by A. S. Koutso
“My daughter will take care of that. Please remember we are your allies, anything we can do to help don’t hesitate to ask.” He said knocking on the door.
A servant opened the door from the inside.
“Good night my dear.” he said walking back to where we came from.
The room was huge, there was a fireplace on the far wall with a glass door leading outside. The bed was placed in the center of the room with a thick quilt folded at the bottom.
“It gets rather chilly at night. Would you like me to start a fire?” The servant asked.
“Yes please, that would be lovely.”
“Would the lady like a bath tonight? I can prepare the water for you right away?”
“Oh yes. I’d love that thank you.”
With a curtsy the young woman scurried off to start the fire.
I haven’t had a bath in forever. It will feel so good to just relax after such a crazy day. I was sitting on the chair in front of the warm fire when the servant announced that the bath was ready. There was a second door in the bedroom that led to the bathing room. The servant had lit the candles around a large tub made of what looked to be porcelain.
I was used to an oversized bucket to bathe in. To have a bath this big to myself was a bit much, but I wasn’t about to complain.
“Would you like lavender oil in your water my lady?” The woman asked.
“Oh yes please.”
She added the oils to my water and waited in the corner of the room.
“Thank you for everything.” I said hoping she got the hint.
“You are very welcome, will there be anything else my lady?”
“No you can go now. Thank you.”
“Alright. If you require any assistance at all, please ring the bell.” she pointed to the table beside me that had a large golden bell placed on it.
Finally, alone I removed my clothing and placed it on the table by the door. As soon as I plopped into the bath, I noticed the door open and an arm reach for the table.
“Excuse me? Why are you taking my clothes?” I asked
“Oh, I am very sorry my lady, did you not want me to wash them for you? I will have them back to you by the end of the night.”
“Sorry. Yes, that would be perfect.” I apologised
With that my clothes were gone, and the door was closed.
Letting out a deep breath I sank under the water. I couldn't help but think back to everything that happened. Then suddenly it hit me. Cillian kissed me. For real this time it wasn’t a dream.
My cheeks burned up and it felt like I had butterflies flying around in my stomach. I pushed my body to the top of the water to take another breath. I kept hoping this would happen even though I knew it would cause more problems for me. I didn’t know how to react, but my body wanted more of him. Before my mind got anymore twisted, I hopped out of the tub and rang the bell. The servant opened the door with a nightgown in hand.
“Would you like me to dress you my lady? “she asked
“No that will be fine thank you. I’m going to bed now; would it be possible to have my clothes sent to my room by morning?” I asked
“Of course my lady.”
I blew out the candles around the bath and went to sit back in the chair by the fireplace. My mind was at war with itself. I wanted to be happy about the kiss, but I knew it was a bad idea. I shouldn't let myself get tied up in someone I don’t even know.
I sat there for a while letting my body dry and hoping my stomach would settle so I could get some sleep.
Finally, my hair was almost dry, so I pulled it into a quick braid hanging from the side of my shoulder and went to bed. I lied on my back and pulled the quilt from the bottom of the bed to cover my body and held the pillow to my face letting out a faint scream,
hopefully not loud enough for anyone to hear. I took one more deep breath and closed my eyes hoping tomorrow would be just as thrilling. My mind wandered as the thought of Cillian came rushing back.
Chapter 11
The castle was asleep when I heard the squeaking of an old heavy door. The fire had died and turned to glittering embers. The room was too dark to see where the sound came from, so I laid still in the bed with my dagger in hand listening closely for any sound that would give away where the person was hiding. I had been on guard all night due to the king's words; I knew I wasn’t safe. Footsteps creeped the floorboards at my bedside. I held my position hoping to catch them by surprise.
“Aisling.” a whispering voice called out my name
The bed shifted to the right as the person sat on the corner waiting for my reply.
“Aisling. Wake up.” The voice got louder.
I saw a hand approaching so I jumped up pretending to be startled.
“Good you're awake. We need to leave, you're not safe here.” It was a young woman's voice; it was faintly familiar.
She lit a candle on my bedside table and a long braid came into view.
“Let’s go.” She continued
“It's really not safe. We need to leave tonight.”
“Ok, but why? The king said I could leave at first light.” I responded
“That was before he knew who brought you here. Now hurry I can answer your questions when we leave. Grab your clothes and let’s go. When we enter the hall, you cannot make a sound. Understood?”
“Yes.” I said looking for my outfit.
“The servant hung your clothing on the door, hurry up please.” she explained
I ran over to get dressed as quickly as possible making sure to strap my dagger to my leg for easy access.
When we were in the hall, I realised the woman was Orla, the king's daughter. I stopped abruptly with a confused look.
