Defiance (The Priestess Trilogy) (2 page)

“Your daughter’s
future lies in danger.” Réalta’s eyes centered beyond her sister si
tting before her. “Long has our clan
struggled against the Fomorii. It has been nine generat
ions since we defeated
them, and now that man Ith ca
me to our shores
. We already lost our firs
t chieftain Núada, we cannot lo
se anymore chieftains.”

“So it is your desire to use my daughter for your own gain?” snapped Tríonna.

“Use her?” scoffed Réalta. “No, far from it. I only wish to ens
ure the protection of this clan and she will have the power to do just that
when the times comes if she gets the
proper training
.”

“What do you know of it?” Tríonna muttered. “How is my
daughter supposed to protect Tara if our warriors cannot?
How wi
ll she prevail when they fall? Perhaps
the time of the Túatha Dé Danann has come to pass and we are simply to vanish into legend as the Parthalon have done. Just part of the Great Invasions.”

“How can you say that?!” demanded the older woman, outraged. “We fought hard to secure our place here! Núadu lost an arm to the Fir Bolg chieftain before they were
finally
defeated. He was unable to rule for long after that. We suffered grave losses in the fight against the Fomorii before Lugh finally slew Balor. I will not stand idle and see our people fall!”

“Then
you
do it! Do not make my daughter risk her own life.”

“I do not have the power!” She rubbed her fac
e wearily. “My power is weakening while hers strengthens. I need to train her before I am no longer
able
to do so
.
She has a gift, Tríonna, allow her to tap into it.
”

“Have you considered that perhaps
it is not in our hands to say anymore, sist
er?
” Tríonna’s voice was calm
when she spoke
. She rose to her feet and turned to the fire once more. “Do you really know what lies before our people? Even if we are defeated, we shall never fall. As long as we are remembered, we shall remain for years.”

“Lives will be lost…”

“Lives are always lost in battle, sister. It is a
n endless, eternal cycle
. You cannot escape it,” retorted Tríonna, voice heavy. Her eyes flashed with vexation. “I have already learned that cruel lesson first hand when I lost Coughlin in the attack on the village naught but four
moon
s ago. I have no desire to lose my daughter as well.
Taking role of High P
riestess of Tara will do
nothing
but put her in danger.
”

Réalta frowned. “Do as you wish, Tríonna,” she said softly. “You always have. What can I do to stop you? But think of you
r
daughter. Allow her to
learn
. The knowledge she can gain
may put her in danger, but it
wil
l also ensure that she lives
.”

“And who would protect her?”

“A priestess will always have guardians,” replied Réalta. “Those who would stand at her side as sword and shield.”

Tríonna f
ell silent, thinking
. “Let her decide,” she said after a while. “I s
hall bring it before her at nightfall
. If she chooses to go wi
th you, you may take her when you see fit
. If she chooses to remain here, then that is her c
hoice and her choice alone.
Shiovra
shall decide her own fate. Not you or me
.”

Réalta nodded. “So mote it be then.”

Outside the
cottage,
Shiovra
sat unmoving in stunned si
lence, not even noticing her cousin’s hand clasped tightly over her mouth
. She only looked at him blankly when he pulled his hand away and turned her to look at him
. Taking her by the arm, he pulled her away from the cottage.

“
Shiovra
?
Shiovra
? Are you alright
?”
Daire
asked, worry in his eyes.

Coming back to herself, she nodded and bit her bottom lip
.
The life she had known could change in a heartbeat, all depending on the choice she would make. As a child of only eight years
she was to decide
whether
to leave her mother an
d continue her training to become Tara’s High Priestess
, or remain and fail to gain the wisdom she needed.

“I do want to continue my studies, but to leave Tara, to leave mother and Mahon
…” she stammered.

“
Shiovra
…”
Daire
began, his voice trailing off.

Shiovra
blinked, fighting back tears she could feel stinging her eyes
. She wanted to be strong, like her mother, but she felt as if she would crumble at any moment.

Daire
took
Shiovra
’s face in his own hands. “
Cousin
,
” he said softly after a prolonged silence
. “It is not truly that terrible, is it? You could always come back here
and visit your mother and brother
…” He hesitated. “I will be here as well. It has
been decided that I am to leave Rúnda and remain here under Ainmire. He is to foster me. Mother
decided thus.”

Shiovra
met his gaze, eyes wavering a bit. “But mother…Mahon…and now even you…I don’t want to leave…I don’t want to
be alone.” A few tears escaped to roll down her cheek
.

“
Shiovra
?” came Mahon’s voice. “
Shiovra
, what is the matter? What troubles you?”

Daire
and
Shiovra
looked up to see Mahon walking towards them from Goibniu’s cottage. Concern cro
ssed his face as he saw his sister distraught

Hurriedly, the young girl told her elder brother of what she and
Daire
had overheard their mother’s speaking about. When she had finished, she looked up at her brother for support. “What should I do, Mahon?” she queried.

