Ciaran Mac Rory QUEEN MEDB'S GAME Part IV O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms, Alone and palely loitering? The sedge has withered from the lake, And no birds sing. O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms, So haggard and so woe-begone? The squirrel's granary is full, And the harvest done. I see a lily on thy brow With anguish moist and fever dew, And on thy cheek a fading rose Fast withereth too. I met a lady in the meads, Full beautiful - a faery's child; Her hair was long, her foot was light, And her eyes were wild. I made a garland for her head, And bracelets too, and fragrant zone; She looked at me as she did love, And made sweet moan. I set her on my pacing steed, And nothing else saw all day long, For sidelong she would bend, and sing A faery's song. She found me roots of relish sweet, And honey wild, and manna dew, And sure in language strange she said- "I love thee true!" She took me to her elfin grot, And there she wept and sighed full sore, And there I shut her wild wild eyes With kisses four. And there she lullèd me asleep, And there I dreamed-ah! woe betide! The latest dream I ever dreamed On the cold hill's side. I saw pale kings and princes too, Pale warriors, death-pale were they all; They cried- "La Belle Dame sans Merci Hath thee in thrall!" I saw their starved lips in the gloam, With horrid warning gapèd wide, And I awoke and found me here, On the cold hill's side. And this is why I sojourn here, Alone and palely loitering, Though the sedge is withered from the lake And no birds sing. -John Keats, "La Belle Dame sans Merci" 8 A.D. Eiru .......... >Caitlyn< She pressed herself against him, her arms tight, and her voice was soft and musical. "Will you hold me, Ciaran? Just for tonight. We'll go anywhere you want in the morning. I'll be safe with you, and learn what I need to learn, but please, oh please, don't let go of me." <><><><><> "Cait," he said in his whispering voice. "We canna' stay here... not even tonight... I have a horse outside... and we need to be away... I will ride with you... or walk beside you... but I am leaving here to be away from this place... I want you to come with me... I need you... a part of me is scared, but a greater part wants to trust you... and love you... But Medb will come... she will... Gann may be here already... I honestly don't know if I can beat him.... Come with me now." He looked into her eyes and his own would tell her that he was leaving, and that his words were the truth. He would leave. He had to leave. He would be with her if she came along, but he was going. <><><><><> >Caitlyn< If he'd ever seen anyone more frightened, well... she was awfully afraid. Her whole better quivered with it, her eyes were dark with it. "I'll go ... but please, please, we'll need to find another holy spot when we stop." <><><><><> He smiled. He wanted to trust her. He wanted to allow himself to fall in love with her... to be swept up in her innocence. To find a place of freedom and to be happy. A simple life and the means to support himself and his lady Time. He needed more time. And with that, trust might grow. "Gather your stuff... I'll check on the horse and ready it for travel... we have far to go before we can rest... You will ride and I will run beside you." <><><><><> >Caitlyn< She whispered, "I have nothing to gather." She released her hold on him and as she did, she stepped on the ragged hem of her skirt. Caitlyn fought to regain her balance, but there was a rending sound as the skirt tore all the more. <><><><><> Ciaran's reflexes were as sharp as ever. He reached out and grasped her her at the elbow and by the hand to hold her upright while she got steady on her feet again. "The first lesson.... Never go anywhere without your sword. Repeat it..." He waited for her to repeat the lesson. He looked down at her torn skirt, all dirty and ragged. "We will get some better clothes... You deserve better clothes." He picked up his own weapons and started out the opening of the cairn to the outside. He needed to survey the area and collect his thoughts. He still had many questions to ask and so many doubts nagging at him, but the very nearness of her made him question his own motives and fears. He knew there was something she wasn't telling him... and maybe it was something she didn't tell Medb. And it began the cycle of suspicions again. But in the open air he could take a deep breath and try to distance the thoughts from him. He moved cautiously for his horse and felt outwards with his senses and studied the area. Medb had to know that he wouldn't do her bidding.... Promises or otherwise. She had to know that since she wouldn't keep such an oath, why would he... But she was wrong... He had every intention of taking Caitlyn