by Jane Stain
Deirdre gasped. Kelsey had been digging at this site for seven months now. Wouldn’t she find these treasures?
Galdus was amused again, and he directed her gaze to the ceiling. It was made of the same finely crafted — and enchanted — interlocking stones as the floor and walls, unlike the ceilings in the rest of the place, which were native stone, carved but not crafted.
Chapter 16
"That's why we’re taking all this oot intae the hidden corridor for others tae remove … later," said Galdus with triumph in his voice.
Deirdre looked at all the stuff and despaired.
"Verra well," Galdus said with the tiniest bit of patience imaginable. "We wull let yer young man help us."
What?
"He's not my young man—"
"Ye can fool yourself, and ye can fool him, but ye canna fool me,” he said with exasperation. “The rest o ye stay here in this hidden hall. When we return, we wull help ye escape."
And with that, Galdus urged her out of the secret underground room, down the mysteriously pristine hallway, along the dark stone corridor and up the narrow stairwell to the cell whose door he had illusioned. They went inside the cell, and Galdus altered his illusion, making the door less solid, a barrier that with a little force would give way.
"I hae dropped my loop. He wull be here any moment. Ye may wish tae comb your hair. 'Tis quite messy.”
With her eyes on the door and her ears open to Talorac's approach, Deirdre used her deft fingers to do just that, pinching her cheeks while she was at it. She didn't have to wait long. She heard first his footfalls and then his voice, calling out none too shyly at all. At least he was alone. How he had managed that, she had no idea.
"Deirdre! Deirdre! Say something sae I ken which door ye are behind."
"Which door I’m behind?" Deirdre thought at Galdus in puzzlement.
"I couldna make it tae easy for him or he wouldna hae any sense o accomplishment at all."
Dierdre's annoyance at Galdus faded into heartache for Talorac as soon as she heard his desperate voice again.
"Deirdre! Where are ye?"
"I'm in here! Right here! I'm sae glad ye came!"
Galdus chuckled.
"Oh, that was a nice touch. That wull send him barreling through the door, just ye watch."
Sure enough, the next moment there was a splintering sound, and the illusionary door came crashing in. Talorac followed right after, his eyes full of worry and his hands on her shoulders immediately, and then on her arms, checking for injuries.
"They left ye in here alone?"
Without thinking, she caressed his hands before stilling and squeezing them in reassurance that she was indeed uninjured.
"Dinna fash. They hae na harmed me."
Talorac enveloped her then in an embrace and held her as if he let her go she would evaporate into smoke. It was wonderful.
Until Galdus interrupted with his chuckle.
"'Tis up tae ye tae get him tae oor secret room, helping us carry the treasures out with us. I'd better na talk tae him. Might ruin yer image as a druid."
Galdus followed that with even more chuckles.
"Come on,” she said quietly to Talorac in Pictish, tugging him toward the hall outside the cell. "We need to free some things before we leave here. The others managed to leave their cells already. I gave them the keys, and they have gone on in front of us."
Talorac's voice sounded stricken with fear when he responded in Pictish.
"Oh but Deirdre, the keys you gave them won’t work. I… I kept the good keys for myself, and now they’re in danger because of me."
His honesty stung her as she ran with him down the hallway hand-in-hand, the interlocking stone floor bouncing up and down in apparent rhythm with the flickering torchlight.
"Give him credit," Galdus suggested.
"I watched you pocket those three other brooches, and they aren't so different from the three you gave me. Oh, to a smith they may seem different, but to anyone else they’re virtually the same. I wouldn't be surprised if they worked. Anyway, when I warned them about the keys they assured me the secret room is in a hallway visible only to those who carry druid magic. Even if they were not able to get in the room, I should be safe."
They had come to another crossroads in the stone corridors, and she kept his hand.
"These stairs are uneven in my time, and perhaps even now, so stay close behind me and I'll lead you."
He squeezed her hand in answer and kept hold of it, surprising her with how obedient he could be, given the right stimulus.
No.
No, that wasn't what surprised her. It was her own reaction to his hand in hers. She didn't wish to let go, and not only so she could lead him. This was a human hand she held, and he provided human company. He wasn't trying to… Best let those thoughts go.
"He is na trying tae do what?" Asked Galdus snidely. "Dae ye find the lad a better companion that I am? Can he dae this?"
All the unlit torches flared to life.
Chapter 17
Startled into a jump when all the torches in the hallway lit by themselves, Talorac thought about his situation. Deoord, Boann, and Ia hadn’t said anything about taking items from what must be the treasury of these people. By everything he held sacred, he ought to have told Deirdre no. No, we're not stealing from these people I'm trying to make an alliance with. No, I'm not following you deep down into unfamiliar territory.
But he also knew he was not going to tell her any of those no’s. He wanted to help her. He wanted to be with her, no matter what harebrained scheme she was following.
"If she's so powerful, why does she need your help?" asked the rational part of his brain.
"Doesn't matter," he told it. "I've made up my mind."
So he and Deirdre and the seven other druids took everything out of that room and stacked it in the invisible hallway outside the door with the three stone locks that took the three brooch keys.
