A Circle of Crows (16 page)

"All right, sir,” was the only reply as the younger man arranged himself by the fire.

Nathaniel waited for several hours, then he inched his way as close as he dared to the tent to await the opportune moment.

The older man's head bobbed as he attempted to stay awake. Soon, his snoring could be heard echoing slightly off the rocks in the canyon.

Nathaniel snuck into the tent and from behind, struck the women in the back of their heads with the wooden handle of his short blade. They slumped over onto the floor. He quickly picked up the twins and placed them into the pack on his back.

He made his way out of the door of the tent and turned to begin to scale the embankment from which he came, when Hope began to wail.

Scaling the wall, he heard a bowstring being pulled. The arrow would be headed directly for his back—directly for his pack.

He turned around just in time to be struck by the poisonous arrow directly in his chest.

Bella dreamt, again.

She dreamt of home, her mother and her sisters and of the roaring fireplace where crazy Gran Moira would spin her Scottish yarns.

She was on fire. She was confused, had she caught on fire from the fireplace?

Her fever raged on and she thrashed back in forth in her bed in delirium.

She could hear a baby crying.
Was it Hope? No, it sounds more like boy, Cullen. Finn! Oh my word. I have a son.
She attempted to sit up, but she only managed to roll to her side.

She felt a coolness on her forehead. She could hear singing; the lullaby her mother used to sing.

"Am I dying?"

Her eyes opened into slits and she could see the dim outline of a woman's face. Her long auburn hair fell past her shoulders and brushed against her arm.

"Mama?"

"No, baby girl, it's me."

Bella reached out for Rae's hand as tears leaked out of the sides of her eyes, then she lost consciousness.

Sam had moved into Rae's suite. He kept telling himself it was only temporary till both sisters came home. Although he was beginning to have serious doubts that he would ever see his wife again, or his sister-in-law.

He was living in limbo—unable to move on—since he had no idea what had become of Bella, but he was unable to stay in his own home and stare at all the belongings he and his wife shared. The housed was permeated with Bella.

However, Eva would not come upstairs to stay with him. Foremost, because of the mirror in the Autumn Room where she first spied Morgana, and she was terrified the doorway would open again.

Secondly, she knew her aunt had disappeared from upstairs as well.

So she stayed in Morgana's room with her, making very quiet and lonely bedtimes for him.

The truth was, he and Rachael had no idea what to do at this point. They had all previously deduced that the portals were related to lunar cycles, but many had passed without any trace of abnormality in either the bodies of water or at the inn itself.

They were helpless, a state which did not suit either of their personalities very well. They had begun to spend as little time together as possible, since they were constantly reminded of their predicament when they did.

They had taken to spending time with the children separately, leaving the other to find their own way to cope with the situation.

A storm was brewing outside. The breeze could be heard outside the window, whistling through the old crevices and into the room.

Sam opened the window and thrust his head outside. He could hear them ... they were out there somewhere and somehow, they were a puzzle piece to this bizarre conundrum.

He decided that tomorrow he would bring his shotgun over from the cottage.

Chapter 29

Colin rushed around the cottage, picking up his weapons and his pack as quickly as he was able. “Ellena, how long since they have departed?"

"'Tis nigh on four days now, Colin. I told the lads who were with Nathaniel, and he set out straight away to inform you. That was two day ago."

He turned to Raena and looked her squarely in the eyes. “They have my children, I have to go. Stay here and care for Bella. I am grieved to leave her in this condition, but Ellena and yourself can care for her better than I could."

"I wish I could go with you, but I must stay here with my sister and help care for Finn. If you need me, please send word through one of your officers in the village."

Ellena rose up to her full height, which was taller than Colin at six feet. “Do not worry, sir. I have a special welcoming planned if they decide to return to our village,” she said as she fingered a large machete usually used for harvesting.

Raena walked him out to his mount and she handed him his pack.

