LadySmith

by Rhavensfyre

  Alex slowed to a crawl going past the switchback leading farther into the woods, keeping a close eye on the steep drop-off on the left and the sheer rock cliff rising up above her on the right. She tapped the steering wheel in time with the music on the radio, more out of nerves than actually listening to the tune. It had been a while since she had seen Kaleigh and she wasn’t sure what to expect. Kaleigh was both her aunt and the GranMere of Alex’s tribe, their leader. She doubly held Alex’s heart and loyalty, but it had been a long time since they had seen eye to eye on anything of importance. The last time they met, Alex had left on her own accord, angry, frustrated and fuming at her aunt’s demands. Kaleigh had told her then, she was always welcome back, but there was no mistaking it, she was an exile from her people. A self-imposed exile, that was true, but that didn’t mean some of her people weren’t happy to see her gone.

  About a mile down the road, the heavy forest thinned, then cleared, spitting her truck out into a surprisingly large mountaintop meadow. Several dozen neatly spaced log homes and a few acres of well-tended gardens dotted the rolling landscape.

  There weren’t any power lines or sign of modern conveniences visible anywhere. If anyone accidentally wandered here, they would assume they had stumbled into one of those small Appalachian villages people liked to joke about and worried they would never escape. Alex smirked. One benefit of being out in the real world was exposure to human culture…including their odd sense of humor.

  “Not a single banjo in the whole place.” She chuckled, wondering how effective it would be to learn. Would an unwanted visitor flee in terror?

  Alex found a dry patch of stony ground and parked the truck, then sat there for a few minutes, listening to the sound of the engine clicking while it cooled down. She was procrastinating, but couldn’t help it. There was so much of her past here, in the sights, the sounds, the smells. She had grown up here, isolated from the rest of the world. Taught from childhood what it meant to be different and how important it was to stay hidden even in plain sight.

  Alex tugged at her braid. A small part of her felt guilty for leaving every time she returned. Today was no different. The same things that drew her here were the same things that sent her away, reminding her why she had to leave each time she succumbed to memories that tried to edit themselves into the perfection of childish nostalgia.

  Nothing had changed since her childhood, not the houses nor the farmland. There were a few goats and chickens running around, but other than that, there weren’t any farm animals. Her people didn’t eat meat as a rule; the goats and chickens were used for milk and eggs. The place was completely self-sufficient, if necessary, even though most of the women chose to work in order to enjoy the luxuries that the outside world offered. Unlike her, they returned here every night, and if they were forced to choose…they would return to the tribe.

  She was the only one who chose to live apart from the others. She was a loner in a tribe that prided itself on being a community. Saying that her decision had caused some division in the tribe would be a huge understatement. There were some who used her voluntary isolation as proof that she didn’t deserve to inherit her aunt’s position as leader.

  Some days she wondered if they were right.

  Alex laid her forehead on the steering wheel, closing her eyes against the pain and grief of the past. It was a beautiful place. It smelled like home. The air tasted like home and made her want to weep, but she couldn’t let loneliness sway her. She could never stay here, not as things were now. She couldn’t bring herself to toe the line and be the woman that her aunt wanted her to be.

  Taking in a deep fortifying breath to steel herself against the inevitable confrontation, Alex was reminded of the last time she was here. Memories of her last failed conversation with her aunt flooded in, shredding what little bit of calm and peace she had gathered about her. She threw her head back against the headrest, eyes screwed shut as the images played out behind her eyelids.

  “GranMere, there is no reason that we can’t mingle with them. You are denying us so much. Our human forms deserve to have the intimacy, even love, they can have with humans.”

  “Nonsense, child. We are Daughters of Epona. We have ever survived as myth and legend. Our safety is kept with secrecy. Would you have us go the way of other faer-folk who thought it better to share with humans, only to be mown down in their continuous wars?”

