by Jane Stain
He nodded, relaxing more but still not taking his eyes off the man — who still lay in a heap. No one was even helping the man, such was his reputation, she supposed. She resumed her walk into the castle, wondering if Seumas was going to try and stop her once he realized where she was going.
But he just looked sad as they passed through several long stone hallways and climbed six flights of spiraling tower stairs.
Brian the Druid’s elderly face was looking through the bars of his thick wooden door — just like he had been in Kelsey’s dream. And he remembered the dream, because he recognized her. She could tell by the look on his face.
Suddenly glad she’d brought Seumas along, she took the huge kilted warrior’s hand as they walked up the last flight of steps.
He held her hand. Tensely, but he held it.
Brian threw his head back inside his tower prison and burst out laughing. He laughed from his gut for almost a minute in fits and starts, making his long white beard bounce against his white cleric’s robe. He would start to speak, and then he would be laughing again. Finally, he resumed his spot with his face pressing against the bars of the door, but his mouth was scrunched up in amusement.
When he spoke, he kept shaking with pent-up laughter. If she didn’t know he’d been locked up for trying to molest her friend, she might have found him fun, rather than creepy.
“Heard aboot yer little mishap on the ship. Sae sad aboot the wee lass. Och, but she didna drown, did she? Now I wonder how that could be. Someone has an uncanny skill, never heard o before. Almost as if she had seen the future.”
Sasha’s heart raced, and she felt adrenaline zooming through her body.
What was the old Druid doing? Seumas couldn’t be allowed to know the druids could make people travel through time.
Sasha turned around to go back down the stairs.
“I don’t know why I came up here. That man is clearly daft. No way to get answers from someone who’s lost his mind.”
Not letting go of her hand, Seumas quietly persisted in staying with her as she started down the stairs. Any moment now, he would ask her what she was doing up here anyway.
What should she tell him? Best to keep to Kelsey’s cover story about Sasha’s grandmother telling Sasha to investigate the legend of the sword.
But Brian called out after her, making her an offer she couldn’t refuse.
“I ken where the sword is, the one Kelsey and Tavish need.”
She stopped dead in her tracks and then turned the top half of her body around to look at the white-haired druid from halfway down the staircase.
“Ye dae?”
Brian laughed some more.
“Aye, I dae. And all it will cost ye is the exchange o yer knowledge for mine.”
Her heart was still racing. She was very aware that the man was dangerous. And something about the way he had phrased that raised up the hair on her arms.
It must have alarmed Seumas too, because he let go of her hand and turned so that he could hold her by the waist—hold her back from climbing the stairs again.
She was glad. She had been about to rush back up the stairs toward Brian, and if he wanted to, he could reach through the bars. They could hear each other just fine from this distance, and they were up far enough in the tower that no one else could hear them unless they came up the stairs. She would hear anyone who came up the stairs behind her. The tower echoed.
Relaxing into Seumas’s strong embrace and letting it calm and reassure her, she considered her words carefully. Many of the Celtic fairy tales she had read for her studies included battles of wits, and often some poor soul agreed to something unimagined.
At last she arrived on what she thought was the best question to ask.
“How much of my knowledge would you require in order to tell me where the sword that Tavish needs is?”
The Druid laughed again, but when he saw that it wasn’t getting to her this time, he abruptly stopped.
“Clever lass. Ye need only tae answer my questions first.”
Something about the way he said it calmed her and made her relax. Answering his questions wouldn’t be dangerous.
But Seumas gently squeezed her to him, distracting her attention away from Brian.
Watch it, her caution screamed at her. Be careful. Druids have magic, and this one also has something up his sleeve.
She swallowed and again carefully considered her answer.
“How many of your questions would I need to answer?”
Brian backed away from the barred window a bit, smiling a knowing smile.
“Ah, now we are getting doon tae it. Ye have decidit tae answer my questions. Now ’tis only a matter o dithering ower quantities.”
She gasped, and a new shot of adrenaline rushed through her.
“I didna agree tae anything.”
“Nay, not yet, but ye wull.”
Seumas gave her waist a tentative tug toward the bottom of the stairs. Bless the man for respecting her enough to let her decide if they were leaving or not. She could tell he was itching to be on their way. But what danger were they in? Brian couldn’t reach them this far down the stairs.
She patted Seumas’s hand on her waist but stayed put, having a stare-out with Brian.
“Wull, how many questions o yers will I need tae answer before ye tell me where the sword is that Tavish needs?”
Brian smiled huge, showing all his rotting teeth, and rubbing his hands together in odd patterns.
“Och, I say we go with the customary three, eh? Answer me three questions, and I shall tell ye where the sword is that Tavish needs.”
Sasha stood there for a long moment, considering her response. She hadn’t agreed to give him all of her knowledge. That could’ve been disastrous for her. She had a picture of him sucking all the knowledge out of her head, leaving her an idiot.
Yes, she was sure she wasn’t leaving herself open to that when she replied, sneaking in a little extra knowledge for herself.
“Agreed. I wull answer three o yer questions, and then ye wull tell me where the sword is that Tavish needs — and ye wull answer two o my questions about the Druids.”
