Chapter 31 #2
Epona frowned. “That? That was nothing.” She stood and offered a hand to Carys. “The minute she entered the Shadowlands, the magic of her believers here started to heal her.”
Carys paused. “So you mean—”
“If you want a number…” Epona put a hand on Carys’s chest, just under the gold collar and right above her heart.
Carys held her breath and felt her heart racing.
“Five months you have given to heal the goddess. Five months of your mortal life.”
Carys let out her breath. “Not too bad.”
Epona smiled. “Not bad at all.”
They started walking, and the wind was silent, moving over fields of golden grain.
Carys looked around. “Are we…?”
“We’re not in the Shadowlands exactly. You’re still healing there. You did give five months of life to a war goddess. That’s hard on a body.”
“So this is a dream?”
“Of a sort.”
But Epona probably had at least one answer she could share. “Am I still going to have the two different eyes when I wake up?”
The goddess raised an eyebrow. “You know, many people seek magical vision. They want to see the true nature of things.”
“Well, I am not one of them.”
Epona laughed softly. “It’s not always a blessing.”
“It’s very disorienting.”
“At least you have an eye patch.” Epona lifted a finger. “That was good thinking from the ellyllon. Keep using that.”
“So it’s still there?” Carys was stuck with the magical vision? Forever?
Dammit.
Epona smiled. “It will not last forever, Carys Morgan. I promise that one day you will wake up, and your vision will be as it was unless you go back to Hogg’s Well.”
“Are you sure?”
“I am sure.” She cocked her head. “I can’t tell you when though.”
“Great.”
As they walked, the goddess’s voice grew fainter. “You have unfinished… the Shadowlands.”
“Unfinished what?” Carys turned, but she was alone.
She spun around, looking for direction, but there was nothing around her save for silent heads of nodding grain.
A drifting voice was all that was left of the horse goddess, and it was barely a whisper on the wind. Tell him that when he is ready…
“What?” Carys shouted, but there was no one. She was utterly alone. “What am I supposed to tell who?”
…he may join the one he loves.
Carys woke with a deep breath to find herself in an unfamiliar room with grey stone walls and a fire crackling. She sat up and felt the cool press of rough linen sheets on her skin.
“You’re awake.”
She turned and saw Duncan in the chair next to the bed.
Where’s Lachlan?
Seren was still with her.
“I’m awake, and so is Seren.” Her voice was hardly more than a croak.
Duncan jumped up and offered her a silver goblet. “What’s that?”
Cool water touched Carys’s lips, and she drank deeply. “Where am I?”
“Cadell felt you shift worlds with the Morrígan when she left this one. She’d ripped some kind of hole in the barrier between the Shadowlands and the Brightlands and dragged you through.”
“So the ground—”
“Apparently the entire hill was like a huge gate, but we couldn’t get through.
Luckily, Epona’s daughters were waiting on the other side.
According to your uncle, those women had her wrapped and warded as soon as she set foot in this world.
” Duncan refilled her water and handed the goblet back to her.
“Cadell?” Carys croaked. She took another long gulp of water.
He’s close. I can feel him.
“Laura just made him go eat something. Naida got all of us through the nearest gate,” Duncan said. “And as soon as we were on this side, the dragon took off. Said he picked you up from the top of the hill and flew you straight here. The rest of us had to wait for other dragons.”
You’re in my father’s castle. You’re in Cymru.
“I’m in Cymru.” Carys smiled. “Finally.”
Duncan smiled too. “About time, isn’t it? What about you? Do you remember any of this?”
No, we were passed out and talking with a goddess. Where the hell is Lachlan?
“Seren, just give me a minute, okay?” Carys pressed a hand to her temple.
Duncan went pale. “So it’s true.”
Carys looked up at him. “What?”
“Lachlan said… He thought maybe Seren was with you somehow. On the hill with the Morrígan.”
“He’s not wrong. When I took the water in Hogg’s Well, she…” Carys pressed her fingers to her temples again. “She came to me. To my mind.”
Duncan’s voice was rough. “So when you called him darling—”
“That was her.” She tapped her forehead. “Not me, Duncan. That was Seren.”
The burly Scot stepped backward and angled his head, peering into Carys’s eyes. “Seren?”
When Carys closed her left eye, she saw him as the gods did, his great heart glowing with a golden aura and a shimmer of transparent silver armor covering his body.
