A Witch's Destiny

by Leigh Ann Edwards

  “Killian, behind you!” Alainn called out to him as she saw a woman held a large rock.

  She attempted to send it from her arms, but she was being pulled down to the ground by a force from behind. She watched in horror as Killian was struck over the head by the sizeable rock.

  The dark haired woman who had held the rock dropped it to the ground and rubbed her hands together. She stared down at Killian with some regret.

  “Finally, sister, you seem capable of some measure of competent assistance.”

  Alainn looked at the woman in front of her and then turned to see the identical woman behind her. Except, in truth, they were not identical, for one emitted pure evil and the other simply did her bidding.

  “Now you are beginning to understand, milady. Your powers are surely lacking in this regard. I had my sister Ciara attempt to entice your husband for once he was sweet on her and had shared her bed some years ago. That is one act she seems to be reasonably satisfactory at accomplishing, I suppose. She does seem to be appealing to men and they clamor to her bed most willingly, and always have, not unlike our mother. Yet my sister couldn’t win your husband over for he seems set on having only you. In truth, neither of us could, and we did our best to see him have us.

  “But we did manage to create havoc and destruction. With the assistance of the demon, we placed a dark charm on the animals and saw you wounded and despairing. Unfortunately, our mother took the brunt of your spell of thirteen when any number of animals attacked her, leaving her in a mangled state and needing to remain in that hopeless realm. But, between the two of us, Ciara and I placed a potent spell on the others at your husband’s castle. My sister took your friend, the young cook to her bed, and Nellie, the virginal young kitchen servant with tendencies towards women, fell under my spell and was most willing to do my bidding after I showed her what it is to be pleasured by a woman. The innocent, wee girl was no match for my wiles, not when I brought her such swift and ecstatic release. Even now, she fawns after me and begs me to pleasure her.”

  Alainn shivered as she glanced at Killian upon the ground and was repulsed by Ciara’s sister’s obvious satisfaction in toying with young Nellie’s emotions and desires. The woman continued speaking.

  “Ciara’s stepmother could be entirely controlled because of her attachment to Ciara’s son. They were all easily managed. I had each of them add the skullcap to the honey for I was certain your husband would surely turn his eyes from you if you couldn’t give him a son. That does seem to be such a great consideration to men. But even through all of that, you shone through, and even when the two of you lived apart and my sister and I both took many turns at attempting to share his bed, he stayed faithful to you.”

  She sighed deeply and Ciara stood wide-eyed and staring at Alainn and then back at Killian who remained unmoving on the ground.

  “How did no one discover you were twins?” Alainn questioned in a voice that trembled, and she flayed herself and her magical abilities for not discovering the truth being so simple as there had been twins born.

  “Well, now that is a bit of a muddled tale, for you see my sister was born before my mother died in childbed. After she died, my grandmother decided she couldn’t possibly let her only child, Oonagh simply die, so she called upon a dark magic spell that awoke her from the dead, only to both their surprise to learn that there had been another child within her. So the dark magic awoke me as well. It is said Glynnis cut me from my mother’s body, soon after she awoke from the dead, but that she had been dead, we both had been dead long enough for our bodies to have already grown cold. Apparently I was greatly affected by the dark magic that allowed my mother to live again. It enabled me to possess unnatural abilities, ensured I could do many things with my wicked powers through the years. Things my sister wouldn’t dare to attempt for she does tend to be remorseful.”

  The other twin stared at Ciara with something liken to pity as she continued with the account of their birth and childhood.

  “Our grandmother, Glynnis, always said I was born with no conscience and no morals. She believed I have no soul. Perhaps being dead for some time before I actually lived might have caused that; who could say? She feared me, the old crone. She despised my pets and my attempts at keeping my mother more alive than dead.” She laughed again and Alainn realized it was this woman’s macabre tortured animals she had found in the healing chamber.

