The Oaken Throne

by Sara C. Roethle

  Oighear struggled, but with Finn clinging to her, should could not strike her with magic.

  Finn slipped her arms further around Oighear’s waist, gripping the shroud, wrapping them in magic. Oighear’s body began to grow cold, stinging Finn where skin touched skin.

  Finn held on. Niklas had sent her Branwen to help break the barrier to the in-between, but he’d also given her another option. The ring on her finger was composed of in-between magic, linking her to that realm. She sensed more magic being added to the mix, and realized Oighear’s tiara was an artifact of similar origins. She would break the barrier here and now. Perhaps it would kill them both, but her daughter’s soul would be freed.

  “She’s going to use their magic to break the barrier!” Ealasaid shouted, her voice seeming distant.

  Finn realized how not distant the voice was when a weight thudded into her, then began prying her and Oighear apart. “I will not allow you to do this,” Ealasaid growled.

  Finn caught sight of something twinkling at Ealasaid’s belt seconds before more power surged around them. Reality seemed to shift. There was the pressure of an ocean above them, its massive weight being held by a thin sheet of oiled canvas.

  “No!” Oighear screeched, but it was too late. Their combined magic shot upward, seeming to pierce the sky.

  All at once, the canvas gave way, and magic came crashing down.

  Ealasaid groaned, then opened her eyes. She was flat on her back in a grassy meadow, at the edge of a forest. She sat up, blinking against bright sun. To one side sprawled Oighear, and to the other, Finn. Had this been Keiren’s plan all along? When Keiren had suddenly appeared at her side within the burgh, she’d been shocked, but after hearing the usually stoic sorceress hurriedly explain that Finn needed her help, she’d snapped into action. Anna, Kai, and Maarav had refused to stay behind, but where were they now?

  Oighear stirred first, grunting as she pushed herself into a seated position. Her feathered cloak and glittering tiara seemed somehow less regal now that her rump was on the ground. Seeming to slowly regain focus, Oighear blinked at her. “What have you done, Queen of Wands?”

  Ealasaid’s mouth fell open. She was accusing her? “I just tried to pry the two of you apart. I didn’t bring us here.”

  They both turned to look at Finn as she sat up.

  She peered around, her long hair flecked with strands of yellow grass. “The in-between?” Finn questioned. “How are we here? The barrier should have been destroyed.”

  “You did destroy it,” a voice said from behind Ealasaid.

  She turned to see a red-haired woman stepping out of the trees with Naoki at her side. The white dragon had nearly doubled in size since Ealasaid had last seen her.

  “Branwen?” Finn questioned. “What has happened? How are you here?”

  The woman, Branwen, turned honey colored eyes toward Finn. “None of us will be here for long. Your magic destroyed the barrier, but Druantia holds this place together . . . for now.”

  Ealasaid watched as Finn slowly climbed to her feet, then, realizing her own rump was still on the ground, she quickly did the same. She’d heard mention of Branwen before, though she’d never met her.

  Glaring at everyone, Oighear stood.

  “Druantia is here?” Finn questioned.

  Branwen nodded. “It is by her doing that you have come here. This is the place the dead go before they move on. Sometimes trapped souls come here too.”

  “What is this nonsense?” Oighear hissed, stepping forward. “Why can I not summon my magic?”

  Ealasaid inhaled sharply, then tested her own magic, realizing just then that it had left her.

  Branwen cleared her throat. “As I said, this is a realm where only the dead and familiars can enter. This is a neutral place where none hold power. Druantia would like to speak with Finn.”

  “What about me?” Oighear growled, flicking her feathered cloak aside.

  Branwen raised a red brow at her. “You’ve longed to reach the in-between for all this time. This may be your last chance to explore what is left of it.”

  Ealasaid frowned. “If the barrier is broken, and this is all that remains of the Gray Place, what is happening to those we’ve left behind?”

  “They suffer the consequences of your actions,” Branwen chided. Turning back to Finn, she held out an arm. “Now come. Time is short.”