Carys smiled. “You’re a knight, you know. In your heart. You’re just as noble as he is.”
Duncan’s eyes went wide. “Seren?”
Oh for fuck’s sake.
Carys laughed. “No, that was me. She thinks I’m a sap.”
He doesn’t need any more confidence. The stubborn bastard has it in spades.
“She said she missed you and it’s good to see you,” Carys said.
Duncan frowned. “No, she didn’t.”
“You’re right, she called you a stubborn bastard.”
“Ah, there she is.” The corner of his mouth inched up. “Fuck me, Carys, is she stuck in there or something?”
No. In fact, I don’t have much longer. I can hear Arawn’s hounds in the distance. Mother can only hide me for so long.
“No,” Carys said softly. “She doesn’t have much time. It sounds like our mother has been hiding her.”
Let me say goodbye to Lachlan.
Carys swallowed hard. “She wants to say goodbye to Lachlan.”
Duncan’s smile fled. “I’ll find him.”
He left the room, and Carys tried to stand up, but her legs felt heavy again, like when the Mothers had first given her their collar.
Just stay still. He’s coming.
Lachlan must have been close, but so was Cadell. Both men rushed into the room with hopeful expressions.
“Is she still here?” Lachlan burst out. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Carys took a deep breath. “She told me not to.”
“Dammit, Seren!” Lachlan burst out in anger. “How could you? How could you?”
Carys, let me speak.
“I don’t know what to do,” she whispered.
Let me.
“I don’t know.”
Let me…
A wave of dizziness swept over Carys, and she fought to stay sitting.
Please, sister. Let me say goodbye.
Carys gave in to the utterly foreign sensation of another’s mind layered on top of her own. When she opened her eyes, it was as if Seren were standing in front of her, using her mouth to speak.
“F’anwylyd,” Seren said. “My darling husband.”
Carys felt her heart break when Lachlan looked into her eyes and collapsed into her lap. His shoulders shook as he clutched her around the waist, and she stroked his hair as he cried.
“How could you?” He moaned. “How could you not tell me?”
“You would have fought the Morrígan and spoiled the whole plan.” Seren sniffed. “You idiot.”
“Stop.” Lachlan straightened, and his eyes were fierce. “Is it you? Truly?”
“Only for a moment.”
He took her hand. “I couldn’t say goodbye when I lost you.”
“Of course not. I was murdered,” Seren said. “But thank you for killing Regan.”
“Aisling—”
“We will waste no words on that woman.”
Lachlan nodded. “How much time do we have?”
“Enough time to tell you not to be reckless with your life,” Seren said fiercely. “Enough time to tell you to live and be happy.”
He shook his head. “I will live the rest of my life knowing that you are gone from me forever. Not even when I am dead will we be together.”
“Then there’s no reason to rush death, is there?”
Carys realized what the goddess’s parting words meant.
Tell him that when he is ready, he may join the one he loves.
She struggled to force the words into Seren’s mind.
He can be with you! Epona has given him passage to Annwn, the same as you and our mother!
“Be quiet, Carys, it’s my time now, and he doesn’t need to know that.”
“I don’t need to know what?”
“She’ll tell you later because she won’t be able to keep her mouth shut.” Seren put her hand on Lachlan’s cheek. “I hear Arawn’s hounds, Lachlan. The hunt is coming. I have to leave.”
“If I kiss you,” Lachlan said, “then I kiss you goodbye.”
“You’re not going to kiss me,” Seren said, “because this is still her body.”
Thank you.
“Carys, shut up.” Seren kept her hand on Lachlan’s cheek, but she turned to Cadell. “Hello, old friend.”
Cadell smiled. “Hello, my lady.”
“I miss our flights together.”
He nodded. “As do I.”
“I know you had other lords, but I was your favorite, right?”
Hey!
Cadell nodded with a hint of amusement in his eyes. “Of course you were, Princess Seren.”
She turned back to Lachlan. “Don’t tell Father about this. I have to go, and I couldn’t bear to see him.”
“No.” He grabbed her hand. “Seren, please—”
“I have to go, my darling man.” She pressed a kiss to his cheek. “But this is only farewell. I’ll see you again.”
“Seren!”
Carys felt a wave of nausea, and the sound of dogs bellowed in the distance. There was a wave of darkness and the whisper of her mother’s kiss on her forehead.
Then Seren and Tegan were gone.