  “Aye, I heard it was you who took away my many animals needed for my dark spells, and so in actuality it was you who caused our grandmother’s untimely demise for I needed to resort to other methods. Although, in truth, Glynnis had already been threatening to tell you about me. She said you possessed powerful magic and that you would be capable of fighting me and managing my evil. She was a dim-witted woman, gifted in healing ways, but after she employed dark magic that enabled my mother to live again, she became entirely unwilling to create dark spells again. Apparently my own mother, before she became the demented creature she is now, was entirely nefarious and accomplished much. But always, our grandmother refused to assist me. My sister, too, lacks the ability to completely turn to the dark side, don’t you, dear feeble-minded Ciara?”

  Alainn saw the fear in Ciara’s eyes when she stared at her sister.

  “She would surely have hurt Kale,” she whispered to Alainn and Alainn saw the growing terror in her eyes even now.

  “And what is your name?” Alainn stared at the other sister. The question seemed to take her off completely off guard.

  “I was not given a name for I was not to have existed. My grandmother feared me and so she kept me hidden in the concealed tunnels with my grotesque mother most of the time. Of course with my mother’s damaged mind and rotting body, she simply called me Ciara, she couldn’t even seem to tell us apart. So I was kept in the tunnels far away from others, for it was said I had a distinct darkness about me. But I came out at night and was present more often than it was known even to Glynnis. I often frightened others for it was easy to simply blame my sister.

  “I shared my sister’s husband’s bed and sure he must have wondered why his wife’s needs and manner of being pleasured varied so greatly. I was mildly hesitant to kill young Will for he did offer a consistent source of carnal pleasure. And my sister, well, she was most reluctant to see her husband killed as well. Only with the promise of having your husband in her bed again, did she soon give in on that count. And, I must admit, when I had him that day in the enchanted forest”—she seemed to be recalling that time and she sighed—“well, shall I simply say he’s the best I’ve ever had, and I’ve had many, though not all have lived to tell about it.”

  Alainn was well aware Ciara’s sister hoped to rile her by causing her jealousy to surface. She only had to think back to the time with Ebrill to stem her jealousy and attempt an approach she thought the evil woman wouldn’t anticipate.

  “I am sorry for all that happened to you and for the life you were made to live. You should have been given a name. Your grandmother was wrong in never having given you a name. I would not have hidden you away and I would have named you.” Alainn continued to reason with the woman for she noticed Killian had begun to move.

  “I will not fall for your treachery no matter how clearly maternal you may appear to be.”

  “I would have named you. Sure I would have called you Brannagh, for it is a name often given to a dark-haired babe, for the meaning is simply raven-haired.”

  The woman turned to Alainn and her eyes filled with uncertainty as she stared from Ciara to Alainn as she continued to be taken aback by Alainn’s unexpected words.

  Making some headway and perhaps weakening the woman’s dark powers by appealing to her human side and the need to be loved and validated, Alainn was stunned to see Riley come from within the bushes behind the abbey and he went to stand beside Ciara. His eyes were glazed and it was certain he was not only filled with drink, but surely under a spell.

  Alainn wasn’t certain if Riley didn’t see there were t
wo sisters or if he’d known there were twins all along and he’d possibly relished the fact he could have two women in his bed upon request.

  “Control him, Ciara,” her sister said, “Entice him so he knows precisely what he must do. Ensure he knows his part in all that must be done this night.”

  “It does not have to be done this way, sister!” Ciara dared to argue. “Alainn is correct, we might call you, Brannagh. We could allow others to know you exist. We do not have to proceed with this dark scheme or be part of the coven any longer. With the demon gone, we could go to our father, and tell him we are his daughters. He would surely believe us.”

  “Do not be so impressionable and gullible, sister. We will proceed as we discussed and will be given much more power by the next demon who is sent to us.”

  “I don’t want to do this any of this anymore, Brannagh.” Ciara attempted to appeal to her sister.