  Ealasaid watched as Finn stepped forward, placing her hand on Naoki’s head. “Is this where you’ve been all this time?” she asked the dragon.

  “Naoki brought me here,” Branwen explained, somewhat bitterly.

  Finn nodded, as if that somehow made sense. She turned to Branwen. “May Ealasaid come with us? I’d rather not leave her with—” she subtly nodded in Oighear’s direction.

  “I saw that,” Oighear grumbled, crossing her white clad arms. “And if she’s going, I’m going. I’ll not stand idly by while you trap me here.”

  With a heavy sigh, Finn turned back to Branwen.

  Branwen shrugged. “Fine.” With that, she turned back toward the forest and walked into the shadows.

  Naoki tugged at Finn’s tunic, urging her to follow.

  With a worried glance at Ealasaid, Finn obeyed.

  Ealasaid quickly followed, leaving Oighear to trudge behind them.

  Finn wiped her trembling hands on her breeches, nervous to face Druantia, if the Druid Goddess truly dwelt in this place. The last she’d heard from her had been outside the Druid fortress, back in their realm. She would not be surprised if some other phantom had tricked Branwen, keeping her in the realm of the dead.

  Regardless, she’d meet this being, if only to learn why they’d been brought there. She followed Branwen as she picked her way through the trees that seemed to go on forever.

  She occasionally glanced back at Oighear, just to ensure she wasn’t about to drive a dagger into her back, or Ealasaid’s. She worried for the health of those they’d left behind too, but there was little she could do about it now. She’d chosen to break the barrier despite the consequences, to free her daughter’s soul, and Iseult’s. It was odd that the two souls she cherished the most had been trapped together all along.

  Eventually they reached a small, shimmering pond. Branwen approached the water’s edge, gesturing for Finn to do the same.

  Finn stepped forward, sensing immense power radiating from the pond.

  “A true goddess,” Oighear muttered behind her, disbelief clear in her tone.

  “Yes,” a voice burbled from within the water, “we do still exist, though our followers have abandoned us.”

  Finn fidgeted, realizing Druantia was the water itself. She wondered to what followers the goddess referred, as her true followers, the Druids, had not abandoned her. They had been slaughtered for having magic.

  “Why have you brought us here?” she questioned.

  “I brought you here,” Druantia corrected. “The other two clung along for the ride. You have destroyed the in-between barrier. This place now exists by my magic alone, though I cannot sustain it indefinitely. You have gone against nature using your magic in such a way,” she sighed, “though I cannot say I am surprised.”

  “You know I had no choice,” Finn replied. While she felt guilt for what she had done, if her daughter’s soul was freed, she’d do it one hundred times over.

  “Yes,” Druantia sighed, “your daughter. She is here with me.”

  Finn’s heart seemed to stop beating. Niamh was here? Even now? She’d expected her soul to be freed, but had not hoped she’d actually see her again.

  “Where is she?” Finn boldly demanded. “Reveal her to me.”

  “She will reveal herself if she so chooses,” Druantia burbled back.

  Finn resisted the urge to kick the water’s surface. Someone took her hand. She turned to see Ealasaid standing at her side, sympathy in her gray eyes.

  She forced her breathing to slow. Ealasaid’s entire family had been slaughtered, and she wasn’t acting lik
e a spoiled child. If Ealasaid could remain composed, she could too.

  “Is—” a hesitant voice began from behind them.

  Finn turned to see Oighear waiting several paces away. Unshed tears rimmed her eyes.

  She bit her pale lip, then continued, gazing not at Finn, but at the pond, “Is my mother here as well?”

  “Your mother was Faie,” the pond sighed. “She belonged to the earth, and it is there her soul lives on forever.”

  Finn watched as glittering tears fell down Oighear’s white cheeks. “All along?” she breathed, then hung her head.

  “Yes, child,” Druantia replied.

  Suddenly, Finn understood. Oighear was not so different from her after all. She’d worried for her mother’s soul all these years. Yet, unlike Niamh, her mother’s soul was never cursed.