“There's no time, I will explain but not here.” she said grabbing my arm to rush me out of the castle.
When we passed the guards, she brought her finger to her lip to keep them silent. They let us pass with no hesitation. We ran by the courtyard where the tapestry was still glowing, I had a bad feeling when we entered the room. Someone was following us; I saw a shadow in the corner watching as we left.
By the time we got out of the castle Lady O’Callaghan was trying to catch her breath. We stopped to rest at a large boulder placed by the front entrance.
“Are you ok?” I asked
“Yes, but we can’t stop here. We need to head out of the city right away.” She said, gasping between words
“There was someone in the courtyard watching us.” I explained
“Then we really need to go. The guards will stop him but it's best if we get a head start.”
She led me to the front gates of the city before stopping again.
“I’m sorry, I may have let my training slip lately.” she giggled
“That's fine I know my way from here.”
“I’m coming with you Aisling.”
“What? Why?”
“That's my duty. I was raised to protect the Fae especially the front-line warriors should they ever show up in Laois. Honestly, I never thought it would happen so I didn’t take it as seriously as I should have but here you are.”
“Well alright, then let's get going. I need to find the doctor that took my wings from me. I have a map drawn out by my guardian.”
I pulled the map from my bag and showed her where we needed to go.
“That's going to be a tough one.” She said
“Shanaglish is a small village run by the church, are you sure that's where we have to go?”
“According to Cara that's where he lives.”
“Ok, we will figure something out when we get there. It's about a three day walk from here, so we better get to it.” She explained as we started down the path toward the main road.
It was still dark out, so we decided to stick to the path until the sun came up. We walked for about an hour in silence trying not to be found by whoever was following us in the castle, luckily we hadn’t heard or seen anyone behind us.
“Who we
re we running from at the castle?” I asked
“Cillian.”
“Why would we run from Cillian? That makes no sense; he's the one that brought me there in the first place.” I argued
“Clearly there's a lot you need to learn about people. Cillian works for the church.”
“I thought you said you were old friends. How can he work for the church yet live in Laois? The king told me the church abandoned the city long ago.”
“It's a long story just trust me on this,”
I stopped abruptly
“How can I trust you. I don’t know you. How do I know you're not working for the church? Cillian was nothing but kind to me since the moment I met him. He saved my life.” I continued to argue, refusing to walk without answers.
“Alright. I’ll explain, but not here we need to keep moving.”
Hesitantly I complied.
We started walking and she began her story
“When I was much younger my mother had a handmaid that had a child about the same age as me. They lived in the servant’s quarters, so I saw him quite often, we became friends and played in my spare time. My parents didn’t mind because he was the only child around, so they saw no harm in it. When I was about nine years old his mother grew ill and later that year passed away. The boy had no father, but his aunt lived in Dublin. She had visited quite a bit while his mother was sick. I asked my father if he could stay with us as a servant, but he thought it would be best to send him off to his aunts. About a year later we found out that the aunt sent him away to the church. We assumed she didn’t want him.”
“That's very sad but what does that have to do with Cillian?” I asked, still not completely understanding the relevance.
“The boy was Cillian.”
“Then how come you still see him if he was sent off?”
“He returned to Laois about five years ago looking for answers about his father. Unfortunately, it was a dead end, he stayed a few days and we were lucky enough to bump into each other down at the lower market.
I invited him to stay with us while he was in town and he explained everything that had happened to him since he left us. Since then whenever he’s in town he comes to visit.”
“Ok, but how do you know he's dangerous? I’m sure not everyone who works for the church is out to get me.”
“He’s a head-hunter, the church gives him a description and he goes off to find and kill them. He used to just kill on site but now that he knows why he's doing it he tries to confirm that they are Fae before assassinating them. I believe that's why he took you to the portal, to confirm you are Fae.” she explained in more detail than I expected.
I was in shock; I couldn't form a proper thought. Then it dawned on me.
“I went to a church a couple of weeks ago, do you think that could be where they found me?”
“Most likely, if it was there then he has been tracing you ever since.” She explained.
“But why wouldn’t he try anything sooner. If he was watching me, I’m sure he saw me use magic or something.”
“I’m not sure.” She answered with a confused tone.
“Wait. If your family is supposed to protect the Fae, then why are you friends with someone who kills them?”
“It's complicated but think of it this way. We are supposed to keep the Fae a secret and act like we know nothing of them. If we took Cillian into our custody or even made it look like an accident the church would be at war with Laois. We can’t risk that.”
“I understand that, but why befriend him?”