"Shouldna we take it ootside?" Talorac asked as Kael piled crates into Talorac's arms.
"Young Talorac, we can all get intae this hallway, but only ... only Deirdre can get intae that room. Nay, we shall stack it in this hallway and then later on, send someone tae retrieve it."
At last it was all stacked and Deirdre turned to the other druids and made an odd face as if apologizing for something he didn't understand.
"Thank ye for yer help. I will disguise us all now sae that we may leave this place. Although Talorac knows better than I what sort o reception ye wull get among his people, ye are welcome tae travel with us, sae far as I ken." She looked his way and raised her eyebrows with a question.
He opened his arms to the druids in a gesture of welcome.
"Ye will be made welcome if ye choose tae join oor clan. We already hae three druids, perhaps ye ken them? Deoord, Boann, and Ia hae been oor clan’s druids my whole life."
Seeing the amused expressions on their faces, he took a settling breath and let it out.
"Aye, I ken my life has na been that long compared tae others, but I am in training tae take my brother’s place as chieftain ower ten clans someday, should the need arise, and I am privy tae many things. I would be a good ally for ye, and I ken that Deoord, Boann, and Ia would welcome ye. They are fair and good, unlike one druid we used tae hae, Nechtan, who attacked breth's wife Jaelle afore they were marrit, nearly killing her. Ken that Breth’s respect for the druids doesna go sae far that he did na seek retribution against Nechtan. The man has breathed his last."
It didn't surprise Talorac that Kael addressed his answer to Deirdre.
"Thank ye for the offer. Howsoever, we wull go with ye nay farther than the verra first broch."
Deirdre nodded, squeezing Talorac's hand for an undetermined reason. She'd taken it suddenly while he was speaking, and he felt immediately calm and accepting of Kael's decision. Tal knew Deirdre probably had something to do with this, but he didn't really care what the other druids did, and so he didn't fight it.
"Verra well," said Deirdre, "Link up hands and let us be on our way. Sae long as we are outside o walls made by man and ye be holding a hand that touches a hand that touches me, I hae enough magic tae conceal us all tae the nearest broch. I can also apply the woad tae us all. We crossed a stream na far from here, on oor way in."
"Aye," Kael nodded. "'Tis far enough away we shouldna be disturbed, yet na sae far that we should be in much danger on the way there."
The other druids nodded as they made their way up a different stone stairway.
But Tal’s mind was in turmoil. He was already befuddled by Deirdre holding his hand. The very thought of her touching his naked body with the woad… He had to stop thinking about that, or he wouldn't be able to follow them up the stairs!
"Gather close," said Deirdre at the top where the torches had not been lit, and they all huddled while she closed her eyes and hummed an unfamiliar tune.
Tal hadn't seen any druid operate this way, but she was from thirteen hundred years in the future. Who knew what could change in thirteen hundred years? Well, apparently the druids did. It was a humbling thought, and he felt his respect for them grow to an incredible degree.
When she finished humming, he didn't feel any different, but then again he hadn't when she hid them for the journey here either.
Their walk to the stream was eerily quiet, with none of them saying anything. But she kept hold of his hand, and that made Tal happy.
Chapter 18
Deirdre was beside herself with embarrassment at having to touch Tal so intimately. Why had Galdus made her say she would apply woad to them all? Surely hiding them all was protection enough?
She set her jaw and prepared to ram Galdus into the nearest tree, where he could no longer urge her to do anything.
But as usual, he talked her out of it.
“Verra wull, ye dinna hae tae be the one who applies the woad tae him. Aye, ye can hold Kael’s hand sae that the energy flows from me through the both o ye. I only suggested this plan sae that ye would hae more sway ower the lad, ye ken.”
She rammed him back into his scabbard instead of into the tree, but she fed him an image of her pulling him out at a moment’s notice and choosing another tree.
The ten of them had rested comfortably for three days in Mailcon and Aalish’s sacred grove when the news came. When Boe's little son Canaul came running into the grove, it raised the hair on the back of Tal’s neck, so familiar was it to the scene where he had been summoned on this adventure.
It turned out to be even more significant.
“The ravens are flying! The ravens are flying!” Canaul cried out.
One moment, Mailcon and Aalish's faces looked crestfallen and everyone else looked puzzled. The next moment, all of their faces were full of concern.
"What's going on?" Tal asked Deirdre to her face.
Oddly, Deirdre didn't look over to Mailcon or Aalish for permission to tell him. No, she patted that dagger of hers and sat there as if thinking about his request.
"The Romans have attacked Port Patrick by boat."
"We're gang back tae help them," said Kael, already standing up along with his six cellmates.
"They locked ye up," Tal told Kael. "Ye dinna hae tae help them."
"Aye, but we do." Kael looked around at the others for confirmation and received it. They were all nodding and getting up and dusting themselves off in preparation to make the journey back to their home. To help those who had betrayed them.
Tal looked at Deirdre defiantly.
"You go with them if you want, but I'm not. I'm going home."
As she had so often of late, Deirdre took his hand and squeezed it.
And as had happened to him so often of late, shivers ran down his sides, making goosebumps appear all over his flesh, her touch had so much power over him.