  “Immortal beings hold memories more dear than mortals,” Druantia sighed. “Mortals learn to move on, to let go, because their time is short. Those with longer lives know they have centuries, perhaps longer, to search for a way to erase their pain. To bring back the dead, or at the very least, to learn where their beloved dead have gone.”

  “Mother?” a small voice questioned.

  Finn whipped around, dropping Ealasaid’s hand. Her eyes darted across the pond to a small form now standing on the other side. She still wore the white funeral dress she’d been buried in.

  Finn fell to her knees, overcome with emotion. “Niamh?” she sobbed in disbelief.

  The little girl pushed a golden tendril of hair behind her perfect little ear, just as Finn recalled doing for her each night when she moved to kiss her daughter’s cheek.

  Feeling hardly capable of standing, Finn forced herself to her feet, then raced around the pond, forgetting about those she left on the other side.

  She reached her daughter, then fell back to her knees, wrapping Niamh tightly in her arms. She felt real, not a ghost, but her flesh and blood child.

  Niamh trembled, then pushed Finn away.

  Finn cried, reaching out for her.

  Niamh stepped back, shaking her head. “You should not have done what you did, mother. You should not have upset the natural balance, just to free me. Your dragon found me. I think she wanted me to tell you, but I was not strong enough to reach you.”

  “The child can only venture as far as the meadow’s edge,” Druantia explained. “The dragon pulled the wraith into this realm, I believe hoping the wraith could explain, not knowing that she would become trapped here as well.”

  “Yes,” Branwen seconded, “once I was brought here, I could not leave. Although now . . . ”

  The pond sighed heavily. “Yes, child, now that the barrier has been broken, you may return to your realm without death as the consequence.”

  Shaking away their words, Finn turned back to Niamh. She reached for her again, and this time Niamh allowed her to place her hands gently on her shoulders. “What would you have me do, Niamh?”

  “I would have you move on with your life, mother,” she answered. “I remain trapped with those you cursed not through the power of your magic, but through the power of your heart. We all remain trapped because you will not release you grief, nor your guilt. Your magic placed us here, but it is not what keeps us here.”

  Finn trembled, tears streaming freely down her face. “I have done this to you? I have tormented you all this time?”

  Niamh shook her head. “Druantia has cared for me here. The others that you trapped . . . they wander. Even now, they are held in place as the rest of the in-between melts into your realm.”

  Finn turned her glare toward the pond. “You knew she was here, and you did not tell me?” she hissed. She’d encountered Druantia before, the goddess could have saved her so much time . . .

  “You made your choice that day,” the pond sighed. “It was not my place to sway you.”

  Finn stifled a shiver. She could not blame the goddess. She was the one who’d trapped her daughter here, and now the in-between would be no more, simply because she could not let go.

  “You said this place will not hold together indefinitely,” she began, her gaze on the pond. “What will happen to Niamh?”

  “Once you release her,” the pond burbled, “she will be able to move on. But you must let her go. You have upset the natural order enough. The dead must not come back to life.”

  “Must not?” Finn questioned, “not cannot?” Perhaps Keiren had been right all along. She’d thought she’d been prepared to let her daughter go, but when faced with the option . . .

  “You would raise yourself to the level of goddess then?” Druantia hissed. “You use your power so that your friends may live, while others must die. Everyone loses loved ones. It is the way of life. You think you desire a human life, but your sight is clouded. Humans must deal with their pain. They must move on. They do not have centuries to grieve.”

  Finn wiped the tears from her cheeks, one hand still on Niamh’s shoulder. She peered past the pond to where Ealasaid, Branwen, and Oighear stood with Naoki. The three women were wildly different, yet also, the same.

  She turned back to Niamh, laying a gentle kiss on her cheek for the last time. “I only held on because I love you so much,” she breathed.

  Niamh hugged her. “I know, but you must let go. It is only once you let go, that my soul can someday find its way back to you.”

