lily harper 04.5 - the bladesmith (5 page)

“’Twas near two thousand years ago,” I started, but soon found I could not look Persephone, or more pointedly, Lily, in the eyes. I dropped my gaze to my lap as I continued. “The Romans were attemptin’ tae conquer Scotland which, at that time, was called
Alba
. Boot this feat was nae accomplished sae easily. The problem was the tribes. We wouldnae soobmit tae the Romans. In order tae beat the Romans at their own game, Ah willingly possessed mahself with the spirit o’ Donnchadh. ’Twas the only way I imagined I could oppose the Roman threat.”

“A noble choice,” Persephone offered.

I did not bother looking at her. “Aye; boot Ah misread the strength o’ the Romans. They were calculatin’ and cunnin’ in their attacks. They saw mah strength an’ mah speed an’ they knew Ah would be ah valuable asset in their fight against the clans of Alba. As I belonged tae one o’ the biggest o’ the clans, the Votadini tribe, an’ mah ooncle was Chieftain, the Romans wanted meh oonder their control.”

“I remember,” she started as she eyed me narrowly. “I remember you telling me
you
were the Chieftain of the Votadini?”

“Aye, fer ah short time Ah was,” I admitted with a brief nod. “An’ Donnchadh was the reason. The strength provided by Donnchadh’s spirit attracted the Romans tae meh. They realized the only way they could attain Votadini land was tae convince meh tae work with them, nae against them. They offered meh the Votadini kingdom. All Ah had tae dae in return was allow them tae slaughter mah kinfolk; which Ah did.”

“What?! You betrayed your own people?” Persephone asked with a shocked expression that later turned into a smile. “No wonder you were later appointed the position as Master of the Underground City.”

“Aye, Ah betrayed mah oon clan,” I answered tersely.

“But what does the tree have to do with any of this?” Persephone asked, her smile no longer resident.

I exhaled slowly. This was the part of the story that Lily did not know yet. I was uncomfortable. In general, I am not a man who parts with any personal information easily. “Shortly after the Romans massacred mah kinsmen, they soon made their attempts on meh oon life.”

“But, as an immortal, you couldn’t be killed, correct?” Persephone demanded. “You still carried the spirit of Donnchadh, which made you immortal?”

“Am Ah tae tell this story? Or do ye prefer tae?” I asked as I speared her with a cross expression.

She frowned and her lips tightened. “Go on.”

“Ye were correct, Ah couldnae be killed because o’ Donnchadh. Boot when the Romans attempted tae murder meh, they displaced meh.”

“Displaced you?” she repeated. “What does that mean?”

“If ye would allow meh tae finish, mayhap ye would find oot!” I railed at her. As I lost my temper, I sensed the rumblings of Donnchadh stirring within me, growing fiercer as he became more desperate to wield his control over me. This conversation needed to end quickly because I could no longer wait for Persephone to bleed me properly. I feared I was on an expeditious path of losing any sense of containment or control over Donnchadh.

“Very well,” she grumbled, holding her chin up high. “My apologies.”

“Ah found mahself in a place Ah didnae recognize,” I started. I breathed in deeply as the rush of unhappy memories suddenly flooded my mind. “Ah later learned that the new place I inhabited was none oother than the Oonderground City. ’Course, ’twas nae called the Oonderground in those days; an’ neither did it appear sooch as it does today. Boot its purpose was the same: tae poonish sinners for all eternity. Despite how unfamiliar the place was tae meh, Ah was immediately announced its king.”

“With no training, or any kind of orientation whatsoever?” she asked, appearing shocked.

“Aye,” I said as I nodded. “Nae trainin’. Ah was supplied with ah demon guide, Gerode, who introduced meh tae my role; boot he didnae prepare meh mooch. All I knew was that Ah was now Lord to the Kingdom o’ the Damned.”

“But you were not technically dead, yourself?”

“Nae, Ah wasnae. Nor was Ah technically alive either. Had it nae been for Donnchadh, Ah would have died. At least, that is mah belief. Ah dinnae pretend tae know how, or why, Ah became the King of the Oonderground. All I can tell ye is how Ah foond mahself in that wretched position.”

