Defiance (The Priestess Trilogy) (3 page)

Tríonna blinked
, confused
. “Who comes?”

She brought a shaking hand up to point towards the door.
“Angry kin of Ith…”

Tríonna frowned, then realization set in and she blanched. Glancing hastily at Réalta, she gathered her skirts and quickly made her way to the
door. As she threw it open
, a piercing scream ripped through the air. Down the hill and all around, fires could be seen dotting the dark village.

Réalta came to stand behind Tríonna, her own face ashen. “What is this…?” she murmured. “Has the battle come to us so soon?”

Tríonna
spun from the door and took the Mahon’s sword from his hands
. Turning to her el
der sister, her face pleading, she said
, “Get them away from here. Take them by way of earth, make sure they are safe. Please, sister, it is all that I ask.”

Réalta nodded
, her face firm
. “Aye,” she replied. “That I shall do.” Taking hold of
Shiovra
’s hand, she beckoned Mahon and
Daire
to follow her. “Come, now, come quickly.”

As she was being led away from her mother,
Shiovra
looked
back, a terrible feeling filling her.
“Mother!”
she cried out.

Tríonna smiled reassuringly
. “Go with her,
Shiovra
. Everything
will be all right,” she told
her daughter, voice warm and comforting.

Yet, something told the girl not to believe the words spoken to her
. Stumbling as she was tugged along,
Shiovra
bit back tears as Réalta led them from their tiny cottage and towards the
chieftain’s
.

The night air was cold and the fires a frightening sight. Screams an
d shouts filled the air, seemingly
surround
ing
them. Warriors rushed to meet with the enemy, paying little heed to Réalta
and the children as they hastened
their way up the path.

Réalta ushered the children urgently int
o the main cottage. She ran to a
large woven rug
sitting along the back wall of the cottage, casting it aside to reveal a wickerwork door set into the earthen floor
. Pulling the door open, she urged the children down the ladder and into the souterrain, a small dirt room dug beneath the cottage and primarily used for
food
storage. After they were safely in the earthen chamber, she made her way down, pulling the wooden door shut behind
her
.

Light
flared in the small chamber as
Réalta called flame
s to life on a torch, handing
it to Mahon.

“Hold this a moment, and keep your voices down,” she ordered quietly. Moving to the far si
de of the chamber, she
place
d
her hands on the larg
e stone serving as a wall. Closing
her eyes
, Réalta
began to murmur in a hushed voice. “Great
Mother Dana, please grant us
passage so that I may led these children to safety.”

At first, silence greeted them
, but
Shiovra
could feel it, a change to the air,
and a
shift in power
.

Then, slowly, the stone shifted, moving aside to reveal a long, dark passageway through the earth
itself
. Ushering the children into the
narrow
passage,
Réalta
took the torch from Mahon. Silently, she beckoned them to follow her down the dark, packed earth tunnel.

The
heavy
grating sound of the stone sliding back into place
behind them
filled the air.

Shiovra
ran her finger
s along the cool, damp earth. She could still feel
the lingering shift in power as i
t pulsed
through her veins
, a wild and dancing energy
.

Mahon trudged behind
her, his face foreboding
.
Daire
followed his mother and glanced back at
Shiovra
periodically, worry evident on his face. After a third glance
, he reached back and took hold of her hand, lacing her fingers with his own.

Off in the darkness
behind them, muffled shouts could be heard
.
Shiovra
froze as
fear
rushed through her
and Mahon glanced anxiously at his aunt.

Réalta paused briefly and considered her sister’s two children as well as her own son. “Shhh…” she whispered softly. “They cannot find us here, for they cannot find what has never been. Come now, we have a long way yet to go.” Turning, she continued down the tunnel.

The children followed her without a word, not even questioning once about the tunnel or how she called it forth. Time seemed endless in the tunnel. The smoke from the torch was becoming unbearable. The children knew not how long they walked or where they would end up once they emerged, or if they would even find the end.

Shiovra
began to grow weary of walking. Her feet ached and protested with every step she took. A rock would occasionally dig into a tender part of her foot and she would bite her tongue, as not to cry out in pain. After a while, Mahon came to an abrupt halt and ducked down so that
Shiovra
could climb onto his back.

They continued until a breeze began to whisper through the passage and the flames of the torch danced
wildly in response
. A dim light came from where the passage turned
ahead of them
.

Extinguishing the flames, Réalta told the children to take each other’s hands and follow her. She led them th
rough the dimly lit passageway and, a
s they made their way towards the turn,
it became easier to see in the tunnel
. Finally, an opening came into view.

