Epilogue
Gruin crossed the chamber silently. His pockets were empty. He had eaten the mice during the climb down, swallowing them whole, one after another, in a desperate bid for courage. The courage had not worked. It never did.
He didn’t like having to answer to this sluagh, the Warden of the Hollow, but he’d been called so he had to report to him.
He dropped to one knee at the foot of the throne and bowed his head before the Warden. “My lord.”
The Warden, the evil fool, did not move.
That was the first bad sign. The Warden always moved when his creatures came to him.
A lifted finger, a turn of the head, a slow smile that meant he wanted you to hurt before he spoke.
Stillness meant he was processing a failure in his own mind and had not yet decided what to do with the creature who delivered it.
“Rise, Gruin.”
He rose, keeping his eyes on the stone.
“I’m waiting.”
Gruin had to tell the truth. The Warden knew everything. Almost. It was impossible to discern the full extent of his knowledge. “The bairns are gone from the hill, my lord.”
“I know.”
Gruin nearly snorted, but he held it in. A snort could prove deadly. The Warden had once sent one hundred wild boars after someone who dared to snort in front of him. Gruin was smarter than most.
“Where is the overlord?”
The Warden smirked, folding his hands in his lap. “He’s a bit tied up. He has sent me to get what he needs to free up some wee problems in the hollow.”
“What problems?”
“Never mind. Just get the five items. You’ve heard the list before.”
Gruin had heard the list before, since it was the same list he’d given Lia. “There is something new. Something you need to know.”
“I would expect so. A large portion of the overlord’s domain has been destroyed. Trees uprooted, cages opened. Warriors stunned. Why?” The Warden tipped his head back and whispered, “Why, Gruin. Why? When I report to him, he will insist on an answer.”
“Because they came. The ones we dread. And they took them. The bairns are gone.”
“I am aware of that fact. I can see, Gruin. I wish to know what happened before that. Who exactly came? I was not here to see them, though I wish I had been.”
Gruin organized his thoughts before he spoke. He did wish to survive this encounter, after all. “The new seer, kin to the holder of the Woven Circle of Threads, came as you said she would. She found the memories and loosed the cages. Her cousin, the elder seer, accompanied her. I gave them a show.”
“Ravens in the face. Mice in your pockets. I noticed the snakes that the sworn one eradicated easily.” The Warden’s voice was almost fond. “You were entertaining, Gruin. There is only one problem.”
“My lord?”
“All your showmanship did not work. The fools came into my world, freed the bairns, and destroyed part of my kingdom. All but one, I am told. And even that one eventually left.”
Gruin swallowed. His throat had gone to ash somewhere on the staircase up from the lowest level. “Aye, my lord. The last bairn was the MacRuari granddaughter. The seer could not loose her on her own. The girl was too young, she could not connect with her.”
“And so?”
“And so the father went in.”
The stillness that followed chilled his spine. Gruin had served the Hollow for three centuries and had catalogued this master’s silences the way a laird catalogues his seed. This one he had not heard before.
“The father.” The Warden’s voice was soft. “Are you saying the MacRuari son came in to free his daughter?”
“Aye, my lord.”
“Edan MacRuari.”
“Aye.”
“Reginald’s son.”
Gruin bowed his head again. He did not trust his tongue.
“And you let him go? The overlord wants that man’s blood. It was promised to us. To both of us! He was here and you let him leave?”
The quiet in the Warden’s voice chilled him more than his usual bellowing. “I could do naught against him.” Gruin resolved to tell the entire truth. “First, those seers have ghosts who follow them. They used trickery to get inside.”
“That was the first entry. I saw them, and I was mildly entertained, Gruin. I might like the female archer with those strange trews to come into my world. What say you? Would she consider it?”
“No. She is too loyal to the Ramsays and the Grants. They got the bairns out, and they possessed some weapon that overpowered many of our warriors. It glowed with a blue light—you’ve heard of it?”
“Ah yes, the sapphire sword. The overlord tried to get it years ago, but to no avail. So how did they get the MacRuari lass out? I had a special lock on her.”
“They brought her father in, and something…” Gruin scowled.
“Speak up.”
“I think he has the iron blood. Is that what you called it?” Gruin’s knees threatened to give way, but he locked them.
“Iron, my lord. Living iron. It smoked on the threshold stone when he cut his palm. It burned where it touched the hill’s magic.
I couldn’t get near him. His soul was fire.
The claiming spell tried to complete itself in him, and though he bled from his ears and eyes, he walked. He walked.”
“Iron blood? How did he get it?” The Warden sat up in his chair, his beady eyes now flashing green in the dark.
“I don’t know, but as soon as he came in, the hill reacted. The ground buckled in places, the stone screamed, and he was able to reach his daughter and free her.”
“No, that must be false. If he has true iron blood, the hill would have collapsed on him, killing him instantly along with his daughter. That would have been delightful. It must be something else. Who was with him?”
“The seer. They held hands, and then she told him to cut his palm. The seer set his palm on a root. With their hands together, the destruction started. The stones screamed, the crystalline cages dissolved, the bairns were set free, and the warriors began to collapse. Trees uprooted, throwing everyone about. Yet they made it out, led by the sapphire sword.”
The Warden bolted up from his chair. “A seer and a blood warrior.” His voice came out in a low growl.
“Hell’s worst enemy. Every single time, something goes wrong.
Tell me you did something, so I have a reason not to kill you.
I’d prefer to cut your throat right now, Gruin.
Part of our kingdom is ruined, and I’ll have to rebuild.
There is now a seer and a blood warrior who could move against us.
Their combined power could be stronger than my own.
We’ll have to move the crystalline cages to another location.
Give me some good news to save yourself.
” He crossed his arms and stood in front of Gruin.
“Lia came to me. I gave her the five items you requested. She has promised to bring them back to me.”
The Warden took a step back. “Why would the queen’s sister be so foolish as to bring the five items that could lead to her destruction?”
Gruin couldn’t prevent the small grin from crossing his face. “Because I told her if she brought them to me, I would give her one moon with her beloved Taranis.”
He clapped his hands, then raised them over his head. “Well done, Gruin. Perhaps my one dream will come true.”
“Which one?”
“In truth, we have two, but I don’t care which one comes first. I want both of those treacherous queens in our crystalline cages.
The overlord wants them in captivity. I’ll line them up with all the other beautiful items I have.
The banshee hairs, the last faery’s wings.
Get me one or the other, and I’ll reward you handsomely. ”
“I can promise one, I’m sure of it, my lord.”
“Which one?”
“Lia. I promise to bring you Lia.”
“We’ve waited centuries for this. I am pleased to hear that one of my dreams is about to come to fruition.”
The Warden sat back in his tall chair with a sigh.
“Bring me Lia. Then we will see about her sister.”
The End