Aislin of Arianrhod (Land of Alainnshire) (6 page)

Maeve had thrown herself down onto one of the rough cots. “This will be
my
bed!” A ghost of a smile teased Aislin’s lips. Maeve made an adventure out of everything.

Roderic emerged from the back after checking on the food stores. “There’s enough supply here for the five of you for about three weeks. Be frugal, and you may stretch it to four or five. Hopefully, I’ll be back with Wyndham’s army by then.”

“Four of you...” Aislin said. “I’m going with you. We
must
be back as soon as possible. I don’t want him in control of Arianrhod any longer than necessary. He tends to destroy everything he touches.”

Aislin chewed her lip as she looked down at the bloody gown she had on. “I hope there’s a change of clothing here. I can’t wear this out and expect not to be seen.”

“I restocked the cave not that long ago. There are several changes of clothing in those sacks against the wall over there. I packed them for both men and women. Unfortunately, there’s no clothing for a child,” Devin said.

“Maeve can wear anything,” Gwen said. “As long as she is warm and dry.”

Roderic took Aislin’s arm gently and pulled her away from the group, addressing her in a low voice so the others wouldn’t hear. “Aislin, it may be best if you stayed here with your family. I’ll make the trip to Wyndham myself. It’s too dangerous for you. If Jariath finds you, I fear the worst.”

“I won’t let you go alone, and there’s no point in trying to change my mind. I was appointed regent for Bryce until he was of age, and this happened on my watch. I have a responsibility to see this through to the end, whatever that may be.”

“Your sense of duty is going to bring you to a
bad
end someday,” Roderic growled.

Aislin laughed. “So be it. They don’t need me here. Once my mother gets over having to live in a cave, she will be issuing orders and challenging my sanity. Besides, I would be at my wit’s end wondering where you were, what you were doing, and when you’d be back.”

“What can I say to change your mind? It really is a dangerous...”

Aislin quickly put a finger up to Roderic’s lips. “Nothing. There’s nothing you can say—my mind is made up. In any case, we probably should stay the night here in the cave. The hour is growing late, and we’re all exhausted. It will give us a chance to collect our thoughts and think of a plan.” She peered around Roderic and looked at the bloody man lying on the cot. “Right now I need to take care of Devin. Will you see if you can find me some bandages?”

As Roderic looked around for bandages, Aislin rummaged through the sacks of clothing. She found a pair of tan cotton pants and a dark brown tunic made of wool that looked like they would fit her. She made the men turn their backs while she slipped them on. A good pair of shoes was essential for the long trip on foot, so she dug around until she found a sturdy pair of leather boots.

The clothing was less than flattering on her slim figure, and Aislin hid a smile as her mother made a face. Before Emara had a chance to criticize, Aislin spoke. “I know what you’re thinking, and I don’t want to hear it.”

“You look like a common gardener in those clothes.”

“Common gardeners put food on your table. You would do well to remember that.”

Picking up a clean cloth, Aislin dipped it into the cold spring water and began to clean the gash on Devin’s head. She was relieved to see that it wasn’t as bad as it seemed for all the blood covering his head. His other injuries were just cuts, scrapes and bruises. A couple of arrows had grazed him, and he’d dodged one of Morrigan’s fighters wielding a rather large knife, coming away with a nasty slice on his shoulder.

“There now. I’m happy to say I believe you’ll live!” With a smile, Aislin got to her feet.

“I never thought otherwise,” Devin replied.

Gwen, sitting on a cot with her arms around Maeve, asked, “How are you ever going to get to Wyndham? It’s a journey of several days on horseback. You and Roderic will be on foot. There’s a limited amount of food here. I just don’t see how...”

Aislin looked over at Roderic, digging through the clothing. “I’ve never been down the river past the cave here. Do you know what is beyond this point?”

Roderic turned and sat down on a rock. “Well, I know we can’t ride the boat out of the hidden cavern. The river narrows as it reaches the Stoney End cliffs. It narrows and picks up speed, and flows uphill for a short distance before it emerges out of the cliff. It then drops in a waterfall and lands on some very sharp rocks.”

“So how do we get out of the river cavern if we can’t ride the river out? By tomorrow morning, Jariath will have begun the process of securing the borders, and there may be soldiers at Stoney End. How will we get around them?”

