by Jodi McIsaac
Cedar gaped at her. “He’s our friend, not our servant!” she said, indignant.
“Really? How interesting,” Brighid said in a tone that indicated she was already bored of the subject. “Well, let’s not stand here in the foyer gabbing. Come in, come in, humans, gods, and druids, all.” She turned and swooped out of the room and onto an expansive balcony that overlooked the ocean.
“We came to ask—” Cedar began, following her onto the balcony.
“For my help, I know,” Brighid said. “No one ever comes to see me just for the company. But that can wait. Look at yourself, dear. Your friend Jane isn’t the only one who has seen better days. I’ve instructed my people to prepare baths for you, and some light refreshments. Then you will rest, then we will feast, and then you will tell me about all of your troubles. I insist.”
“Thank you, but we really don’t have time,” Cedar said.
“There is always enough time, darling,” Brighid said dismissively. “Now off you go, ladies. Vanessa will show you the way.” She pointed to a tall, muscular woman who was wearing a dress of soft white leather that barely came down to her upper thighs. She was standing so perfectly still that Cedar hadn’t even noticed her when they’d come out onto the balcony. “And gentlemen, follow me, if you please,” Brighid said. “Your druid may come as well, if you wish.”
Finn gave Cedar a small smile. “It won’t take long,” he said, leaning down to whisper in her ear. “And if we accept her hospitality, she’ll be in a much better mood. Besides,” he said with a sniff, “you do need a bath.” She rolled her eyes and swatted him away.
“Be good!” Brighid said with a wink, then Cedar, Jane, and Eden turned to follow Vanessa, who led them back through the expansive foyer down a narrow hallway lined with erotic black-and-white photographs of the naked human form. At the end of the hallway she opened a door, and stepped back so that they could enter. It was, without a doubt, the most incredible spa Cedar had ever seen.
“Oh wow,” Jane breathed. Vanessa, who had yet to speak, closed the door behind them, leaving them alone.
How many worlds will we enter here? Cedar wondered. It was as if they’d entered a secret glade hidden deep within the rain forest. The ground beneath their feet was the softest moss, cool and refreshing. Sunshine glimmered like liquid diamonds through the glass ceiling, which was hung with vines and huge bright pink flowers. Steam rose from a half dozen pools, and an intoxicating scent of something less tangible than any one spice or perfume filled the air. Peace, maybe, or laughter. They walked around the room, trying to take it all in. A waterfall flowed out of a wall of glittering rocks and into a large pool. One wall was lined with rows of thick robes and towels and several shelves of delicate glass bottles filled with different soaps and lotions.
“Can I go in, Mummy?” Eden asked, pointing to one of the small pools near the lotions.
“Of course,” Cedar said. They stripped off their clothes and gently submerged themselves in the warm water.
“Oooooh, it smells like bubble gum!” Eden exclaimed. Small pink bubbles began to form on the surface of the water all around her, and she laughed in delight.
“Really?” Cedar said. “I smell mint, and… rosemary.” The water around her was a dark green, and she could feel her skin tingling with pleasure. She leaned closer to Eden, but still couldn’t smell the bubble gum.
“I know!” Eden said. “I bet it smells different to each person!”
Cedar nodded. “I think you’re probably right,” she said. “Hey, Jane, come over here and tell us what you smell.” Jane was still standing by the rows of bottles, examining the labels. She knelt down and ran her hand through the water in the pool where Cedar and Eden were bathing.
“I smell… patchouli,” she said. “Mmm. I’m going to try one of these other pools, and some of these bottles.” She grabbed an armful of bottles off the shelf and eased herself into a pool that was completely surrounded by magnolia trees in full bloom.
Cedar watched as Eden gathered handfuls of bubbles and threw them into the air. They floated down slowly, some landing on her head and one on her nose. Feeling a sudden rush of affection, Cedar reached over and pulled her close. “Mum, you’re squishing my bubbles,” Eden said. Cedar laughed and released her. “Sorry, baby. I just needed to hug you. Are you doing okay? You know, with everything that’s going on? You’re being so brave.”
