Once Upon a Quest
Page 36
She is almost to Miles Cross, and her hope is almost gone when she sees Svinnr, just a nose from the place where the horses and men slip into nothing. “Svinnr!” she shouts. The horse does not stop, but it pauses, ears swiveling back to her voice. It’s just enough time for her to reach Tam. Jumping up, she grabs hold of his scabbard belt and pulls with all her might.
Svinnr rears at the unexpected weight, or maybe in excitement for an oat cake. She’s never seen Tam slip from Svinnr’s back, even when the great horse becomes agitated, but this time he doesn’t fight gravity. He tumbles off the large animal and falls upon the ground.
“Get her off of him!” she hears the woman shout.
Margarites throws herself on top of Tam and wraps her arms around his back. Hands grasp her by the stomach and try to pull her away, but she locks her arms beneath Tam, and his body weight becomes an anchor. She doesn’t care that it crushes her hands. For an instant, she feels Tam’s fingers brush her forehead, but then the woman shouts his name—his real name. “Tarben Bergfalk, don’t touch or speak to her!” and Tam Lin’s hand falls to the ground. She hears him growl behind his mask. The men pull against her, and the woman says, “You want this monster?”
The grasping hands vanish. Horses rear; frantic hooves sound so close to Margarites’s ears that she is sure she will be crushed. A hiss above her head makes Margarites glance up. From Tam’s armor comes the head of a giant serpent. It opens its mouth and she sees fangs. Closing her eyes, she doesn’t let go. Tam Lin begins to laugh, and the laugh becomes a clacking noise. It gets louder and louder, clackety-clackety-clack. She opens an eye and Tam Lin’s helmet has fallen back, revealing a face that is gore, bone, and teeth. A maggot springs from his eye socket. Margarites holds on tighter and closes her eyes. She feels heat on her head, and fire behind her eyelids. She hears the word, “dragon!” but doesn’t let go, even as horses scream, and men dismount trying to control them, their boots ringing near her head. The woman shrieks, and the sound is like pure, unadulterated anger.
The choker vibrates, and a man with a deep voice asks in a language like Tam’s, “What is the meaning of this?” The syllables sound like icicles shattering, and she feels the meaning, rather than understanding.
The woman doesn’t answer; instead, she orders, “Let him go, mortal wench!”
Tam’s armor begins to heat until it’s unbearably hot. Margarites tries to inch him toward the water, but can’t without losing her grip, so just holds him tighter, even though pain brings tears to her eyes.
The man with a voice like ice cracking roars, “Stop!”
The horses stop screaming and rearing, the boot steps cease, and all the noises of the retreating army fade away. Tam’s armor begins to cool.
“Girl,” says the man with the voice like winter, his head nearly at her level now. “What is the meaning of this?”
Margarites dares to open her eyes. The man addressing her is powerfully built, and he wears imposing armor, much like Tam’s. His face isn’t like his voice; it isn’t cold. Rather, it is surprisingly fatherly. He has grey, nearly white hair and a beard to match. He has an eye patch over one eye, but the other eye is blue like a summer day; it twinkles as he leans over her.
“He is the father of my child and I will not let him go,” Margarites declares, her lip curling in a snarl or a sob, she’s not sure.
Two ravens land on the man’s shoulder. One says, “He is a mortal man!”
The other bobs and says, “Enslaved! By the Elf Queen.”
Straightening, the man says to the woman who can only be the Elf Queen, “You will release him, now.”
“He is my best knight!” she retorts.
“You will release him,” says the man, his voice like a blizzard.
One of the ravens rawks on his shoulder. “Master, should we call the God of Chaos?”
“Loki, Loki, Loki,” rawks the other.
The Queen hisses. “Tarben Bergfalk, you are released.”
Tam gasps, and Margarites can feel his chest heave beneath his armor. Horses spill around them, resuming the march into nothingness, and the Queen retreats to the side of the road. Margarites is distantly aware of the one-eyed man standing beside her and Tam, but she doesn’t look up.
Tam pushes back his helmet and brushes a lock of hair from her forehead. “I knew you’d never lose hope.”
The world is a blur of tears again.
“You held onto me even though she turned me into monsters,” he says.
Margarites smiles, and her tears finally tumble. She remembers all her fears, her distrust, jealousy, and her dark rationalizations for not showing gratitude.
She whispers, “You’ve held onto me, despite all of mine.”
~END~
* * *
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Thank you so much for reading Take My Monsters. Tam Lin is a traditional Scottish fairy tale, and Caledonia is the Roman name for Scotland. The oldest written version of Tam Lin I could find is from 1769, but even that version attests to be a retelling of a much older tale. The name of the woman in the story is sometimes Janet, Jeanette, or Jean, and other times Margaret. Since I set this much earlier than the earliest recorded version, I chose Margarites, the Greek version of Margaret, as the variants of Janet weren’t in use then.
The part about Tam Lin being bound by a fairy queen and turned into various beasts while the heroine holds on is straight from the tale. I loved the idea of holding onto a man despite him becoming a monster. I think none of us are perfect, and we are all monsters at one time or another. But I also thought it important to show that Tam Lin isn’t really monstrous, and worth holding onto—and so is Margarites!
In most versions, Tam is being afraid of being sent to Hell, and that is why he begs for “Margarites” help to begin with. However, since this story is set in pre-Christian Scotland, I tweaked that detail and had it instead fit details of my I Bring the Fire Universe. There is archeological evidence that Norse Gods were worshipped in England even after it was Christianized, so adding that element to the story wasn’t farfetched.
If you liked the tale, and the glimpse into the Norse mythology that I typically write, the first ebook in my USA Today bestselling I Bring the Fire series is free on all vendors. It is a blend of Norse mythology and urban fantasy, and stars Loki the Norse God of Chaos as the “hero.” I also write modern paranormal romance with a Norse twist in my After the Fire series, and sci-fi romance in my Archangel Project series. Visit my website, follow me on Facebook, or sign up for my newsletter to hear all about new releases and to get other great deals.