  “Do not call me that!” She sneered. “Do as I instructed you and do it now.

  Would you rather it be your own son killed? Would you prefer I slice wee Kale’s throat and make you watch?”

  “You wouldn’t kill my dear son; take the life of your own blood?” Ciara pleaded.

  “I killed our grandmother and delighted in it, so I would not push me on this, Ciara!”

  Alainn tried to speak to Riley. “Riley, waken from this spell, no good can come from this, awaken now.” She placed her hands before her and sent light toward Riley.

  The woman threatened to harm Alainn again by way of her dark magic, but she turned toward her and pushed her own magic against the woman.

  “Do it now, Ciara!” she commanded and she glared at her sister.

  Ciara’s dark eyes filled with fearfulness and she did surely what she’d always done through the years, she listened to her sister. She obediently drew nearer to Riley and began to speak to him.

  “Your wife is up in the tower even now. She is there with her lover and she will soon give birth to her son. They will take him away from you and you will never be allowed to see him. You will be shamed and humiliated as a man and a chieftain. Your father will think you a failure, a disgrace to the O’Brien name. You must see to it that they are made to pay for your shame, for your humiliation. They are lovers, Riley. Sure, all this time they’ve been lovers, perhaps the child isn’t yours at all, but his sire is the notorious outlaw Scot.”

  Riley’s eyes flashed with life and then filled with dark jealously.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  “Riley, they are falsehoods… all vicious falsehoods. You are under a dark spell and being told untruths to do their bidding. Conner has not been with Mary, not ever. The child is indisputably your son.”

  Alainn’s hold on the dark woman was slipping and she held her hands out once more, but in her fretful state she seemed unable to accurately direct her powers. The woman held her arms toward Alainn as well. Killian had begun to move again and Alainn quickly looked away, but the evil woman had already seen as well.

  “Ciara, finish him or with his strength and size he will overtake you.”

  Ciara picked up the rock once more, and began walking to where Killian in his injured state attempted to stand, but Alainn sent the rock flying against the abbey where it smashed against the wall.

  Alainn heard a painful scream from the tower window and glanced over to see Riley look upward for he had heard as well.

  Ciara had run toward him and whispered in Riley’s ear and he soon started toward the tower.

  “No, Riley,” Alainn begged him. “Stay here, do not enter that tower or you shall meet your death, this night. I swear that is the truth. I have seen it in a vision.”

  He turned to her and sneered. “Always attempting to have me believe in your magic and your visions, cousin, but you will not frighten me.”

  “By this night’s end, you will lie dead below the tower’s window.” She glanced toward the spot having seen it in her vision not long before. “If you should walk up those stairs, you will fall to your death, your neck will be broken, your head smashed and your chest split open.”

  “You may prattle on all you like, but you’ll not deter me. Lovely Alainn, dear cousin… always attempting to tell me what to do. Always believing you know what is best for me. Well I won’t listen, Alainn, for ’tis clear your loyalties lie with Mary and her lover.”

  “Riley, think back to our childhood to all the times we spent together, you and Rory, Killian and me.”

  His eyes momentarily lost their fierceness. “Aye, Killian and you…” he said with bitterness. “Always Killian was the victor in our games, he was the champion, he won favor with the other men, with the council of the clans, with the women, even with my own father, and he won favor with you, Alainn, the only woman I ever professed to love. And so it was, you became his. Now you have both betrayed me for you side with Mary and the Scot, even though we are cousins, even though the same blood flows through our veins. You have betrayed me, Alainn, and Killian has done so as well, though at one time we were like brothers. But no longer, and therefore, I bear you no loyalty.” He smiled nastily at her and hastily headed toward the tower’s stairs.

  Alainn decided in his bewitched and embittered state of mind, he possibly didn’t even possess the aptitude to realize there were two women, two Ciaras. Alainn began to go after him when he started up the stairs, but the other woman followed and yanked her back down by her hair. Alainn struggled to move and sent her magic toward the woman again. She caused her to fly against the stone wall and this time her head was cut open. A large gash on her forehead spilled blood down into her eyes.

