Celtic Rain (The Battle Raven Series) (9 page)

“She has become quite an asset and has never been a disappointment. You will be quite pleased to have Kiara on our side.” she could not hide the fact that her eyes softened when she talked about the Seer.

“You have gone soft on her Paili.” He said and noticed her eyes immediately harden again. “I see Cadmon is still at her side.”

“He has been nothing but loyal to our cause. Cadmon and I took over her defensive training since the Danann have tried to
rescue
her a few times.”

“Does she still have visions?” he asked.

“Her latest was of your return. I was not prepared for you to appear as a mist wraith.” she looked at him amused and a bit annoyed.

“And yet you still surround her with guards.”

“It is for her protection.” She moved her hand so it slid on top of his. “And for mine. She has become a formidable ally but if she decided to turn against me, I may not need it, I want protection.”

“If the Seer is anything like you she is just as brilliant and her sword hand truly deadly.” Faolan had a look of approval on his face that pleased Paili
and she gave him a sly smile and looked into his dark eyes.

“I never lost faith that you would return to me.”

“It has been too long. I knew there was a reason why I picked you to rule by my side.”

He stood up and roughly pulled her off of her seat and pulled her to him and kissed her. Faolan looked into her eyes that turned from steel to a smoky gray.

“You are as beautiful and dark as ever.” Faolan said as he scooped her up in his arms and carried her through what appeared to be a wall into their chambers.

After Kedryn and Aodhan had left the cave Lara grabbed her frame pack hoping that she hadn’t thrown out the newspaper and breathed out a sigh of relief when she found it. She really didn’t want to step out of the cave to find some other sort of kindling. Especially not knowing what was out there and let out a short laugh at the thought of a leprechaun jumping out at her. Walking over to the fire pit she looked at Eion and thought it was strange that he was reciting a Celtic language that she recognized.

Sitting down cross legged felt a paper crinkle in her back pocket. Lara shifted and pulled out an envelope realizing she had completely forgotten she stuffed it there. Shrugging she ran her fingernail under the flap and pulled out the piece of paper.

Dear Ms. O’Broin,

We of the Smithsonian respectfully invite you to attend a banquet in your honor.

The Smithsonian would like to recognize all of your hard work and dedication . . .

Lara quit reading and looked at the date. “Guess I won’t be attending that one. Being dead and all.”

She wadded up the envelope and paper along with the newspaper stuffing it in-between and under the wood. Lara flicked a match and the fire sprung to life. As she looked around the cave there was nothing really special about it
,
no cave drawings or markings of any other kind. Just a plain old cave except for the portal.

She turned back to the fire as a log fell and watched to make sure nothing rolled out. “Bright and Shiny.”
Lara glanced over at Eion to make sure the brightness of the fire didn’t fade out the glow of the runes. It didn’t dull them at all and it appeared that he didn’t even notice the glow or warmth of the fire. Lara decided to take inventory of what was in the frame packs. She pulled both close to the fire then changed her mind. She had way too many questions racing through her head.

“Do you need to concentrate or can we talk?” Lara asked as she poked a log with a small stick.

“Let me get the rest of this sequence going.” Eion hit two more runes. “Done, ask away.”

“Why is it that you haven’t aged a bit? Women back home would pay millions for that one. Stand back Oil of Old Lady here comes Essence of Eion.” she let out a small laugh.

“I really would not recommend it. Being caught up in a Druids web is not fun and games. It stopped time around me I could not feel or do anything. When I tried to concentrate on something like focusing on watching you and Kedryn it would completely drain me. Most of the time I just listened.”

“That sounds horrible.” Lara said.

“It was torture hearing you and Kedryn talk about what was happening not to be able to do anything. I felt the influence Faolan used and what he was doing to your life. When you were at the lake I heard you speak to your group of friends about a man that often visited you there.”

“Wash.” She felt her heart tighten and stomach knot up with heartbreak and longing. “You must be talking about Kim, Sheila, Susan and Jen. We’d meet out there once a month or more with the kids. I know we discussed Wash over coffee at the camp site many times. Even other relationships I had before Wash that didn’t last as long as the one with him.”

She took in a deep unsteady breath. “They were very supportive and tried to talk reason into me about him. I was stupid in love.”

