An Enigmatic Witch, page 7
Flying at this incredible speed, we soon passed through the mountain ranges surrounding a deep, deep valley. These peaks were the homes of eagles, I could see their great wingspans as our movement disturbed them, the gimlet eyes of one huge fellow hungrily following us as we passed as if deciding which of us would make the better meal. But they left us untouched, perhaps because they recognized the insignia of Eldric’s forces. I wouldn’t give much for our chances if we didn’t have this elven guard.
Once inside the circle of sharp peaks, we gently slowed and lowered to land on a flat courtyard at the base of a great waterfall. The warrior elf let go of me as soon as the paving stones met our feet as if the touch of me was distasteful. I automatically drew closer to the shelter of Brin’s taller form as I stared all around.
Incredibly enough, the movies had almost gotten it right. Almost, but even the big screen hadn’t been able to portray the true majesty of this land of the Dark Elves. The peaks of course towered above us, and the thundering of the waterfall drowned out any other sound. The water itself was lit as if from within, even in the dusk, like the phosphorescence sometimes seen at the ocean’s edge, and the huge sprays created mists that spread this light all around us. From this point on the valley’s floor I could see the trees and other greenery that grew tall in this warm, moist place, they looked like nothing that had ever grown in this province of rock and bog and sea salt. No, these were a form of cedar, like the kind from an oriental painting with soft drooping branches reaching down to the life-giving water.
The patio we stood on was hewn from the solid rock, as smooth as polished concrete but the natural jewels within the ancient stone shone through. We walked on a floor of solid Labradorite, that beautiful stone of black and glittering blue so prized for jewellery.
The stone walls of this ravine were also the Palace, with doorways and windows and balconies carved from the very mountain itself. Lights glowed from within and silk curtains fluttered in the mists from the waterfall.
I was so in awe of these surroundings that I’d quite forgotten the fearsome creature who ruled them, but I was quickly, and rudely, reminded. One of the elves, I couldn’t tell which one for they both looked exactly the same right down to the pale blue outfits they wore and the glowing whiteness of their skin, one of them grabbed my arm to turn me to face the largest doorway leading out to this terrace.
I automatically tried to place my barrier shield around me, for I didn’t like his cold touch any more than he wanted to feel the warmth of me, yet I couldn’t summon my own power. Me, the witch kissed by the Crystal Charm Stone, I could not find my own magic inside me anywhere. Panicked, I tried to twist out of his grasp but couldn’t shake his hand off.
‘Your magic won’t work here,’ he whispered in my ear as he dug his long strong fingers in deeper into my arm. ‘Witch.’
That one word left me in no doubt as to his opinion of me. As he hadn’t properly introduced himself, I would hereon refer to him as Bitch One. The other could be Bitch Two or not, he didn’t seem as unpleasant as the one who held me in his grasp.
And then I looked up to gaze upon the wrath of Eldric. He stood framed in the large doorway, his lavender skin tones not warmed one bit by the gentle light from the mists surrounding us. He was a fearsome sight yet there was no emotion displayed on his face, only the glints flashing from his eyes hinted of his rage at my unexpected presence in his palace.
‘What reason?’ His eyes flicked to the elf who held me.
‘You said no harm to her,’ the other replied coldly. He held himself haughtily even in the presence of the king. ‘She was there. We had no time to waste.’
Eldric then turned his fearsome eyes on to Brin and waited for an explanation of my presence in his hallowed palace.
‘It was a mistake,’ Brin blurted out. ‘I didn’t request her to come. I was running late, and she had dropped by my home...’
‘How was I to know this?’ The warrior elf stared at him glacially and cut off his protests. ‘You were there at the appointed time. The appointed place. It was your mistake in allowing her to be present, not mine.’
Brin should have known better, could have picked his words more wisely. He more than anyone would know that imperfection was a stigma of shame amongst the Elven breed, and to point out another elf’s error in front of the king, no less... Brin had made an enemy for life.