Devin snorted. “Do you think Jariath thinks that far ahead?”

Aislin shook her head. “He’s a violent bully, but he’s very clever. It would be a mistake to underestimate him. He knows by now we have escaped him, and he will have put a plan in place to make sure none of us gets beyond the borders of Arianrhod. Whether we do or not depends on us having a
better
plan.”

“We can continue in the boat part of the way, but we’ll have to get out when we see the water get frothy and start to pick up speed. There used to be a mark on the wall where the boats were tethered, and we must then continue on foot. There’s a footpath along the edge—it’s been years since I’ve been that far down the hidden river, so I hope it’s still there.” Roderic closed his eyes. “As I recall, the footpath gets a bit treacherous toward the end. It makes a steep climb upward in the rocks toward the river’s outlet, but the path comes out in a series of rock outcroppings located about halfway down the cliff. It might be a good place to stay hidden and take a look at things.”

“The problem with that is that you’ll be coming out into the southwestern corner of Arianrhod. The fastest way to Wyndham will be to turn back to the east and travel through Blackthorne Forest,” said Devin.

“Blackthorne Forest!” Both Gwen and Emara gasped in unison.

Emara began to wring her hands. “Blackthorne is full of thieves and criminals of every sort. Who knows what creatures are lurking there? The area is wild and untamed—no civilized people live there! Everyone avoids the land of Blackthorne if possible. You can’t seriously think to travel to Wyndham through that forest!”

Roderic looked a little uncertain. “I know the legends they tell about Blackthorne Forest, but Devin is right. It’s the fastest route to Wyndham. The only other way is to travel to the west through the kingdom of Aesun, and then turn to the north through Danisrhod, Strathmore, Brethmore, and finally into Wyndham. Most of those lands are quite friendly with Arianrhod, but it will take us three times as long to get to Wyndham as it would if we just went through the forest. We’d also be skirting along the northern edge of Morrigan while we traveled through Strathmore, and that brings its own problems. And it is possible... we just don’t know how the rulers of those kingdoms will feel now that Jariath has invaded Arianrhod. Those kingdoms are heavily populated, and if Aislin and I were caught... well, it’s an unfortunate possibility that we could be turned over to Jariath in order to appease him, and to keep him out of their own lands.”

“No one from Aesun would ever betray this family!” Gwen said.

King Thorun of Aesun was Gwen’s father. Aislin’s older brother, Fionn, had met Princess Gwenyd in Aesun during a visit there, and had asked for her hand in marriage before he left. Gwen had been more than a little reluctant to marry someone she didn’t know, but they soon discovered they were kindred spirits. She had loved Fionn deeply, as he’d loved her.

“Obviously none of them is safe as long as Jariath is at their doorstep. For awhile though, his army will be stretched thin, and they’ll have nothing to worry about.” Aislin turned to Gwen. “Your father is a fine man. I know he would never turn us over to Jariath. But Aesun is only one of five other lands we’d have to travel through to get to Wyndham. We simply don’t know how the other kings and chieftains would react to our presence, if we were found. They have a duty to protect their people. Turning us over to Jariath might be the best way to do that in the short term.”

Emara’s voice was shaking, pleading. “Aislin,
please.
Blackthorne Forest...”

Aislin interrupted her. “We would only have to travel a very short distance past the border of Brethmore, and then we would be safely in Wyndham. Time is not on our side here, and any way we go will be dangerous. We must get there as quickly as possible, and the fastest way is through Blackthorne Forest.”

Emara didn’t look convinced, and to Aislin’s astonishment, she began to cry.
Please don’t pretend you care about me!
Aislin thought, and felt the immediate sting of guilt.
She took her mother’s hand in an attempt to reassure her. “This is not going to be easy, but we have to do something. You’ll just have to be brave until we get back.”

“And we don’t know what we’ll find when we get out onto the cliff at Stoney End, Emara. It may be the longer route will be the better one after all.” Roderic gave Aislin a quick wink.

“We need to get some sleep now,” said Aislin, glancing at Maeve, who was already asleep against her mother. “Tomorrow Roderic and I will pack and get on our way.”

And with that, the little group settled down on the rough burlap cots for the night, though no one, except Maeve, slept very much.