Victory shown in Brian’s eyes and his smile got huge and a little bit evil.
“Agreed. Question the first. How is it ye came tae own that ring, the one that marks ye as a druid priestess?”
Sasha’s adrenaline was all used up by now, so all she could do was gasp at the trouble the old Druid was bringing down on her head. She tried to speak, but found she couldn’t. Her mouth was sealed shut and her tongue wouldn’t move. She forgotten about this part of the fairytales. Only a few had this malady. Why had she forgotten? She tried to turn and go down the stairs, but felt she couldn’t move either. Her feet were frozen to their place on the stairway.
To his credit, Seumas yet stayed with her, even though she had the impression that he could leave if he wanted to. But his embrace felt mechanical now, rather than warm and affectionate as it had before.
Giddily, the old Druid went on condemning her in Seumas’s hearing.
“Question the second. How far intae the future are ye from, Sasha? And if ye dinna mind me asking, tell an old man aboot all the wonders yer life has seen in yer own time.”
Tears welled up in Sasha’s eyes, and a lump formed in her throat that she had no ability to swallow. Her throat burned, and she started sobbing. Just like that, the old man had ruined any chance she had with Seumas. Again she tried to leave, but again she was prevented by Brian’s magic.
And again, Seumas stood by her. Hope bloomed in her heart afresh. Maybe he loved her. Maybe they could be together anyway. She braced herself for the one last question. As soon as he spoke it, she would answer all three questions in rapid succession and then ask him about the sword and get the hell out of there. Heck with finding out more about the Druids.
Brian was shaking with glee now, and through the bars in the wooden door, his eyes absolutely radiated victory.
“Q
uestion the third. Which type o our druidic magic is yer specialty, Sorceress?”
Deich (10)
Her sobs were coming repeatedly now, racking her whole body so that she would’ve collapsed if Seumas hadn’t been holding her. Forget never having a chance with him. Now a small kernel of fear blossomed in her heart. He would be sure she not only was a sorceress, but also was hiding it from him and had lied to him. What would he do to her?
Brian positively cackled with laughter now.
“What’s the matter? Did the cat come and steal yer tongue away? An agreement is an agreement. All ye have tae dae is answer my questions, and I wull answer yers.” He cackled some more.
She was in an impossible situation. She could move now. Her limbs had been freed. And she could speak now if she wanted. But what would she say? And where would she go?
After his cruelty in driving such a wedge between her and Seumas, she couldn’t bear to speak to Brian again. No way would she answer his questions. They would just have to find the sword through other means. Perhaps Tavish and Kelsey would find it all on their own.
And she would certainly find another way to inquire about what it meant to be a druid. A surge of anger ran through her, directed at their professors at Celtic University. If they were going to make her and Kelsey into Druids, the least they could’ve done was tell them what it meant. How dare they send them off on these quests without even knowing what they were or who they could trust or what they were meant to do with their knowledge?
That small kernel of anger propelled her feet, and she started to walk down the stairs.
Seumas came with her, incredibly still holding her gently by the waist. He didn’t say a word, though, and she was starting to think that was a good thing. She often let her mouth run before her brain caught up with it. Good on him for thinking before he spoke.
They went down the spiraling stone staircase of the tower. A few moments before they got to the door at the bottom, the one that led out into the hall of the Castle, she figured she had better speak to him while they still had privacy. She stopped, but didn’t turn her head to him. Instead she looked at the stone floor, marveling at how it was made of thousands of tiny stones fit together with barely anything between them. In the back of her mind, she wondered at the ingredients of the sealant that was used to make such a floor in medieval times. Meanwhile, her mouth was running on.
“’Tis true I’m from the future. Tavish and Kelsey are tae. We are from eight hundred years in the future, in case ye were wondering. There isna way I’m gaun'ae tell Brian any o this, but I want ye tae know. I’m nay sorceress, na matter what it looks like or what he says. Though this ring I wear…”
She twisted the ring she wore on her right hand, the one she had been so proud of a few months ago when she was awarded it from Celtic University. Wrought from the purest silver, it looked like three pieces of thread woven together in Celtic knots of such intricacy that the eye couldn’t follow all the lines of them.
“This is my ring I got for studying seven years at a Celtic place o learning. I thought it verra prestigious at the time. Now I come tae find oot the place is run by druids and that this marks me as a druid priestess. I know ye willna believe me, but I have na idea what it means tae be a druid priestess. They didna tell me I was studying tae be a druid priestess. All they said was I would be a doctor o Celtic archaeology. That means in my time, I find the ruins o places like this and dig them up and find items inside which tell the story o the people who lived long ago. Kelsey and I are digging oot the verra underground tunnels ye go intae all the time. Wull, in our time na one’s been there for hundrits o years. ’Tis verra exciting and we’re getting attention from all ower the waurld for it. I guess I’d better explain. In my time, we have stuff callit technology. It’s verra complicated. I dinna understand how it works. It might as wull be magic, really, as much as I understand it. Anyhow, technology allows everyone in the waurld tae speak with each other, even tae see each other across vast distances. And a great many people can see one person … ’Tis pointless for me tae go intae what ’tis all called. ’Tis just… ’Tis an honor tae be one o the people who speaks tae masses o people all around the waurld. And ’tis… fun. I really enjoy being the center o attention while I open one o the secret doors in the underground castle in front o all the waurld. I enjoy the admiration and awe and respect. But now ’tis all ruinit. Now ye think I’m a sorceress, and I almost wouldn’t blame ye if ye felt like stoning me tae death or something.”
