Soul Magic (23 page)

Knowing Wynne’s proclivity for remaining invisible, Darrick was not worried.  But Geoffrey would not take such a thing well. 

As he thought this, Wynne slowly materialized, appearing in a glimmer of sparks.

The women fell silent when Darrick and Geoffrey entered the unlit, stone temple.

“Wynne has come to warn us.”  Alanna stepped forward.  Though she glanced at Geoffrey, her gaze remained fixed upon Darrick.  “She has seen more danger.”

“This we already know.”  Geoffrey’s bitter tone was a surprise.  “Tell us what form the attack will take.”

Wynne’s serene expression did not change.  “I do not know.”

“Then you are of no use to us.” 

“Geoffrey,” Darrick warned.  “Wynne holds a revered position as seer among her people.”

“Wait.”  Wynne held up her hand, her expression amused.  “You’d best consider my warning.  Gorsedd has much to lose should you succeed.  You grow too close to that which he wishes to protect.”

“As of yet, I have not heard any useful warning.”

“Enough.”  Darrick motioned Geoffrey to silence.  He wiped his forehead with the back of his hand, surprised to find himself perspiring.  He looked at Wynne, then Sarina and Alanna.  Their forms seemed less solid, wavering.

He licked his lips.  “What have you seen?”

“The vision came to me in water, and spoke of the near future.  A watery death awaits he who helps the Reagan.”

The sea.
  Darrick shivered.  “Alanna.”

“Yes.”  She nodded.  “You cannot let him take Caradoc across the waves.”

“We travel as quickly as we are able.”  Suddenly dizzy, Darrick ran a hand through his hair, wishing the vertigo would pass.  “How far ahead of us are they?”

Wynne spoke.  Her lips moved, but Darrick could not hear the words. 

“Unghhh.”  Darrick groaned.  His stomach heaved.  Pain stabbed through him, and his vision grayed.  He fell to his knees, doubling over as cramps ripped through him.

“Help me.”  He croaked.  With his throat suddenly too tight to breath, he couldn’t be sure he got the words out. 

The next he knew, he was on a soft pile of furs.  Hot, too hot.  He thrashed about, unable to make more than animalistic, guttural sounds of pain.  A soft voice soothed him, a gentle hand smoothed back the hair from his brow. A damp cloth brought cool relief.  Alanna?  He wanted to know if she’d overcome her reluctance to touch him, but couldn’t find the strength to open his eyes. 

Another moment.  Not sure if he was awake or dreaming.  He burned, then felt as though encased in ice.  He cried out and a woman – Alanna? - came to him and lay beside him.  She wrapped her silken arms around him to ease his violent shaking.  Alanna - `twas the scent of her – he’d know it even here, in this hellish nightmare – and he clung to her and gasped for air.

Again time passed, though whether hours or days he could not tell. 

“Darrick.”  She called to him, bringing him up from the darkness.  He squinted against the bright light.

“Darrick.”

He opened his eyes, still dizzy.  And thirsty. 
              “Water,” he croaked, raising his head.  She lifted a wineskin and drizzled a few drops of liquid into his mouth.  It tasted cool and wonderful.

“More.”

“Patience.”  But she let him have another mouthful. 

“What is that?”

“Water,” she said.

Instantly, his stomach roiled in protest.  “You wish me to die?”

“Fae water.”  She sounded amused.  “`Tis not foul like man’s.  Drinking it will give you strength.”

He twisted his mouth, trying for a smile.  “More.”

“Just a little.” 

He managed two gulps before he let his head drop, exhausted by the effort. 

“Sleep,” she said.

             
                            *    *    *    *

“We must do something.”  Alanna paced the ground, ignoring Geoffrey’s protest.  “If we let Gorsedd cross the water, `twill be all for naught.”

“Says an old woman.”  Geoffrey argued.  “Who readily admits she does not really know.”

“Wynne is the seer of Rune.”

“Whose powers are fading.”

