by Cathi Shaw
A cry of alarm slipped from Brijit's lips and she leapt to her feet.
"I must see them immediately," she said as she hurried to the door.
"But Brijit, we don't know if they are in their rooms and you are tired from your journey. Can't you see them at dinner?" Mina asked, clearly surprised by her mother’s haste.
Brijit shook her head so violently that rest of her grey hair slipped from its braid. "No. I must see them now," she insisted and rushed into the hallway.
They found Weylon, Teague and Caedmon in the Great Room.
“Weylon!" Brijit exclaimed and flew across the room into the older man's arms. Thia noticed that he took a step back and then seemed to hesitate before his arms closed around her mother. But Brijit wasn’t hesitating at all!
Thia stared at her mother in shock. She looked at her sisters and saw they were just as stunned by Brijit's reception of Weylon. Their adoptive mother, who had never courted any man as far as the girls could remember, had thrown herself into the arms of a stranger. As they watched Weylon lowered his lips to hers and it became clear that, to Brijit at least, he was no stranger.
****
A few hours later they found Brijit alone in the kitchen. There was no sign of Weylon or his sons.
Mina and Thia followed Kiara into the kitchen. Kiara stopped just inside the door when she saw her mother and stood there menacingly. Brijit, who had raised her since babyhood, continued dressing the last chicken without a sideways glance at her adopted daughter even though Kiara was clearly worked up.
Mina smiled to herself.
"I started the bread, Thia," Brijit said, ignoring Kiara's attempt to intimidate her. "I don't know where Sukey disappeared to," she said vaguely. Mina looked around the kitchen, seeing the half dressed chickens abandoned.
Thia let out a small cry of dismay and then set to work placing the birds on the spit to roast, muttering under her breath.
Mina silently moved to the counter and began to knead the bread that had been rising on the top of the great stove. She sunk her fingers into the soft, warm dough waiting patiently for what would happen next.
Kiara, as usual, ignored the kitchen duties but put her hands on her hips and began to tap her foot impatiently. "Where have our guests disappeared to, Brijit?"
Brijit smiled at her tall daughter, as if Kiara had asked her the question in the most conversational of voices rather than in that surly tone.
"The men decided to go into town," she answered slowly.
Mina watched as Kiara glowered at their mother. "Are you going to make us ask how you know that man well enough to ..." she paused searching for words. "To throw yourself at him?" she finished lamely. Mina hid a smile.
But Brijit sighed. "There is much to tell you but to be frank, I'm dreading doing so," she paused then looked at them. A shadow of regret passed over her face. "There has been so much I've had to keep from you, hoping to protect you but now ..." Her words trailed off. Then she straightened her back. "Now I need to tell you the truth."
She put the final chicken in the great oven and moved to Mina's side and began kneading a second pile of dough.
"You know that none of you are my true daughters," she began softly. "At least not by blood. But there is more you don't know ..."
Mina watched as Brijit's strong hands worked the dough on the wooden counter.
Kiara made a derisive noise. "Apparently - given how you greeted that stranger."
Mina stifled a giggle. She had no idea her sister was such a prude. Brijit stopped kneading for a moment and stared out the window into the fading light. Although dusk was settling she seemed to be gazing at something in the distance. Mina wondered what she was thinking.
"His name is Weylon, as you already know," she said the corners of her mouth lifting in a small smile. "But what you don't know is that he is my husband."
Mina stopped her work and stared at Brijit. Kiara's mouth fell open. Even Thia stopped chopping vegetables in stunned surprise.
"How?" Kiara asked at the same moment as Thia said "When?"
Brijit sighed. "Weylon and I were married 23 years ago. In Evendel, which was our home."
