by E M Graham
Just at the bottom in the moment before the dawn, I stumbled over an ancient gravestone, fallen and slippery with moss. Margaret paused to help me up.
‘Run!’ I screamed at Mom and Fergie. ‘Never mind me, just get to the gates!’
The dawn was inching towards us, but the increased light only better contrasted the shadows behind us.
The Kin stood a ways back, their black robes darker shadows against the flashing lights of the vehicles behind them. Aonghas was shouting and shaking his spear at them, in a terrible fury. There was Pauline’s father at the forefront, his hood thrown back to better allow his long nose to sniff us out. He raised his finger in spiteful victory, shouting and pointing as he sighted the movement from under the protection of the trees.
And there, standing right next to him, was the slight figure of Johanna. Her hood too was down, her blonde hair catching the blue and red of the police lights. She stood absolutely still, and even from where I stood I could see the anger on her face. Whether it was directed at me or Margaret or Cromwell for unleashing his forces onto Fae land, I couldn’t tell.
Even the Venerable Nachtan had roused himself for the occasion, leaving his tower for the first time in decades to make the journey, to witness my downfall. He stood straighter than I’d ever seen, his staff held out like a scepter rather than a crutch. There was a fire in his eyes, the years and the dust had fallen from him.
And then Hugh. Our eyes met through the flashing lights and the crowd. I could almost feel the burn from those green eyes flecked with gold, but his eyes were unreadable from this distance. I searched anyway, trying to find the love, or at least anger, anything but the inevitable sad disappointment I knew would be there. I saw only horror and fear there, and looking behind me, saw the shadows almost upon us. He made as if to run to my side to save me, protect me from the forces of his own Kin, but Cromwell held him firmly in place. They were struggling, but there’s no way Hugh could have made it to me in time.
So close to the Kin yet we weren’t safe.
Mom had stopped, and reached back to me from where I was trying to stand again.
‘Just run, Mom!’ I screamed. ‘Fergie, grab her! They’re almost on us!’
Without hesitation Fergie did the sensible thing and took my mother by the arm and forced her the last few steps to the gate where the Kin were arguing with Aonghas and themselves. I saw them to safety and, unable to run, waited for the cold touch of the shadow forces. I couldn’t see Willem, but Margaret was waiting with me. This was it, the end of the road for us.
24
BUT THEN, JUST AS THE UNCOMMON FORCES had almost reached our little band of outlaws, the sun broke over the horizon, the beams still cold yet bright enough to dissipate the shadows. Before my very eyes, they melted away, leaving no trace of the terror they’d wrought, the sun burning them away like a mist in a glen, banishing the darkness back to where it had been summoned by Cromwell.
I was still clutching Margaret’s Chronicle to my chest so all could see it. I took a deep breath and prepared to give myself up, but then Willem appeared at my side. A stir of excitement and outrage passed through the Kin contingent. They hadn’t known he was with us. I could almost hear the hounds baying for blood.
It all happened in slow motion – the movement from Pauline’s dad as he let go of Hugh and wrenched a rifle from the soldier nearest him, the loud snick of the rifle as he set it, the look of surprise on Johanna’s face as she realized what he was doing and her belated attempt to stop him. He was standing away from the other Kin and facing us at an angle.
Perhaps Cromwell was aiming at Willem and was simply a rotten shot, or perhaps he was a marksman and could shoot true. Whichever it was, he aimed and fired and I immediately felt the blow, then found myself flying backwards through the air then lying on my back in the tall grasses, Margaret’s screech of pain ringing in my ears, Aonghas’ roar of anger at the second desecration of the sanctity of Tomnahurich and the irrevocable breaking of the Pact between Fae and Kin with that shot over the gate.
I looked up, dazed, unable to breath, my chest a band of pain. I could barely see through the tops of the uncut grass, but could make out the Kin in their black robes at the gates of the hill, unable to come further but their arms reaching out to envelope my mother and my friend. They had reached the gate, though Mom had fought Fergie all the way. I could see the shock and horror on Johanna’s face.
