Waves in the Wind (33 page)

“I…oh yes.” Her voice strengthened. “I was in a place of terrifying darkness when you called, and remembered nothing. Now that I am here beside you, yes, I remember. The man Scannlon held me, and then there was only silence and total darkness. Oh, I see. Yes, I see now. How very odd it is to be dead. But, I am speaking to you, Ossian. Are you dead too?”

“No dearest, I am not dead, but have called upon the gods that we might briefly speak together one last time.”

“I see; how very wonderful.” She paused, and in a tiny voice murmured, “When I was very small, I asked that you teach me necromancy. Do you remember?”

My mind returned to that long ago night as I remembered, but the tragic story I recounted to Master Tóla years earlier of another lost girl, Ailinne, for whom Dún Ailinne was named, rushed back as well—two seemingly isolated occurrences that now seemed to point to this very moment.

“Well I remember…yes, well I remember. Now I must ask your forgiveness, sister, for your death was my fault. Mine alone.”

“Your fault, brother? I think not. No, there is no blame upon you.”

“I should have come for you sooner, but I thought you killed during the raid upon our village. I should have made certain, I should have searched for you and been certain. I might have saved you much torture. I might have saved your life.”

“Ossian, you must stop.” A dim light glowed on her face as the power of the staff took greater effect. “There is no blame on you. None. What is done is done and there can be no changing it.”

“If it were only that simple, Aine. No—”

“Hush, dear brother. My fate was sealed when the Corcu Duibne raided our village. I was dead from that moment forward, and there was nothing, nothing you could have done to prevent it.” A small smile lit her face. “Now, because of you, we have this final time together to say goodbye. Let it be a pleasant time for us. Let us share our love, not bitterness, for there has never been such between us.”

I captured movement from the corner of my eye. It was Laoidheach drawing near. I shook my head to bade him stop, fearing the effect of the power of the Staff upon him.

Aine asked, “What is it, Ossian. I cannot see very well. Is someone there?”

“Yes, it is Laoidheach. I bade him stay away—”

“Laoidheach? Oh, Laoidheach,” she called softly. Her face flushed, fully revived, and her voice returned, Aine’s voice. “Laoidheach, my beloved!”

There was no stopping him then. He ran to us and fell to his knees by her side.

Tears stained his face. “Aine, my dearest one. I could not stay away. I had to come to you, hear your voice…see your beautiful face.”

“Oh, Laoidheach, my love, my love… Oh, but that I must not leave you, though we could never be together now. I have shamed you so.”

“Aine, my darling, Aine, you never shamed me, you could never shame me…never.” His hand went to her face, caressing it. “It is an unbelievable thing, don’t you see? You honored me, me the poor fool Laoidheach, with your love. I wish to shout it to the skies. See before you the man who loves Aine, and earned her love in return! What other man can say such a thing? What other man ever received so much?”

“Oh my beloved, but had I lived, our betrothal would have—”

“Say no more of it, darling, I pray you, say no more.” Urgency filled his voice as he spoke quickly. “Listen to me closely. I want that you be my wife. Do you still agree?”

“Of course, my love, but now? It is too late, too late.”

“I say it is not too late!” He turned to me. “Ossian. You can perform the marriage ceremony. Marry us now, this instant.”

I sat speechless for a moment, astonished by his audacity. “Marry you? But that’s impossible.”

“Why is it impossible? I say again, marry us, Ossian. Quickly, perform the marriage ritual that we might be wed.”

Aine was dead. Such a marriage was unthinkable. Rather than merely denying his earnest plea, I sought a simple solution. “Well you know the marriage ceremony is conducted over a period of three days.”

“Bah! Simply forego the many silly rituals and banns. Unite us in spirit as man and wife, for that is all that remains to us. Unite us as one for all eternity. Please, my friend, do it now.”

Still I sought to discourage him. “The banns are important, the dowry most certainly so, for it is our law.”

“The dowry, yes, I had forgotten it. Your father is dead, so as Aine’s brother the matter of the dowry now rests with you.” He held forward his open palm. “Quickly, do you have another coin?”

“Well, yes, I have several…”

Shaking his empty hand, he urged, “One will serve as the official dowry. Give me the coin and let’s proceed.”

“I cannot release Aine or the Staff. You will have to get it from the purse at my belt.”

His hand went for my purse and withdrew a coin.

My resolve weakened, and I looked to Aine. “Are you certain you want this? You understand the…er, extraordinary nature of it?”

Happy tears glistened in her eyes. “I understand it most well, brother. Yes, though I be dead, and know your reluctance to continue with it. Yes, I know it seems foolish, but if it is his will, I wish more than anything to leave this world for the final time as the wife of my beloved Laoidheach. Please, Ossian, please say it can be so.”

My heart was tearing apart as I looked upon them. They had such a short time together, these two, and suffered unspeakable horrors. Now they asked one simple thing of me that would ease their sadness and gladden their hearts forever.

My reluctance vanished. I could not refuse them. “Yes, Aine, of course I shall try to make it so, though it is not within my power alone to bless your union. Only the gods can do that.”

There were vows to be made, and I turned to Laoidheach. “You know the vows?”

He shook his head. “No, but tell them to me quickly.”

“Very well, repeat these words,” and Laoidheach did so as I began,”

Aine, you are blood of my blood, and bone of my bone,

I, Laoidheach, give you my body, that we two might be one.

I freely give you my spirit in whole, `til our life shall be done.

You cannot possess me for I belong to myself,

But I give you all that is mine to give.

I shall serve you in all ways for all time,

Our livestock in the paddocks and grain from our fields,

All that I am or hope to be I offer you with loving hands.

So I pledge by the gods of my fathers.

