by Pandora Pine
“There will be time to soothe you after the English are all dead.” Cadence smirked.
Fionn and Carter barked our sharp hoots of laughter they tried, unsuccessfully, to hide with a cough.
Jilly climbed up into Carter’s lap. “I want the girls to fight, Daddy. We’re tough too. Feel my muscles.” Jilly flexed.
“You are very tough, little love.” Carter tested her muscles and turned to Fionn who was sitting with a thoughtful look on his face. “My vote is for yes.”
“Who said this was a democracy?” Donnall wailed throwing his arms in the air.
Cadence growled and turned to Donnall, her hand going for the hilt of her dagger. “What have we got to lose beside our heads, you annoying barbarian?” Cadence turned back to Fionn. “The women would also help to hide our true numbers.”
“How do you mean?” Fionn leaned forward curiosity lighting his blue eyes.
“If the women all wear breeches and tie their hair back, we’ll all look like the men. They won’t expect to see the number of riders you have when we are all still visible on the wall.”
“I agree,” Fionn said. “I’ll order more weapons to be crafted. Donnall, you can start instructing the women in the morning.”
“For fuck’s sake, Fionn!” Donnall threw his arms wide.
“I’ll train the women.” Cadence turned and smiled at her brother-in-law-to-be.
“Don’t bet against her, stubborn warrior,” Carter cautioned.
“You’ve had one lesson. How do you expect to train an army?” Donnall scoffed.
“One woman at a time!” Cadence turned and strode from the hall, Islynn, Fianna and Jilly at her heels.
15
Cadence sat atop Fairy Hill in the darkness, her arms wrapped around her knees. Millions of stars winked and glittered overhead while a few “fairies” floated past. This was the perfect place to come and think over all that had happened today.
After her epic battle against Donnall, she’d taken the women with her to see Padraig, the blacksmith. He’d almost laughed out loud when she asked for seventy-five more daggers to be made just like the one Donnall commissioned for her, along with one smaller and duller version for Jilly. Her tiny niece had been very excited at the thought she’d get a blade like her brave Auntie Cadence.
After Padraig agreed to her wishes, they’d all gone to the armory, making the same request for bows strung like her own had been, so that the women would be able to draw and fire, along with plenty of arrows. The look on Ciaran’s face had been priceless, full of disbelief. She was sure a word from Fionn would get him moving to carry out her request.
The one thing not as easily handled was Donnall. He was such a contradiction, one minute caring, wanting her to go back to 2015 where she’d be safe and the next, completely annoying by saying women couldn’t defend the castle. He couldn’t help being raised in a man’s world, but with everything at stake, now wasn’t the time to insist half of the castle’s population sit idle on the sidelines.
“Flag of truce, my beauty?”
She turned to see Donnall waving a white linen napkin. Unable to help herself, she started to laugh. “I’m not armed.”
“Thank the gods. I would hate to give my life bringing you supper.” He walked up to where Cadence was sitting on the cold ground.
“I would never stab anyone bringing me food.” Donnall bringing dinner out to her was a nice gesture, but she couldn’t help wondering what he wanted. He’d made his stance on arming the women perfectly clear.
“I brought a blanket too. It’s a chilly night.” Donnall handed Cadence the basket filled with food and spread out the blanket. “Not too many fairies out tonight.” He settled himself on the far edge and looked around Fairy Hill.
“It’s getting cold.” In more ways than one. Cadence sat at the opposite end of the blanket from Donnall. “Why are you here?” It wasn’t exactly the kindest thing to say.
“Because I was an arsehat earlier.” His tone, for once, sounded serious.
Cadence laughed. Donnall had been an asshat. A big one.
“You did well learning the bow today and…”
“And, what?” Donnall seemed to be struggling. Maybe there was more to his attitude than a simple battle of the sexes.
“And if you know how to fight, then you will be in the fight.”
“That’s the point.” Was it possible he was really afraid something would happen to her?
“You’ll be closer to the danger,” Donnall whispered, bowing his head.
Scooting across the blanket, Cadence laid her head on Donnall’s warm shoulder. She hadn’t realized how cold she was until she felt the heat of him sinking into her cheek. “You’re worried I’ll get hurt?”
Donnall turned to face her. “Yes, damn it. Is that so hard to understand?”
“No. I have the same fear for you.” Knowing that Donnall was killed in the battle was taking its toll on her.
“I will be fine,” Donnall huffed.
“No you won’t. When I was reading an account of the battle, it was a massacre, by the way, you’re name was not mentioned. You died along with everyone else. Donnall, you died.” Cadence drew a harsh breath trying to hold back her tears.
“Would you mourn for me, little mouse, if history repeated itself?”
“Only if someone else killed you.” She tried to lighten the mood, but could still see an image of Donnall’s bloody corpse in her mind.
Donnall laughed and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “But not if you killed me yourself?”
Shaking her head, she buried her face in the crook of Donnall’s neck. “This William Longhurst is going to come to Moone and take what belongs to us, namely our home and our lives.” And our freedom, she added silently not wanting to sound too Braveheart.