Eden nodded and pushed a pink bubble around the surface of the water with her finger. “Yeah,” she answered. “Sometimes I get scared, but… well, don’t laugh. I feel like I have a friend living inside me. It’s kind of like she is me, but she’s older, and she’s not scared of anything.”
Cedar remembered the older Eden who saved her life in the dream with Nuala. “I’m glad you have her,” she said. “I think… I think she is you, or the woman who you’ll become. But it’s okay to be scared. I’m scared too sometimes. We just have to keep going. It’s good that we have people who can help us—on the inside and on the outside.”
Eden nodded. “I’m so glad we found Daddy,” she said.
“Me too,” Cedar said with a smile, stroking Eden’s hair.
Eden squirmed and said, “Can we try some of the other pools?” They climbed out and wrapped themselves in thick, fluffy robes that warmed at their touch. They slipped their hands into the water of several of the other pools, and settled on one that smelled like freshly baked cinnamon rolls to Eden and vanilla and honey to Cedar. Once they were in the water, thick foam began to form over their skin, and bubbles appeared in their hair. Eden squealed, “I think it’s telling us we need to wash our hair!” and reached up to scrub her scalp. Once they were clean, the bubbles melted away and the water became clear again. After a while Eden inspected her fingers. “I’m turning into a raisin.” She scampered out of the water.
“Mmm?” Cedar mumbled. She had almost fallen asleep in the warm, soothing water. She looked around for Eden, who had pulled on her robe and was eating small orange fruits out of a glass bowl. Cedar got out too and noticed for the first time that there was a long white table in the corner of the room, about waist-high and contoured like a massage table. She wrapped her robe around her body and climbed onto it, wondering if it would magically ease the remaining knots in her muscles. The bed was warm and welcoming, and it seemed to shift slightly to accommodate her. Then she felt hands on her back and lifted her head to see who it was. Vanessa had reappeared, seemingly out of nowhere, and started to knead the muscles between her shoulder blades. She sighed and relaxed, making a mental note to thank Brighid for insisting they come down here. In fact, she was having a hard time remembering why she’d objected to the idea in the first place.
The next thing she knew, someone was calling her name. She looked around, disoriented, and realized that she was in a large bed, the glow of a nearby lamp glinting off the white sheets. She was dressed in a soft white T-shirt and lounge pants. Eden was sleeping beside her, her brown hair spread across the pillow, smelling of bubble gum and cinnamon.
Jane stood at the foot of the bed, grinning.
“You have hair!” Cedar said.
“Yep. One of those bottles was labeled ‘hair renewal,’ so I dumped the whole thing into one of those pools and came out with this.” Jane reached up and ran her hand through a short pixie cut of dark blonde hair. Her eyebrows and eyelashes had grown in too.
“So that’s what your natural hair color is,” Cedar said with a laugh. “But how did I get here?”
“You fell asleep on the massage table,” Jane answered. “Vanessa carried you over here and put pajamas on you. That girl is strong! Then Eden crawled in next to you and was asleep in about two seconds. How do you feel?”
“Amazing,” Cedar said. “But how long was I asleep?” She suddenly remembered the reason for their visit to Brighid and kicked herself for giving in to distraction.
Jane shrugged. “A few hours, at least. I slept too. Should we go find the boys?”
Cedar swung h
er legs off the bed. “Yes.” She paused. “I’d like to let Eden keep sleeping, but I don’t want to leave her here alone.”
“We won’t be far; I think they’re just through that door,” Jane said, pointing to a large sliding door a few feet away. “Listen, you can hear their voices.”
Jane was right; she could hear the deep timbre of male voices and a feminine voice that could only belong to Brighid.
“Where’d you get those clothes?” she asked, noticing for the first time that Jane was dressed in a red sundress. It was a drastic change from the ripped jeans and black T-shirts she usually wore, but Cedar had to admit it looked great on her.
“Oh, this?” Jane said, looking down at the shiny silver belt and pleated skirt. “It was on the foot of my bed when I woke up. I figured it was better than putting back on Logheryman’s old robe. I feel kind of girly, though. Look, you’ve got one too.” On a chair near Cedar’s bed was a pale yellow sundress with a wide blue belt. She changed into it, and was delighted to find that it fit her perfectly, as did the delicate white sandals sitting beside the chair.
