Chapter 15 #2
“Be right with ye, me loves,” called out a happy, trilling voice from somewhere among the amazing clutter of bookshelves and display tables.
Stained glass wind chimes hung from the ceiling, gently turning as if gazing around the room.
Pots of bright red geraniums filled the windowsills.
A pot-bellied stove painted a startling shade of aqua squatted in the corner.
Couches with comfortably saggy cushions surrounded it.
“If ye would be so good as to let Mr. Midnight know what ye might be looking for,” the chirpy voice said, “I’ll set to finding it for ye. ”
Lexi approached the sleek, panther-like feline and felt an indescribable need to curtsy. She didn’t, but she did offer him a gracious nod. “Hello, Mr. Midnight. I’m Lexi Vine, and I’m not really looking for a book. I’m mainly looking for answers, a confirmation, if you will.”
“’Tis about time ye came to see me. I had begun to doubt the good I’d heard about ye.”
Stunned into silence, Lexi blinked. Had that rich, deep, cultured voice actually come from the cat?
“Well, of course, it is my voice. What did ye expect me to sound like?” The feline shifted with a heavy sigh, then stretched into a more comfortable position on the counter.
“I had truly looked forward to this conversation, but now, I wonder why. Not everyone can hear me, ye ken? I’d held high hopes for yerself. ”
“There’s no need to be insulting. The past day or two have been a little rough.”
Midnight blinked his great, golden eyes and looked insufferably bored.
Lexi waited for him to continue the conversation, but he appeared to be finished. There was nothing to do but ask him, no matter how foolish she felt. “Is my superpower communicating with animals, and them being willing to help me?”
“Yes, Ms. Vine, and now that ye have finally come to realize that it is within yerself and not merely an extension of Pegasus’s powerful mark, I suggest ye hie yerself to Mairwen so the pair of ye may visit the mothers.
The creatures of the Seventh Realm cry out for yer help and leadership. Ye are sorely needed to end the war.”
“Is Jeros safe?”
Midnight slowly blinked again and flicked an ear. “He lives. For now.”
“For now?” She gulped in a deep breath and nearly choked on it. “He lives for now?”
“Sevenrest is surrounded by the Fifth Kingdom. The Seventh Realm has fallen. King Salfan and Queen Nyna have been executed. As have Prince Jeros’s brothers.”
“I have to get back there. This minute!” She blew out of the shop, running hard to the meeting hall.
“Mairwen! Mairwen! We have to go now. I know it’s the animals.
My superpower is communicating with animals!
” She burst into the building to find Mairwen calmly sitting at the head of the long council table as if waiting for her. “Did you hear me?”
“I believe all of Scotland heard ye,” Mairwen said as she drew her tarot cards out of her wide sleeve and started shuffling them. “And how is communicating with animals a superpower?”
This was a test. Lexi could smell it. “I can get them to help by talking to the enemies’ animals. I can have them refuse to engage in the war. The animals and I can stage our own revolt!”
Mairwen’s faint smile convinced Lexi she had gotten the answer right. “Let’s go,” she urged. “Sevenrest is surrounded. Midnight said so.”
“We canna pass through the mist until the mothers grant us permission to do so.” Mairwen dealt the tarot spread as if this day were no different from any other.
Without looking up from her cards, she asked, “Do ye think yerself ready to meet with the goddesses? To plead yer case with Bride, Cerridwen, and Danu?”
“I’m ready to plead my case with whoever it takes to get me back to Jeros.”
Pausing with her hand hovering above the deck, Mairwen lifted her gaze to hers. Her expression twisted Lexi’s heart. It was not one of good news. “The mothers could refuse us, child. There is always that possibility.”
“They can’t.”
Mairwen tipped a stern nod her way. “They could. Never assume anything when it comes to the goddesses.”
Lexi clenched her fists so tightly that her knuckles popped.
The goddesses would grant her entry to the Seventh Realm, or they would regret it.
She didn’t know how or what she would do, but she would become their worst nightmare.
Seems like she’d read a myth or story somewhere long ago in college.
A story that what the gods and goddesses feared most was being forgotten.
She’d also read that Cerridwen had a pet hen and a sow.
Or maybe it was that she had turned into a hen and a sow.
Lexi couldn’t remember for sure. Either way, if there were any animals present, she’d do her best to coerce them into helping her, and if that didn’t work, she’d swear to spend the rest of her life convincing all of mankind that the gods and goddesses were nothing more than fairy tales that were better off forgotten.