She nodded. “I find that very fascinating. I cannot help wishing you trusted me more, enough to tell me this … long before now.”

“Ah am ah secretive man,” I said, and she laughed snidely.

“That is putting it mildly.” She was quiet for a few seconds as she studied me before telling me to continue.

“As part o’ mah poonishment,” I started before taking a deep breath. This was the part of my story I liked the least. “Those souls o’ mah kin whom Ah either killed meself, or allowed tae be killed, were nae allowed tae pass through the pearly gates o’ the Kingdom oop high; boot neither were they forced tae enter the gates o’ the Oonderground. Nae. Those poor, lost souls were doomed tae spendin’ eternity in the middle lands.”

“The middle lands?” she repeated dubiously.

“Aye, the Dark Wood,” I finished. I had to take another deep breath in order to finish the story. “An’ more specifically, their bodies were interred beneath ah large hill, at the base oove ah tree. The verra same tree outlined oan mah back.” I stared at the seams of my kilt as old, familiar feelings of self-hatred, remorse and guilt flooded over me. They were the same feelings I experienced whenever I remembered my history, whenever the cruel past came back to haunt me. “Ah bleed mahself nae only tae release Donnchadh’s contaminants, boot also tae release the poison o’ the truth. Ah bleed mahself in offerin’ tae the souls o’ mah tribesmen. Lives that Ah took out o’ greed an’ avarice.”

FIVE

Persephone studied me for another moment or two, and her eyes narrowed as if she were trying to decipher whether or not I was being honest in my explanation. Then she inhaled deeply and her expression softened as she exhaled.

“I am certain you are well aware that in order for me to reach your back, I would need to loosen your chains,” she announced. She stood up and stared down at me in an obvious ill humor, which I attributed to that same fact.

“Aye, Ah am aware,” I answered. I eyed the pulley system in the corner of my cell which dictated whether I should be chained closer or farther from the wall, depending upon my captor’s desire.

“There is a reason you are lashed against the wall,” she began to explain. “The less you are allowed to move about, the easier it is to control you.”

“Ye dinnae need tae explain the nature o’ mah incarceration tae meh. Ah am quite familiar with the system,” I started. The pain of the two wounds she had inflicted on my chest continued to erode me from the inside out, even though my blood now ran red. That truth brought little relief though. The essence of Donnchadh’s poison still contaminated me.

“My point is that if I loosen the pulley to give you more freedom, what assurance have I that you would not attempt to attack me and free yourself?”

I shook my head. “Ah willnae attempt tae attack ye; nor will Ah free mahself.”

She scoffed at my reply, although I was not surprised. “Please forgive me if your word alone fails to convince me.”

“Then send oot for yer circus monkey!” I fired back at her, my previous good humor now completely absent. “Ah dinnae care whit ye dae! Jist git oan with it, woman!”

“By my circus monkey, shall I assume you are referring to Saxon?” she asked with a barely concealed smile. Clearly, she thought of him in the same manner.

“Aye, yer circus monkey.”

She studied me for another few moments before nodding and starting for the cell door. She locked it behind her and disappeared through the large, iron door to the prison. She was gone less than five minutes, but when she returned, she was accompanied not only by Saxon, but the angel, who certainly looked the worse for wear.

His habitually jocular persona was completely missing. In its place, I saw a creature far too solemn to even represent the angel. His face was pale, and judging by the lacerations that were visible on his arms and legs, I guessed he had been flogged. Doomed an immortal, he could not die, yet he could still feel pain. It now appeared that was exactly what must have been happening.

“What would you like me to do with him, my queen?” Saxon asked. He unceremoniously led the angel by a chain, which was wrapped around the angel’s throat.

“Return him to his cell,” Persephone answered. She made no attempt to look at either of them. Instead, fastening her eyes on mine, she unlocked my cell and showed herself inside again. “And then I require your assistance in here,” she told Saxon, who was busily interring the angel inside his quarters again.