back to Medb. <><><><><> >Caitlyn< "Never go anywhere without my sword." She said the words dutifully, like a child repeating a lesson, then she pouted, her tones wheedling, "But the sword is too heavy. I'll never be able to lift it and protect myself!" But the pouting stopped when he mentioned her clothing. "I'd like something pretty, but these ... I didn't have time to change. Her majesty had me locked up, and this is what they gave me to put on to take me to her. I guess she didn't want to spoil my clothes with the blood." She started back to get her sword. <><><><><> Ciaran smiled softly. "You will learn to carry it and swing it and you will learn to defend yourself... and if that one is too big... then we'll be gettin' you a smaller one..." His expression darkened. Again she spoke in words that were seemingly meant to spark him. These words sounded so carefully chosen. The blood on her dress... it was all part of a bigger story... and Caitlyn manipulated that story now. "We'll get what we can," he said. He went outside to his horse. <><><><><> >Caitlyn< There is no sound from inside the cairn and Caitlyn does not return. ***** Actually, Medb is crying. For a moment, just a moment, the girl inside in her believed he really cared about her, but he doesn't. He's just like every man she has ever known. He wants something. He wants her as a pawn in a game, he wants her body...but he doesn't care about her. He didn't even ask her how long since she died, nothing ... not a bloody thing. He went off on some little self-interested tangent of his own. And when she is finished crying, Medb is going to try to take his head. She'll go where he wants, do what she has to, but she's going to have his quickening or die in the attempt. <><><><><> The horse was readied and he waited. And he paced around his horse. His eyes glanced over the shaft of the spear as he considered unstrapping it from the horse again. He scanned the treeline and then to the dark opening of the cairn. An uneasiness settled over him. Uncertainity and doubt, but he forced it aside. He wanted to trust her. And confusion gripped him. But she wanted him to stay. She wanted to stay inside for the night. He waited some more, perhaps he was being impatient, and he knew he was... but he couldn't shake that feeling. He took his sword and turned in place to look around him once more. He wanted to call out to her, but that wasn't the thing to do. He stopped again. No. He would wait a bit more. Another step. *Call to her.... make her know you want her... tell her she means something to you... tell her you love her....say something you idiot!* And no sound issued forth as his mouth opened and closed. He pursed his lips and drew his breath in thickly. She had to make the decision to come. A tear rolled down his right cheek. He turned for his horse. <><><><><> >Caitlyn< She appeared at the opening of the cairn and a less-sensitive man than Ciaran would have seen her distress, the signs of her recent tears. "I'm ready." Her face, her voice, her whole demeanor was subdued. "Could you help me onto the horse? I've not been riding often." <><><><><> And his resolve melted into the emotions that he felt for her. The hope and belief that she was honest and right... and that everything she was... was just as he saw it. He turned fully to face her, and not just look at her from his horse's side. His own tears were drying upon his cheeks and he walked towards her with long strides. he put his sword away on his back and his eyes looked deeply into hers. "Why do you cry, my lass... why the tears," he whispered. He reached for her hands. There was a whirling storm of emotions in his own eyes. <><><><><> >Caitlyn< "I ... I don't really know. It's just so ... everything is ..." She fights back a sob. "I'm going away with you and I haven't the least idea if you're going to use me like Medb did or if you really care about me or if it's like she said, that all men want women, want their softness and ..." She took his hands and looked up at him. "But you're crying too ... what's wrong?" <><><><><> He drew her close to him. His voice was still a whisper. "My tears... Caitlyn... I can scarcely say where they come from... I'm scared to trust anyone... to take chances... I jump at shadows and run like a hare... a wee boy being chased by bullies... I don't know anything about ye'. And you likely don't know anything about me... And I need to trust someone... someone who isn't going to use me, or lead me into some deeper plot... and that takes courage, courage that has caused me to look for strength, and in that strength... there is a pain in my heart... there come the tears... I have doubts and it will take some time to unlearn the lessons I was forced to endure... I will never