"They’re more than up to the task at hand," she told him sweetly. "No, I'll go home with you."
Could she mean that the way it sounded? He turned and searched her eyes.
At first, she stood there searching his as well, but then she lowered hers.
"My mission lies that way anyway," she said with that falsely cheerful smile of hers. Which told him she wasn’t stating the full truth.
Still, she would be with him. For now that was enough. He’d take it. He turned to Mailcon and Aalish.
"We leave now as well. From the sounds of things, the Gaels will be too busy to join us in an alliance anyway."
Aalish and Mailcon exchanged a look with Kael that Tal didn't understand, but then Aalish laid a gentle hand on his shoulder and Mailcon patted his back.
"Aye, ‘tis well ye be on the road, I do not know when we will see you again, now that Breth has declared you will remain at Broch One. Mayhap you will come to the Beltane gathering."
Tal patted Mailcon's back as well. "I cannot promise anything, howsoever I will tell my brother you wish to see us there."
That was the extent of their goodbyes. Right then and there, Mailcon and Aalish painted all of them with enchanted woad. Tal and Deirdre headed off one way while the Gaelic druids went the other, pausing only once to look back at each other and wave.
Tal ran the whole way home so as to get there in only one woad’s time.
Deirdre kept up with him.
Chapter 19
They arrived on the outskirts of Broch One’s valley in the early hours of the morning. Lossio was on sentry duty there, and Tal approached his tree once Lossio whistled to let Tal know he’d seen him.
"What news?" asked Lossio.
"I proposed the alliance. They had imprisoned their druids. We helped them escape, and then the druids emptied out the Gaels’ underground treasury—"
Lossio whistled a long drawn out note. "So I'm guessing there won't be any alliance."
Tal raised a hand to refute this.
"I thought not as well, but then they got word that one of the Gaelic ports was being raided by Romans and went off to help their captors. So it's anyone's guess what will happen."
Lossio made a funny face for just a bare moment and then changed the subject as if it hadn’t interested him.
"Oh. Edarnan and Ide finally got together..."
Tal was anxious to get to Breth with his news about the alliance, but when Deirdre veered off on the path toward the sacred grove instead of the one that led to the broch, he went along. It didn't hurt that she gleefully took his hand and ran with him again, but all the way he wondered why he was going with her. Had she made him do so by magic? If she had, then he hated her — and he found the idea of hating her unbearable.
But just as it had the whole way home, running with her hand in his exhilarated him, made him feel more alive than he ever had before. Not even at the forge or in battle.
What was he going to do?
"Alasdair," Deirdre called out as they neared the grove. "Alasdair, we got everything out! It’s stacked in the hallway just like you asked. Alasdair? Alasdair, are you here?”
It was Boann who greeted them with a hug for Tal and a pat on the back for Deirdre.
"I'm sure he'll be along soon." She turned to Tal. "Please tell us: any news about the alliance?"
"I had hoped to tell Breth first..."
Boann was old enough to be best friends with his mother, so when she put out her lower lip and pouted, it made Tal laugh, as she undoubtedly meant it to.
Deoord and Ia walked out of the shelter of the trees where they slept, smiling at Tal in welcome and raising their eyebrows in curiosity at what the news might be.
Oh well. Breth would understand.
"I presented the idea of the alliance, but they had locked up their druids! We rescued them and then they robbed the treasury. I feared that was the end of the alliance, but then the druids went back when they heard the Romans were raiding the Gael port. So now it's anyone's guess what's going to happen. If the Romans overrun the Gaels…”
"I’ve apprised Breth of the situation," said Deoord solemnly. "He thinks
we should go aide the Gaels, but I told him to hold off until Boann finds out if the battle still rages. It's already been two days, and it would take us two more to run there."
Tal raised one eyebrow at Deoord.
"How will she know in fewer than two days, and how do you know what Breth is thinking?"
Deirdre squeezed his hand and answered.
"He can't tell you, but I will."
For some reason, she shook a little at that, shuddered as if she'd been struck by lightning, then spoke stiffly, as if through locked jaws.
"Druids of sufficient training and strength can communicate in our minds with anyone we’ve touched. We usually keep this within our own numbers, both to hide the secret and to save the time it takes for others to get over their surprise and awe."
Tal’s shoulders slumped, and he looked over at Boann, but she was gazing off into nowhere, deep in thought.
“So Breth already knew about this, or his surprise and awe would have held up your answer."
Deoord put his arm around Tal as he had often done when Tal was younger.
Tal’s first instinct was to shrug him off, but he knew he needed the druids on his side if something ever did make him take over for his brother, the land forbid.
"We were going to tell you soon anyway,” Deoord said softly, "I see now that we waited too long. Will you accept my apology?"
Tal looked Deoord sternly in the eye. "This one time, I will. But if you’re keeping any other big secrets from me, now's the time."
Just then, Boann raised her head and broke out of her trance.
"The Gaels have triumphed!" she said, "and they come to assist us!"
Chapter 20
Deirdre was close to panic. She’d been back at Tal’s broch for a week, and there was still no sign of Alasdair. No word. No message. Not even in her dreams.
