Mira (24 page)

           
The smallest of the three girls began trembling and crying, however she didn’t ask to be dismissed.
 
Mira looked into the eyes of the other two.
 
All she saw was fear.
 
They may not have been crying, but their bravery was gone as surely as the other girl’s.
 
Mira felt a strange mix of disappointment and happiness.
 
She was afraid for the girls.
  
At the same time
,
she was pleased to find that she wasn’t as easily replaced as she believed she would be.
 
Angry at herself for even thinking those thoughts, she glared at the three girls.
 

           
“I’ll be honest with you all.
 
I don’t really want to choose amongst you.
 
I don’t want to feel responsible personally for sending anyone to their death.
 
I’ve tried to tell myself that we are all dying.
 
Still, I’m not the Fates, and I don’t relish that kind of power; deciding when.
 
So if any of you believes you can handle it better than the others, I would like to know now.”
 
They didn’t say anything.
 
They merely stood together, staring doe-eyed at Mira and holding each other’s hands.

           
“I’m sorry, but Lilith is waiting.
 
I only hope that all I’ve told you today will aid you.”
 
Mira decided on the girl in the middle.
 
She had consistently been reassuring the other two all day.
 
When she was chosen the girl nodded understanding, and the other two were dismissed to prepare for the ceremony.
 

           
“What’s your name,” Mira asked.
 
It was the first time she really looked at the girl all day.
 
She was tall and thin, very pretty.
 
She wore her hair in long, dark brown,
plates
plaits
down the back of her head.
 
She had dark blue eyes, similar to Rillan’s
,
and fair porcelain skin.
 
A twinge of jealousy shot through Mira, and she quickly pushed it to the back of her mind.
 

           
“Aris,” her voice cracked.
 
She cleared her throat, pretending that fear wasn’t the cause for the tremor.

           
“Come, it’s time to get dressed,” Mira said and led the way back to the round house.

           
Wavering in the warm light of the setting sun, Aris stared into the icy darkness of the cave, her white shift blowing slightly in the breeze.
 
Her mind raced endlessly, trying to remind her of why she chose this, attempting to dull the fear in the pit of her stomach, and reminding her of the importance of what she was about to do.

           
Mira watched from the gate, as Aris took her first reluctant steps toward the darkness that Mira saw so tempting and welcoming.
 
She stared into the shadows for some hint of Rillan, knowing that even if he were there, watching, she wouldn’t be able to see him.

“Rillan ap Tiernay,” Lilith intoned over the crowd, “was created to protect and serve the circle.
 
Our guardian. Each generation a group of girls is chosen as companions in his darkness.
 
This is the price of his loyalty.”

Mira didn’t hear Lilith’s speech.
 
Not that it mattered.
 
She knew the speech by heart.
 
It was the same for each of the girls who entered the vampire’s cave.
 
Mira’s mind was more concerned with the parts of the story that were left out of the flowery farewell and the fact that this time it was intended for Aris.
 
Somehow she felt slighted that the speech was not for her.

Mira looked up from her thoughts to find that the high priestess had stopped speaking.
 
Everyone was waiting for Aris to finish the ceremony.
 
They were patient and stood quietly.
 
Mira didn’t know how long they waited for Aris to realize it was her turn.
 
Now as she looked around, she was more afraid of what was to happen to the girl than she thought she would be.
 
The lessons were all too short; so matter of fact.
 
There wasn’t enough time to train her properly.
 
She’s going to die like the others, only this time it will be my fault. It’s my duty.
 
I should be going.
 
I belong to him, not her.
 
Mira couldn’t stop her mind from churning.
 
Tears fogged her vision.
 
She realized suddenly that she felt as if she was losing a lover.
 

Mira stepped shakily forward, gripping the gate, praying that Aris would turn and run.
 
The moon, high in the sky now, cast a blood red sheen over the clearing and an eerie light beyond the gate.
 
Aris passed through the tall, rusted iron gateway, and it creaked, swinging shut behind her.
 
The clanking gate lock sent a jolt though Mira.
 
The last of her heart seemed to have been locked on the other side.
 
She looked into the darkness beyond the mouth of the cave trying to see if he was watching, but she couldn’t see anything.
 
The little light that touched the hungry cave mouth was swallowed into the black, offering no hint of what
lay
lie
within.
 

Mira turned around to see if the others were still watching.
 
No one was there.
 
The gate had been locked
,
and she was standing alone, watching Aris.
 
All that was left for her was to enter the cave and find him.
 
Mira’s eyes traveled the twisted metal archway that she studied so many times in the past.
 
Now
,
as she stood facing the closed gate
,
she realized that she was truly on the wrong side.

Chapter 12

           
Darius wrapped his cloak around his shoulders and tried to ignore the unnatural cold.
 
Strange weather, difficult terrain, and wild animals plagued the march from Noviodunum since they started the trek to the Circle.
 
The men were becoming steadily uneasy
,
and young Marcus Novanus was beginning to falter in his resolve.

           
Children.
 
The fool boy will ruin this for me.
 
It’s been too long and too much hard work.
 
Darius was in the middle of working out a plan for disposing of Novanus and managing to keep the footsoldiers for his own purposes, when an alarm cry went out.
 
