Chapter 6
When it happened Sentanta didn’t hesitate. He didn’t wonder whether he could do it or not because failure was not an option. He commanded his body to obey him—to move with strength and balance and courage.
Afterward when she bowed to him, Sentanta felt as if his heart was beating so swiftly and so loudly that she must hear it.
She should never bow to anyone. Especially not to him. He knew he was unworthy, even if she did not yet know it.
* * *
“What news?” Scáthach’s voice cut through the murmuring conversations of the leaders of her Shadow Guard, whom she had called to assemble early the next morning in the inner ward of the castle.
Tabiti spoke first. “Just after dawn three of the riders you sent out yesterday evening returned. Shepherds along the northwest coast report seeing longships.”
“Of course they saw longships. Geirr and the contingency from Lethra just visited and then returned,” Scáthach said.
“The mastheads of these longships were black dragons,” added Tabiti.
Scáthach nodded. “Aife.”
“Yes. The ships have disappeared, though we have no way of knowing if they simply wait out of view,” said Tabiti.
Scáthach crossed her arms over her chest. “Or if they’ve sailed to the far side of the island from where our riders have not yet returned.”
“True,” said Tabiti.
“As you commanded, our swiftest messenger left at dawn for Lethra to report the ambush to Geirr and to alert him that Aife’s army is on the move,” said Uathach as she joined them.
Scáthach studied her daughter. Above her left elbow her arm was swathed in bandages. Her face was pale, though she moved with her usual fluid grace. “Are you well, Uathach?”
“I am,” said Uathach. “And Muirenn will heal. Her leg will have to be in a splint for the next several weeks, but neither her head wound nor the arrow wound are serious.”
“Your recommendation?” Scáthach asked.
“That she remain here to heal and then continue her training.”
“Then she shall remain at Dunscáith until she heals and can complete her training,” said Scáthach. “What of Cynwrig’s pyre?”
Uathach motioned to a warrior who waited at the edge of the inner ward and Enniaum, Cynwrig’s tribesman, hurried to join them.
“Ah, Enniaum, I was just asking Uathach about Cynwrig’s pyre. As you are his countryman, that decision falls to you,” said Scáthach.
He bowed to the Queen of Shadow. “I ask that I be allowed to return my cousin to the mainland and our tribe, Brigantes, where our families will provide the funeral rites and honor him with a warrior’s entombment so that he will rest easily in the Summerlands.”
“You have my permission and my blessing. Ask our healer to wrap the body tightly with herbs,” said Scáthach. “And should you wish it, you may return here to complete your training after you have cared for your cousin.”
“I do wish to return, my queen,” said Enniaum.
“Then we shall look forward to you rejoining your class. May your journey be swift and easy.” Scáthach clasped the young warrior’s hand. He bowed again and hurried across the inner ward toward the infirmary.
“We will immediately increase and expand the sentries,” continued Scáthach.
“I will not be surprised again by Aife.” She turned to Tabiti’s countrywoman and lover.
“Amage, oversee the building of signal fire mounds across the ridges that overlook the sea. Divide up the guard to take sentry shifts. If any longboat is sighted we will know of it.”
Amage bowed sharply. “Yes, Queen of Shadow.”
“I want Aife found.” The sharpness of Scáthach’s voice matched her grim expression. “Comb the island. Study the seas. If she hides from me, it will not be on Skye.”
Her warriors nodded and then, except for Tabiti and Uathach, they bowed and dispersed.
“Do we remain within the castle walls to train until Aife has been spotted?” asked Tabiti.
“No. I will not cower inside Dunscáith.” She glanced up at the sky where low-hanging clouds teased rain.
“Returning to the Fairy Pools today would be futile. Drilling the underwater feat in a rainstorm is miserable. Today we practice the chariot feat on the road between Dunscáith and Tarsgabhaig. The road is so well-traveled that even should it rain it will not quickly turn to mud.”
“And there is that stretch of it that goes past the sheltered beach. Remember how after the broken leg and shattered ankle of the last batch of students you decided to train the first step of the feat in the water?” said Tabiti.
Scáthach nodded. “Good of you to remind me. Yes, that stretch of beach will be perfect to drill the first step.”
“I’ll have the chariots and their teams readied,” said Uathach.