“Our friendship is genuine; it has nothing to do with this war. He was my first and only friend for so long I couldn't throw that away. Believe it or not he is a nice person. If he weren’t, he would be killing anyone they tell him to, but instead he does his research first.” Orla explained, trying to make me understand how she felt.
“If he finds out that you’re helping me, will he kill you?”
“I don’t know, but it's a risk I have to take”
“How do we stop him? I don’t think I can kill him.”
“We will figure that out if the time should come, for now we need to keep going. The faster you get your wings the safer you will be.”
The sun was beginning to rise, and we were coming up to a large mountain range.
“We will camp out in the mountains for the day, Cillian will have thought we kept going so it will keep him off our track.” Orla suggested
“Alright, I could use some rest anyway.”
We hiked up to the highest point of the mountain and looked for the best spot to set up camp. It was pretty much all forest, so it wasn’t too hard, but Orla suggested a certain spot.
“Father used to take me out here to train when I was younger. There's a place that radiates magical energy. It will be perfect; we can get some practice in at the same time.” She pointed to the far south edge of the mountain
On our way down Orla explained a bit of the history to me, she said it would help connect my spirit with the mountain.
She explained that this was the border between Laois and Offaly.
“In the ancient war Laois fought alongside the Fae whereas Offaly is home to the leader of the church Keegan McDormott. When the Ancient war began a lot of the battles were fought just beyond this mountain in Offaly. My father told me the injured Fae would retreat to the mountain to heal and recover, some must have died here, and their magic was absorbed into the soil and that is the energy that we feel.”
“What did your father teach you when you would come here?”
“Well because the ground is so rich in magic, we are able to harness and wield it. It was difficult to learn because it's not a natural talent for humans, but my father was an amazing teacher.”
“So, you can use the same type of magic as me?” I asked in excitement
“Well I’m not as powerful as you but yes.”
“So that means you can teach me how to use my powers?”
“I can teach you what I know but you have a special power gifted to you by the gods. I don’t know how to tap into that type of magic.”
“Maybe if you teach me how to harness my own energy then I can figure out the rest?”
“It's definitely worth a shot.”
“My guardian told me that my name is the power I received, maybe that will help you.”
“Aisling.” she pondered aloud
“Aisling means dream or vision, right?” She asked
“That's what Cara told me.”
“Ok, do you know how to use it at all?”
“Well I know how to call my spirit door, and I’ve had dreams since I was young, but I really don't know how to control them. Also, it happened to me a couple times where something triggers a vision. The last one was of me but not me. It was during the war and the other me knew I was there, if that makes sense.”
“No. Not really, but I’m sure we can figure it out. If we were back at the castle my father could help, he knows all about the front-line warriors and their powers. He told me so many stories of them, but I never paid much attention.” She explained, stopping suddenly
“We’re here.”
I looked back at her to make sure I heard her correctly
“How do you know?” I asked
“You don’t feel it?”
“No.”
“Take a deep breath and let your mind concentrate on the ground beneath you. You should feel a light pulsing emanating from below you.”
I did as I was told but felt nothing.
“No Aisling. Stop thinking about it. You need to focus.” Orla said before I could even say anything.
I tried again this time concentrating on my toes. I felt a little tingle on my tiptoes. It was the same feeling I get on my fingers when I pull the roots to make a shield.
“Yes, I feel it.”
“Ok good. Now then, let's set up camp and get some rest. It's going to be a long couple of days. We will stay here and train until you’re read
y to face Cillian. Should the opportunity arise of course.” She said giggling as she placed her bag on the ground beside her.
Chapter 12
The wind bellowed in my ears as I sprinted through the trees. My knees were on the verge of giving up. I couldn’t stop now. I was almost there. My nose caught the scent it was seeking. My predatory instincts kicked in and I quickened my pace. My mark was in sight. I narrowed my eyes and leaped in the air.
*Splash*
I hit the water as hard as I could to make the biggest waves possible. Orla laughed hysterically as the water crashed around her.
“See I told you my waves would be bigger than yours.” I said, wiping the water from my eyes as I resurfaced.
“It looks like your stamina is getting better at least.”
“Well you're not wrong about that, I wasn’t even out of breath, and I ran from the top of the hill.”
“Great. That means the training is starting to pay off.”
“When can we start working on my magic though?”
“Soon Aisling. First you need to work on your physical endurance and strength, only then can we train your mental. Plus, it's only been a couple of days. You can’t rush these things.” Orla explained.
“I know. It’s just to finally be able to use my powers. I can’t wait.”
“I get that, but magic is a lot more than you think, and in the midst of battle it will be hard to concentrate so your powers won't be as strong. You need to be able to rely on your sword as well as your magic.”
“I don't have a sword though. I only have my dagger.”