“Who did you say is coming here?” His voice was full of shock and disbelief.
Cadence looked up to see the blood had drained from Donnall’s face. He looked like he’d seen a ghost. “William Longhurst is the name of the commander of the British Redcoats. Do you know him?”
He nodded glumly. “He’s my older brother.”
“Donnall, how is that possible?”
“My given name is Donnall Longhurst. When I came to Moone, Fionn’s father suggested I go by my mother’s name, so I wouldn’t carry the stigma of being English.”
“He sounds like he was a wise man.”
“He was a true father to me in every sense of the word. He never treated me any different than he treated Fionn. He taught me how to be a man.”
“What happened to him?” She knew she would have loved meeting Fionn and Fianna’s father.
“He died in some silly skirmish against a rival clan from Kildare. Fionn and I were only seventeen summers old.”
“I’m sorry you lost him so young. What a tragedy.” Historically speaking, she knew a lot of men died in clan wars, but seeing how the loss affected Donnall made her heart break.
“What would be more tragic is being struck down by my own flesh and blood.”
“Like Cain and Abel,” Cadence muttered against his shoulder.
“Who?”
She kept forgetting Moone Castle kept to the Celtic gods and goddesses. Donnall would have no knowledge of bible stories unless he was taught them as a child before he left England. “It’s an old story about two brothers. They fought and one brother killed the other. Would William recognize you after all these years apart?”
“Yes. I favored our mother with my dark hair and hazel eyes while my other brothers favored our father with light hair and blue eyes.”
“I know you’re worried about something happening to me, but putting that aside, you have to see the women can help.” If Donnall didn’t come around to see the logical side of this argument it was going to be hard to get the women trained without his help.
“I am grudgingly coming around to see that, but was it truly necessary to arm our four year old niece?”
Cadence gig
gled. It felt good to sit here with Donnall and work out their differences without bloodshed or angry words. “Yes! Jilly was over the moon at getting a dagger and if she can hurt one of those bastards before they can hurt…” She couldn’t bear to finish the thought.
“Come here.” Donnall wrapped both arms around her and held her close. “What is it like to know the future?”
“I used to think it was a blessing. Knowing the exact day when the English Army would arrive. Knowing what Moone did the first time, so we’re able to draw up a different plan of attack, but…” She snuggled closer to the warmth of Donnall’s chest.
“But, what?”
“It’s sad to read almost three hundred people died here, but when you don’t know any of them, it doesn’t really hit you as hard. Now that I’m here and I know all of you, it’s devastating. That’s why I need to do everything in my power to save you.”
“You are very brave, little- Cadence.”
“I like it when you call me your little mouse.” She pressed a kiss to the warm skin on the side of his neck.
“But, you told me to stop earlier.”
“I was mad at you, silly barbarian.”
“Will you always be mad at me when you do not get your way?” He pressed a kiss to her forehead.
“I’d sure like to find out.” Cadence laughed.
“What are you doing out here on such a cold night?”
“I was trying to figure out a way to apologize to you for being so angry this morning.”
“Apology accepted.”
“What’s the catch?” It couldn’t be that easy. Liam would keep her on tenterhooks for days before forgiving her for being angry with him.
“There is no catch, my beauty. You are trying to save my life and our home. I was in the wrong for thinking the women should stand by and trust the men to protect them. Now, let’s get you inside before you catch a chill.”
16
Excitement was buzzing through the kitchens the next morning. Cadence could see the determination in all of the women as they set about their work with a spring in their step.
“I cannot believe Fionn agreed to arming the women and training us to help defend our home.” Aggie shook her head and pulled a tray of bread from the oven.
“I still don’t understand why I have to learn how to fire an arrow,” Mallory grumped.
“You don’t have to do anything, Mallory. Where I come from, women take responsibility for their own lives and their happiness. You don’t have to depend on a man to make you happy and in this case, you don’t have to depend on the men to protect you.”
“How do we even know you and your brother are telling the truth?” she practically snarled.
“Mallory! What are you trying to say?” Aggie edged closer to Cadence.
“Just that these two claim to be from the future. How do we really know they are?”
“Fionn and Donnall were there too. They saw the ruin of the castle and other wondrous things.”
“Maybe they are all lying!” Mallory crossed her arms over her chest.
“So we’re all part of this giant conspiracy? Is that what you’re saying?” Cadence sighed, digging for strength. The women would be meeting on the training fields in two hours. The last thing she needed was division among her ranks before they even got together. “Why don’t you come, Mallory? See what it’s all about and if you don’t want to participate or think it’s too hard, then you’re free to go on your way.” Before she turned away, Cadence saw a fire light in Mallory’s eyes.
The turnout was impressive. Every woman in the castle was there, as were all of the children deemed too young to fight. When she arrived, Carter and Davin, the stable master, along with Padraig were setting out bales of hay for the women to shoot at.
“Thank you so much for helping out, Carter.” Cadence hugged her brother.
“You know I’ve always been your biggest fan.”
It was true. He had always been there to support her, no matter what.
“Cut Donnall some slack, okay?” Carter said in a low voice.