take yer head Caitlyn... and I have no intention of using ye... one day we will come back and we will take this island as ours... it is our home, and I weep because I will be leavin' it... but I weep because I have ye'... and that is all of it that is good... but yet I weep. We have so much to learn yet if we want to survive in this mad world we died to become a part of......" He held her tightly as the tears welled in his eyes again. <><><><><> >Caitlyn< "Aye, Ciaran, we know nothing of each other ... and I think you don't want to know me. Every time I start to tell you about me, you change the subject or run away. How far will we travel this day? Could we sit beside each other tonight and talk about the old days, the days before this curse came on us?" <><><><><> The old days... before this all," he gestured absently and a small smile played at his lips and offered a contrast to the sadness in his eyes and the flush in his cheeks. "We will travel until we reach a holy ground.. and then we will seek permission of the old ones to use their place... and we will talk... and neither you nor I will change the subject... I promise my part to that..." Ciaran guided her to the horse and made sure she had her sword with her. If she did he would strap it to the horse with his spear, and then help her up, and show her where to grip the animal. He then would take the animal's rope and guide it towards the east. <><><><><> >Caitlyn< She watched while he strapped the sword to the horse and then let him lift her onto the horse. She was light, her weight almost nothing to the warrior, and when he set her on the horse, sidesaddle, he could see her feet were bare. <><><><><> Ciaran ended the notion of riding sidesaddle fairly quick. It was not a functional method for keeping oneself atop an animal and he instructed her in the proper way to do it. To sit and straddle the animal. One leg to a side of the horse. And all lady like dignity aside, he explained the reasoning behind it. "Ye canna always tell if something may spook the horse and cause it to rear or bolt, lassie... and if ye fall off and crack yer skull, you might not get a chance to find out what caused the animal to do that." "I'll be turning my back a wee bit over here," he said as he steeped five or six paces away and turned away from her. "I want ye should hike yer skirt up enough to swing yer one leg over the animal sit straddlin' the beast. Tell me when yer ready lass... and we'll be off." When she called to him he returned to her and then took the rope of the animal and led it east. At the fringes of the holy place, well beyond the scope of the actual holyground itself, but still within sight, he looked back and bowed slightly to the place. "I thankyou for the time you allowed us to spend with you," he whispered solemnly. "It was an honor. I shall remember this place and do tell of the peace we found here when next I tell my tales." Once out of sight of the place, he quickened his step to get the horse to trot. He would run until he needed a rest, or a place to refill the waterskin came along. <><><><><> >Caitlyn< She started to argue with him. "Only peasant girls ride that way--" but as usual, it was clear that it had to be his way or not at all. Silently, she swung her leg over the horse while his back was turned and sat there, waiting for him to lead the way. <><><><><> He took the reins of the horse and looked up her. "Peasant girls... and warriors.... even future warriors," he whispered with a genuine smile. Then they left. <><><><><> >Caitlyn< Her face was easy to read, but it might be safe to guess she didn't think much of the idea of herself as a warrior. <><><><><> [GM] The two immortals ride away from the court-cairn. Ciaran notes that there is no sign of the magical thorn-hedge. Caitlyn continues to shiver from time to time, with nervousness or perhaps with cold, since her dress is still tattered and hardly covers her in some places. However, she's a quick learner; she holds her balance fairly well as the horse trots along. There's no sign of pursuit the rest of that evening. You've put a few leagues behind you when you find a spot to camp on the shores of the Sinann river. <><><><><> Ciaran guides the horse to that place. It was not what he had hoped for, but the animal had to be rested and watered. It was not holy ground, and Caitlyn would surely remind him of that. He tied the reins of the animal. And then helped Caitlyn from the saddle. "Lass, we will rest only a short time here and then we will move on... get some water and take a wee bit of food from the pack... I will tend the horse... when it has been watered and relaxed a bit... we will set out again in the night... we need more distance... and holy ground." <><><><><> >Caitlyn< She