“Well, little man,” Mairi said quite seriously, “I’m too afraid to leave.”
“You have to leave, Mairi, that’s why I’m here. I’ve to tell you to get out of this place.”
“So I’ve been told, little man, but I don’t seem to be able to do that,” she said sincerely. “My mist refuses to join me. I’ve tried to get out, but I just seem to be stuck here. Maybe I’m dead, not mistdreaming.”
“I don’t think you’re trying hard enough, Mairi, and I can’t wait until you make your mind up.” He thought carefully for a second. “But if I don’t, my mom’s gonna kill me, so you have to believe in yourself, or you’re gonna end up in Betwixt forever… with your uncle.” He shuffled nervously. “You have to believe me. It’s time for you to go.”
The little man who was no longer dragon turned pleading eyes to her. “I can hear my mom and dad calling me, and my brother is getting really frustrated with me, and trust me, Mairi, you don’t want to be on the receiving end of Mikelitius’s frustration.” He put his hands on his hips and shook his head with such a serious expression on his face, it almost made her laugh. Only an eight-year-old could impress upon her how imperative it was that she return—certainly this eight-year-old was making that fact very clear. Therefore, it was truly time she took hold of her own situation and made a change.
Mairi analysed her thoughts and the words of Drewlitius. She considered the possibility of remaining and felt safe in the knowledge her uncle would be able to guard her, but he hadn’t saved her from Lucias’s rape. How would he be able to protect her, should he decide to return and this time kill her?
She nodded to the small boy, who danced merrily in front of her, and as she began to transastralise, she noticed the lad was doing the same as she; millions of infinitesimal stars were emerging from his small hands, and he giggled as his mist wrapped around his body, pulling him back to the land of Fae.
Mairi heard the steady beat of a drum and, glancing to her left, she noticed Bowie and Bolan, strumming guitars. Callum had returned and was sitting at the drum kit, tapping a steady beat.
“Listen,” he whispered into her mind, just as Bowie began to sing.
“Look up here, I’m in Heaven”
“I’ve got scars that can’t be seen…”
“Mairi,” Callum insisted. “Listen… hear the words, Mairi.”
Bowie sang on, Marc Bolan harmonising.
“Look up her, man, I’m in danger”
“I’ve got nothing to lose…”
Her body continued to transastralise. The words, she thought and stopped focussing. What was Callum trying to tell her? She already knew she was in danger, that was a given, seeing as how she was a Mistdreamer. What were the other words Bowie sang? She searched for the answers, but put those thoughts to the side, when her blue mist wrapped itself around her.
A healing blanket of mist, whose energy was sending waves of relief and joy, filling her heart with happiness.
It was a mist meant only for her, and Mairi revelled in it. He had found her.
It swirled and danced around her, energising and encouraging her to move into mistdream. She sensed a calming reassurance coming from her mist and asked it if he felt as she did, glad to be one again. It answered by birling her in a circle, and the action took her back to a memory of the time she had danced with Appoloin. She dreamily allowed the mist to lead her away from Betwixt and relaxed into the memory of being whirled and twirled on a nineteenth-century ballroom floor.
Edinburgh Castle is one of the most enigmatic buildings in the world. Building began in the ninth century and continued for another two hundred years. It sits atop a volcanic plug, one that blew off from Edinburgh’s volcano. The castle is built on a steep elevation and is surrounded by a deep gorge, which has undergone many changes through the centuries.
In the sixteenth century the king ruled that the gorge be flooded, and it became the Nor Loch, which assisted in strengthening the castle’s defences from the continuing onslaught of invaders. Scotland, and in particular, Edinburgh, suffered frequent English invasions. Invasions that were not helped by the ongoing, but intermittent English-Scottish wars that occurred from the thirteenth to the sixteenth century.
In the eighteenth century the Nor Loch was emptied to make way for the building of North Bridge. Some pretty grim finds were discovered when it emptied, and they added to the myth of the loch.
The once-upon-a-time marshland that changed to become a gorge, which was filled in to become a defence mechanism—a loch, which was eventually drained and changed into the Princes Gardens.
