in spite of the sun, already warm and promising a hot day.
I think it would be best if we tried to create some kind of wall in our minds to prevent our knowin’ what each other is thinkin’ once we reach Ard Darach.
Her eyes narrowed. The thought of not having even this little bit of intimacy with her best friend and confidant made her heart pound. But he was right. Sigel was right. She was going to be married, and whatever that meant, she would not have it hurt Silas for anything. It was time to cut the cord. Grief spiraled through her, but she fought against it. She met his searching eyes.
This is what Sigel was talking to you about, isn’t it?
Yes. He wondered if we could control the gift.
“Gift?” she said bitterly. “You call this a gift?”
“What are you talking about?” asked Epona.
Sigel also looked back.
“Nothing.” Briana shuddered at the misery evident on his own face.
It is a gift, mo chroi, but one that comes with a cost.
A very high price. She tightened her grip on the reins when Banrion stumbled over a root. When do we have to stop? And how?
I think we can do it the same way you made the wall against Mother Ealga. She sighed. Briana, I will always be there if you need me. If somethin’ happens to either of us, I believe we’ll know it, but it won’t be fair to anyone if we continue this way. You can’t have three people in your marriage.
She stared at the ground.
&
nbsp; He turned silent and she thought for a panicked second that he had already shut her down.
As to the when – let’s agree that the minute he takes your hand is when we put the wall up. Fair?
She nodded. Turning forward, she found Sigel once again watching her. She stared back, giving away nothing of her inner turmoil. She was a queen, not a heartsick teenager, and she would conquer the emotions that tightened her throat and brought tears much too close to the surface. I need is something else to focus on.
Inspiration was found in the happy faces of the men who marched to their beloved king. Men who had left home and hearth to get her safely to this destination, who were ready to lay down their lives for Uisneach and the Taranians. She couldn’t let them down. She couldn’t let the faerie kingdom down. She couldn’t let Sigel and Cailleach down. But most of all, she couldn’t let Silas down. This moment, her support, and a promise to save his kingdom, was all she could give him.
When she was able to meet his eyes once more, they were filled with determination and valor. She smiled at him.
Thank you, a mhuirnin.
It seemed as though they had been on the march for only a short time, though the sun said otherwise. They passed two sparkling blue lakes with green grassy banks. They were close in size, nearly identical.
“Nice place for a picnic,” she commented, trying to sound cheerful.
“There have been many such gatherings at Mirror Lakes,” Sigel said, wistfully. “I hope there will be again.”
When they came to a clearing, Sigel halted them. “Men,” he said, then looking at Briana and Epona, added, “and ladies, when we go around that rock,” he nodded toward a massive boulder, “we will be at Ard Darach. Maker willing, we will rescue the king!”
His announcement was met with a wave of cheers which came to a sudden halt when they heard whirring overhead. Two fantastically large birds flew just over the tree tops. She recognized the hawk as Merlin, large as a dragon, and gasped when she saw Cailleach stretched out atop him. She looked at the second bird, and then at Silas. “Sir Thomas, I presume.”
He grinned and nodded.
The closer she got to the rock, the higher her hackles rose. She stole one last look at Silas.
We knew all along that this was our destiny, he said. For the sake of this land we both love, we must finish it. Our love will survive whatever happens. Our bodies may be separated by circumstances, but nothin’ can touch what lives in our souls. Nothin’. He wrapped his hand around the warrior’s hearts she had given him. You are, and always will be, a sonuachar, my soul spouse, and I am yours. Come, mo chroi, let’s go together and save Uisneach.
And so they did. Standing tall, they walked out of the hills toward Ard Darach and King Brath, yielding destiny the victory.
Chapter Thirty-one
Ard Darach
The path wound down out of the hills. Hours later, it opened up to a vast plain at the edge of the sea, giving Briana her first view of Ard Darach. To the north was a knoll, upon which some ruins and an old tower stood. The castle rose impenetrable out of the cliffs, its back protected by the ocean and treacherous cliffs that surged up from the crashing waves. The structure was massive and beautiful, reminiscent of castles she’d seen in Ireland, only newer, its stone gleaming white in the early afternoon light. A tributary of the Long River ran across the front of the castle, forming its moat. A short drawbridge led to the gatehouse. From her high vantage point, she saw three yards: the nearest was the largest; beyond that, a smaller yard in front of the keep; and farthest away, in front of the great hall, a fairly good-sized courtyard. Smaller towers guarded the corners of the castle, and several buildings, including a stable and animal pens, were contained inside its grounds. Behind the castle was a narrow band of what she assumed were the gardens “too long untended,” as Sigel had told her. Scraggly vines overran the space, creating a natural barrier between the castle and the ocean just beyond. Outside the thick walls of the fortress nestled a half-dozen cottages, a smithy shed, a mill and a few other buildings for the support of the castle.
All of that held fast under the enchantment, an unnatural clear light that surrounded the castle like some otherworldly fish bowl. Artanin’s sorcery.
Competing emotions warred within her as she stared at Ard Darach, the end point of this horrible, wonderful, dangerous and exciting journey.
