Elphames Choice

by P. C. Cast

Chapter Thirty-Four

  The sun was high overhead and the ache in Elphame's muscles was a slow, satisfying burn when Brenna appeared, picnic basket in hand. She grimaced and laughed when Cuchulainn pulled her into his arms and gave her a sweaty kiss.

  "Ugh! Both of you are dripping wet. " Then her Healer's gaze sharpened as she studied Elphame.

  "No, I'm not overdoing. Yes, I'm feeling fine," Elphame quickly assured her.

  Fand, who had been napping in the shade of the closest pine, chose that moment to wake and she came galloping awkwardly up to Brenna, who knelt to scratch the cub behind her ears.

  "Well, you do look better than you did this morning, for all your sweat and dirt, but it's past time you took a break. " Her smile warmed and became private as her eyes locked with her lover's. "I brought the midday meal. Would you like to share it with me?"

  Elphame watched as Brenna actually flirted with her brother. It was as if the love that she had accepted from Cuchulainn had filled her so completely that she, like MacCallan Castle, had been born anew.

  "Aye, lassie, that I would. " Cu leered at her as she squealed and moved lithely out of his sweaty arms.

  Fand yapped at the two of them.

  "Not just you, Cu," Brenna said laughingly. "Our Chieftain is invited, too. "

  "I would love to join both of you, but Wynne is a hard taskmistress. Remember when she pulled me aside this morning at breakfast?" Cu and Brenna nodded. "I promised that I would sit down with her and approve menu selections and talk about expanding the cook staff. I actually have to help her interview assistant cooks. " Elphame gave a dramatic sigh. In truth, she was pleased that Wynne had asked for her advice in selecting her growing team of assistants. She was also pleased that it gave her a credible excuse to get out of tagging along with her brother and Brenna during one of their first lovers' trysts.

  "So, that means it is just the two of us. " Cuchulainn waggled his eyebrows at Brenna. Fand whined, and the warrior scooped the cup into his arms. "I mean the three of us," he amended.

  Brenna frowned at him while he scratched Fand under her chin. "Cuchulainn, if you plan on touching anything except that beast, you had better wash yourself. "

  Cuchulainn leaned down and lowered his voice. "I'll meet you at our pool, Brenna. " When she smiled at him, he thrust the wriggling cub into her arms. "You and Fand go ahead. El and I will finish with this tree and then I'll be right along. " His voice changed to a staged whisper as his eyes slanted a teasing glance at his sister. "Don't tell our Chieftain, but I plan on taking some leisure time of my own this afternoon___"

  "Oh, you're awful, Cu!" Elphame swatted at him.

  "I agree," said Brenna happily, holding the cub against her breast. "But I will wait for him anyway. " And with a jaunty look over her shoulder, she flounced away down the road.

  Cu watched her leave, grinning stupidly. Elphame shook her head at him.

  "You don't deserve her. "

  Cuchulainn's voice sounded joyous. "Right you are, sister-mine! But she loves me well and truly. Now, let's get this tree cut so I can spend the rest of the afternoon in her arms. "

  They turned back to the trunk of the thick pine they were clearing. Elphame met her brother's eyes.

  "I told you that she loved you. "

  Cu laughed heartily. "In this particular case, I could not be more pleased that you were right, sister-mine. "

  Laughingly, Elphame looked up at him. And her smile froze. Behind Cuchulainn's shoulder, a single dark cloud suddenly obscured the brightness of the sunlight. There was something about it - something cold and foreboding - that sent a finger of dread down her spine. Elphame shivered.

  "What is it?" he asked.

  She blinked, and the cloud vanished. Had it really been there at all? The bright warmth of the day blew back into her soul and the chill that had shaken her became nothing more than a trick of sunlight through trees.

  "El?"

  She shook her head and took a firmer grip on the tree. "It's nothing but my wandering mind. Let's hurry.

  You don't want to make Brenna wait, and I agree with her. You definitely need to bathe. " She laughed and wrinkled her nose at her sweaty brother.

  Brenna felt light and happy and very, very beautiful. She swung the basket that she had filled with fragrant cheeses, fresh baked bread, boiled quail eggs and slices of smoked pork. She had even managed a skin of Cu's mother's best wine. She stepped off the road and smiled at how green everything was becoming.

  Tiny purple flowers had sprung up overnight, and little lime-colored plants that looked like upside-down baskets formed pretty, oval clusters. The forest looked like it had dressed up just for her - and the silly, romantic thought made her smile widen.

  Fand's whine let Brenna know the cub had fallen behind. She turned and peered through the trees. The cub had sat her rounding bottom down in the middle of the road, and she was staring piteously at Brenna.