She stood there and waited for him to say something, but he didn’t. All he did was stand still with his arm still around her and nudge her a little bit on the waist, toward the door.
So she sighed deeply and headed out into the castle proper, unsure whether she was being consoled — or marched to the slaughter.
On the way through the door into the hallway, he dropped his hand from her waist. They walked the whole way back to the weaver shop in silence. She kept wanting to ask him to say something, but then fear took over and she didn’t. Maybe if she pestered him about it he would explode. That was the pattern between her parents.
But the silence was maddening.
What was he thinking?
Did he hate her?
She kept her eyes on the ground in front of her the whole time, and when they arrived at the weaver shop door, she looked up to thank him for walking her back. But he was already walking away with his back to her.
Tears welled up in her eyes anew, and that choking feeling came back. She was deciding whether to go in or run back to Eileen’s house to cry in private when the door opened.
All the children ran out into the street, laughing and playing a game of chase where they yelled a phrase at each other over and over.
“Galdus is gaun'ae get ye!”
The first time she heard it, she didn’t understand what they were saying, they were so young and their accents were so thick and they were sing-songing it. But she heard it over and over again.
“Galdus is gaun'ae get ye!”
Hadn’t Brian said something about Galdus when he saw the sword Kelsey was holding in her dream, the one that Tavish needed? Sasha went inside and picked up some of the flax that Eileen was shredding into thread so that Fergus could make linen.
“What does it mean, what the children are yelling at each oother aboot Galdus getting them?”
Eileen kept her hands on the flax and shrugged her shoulder.
“I dinna ken. It’s an auld children’s game we all played when we were young.”
Fergus spoke up from his place at the loom.
“Galdus was an auld King. He’s buried at Torhousekie, ye ken.” He gestured to the east with his head, never taking his hands off his work.
Sasha’s heart raced now in a good way. Brian had said Galdus’s name when he saw Kelsey with the sword. Had he thought she was the old king come to life? Maybe they would find the sword at Galdus’s burial site. Maybe the Robert the Bruce story was a red herring and Tavish and Kelsey were after the wrong sword.
She went over to Fergus’s loom.
“Dae ye hae a preferred way tae get tae Torhousekie?”
Fergus looked up, visibly surprised.
“Ye know it?”
You have no idea. All the vast catalogues of sites she had studied for her doctorate whooshed before her eyes. The Torhouse Standing Stones were one of the first sites she’d been taught. But she mentally chastised herself for slipping up again and letting too much knowledge show.
Putting on the air of innocence, she raised her palms up to her sides with her elbows bent.
“My grandmother knows all sorts o stories.”
Fergus went back to his work.
“The trail starts at Port Patrick. Most o us hae been at least once. It’s a favorite trip for children on All Souls’ Day.”
“Och, Aye” she said to him. “I can well imagine.”
Fergus seemed shy about her standing there, so she nodded to Uilleam and went back
to her seat, but she had a hard time settling down to work.
Eileen reached across their table and took Sasha’s hand.
“Ye hae been crying, and I did see Seumas walking away. Dae ye want tae talk aboot it?”
No, she didn’t want to talk about it. And what was she going to do about it? For all she knew, Seumas would come back in a few minutes with a bunch of guards and arrest her and throw her in a dungeon — or worse.
“Nah, but would ye mind a great deal if I went back tae the house and…”
Eileen put her work down and got up and helped Sasha up and gave her a warm hug.
“Go on, then. I can dae fine here.” She smiled weakly at Sasha and squeezed her hands, then let go and went back to her work.
So that was it. Sasha was free to go. And she couldn’t say goodbye to Eileen, nor to Deirdre — who could still be heard outside yelling and playing with her brothers and sister.
Sasha gathered her purse and cloak, resisted the urge to look longingly at her suit there in the bucket, then made her way outside and hurried down the street before the children noticed her and asked questions. She walked toward Eileen’s house at first, just in case Eileen looked out the door to watch her go. As soon as she rounded the first corner though, she headed toward Port Patrick. There were food vendors there, and she had a week’s wages to spend.
She would get as far as she could today, and then she’d consult with Kelsey in her dreams tonight on how to meet up with her and Tavish — and she would tell her what happened. They had to come back here to go home — and she really wanted to get her suit back — but they’d worry about that later. For now, she would go to Torhousekie and see if she could find Galdus’s sword.
And avoid death by highlander.
~*~
Oh yeah. Her boots were not good walking boots at all. She felt every rock on every step. The only things she was carrying were a thick wool blanket and a small gunnysack of cheese and apples that she’d bought. And she was exhausted after walking only six of the nine hours to Torhousekie. She hoped she had put enough distance between her and Dunskey Castle so that she could rest for the night.