  “Wars happen whether we want or not, and time and again we have been drawn into them. If we hadn’t, the world would have been a worse place, for us and the humans who value freedom as well.”

  “True, but I remember how people feared us, and fear is a great motivator to destroy. We left our home to come here because we were tired of being servants, I’ll not expose us to those who would see us in chains. Do you think the Humans would be a more gracious taskmaster if they were given reign over us? They are cruel and capricious, more so because they have so little time between birth and death. I’ll let them remember us as legend and myth, thank you. It is safer for us all, including you.”

  “The world is shrinking, GranMere. It is not so easy to stay apart from it,” Alex argued, troubled at the way the world was moving. Without magic, humans had found science—and technology was advancing in leaps and bounds. Everything had to be counted, put on lists and downloaded. Data was everything to them, a bastardized curiosity that demanded knowledge of things that weren’t important but were becoming increasingly troublesome to folk like them. Driver’s licenses, Photo ID, taxes to the government that made sure nothing was ever owned and could be taken away at any time by the state. It wouldn’t be long before some of her kin had to explain why their licenses seemed out of sync with their pictures or someone questioned why perfectly good land had somehow managed to escape the strip mining and insatiable demand for precious metals or stones.

  “That may be, Niece, but for now, the old ways still serve us well. There is no need for us to change what has always been.”

  Alex opened her mouth, stubbornly prepared to continue her argument, but she knew it was useless. GranMere was as set in her ways as the humans were, and the violence and losses of the past was inarguable.

  Kaleigh absently waved her away, turning her attention back to the text lying on the table before her.

  Dismissed, Alex had no choice but to hold her tongue…until today.

  Until Rohanna.

  Her fists clenched ineffectively, missing the feel of the hammer in her hand. There was no outlet for her frustration here. She would have to suffer through this in order to find answers. She had no choice.

  Anger wouldn’t help her cause, but it rose up inside her anyway. As volatile and hot as her forge fire, it burned inside her like desire and tasted like conquest. Alex had grown up listening to the stories of the Great Hunt and how the Meres would ride out into the night to seek out their victims. The poor souls who had the misfortune of harboring ill thoughts and ill deeds could not hide from them. No matter how fast or how far they ran, they could not outrun a nightmare cloaked in darkness. This was before the veil closed, when magic ran rampant through the hills and flowed through the veins of every creature that claimed Fae blood.

  Alex grinned, a grim baring of straight white teeth that clenched and ground against each other in response to the clarion call of the Horn she could feel sounding through her. It was real enough to make her look around, but there was nothing to disturb the peace around her. Her face flushed hot and then cold as she fought the surge of power that coursed through her veins and ignited the blue lines of her tattoo until they felt like a living thing moving restlessly beneath her skin. She shuddered, the delicate play of muscle and tendon reminding her how easy it was now to shed this form. The NightMere inside her was living far too close to the surface lately, and that was another reason she had to come.

  It was Fae magic doing this to her.

  What had been lost when the veil closed had somehow returned to her, and it had to do with Rohanna. That she f
elt the call of the Wild Hunt would not be something Kaleigh would receive well. They had not always gone on the Hunt of their own will. The Greater Fae had delighted in making them go after chosen victims…forcing NightMeres to punish those who displeased them, rather than those who deserved such terror. That alone had been enough to send them here, where magic was weak and no one could call them by right or rank to do their bidding.

  Alex finally climbed out her truck. Delaying would do nothing but keep her here past sun down, and she longed to return to her forge. There was only one thing left to do.

  Alex leaned against the truck door and tore at the laces along her forearm until her bracer loosened enough to rip it off. She would not cover her arm here. To do so would be an insult, but more importantly, it was a reminder that she outranked anyone who would challenge her right to see the GranMere on short notice. She tossed the discarded leather onto the front seat and massaged her wrist, enjoying the feel of the cool breeze on her bare skin. The edges of the dark blue tattoo rose in response to the sensation as did the fine hairs along her arm. Sensitive fingertips traced the lines that looped and scrolled across her skin. The intricate knot work pattern was as familiar to her as her name. She mapped out the clean lines, remembering what they meant and why they were there.