smiled at him as he lifted her down from the horse, all displeasure at his high-handedness seemingly lost in the ride. "Will you want hot food ... or is something cold good enough for now?" She started immediately to check his pack for the victuals. <><><><><> He smiled at her, and there was a warmth in his eyes. He undid the leather thongs and loosed the near empty bag of grains that he would feed the horse from. "Cait," he replied. "I will eat whatever someone puts in front of me... and you are ver' kind to offer to do that... I wasna' expectin' it... Whatever is easier for you... know that we should be travellin' again soon. This is a wee leg stretch and a chance to water the bushes... a quick bite of food and a drink... then we are off again to find a holy place to sleep." He also passed her the waterbag so it could be filled. "Keep close by so we will know if each other is in trouble... Aye?" <><><><><> [GM] Caitlyn goes about fixing dinner. She doesn't have much to work with, from your very simple provisions, but manages to fix a stew that's tastier than you'd have managed on your own. The only problem with continuing on is that the horse is only going to go so much further, and Caitlyn is getting sleepy as well. (So is Ciaran, but he's more used to going without sleep.) Secondly, he knows of no other holy ground within less than a day's ride. The most common sites to find consecrated are court cairns (of which you have just left one of the few to be found south of Connacht), and druidic holy places...most of which are either secret, used regularly by the druids and not generally available for travelers to sleep in, or both. <><><><><> The horse was slow to eat and he couls feel the tension in it's muscles. It needed to rest badly. They all did. Caitlyn's feet were bare and it wouldn't be a good thing to take her across country in the dark without something to keep her feet from being torn up. And even though Ciaran knew she would heal quickly from it, it would still be an unpleasant experience and one that would drain her already tenuous hold on her trust in him. He finished watering the animal and retied it to a nearby tree. He made sure his sword was with him and he sat down at Caitlyn's small campsite to eat the stew she had made. After the first bite, a smile spread on his face. It was very good. "Caitlyn," he said as he ate the food and chewed on a piece of hardbread from his pack. "Make sure ye' eat... I will clean... and then I will watch for a time while you rest... The horse needs to rest too... and I dinna' think we will find holyground for at least another day... the horse... or you... isna' gonna make it that far... So a wee nap, and we will look for a Bruidhean house, to get put up for the night... I can tell a tale or two for a night's stay..." <><><><><> >Caitlyn< She smiled at him and ate a bite of the food. "There's no need to stop because of me. I can keep going as long as you can." There was spirit in her response but she was paler than usual. <><><><><> He chuckled softly at her determination and her spirit, but he knew she was tired. He was tired and most importantly the horse was tired. When you had so few things to start with you needed to take of of them. *Remember that lad,* his father once told him as a boy as he beat his wooden sword against a tree. *Remember that it may come you will need everything and have nothing, those are the times that you must take especial care. And prepare for those times, they come more oft than we care to admit.* It meant nothing to him then at seven summers but now it meant more than he could possibly imagine. "Aye then Cait," he said as he finished his portion of the meal. "We will rest for me... I am tired of running and could use a spell off my feet." He rose and gathered some of the available dishes. "I am going to the river... get your sword and keep it close... call out at the slightest sign of trouble... I will be back in a moment with these things cleaned>" He smiled at her and shifted his own broadsword on his back to make it less uncomfortable. Then he took the bowls and wooden spoons to the river to clean them. <><><><><> >Caitlyn< "Never go anywhere without your sword." She echoed the words back to him, a faint smile on her face. She set her plate down, the food barely touched and leaned back against a rock. When Ciaran returned from the stream, her eyes were closed and her breath was even. She was curled up in one of those boneless positions that kittens seem so good at, her long hair loose about her sleeping face. <><><><><> Ciaran moves into the small camp and sets the dishes he had washed down. He smiled at her sleeping, or apparently sleeping form curled before rock. He retrieves a bag and places them inside to tie them