“What do you mean?” Looking around the practice field, she saw quite a few of Fionn’s warrior’s showing up ready to help. Absent among them was her irritating barbarian.
“It’s a matter of pride. His number one task here is to protect Moone. Yes, he serves as an advisor to Fionn, but his main responsibility is to see to the safety and security of this castle and everyone who lives here. It is not an easy thing for him to hear that he failed in that duty once.”
Cadence hadn’t thought of it that way before. Donnall had a lot of pride in himself and in his abilities. All she’d done since meeting him was tell him that Moone would fall if they didn’t have another way to defeat their enemy. “You’re right, Carter. Sometimes I forget men are so different in the fifteenth century.”
“Actually, they’re not different at all. What’s different is you. Don’t forget some of the things that make you so attractive to Donnall are also the things that threaten his manhood.”
When Carter and the others were finished setting out the bales of hay, Cadence watched while they handed out bows and quivers to all of the women. Once they had their quivers strapped on, Padraig walked down the line of women filling the quivers with arrows.
“One thing we all have to watch out for is the bowstring hitting our cleavage.” Cadence demonstrated how to hold the bow so the women’s busts wouldn’t get in the way of their arrows flying straight and true.
The women tittered.
“Is everyone ready to give it a try?” This was it, where the rubber met the road. Nervous butterflies danced in her stomach.
“Yes!”
Cadence turned around to face the women and couldn’t believe her eyes. The majority of Fionn’s men were standing behind her group ready to help out with the training session. They started walking up and down the line of women and adjusting their stances and showing them how to pull the arrows from their quivers. Half an hour into the lesson, Donnall was still among the missing.
“Ready? Aim. Fire!” Cadence shouted, watching in awe as a volley of arrows sailed toward the hay bales. She moved down the line of women stopping behind Fianna, whose arrow had missed the hay completely. “According to Donnall, you need to use your dominant eye to aim at your target.”
“Whatever does that mean?” Fianna laughed.
“You’re right-handed, so you’re right eye is the dominant one.”
Fianna rolled her blue eyes. “Show me how you stand.”
Cadence steadied her feet and reached back for an arrow. Notching it she easily pulled back the bowstring and sent the arrow sailing toward the target. “Okay, now you try.”
Fianna looked down at Cadence’s feet and set her own in the same position. She raised the bow and pulled her arrow back and closed her eyes.
“Don’t close your eyes, Fee. These men are coming here to kill us and steal our home. Look them in the eye and say no, then fire.”
“NO!” Fianna yelled and fired her arrow. It flew straight and true into the heart of the target. “I did it, Cadence!”
“That’s right, you did it. Now keep practicing. I’m so proud of you.” Cadence moved down the line and saw that Mallory was taking her lesson seriously. She smiled at the young woman and moved on to Islynn who was shooting arrow after arrow into her target. Thomas stood behind her with a proud look on his face.
“She’s a natural, Lady Cadence.”
“Show me, Islynn.” Her friend nodded and fixed her stance. Arrow after arrow flew straight and true to thump into the center of the target. What surprised Cadence most was the look of peace on her face.
“Every arrow that finds its mark brings me one step closer to reuniting with my Breena.”
Cadence squeezed her shoulder and moved back down the line.
“Nicely done, ladies!” Fionn shouted as he walked toward Cadence. “You have done well.”
“Thank you for sending your men to help us
.”
“I did nothing. My men are here of their own free will and out of their desire to help Moone.”
Cadence nodded. It was on the tip of her tongue to ask about Donnell, but she didn’t want Fionn to get in the middle of this. She thought they had patched things up last night, but she must have misunderstood.
“Auntie Cadence!” Jilly shouted from her circle of friends sitting on the ground well behind the budding archers. “We want to help too!”
Fionn burst out laughing. “It seems your rabble-rousing extends to the children. I may have a way to get them involved.” He pressed a kiss to Cadence’s head and walked over to the group of kids and sat down on the ground while the kids arranged their circle to include Fionn.
“We’ve got big muscles too, Da.” Jilly smiled and flexed at Fionn.
“You certainly do and I think I know how to use them to help Moone. Who wants to go down to the river today?”
“Me! Me!” The children shouted and raised their hands.
“What we will do is send you all down there with some carts. You will fill the carts with stones you all can lift and throw.”
“We’re not ‘llowed to throw rocks, Fionn,” a small boy called out.
“Usually that is right, Bastien, but during the battle, we’re going to throw them at the British soldiers.”
The little boy beamed at Fionn.
Different members of Fionn’s ranks stepped up to help with the dagger practice. They demonstrated the various ways to use the weapon and supervised while the women tried their hands at stabbing the hay. Jilly was a serious student when James knelt and spoke softly with her, demonstrating how to use her dull weapon.
“It seems little Jilly takes after her brave Auntie.”
Cadence turned to see Donnall standing behind her. She’d been so focused on James and her niece, she hadn’t heard him come up behind her. “Look at how intent she is on learning.”
“That is a trait all of the women seem to possess.” Donnall stared down at his boots, not making eye contact with her. His shoulders were slumped and it seemed the fight had passed out of him.