  Sighing in resignation, Alex turned her feet down the path that led to the main house. She would find her aunt and tell her everything she knew. She offered a quick prayer to Epona that her aunt would listen to her tale without prejudice.

  Alex couldn’t shake the feeling that there was so much more going on than she was aware of. She needed GranMere’s knowledge, and if possible, her blessing.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  Her instincts were proven right. The minute Alex walked into the old-fashioned parlor, replete with muted pinks and deep velvets straight out of the 1800’s, someone cleared their throat behind her. Alex shook her head. As if the presence of the antique decorations weren’t enough of a bad omen, turning to find her cousin standing in the doorway surely was. Even with a tea tray in hand, she tried to turn her nose up at Alex and pretend she wasn’t acting as Kaleigh’s personal assistant.

  “Hello, Rosalind.”

  “Alexandria,” Rosalind said, managing to make her name sound like something unpleasant. “To what do we owe the pleasure of your company?”

  Alex had to give it to her for trying. Her cousin had minimized the spite in her voice quite well, but the quick glance at Alex’s wrist gave her away. Alex hadn’t imagined the flash of jealousy. She was all too familiar with it, having been victim of it for most of her childhood.

  “That is between me and Kaleigh, Cousin,” Alex responded coldly. It wasn’t Rosalind’s place to question her, and Rosalind knew it. Alex nodded her head towards the tray her cousin was carrying. “And since it seems to be tea time, I take it she is available to see me.”

  “Wait here. I’ll see if her schedule permits an unexpected visitor.” Rosalind sneered at her.

  “Really Rosalind? We’re going to play this game? What did you do this time to earn this penance? We both know GranMere requires no maid…and I’m pretty sure you aren’t the volunteer type.”

  Her eyes flashed in contempt a moment before she opened her mouth to speak, but another’s command cut off whatever she had to say. She remade her face into something a bit more contrite, at least for her, and mumbled under her breath. “It’s my honor to serve, Alexandria.”

  Alex snorted. Rosalind acting meek was about as honest as a hornet pretending to be a butterfly. They would always sting, no matter how pretty they dressed themselves up.

  “Let her in, Rosalind, and fetch another cup. Alexandria will be joining me for tea.”

  Alex grinned at her cousin. Rosalind turned on her heel and marched back into the kitchen, leaving Alex to find her own way into the back of the house.

  “Alexandria! It has been too long.” Kaleigh stood and embraced her.

  “GranMere.” Alex stooped down to embrace the older woman, then kissed her, once on each cheek as was her due. The GranMere was a small, non-descript woman, much like Rosalind and the rest. White streaked auburn hair flowed loose across her shoulders, framing a round face. High angular cheekbones, much like Alex’s, accentuated chocolate brown eyes that were deceptively gentle. Alex’s aunt carried an air of command that belied her diminutive stature, but it still saddened Alex. For a race that spawned legends of Amazon warrior and Valkyrie alike, the need to hide in plain sight had somehow lessened them over the centuries. Alex was a throwback, and her height and coloring had singled her out as a child. No one else in her tribe could claim her jet-black hair or bright-blue eyes. When Alex attempted to kneel, Kaleigh stopped her with a touch on her shoulder.

  “None of that, Alexandria. We needn’t be so formal.”

  “As you wish, Aunt,” Alex said.

  “Sit down, please. Tell me what brings you back after all this time. Are you doing well?” Kaleigh sat down on the low couch nearest the fireplace and patted the cushion next to her.

  Rosalind returned with the tray and set it on the coffee table in front of them. Alex noticed that she had added not one, but two additional cups. How bold.

  “I’m doing well,” Alex said, glancing up at Rosalind. Her expression turned grim. Whatever smile she had for her aunt melted away at the intrusive presence. There was no way she was going to speak in front of her cousin.

