Leesil's anger rose again, but he couldn't leave Magiere.
"Chap," he said quietly, "kill anyone who takes a step."
Chap didn't answer in any fashion. He simply paced around Leesil to stand before Magiere and glanced once at the white majay-h blocking Freth.
"Enough," Brot'an insisted. "If she were undead, the forest never would have allowed her to enter. There is nothing Leshil could have done to change that."
Leesil wasn't certain about the shift in authority taking place. Both Sgaile and Freth were reluctant, but it seemed Brot'an took charge. For the moment, it served to protect Magiere from the others-but still, Leesil didn't like it.
Brot'an's pale scars stood out like white slashes on his lined face. "We are all fatigued from a night of running with no food. We will rest part of the day in the outer forest."
He gestured toward the fern-curtained passage.
"Frethfare, please report to Most Aged Father. Tell him all is settled, that we have found the human woman and will return soon. Sgailsheilleache, you and Osha find food, and en'nish..."
Brot'an spun toward her, and now Leesil couldn't see his expression.
"You and those serving your purpose will keep well apart from Sgaile and his charges. Or you will have more to answer for upon our return."
en'nish picked up her fallen blade as she hobbled past Brot'an. Her face dark with malice, she joined her two companions and headed out through the woods' passage.
Leesil tried to get Magiere on her feet. When Brot'an approached, Chap lunged, and his teeth clacked shut on air as Brot'an leaped away.
"No more," Sgaile said quickly to the dog. "No more fighting... let him pass."
Brot'an betrayed subtle surprise at Sgaile's words. "It seems there are some things you have not told me."
Sgaile sighed but didn't answer.
"It's all right, Chap," Magiere said.
Leesil's uncertainty grew. Brot'an might have pacified further conflict for the moment. But it was still Brot'an, the one who'd used him. Leesil would never sink to a hint of gratitude, but he let Magiere step forward to follow Brot'an.
Leesil looked back into the glade. Nein'a watched him, but he no longer saw anything recognizable in her cold eyes.
An abomination in his land.
Most Aged Father-who had once been Sorhkafare-quaked in his bower.
This pallid woman with blood-stained hair had fooled even Frethfare.
In that long night, running beside Snahacroe and the others, he had heard the cries behind him. Each dawn that followed, fewer remained in his company.
There had been humans and dwarves as well as his own kind. The dwarves had been the first to fall. Unable to keep the pace with their short legs and heavy bodies, fewer and fewer of those stout people were present at dawn when his meager forces fell prostrate upon the ground. They foraged for water and food by day, slept what little they could in shifts, and before dusk each night they fled inland toward Aonnis Lhoin'n.
Not long past each dusk, they heard the shouts and running feet of abominations closing upon them. Each night they were closer, as he and his forces grew more weary and worn with flight. More than once he glanced back to see dozens of sparking eyes, perhaps a hundred, in the dark.
Then humans and elves began to fall behind as well, and no one could turn back for them. Along their harried passage, they found desolate and shattered towns and villages. And more than once, pale figures erupted from the dark ahead of them. They slogged their way through, but more of his fleeing band were always gone when they halted at the next dawn.
Most Aged Father could not shake the memories from his mind.
Cuirin'nen'a and her hidden dissidents no longer mattered. Long ago, he had brought his people here to safety. Now this woman-this abomination-appeared among them. A human-spawned thing. The Ancient Enemy stirred sooner than he had feared. It was the only explanation he saw to account for this new tool of bloodshed and devastation. One that could breach his people's land, the only haven that had saved them in those long lost days.
Most Aged Father lifted his wrinkled hand from the bower's wood, but his fingers would not stop shaking.
Chapter Fourteen.
F rethfare ran from the glade with her heart pounding. She fled far into the forest before daring to find a place in which to speak with Most Aged Father. How could she tell him what had happened, what she had seen? Where would she even begin? An undead entered their land and walked freely among the people-and was now protected by Brot'an'duive. rethfare ran from the glade with her heart pounding. She fled far into the forest before daring to find a place in which to speak with Most Aged Father. How could she tell him what had happened, what she had seen? Where would she even begin? An undead entered their land and walked freely among the people-and was now protected by Brot'an'duive.
She glanced up at the sun caught on the edge of drifting dark clouds. Within moments, the morning light faded. The forest darkened around her. An omen.