Laoidheach’s eyes watered as he completed his vows, and I turned to Aine. “And now, Aine, repeat these words,”

Laoidheach, I, Aine, vow you the first cut of my meat,

the first sip of my wine.

From this day it shall be only your name I cry out in the night,

and into your eyes that I smile each morning.

I shall be a shield for your back as you are for mine.

May the children I bear prove the truth of our union,

Above and beyond this, I will cherish and honor you,

Through this life and into the next.

So I pledge by the gods of my fathers.

Drifting mist mingled with my tears, my eyes shifting between the two as I concluded, “By our Druidic laws, the dowry is paid and you have sworn the marriage vows, but they must be sanctified by the gods. I cannot speak for them, but promise that I will do all I can for you.”

Laoidheach implored, “Then call upon them. Quickly now, call upon them.”

“Very well, I shall try.” I closed my eyes. The Staff trembled in my hand and bade me pray to Danu, the Queen Goddess of the Tuatha De Danaan themselves.

I call upon you, O Queen.

I call upon you, Danu, Goddess of prosperity, magic and wisdom,

to see the young people before you who pledged themselves,

one to the other for all time.

I pray that you ease their distress,

and shower everlasting happiness upon them.

See us, O Queen.

See us here, and offer your blessings,

upon the unification of these two young lovers,

lovers knowing they are already lost even as they begin.

Hear us, O Queen.

Hear our pleas, and take pity,

that the man, Laoidheach, and the girl spirit, Aine,

might become as one for all time,

and so that someday they will reunite in paradise,

at Tír na nÓg, as man and wife.

Bless these poor lovers, O Queen.

Their time together is so very short.

I beg you show us a sign of your sanctification of their union,

so that from this point forward,

all men will know them as man and wife forever.

A spiritual union is tightly bound within the minds of those who hold to it and I would not deny this marriage whether blessed by the gods or not. Even with the power of the Staff in my hand, I held little hope Danu would reply. Regardless, I had already decided that a sign would appear, one I would note even if it was an obscure thing such as a bird in flight, a mere gust of wind, anything I could point to that in the minds of Laoidheach and Aine would consecrate this extraordinary ceremony.

And yet, wide-eyed, I caught my breath as a most magical thing happened. The soil fractured beside the kneeling Laoidheach, and he gasped and shrank away as a plant sprouted and grew tall before our amazed eyes. The leafy stem formed a single bud, and the bud expanded to form a perfect scarlet rose.

Never again would I doubt the power of the Staff. As gratitude swept over me, I closed my eyes.

We thank you most sincerely, O Queen.

We thank you for hearing us,

and for consecrating the union between Laoidheach and Aine.

Now know all men they are man and wife,

for by your blessing,

it shall forever be so.

Laoidheach hesitated but a moment longer, and then plucked the rose, brushed it with his lips and presented it before Aine. “My wife, my dearest one, I offer this blessing from the gods, a single rose bespeaking our eternal unity, as a token of my love.”

“Keep the rose, beloved husband.” Aine’s eyelashes glistened. “I pray you keep it always as a remembrance of your loving wife. Remember too, I will be waiting for you, waiting on the shore of Tír na nÓg where we shall be Ever Young together.”

My entire body trembling, my eyesight dimmed. The Morrigan had warned that the Staff would draw the life force from me. Now my strength was waning fast, as did the energy sustaining Aine.

She whispered, “Kiss me once, my love, for I grow terribly weary and fear I cannot remain beside you much longer.”

Laoidheach leaned forward, gently kissed her lips, and Aine sighed. “Sing to me, my beloved. Sing to me as I return to sleep.”

Her eyes closed, and, with tears streaming down his face, Laoidheach sang softly,

What matter the moon, my love,

If you aren’t beside me?

What matter the stars,

When I stand alone?

I bear the night’s silence,

A night without splendor.

I wander…

* * *

I dwelt in nothingness, a place of serene quiet. How I arrived there, I neither knew nor cared. It was a warm place, a place of comfort, a haven removed from my world, a world of unspeakable sadness, a world in flames.

“Ossian?”

From somewhere my name was called—an annoyance. My mind and body were at peace and I did not wish to be disturbed.

“Ossian? It is I, Laoidheach. Ossian?”

Bah! The bother of it! There was no reason why Laoidheach should—a hand was on my shoulder, shaking me.

“Ossian!”

My eyes opened to discover Laoidheach’s face above me, pasted against the background of a bright blue sky. It was strange. My last recollection was of dark clouds, of falling rain.

“Laoidheach. What…that is, speak to me of Aine.”

He pointed. “Aine lies there. At least, there lies her form. I pray her spirit has already reached Tír na nÓg.”

I rose on my elbows and looked to where he pointed. On the grassy knoll beneath the alder where I last saw Aine was a mound of fresh earth covered by a cairn of stones. My mind flashed back to Aunt Lou‘s cottage and the vision I received the night I foretold Aine’s future.

Laoidheach still knelt beside me, his hand resting upon my shoulder, when a new image raced through my mind. Perhaps it was the lasting effects of the Staff, or my final moments alongside Aine, but it was then I saw it, the horror of it…I saw my friend’s death.

A twisted smile touched his face, his voice soft. “It is a very odd thing, is it not? Yes, it is quite odd.”

It was appalling to know I brought forth the dreadful image at such a time. “You mean you saw it, too?”

“Aye, but do not be troubled by your revelation, my friend. Possibly, it was because I was touching you when your vision came, but whatever the reason, I saw it clearly.” He shrugged. “There will be no help for it, will there? No, of course not, for it is destined to occur exactly as you foresaw it. But, I say again; please don’t worry, for you see, I feel no fear, none at all. When that time comes, whenever and wherever it may come, Aine, my beautiful wife, Aine, my love, will be waiting.”

Chapter 27

The Woman at the Window