“What happened to my old clothes?” Cedar asked.
Jane shrugged again. “Dunno. Brighid probably tossed them.” She hesitated for a moment, then, glancing at the sliding door, asked, “Do you think I look weird? You know, with the hair and this dress?”
Cedar smiled. Leave it to Jane to be cool as a cucumber when she was bald and wearing an old robe and to be self-conscious about looking fresh and pretty. “You look fabulous,” Cedar told her. “I’m sure he’ll think so too,” she added with a wink.
Jane scowled at her. “That’s not what I meant,” she said, but she straightened her dress and ran her hands through her hair again. Cedar smiled broadly and pushed a button beside the sliding door.
As Jane had said, the others were gathered just outside the door, on a sprawling balcony that overlooked the strange, mountain-like forms rising out of the ocean. Finn and Felix were sitting on either side of Brighid, leaning in to her and speaking in soft voices. Liam stood off to one side, looking out over the ocean as the moon rose in the sky, his brow creased and his hands clenched on the railing. They were all dressed in new, clean clothes, and were sipping a pale peach drink from crystal goblets. Several tables on the deck were laden with trays of food, and Cedar’s stomach rumbled loudly. It felt like a long time since she’d had tea and a cookie back at Maggie’s house.
“Well, there you are!” Brighid exclaimed, rising to her feet. “We thought you were going to sleep all night. Did you enjoy the spa?”
“Yes, thank you,” Cedar answered politely. “But now we—”
“Don’t they look lovely?” Brighid asked Finn and Felix, waving her arms at Jane and Cedar’s dresses. “They clean up rather well, if I do say so myself. Come, eat and drink with us. We were just getting started.”
“Thank you, but we really should be going soon,” Cedar said with a pointed look at Finn. Felix was watching Jane with a bemused expression on his face. Blushing, she started to load a plate with braised lamb.
“Yes, yes, I know all about your little adventure,” Brighid said. “Fionnbharr has been telling me all about it. I remember the Lia Fáil well, of course. It’s about this size,” she said, holding out her arms to measure out about two feet. “Or at least it was, before Cúchulainn smashed it into two in one of his fits. He was always so temperamental, that one. Anyway, I really don’t know why they want it back so bad. It probably doesn’t even work the way it used to anymore. As you sure you really need to find it?”
“Yes,” Cedar said emphatically. “If we don’t, Nuala will become queen and start another world war here on Earth. We have to find the stone.”
“Well, if you must, I wish you luck,” Brighid said. “But I’m afraid there’s really nothing I can do to help you. I have no idea where it is now, and I’m not about to go traipsing around Ireland with you on some hero’s quest.”
“Don’t you care about what happens to the world?”
“Oh, I’m sure it’s not as bad as you think, dear,” Brighid answered. “My people are always wrapped up in some drama or another, and it usually comes to naught. I told myself a long time ago that I was done getting involved in their affairs. No, no, I appreciate your visit, of course, but this is something that doesn’t really concern me anymore.”
Cedar stared at Brighid incredulously, feeling a burning in the pit of her stomach. They had wasted almost an entire day here in the hopes that Brighid would either know where the Lia Fáil was or help them deal with Nuala’s army of druids. Now it seemed as though all they were going to get for their troubles was a nap and a polite dismissal.
“Fine,” Cedar snapped. “We’ll do it ourselves. We might get killed, but at least we will have tried.”
“Oh, come now, don’t be like that,” Brighid said, raising an eyebrow. “You won’t be leaving empty-handed. I’ve been working on a little something since my last unfortunate run-in with my own kind—not you, of course,” she said, tossing her lustrous waves of hair in Finn’s direction.
She walked over to a small pedestal that stood on the corner of the balcony. On it was a small crystal bottle the shape of a teardrop. Brighid picked it up and handed it to Cedar. “I think you’ll find this very useful.”