She dropped to her knees beneath a tall elm's branches and pressed the smooth word-wood to its bark. Her reluctance to report such disturbing events fell before her need for Most Aged Father's guidance.
"Father..."
I am here, daughter.
His voice in her thoughts brought some relief. "I do not know where to begin... I have failed-"
I know all. I was there as you faced this horror. Destroy it! Tell Brot'an'duive my wishes, and dispatch the smaller human woman as well. You and Sgailsheil-leache first restrain Leshil. Disable him if need be, but he is not to be permanently harmed.
Perhaps Most Aged Father had not seen everything.
"Brot'an'duive protects this undead woman," Frethfare answered, "and allowed Leshil to speak with Cuirin'nen'a. Even with en'nish's assistance and those with her, I do not think we could overcome the Greimasg'ah if he refuses. And Leshil and this woman would side with Brot'an'duive."
The tree was silent for a long moment, and then...
Give Brot'an'duive my instructions. He will obey.
For the first time, Frethfare doubted Most Aged Father's wisdom. Perhaps he had not seen Brot'an'duive's face as the elder Anmaglahk stopped Sgail-sheilleache from going after the wild woman.
"Father, the situation is untenable. Osha is untried and in service to Sgail-sheilleache's guardianship. I do not believe they would submit even to Brot'an'duive in conflict with that purpose. And the Greimasg'ah is..."
She faltered at casting aspersions upon one of her caste's eldest.
"Brot'an'duive is a stranger among us. Forgive my doubts, but would it not be better to lead this undead back to Crijheaiche? With those of our caste waiting, we could take her easily, especially if Leshil is to remain unharmed."
Again the tree went silent.
Yes... your wise counsel gives me great pride. Bring them to Crijheaiche.
Freth breathed easily again. "In silence and in shadows."
The morning sun slipped behind thick clouds, and the promise of a fine day vanished. The sky turned gray, and the air grew chill.
Brot'an'duive knew what Frethfare would tell Most Aged Father-what she had seen and what he had done-but it could not be helped. He needed Leshil, or all the frail plans of Cuirin'nen'a and the long lost Eillean would lead to nothing.
In the crypt of Darmouth, it was clear how much this tainted woman, Magiere, meant to Leshil. Perhaps dangerously more than the half-blood understood. Brot'an'duive could not allow her to be harmed, or Leshil would suffer and be lost from the purpose that awaited him. Brot'an'duive stayed close to Leshil and Magiere and made certain that en'nish and her companions remained far off.
It had been eight years since Brot'an'duive had seen Cuirin'nen'a, not since the night she had been banished into permanent isolation by Most Aged Father. There was too much risk in meeting with Cuirin'nen'a-for her, for himself, and for the few who supported all that Eillean had begun long ago. But the sight of Cuirin'nen'a's face with its hints of Eillean had put him off balance.
Though he had never spoken of it, perhaps the daughter suspected how much he had loved the mother. He had sacrificed so much to keep his promise to Eillean. He had sacrificed Eillean herself. Soon he would sacrifice yet more.
Leshil had good reason to hate him. But Brot'an'duive had no choice in bringing Cuirin'nen'a back for judgment. One of them had to remain free of Most Aged Father's confirmed suspicions, and Cuirin'nen'a had already fallen from their leader's goodwill. It remained imperative that Brot'an'duive not fall with her. She understood this.
He had manipulated Leshil into finishing his own mission and assassinating Darmouth. Again, he had seen no other option. What he did, he did for his people rather than the goals of Most Aged Father.
Sgailsheilleache and Osha returned with walnuts and berries. Sgailsheil-leache looked ill and would not raise his eyes to anyone. Brot'an'duive pitied him. Sworn guardianship or not, Sgailsheilleache would not rest easy in Magiere's presence-nor would Frethfare.
Neither would Brot'an'duive.
He reached out and took walnuts and berries with both hands. "Both of you stay with en'nish and the others. Frethfare will return soon."
Sgailsheilleache finally looked up. Before he objected, Brot'an'duive gave his assurance.
"I will serve your guardianship as if it were my own. Take your ease for a time. When we return to Crijheaiche, Most Aged Father will advise us wisely."
These last words stuck in his throat, but the pretense was necessary.
Sgailsheilleache glanced toward Magiere, and a hint of revulsion resurfaced. He nodded and turned away with young Osha following.