Mina gasped. Evendel was far west in the Outlands of the Five Corners. She never imagined that her mother had lived so far away. Despite the current circumstances, she was suddenly overcome with a great desire to ask Brijit about her homeland. Surely her mother must have stories about the Outlands. And yet she'd never once said anything that suggested her roots. Then as the reality of her mother’s words sunk in Mina felt a jab of betrayal. Brijit knew how Mina longed for information of the lands outside their small village and yet she'd kept her past a secret. Why would she do that?
Brijit deftly shaped round loaves and placed them in the oven with the roasting birds. Dusting off her hands she turned around and looked at each of the girls in turn. "This was long before any of you were born and I came to this tiny corner of the woods."
"Then why have we never met him before, Brijit?" Mina couldn't help asking. How could one be married for so many years and stay apart, never mind keep it a secret from her daughters? What else had Brijit hidden from them?
"Weylon and I are what the folks of the Western realm call coimirceoirí."
"Guardians ..." Kiara whispered as she sank into a chair, shock on her face. Mina swallowed. The Guardians were legendary. It didn't seem possible that their mother could be one of them.
Brijit nodded. "Yes. The story is long and complicated but I’ll tell you what I can," she paused, then turn back to the oven and set the teapot on to boil.
"I have told you the truth, as much as I could over the years, you know. I don't like keeping secrets and telling falsehoods but some of it could not be avoided," she gestured to the table. "Sit, girls, this will take a while to unravel."
They were silent for a few moments and then Thia spoke hesitantly. "I know this might be painful for you, Brijit, but did your marriage fail?"
Brijit looked shocked. "No!" she answered as she brought the teapot to the table and began pouring them each a mug of the mint tea.
"Weylon and I were, and still are, very much in love. But we were also bound by duty." She lowered herself into her chair. "Had we been at all practical we would never have married knowing what each of us was."
"Coimirceoirí," Kiara whispered again, completely transfixed by the idea.
Brijit nodded. "It was only a matter of time before we would have been separated one way or another but we loved each other so much. And we were young. We reasoned that even some time together was better than being apart." She paused and looked out the window at the gathering dusk. "We should have known that the Elders would never have allowed us be together in the first place if they hadn't had larger plans for us."
She took a sip of her tea and then began to tell her story.
Weylon and her had been married no more than two years when they had their first visitors. And not your typical guests but three members of the senior council of the Western realm.
The visitors told the couple of their visions. The time of something they called ‘The Prophecy’ was drawing near. And to their surprise Weylon and Brijit were told they would both play a role in it.
After that first visit, it was so long before anything more happened that they almost forgot what the visiting Elders had told them. Except Brijit began having visions of her own. Her visions were of three girls, all so different from the other and yet somehow linked. Weylon didn't have the gift of sight but he began to grow more and more uneasy. Five years after the first visit, the Elders returned.
This time they told Brijit and Weylon that they must be separated. It was time that they fulfilled their separate destinies.
Weylon was to go to a small village two days journey from where he and Brijit had been living. It was far from where Brijit would find herself running an Inn and raising three girls in a few years' time. Weylon had two young charges that he would take with him. He was not overly excited about ha
ving two boys under the age of five years put into his care, especially without his wife present. But the Elders were non-negotiable. They did not give explanations, all they told Weylon was that these two must be kept safe and raised to be strong.
Brijit meanwhile was sent to a cottage in the woods. She wasn't given any explanation but two days after she arrived the first baby came. She knew immediately the girl was a child from the Elders' realm. She was only a few days old but her eyes were always on the forest, reflecting back the multiple hues of green. Brijit smiled at Mina. "You were a beautiful sweet tempered child. Even though I missed Weylon terribly, having you to care for lightened the weight on my heart."
Brijit had longed for children of her own but Weylon and her refrained from starting a family after the Elders’ first visit. It just didn't seem right when their loyalties were to the greater good.
Mina was not alone in Brijit's home for long. Two weeks after she arrived, Kiara was delivered to the cottage by a group of Elders. With dark hair and deep blue eyes, she was the utter opposite of Mina.