  Kaleigh looked at her curiously, then leaned forward and picked up the third cup, handing it to Rosalind without taking her eyes off Alex.

  “Rosalind, please take this back to the kitchen. Alex can serve me. I won’t be needing you for the rest of the afternoon so you can go home.” Alex winced. She knew what it felt like to be so summarily dismissed. If it was anyone other than her cousin, she might have been more sympathetic, but Rosalind had been behind too many miserable schemes over the years.

  “Things are still bad between you two, I take it?” Kaleigh asked after taking a sip of her tea.

  “She doesn’t think I deserve this,” Alex said, displaying the knot work circling her forearm. There was no hiding the animosity between the two cousins, not when it seemed to grow and fester with each year that passed. “Or the responsibility that comes with it.”

  “What do you expect? You live apart from us and rarely come home to honor the moon,” Kaleigh said, her face the very picture of serenity.

  Alex tensed up, threatening the fragile china in her hand. Carefully putting her cup down, Alex took a deep breath and tried to avoid the inevitable argument.

  “GranMere, I am not here to re-hash old arguments. I am my mother’s daughter. I cannot be anyone else but whom I am meant to be. Rosalind…” Alex stopped and took another deep breath. “Rosalind is a bully who wants what she cannot have. When I came here as a child, she made sure that I knew about my mother’s shame—and she did it gleefully. You and I both know she thinks she should be the one sitting here with you, not me.”

  “She may, but we do not choose who wears the mark of Epona. For some reason, the Goddess chose you and that cannot be changed. Rosalind will learn to deal with it in time.” Kaleigh gave Alex a sly look over the rim of her cup. “It would be easier, though, if you would come back.”

  “I cannot. There are things you ask of me that I cannot give. As for Rosalind, how much more time does she need?” Alex asked, then made an abrupt chopping motion with her hand. “But that is not what I am here for. I have met someone, Aunt…and I am not sure what to do.”

  “I am confused, I thought you said you couldn’t…”

  Alex interrupted Kaleigh. It was rude, but she didn’t want her aunt’s desire for an heir to become the focus of their conversation.

  “A woman, Aunt—I met a woman. But unlike any woman, or human for that matter, that I have ever met. She changed me.” Before Kaleigh could object to her announcement, Alex started to explain. As she spoke, the initial dismay in her aunt’s eyes turned to concern. By the time Alex fin
ished, her aunt looked troubled, her tea gone cold and long forgotten.

  “Are you sure, Alexandria?” she asked, setting her cup down on the coffee table. Kaleigh’s hands shook, making the porcelain cup skitter and scratch across the saucer. Alex looked away, giving her aunt time to recover from her momentary weakness.

  “I am, GranMere,” Alex said, reverting to the more formal address to cover her unease.

  “We have been diminished since the veil closed, Alexandria. What you are telling me, I cannot even begin to fathom. You are describing abilities that have been lost to us since we chose to stay here.” Kaleigh held up her hand. “May I?”

  “Of course!” Alex said, surprised she asked permission.

  Kaleigh leaned forward and grasped Alex’s left wrist in an iron grip. The tattoo flared to life, making Alex’s hand tingle painfully. A blue glow escaped from the gaps between her aunt’s fingers, illuminating the older woman’s veins across the back of her hand.

  “Great Goddess,” Kaleigh whispered, looking up at Alex in wonder.

  The tingling sensation increased, then physically arched between them much like the arc of her welding tool. A sharp pain snapped across Alex’s wrist. Kaleigh gasped and snatched her hand away a second before Alex did. Rubbing her hands together, Kaleigh stood and looked out the large picture window that showcased an immaculate wall garden.

  “Who is this woman?”

  “Her name is Rohanna MacLeod.”

  “MacLeod? As in THE MacLeod’s?” Kaleigh asked sharply.