Lara looked at him and tried to mask the anguish on her face but could not hide it in her eyes. She thought of the last time she saw Wash. It was around a year ago that it happened. Lara let out the breath she realized she was holding in.

Eion looked at the pain in her eyes and touched some runes on the portal. He walked over to where Lara was sitting and sat down next to her putting an arm around her shoulders to comfort her.

“Love is never stupid, blind yes, however never stupid. I believe Faolan used the power of his mind to make Wash do some of the things I overheard you and your friends talk about.”

He reached up and wiped a tear from her cheek that she didn’t realize got away. Eion stood up and walked back over to the portal.

“It will not take much longer to finish the sequence.”

Lara looked up at him as he rubbed the beard that was forming. He waved his hand over his face and it was gone. Eion looked at her and winked looking at her amused.

“That’s a handy talent to have.” Lara said as she shook her head and laughed.

“I am full of surprises.” Eion said

“Honestly, I am lucky that I had the support system I had.” Lara said as she took out her worry stone.

“I am grateful that you had the parents you did. If having Kedryn out of wedlock was the worst thing that had happened. I would say that you ended up on the good side of the stick. You have raised him up well.”

Lara stared into the glowing flames of the fire and thought about everything negative in her life. She began to wonder if all of the bad influences that tried to bring her down the wrong path were really put there on purpose.

“If you are right about Faolan it may explain the last six years when it came to Wash. I was completely in love with him. He was nothing but confusion and heartache for both me and Kedryn.”

Eion’s heart went out to Lara and Kedryn and he felt his hatred of Faolan intensify. “I believe that Wash loved you and Kedryn. Lord Faolan used the power he had to manipulate him. Controlling of the mind is the only power
mist wraiths are said to have. It is a potent power.”

Lara rubbed her eyes and rearranged her pony tail. No more Wash, she thought to herself. It’s done and over. She started to think of her family and friends and decided to change the subject. Slipping into a depression would not be a good thing.

“Why is it that it takes so little time to open the portal? Then such a long time to close it?”

Eion touched another rune. “Closing off the portal is a bit more complicated. I believe with Badb’s sisters not helping it took her longer to configure the runes.”

Lara looked at the packs and decided it was time to take inventory. She opened her pack and started digging. While rummaging through her pack Lara found two extra sets of clean clothes and her p.j.’s from one of the Egyptian dig’s she went on. She dug past the clothes and found the necessities of a woman, make-up among other things.

“If I’m going to fight at least I’ll look hot.” she said as she grinned to herself. She looked up and saw that Eion gave her a questioning look.

“I wouldn’t have half of this stuff if I haven’t had a lecture before starting the dig over the weekend.”

Lara grabbed the gear pack that Kedryn brought with him and started to sift through it. Looking past the clothes he shoved in she realized that she over packed for the dig again. It was unusual for her to be gone for just a weekend. Normally it was for at least a week, month or even longer. There were plenty of packs of dried fruit, jerky and bars. Even six bottles of water. Lara heard Eion walk over and glanced up as he sat down and snatched baggie with dried apricots in it and tried one.

“Not bad.” he said.

Lara looked over her shoulder the portal and saw only a faint glow of light was shining from the runes.

“Done?” She asked.

Eion nodded to her as he stretched and yawned at the same time. Lara remembered her dagger and pulled it out of a side pocket of the gear pack. She almost forgot that it got shoved in before backing down the drive. Setting the dagger down by her side and noticed Eion staring at it with a look of disbelief on his face.

“Where did you get that?” he asked.

Lara looked up at him and pushed some hair that got loose out of her pony tail, again, out of her face. She shook her head annoyed.

“I found it in Egypt. Practically on top of a marker of a tomb that I happened to stumble across. I saw it glinting in the sun and it led me to the largest intact tomb that I’ve ever discovered. Everyone calls it the lucky dagger.” Lara said as she picked up the dagger and flipped it over looking at it.

“Tragedy came along with it. A man was found a few feet away dead. Who he was and why he was there is still a mystery to this day. Why do you ask?”

She sat the dagger down beside her and turned to face the warmth of the fire. The steady flames and crackling wood was mesmerizing and she forgot about her question to Eion. Lara recalled her biggest and greatest discovery that had shocked the whole world.