The force of the blow which had flattened me had sent Willem off to the side, yet he was still standing upright. The Fae drew closer to him in a ring, there was no turning back for him. Willem hesitated when he saw their movement, spared a glance for me, yet at the same time, Cromwell had unleashed a volley from his rifle as if he didn’t care who got hurt or what collateral damage might occur. By the time he’d finished shooting, there was red on the grass next to me where Willem had been just a second before.
I had no time to see where Willem went, for Margaret was wailing like a banshee from the bushes behind me, voicing her own anger and sorrow and rage. It was the last cry of the cornered lioness, knowing its dominion and freedom were soon to be over, and mourning such a short life. I twisted my head to look at her, dislodging the Chronicle from my chest as I did so.
‘Hey,’ I could scarcely talk, and coughed up a load of phlegm loosened by the blow. Where I didn’t hurt, I was numb. ‘Hey,’ I said, hoarse. ‘Margaret.’
The wailing stopped, and I could hear the rustle of the large pine branches behind me. Cromwell was crazed, mad with frustration. I could not go back there to risk certain death.
‘Dara?’ It was a hopeful whisper, as if she almost daren’t hope.
‘Come help me,’ I gasped. I lay back again because I didn’t have the strength to keep my head up, but I knew that Margaret and the Chronicle had to be saved. ‘Quick, before Aonghas and his troops remove us from the hill.’
I had to give her the last chance of freedom. If Cromwell got hold of her, he wouldn’t even give her the grace of a quick death. No, he would torture her, just for his own satisfaction. I shuddered to think of it.
‘Can you move a little further back in the grasses?’ Margaret was hissing at me. ‘I can’t risk exposing myself to the Covenanter.’
I groaned, but tried. It was painful to shift my back, so I had to turn over to my stomach and crawl one-handed through the weeds, the other hand holding on tight to the heavy leather book.
‘A little further, that’s it,’ she coaxed me.
A flash of irritation rose through me. ‘Margaret, I’m literally dying here,’ I said. ‘Can’t you shift yourself out of cover and come get the book?’ There was a horrific pain in my chest as if all my ribs were broken and spearing my lungs, I felt like all the good had flowed out of me by this time, and I didn’t have strength to lift a page, let alone the whole thing. I couldn’t shift it another inch.
‘Push yourself! I can’t let them see me. Come on now, we don’t have much time!’
So I did, I found the last reserves of strength in my body and pulled myself over the last six feet till I was good and hidden in the bushes.
‘Margaret,’ I said, feeling like I was at the edge of consciousness.
She bent down to hear me.
‘Thank you,’ I said. ‘Thanks for helping me get Mom back.’
‘You can thank me later,’ she said roughly. ‘Get up, quickly.’
‘I’ve been shot, Margaret. Cromwell shot me.’
‘No, he didn’t,’ she replied and she pointed to the heavy book. ‘The Chronicle got the bullet, not you.’
And damned if she wasn’t right. There it was, a neat hole, up near the top left of the leather cover. I reached down and felt my chest. It hurt to do so, but there wasn’t a drop of blood anywhere. ‘Shit. But why does it hurt so much?’
‘The bullet has quite an impact,’ she said. ‘Come, it is time for us to fly.’
I LOOKED UP AT HER FACE. Beautiful, wise Margaret. How had I ever doubted her
? She could have grabbed the Chronicle and left while I was in the Ice Kingdom, taken off for a new found freedom and left me in the Northern dimension with no way to return. But she had chosen to stay and help me, to prove to me that she meant her promises, and in doing so, she had lost any hope. Yes, I had freed her from her dungeon, but at least she had been safe there. Now, all was lost.
‘Margaret,’ I said. ‘I’m sorry. I never meant for all this to happen.’
She ignored me. ‘The Kin have broken the Pact,’ she hissed. ‘Aonghas is almost upon us. It’s time to fly off the hill.’
On the other side of the gate below, the Kin argued amongst themselves. Cromwell had crossed the line and was out of control, and he had the guns on his side. No amount of pleading would save me from another bullet.