Edinburgh’s volcano is now a peaceful and meandering hill, which the locals call “the lion”. Like all lions, it has sharp teeth, so beware when you go near the Crags.
With all this history, not just that of the Nor Loch’s legacy of one used as the implement to bring about the death of those publicly executed, the gardens are in complete contrast to the evil that was perpetrated upon people.
When Valerie and Lauren sat gazing up at the beautiful building, all they cared about was that it stood as a guard for them. It, together with Arthur’s seat, were the protectors of the city, and the gardens their welcoming home.
They chose Princes Street Gardens as their mistdreaming meeting location, for those very reasons.
Lauren lounged on the grass, her big belly causing some discomfort, but she stroked it, and the babies kicked her in response.
“Little demons.” She laughed. “They’ll be like their daddy.”
“Do you think it’s boys or girls this time, Lauren?”
“I don’t really care. I’d like it to be girls, just so that Forcas is sent out of his mind. It will serve him right for doing this to me.” She pointed at her bulging form.
“Erm, last time I heard, it took two people to make another one.” Valerie laughed and touched Lauren’s tummy and was rewarded with a punch from one of the twins.
“Ooh, when they use their wee fists to jab, my whole body squeals. I don’t mind them kicking so much, but they’ve got bony fingers. They manage to find the spot that will hurt the most, every time.”
“Where’s Mairi?” Valerie asked and searched the gardens, hoping she would materialise before them.
“That’s why you’re here,” Lauren said. “We need to make her wake up. She’s been found in Betwixt and has become far too engrossed in the mistdreaming world. The Angels are concerned she will forget what is real and what is of the other world.”
Valerie sighed and turned over, lying on the ground, to face the castle.
“Do we know yet why she chose to go to Betwixt?” she asked.
“I don’t think it was her ‘choice’, Valerie. She was kidnapped by Lucias.”
“God Almighty!” Valerie said angrily. “Is that little shit ever going to leave us alone? I swear, one of these days, I’m going to kill him.”
“Join the long line of people who are before you, who have said the same thing,” Lauren said thoughtfully.
“What is it you want me to do, Lauren?”
“I need you to take my hands and work with me. Together, we should be able to pull Mairi towards us.” Lauren touched her belly. “That and the little monsters inside me should do the trick. I think two and a couple of gonna-bes will add strength to what we have to do.”
“Erm…” Valerie hesitated.
“What?” Lauren asked worriedly. “What’s the matter, don’t you want to help her?”
“Of course,” Valerie answered, shocked that Lauren could think otherwise. “It’s just… ”
“Come on, Valerie, spit it out. What’s the problem? Is it Seere, what’s wrong?” she asked, scared for her cousin.
“Don’t do that,” Valerie insisted. “Don’t do that ‘worry thing’ you do. There is naught to be concerned about. I’m fine, Seere’s fine…” She drew a breath. “Okay, let’s just say it won’t be two and a couple of ‘gonna-bes’. It’s more likely to be two and four gonna-bes.”
&n
bsp; Valerie waited for the reaction. She could see Lauren was mulling over her words, but because of all they had endured, all they were still going through, plus Lauren’s fragile state—that made Valerie laugh. Lauren ‘fragile equals oxymoron, the teacher in her said.
The wheels could clearly be seen turning…
“You’re pregnant!” she squealed, at last.
“Wow, that only took you five minutes to work out,” Valerie replied drolly.
Lauren hugged her cousin tightly, and they both jumped up and down, squealing together. Lauren pulled away from Valerie and, with a worried look, asked, “I forgot to ask, are you happy with your news?”
“Happy, scared, angry, a mix of emotions, really. Seere doesn’t know yet, and neither does my mother…”
“The Queen of Fae doesn’t know. Hmmm. I have my doubts about that.” Lauren laughed, taking Valerie’s arm and leading her to the soft green banks in the Gardens.
“I’m overjoyed for you,” she said when they sat down, and her voice took on a sadness that threatened to darken the sunny day. “We have to find Mairi.”
“Then, there’s no time like the present.” Valerie dragged Lauren out of her dismal thoughts and, taking her hands into her own, began to chant.