  Alainn could hear the sounds of swords above her and she glanced toward the tower window. She was stunned to see the dark haired woman, even with blood pouring in her face, move from her position on the ground to fly upward toward the window. She was surely going to Riley’s aid. Alainn created a whirlwind that enshrouded the woman and twirled her wildly about and then sent her crashing to the ground beside her.

  The woman, whose face was now entirely covered in blood making her unrecognizable, looked at Alainn as she remained sitting upon the ground, but a slow satisfied smile crossed her lips. Alainn looked up as well and saw Ciara had another rock in her hands and she held it just above Alainn’s own head. It was clear she was about to smash it down on her head, for sure that would cause her sister to be beholden to her.

  Alainn saw the spirit of Shylie appear before them and the eviler of the twin sisters noticed as well.

  “Another sister,” she said as she attempted to wipe the blood from her face. “We should like to make your acquaintance for it’s unlikely you are aware we share the same father.”

  Shylie’s face was filled with confusion, and she stared at Alainn for clarification, but Alainn simply looked at the rock now held above her head. It was clear Shylie hoped to assist Alainn, but she saw Shylie’s face fill with terror and when she glanced at the direction Shylie was looking, she saw a clear vision of what had transpired so many years ago. Because they both possessed magical abilities, Oonagh only a few years older than Shylie, had slyly befriended her. In the vision, she was smiling warmly at Shylie as they headed toward a wooded area with her baskets in their hands and the ruse of finding herbs together. But as they drew nearer it was revealed to them that the demon lay in wait.

  Alainn recalled it had been Oonagh who as a small child, had killed Killian’s grandmother. Then years later, as a girl of six and ten she had led Shylie to her death at the hands of the demon.

  Even now, the vision in its horrific clarity revealed the demon, as he first defiled and then strangled Shylie.

  Although Shylie had remembered the demon had taken her life, the terrified memories she had mercifully not retained after death, until now. Even daunted by the vision and the now persistent memories, Shylie drew nearer to Alainn with the intention of aiding her and preventing her from being harmed. But now, just mere feet from where they stood a clear image of the demon appeared before them.<
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  “Turn away, Shylie, for it is not real, but only an image created by this evil enchantress so she will impede you in assisting me,” Alainn called out in warning.

  Now completely distracted, first by viewing Shylie’s violent death and then in making Shylie realize the demon was not here with them, Alainn felt the other sister’s thrown dagger driven deep within her belly. She gasped and closed her eyes preparing next for the crushing blow above her head, but she heard the rock suddenly drop to the ground and in opening her eyes, she saw Ciara McCree’s severed head fall to her feet and roll to the doorway of the tower.

  Alainn turned to see Killian with his sword in hand and a noticeably large swollen wound on his head, and blood trickling down his cheek. He only then seemed to see the other woman on the ground and his eyes filled with undeniable confusion.

  The dark-haired woman who remained on the ground with blood covering much of her face, screamed in outrage at seeing her sister dead. She struggled to her feet and raced toward Alainn her summoned dagger outstretched once more.

  Alainn sent her away with her magic, and once more held her suspended in midair.

  “Go to the tower, Killian. Riley is there; he intends to harm Mary. Even now he and Conner do battle with their swords.”

  Killian remained uncertain, for he saw the blood that spewed through Alainn’s fingers from the wound on her stomach, yet he listened to Alainn. Because of the injury to his head, he staggered toward the doorway. She momentarily feared she might be sending him to his death from a fall from the winding tower stairs, but she had little time to think about it for the dark-haired woman broke free from Alainn’s power. She dropped to the ground and raced after Killian.

  Alainn started out after her as she tightly placed her hand to the deep wound on her belly, but the pain stopped her in her tracks and the blood seeped disturbingly through her clasped hands.