to the horse later on. He pets the hore's nose. He unstraps her sword and carries it over to her and sets it near her, gently leaning it against the rock and trying not to disturb her. He then slipped his own sword from his back, looked at her for a long moment and drew the blade. He then walked carefully and quietly around the rock. He seated himself on the other side and relaxed and stilled himself to listen to the sounds of the river nearby and the forest that surrounded their clearing. And he felt pleased. <><><><><> >Caitlyn< "NOO!!!" She sat up abruptly, screaming in sheer unmitigated terror. It could have been minutes or hours since she closed her eyes. The girl was shaking violently, scrambling to her feet, eyes darting in every direction, and she was poised to run. <><><><><> He may have even closed his eyes. He was not sure. He was tired and the day had been a long one, and there was a peace in the air. A comfortable peace. And that was shattered by her scream. He felt as if he had been falling and was startled to an awakened state. The scream pierced his mind and his heart raced. He was lost for a moment as he tried to collect his thoughts and understand what had happened. There was a rush of adrenalin and blood and he felt as if his head would burst from the pressures, or his heart would fail first. And there was the rush of absolute panic that surged through him, and he remembered the sensation of being within the proximity of another immortal. The Quickening. He came up to his feet with a start and he looked wildly about and saw Caitlyn. His breathing was quick and rapid. He saw her and the pieces began to come together. The fear was still present, and he felt like he should defnd something against someone. But there was nothing tangible to grasp. "What is it Cait," he asked as he turned in place looking into the woods around him. He took a tentative step closer to her. His sword was held at the ready and in a defensive posture, but Cait would see, if her fear would allow her to, that he was not acting aggressive towards her. Then another step, trying to close the distance around the rock to get nearer to her. He searched everything and strained his senses as he looked into the darkness and into the shadows from the moon as they broke through the canopy of the trees above them. He sought for any differences in the sounds of the river, and in the eerie silence that had followed Caitlyn's scream. Even as the creatures natural to the place did the same thing. And another step. "It's alright... I think Caitlyn... a dream... easy lass... sit... sit down and get a drink... we can talk... just go easy" he said in soft tones to reassure her that she was safe with him. His mind told him a different story about that reassurance, but she needed him to be strong now, and despite his own fears, he had to try and find that courage. <><><><><> >Caitlyn< "A dream?" She whispered, in such sharp contrast to her scream, her voice the softest sound in a quiet world. "No ... no, she's coming. I can feel her so close ... so close." She stood trembling, her eyes searching the edges of their clearing. "Oh, Ciaran, leave me ... it's me she wants now. Please, you mustn't get hurt because of me. If you do, running away will have been in vain." <><><><><> He came up closely to shelter her from the world. His own senses alert and strained for anything out of the ordinary.... anything. "If she's come, then so be it, Caitlyn... She's come for both of us. I have only two choices.... I can run... or I can face her... but either way... I do it with you... I'll not leave you to her... I've given you my word of honor, and I will never go back on that... If this is the place that I die... then I die knowing at least I tried... and that I loved you... and that you were kind to me when no one else was..." He reached over and picked up her sword as well and hefted it in his left hand. He met her eyes as he held her sword, seeking her permission to use her blade in the battle that she knew was coming. <><><><><> [GM] Your senses detect only the night breeze, some birds hooting in the trees, and the Quickening, which has been a constant presence along with Caitlyn, of course. Then the air seems to part before you, and you see Medb standing there. Her image is hazy, however, and blurs at the edges. She glows slightly. She's standing, wearing elegant robes as always, but her veil hangs loosely beneath her chin, giving you only the second look at her face you've had since you first met. Her eyes are dark and angry. **Your word of honor, Ciaran Mac Rory?** she says, in a peculiar voice that seems to reverberate in the air. **You gave ME your word also....you swore the Threefold Oath!** And your own voice fills the small clearing! <<