Elphames Choice

by P. C. Cast

Chapter Seventeen

  Elphame wiped a trembling hand across her lips as she hurried from the edge of the forest back to the cluster of boulders. She just had time to heave herself up on the rock and take two long, deep breaths before Brighid trotted around the curving tree line, calling a greeting to her. Elphame waved a hand in response and forced herself to smile. No one would know just by looking at her that she had just been kissed, she reminded herself - not even a Huntress. A Huntress couldn't read faces, she could only read tracks. . .

  . . . Elphame's mind jerked like a frightened colt. Oh, Goddess! Brighid could read Lochlan's tracks. The Huntress's bright look of welcome changed to a worried frown when she noticed how pale Elphame's face had become.

  "Cuchulainn said I should fetch you back to the castle, that you had been gone long enough to tax your strength. By the look of you, he was right. "

  "I hate it when he's right," Elphame tried for nonchalance, all the while being careful to stop her eyes from obsessively scanning the forest for the smallest telltale sign of Lochlan.

  "We all hate it when he's right. Come on, I'll give you a hand down. " Brighid steadied her as El slid from the boulder. Then she cocked an eyebrow at the disheveled, breathless young woman. "Do you need to ride back to the castle?"

  "No, I'm fine. "

  "Are you certain? You know I truly do not mind," Brighid said.

  "Yes, I know. " She smiled at the serious-looking Huntress. "Thank you, Brighid, I appreciate the offer, but I think I'm just stiff from sitting so long. "

  Elphame was touched by Brighid's offer of aid, just as she would not forget night Brighid had carried her

  - and Cuchulainn - from the forest to the castle. During the past five days Brighid had visited her as often as possible, even though her hunting schedule was taxing. Brenna and Brighid had done everything they could to make her forced captivity bearable. And Elphame felt like a traitor as she prayed to Epona that Brighid wouldn't notice Lochlan's unusual tracks.

  Relax and talk to her, Elphame ordered herself. Stop acting so guilty.

  "I'm glad you came to get me. I've missed your company the past day or so," Elphame said.

  "Yesterday five more men, all with young wives, joined us. "

  "I hadn't heard. " Elphame's eyes narrowed. "Cuchulainn. . . " She drew out her brother's name like a curse. "That overprotective oaf! He didn't tell me more people had joined us. He's treating me like I am a damned invalid. "

  "Your brother is most definitely annoying," Brighid said, but she couldn't help grinning at his sister. At least he was never boring or, for all his irritating faults, awkward to be around. Except for Elphame, Brenna and a handful of others, too often she found humans difficult to interact easily with. They were, of course, not as powerful as centaurs physically, but it seemed to her that their limited physical abilities too often defined their personalities, too. She'd spent little time with humans until lately, but even in that short time she'd noticed that humans tended to act unnatural around those of her race. The humans either went too far - to the point of embarrassment - in exuberant displays of acceptance and brotherhood. Or they seemed to need to puff up, to preen, and to try to act superior. Mentally, Brighid shook her head. She didn't agree with the Dhianna herd's views on the separation of species, but they were right about one thing - most humans were difficult to understand.

  She glanced at Elphame, who was neither human nor centaur, and smiled at her sullen expression.

  Although she disliked being set apart, Elphame never tried to pretend to be anything except what she was

  - a natural leader who had been touched by Epona. Brighid respected that about her, even before she had begun liking her.

  "If you're feeling well enough to fight with Cuchulainn you must be healing. That will certainly make Brenna happy," Brighid said.

  "But not Cu," Elphame said with a satisfied smirk.

  They were walking slowly back to the castle, with the Huntress being sure to shorten her long 'strides to accommodate Elphame's injuries. When Brighid started angling more toward the forest than the sea, Elphame felt alarm bells go off in her head and she hastily pointed to the imposing cliffside.

  "Let's walk along the edge. I like looking at the sea. "

  Brighid changed direction, but she shook her head as they made their way slowly along the treacherous edge. "I do not know why you like it. It makes me nervous. "

  Elphame gave her a surprised look. "I didn't think anything made you nervous. "

  The Huntress snorted. "Falling does - very nervous. "

  She gave Elphame a gentle nudge with her elbow. "That should be something you understand. "

  Elphame shivered in not so mock horror. "You're right about that. It's not an experience I ever want to repeat. "

  Brighid was silent for several more strides. She needed to talk with Elphame about the accident, or more specifically, about the disconcerting evidence she had discovered. Elphame seemed more relaxed than she had been earlier. She was walking comfortably beside her, letting her hands trail over the longest of the grassy tufts that grew in bunches near the cliff. Now seemed as good a time as any. Brighid cleared her throat and shot her a sideways glance.