‘You could have asked,’ I added spitefully. The elf had it out for me anyway, why not heap on the shame while I could.
‘Silence,’ Eldric commanded. ‘She is here, it is done. Brin, do you vouch for her?’
‘By my inner light, I swear,’ my friend answered fervently. ‘Witch may she be, but she has known what it is to be an outcast among her kin. We have spoken a small amount about the Cause, and she has shown herself to be sympathetic.’
‘A de Teilhard, they are not the worst of the witches,’ Eldric said as he rubbed his chin, looking at me all the while. ‘But they are intertwined with the other Kin.’
‘Not the Huxors.’ I stepped up, refusing to be talked about anymore as if I wasn’t there, as if I was too insignificant to have a voice. ‘I have no business with Cate or that line, or indeed with most of them.’
Eldric gave a small, twisted smile. ‘Is that so? And you think we can trust you on that account? Because the Kin show weakness in division?’
Hugh had said that Cate was the force behind my return to St. John’s, bringing me back here in order to infiltrate the Elven unrest, to betray my friend. Now that I’d been so rudely and abruptly transported to Rhovan, I intended to make the most of it and gather what information I could. I still believed then that Brin was innocent of any evil intent, and that I could somehow excise him from my report to the Kin. I didn’t give a thought that I might be getting mixed in too deeply with forces beyond my control.
‘Yes.’ I answered him as boldly and honestly as I could.
‘Interesting,’ Eldric replied, still staring at me as if trying to peer deep inside my heart. ‘We will see.’
He barked orders to his warriors, then he and Brin walked further into the huge open door of the palace. I made to accompany them, but was held back by Bitch One.
‘You don’t think He trusts you that much, do you?’ This was said with such a sneer in his voice that his face almost cracked a grimace. ‘You’ll stay right here in the courtyard.’
Frustrated, I could only watch as Brin disappeared into the depths of the hall.
7
I had no way of knowing what plans were being discussed by my friend and the king, I could only bide my time in that beautiful ethereal outdoor space.
The beginning of the waterfall, the source of the magically lit mist all around us, was too far up for me to see. The water fell in a steady, graceful stream. It was a narrow slip of water, I saw as I examined it more closely, nothing like the giant of Niagara Falls, just a steady outpouring of water as if from the ewer of the Gods, yet its tremendous height lent it force enough to cause the mists and spray all around.
We waited there for hours as the last of the light slipped from the sky far overhead, beyond the circling peaks, and the night grew still. I wasn’t offered any refreshment, nor did Bitch One move his stance one iota the whole time.
The stars were cold above us, yet the evening here held no chill, as if this deep valley held its own unique biosphere. Was it Elven magic that caused this, I wondered, or was it the protection offered by the mountains against the sharp northern winds that swept the island? I never did find the answer to that question.
They returned to the courtyard, Brin and Eldric, and stood before me. Only the king would meet my eye.
Eldric spoke first. ‘Witchling, you are in a very privileged position. Few outsiders have ever entered my palace of Rhovan, and fewer still have lived to tell the tale.’
He paused. ‘De Teilhard you may be, but a betrayal will cost you dearly, both you and your Elven friend here.’
Brin was pale, and he flashed his eyes at me, nodding vigorously. He knew Eldric, and knew this wasn’t an idle threat. Here in the middle of the Avalon Wilderness, our lives depended on this king’s whim. No one would think to look for our bodies here if we didn’t return home tonight, and not even my father’s name could save me from the wrath of Eldric. I straightened my shoulders and stared levelly back at the king, for we had nowhere to run to.
‘As assurance for your fealty, you will assist our cause.’ The king was speaking slowly and clearly so that his intent would be fully understood by me. ‘You have close ties with the Kin. You will gather information as I require, and other duties as the need arises. You will, in fact, be an agent for the Elves within the Kin.’