  Finn sobbed, sealing her eyes shut as she held tight to her daughter. She had destroyed the natural order searching for her, only to realize that all she had to do was let go, and Niamh would come back to her, whether in this life, or another.

  Reluctantly, she loosened her arms and let go. When she opened her eyes, Niamh was gone.

  She stood. Her legs trembled, but held. “We must set things right,” she stated.

  “We must see the prophecy through,” Oighear countered from the other side of the pond.

  Finn shook her head. “Don’t you understand? In-between magic is now part of our land. We are the greatest forces in existence no longer. We are nothing. No more, and no less, than any mortal or Faie in the land.”

  Oighear’s eyes widened. She looked first to Ealasaid, then to Branwen, as if expecting one of them to say otherwise.

  Both women shrugged.

  “The dragon can return you to your realm,” Druantia interrupted.

  “And what of you?” Finn asked, turning her gaze down to the pond.

  “I am the trees, the earth, and the water flowing across the land,” Druantia answered. “Wherever they exist, so do I, in one way or another.” The pond went still as the shimmering light on its surface went dark.

  Finn looked to the place where Niamh had stood, saying one last silent goodbye to her daughter. Her heart felt torn to shreds, but her work was not done. She would set things right, for Niamh.

  Steeling herself, she marched around the pond, then stroked a hand on Naoki’s feathered head.

  “You will not leave me here,” Oighear stated.

  Finn lifted her free arm toward her. “Then you’d better take my hand.”

  Ealasaid and Branwen both walked forward without needing to be asked. Each touched Naoki.

  Finally, Oighear trudged toward them, then took Finn’s hand.

  Finn knew she might regret bringing Oighear back with them, but she wouldn’t upset the fates any further than she already had. She’d caused enough damage with her selfishness already.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Bedelia’s sword hand trembled. She’d backed away from the dead, the fighting now ceased with the rest of An Fiach held back by Ealasaid’s lightning barrier. She’d not seen where Ealasaid and the others had gone, but the mages were beginning to grow restless.

  Murmurs occasionally cut through the silence. She could see the men outside the wall, but they had frozen too. It seemed all had felt the massive crash of . . . something.

  She needed to reach the wall. From there she would be able to see what was happening beyond the burgh.

  She was
about to head off when she spotted Àed cutting through the muttering crowd toward her, skirting around the corpses at their feet.

  “Ye need to come with me,” he said upon reaching her. “I know where she is.”

  She didn’t have to ask who she was. She followed Àed through the burgh, back toward the estate. He must have found a route of escape there, because she knew whatever was happening outside the burgh, Keiren was likely at the center of it.

  Anna struggled to right herself. They’d been hit by a wave of . . . something. Something that felt like the in-between, cool and warm all at once.

  Finn, Ealasaid, and Oighear had disappeared, but An Fiach still remained by the burgh, and the Aos Sí beyond them. Yet, all fighting had ceased. The soldiers of An Fiach peered around themselves, clearly stunned. They no longer tried to climb the high walls of Garenoch.

  Though Anna could hardly see the Aos Sí in the distance, she imagined they were in a similar state.

  Stepping up beside her, Maarav rubbed his eyes. “I think they destroyed the barrier to the in-between. It’s the only explanation for what just happened. But then, where are they? Where is Ealasaid?”

  “Great magic drew them away,” Keiren said.

  Anna whipped her gaze to Keiren, just as Kai side-stepped away from her.

  She supposed she should be grateful that Keiren had found them, revealing Finn was near and needed aid, but she still didn’t trust the woman. “But the barrier is in fact destroyed?” she questioned.

  Keiren narrowed her eyes toward the road where Finn, Oighear, and Ealasaid had stood. “It has, ” she answered, her gaze scanning their surroundings as if searching for something. She shook her head. “We should return to the burgh. An Fiach will not remain stunned for long, and who is to say what the Aos Sí will do without their queen?”

  Anna shivered, wondering if Eywen had felt the release of magic wherever he was.

  “Look there,” Kai pointed, stepping up to her other side.