Cedar fingered the delicate bottle. “What is it?” she asked.
Brighid regarded her carefully. “Fionnghuala, or Nuala as you call her, is the great-great-grandniece of a friend of mine, who also had this strange ability of persuasion. We were quite close, for a while, until she went mad and killed herself. Her power was very great—greater than Nuala’s, I’d say—and when she was young, she would play cruel jokes on those she called friends, revealing their deepest secrets and forcing them to act against their will. It was foolish of her, of course, and when she grew older she regretted all the pain she had caused. But by then it was too late. She was shunned by almost everyone. I was one of her only friends. I believed her repentance was sincere and—to my knowledge—she had never used her ability to cause me harm. When I decided to leave Tír na nÓg and settle on Ériu for good, I may have been the only friend she had left. I heard years later that she had killed herself—whether out of remorse or loneliness I do not know. But there is no doubt that her ability was more curse than gift. Only a handful have possessed it, and almost all of them met with some sort of tragic end. Nuala’s own mother, who also had the gift, was killed by Nuala’s father.”
Cedar felt an unexpected stirring of sympathy for Nuala. Riona had once told her that she would never wish Nuala’s gift on anyone, and Cedar could understand why. But she was still the enemy, and they still needed to defeat her. “So what’s in this bottle?” she asked.
“Before she killed herself, my friend put a great deal of effort into trying to overcome her ability, or negate it somehow. And in a way, she succeeded. She created a potion that would make others immune to her ability for a short while. It worked—she tested it on me, and was unable to persuade me of anything after I had consumed only a drop. Unfortunately, it was very difficult to create, and she couldn’t exactly dump it into the drinking water, so to speak, so it didn’t help her as much as she had hoped in the end. But that is what I have been working on. My memories are not as crystal clear as they used to be—this was more than a thousand years ago—but I have tried to re-create this potion to the best of my ability. I believe I have succeeded. I have made enough so that I will be invulnerable to Nuala’s power should she come calling anytime in the next few hundred years—just like Finn and Eden are naturally. This bottle should be more than enough for you all. A single drop is all you need.”
Cedar clutched the bottle tightly in her hand. “Thank you,” she said. She still wished Brighid would come with them, but at least this was something that would be useful if they made it back to Tír na nÓg. She turned to go, but Brighid spoke again.
“And I happen to know someone who might help you with your quest. He hates druids mo
re than anyone, and he’s very powerful. They would think twice before attacking you if he was part of your company. Personally, I’m sure Fionnbharr and Toirdhealbhach are all the protection you need. But, since you seem to think otherwise, you might want to enlist his help. And besides… if you wake him, he should be able to lead you directly to the Lia Fáil.”
This made Cedar stop in her tracks. She whirled around to face Brighid. “Who is he?” she asked.
“His name is Abhartach,” Brighid said.
The reaction was immediate. Finn and Felix both sprang to their feet with cries of protest. Liam, who had been staring out at the ocean, spun around so quickly he almost lost his balance. A look of horror marred his face, as though Brighid had suggested waking the devil.
“Brid, you’ve got to be kidding,” Finn said.
“Oh, come now,” Brighid said, a pout playing on her lips. “Surely you are not afraid of a mortal being.”
“That’s the problem,” Felix said, his voice laced with disgust. “He isn’t mortal, but he should be. We should leave him buried in the ground where he belongs.”
“You don’t believe those silly stories about him, do you? He was a great magician, that’s all. No different from your kind, Liam.”
“He is nothing like my kind,” Liam snapped. Cedar looked at the men in the room in confusion. Who was this Abhartach?
Brighid waved her hand lazily in the air. “What, pray tell, is the difference?”
“Abhartach is a demon,” Liam spit out. “He has used some sort of evil sorcery to give himself power.”
“Some might say that the power of the druids is not altogether… natural,” Brighid pointed out.
“Um, can I interrupt here? For those of us who aren’t a billion years old, who the hell is Abhartach?” Jane asked.
Finn answered. “Abhartach was a chieftain in Ireland many years ago. The stories say he was not kind to his people.”
“A gross understatement,” Liam muttered.