  "I've wanted to ask you something about that night, but I thought I should wait until you were recovered

  - or at the very least thinking clearer. "

  "By the Goddess! I couldn't be more tired of having my thinking questioned. I promise you I'm thinking clearly. Would you like me to recite an epic poem or two as proof?"

  Brighid put her hands up as if fending off an attack. "I'll take you at your word, Goddess. "

  Elphame scowled at her. "You've hauled me around on your back. You should know better than to call me Goddess. "

  "You're right. A proper goddess wouldn't be so heavy," Brighid said without thinking.

  At the horrified expression on the Huntress's face, Elphame burst into laughter, holding her side and wincing at the unexpected pain.

  "Oh, stop! Don't make me laugh. " She leaned against Brighid, trying to catch her breath, but every time she looked at the Huntress she started laughing again.

  "You can quit laughing now. It wasn't that funny. " Brighid frowned at her. "Or are you hysterical?"

  Elphame shook her head, gulping air. "No, it's just that what you said is so true. I'm not exactly petite. "

  Brighid snorted. "Someone called you petite?"

  "No. " El got herself under control and limped slowly on, holding her aching side. "Until I came to MacCallan Castle no one except my family called me anything normal at all. I've always been The One Touched By Epona, The Special One. It's a lovely change to be nagged and told that my butt is too big. "

  "I do not nag and I said nothing about your hindquarters. " Brighid huffed.

  "Not directly you didn't, but it's nice that you feel free to tease me a little. And you're not the nag, that's Brenna. "

  "She certainly is," Brighid said. "Do you know she has been insisting that I drink one of her herbal concoctions? She said it will help boost my strength so that the hunting will not overfatigue me. "

  "It tastes terrible?" Elphame asked sympathetically.

  "Yes. " Brighid grimaced.

  "Does it work?"

  "Of course. "

  The two shared a long-suffering look.

  "Perhaps we should tell her Cuchulainn's looking overtired lately," Elphame said mischievously.

  "Excellent idea. " Brighid laughed. "And you're right, there's nothing wrong with your thinking. "

  "Well, do me a favor and pass the word. I'm tired of people treating me as if the fall permanently disabled my powers of reasoning. "

  "It would be my great pleasure. "

  "And now that we have established that I can give you a coherent answer, what was it you wanted to ask me?"

  Brighid paused and collected her thoughts before speaking. When she did her voice had lost its t
easing edge.

  "That night, when you killed the boar, were there any other creatures in the ravine with you?"

  "Other creatures? What do you mean?" Elphame had to fight to keep her expression open and neutral.

  "I'm not sure," Brighid said slowly, as if trying to put a puzzle together aloud. "I found the boar with its throat slit, dead, in the middle of the stream. And I could easily see where you had fallen. But I saw other things, too. Tracks that I did not recognize very near your own. "

  "Other tracks? I don't understand," Elphame said, feeling her chest constrict. She did not like to lie. Until the accident she'd had no practice at it, and it pained her to mislead her friends.

  "I don't understand, either. Granted, it was dark and the rain had already begun washing away the tracks, but I'm sure what I saw was unusual. They were the tracks of an animal I have never before encountered. " Brighid looked at Elphame, concern clearly showing in her eyes. "And I have seen similar tracks since in the forest surrounding MacCallan Castle. "

  Elphame fought down the panic that threatened to choke her throat. In the most nonchalant voice she could muster, she said, "Could it be some kind of large bear? You know these woods have been underhunted for most of the past century. There's no telling what wild animals have been allowed to thrive unculled and roam free. "

  Brighid sighed. "It could be, but the tracks are not a bear's. It is a two-legged creature. I know it sounds far-fetched, but I wonder if dragons have returned to Partholon. "

  Elphame did not have to pretend her surprise. Dragons had been the stuff of bedtime tales and ballads for centuries. If they had ever existed, they hadn't been seen in hundreds of years.

  "You do think I'm imagining things," Brighid said.

  "No! I don't doubt your word. Maybe there are dragons in this forest. " Elphame looked up at Brighid and gave her an impish grin. "Just don't tell Cuchulainn. He'll insist on a lance and a dragon-slaying party. "

  Brighid laughed.

  "Brighid, it would put my mind at ease if you would promise me something. "

  The Huntress raised her eyebrows at her friend.

  "Whatever this creature is, don't go after it. Just let it be - at least until we're more settled here and you can call in extra Huntresses to join you. " Elphame felt that her dissembling words branded her as the blackest of traitors, to both Lochlan and her friend, but she didn't know what else to say - or what else to do.

  Brighid shrugged her shoulders. "As you wish, Elphame. I'm busy enough providing the daily meat for this growing horde. "

  They walked on in silence, both thinking of the talon-edged tracks in the forest.