"Raena, if I should not return, I would like to tell you that I never thought I would ever even glance at a woman again, but I find you interesting and beautiful and...” his face flushed a bit, “headstrong. Please do not take offense at my words, as I feel it is a trait to be admired. If I should return, may we talk of this?"

"Yes, I would like that. Please be careful, and send word as soon as you are able."

"I shall.” He whipped his mare around and set out at a full gallop across the farmlands.

The cave was dank and dark, and the wailing of the infants echoed through the narrow chambers.

"Honestly, send that wet nurse to tend to those spawn as I cannot think with this level of pandemonium.” The queen walked out of the corridor and into the sunlight. Their itinerant meeting tent was swaying slightly in the strong breeze.

She sat and opened the book, and as she did, she felt the familiar sense of electricity that flowed from it with merely touching its pages. She turned to the page she had been examining for months, and reread it for the thousandth time.

A pot boiled and simmered; a thick, green concoction was inside it, and bubbles regularly rose to the top and burst. She added a dried ingredient and the mixture turned black.

"I believe it is ready,” she said as her eyes quickly swept the page.

"Your Highness, the other captains and myself are wondering how much longer it shall be till we sacrifice the spawn of McCullough. The beast is growing restless again and we fear he may take flight at anytime, despite his weakness. He has aged without the sacrifices."

"I have learned from the book how we may enslave the beast's mind, and use him as our servant, forever ensuring our reign."

Maximus glanced at the simmering cauldron. “How in the world will we get it into him, Your Highness?"

"We feed it to the children first; and when he devours them ... we will have him."

"An estimation of days, ma'am?"

"I would say that in four more days, we will be prepared."

Maximus left the tent and the queen watched his progress across the field of troops now assembled outside the Caves of Sinnistrada.

Raena sat beside the hearth as night fell. She rocked the baby in her arms till he was soundly asleep and placed him in a cradle in the main living area.

"Better he sleeps in the same room as we do, as they stole the others from right in the next bedroom,” said Ellena, as she rolled out her blanket on the hearth rug.

Bella remained isolated from Finn, because she still was running a low temperature. Rae surmised it had been a viral infection, since she was slowly improving. If it had been a bacterial infection, as Rae had feared; without antibiotics, Bella would not be getting better.

Rae laid her head down on the blanket in front of the fire and had just closed her eyes when she heard, “Rae? Where are you?"

Rae raised up and proceeded to head toward the bedroom in which her sister was quarantined.

"I'm here, Bella. Are you alright?"

"Rae, how did you get here? The portals have been closed for months."

Rae sat down on the bed and held her sister's hand.

"Do you remember Gran Moira's stories about the circle of crows?"

"How could I not? I used to have nightmares about it. Why?"

"Well, one appeared right outside my bedroom window, just like she had described. I knew we had to find you, so I jumped into it."

"The old hag wasn't just being evil. All these years, I thought she just enjoyed scaring the pants off of us as children."

"How are we going to get back?"

Raena attempted to hide her discomfort at being asked this question. “I don't know. But perhaps Colin will have some insight after he finds the queen and figures out what she's been planning."

"You fancy him, don't you? You do! I don't believe I've ever seen you blush before."

"Rae, how is Sam faring without me?” Bella asked, as her blue-green eyes filled with tears.

"I won't lie ... he's lost. But having Eva to take care of has helped him considerably. He's doing a marvelous job as a father, and Eva fits right into out lives, just as if she has been there all the time; kind of like her mother."

Isabella wiped the tears from her reddened face and shifted in her bed. “I have to get Finn home, Rae, no matter what the cost."

"You've suffered quite a bit in your life. Just bear in mind, you won't be tested ‘beyond what you can bear.’ We'll find a way."

She placed a hand to Bella's forehead. “You must be feeling better to be teasing me about your host. Let's see if we can get you up into a chair for a spell."