Brot'an'duive stepped off through the trees toward the separate gathering of Sgailsheilleache's charges. He had not met the small one called Wynn, who now sat against a large cedar, bare of branches at its base. She had torn a strip of cloth from some garment to make a bandage for the shallow slash on Leshil's forearm. Beside her was the majay-h, Chap, who Sgailsheilleache and Leshil had both spoken to in the clearing-a strange moment.
Majay-h and human stared off through the forest, and Brot'an'duive caught a glimpse of the pack among the trees. Now and then, a white female ranged closer.
The fact that the pack and a clhuassas clhuassas had aided a human in finding had aided a human in finding Cuirin'nen'a was perplexing. Against their long-standing protection of this land from outsiders, they found nothing to fear from this little one called Wynn.
Brot'an'duive did not believe in portents, yet it was a strange sign. The doubts he had harbored over the years for Eillean's plan lessened a little more. The touched creatures of his people's land appeared to find Most Aged Father's ways unacceptable.
Magiere lay upon the ground away from the cedar's far side, looking weary and spent from her sudden fury. Leshil now crouched beside her.
Brot'an'duive knelt at Magiere's feet and began splitting the walnut shells with a stiletto.
"Do not strain Sgailsheilleache further," he said plainly to Leshil. "Your actions thus far have placed him in a difficult position. Frethfare will now seek any reason to execute Magiere."
Leshil stared at him. Wynn shifted around the cedar's side, followed by Chap, to listen in.
Magiere did not move. "Wynn, what were you thinking? Running off like that?"
The little human frowned. "How else would we get around Most Aged Father's coercion? Or should we just let him dangle Nein'a in front of Leesil?"
Chap nosed Wynn with a growl, and she put a hand on his head.
"I am sorry, Magiere," Wynn continued but without a hint of regret. "Chap was leaving with the majay-h, and I... knew where he was going. There was no time to tell you."
Brot'an'duive remained silently attentive.
Most Aged Father tried to bend Leshil to his will-but for what? Aside from the custom to never spill the blood of their own, the only reason the patriarch had for keeping Cuirin'nen'a alive was to learn of any others who aided her. The purpose for Leshil's safe passage became quite clear.
Brot'an'duive turned to Leshil. "You cannot free your mother... not without Most Aged Father's consent. He holds sway over the place of her confinement. If you still wish to free her, then you must return to Crijheaiche and bargain for it."
Magiere rolled up onto one elbow with a frown.
"What do you care?" Leshil spit out. "She's here because you dragged her back!"
"If I had not," Brot'an'duive replied, "then another of my caste would have done so... or worse."
"I thought elves didn't kill their own," Magiere said.
"Their own... are not always a matter of blood or even race," Brot'an'duive returned. "I was Eillean's confidant and friend. Yes, true. So who better to assure Cuirin'nen'a was returned unharmed?"
He turned back to Leshil. "You know our word... tru tru?"
"It means 'traitor,' " Leshil answered coldly.
"Simplistically, yes. It also means outcast, outlawed, beyond the protection of a society. Our law against spilling the blood of our own is based in custom and tradition, not words or decrees as written down by humans."
"How convenient," Magiere said. "So much easier to twist."
Brot'an'duive ignored her and kept his attention on Leshil. "There are those who consider a traitor beyond the shield of custom and society-and not one of their own. As did Groyt'ashia when he tried to take your life for interfering with my mission in Venjetz."
It was only half of the truth, but it served his purpose.
"And what about Leshil... Leesil?" Wynn asked. "What happens to him for killing one of yours? It was self-defense."
The young one eyed Brot'an'duive with a studied interest that left him wary.
"I will bear witness in Leshil's favor," he answered. "I know the truth of it, should it come to that."
"Truth?" Leesil spit. "In your mouth? Have any more sick jokes?"
"That, and the safe passage of humans in our land, is why the elders gather in Crijheaiche. Now Frethfare will give them something of greater concern to my people."
Brot'an'duive turned his eyes upon Magiere.
Magiere hurt for Leesil, despite her own pain. For all the trouble Wynn had caused, finding Nein'a had done little good.
She had lost control in front of their enemies, revealing her nature. They didn't truly understand what she was-but an explanation wouldn't gain her much. The child of a vampire would be viewed as little better than an un-dead.