“Little Fry.” Scáthach grasped Uathach’s wrist to keep her from heading to the stables. “Perhaps you should remain within the castle today and rest.” Her gaze flicked to the thick bandage around her daughter’s biceps. “Breaking that wound open will only increase your chance of it festering.”
Uathach took her mother’s hand. “I know I am only the granddaughter and not the daughter of a goddess, but I do heal rather quickly.” She smiled at Scáthach’s frown and relented, squeezing her mother’s hand.
“I will drive a chariot instead of performing the feat, though you know this is my favorite of the feats.”
“I beat you last time,” said Tabiti, giving her a cheeky smile.
“Ha! Only because my horse slipped,” Uathach countered.
“No feats for you today, Uathach,” Scáthach commanded, though her frown had turned up into a reluctant smile.
“Yes, Queen of Shadow,” Uathach said.
“Queen Scáthach! Queen Scáthach!” The bard jogged across the practice field to her and bowed quickly. “Might I accompany you today? I have heard of your chariot feat and I would very much like to witness it.”
Scáthach scowled at him. “You will be in the way.”
“Mother, as I will not be practicing today he can ride with me,” said Uathach, her eyes sparkling mischievously.
Scáthach sighed. “You are responsible for him,” she told her daughter.
“And that means keep him out of the way.” Then she rounded on the bard.
“Sechan, if you sing of today’s feat, I expect you to be accurate, unlike you were in your retelling of the ambush yesterday.
” She’d heard the bard singing parts of the new ballad as he composed it, greatly exaggerating Cuchulainn’s part in the battle.
“Cuchulainn did not fight as the berserker.”
Tabiti snorted. “Nor did he kill fifty men.”
“That is why I wish to watch the feat,” Sechan insisted. “So that I can be accurate.”
“See that you are,” grumbled Scáthach.
“Yes, Queen of Shadow! Thank you, Queen of Shadow!” Sechan bowed with a flourish as Scáthach shook her head and whistled for Leannan.
* * *
Because of the ambush, the number of students had dropped from twenty to seventeen.
For the feat they began with one-horse chariots.
In each cart one student would drive and one would perform the feat, and then they would exchange places and continue the drill.
Tabiti drove Scáthach’s chariot and Sechan rode with Uathach.
Scáthach led the students down the hard-packed road to where a long length of it stretched straight along the shore.
Two huge rock walls jutting out into the sea created a sheltered beach that was unusually flat and easily accessible to chariots.
Scáthach motioned for her students to circle around her on the road that paralleled the sheltered section of the shoreline.
“We begin the feat with one-horse chariots at a standstill.” Scáthach explained as her students listened intently.
“But you will eventually be able to perform it with a two-horse team at a run.
The feat takes strength, balance, and nerve.
Inspect the leather strap attached to the front inside of your cart.
Be sure your foot fits within the loop and can be easily extracted.
Uathach will show you how to alter it if the fit is awkward.
“After the midday meal the second half of your chariot drill will be conducted back at the castle, where you will strip your horse of all tack except for a bridle and practice riding bareback—and I do not mean at a trot. You will race each other across the horses’ enclosed pasture.”
Fergal, who was known as an excellent horseman, smiled and asked, “What does the winner get?”
“A one-on-one training session with Tabiti,” said Scáthach. “She will drive the chariot and give the winner specialized attention while the rest of you swim laps in the sea to build up your stamina.”
Several students shifted uncomfortably and Tabiti laughed sardonically. “Oh, the swim will be good for you. And know this—you cannot always depend on your saddle. Whether you ride a horse or drive a chariot into battle, your seat should be sure with or without a saddle.”
“True. Tabiti and I will demonstrate why,” said Scáthach. “Clear the road.”
The students and Uathach drove the chariots off the road and then halted, facing Tabiti as she guided Scáthach’s chariot down the road. She stopped when they were the correct distance away.
“How fast?” Tabiti asked her queen.
Scáthach’s grin was fierce. “As fast as Uathach would want her team driven for the feat, were she not injured.”
Tabiti lifted the reins as Scáthach stretched and jumped several times to warm her muscles. “Then you’d better not fall. It’ll hurt.”
“I don’t fall,” Scáthach said.
“Ha! I seem to remember—”
Still grinning, Scáthach interrupted her. “Go!”
“Hup!” Tabiti shouted, snapping the leather reins on the horse’s back.