‘Is there any way you can save yourself?’ I felt so wretched. She had offered to apprentice me, to teach me all her wisdom from the years, to show me how to manage my magic powers. Not for evil like Willem had wanted. Not for anger and revenge, but to make the world of the Kin a better place.
I managed to crawl to standing, but I had to walk sort of bent over for the first few yards. I looked at the hill before me, there was no way I could make it in this condition, yet I had no choice but to try. Margaret of course wanted to take the rabbit paths straight up the steep slope, and she had to pull and tug me up the way.
‘Just let me go,’ I panted, pain wracking my chest. There had to be a dozen broken ribs there, the raw edges were rubbing against the muscle. I could almost hear it, and the pain was excruciating. ‘Just let me go, and save yourself.’
‘Not... happening!’ She grunted as she braced her elegant black boots against the rock and tugged me up the stone face on to the real path, the gravelled surface. I lay there, wondering how I could stand so much pain, when I noticed she had stopped. I followed her eyes to the scene below.
Aonghas now strode to the gate, unmindful of the rifles and scopes trained upon him. The bullets, of course, were not made of iron or steel, but copper and lead, yet he looked as if he had no fear. From this distance, I couldn’t hear what he said to Johanna, just the rumble of his deep voice, but it looked like he was throwing down an ultimatum, daring Johanna to unleash the troops onto the Fae’s sacred ground.
‘They wouldn’t dare,’ Margaret breathed beside me.
And then my eyes met Hugh’s. He was looking directly at me, his face showing his mix of emotions – his anger, his grief, and his love. Was this the end, then? The end of a beginning that had hardly started, a flower cut down before it could fully bud. I bit my lip, and then of all things, he smiled. Right at me. And lifted his hands to his lips and blew a kiss. Not good-bye then, but adieu. My heart leaped against the pain in my ribs. He pointed to the top of the hill, urging me to go on.
‘Come!’ Margaret commanded me, almost tearing my arm out of its socket. ‘We have no time to waste. We cannot save the Fae. We must fly.’
‘Fly?’ I thought wildly amidst my panic. I’d never flown before, not for real, only through my mind. I shook my head. ‘You go, save yourself.’
‘I’ll not leave without you. Come, then, I will fly you.’
She stood still, then her feet left the ground and she was five feet over my head. Still she reached her hand to me. ‘Come little fledgling,’ she said. ‘It’s time for you to find your wings, too.’
‘Save yourself, Margaret!’ I said. ‘I’ll... I’ll fight from the ground.’
‘No, Dara, you have the power,’ she urged. ‘The moon is still full, even if we can’t see it. Let its power through you.’
But I could feel nothing right at that moment except the adrenaline racing through my body and the pain which kept me grounded. Any moon power I might have had dried up in the face of my fear and my inability to choose between which foe to face.
‘Come on, Dara,’ she urged, hovering fifteen feet away and reaching out her hand. And she urged me again. ‘You know you can! Jump off this cliff, it will be much easier that way.’
Could I? Could I trust that I could fly, real true actual flight, not just a journey with my mind? I teetered, unable to push myself off the cliff, as if there was a physical wall preventing me from doing this unnatural act of throwing myself into the void. Everything in me, every mortal cell in my body screamed against this act.
I had to try, so against every natural instinct I had, I took a deep breath and threw myself into the abyss.
ALL I COULD SEE were the houses and trees of Inverness rising toward me, far too fast, but then Margaret filled my vision, her smile expectant and triumphant.
‘Believe.’ I couldn’t hear her but could read her lips as the air rushed past me, lifting my hair. The world stopped rushing to greet me, and we dangled there for a moment. I was flying, it was possible!
I was about to lift myself onto the breeze, let it carry me as I found these new wings when felt a tug on the chain still wrapped around my waist, anchoring me to the ground. It was Willem, bleeding and gasping but holding on to the silver chain and not letting go, weighing me down.
‘Get off me!’ I screamed and I dodged and feinted but his grasp was true.
‘Save me, Dara! We need to work together,’ he called. ‘If we turn in Meg, then we have a chance with the Kin!’
25
THE LIGHTS OF THE CITY were a long way down, and there was nothing in between to cushion a falling body. With a great effort. I flew out over the empty space, taking Willem with me.