Watching Lara as she stared into the flames Eion saw the faraway look in her eyes and slight smile on her face. Instead of breaking her of a happy thought. He picked up the dagger and studied the hilt looking up when she let out a small laugh.

“Happy memories are always good to have. Especially now.” he whispered.

Lara was remembering the look on the director of Egypt’s Superior Council for Antiquities and the Cairo Museums curator’s face. The find was bigger than King Tut. All of Cleopatra’s worldly items were in the tomb along with hers and Mark Antony’s remains. The site was miles away from Luxor and the Valley of the Kings. Nowhere near Alexandria where the tomb was thought to be underwater in a Tabusiris Magna temple next to Alexandria. The only marker was a small raised marble stone covered by sand and desert weeds. It had a cartouche deeply caved into it which read Love Lives Forever.

Lara’s name was known all around the world of archaeology for what others referred to as her
sixth sense
that led her to tombs and other finds. She was in Egypt to give a lecture about Cleopatra at the American University in Cairo. Seriously ironic that was. Lara had a break for a day and decided to follow her instincts to wherever she was led. Her guide was a bit annoyed that they were far off the original tourist path. She made him happier by handing him a wad of bills to tag along. Around
high noon
just about when she was ready to head back to the hotel the dagger appeared glinting in the bright Egyptian sun near the marker.

Once they entered the tomb it was clear by the hieroglyphics, depictions on the walls, along with everything else in the tomb of who it belonged to. Even Cleopatra’s bed had been taken apart and reassembled in the tomb. Lara had an exact replica made of it back home in her bedroom. She sighed at the thought of her bedroom and cringed when she remembered the blood.

One of the most important finds in the tomb was several papyrus scrolls that were discovered in a golden engraved chest. A scroll that had been recently examined solved the mystery of why the tomb was where it was. Cleopatra’s last wishes were for her remains to be hidden away from the Romans with Antony’s near the Valley of the Kings. She also specifically wrote on the scroll what she wanted engraved onto the snow white marble marker.

It was a mystery as to how their real resting place was kept a secret for so long. That was until Lara literally stumbled into a false wall in the tomb. She fell though the thin plastered wall and onto a bunch of mummified corpses. The chief builder of the tomb caught her. If one could picture a mummy doing that. The group of mummies was surrounded by goblets which were analyzed later and found to have a thin film of poison in them.

It was a couple of days after the find that the remains were removed and
taken to be x-rayed. Lara saw personally to the reconstructive imaging of Cleopatra’s and Mark Antony’s faces. Finally the mystery of Cleopatra’s beauty was revealed for everyone to see.

Lara liked her privacy and she pleaded with everyone to keep her name and face out of the public eye. A month after the find was categorized and the faces were revealed. Lara and her team’s faces were splashed all over the Cairo news and all over the world. Complete with Cleopatra’s and Antony’s images right by their side. She couldn’t complain too much about it seeing as all of the publicity did provide free advertising to attain more freelance digs and lectures.

Eion decided to bring her back to reality and waved a hand over her face. She blinked and returned back from memory lane.

“Daydreaming, my lady?” he asked

“Sorry. Yes, of a different time and realm. I’ll tell you the story sometime when this is all over. So, the dagger?” she said and reached down to find it wasn’t by her side and in Eion’s hands.

“It looks like the pictures of the dagger that Badb used in battle.” he held up the dagger and took it out of the metal sheath it was in and examined the blade.

“I believe this is her dagger.” he said

Lara moved closer to Eion and looked at the blade. “Are you sure? How in the world would it have ended up on a site in Egypt? That’s a far cry from Ireland.”

“That is a mystery. See the very faint inscriptions, here?” he pointed at some markings along the bottom of the blade which faintly moved up the center.

Lara squinted her eyes and the inscriptions came into focus. “Yes.”

“The spell magically alters the blade. On the other side the inscriptions read that only a female descendant worthy of Badb can wield the dagger.” He ran his finger over the hilt.

“It even has the delicate raven carved into it with a ruby for an eye and wings on the hilt. The same as the historians scrolls.” He started tapping the hilt as if looking for something.

“I still don’t understand how the dagger ended up in Egypt.” Lara said as she covered a yawn.

“The Danann did go through the portal with next to nothing. It is possible that after Badb turned into a banshee it was taken and sold. That is mere speculation however the important thing is that you have it.”