Bloody hell. Now I was to act as a double agent for the opposing forces of which, I was becoming to realize, was not just a soft political movement to lower the Veil and give freedom of movement to those trapped behind it. Eldric wouldn’t be demanding my assistance in endless bureaucratic talks with the Kin, he wouldn’t need the negligible help I could offer in that arena. What was going on here, what were they planning? A full scale Elven rebellion? I turned a beseeching eye to Brin, who merely hung his head, staring hard at the polished stone at his feet.
The ghost of a smile appeared on the king’s face. ‘Rather a peculiar dilemma for you, I would imagine,’ he remarked. ‘Still, from what I have heard of your exploits, I don’t believe the Kin have done you any favors over the years or earned your loyalty. Brin tells me you are sympathetic to our cause.’
‘The lowering of the Veil?’
He nodded.
‘And what else?’
That small smile returned. ‘That remains to be seen. But I am sure you will step up to the plate when the time comes. After all, the health of your friend depends on it.’
Brin looked miserable. Perhaps he was only now realizing what he’d gotten himself mixed up in, although he should have known better. He was an elf, after all, and had given up everything to avoid that heritage. Now he was stuck in the middle of it, just like me.
‘Till we meet again, then.’ Eldric nodded to Bitches One and Two. As they grabbed us and prepared for takeoff, he lifted his hand to stay them a moment.
‘Oh, and do give my regards to Cate.’
The flight back was lit by the path of stars above our heads, the wide swathe of the Milky Way with its thousands and millions of pin pricks like a white road leading us out of the Wilderness and back home. The return trip seemed shorter, and in no time at all we were standing again in front of Brin’s home, roughly deposited in Alt before the two elves whisked themselves away again without even a farewell.
Alt faded around us as they left, and Brin and I found ourselves staring at each other. Bleakly, with no need to speak of what had just happened. Our lives were at stake, and yes, it was all Brin’s fault, his idealism and naivety and his search for a better world had landed us in this.
‘Do you still believe you’re on the side of right? After that?’
He stared at me in the unlit gloom of Blackler’s Lane and then gave a decisive nod.
‘Yes,’ he said although his voice quavered. He swallowed, the Adam’s apple of his long neck bobbing, then spoke more firmly. ‘Yes, undoubtedly. The Veil is an anachronism, it has no place in our lives. The Kin refuse to lift it, and they refuse to give freedom to those trapped behind it.’
He gave a bitter laugh. ‘All those talks that Jon promises? They will achieve nothing. Nothing will change. Things will remain the same for the next hundred years unless we act now.’
‘Then, that’s it,’ I replied slowly, still trying to feel my way around this abrupt change in circumstances. ‘I guess I’m forced to go along with this, to become a part of it, to betray my own kind. In order to save my life, and yours.’
‘You have to take a stand at some time in your life Dara. And this is important. What do you owe the Kin anyway? After all those years of abuse, do you really feel you belong with them?’
His question stung me but I tried not to show it. Of course he was right. The Kin, my own father and his family, had rejected me for the past decade. I really owed them nothing.
Except. I still wanted what I could achieve within their structure. To use my power and develop my magic and live the lifestyle of the fabulously wealthy. Like Hugh did. My ambition burned in me stronger than ever.
And Brin had no idea that I was now a double-agent. I nodded, which he took for acceptance and he let out a sigh of relief.
‘It will work out, Dara, you’ll see,’ he said, almost like a question as if he was asking for reassurance. ‘You won’t be sorry.’
I left him then, hopped on my bike and just pedalled, pushing myself up hill and down with no direction in mind, cutting in front of cars on the main roads and leaving a stream of blaring horns behind me. If I could have managed to have an accident, perhaps I would have, for that would put me out of commission and solve my immediate problems. But I didn’t. I sailed between the vehicles as if in my own little safety bubble, though I had no recollection of creating a shield around me.
Give my regards to Cate. Eldric’s last parting shot, but what did this mean? How was she mixed up with the Dark Elf king, of all creatures? And for what purpose?
Cate again. My mind seethed with disquiet. I was caught blindly in a spider’s web of intrigue with my father’s ex-wife lurking at the center. She had brought me here to spy on my friend’s political activities, so was it possible she had ties with the very being who was planning to overturn the Kin?