‘Yes, Dara!’ Willem panted up to me. ‘Carry me away to safety. We are true kindred spirits – remember the good times we had! Look at what you are now – that is because of me.’
I hesitated in mid-air. ‘Good times? You mean like the time you drugged my friend Brin in order to coerce me into working with you?’ I called down to him bitterly. ‘Like when you tried to overthrow the Kin by making me carry the Crystal Charm Stone?’
‘You would never have had the nerve to do it yourself,’ he screamed. ‘I did you a favour! You owe me so much!’
‘Favours like that I can do without,’ I hissed at him. I was beginning to sweat with the effort, but I moved further out so that nothing lay between us and the city. ‘I should just drop you right here.’
He turned pale and wriggled like a worm at the end of the chain, but there was nowhere for him to go.
‘But I’ll have mercy on your pathetic soul,’ I continued. ‘I don’t think you’ll get what you deserve, but you’ll get something, that’s for sure.’
With that, I struggled, but pushed myself till I was directly over where the Kin stood in order to make my delivery. Cromwell was being physically restrained by his own officers, a light of madness in his eyes. For added satisfaction, I strove higher into the air before giving Willem a mighty last kick and watched him fall, landing directly on Cromwell with a thump and a squashing sound. My aim was true.
I didn’t have time to linger enjoying Willem’s fall, for I could hear Margaret calling me.
‘Over here,’ her voice came through the still air. She hovering over the trees, just out of sight of the Kin, like a child uncertain of their invitation to a party.
Much lighter now I’d dumped Willem, I floated over to her. ‘What now?’
She grimaced. ‘I don’t trust my chances with that lot.’
‘Where can we go?’
‘We won’t know until we get there,’ she said. ‘But we’ll have to lie low till we see which way the wind is rising politically. Come, I know of a place where we can rest and hide.’
I thought hard about this, weighing the pro’s and cons of a life, possibly on the run, with Margaret. I could learn so much from her, practical stuff, not like old Ven’s theorizing and history. I glanced over to the Kin contingent, where Willem was being trundled to the army van with his hands cuffed behind his back, not going gracefully into the dawn but kicking and squirming and yelling about his rights all the way.
Johanna
sternly watched the proceedings, her arms crossed across her chest. The Venerable Nachtan, looking livelier than I’d ever seen him, busily smoking his pipe and pontificating while wagging his finger in the air. I couldn’t hear him over Willem’s noise, but he seemed to be having a blast.
And Hugh. He must have felt my gaze on him, for he turned, searching the sky, not stopping till he found me. His face softened and he smiled, shaking his head.
Don’t leave me. His voice filled my head, a presence familiar and dear.
I’m in deep shit, I told him.
He paused before thinking to me again. Trust me. We can make it right.
I’d freed Auld Meg from the dungeon. It had been a judgement from the last century and her transgressions might no longer be relevant today, but still, I was technically an outlaw in the eyes of the Kin, and certain factions would use this against me. I’d caused the biggest breach of the Pact between Fae and Kin in hundreds of years, and there’d been blood shed on my account, all because of my actions. Even worse to some, I’d exposed the huge rift within the government of the Kin. No one could ignore this elephant in the room anymore, not after Cromwell had set his Uncommon Forces onto Tomnahurich against Johanna’s direct command, and this alone ensured my unpopularity. I had a lot to answer for, and I doubted even Hugh or Johanna could smooth this over.
Margaret’s offer was more than tempting, but I knew I had to face the music sometime and clear my name, and if I didn’t do it now, this taint would follow me for the rest of my life.
I wasn’t ready for Margaret. Not yet. Slowly I turned back to her, still hovering in midair. I knew I had to face the music, but there was no need for me to take her with me. I held out the Chronicle.
‘Does the curse allow you to take this?’ I asked.
Her violet eyes widened. ‘We can but try,’ she whispered over the air, then floated down by me. She reached out and took the heavy book from me. It stayed in her arms and didn’t pull me along in her path. She held it like she might a baby, cradling it in her arms and bending her head to smell the leather.