“Shay rah me say la tu… Shay rah me say la tu…”
Lauren’s eyes widened. “When did you learn Demon?” she asked.
“You can’t be married to one and not pick up some of their language,” she said knowingly. “But he didn’t teach me this, Baglis did.”
Lauren let out a sigh of comprehension. “Our Baglis is just full of tricks, isn’t she? But why are you using Demon and not our own tongue?”
“I think she’s held in a Demon trap, that’s why, and I believe the only way to escape them, is to talk like them. If I’m wrong, Lauren, we’ll speak in Fae and then in our own tongue. What do you think?”
Lauren quickly agreed. “Take the lead. You are the Teacher, after all.”
“Then say it with me. Our two”, Valerie patted her belly “as well as the voices of however many, we are baking inside us, will be stronger than my one.”
And so the two Mistdreamers held hands in Princes Street Gardens, in the shadow of Edinburgh Castle, and chanted words that would fly through time and space, finding their way to a hidden and dark land and leave a trail to bring Mairi home through mistdream.
Exhausted, Lauren let go of Valerie’s hands.
“It’s not working. She’s not coming,” she said fearfully.
“Just a few more minutes, please, Lauren. We’re both tired, but it will work.”
Lauren jumped and took hold of Valerie’s hands again. “You’re right, sorry. Where were we?” she asked.
“The pathway has been laid. Her mist should be able to see it, if he’s managed to unlock her from whatever prison is in. I think all we have to do now is call her name. And if that language doesn’t work, we can try talking in Fae.”
Lauren screwed up her face. “Have you ever talked in their language?” she asked.
“Yes,” Valerie said, and hesitated. “It’s not easy, that’s for sure. Some of the words are difficult to get your tongue around. But, hey” she said with a smile, “we’re Mistdreamers. We can do it.”
Lauren absorbed some of Valerie’s strength and replenished her energy. The babies, although using their own magic, were draining her.
The girls called out Mairi’s name and held their breaths, in anticipation.
Five, ten, maybe twenty minutes passed, and she still hadn’t made an appearance.
Valerie began to stand, and with a shrug of her shoulders to Lauren, she said that perhaps now was the time to try the spell in the Fae language.
Lauren shook her head, and pointed to the Castle.
“You don’t want to try it in Fae?” asked Valerie.
“No, Valerie, look behind you.”
Valerie turned to see Mairi floating like a wraith towards them. Her face was pale, her eyes lackluster, with dark circles around them. She was like a very tired ghost. She had floated through mistdream, using their spell, but was without her body.
“Oh, hi, you two, great to see you. Where am I?” she asked.
“Mairi, you have to wake up, and you must speak with your mist. Let him guide you back to us,” Lauren insisted, but Mairi didn’t appear to understand her words. Trying again to make her understand, Lauren spoke urgently. “Lucias cast a spell on you and sent you into a mistdreaming world that is purely illusion. You must wake up, do you understand?”
“I am awake,” she whispered. “Why do you say I must wake up? If I was asleep, I wouldn’t be here, would I?”
“Uh-oh,” Valerie muttered. “She’s forgotten mistdreaming and what we can do.”
“No, I haven’t,” Mairi insisted.
“Then, if that’s the case, why won’t you wake up?”
“I’m talking to you, amn’t I? So I must be awake.” Mairi’s head began to hurt, and she closed her eyes, totally confused. She didn’t want to be here, with her cousins moaning at her. “Why do you keep saying I’m asleep?”
“Mairi, wake up!” Lauren shouted. Mairi’s eyes popped open with surprise, and she disappeared.
“She woke up?” Valerie asked.
“Lord, I hope so. I think I shouted loud enough to wake up all the sleeping dead, so hopefully it frightened her enough to waken.”
“Then where did she go?” asked Valerie.
“I’m presuming she went back to get her form, wherever she left it. And if that’s the case, she’ll be back in a moment.”
“Following our spell trail?”
“I think it’s more likely her mist will lead her to us, now that she has been found.”
“What the feck was that all about?” Mairi said as she wandered idly over to Lauren and Valerie, her lips slightly bruised and her hair dishevelled.