Rachael sat in her rocking chair, staring at the cottage across the courtyard. The lights were out as Sam was away at his brother's, and the absence of another adult was palpable. She did not feel the same gnawing, gaping hole as she did when her daughter had been missing, but she now realized just how much living with her sisters had helped her cope with the death of her husband and parents.

Indeed, many months could pass when they were all together before she would feel the familiar sadness, but now with them all gone, she found herself thinking of them almost daily.

She rose from the chair and Chloe whined when she was forced to jump to the floor. She went over to the girls’ rooms and peeked in through the crack. Predictably, Eva had crawled into bed with Morgana. Each night, Rachael put Eva to bed in her own room, and still, Eva would leave it and find Morgana.

Turning on her heel, Rachael went into the kitchen and out the door. The moonlight was so bright tonight, there was no need for lights. She was pulling weeds that had poked up from the landscaping cloth they had all laid the spring before when she saw it.
A flashlight?
She wheeled her head around so fast, her neck began to burn and she stood up, scanning the yard.

Again, a flash—
was it heat lightening?

One more flash. It was coming through a window on the second floor of the inn; the Autumn Room, of course.

She bolted for the kitchen door and flung it wide open, then made her way to the old staircase in the kitchen to save time.

She opened the door to the Autumn Room in time to see the mirror churning, and images flickering in and out like a badly tuned television.

The first image was of birds—a black sea of creatures ferociously pecking and clawing one another near the mouth of a cave. Rachael rubbed her eyes and walked tentatively toward the mirror. It swirled silver again and became still for a moment. Then the view was as if from underwater, and looking at the surface from the underneath. A large woman was bathing a beautiful baby. She gently poured water over his scalp while he was serene and still. She squinted her eyes and above them in the air was something black. Her pulse immediately quickened and she went to stand directly in front of the mirror.

The black mass came lower and Rachael could make out that it was too large to be a magpie ... Rachael was torn. Desperately wanting to warn the woman, Rachael was afraid to touch the mirror, remembering how Bella had fallen through and what effort it had taken to remove her.

The baby had started to cry.

She reached up to touch the mirror as it started to turn black so Rachael was now staring at her own reflection in the moonlit room.

Chapter 30

Ellena held the baby over the pond's surface, gently rinsing his hair and taking care not to get the soap in his tiny eyes. Being a pleasant babe, he did not squirm or fuss at the feeling of the cold water upon his scalp.

It was a perfect, clear day, and under better circumstances, would have been a great one to take the child for a carriage ride. She moved her hand toward the water to scoop another cupful, when she froze.

Fangs bared, talons extended, the Sepulchar's reflection was perfectly visible in the still, clear water. “
Raena! Raena, help me!
” was all she was able to utter before the creature was upon her.

Rae's eyes flew open and for a moment, she was disoriented. Then she heard Ellena's cry for help. She leaped out of the bedroll and looked around wildly for a weapon. The only object within reach was the metal bedwarmer, which was sitting atop the fire. She grabbed it and threw open the back door of the cabin.

At the sight before her, she was filled with panic; Ellena was slumped on the ground over Finn, shielding the baby with her own body. Rae could hear Finn's muffled wailing from beneath Ellena. As Rae ran toward the pond, the Sepulchar sunk his talons through Ellena's back in an attempt to reach the bawling child, not even noticing Rae running full tilt toward it.

All the rage and fear Rae had experienced over the past ten years came flying to her mind, and for the first time in her life, Rae was not afraid. This creature would not live, and if that meant she had to die as well, then so be it.

There were things more terrifying than death. This child would not die.

Hitting the creature full in the skull, Rae heard the pan hiss as it charred the side of its face. It turned to look at her, and its yellow eyes narrowed as it howled in pain. The baby was momentarily forgotten as it rose into the air and began to swoop at her, trying to grab her head with its talons. She swung her makeshift weapon in the air to keep the Sepulchar away, when it grabbed onto the bedwarmer, which, by now, had cooled considerably. Beating its huge wings, it lifted Rae into the air. Caught unawares, she momentarily held onto it and was raised six feet.