Silent through most of this, Wynne stepped forward, her eyes flashing.  “Take care, man of Tadhg.  I have more power in one of my fingers than you have in your entire body.”

“Yet you cannot stop him.” 

“True.  But we can make him stumble.”

Geoffrey shook his head.  “I--” Sarina touched his arm, silencing him.  “Wait.  She is right.  Please, listen to her.  Darrick would.”

Whether from Sarina’s light touch or her invoking Darrick’s name, Alanna did not know, but Geoffrey fell silent. 

“What would you have us do?”

“
Pair of Pairs
.”

Puzzled, Alanna wanted to throw up her hands.  In her tent nearby, Darrick lay near death, and she wanted to be with him.  “Why invoke the legend now?”

Wynne gestured at Alanna, including Geoffrey and Sarina.  “Join hands.  Together, we can summon enough power to bring a storm upon the ocean.”

“I cannot help you.”  Geoffrey backed away.  “I am not Fae and--”

“You are Tadhg.”  Wynne spoke sternly.  “And thus, one of the pair of pairs.  Take Sarina’s hand.  She too is Reagan.”

Geoffrey’s thunderous expression might have made Alanna laugh, if it hadn’t exactly mirrored her own confusion.

“Wynne, he is not Tadhg.  He is bastard born.” 

With compassion in her face, Wynne peered at Geoffrey.  “Know you the name of your sire?”

Swallowing, he shook his head.  “My mother would not tell me.  She was not gentle born, and was ashamed.”

“Did you never wonder how you came to be fostered at Thorncliff?”

Again he moved his head.  “No.”  Stark pain clouded his eyes.  “My mother wanted me to become a warrior.”  Sarina lifted his hand, unclenching his fist so that she might slide her fingers between his. 

“You are Oren Tadhg’s son.”

“You lie.”  Geoffrey bared his teeth.  “How dare you speak so of him.  He would never--”

“The Fae do not lie.”

As stunned as he, Alanna thought back to the first time she’d met Geoffrey.  She and Darrick had been strolling hand-in-hand in the keep’s garden and when Geoffrey had appeared, she’d thought at first he was Darrick’s younger brother, until Darrick had informed her differently. 

She studied Geoffrey with fresh eyes, noting the cleft in his chin and the high cheekbones and slender fingers, so like Darrick’s.

Darrick’s brother?  And Caradoc possibly his son?  If he lived – and he would, she vowed – would he not find joy in the knowledge he was no longer so alone in the world?

Face flushed, Geoffrey looked to Alanna for confirmation.  She gave a slow nod and he looked away.

“Join hands.”  The command in Wynne’s voice left no room for argument.  Sarina led Geoffrey forward.  Alanna took his other hand.  He did not resist.  He was probably too stunned to think.  Holding fast to Wynne, who with Sarina, completed the circle, Alanna closed her eyes and went deep within herself.

Wynne began to speak the words of power. 

And it came – rising up from the bottoms of their feet.  No flash of lightning this time, but a rumble just the same.  Alanna let it take her, knowing from Sarina’s sure grip on her hand she did the same. 

Geoffrey cried out – in wonder or fear, she did not know.  As long as he did not break free, the circle would hold. 

As the power rose through them, of them and then left them, Alanna felt her knees grow weak.

“It is done.”  Releasing her hand, Wynne stepped back.  “Even as we speak, a storm broils over the ocean.  It will last for a few days and keep Gorsedd on the shore.  If Darrick is not recovered in a day or two, you will have to go west without him.”

“I will not leave Darrick.”  Alanna spoke first, hearing Geoffrey echo her words.  She met his gaze, pleased to note that, for the first time, he regarded her with approval rather than censure.

“My brother,” he said, his tone ringing with wonder.  “Can such a thing be possible?”

Wynne did not answer.  She moved forward, placing a dry kiss on Alanna’s cheek.  “I will return to Rune and gather an army.”

Alanna felt her stomach sink.  “So it already comes to that.”

“Aye.  Gorsedd assembles his forces at St. Bee’s Head.  Morfran had circled around to meet him.  They’d planned to set sail on the morrow.”