Without warning, Mairi found herself enveloped in the loving arms of her cousins, who bounced her up and down as they shrieked and laughed into her ears.
She soaked up their happiness, like a sponge. She needed this euphoria to rid herself of the darkness. Their light would expel the evil, and she would be well again.
When they had passed over enough energy to make her whole again, they fell to the grass and lay silently, watching the clouds fly by in the sky, each alone with their own thoughts and happy to be together.
“I love it here,” Mairi eventually said, breaking the spell of silence. “And as much as I’d love to stay, we all have to get back to our lives.”
“You know you’re in mistdreaming, don’t you?” asked Lauren.
Mairi lowered an eyebrow. “Have you gone a bit nutty, Lauren, or have you forgotten I’m a Mistdreamer too?”
“And with that wonderful statement,” Lauren said happily, “I will now leave both of you, knowing she’s the fruitcake she always was.”
“Eh?” they said together.
“Well, if she thinks I’m crazy and knows she’s a Mistdreamer, then my work is done here,” she said, clapping her hands. “I have a husband to get back to, and two little boys, he has no idea whatsoever how to handle, and don’t they know it. If I don’t get back, I don’t know what mess I’ll be returning to!
“I really must go, and Mairi”
“Yes” Mairi said, saddened Lauren was leaving.
“I think it’s time you trusted Appoloin.” Lauren began to transastralise, her mist was waiting for her, patiently. “Before I go, where will you be, so that we don’t lose you again?”
“I’m not sure where or when I’ll be, but I promise not to get lost.”
“When?” Lauren squeaked. “Oh, I love a bit of time travel, great place for a holiday, whenever it is. Must go,” she echoed, blowing kisses to both her cousins, and disappeared, leaving a trail of diamond-shaped stars that bounced across the grass, before exploding into the air.
“She knows how to make an exit,” Mairi said, watching the last of the stars bounce around
and then vanish.
“I got married to Seere, Mairi,” Valerie shared, “and I’m going to have babies. Me, having babies, can you imagine it?” Valerie wiped the tear away from her eye.
“Are you okay, Mairi?” Valerie asked.
“I’m happy for you, Valerie. You’re going to be a wonderful momma.”
“Are you okay, Mairi?” Valerie repeated.
Mairi paused before answering. “No, I’m not, not really, but Lauren’s right, I have to trust Appoloin. I do, believe it or not. I love him, and he’ll be so worried for me.”
“You love him?” Valerie asked, surprised, and smiled when Mairi nodded.
“Then you already trust him.” Valerie stood and touched her belly as though cradling those she grew within her.
“I have to get back to him, Mairi. I have still to tell him he’s going to be a daddy. I’ve got a mother, who probably knows I’m having a baby, and I have to get back to her in case she tells him before I get the chance.”
“Like I said, we have to get back to our lives.”
“Och, not so fast, Cuz. C’mere, my love.” Valerie grabbed Mairi and dragged her into her arms, giving her a bear-like hug. “I’m not leaving here until I’ve seen you safely into mistdream.” Valerie was loath to let her cousin free of her arms, but took a step back, still keeping the contact she needed.
“Go on. Your mist is not as patient as Lauren’s. I reckon he’s been given an earful from Appoloin. You’d best get on your way. I won’t leave here until you’ve transastralised. Your mist is getting edgy.”
Mairi hugged Valerie tightly. “Thank you, for everything, Valerie.”
“Whoa, there,” she said suddenly, “you’re talking like this is goodbye. We’re Mistdreamers, remember? We can meet whenever we want.”
Mairi turned her head away, but not before Valerie caught the sadness in her eyes.“What, what is it, Mairi? What did that evil fuck do to you?”
“Not yet, Valerie. I’m not ready to talk about it yet. I must speak with Appoloin before I tell anyone else, please understand.”
“I do, but come to me and Lauren if you need us.”
Mairi’s blue mist surrounded her, and she felt safe once again. He murmured that Valerie had been correct in her assumption that Appoloin had not been pleased with him and if he didn’t get her back quickly, he would be furious. He longed to have her safe beside him.
The Park Family: Mairi: Retribution Page 23