“Your new home,” Silas said.
“Home or prison?” His hurt look prompted a wave of guilt over her bitterness. His blue eyes shone, no doubt partly from the same sorrow she felt, but also because this was his home, filled with happy memories, and after ten long years, he would finally enter its walls and be reunited with a man whom he loved dearly. “I’m sorry, Silas. I’m just…”
“Tired and scared. I understand. I am too, but we’ll get through this.”
She rubbed her neck and took a deep breath. “Well, are we going down or not?” she asked Sigel, who stared at Ard Darach with a pensive expression.
He shifted in his saddle. “Fan out, men!” The line of troops moved around them and marched down the slope, automatically spreading out to line the perimeter of the field. When only Sigel, Epona, Silas, Jonathan and Briana remained, Sigel gave a nod to Silas. “You three go on down. I want a minute with Briana.”
She frowned. Now what?
When they were alone, he said, “This has been a hard journey for you, Briana.”
“It’s about to get harder.”
He gave a slight nod. “Which is why I want to know what you’re thinking.”
“Afraid I’ll bolt or embarrass you?”
“No. But you’re exhausted, physically and emotionally, and I need to be sure you’re up to this. We need your magic. We need you totally focused.”
She ground her teeth. The worn-out little girl in her wanted to kick, scream, pout… anything, but give him what he needed. Her inner queen responded with a determined nod.
He took a moment to steady Orion. When the stallion calmed, he continued. “If I thought this wouldn’t work out, that you would be miserable as our queen, I would take you back to Wellsland myself. But, Briana, I know you. And I know Brath, and I honestly think you can be happy here. Right now, you’re tired and can’t see past your loss, but…”
“I will never stop loving Silas,” she said, quietly, watching her fingers work the reins.
“I know. But I also believe you’ll find something in Brath that’s worthy of your respect, and perhaps even affection. This may be more of a gift than you can imagine at the moment. But first, we have to release this damn curse and wake him up.”
Raising her eyes, she said, with total conviction, “I will focus and I will do my part to wake him up, but know this, Sigel: I do it for Uisneach and for Evalon, not for a single man.”
“Fair enough. I’m happy to let time take care of the rest.”
The men down below had grown quiet. Sigel and Briana stood where they were, silent for the moment. The sound of a crow and a hawk echoed in Briana’s consciousness. “They’re waiting for us,” she said, sitting tall and taking a full breath. “We should go. I’m ready.”
“Briana, there’s one more thing I want to say to you. I realize I’ve been hard on you. Getting you ready for this moment had to be done fast. But, I want you to know that I…”
Whatever he meant to say ended with a shout and the rattling of swords. Both their heads swung up to see the crow land atop the glassy bubble over Ard Darach, just in front of the castle’s drawbridge. Merlin landed on the ground near them. Cailleach slid off Merlin, who then shifted down to his normal size and took his roost on her shoulder.
Sigel and Briana rode down into the field. Sigel waved at Silas to follow him and ordered the men to stay in formation around the castle. Epona and Jonathan stayed back with the Uisneach army. The five druids, Sigel, Briana, Silas, Cailleach, and Sir Thomas, gathered together.
“What do we do next?” Sigel asked.
Cailleach answered. “Si
r Thomas and I have concluded that we need to form a circle around the castle, with Sir Thomas at the top of the keep. Then we point our medallions, along with our magic, toward his. We think our combined energy will act like a ley line and break the Looking down.”
Briana pressed her hand to her forehead and sighed.
“What is it, Briana?” Cailleach asked, concerned.
“Nothing. I just somehow thought it would be more complicated, more dramatic. This seems a bit anticlimactic.”
Cailleach looked from her to Sigel, confused. “Why would you want it to be harder?”
“She’ll be fine,” he said, before directing everyone to their places.
Sir Thomas flew back to his perch at the top of the keep. The other four druids moved to the corners, with Sigel on the northeast side of the cliffs and Briana on the northwest corner. Silas took Cailleach to the southern cliff side before moving back to the western tower.
Once everyone was in place, they aimed their medallions at the crow. From the keep came a loud caw. Briana envisioned Brath released from the enchantment. She imagined the light fading and Ard Darach returning to its usual activity. At first, nothing happened. A steady vibration rumbled deep in her body as the meridian lines of their intention connected the medallions. The imprisoning shield wavered, but didn’t break. She took another breath and went deeper, assuming the problem was her resistance.
Briana was jerked out of the meditation by a much louder caw, a distinct warning.
“Get down, Briana!”
She leaned low over Banrion’s neck as two arrows whizzed over her head toward the hill behind her. The arrows connected with a lone figure at the summit, cloaked in brown, holding out his hands toward the castle as if blessing it. One arrow lodged in his shoulder, but did nothing to stop his prayerful pose. The second hit him in the leg. The druid went down momentarily, but rose again, hands still pointed. Like a comet, Sigel charged across the field toward the hill, both hands on his weapon.
Before Artanin could run or hide, Sigel was on him. The two men battled, one with magic, the other, a sword.