A cool, damp breeze swirled around them as they stepped out into t
he first graying of dawn
. The ground shook gently as the tunnel fell in on itself, once more becoming part of th
e land
. Turning, they found
Tara behind them
,
just
off in the distance
. The fire
s
no longer burned and smoke drifted from the charred
remains of
cottages. The attackers had left and Tara remained standing
,
for the most part
.

A man on horseback made hi
s way towards them, another
steed following.

Shiovra
, fearing him the enemy, held onto Mahon tighter. As he neared, however, she rec
ognized his as
Daire
’s
father, Ceallach Neáll. His clothes were torn and dirty
, splattered lightly with blood. There was more blood on his face, but none of it appeared to be his own
.

He came to a stop a
s
he nea
red them, his face
ever the
unreadable
mask
.

“What tidings, C
eallach?” queried Réalta anxiously
.

“The attackers have gone
. They were an unusual lot, with hair that had been was
hed in lime
,” he replied
, dismounting
. “I do not believe the attack is connected to Ailill
…” He paused
a moment
, his eyes drifting back to the village
. “There were but a few deaths, mostly injuries. Ainmire lives, as does Deirdre
. I could see no obvious purpose behind the attack
, other than it
was
meant to be
a
warning
. For now, we must focus on tending
to those who were
wounded
.”

“And…” Réalta continued, he
sitation in her voice. “What of my sister
?”

Ceal
lach met the woman’s gaze
. “She…has f
allen,” he said heavily
. “Tríonna
received a g
rievous wound while protecting
some of the village women
. We could not stop the bleeding and…her life was lost.”

Shiovra
fell to her knees, letting her tears fall freely as she grieved the loss of her mother
.

Réalta bowed her head. “May Dana’s light be with her through the darkness and may she only know tranquility,” she murmured softly. “See to it that my sister is given the honor due to a priestess of the Túath. May her pyre burn brightly.”

Ceallach nodded. With a set face, he turned to Mahon. “Come, young Mahon,
” he said quietly. “Y
ou
as well
,
Daire
. We
will
need every hand possible.”

The boys
nodded mutely.

Réalta turned to
Shiovra
, touching her lightly on the shoulder
. “What of you,
Shiovra
? Do you wish to remain here and aid in their recovery, or come with me and train so that
you may be able to
protect these people?
”

Mahon started. “No!” he protested
, rushing to
Shiovra
’s side and throwing his arms around her tightly
. “Don’t take her from me! We just lost mother, and we’ve already lost father. I will not lo
se her as well!” Anger and pain hung heavily in his voice
. “
Shiovra
…please don’t leave…”

Shiovra
remained numb, unable to bring herself to move.

The heavy sound of hooves pounding against the earth reached them, followed by a shout, “Lord Ceallach!”

The Fomorii man turned as a man approached quickly on horseback. “Earnán?” he asked.

The man pulled his steed to a halt. “
Lord
Ceallach,” he said breathlessly. “
One of the attackers returned
…
saying he was sent as a messenger…
”

“And what
tidings
did he
bring?” Réalta demanded harshly
.

“The messenger said that their
le
ader i
s a man called Míl,” explained Earnán
, “
who
claims to be
a kinsman of Ith. Míl has declared his intentions to extract revenge
for
Ith’s
death
. He comes with
not only
warriors
, but
families
. He
not only
seeks
war, but
to
lay claim
to
all of Éire.”

“My assumptions were correct,” muttered Ceallach. “This attack
was
a warning. A display of what they are capable of. We are lucky they did not lay claim to Tara this night.” He exhaled heavily. “
We can only hope t
he
High C
hieftains,
Mac Cuill, Mac Cecht, and Mac Gréine
,
are able
to forge a peace treaty.”

“They call themselves the Milidh,” Earnán added.

Shiovra
looked up at the men. “They are a clan filled of war and vengeance,” she told them in a small voice. “I could
feel
it. The energies in the air were
laden with their want of bloodshed.”
She shivered unconsciously.

Ceallach regarded the girl quietly for a moment
, his face showing a rare glimpse of softness, before he turned back to the other man
.
“
Earnán, r
ound up ever
y able man. We need to bind w
ounds and strengthen our defenses
.
Though this was a warning, we cannot allow our guard to slip.
”

“Aye!”
Earnán
replied, nodding.
He turned his steed sharply and gave it a sharp kick, riding back towards the broken village
.

Réalta crouched down beside
Shiovra
, touching her shoulder once more, only to have Mahon hold onto the girl more possessively
. “Have you decided?”
she asked, paying little mind to her nephew’s actions.