“Why dae ye feel obliged tae torture him?” I inquired, nodding my head in the direction of the angel’s cell.

“How is that any business of yours?” she responded snidely.

“Are ye hopin’ tae break him? Tae git information froom him?”

“No,” she answered quickly. “What information could I possibly hope to get from him? He’s a fool.”

I shrugged, because she had a point. “Then why bother wit’ ’im?”

“To make him shut up!” she railed back at me angrily, as if she objected to having her actions questioned, “and because his insolence infuriates me!”

“Aye, it infuriates meh too, boot ye dinnae see meh beatin’ him,” I finished with a shrug.

“Then you are far more patient than I am,” Persephone answered with no amount of apology in her tone.

“Ah dinnae believe his insolence is the sole reason ye despise him so,” I continued.

“Oh, really?” she asked, folding her arms across her chest and regarding me with an irritated expression. “Then what do you believe the reason is?” she asked. Saxon appeared at my cell door, standing just behind her. It did not escape my notice that he still refused to so much as look at me. The man was a born coward; that much made obvious by his inability to look me directly in the eyes. He was afraid of me. Even now. Despite my being chained to the wall with my hands and feet bound, he was still afraid of me.

“Ah believe ye hate him because he is Lily’s friend,” I answered simply. “An’ ye want naethin’ more than tae weed oot everyone an’ everythin’ that has, or had, anythin’ tae do with Lily.”

She looked at me sharply for a few seconds before a smile appeared on her lips. “You always were a very astute man,” she said with a quick nod.

I felt it wiser not to say anything more, but something burned from deep within me that would not allow me to stay quiet. “Then what o’ meh?” I demanded.

“What of you?” she repeated as she frowned in obvious confusion.

“If ye seek tae destroy any an’ all reminders o’ Lily, whit aboot meh? Ah loove her too, sae will ye try tae break meh, jist as yer tryin’ tae do wit’ the angel?”

After hearing the word “love” leave my tongue, Persephone’s expression dropped. It was immediately replaced with what I can only describe as ire. Her eyes narrowed and seethed with an anger I had not seen within them before. “You are serving me in your own way,” she announced between clenched teeth as she glared at me, a rush of color shadowing her cheeks. “And once I have what I need from you, then, and only then, will I decide what your fate should be.”

I nodded without saying anything more. I had already said too much. I needed Persephone. She had to bleed me in order for me to regain my strength. I also needed her to ingest my blood so I could help strengthen Lily. Taunting the woman could only make matters worse.

“Saxon,” Persephone said to get his attention as she handed him the blade. “I will release the pulley; don’t take your eyes off him.”

“Of course, my queen,” he answered robotically. He slightly dropped his chin in a sign of deference that made me want to strike him.

Contrary to what they both seemed to believe, I did not want to fight them. I was still so emaciated and weak from malnourishment, as well as Donnchadh’s increasing strength, that any attempt to oppose them would surely result in my not faring very well.

I watched Saxon approach me. He knelt down beside me and pushed the blade of the knife directly above my carotid artery. Our eyes met for the first time since his visit, and I smiled. He did not. My attention shifted to Persephone as she pulled down on the large wheel in the corner of my cell, releasing the chains that bound me so tightly against the wall.

“Ye can remove the blade,” I barked at Saxon. “Ah dinnae have the strength tae even think o’ fightin’ either o’ ye.”

I heard the sound of Persephone’s heels as she approached us. “Remove it,” she commanded Saxon who obeyed with a nod before he stood up. “You may leave us now,” she finished.

“But, my Queen, the prisoner is still very dangerous. I don’t think it is wise to—” he started.

“Enough!” she interrupted him. “I believe him. He is weak.” Then she grabbed my chin and forced my head upright until I was staring right into her eyes. “Besides, he already admitted his love for the silly girl who previously owned my body. That means he would not have any intention of harming me because she and I are one and the same.” A huge smile appeared on her lips and the expression of victory clouded her eyes. I held myself in check, nearly choking on the sudden urge to smack the smile right off her face. However, I merely returned it politely.