  "Come on," Brenna coaxed. "The big pine tree is there," she pointed above her, "which means we aren't far from the pool. "

  Fand didn't move.

  Brenna clucked at the little cub. "Come on, sweeting. I brought some milk and a cheesecloth for you. I'll spread a blanket and you can sleep until he joins us. " Of course she knew the cub couldn't really understand what she was saying, but her tone was soft and persuasive, and she patted her thigh and coaxed until the obstinate creature left the road and followed her into the forest. "Good, girl!" she gushed. "Cu will be so proud of you. "

  Brenna's attention was focused on the cub, so she didn't notice when the shadow detached from the nearest pine and began following her.

  The musical sound of falling water was very near when Fand suddenly growled.

  "Fand? What is it, baby?" Her initial reaction was to laugh. The scruff on the back of her neck stood straight up as the cub showed her baby teeth and backed slowly toward Brenna. The small wolf looked adorably unimposing. She was just a round bit of gray fluff, making little pretend wolf sounds. Brenna thought she actually showed more resemblance to a hedgehog.

  Darkness flashed, shadowlike across the edge of her vision. Fand's growls increased. Brenna turned her head and her breath gasped from her lungs in a rushing uh! sound.

  The winged creature was very beautiful. Brenna noted the unique color of its eyes and the lithe strength of its body, almost as if she was cataloguing the symptoms of a newly discovered disease. Brenna did not panic, nor did she scream and struggle. With feral speed that was more than human, the creature closed on her. The clear light of the new day glinted dangerously from its fangs.

  "I do this because he has forced me to. It is the only way. " The winged being's voice was surprisingly soft and melodic.

  Even though Brenna saw the surety of her death within the creature's eyes, she could not force her body to move. She was frozen, trapped within that doom-filled stare. Though her body would not respond, Brenna's mind remained very clear. Her first thought was how unlike the accident this was. That had been a day filled with fire and pain. This was, at first, a gentle invasion. The creature held her close and its head dipped to the unscarred side of her neck. Brenna felt the teeth press against the softness of her skin.

  When they broke through, she was filled with a rush of euphoria, and she could not hold back a moan.

  Then there was a hot, pulling sensation, and, as if from far away, Brenna heard the distinctive sound of tearing flesh. .

  She closed her eyes and thought of Cuchulainn. Epona, help him not to mourn for too long. It seemed time suspended while her mind formed her final prayer. And thank you, Goddess, for allowing me to know love and acceptance before I knew death. The pulling sensation at her neck increased and Brenna could hear her own breath coming in loud gasps. Her legs lost their strength. Still drinking from her neck, the creature held her in a crude parody of a lover's embrace. The world against Brenna's closed eyelids went from scarlet to black, but before p
ain, and death in its turn could claim her, she felt herself lifted up and out of her collapsing body and her soul was filled with the indescribable peace of Epona's welcoming arms.

  "I think Kathryn would make the best addition to my staff," Wynne said, brushing an escaping curl from her face.

  Elphame spoke through another bite of the excellent venison stew Wynne had concocted for the midday meal. "She admits to having little experience as a cook, but she is young and very willing. I agree with you, she will learn easily. "

  "Meara will be angry. She hates to lose one of her minions. "

  Elphame thought about the head housekeeper's pleasingly round figure. She smiled. "Cook Meara something special as a peace offering. "

  Wynne nodded thoughtfully. "Something sugary. "

  "A lot of something sugary. "

  A sudden sound interrupted Elphame's laughter, and she was just peering around Wynne to try and see what was causing the commotion when she heard the first shout.

  "Elphame!"

  She recognized Danann's gravely voice and she was already rushing from the Great Hall when the old centaur clattered into the courtyard. Her breath caught at the grimness of his expression.

  "Your brother needs you. "

  The centaur spun around and rushed toward the entrance of the castle. Elphame beat him there. Just outside the castle walls was a sea of confusion. Men were frantically saddling horses. Centaurs were rushing up from the forest edge. Elphame could hear Brighid's name being shouted. And in the midst of the melee, Cuchulainn stood very still while his horse was being saddled. In his arms her white-faced brother clutched the wolf cub, who was splattered with blood. She sprinted to him.

  "It's Brenna," Cuchulainn said.

  "What's wrong? Where is she?" Elphame looked quickly at the cub. Fand had no wounds on her body.

  It wasn't the wolf's blood that spotted her fur.

  "I found Fand in the forest near the pool. She was alone. I called and searched for Brenna. There were odd tracks. I did not understand them. " Cu spoke quickly in short, clipped sentences, as if forming words was difficult. "I came back for Brighid and for this. " His hand went to the claymore now securely strapped to his back.

  The dreadful finger that had touched her spine earlier that day formed a cold fist which closed around Elphame's heart.

