Moonlight (16 page)

The wood burned more slowly than the straw. The flame crept upward, ever upward.

Maeb pressed through the crowd breathlessly and moaned fitfully when she saw Aowyn.

Xander drew his sword on his father. “Let her go!”

Aowyn began coughing as the smoke reached her. She stood on tiptoe as the flames approached.

The sound of swords clashing strained against the crackle and pop of the fire. Aowyn’s eyes watered. She stared into the crowd. Sylas remained at the center, but another hooded figure hunched at the front. A sly, conniving smile curled the corner of her withering mouth. She leaned upon a small walking stick. A black rune symbol was burnt into her hand.

Aowyn’s throat tightened.
I know your name, she-witch. You have struck us down with no relief.
Aowyn coughed and sputtered. Flames reached over the final layer of timber like goblins clawing for purchase.

Xander continued to fight his way to the pyre.

The heat was intense, and Aowyn bit back a cry. She locked her eyes on the moon once more, trying to hold out a little longer. A little longer and it would all be over!

A black form dove from the sky and barreled into a guard. Aowyn’s gaze drifted. Two large white forms dove after it and swooped over the guards’ heads with angry honks. They soared against the stars before diving and assaulting again.

Aowyn wilted behind the flames.

Xander momentarily became stunned by the sudden arrival of four swans. The first black one pummeled a guard before barreling into the earth. He lay still on the ground. A blue light swirled from the silky vanes of his feathers. Xander’s eyes widened as swan turned into man. Maeb raced over, choking with tears, and covered him. “Choróin!”

The nursemaid motioned to the poor man’s nakedness until someone helped her. Áodhán an Choróin stumbled to his feet in a borrowed long shirt. He pressed his hand to his head and groaned.

Xander disarmed a guard and hurled the sword at Choróin, calling him to arms.

Choróin shook his head with disorientation. He caught the sword and rushed toward the guards.

Xander rammed his shoulder into Rab, knocking him out of the way. He gave all of his effort to leap upon the pyre. The flames curled around him. He cried out as he cut Aowyn free. Her body slid into his arms.

Archers took aim at the diving swans.

Xander leapt from the pyre just as it cracked and crumbled beneath him. He moved Aowyn over his shoulder and swung his sword at Rab’s reinforcements.

An arrow found its mark in the heart of a white swan. It careened backwards on impact and then spun uncontrollably to the ground. Another white swan honked and landed beside him. Maeb rushed to their aid. Blue flames erupted from the first swan as a young man coughed and gripped the arrow in his heart. The other swan collapsed beside him. He turned into a naked brother, clutching his twin close, “Lorgaire!”

Maeb threw a blanket over the former white swan and wept. “Rógaire Aohearn.”

Rógaire cradled his twin. Lorgaire gurgled blood and breathed his painful last.

Choróin and Xander pressed back to back, fighting off a swarm of guards and Lord Rab. The other people began to scatter as the fighting approached them.

A black swan plummeted into Lord Rab. His feathers had barely begun to change to skin when Rab stuck his sword through Caoin Croí’s belly.

Choróin roared and rushed at Rab.

Xander moved as quickly as he could to stop him. He shifted Aowyn over to Choróin and then turned to Rab with a dark expression. “This one is mine.”

Choróin held Aowyn and lifted his sword to protect them.

Xander grabbed his father by the collar of his crimson shirt and forced him to his knees. “Confess your crimes, and I will show mercy.”

“I did what the law of the land demanded.”

“Yes, you carried it out to the letter… and did not stop when one spoke on behalf of her innocence. Now look at her.” Xander pointed his sword toward Aowyn.

Rab stared at Xander.

Xander grabbed his father’s burnt face and forced him to face Aowyn. “
Look at her!
”

Rab turned toward Aowyn, unconscious in her brother’s arms. Her feet were badly burned, and her legs were pink.

Xander’s voice quaked. “I loved her.” Xander lowered his head to his father’s ear as he broke down in tears. “Don’t you remember what it’s like to love someone?”

Rab’s eyes began to well over.

Xander clutched his father’s collar tighter momentarily before throwing him to the ground. He strode to Choróin and took Aowyn from him. He buried his face in her singed hair. “
Aowyn.
”

Aowyn beheld the face of Sulwen. The raven-haired queen brushed a few stray strands from Aowyn’s face and smiled.

Aowyn threw her arms around Sulwen and hugged her as tightly as she could. “I’m never letting go.”

Sulwen stroked Aowyn’s hair. “I don’t think you ever did to begin with.”

Aowyn leaned back in her mother’s arms with a confused expression.

Sulwen caressed Aowyn’s cheek and kissed her. “You need to let me go, Wyn. I cannot rest in Mag Mell if you cling to me in this world.”

Aowyn took in the evergreens, lush grass, and starry sky. “Is this not Mag Mell?”

Sulwen’s expression held softness. “You were born a queen among queens, my Aowyn. A good queen does not falter. She does not wane….”

This was all beginning to sound too familiar to Aowyn. She swung her arms around Sulwen’s neck and clutched her with desperation. “Do not leave me again!”