Mahon’s face fell. “I do not know,
Shiovra
,” he replied. “
I don’t want you to leave, but I also believe going to Rúnda would be a good decision
.” He hesitated. “Think about it. Give consideration to everything before you make your choice.”

The girl bit her lip and glanced between her brother and cousin. It was already nearing midday and she knew not what to do.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

Ainmire sat near the hearth fire
in the main cottage
, his eyes upon the Fomorii man
known as
Ceallach Neáll. He watched
as
the man paced back and forth, a
deep
f
rown w
rinkling his brow. Ainmire had to admit that in all the years he’d known Ceallach, not once had the man’s face betrayed his emotions. And now, seeing rage written clearly across his cold features, Ainmire found he did not like it
in the least
.
His
voice was low and grave when he spoke, “I heard about Saibh. I am
terribly
sorry. Your sister was a gentle woman.”

The man stopped pacing
abruptly, his back to Ainmire
. “It was Caillte’s duty to protect her and he failed h
er,” Ceallach said, voice deeply laden with bitterness
. “He let her die and then he joined Ailill.”

Upon hearing the name Ailill, Ainmire’s own bitterness grew.
“
So, it is true then,” he muttered
. “Ailill does still live.”

The Fomorii man turned to him. “Ailill’s only desire is to seek vengeance upon us
,”
Ceallach informed him
, calm slipping into his voice. “Just as we were,
he
too was
betrayed by
Méav
. What more,
h
is brother was condemned to death
by the
High C
hieftains and his
lover
took her own life
in grief
. Now he allies himself with the Misshapen Ones, those who he had once called
enemies. He has his eye set on Tara and may attack the village in an act of vengeance
.”

Ainmire was silent a moment
, taking in the grave tidings he had been presented with.
“
It is ill timing that this is brought upon us,” he said quietly. “
It has
naught been but a few
moon
s
since that man named Ith set foot on our shores. His men left with his body, but I do not feel that is the end of it…” He rubbed his face wearily. “I do not believe in the least that Ith’s death should be taken lightly.”
Ainmire exhaled heavily. “We shall not worry the High Chieftains with these tidings. We shall deal with Ailill ourselves.”

Ceallach nodded
in agreement
. “
He is cunning and i
f we do not prepare, he could easily slip enemies into the village right under our nose and watch us fall with a smile across his lips,” he continued. “
We will need to take every precaution to protect Tara.”

Rubbing his forehead, Ainmire leaned forward and leaned against the table. “It would be helpful if we had a priestess…” he murmured in thought. “Had
Méav
not turned her back on this village, had she not tempted Ailill with power and then betrayed him, we would not be in this situation. Tara would be
safe
…”

“Tara will not be without a priestess for long,” stated Ceallach.

Ainmire raised a brow in question.

“Réalta may have brought you a wife, but she will not be leaving alone,” the Fomorii man continued.
“
Shiovra
, daughter of Tríonna, shows great promise. It Réalta’s intentions to return to Rúnda with the girl and train her as a High Priestess.”

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

Shiovra
sat once more at the loom. The sun
had set and the
girl conti
nued to mull over what the correct choice would be
. Her mother had confronted her earlier, dejectedly telling her that her aunt was to leave at dawn and she was to choose to either go with her and train or remain at Tara. Mahon
had
appeared depressed the rest of the day after learning that there was a chance she may leave and angered at his mother for telling him that he
had no say in the matter.

Tara had fallen quiet as the sun set and
the darkness of
night crept across the land, marking the end of the Beltaine festivities
. Their small cottage was utterly silent, save for the soft clacking coming from the loom as
Shiovra
wove the beautiful cloth.
She did not pause in her movements as she looked around at the faces of her kin.

Her mother
sat at the table near the hearth, sipping a hot cup of honey mead. Mahon leaned against
a
cottage
support post
, mindlessly running a piece of oiled cloth
along
the blade of a swo
rd he had recently forged
.
Daire
sat across from the fire, chipping away at a long stick with a dagger. And though she could not see
Réalta
, who
sa
t in the shadows
,
Shiovra
could feel her eyes watching her
like a hawk.
Ceallach’s presence was lacking as he had gone to stand guard outside the main cottage where
Ainmire and his bride
had retired for the night
.

Suddenly,
a chilling feeling raced through
Shiovra
’s body, making the girl shiver. T
he clacking stopped and
the shuttle fell from her fingers to the floor. She could fee
l
all eyes turn to her, but she no longer saw their faces. The cold feeling of hate and rage consumed her, gripping her in terror.

Shiovra
found herself frozen as she
turned a pale face to her mother. “T
hey come…” she breathed, fear weighing heavily in
her voice.
“They come!”