  Brighid's hoofs pounded against the grassy ground as she galloped up to them.

  "What has happened?"

  "Something attacked Brenna. " Cuchulainn handed the cub to the man who had finished saddling his horse. Then he leaped aboard the gelding. "Near the pool where the three of you bathed. I can't read the tracks. "

  "Show me," Brighid said.

  Cuchulainn pointed the gelding down the road and, without another word, the group sprinted after him.

  Elphame ran by her brother's side. She tried not to think.

  At the base of the huge pine Cuchulainn veered from the road. He dismounted quickly and continued for only a few more feet until he stopped beside the discarded picnic basket.

  "Here. " He pointed to a small section of the forest floor. The newly awakened wildflowers were smashed and scarlet drops darkened the delicate green foliage.

  Brighid motioned for the group to stay back as she bent to study the ground. Elphame saw her face tighten, and for a moment the Huntress looked up and met her Chieftain's eyes before returning her searching gaze to the forest floor. When she spoke, she did so without glancing away from the story the tracks told.

  "Stay behind me. "

  The group moved off in a silent column of twos, Elphame and Cuchulainn leading those behind Brighid.

  She moved quickly away from the pool back toward the road, following the tracks which ran eerily close to Brenna's original footprints. The Huntress crossed the road not far from where the group had left it, and plunged back into the forest. Soon she turned abruptly north.

  Elphame jogged up beside her. "Is there any sign of Brenna?" she asked quietly.

  "It carries her. "

  Feeling ill, Elphame dropped back to her brother's side. They shadowed the Huntress without speaking.

  At first Brighid moved with swift surety, but as the land began to form the familiar northern pattern of rocky ridges interspersed with streams and chasms, the Huntress's pace slowed noticeably, until she finally halted. When she turned to face Cuchulainn, her voice was sharp with frustration.

  "I've lost it. It moves like nothing I've tracked before. Its strides are impossibly far apart - almost as if it can fly. "

  Cuchulainn dropped his horse's reins and covered the space between himself and the Huntress so that he was standing so close to her that his body almost touched hers.

  "You can't have lost it. It has Brenna. "

  "I know that!" Brighid cried. "I would give anything if it were not so, but I cannot track a thing that moves through the air. "

  Cuchulainn took a step back, almost as if she had struck him. "If you cannot track her, then how do we find her?"

  "We form a hunt line and we search. " Elphame spoke suddenly. She pointed to one of the men behind

  them. "Go to Loth Tor. Call out the village. Have them bring torches. Go, man, quickly!" she ordered when he stared stupidly at her. Then she turned back to the Huntress and her brother. "Spread out here.

  Begin searching. I'll return to the castle and call forth the clan. We will cover this forest like locusts. We will find Brenna. " She hugged Cuchulainn fiercely and felt the tremor that passed through his rigid body as he softened enough to return her embrace.

  With a nod to Brighid, she sprinted back through the woods. At first Elphame concentrated on her speed and on navigating the rough, rocky terrain, but as she drew nearer to the castle her thoughts burst through the wall of silent shock that had kept them at bay.

  The tracks had been made by a creature of Fomorian descent. She'd have recognized them even without Brighid's telling look. It couldn't be Lochlan. She wouldn't believe it. It wasn't possible. Or was it?

  Her arms pumped and her muscles burned in time with the tumult within her mind.

  Her thoughts circled frantically, picking out words and images and forming them into a ghastly tableau of condemnation. . . her memory of sunlight glinting off Lochlan's fangs joined with his words, I do have the blood of a race of demons within my body, and that is something that neither of us can ever forget. The small scabs on her neck seemed to burn.

  What if tasting her blood had driven him mad? Was that why he had run from her - had he forced himself to leave before he lost control? And now Brenna was paying the price for Elphame's silence and for her decision to place her trust in a creature who was part-demon.

  No! Her heart shouted. He was her lifemate; his coming had been foretold by Cuchulainn himself. He could not be an insane monster. Yes, the tracks had been made by a Fomorian creature, but Lochlan had told her that there were others of his race who were battling against the mad pull of their demon blood. It could be that one of those creatures had followed him and had finally succumbed to his dark urges.

  But she had to know. She had to be sure. There was only one way.

  Elphame stumbled to a halt at the edge of the tree line that surrounded her beloved castle. Staying within the cover of the pines, she faced north - the direction from which Lochlan had entered Partholon. She raised her hands and spoke into the wind.

  "Lochlan! Come to me. . . "

  Her lover's name glistened in a magical haze before her, and then the wind swirled through and around it, picked it up, and scattered it out into the listening forest.

  For a moment she bowed her head, feeling the weight of her decision pressing down through her soul.

  Then she stepped from the trees.