“When do we leave?” she asked. “As my grandmother always said, ‘Times a wastin’.’”
* * *
It had been a long time, longer than this particular age, since Mairwen had escorted a mortal to an audience with the mothers. As they walked, she arched a brow and gave Lexi a stern look, hoping the lass would remember all she had told her.
Lexi nodded once, but resolute defiance flashed in her eyes.
Mairwen pulled in a deep breath and continued walking.
The lass’s attitude could either be very good or very, very bad, depending on the mothers’ mood.
She allowed herself a heavy sigh. As they moved through the oak forest, she noticed the woodland animals joining them.
It appeared Lexi was a magnet for the creatures. They couldn’t seem to resist her.
A pair of pine martens, a trio of young red squirrels, and a deer followed not too far behind. Even a badger, a nocturnal animal that should be in its den since it was the middle of the day, joined in, feverishly waddling along to keep up with the others.
“Ye appear to have support,” Mairwen said.
Lexi glanced back and smiled, then went serious. “The goddesses won’t hurt them for siding with me, will they?”
“The goddesses would never harm the creatures. They are the true innocents in all creation. Unlike mortals, they never act with intentional malice.”
The mossy forest floor was dappled with sunlight filtering down through the trees’ leafy canopy. A gentle breeze stroked the oaks and pines, causing them to sway as though granting Mairwen and Lexi permission to pass.
“No birdsong,” Lexi said. “That can’t be a good thing.”
“The birds wait,” Mairwen said, “and they watch.” Soon, they would reach the sacred clearing.
She prayed this meeting would go well. Her last visit with the mothers had been somewhat defiant, and they had been less than pleased with her.
If necessary, she would be defiant again.
The mothers had broken their oath to protect her son.
With Valan’s death and her husband Lúnastal’s treachery, she had nothing left to lose.
She would do everything in her power to help and protect Lexi.
The mothers would do well to be thankful that Mairwen remained dedicated to the protection of the Highland Veil and the fated mates who strengthened it. “We are here.”
Lexi moved closer to the ancient monolith of stone that bore inscriptions so old even Mairwen had forgotten their meaning. The lass ran her fingers across the carvings etched into the great, gray-black granite. “What does it say? Or symbolize?”
“I canna remember,” Mairwen replied with all honesty. “It is as old as the earth itself.”
“This one has been among us before,” announced a trio of voices, speaking in unison. “A short time ago in our times, but long ago in hers.”
“Are they talking about you or me?” Lexi whispered to Mairwen.
Mairwen pointed at her and mouthed, you.
“When was I ever among you?” Lexi asked while turning in a slow circle and looking up into the trees. “This is the first time I have ever been here. My first trip to Scotland.”
“Ye were naught but a child the first time ye visited us,” one of them said.
Mairwen recognized the Goddess Bride’s voice and bowed her head. “Mother Bride,” she said loud enough so Lexi would hear.
“Yer spirit came to us when yer body was rendered too weak to hold it,” another voice said.
Mairwen cleared her throat and gave another graceful nod. “Mother Cerridwen.”
“Yer spirit is strong,” said the most powerful of the three voices. “It pained us greatly to send ye back to yer body that day, but we knew this day would come. Such a spirited child, ye were. Yer visit brought us great joy.”
“And which one are you?” Lexi boldly asked.
All three of the goddesses laughed, the musical sound like crystal shards tinkling together in the wind.
“I am Danu.”
Mairwen bowed even lower and motioned for Lexi to do the same. She nearly choked when the lass shook her head no.
“If you knew this day would come,” Lexi said, “then you already know what I am here to ask.”
“We do,” the goddesses replied in unison.
Mairwen held her breath, praying Lexi would behave rather than anger the mothers by being even more defiant than she already was. The mothers respected strength up to a point but gave no quarter to unmannerly behavior.
Lexi flattened her hand on the stone obelisk while still gazing upward.
“I love Jeros. More than I ever thought it possible to love anyone. If I don’t go to him, not only will I lose him forever, but an entire realm will suffer because of stupid pettiness and greed.
Those are ridiculous things to die for. If you let me go, I can stop that idiotic war.
The animals will help me. Then Jeros and I can help everyone heal from the damage already done. ”
“How do ye know of any damage?” Cerridwen asked.
“Midnight told me.”
“And ye trust his words to be true?” Bride said.