“Now the storm will hold them?”  Though Geoffrey asked the question, his voice contained no doubt. 

But Alanna did not wait to hear Wynne’s reply.  Lifting her skirts, she ran to her tent and Darrick. 

             
                            *    *    *    *

The next time he opened his eyes, his head felt much clearer.  “Alanna?”

“I am here.”  This time, after the water, she let him have some gruel.  Not much, a spoonful or two.  He felt ashamed when he some dribbled down the side of his mouth and she wiped it away with a soft cloth.  He felt as weak as a newborn babe, though he rejoiced that she seemed to touch him so easily.

“What happened to me?”

“You were poisoned.”  Her matter-of-fact tone held anger and worry.  “No doubt Gorsedd’s doing.”
              Poisoned.  Instantly, he remembered the fruit.

“Apple.”  He lifted a shaky hand to point, then realized he didn’t know where the remainder of the fruits were, or even if someone might have eaten them.  Good Lord, he’d bought them for her!  If she’d eaten the apple rather than him, the poison that made him so ill might have killed her.  With their magic diminished, Fae had become more susceptible to injury and death.

“The fruit.  Where?”

“We’ve searched.”  Her eyes seemed dark, yet gentle.  “No one knows what happened to the rest of the fruit.”

In a rush he remembered it all.  Pushing himself up on his elbows, he tried to sit up.  A wave of dizziness had him giving up the attempt.

“How long?”  He touched his chest.  “How long have I--”

“A few days.”  But she bit her lip and looked away. 

“A few days?”  Horrified, he made another effort to sit.  This time, though the edges of his vision dipped and sank, he succeeded.  “How many?”

“Four.”  She licked her lips.  “We thought you might die.”

“Four days?  They will have reached the sea by now!”

With a gentle smile she pushed him back.  “Easy.  You must rest.  Yes, most likely Gorsedd has reached the sea.  But we have taken steps – Sarina, Wynne, and I took makes sure he will have difficulty crossing it.”

“Steps?”

She nodded.  He saw the exhaustion in her face.  “We’ve raised a storm to rage on the sea.  Gorsedd will not be able to cross it.”

“Who?  You and Sarina?”

“There were four of us.  Wynne and Geoffrey completed the circle.”

If she’d claimed to have killed Morfran, Darrick would not have been more surprised.  “Geoffrey?”

“Yes.”  She looked away, making him think she hid something.  “His help was necessary.”

“I will speak to him later.” 

Though he’d meant his words as warning, she only smiled.  “I think you and Geoffrey will have much to talk about.”

“Send him now.”

“You must rest.”

“I have done nothing but rest for days.  Would that I had been able to help you.”

She laughed.  “You have been ill, and that could not be helped.”

He would have thought she’d have ridden off without him, the better able to try and regain her son.  He opened his mouth to say so, stopped by the touch of her finger against his lips.

“Do not say it.  I could not leave you here, uncertain whether you would live or die.”

“But--”

“We will ride as soon as you are able.”

Closing his eyes, he thought of the boy and of Wynne’s warning.  The possibility that Caradoc was his son, the fact that Gorsedd might attempt to force the child to do things that might harm him, came back to him.

“We must go now,” he said.  “We can’t afford to waste more time.”

“I know.”  Though she tried to conceal it, he could still hear the anguish in her voice.  “But we have bought some time with the storm.  The use of so much power has made me weak.  Sarina too.”

“And Wynne?”

She bit her lip.  “Wynne has gone to Rune to assemble an army. She says Morfran and Gorsedd assemble their own force.” 

“There will be a battle?”

“A battle such as you have never seen.” 

Grim, he weighed his choices.  “Can you ride?”

“Yes.  But you must recover, Darrick.”

“Go without me.”  An order.  He repeated it to make certain she understood.  “Leave me here.  Select two of my men to stay with me.  The rest of you go on.  If together you had enough power to raise a storm, your power will increase as you grow closer to Caradoc.”