Brijit laughed. "I'd lie you beside one another on your blankets and marvel at how completely different the two of you were." She smiled at the memory. "And I'm not just speaking of looks but of your temperament as well."
Kiara was a cankerous and angry baby, her wails echoing loudly through the forest where their small cottage was located. And then four weeks later, Thia was delivered, a tiny bundle with copper hair and golden eyes the like of which Brijit had never seen before. She couldn't even fathom a guess as to Thia's origins; she just knew that it was her duty to care for yet another child.
“And we all had the Mark?” Kiara asked suddenly.
Brijit met her eyes, her expression serious.
“Yes,” she whispered.
Mina saw anger flash across Kiara’s face. “And you never thought to ask what it meant?” Her tone was disbelieving.
“The Coimirceoirí do not question the Elders,” Brijit said firmly. “It is not done.”
There was a moment of silence before Brijit continued.
She had gone from longing for a baby to suddenly having three little ones thrust upon her.
Then two weeks after she arrived, Thia began having queer spells. The Elders sent their healers but they soon concluded that the child was not ill. They could not explain the seizures that would envelop Thia's small frame, causing her little eyes to roll back in their sockets and her limbs to go rigid, but they could say that the fits did her no harm
Brijit, on the other hand, was dealing with a colicky, fussy Kiara, a quiet and gentle Mina and Thia with her strange seizures. It was obvious to everyone that she needed help.
"That's when Ana came to live with us."
"Granny Ana!" Mina exclaimed with pleasure, remembering the wide grey haired woman who dominated her childhood memories. Ana had always been in the kitchen with a warm lap and comforting arms. And stories, so many stories of her homeland in the North. "Oh how I miss her."
Thia nodded in agreement.
"Yes, Ana was absolutely a gift. I don't think I would have lasted that first year with you three if it weren't for her." Brijit smiled.
"Why did she leave us?" Kiara asked suspicion heavy in her tone. Mina tried to remember the reason but she found that she could not. It just seemed that one day Ana was with them and the next she was gone.
Brijit became serious. "While we were comfortable and safe in our forest cottage for the first few years, as you girls aged it became clear that we couldn't stay there. We were far too vulnerable alone in a forest. The Elders wanted us to be in a place where they could keep a close eye on you girls and check in on a regular basis. Just after your sixth birthdays, we were told that we would be moving to the Inn." Brijit sighed. "When the Elders gave us orders, there was no question as to whether we would follow them. Ana was old and decided that she was not up to life in an Inn, even one as quiet the Elders promised this one would be. She reasoned that I would be perfectly fine raising you on my own now that you'd matured into fine young girls. She was sad to say goodbye to you – you know she loved you all - but in the end she decided to return to her homeland in the North and resume her life with her own children and grandchildren."
Kiara’s lips thinned. “And the Elders just let her go?”
Brijit was silent.
“Funny how dear Granny Ana didn’t take the time to write to us even once,” Kiara continued coldly.
Mina wondered what her sister was suggesting. Didn’t Kiara believe their mother? And why was Brijit looking so guilty. Mina had the sudden feeling that Granny Ana’s leaving had resulted in a more sinister ending than Brijit was admitting.
To her surprise Kiara suddenly let the topic drop. Mina wondered if her sister didn’t want to know the truth. Kiara suddenly change direction of her questioning.
"Do you mean to say that all these years the Inn has been a ruse so the Elders could watch us?" Kiara asked, a sharp edge in her voice.
Brijit nodded. "Yes, through the years the Elders have come to check on you often. You didn't even know when they were here."
"And now?" Thia asked, a serious light coming into her golden eyes. "What has changed that has brought Weylon and the boys here?"
Brijit shook her head. "I wish I knew. The Elders don't tell us what is happening. Our job is to keep you safe but we are not permitted to question why." She looked at them, worry reflected on her face. “Weylon received the message to come to the Inn a fortnight ago. He believes the Elders will make their way here soon. Within a few days even. You'll have to be patient for a little bit longer. When they arrive, perhaps they will have some answers to the rest of your questions."