Chapter Seven

A
ISLIN GRADUALLY CAME AWAKE AND wondered whether it was morning yet. Though she couldn’t see him in the darkness of the cave, she knew Roderic was up and rummaging around by the nasty curses he was whispering in the dark.

“Light a lamp so you can see what you’re doing,” Aislin whispered.

“I don’t want to wake everyone else,” Roderic whispered back.

“It’s far too late for that. I’ve been listening to you stumble around and swear for the last half hour,” Devin said loudly. Gwen giggled in the darkness.

“Oh...” Striking a fire flint, Roderic lit the lamps and filled the cave with a warm glow.

Blinking against the light, Devin asked, “What exactly are you looking for?”

“Well, we’re going to need several changes of clothing, weapons, or at least something to hunt with, and a small bit of food to take along. I was wishing we had some oiled buckskin sacks to protect our clothing and fire flints from rain.”

“There are buckskin sacks here.” Devin got up from the cot and limped over to the rickety wooden shelving along the back by the spring. Shuffling through the piles of things on the shelf, he withdrew several tan colored satchels and tossed them to Roderic. “These have been oiled to be water-resistant.”

“Weapons.” Reaching onto another shelf, Devin found a bow and a quiver full of arrows, several knives of varying sizes, an axe, and three swords. He laid them on the floor in front of Aislin.

”Wonderful!” Aislin exclaimed, as she gave the big man a gentle squeeze. “Devin, you were a genius at stocking this place!”

“I tried to bring things here as I thought of them,” said Devin.

Roderic strapped on one of the swords, and then picked up the bow and quiver. “We’ll need this to hunt game if we’re going to eat.”

Aislin picked one of the large knives. “That will have to be your job, I’m afraid. I couldn’t look an animal in the eyes and then send an arrow through its heart, although...” She strapped the knife to her side and gave it a pat. “I’m happy to skin and gut them for you once the deed is done.”

She strapped the axe to her other side. “Don’t you want a sword?” Devin asked her.

“It wouldn’t do me a bit of good. I never learned to fight with a sword.” Aislin looked down at the axe. “We’ll need to cut firewood, so the axe will be useful. Roderic will have to be in charge of our defense if we find ourselves cornered.”

They quickly finished packing the buckskin packs with dry clothing, blankets, several fire flints, and two days worth of food, and tied them shut with leather straps. Bidding everyone a tearful goodbye, Aislin and Roderic boarded the boat and started down the hidden river.

They hadn’t been on the river for very long, when Aislin felt a sudden lurch and it became much more difficult to steer. She noticed the river was starting to form whitecaps, and the roar of the water was now very loud. She glanced over at Roderic.

He had to shout over the river. “The mark is just up here. Help me steer to the left side.” She did, and catching the iron ring driven into the rock with the pole hook in the boat, she pulled them over to the ledge and secured the chain.

Roderic threw both backpacks up onto the ledge and hoisted himself up out of the boat. He turned and extended a hand to Aislin, pulling her up onto the ledge with him.

“We have to follow this footpath to the end,” he shouted. “It’s another mile or two and you’ll have to take care not to fall. It’s quite narrow in places, and if you fell into the river...well... please don’t fall into the river.”

“I’ll be careful,” Aislin shouted back.

Roderic hadn’t been wrong when he said the footpath was narrow in places. There were times they had to turn sideways with their backs against the rock to get by. Other times it was wide enough for several people to pass side by side. It twisted and wound here and there through the rock, but never strayed very far from the river itself.

As they traveled, Aislin noticed the river narrowing and flowing faster. It was now a torrent of deafening white rapids, and she found herself soaked from the spray. The rock ledge was also quite wet, and they both had to take care not to slip. The force of the water was terrifying, and she kept as much distance as she could between her and the river.

“We’re almost there,” Roderic shouted, though she could barely hear him over the roar of the water. The footpath took a gentle curve to the right along the river, and as they came around the corner, Aislin couldn’t tear her eyes away from the remarkable sight in front of her.

The river, narrowed down now to about fifteen feet in width, clearly was flowing up hill. It was channeled with such force that it hit the solid rock wall blocking its exit from the hidden cavern, climbed the wall for approximately ten feet, and literally flew sideways out of the cleft in the cliff. It was nothing but frothy, churning white water as it emerged into daylight and dropped down the rocky cliff face.