Sulwen hugged her back. She put Aowyn a little distance from her and lifted her chin. “I never did.
My love is like the moon—shining and eternal. And as long as it rises in the sky, you shall never be alone.”

The words echoed as Sulwen blurred and faded.

Aowyn’s eyes slowly opened to starry skies. Xander wept over her. Aowyn mustered the strength to sweep her fingers through his wavy hair.

Xander lifted his head and stared incredulously into her green eyes.

Aowyn smiled weakly and took in a breath of summer air.

Xander stifled a sob as a grin plastered his face. “Maeb! Brothers!”

Choróin rushed closer. His pained expression filled with bittersweetness. He rubbed a smudge from Aowyn’s forehead and kissed her cheek deeply. He leaned his forehead against hers and whispered, “Your love was enough, Wynnie.”

Aowyn pulled herself upright in Xander’s arms. She looked to Choróin, then searched for Caoin Croí, Lorgaire, and Rógaire. She wrenched out a cry when she saw her fallen brothers.

Choróin squeezed her shoulder. “Your love broke the spell.”

Aowyn shook her head and wept against Xander’s shoulders.

Xander freckled her with slow kisses.

“What more could you ask for, Wyn?” Choróin inquired.

Aowyn forced herself to still her tears. She scanned those still present and saw the woman in the black cloak with the rune hand.

Aowyn’s eyes glinted.
To prick my heel. To pierce my heart. To make me bleed.

An accusing finger shot toward the hag.

The old woman backed into the throng slowly until she stumbled into Sylas Mortas.

Aowyn motioned that she would like to be put down, despite her injuries. She slung her arms over Xander and Choróin’s shoulders so that they could bear her weight between them. She hobbled forward. Aowyn’s voice slowly returned to her. Though it was weak from disuse, her words rang through the fold. “A good queen does not falter. She does not wane…”

Sylas Mortas’s fingers curled into the old woman’s arms.

Aowyn pulled back the witch’s hood. “…Does she, Crwys?”

Crwys wailed and withered.

“This is the witch you seek, Lord Rab.” Aowyn nodded at Xander’s father. “She cursed me and my brothers.” Aowyn straightened as tall as she could between Choróin and Xander. She raised her chin defiantly as she spoke to those present. “I am Aowyn, daughter of Aodhagáin the Firebeard, Son of the Sun. I am Queen of the Summer Isle, and I now invoke the wrath of the Sun God upon the ban sídhe Crwys!”

Guards seized Crwys and dragged her toward the the pyre, still ablaze with the last of the timber. Hot coals and embers sizzled. The guards threw Crwys down upon them.

Aowyn approached the pyre with the aid of her brother and lover. “Cursed us and now you fall in satisfaction for it.”

Crwys’s ban sídhe cries filled the summer night as fire licked her bones.

Aowyn watched the witch shrivel into ash. “Your power for our destruction is not greater than our love for each other.
Go dtachta an diabhal thú
.”

MOONLIGHT

“Are you sure you will not come with us, Wyn?” Choróin asked.

Aowyn, Xander, and the brothers stood on the dock of the port to the black cliffs. Aodhagáin’s ship sat patiently waiting. Caoin Croí and Lorgaire had been carefully shrouded and taken below deck to return to the Summer Isle to rest in the Cairn of the Ancestors near their mother.

Aowyn shook her head. “I abdicate the throne to you, dear brother.” She reached for Choróin’s hand. “You are the rightful heir.” She tilted her head toward the ship. “Bear our fallen brothers well and rule with honor.”

Choróin swept Aowyn into his arms and squeezed her tight. “I will rule with love, with humility, and with mercy, and I will give it freely as you have shown me.”

Aowyn laughed softly. “Well, don’t give it
too
freely.”

Choróin held her back, and Aowyn smiled at him. “Exercise justice and wisdom,” she urged.

Rógaire stepped close to his brother and sister and wrapped his arms around them both. He leaned his head against Aowyn’s. “I know you think your place is here in the Twelve Kingdoms now, sweet sister, but know that you will always belong with us. Once a Queen of the Isle, always a Queen of the Isle.”

Aowyn kissed his cheek. “Stay clever, my rascal. Choróin needs a smart man by his side.”

The brothers straightened as the captain of the ship announced that they were ready to depart.

Choróin took Aowyn’s left hand, and Rógaire took her right one. They walked to the end of the dock together and stared into the inky night sky, stared forever into…

MOONLIGHT.

Thank you for reading
Moonlight
.

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,

Ann would love to connect with you!

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Moonlight
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About The Author

Ann Hunter wrote her first multi-award winning story before age 13. She is the author of the young adult fantasy novels The Subtle Beauty, Moonlight, The Rose In The Briar, and Ashes. Moonlight is her second novel-length story to be published. She likes cherry soda with chocolate ice cream, is a mom first and a writer second, has a secret identity, and thinks the Twilight movies are cheesier than cheez whiz (which is why they are her guilty pleasure!)

She lives in a cozy Utah home with her two awesome kids and epic husband.

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