Mina nodded and finished her tea in silence. But deep down she had the feeling that Brijit was still keeping secrets. And she wondered if they would ever uncover what those secrets might be.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Patience was not one of Kiara's strong suits. And when she was forced to wait for things she often became confrontational. She was keenly aware of this flaw in her personality and in times of stress tried to remove herself as much as possible from situations that might set her off. That's what she was doing in the yard, shooting at targets, when Caedmon and Teague suddenly appeared. Thia had joined her about five minutes before the boys did, trying to talk Kiara into accompanying her into town.
Kiara swore that she was going to start training in the forest if she couldn't get some peace and quiet. Here she was trying to avoid confrontations and everyone around her seemed hell-bent on starting one.
To be fair she had to admit that her sister wasn't trying to start a confrontation but Thia should know by now that a walk into the Village would certainly provoke one. Kiara was bound to run into one of the Village boys in town. And she could do without that! She'd rather stay in the yard and train.
But it was difficult to focus when she had an audience. Kiara tried to ignore the fact that Caedmon was watching her shoot her targets. But after a quarter of an hour had passed, she turned to where he and his brother were standing and raised her eyebrows questioningly.
"Do you want something?" she asked, struggling to keep the annoyance out of her voice. While she was proud that their presence hadn't reduced her shooting accuracy, it had distracted her.
Caedmon waited a long moment before he spoke. "You playact at being a soldier, girl," he said quietly, not even looking up from sharpening the small dagger in his hand.
"What would you know about it?" Kiara demanded angrily. A part of her was actually happy that he was also feeling confrontational. What she needed right now was a good fight to take the edge off her tension. Caedmon looked like a worthy opponent.
Thia put her hand on her sister's arm, glancing nervously at Caedmon's bent head. "Kiara, don't."
She ignored her sister's worried face. What was Thia so concerned about? "Oh, I will, Thia! Who does he think he is telling me who I am or what I do?"
Caedmon was on his feet so qui
ckly Kiara instinctively took a step backward and then silently cursed herself for showing weakness. His face was implacable.
"I've been watching you, girl. You are happy to fight your suitors; that's true. A group of farmers and Village boys but look at you - " His brown eyes seemed to grow darker as he purposely examined Kiara, his gaze sweeping from the tips of her feet to the top of her head before he shook his head dismissively. Kiara felt a stab of pain in her chest at his easy dismissal of her but then she pushed it away. "You wouldn't hold yourself for more than two minutes with a real soldier."
Kiara felt her face heat with anger. "You judge me too quickly, Outlander," she said coldly.
Kiara felt Thia's fingers grasping her arm. "Kiara, stop, this is not helpful."
Caedmon nodded. "Listen to your little sister, girl. She at least speaks sense."
Kiara shook Thia off. "What do you know of it?" she demanded as she took three steps closer until she was within arm's length of Caedmon. She forced herself to ignore the fact that her head barely reached his shoulders. Showing Caedmon how his physical size affected her would not help matters.
"Hey, I was thinking of going into the Village to see what we could find. How about it?" Teague broke in with a grin and a nod toward the street. "C'mon Caedmon, you know a pint of ale and a pretty new face might lighten your mood."
Caedmon ignored his brother and took a step closer to Kiara, erasing the little space that had remained between them. Kiara fought the sudden urge to step away again. Instead she smiled dismissively.
"Yes, why don't you listen to your brother, Caedmon, and go find a sweet Village lass to dally with. Stars knows, our serving maids have had their fill of you."
Caedmon's dark eyes were devoid of emotion. "How many men have you killed, Kiara?" he asked, his deep voice taking on a menacing tone as it radiated through her.
She tossed her head. "I've had plenty of kills."
He shook his head. "Animals, perhaps." He leaned closer using his size and physical proximity in an attempt to intimidate her.