All the magic and power I had summoned but been unable to use to protect myself at Rhovan, it had come back with a vengeance as if on a delay timer and I was unable to stop the flow, and that’s why I pushed myself, trying to work it out before the anger and confusion inside me caused me to do something I would regret, to harm some innocent in the expulsion of this force which ran through me like lightning.
Down King’s Bridge Road, then a turn to travel on the rocky pathways surrounding the lake, illegal to take a bike on but I didn’t care. There was hardly a living soul to see me at that hour of night and in the darkness of that unlit path, no one save a few lost creatures huddled round the used-needle bin, and they had other things on their minds.
At the far end of the lake my bike leapt off the path as if it had a mind of its own, and I turned down to the tiny harbor of Quidi Vidi. But I didn’t stop to sit by the water. Panting by this time, still I forced my legs to climb up the steep hill towering over this little inlet, up and up until I found a new wilderness, atop a rocky cliff overlooking the ocean with no sign of humanity around me in any direction. I was alone, and it was safe to let go.
Out of breath yet I still summoned the voice to scream my anguish out over the vast expanse of the peaceful water. I let loose with all my power, flushing it out of me, hoping it would be soaked up by the nothingness before me, willing this action to clear my channels so I could think clearly once again.
As I screamed, that primal yell, I grasped the lapels of Mom’s jean jacket, the better to force all the magic and air out of my lungs. I didn’t even notice the bejewelled dragonfly still pinned there securely, the metal cutting into my fingers, I was so lost in this purge. I was going on instinct alone, I had no idea what was going on with me or how else to try to achieve a balance of power within myself.
I hardly noticed the warmth of the jewellery, or how it gleamed with a power of its own, the largest blue sapphire shining and likewise the rubies and emeralds and yellow diamonds until it became like a beacon of bright turquoise shining far out into the heavens.
At last, spent, I could allow myself to stop and watch the stream of my anguish let loose in clouds of colorful magic float away, sinking down to the water, caught purple and green in the rising of the almost full moon on the horizon. It drifted slowly out to sea, that cloud, hardly dissipating as it moved with the wind. How far across the North Atlantic would it travel before melting into the eddies? I wondered. I had no way of knowing what I had just unloosed, or what its effects would be, and I didn’t care. I could only stand there and watch and let the ever-present wind flow through me and cleanse me.
I became aware of her presence by my side, slowly. First the slightest warmth, then the rustle of silk in the breeze. I turned my head, knowing it was her. Margaret Forsythe.
‘You called?’ Her voice was sardonic, and she laughed. ‘That’s one way to do it, but remind me to show you the proper way to flush the system, one which won’t cause the cows in Ireland to bark at the moon.’
Her face no longer held the paleness of her enforced confinement in the dungeon in Edinburgh for those many years. Instead, I could see even in the moonlight that Meg was healthily tanned, her red hair burnished with golden streaks and she wore, not the Edwardian gowns I’d last seen her in, but a soft, barely-there confection of printed silk almost like a sari, belted with a thin golden chain around her slim waist. It matched the tiny sandals on her feet.
‘And I might add, there are better, less painful ways to call for me.’ She rubbed her ear and gave a shiver. ‘Christ, it’s freezing here, worse than Scotland. To what barbarous land have you called me?’
She opened a tiny shoulder bag and managed, by some tugging and huffing, to pull out an object a great deal larger than the original container. Once out, she shook it, and I could see it was a coat of some kind, a black one, stiff yet thin. Margaret dropped her arms into it and shrugged it onto her shoulders.
Coat? That was hardly the word to describe it. This was an exquisite garment, form fitting and made of the thinnest midnight fur, with a high collar that served to emphasize the length of her fine neck. She fastened it in front with a satin and pearl clasp, and the line of it was perfect. I could never have dreamed of such a creation.
She glanced over at my expression and smiled with that wide generous mouth of hers.