“What now,” Darius snarled as he turned and stalked back into camp.
 
He interrupted the urgent conversation between Marcus and a guard.

           
“How many?”
 
Marcus only glanced at Darius, as he approached.

           
“Six, milord,” the guard said, rubbing his head.
 
There was a bloody gash along his forehead.

           
“Were we attacked,” Darius asked with concern, looking around for further commotion or at least the person who had bloodied the guard.

           
Marcus turned on Darius with an authoritative tone that could only come from a child of Tiberius.
 
“You were not spoken too, druid.”
 
After the reprimand, Marcus returned his attention to the guard.
 
“Why,” he growled angrily at the man.

           
“The men are uneasy milord,” he replied nervously.
 
“They say that the curses which have followed us from Noviodunum will only worsen if we continue.
 
They say it’s not worth the little pay they are given.
 
There is fear of what we will face when we reach the Circle.
 
I believe more will run if our luck does not appear to shift soon.”

           
Marcus began pacing.
 
He didn’t know what to do.
 
He was having a hard enough time controlling the troops in Noviodunum.
 
Now men were deserting him.
 
Father would never allow this.
 
They wouldn’t even consider running from Tiberius.
 

           
Darius could see that Marcus was losing his self control, possibly his mind.
 
Not only that
,
but they boy was becoming obstinate and difficult to control.
 
His brothers were too young to be of use and had been left at home.
 
If things continued in this vein then Darius would have no army left when they reached the Circle.
 
I wonder how much of the strange occurrences were arranged for us by the elders.
 
The things they are capable of and yet they force our people to live in squalor, contemplating nature and stars.
 
When I control the Circle…
 
Darius broke himself from his vengeful musings and managed to persuade Marcus to retire for the evening.

           
Once inside the large lavish tent, Darius approached a heavy wooden table in the center of the main entrance.
 
Pouring out wine for himself and Marcus, he waited patiently for the boy to ask his advice.
 
He always did.
 
Darius tapped his ring impatiently on the rim of Marcus’ cup, watching the surface of the warm red liquid ripple and the brown dust disappear into the drink.

           
Without offering the cup to Marcus, Darius tipped his own cup to his lips.
 
Marcus stepped up to the table and grabbed the other cup for himself.
 
“So what do you suggest druid,” the boy said snidely, downing half the wine in one swallow.
 
“The men desert my cause, and I admit that the circumstances of this march have been unnerving.
  
The animals of the forest attack randomly and without warning.
 
The night is unseasonably cold.
 
Trees and brush seem to bar our path.
 
Men grow ill with no cause.”
 
Marcus finished the rest of the wine in his cup and stepped to the table to pour himself another.
 
“Even an unsuperstitious man would see this march as cursed.
 
What do your fellows do to us
,
and how do we stop it?
 
Or are you as useless as my father used to say?”

           
Darius had been losing his patience steadily, as Marcus became increasingly insulting and demanding.
 
“Firstly, milord,” Darius answered, glaring at the boy, “your father never kept any man around who he did not see as worth something.
 
Secondly, the animals may attack because of the cold.
 
The cold may be because a local village paid no sacrifice as proper to the correct Gods.
 
Once a man believes he is haunted
,
then all manner of things can be frightening, including plants overwhelming an unkempt path, and men in new places grow ill.
 
Your father would have been able to offer such explanations to these men and control their fear before they allowed their imaginations to run them off.
 
There is no proof that the circumstances of this miserable march were anything other than poor fate.
 
For a group of men who don’t believe druids capable of what I claimed, you’re all certainly quick to blame the druids for things which could merely be nature.”
 
Darius sipped his wine, staring into the boy’s eyes.
 
“Unfortunately for both of us, you are too young and inexperienced to think of such things.”

           
Marcus felt the wine seeping into his body more quickly than usual.
 
Darius’ droning voice slipped to the back of his mind, and he stumbled toward his large chair.
 
The room was already spinning.
 
Suddenly Darius’ face was directly in front of his own.

           
“That is why you have forced me to take the situation in hand.
  
One way or another, I need to reach the Circle with enough troops to take control.
 
You couldn’t have been just a nice compliant young man could you?”

           
“Compliant young man,” Marcus echoed hollowly.

           
Darius smiled.
 
“That’ll do.
 
Go to bed, get some sleep.
 
We have a speech for the morning march.
 
Then I want to gain some ground.
 
They have to know I’m coming by now.”

Without a word of protest Marcus got to his feet and followed Darius’ command.
 
“I should have done that to him months ago,” Darius growled and then left the tent.
 
Not to mention, his tainted blood will be the perfect trap for the vampire. I wonder what the elders would think if they knew that not all of their secrets have been kept as well as they believe.

           
At the main entrance, he stopped and leaned toward the guard.
 
“He doesn’t wish to be disturbed.
 
Lord Novanus wants to sleep until morning.
 
Summon me when he awakes.”
 
The guard nodded, and Darius walked away from the large tent to go and find his.
 

* * * *

           
 
Aris realized her wrong turn when the rough hewn cave walls went on too long with no promise of turning into carved stone.
 
“Mira said it only took a few hours of walking for her to find the right tunnels.
 
I think I’ve been walking at least that long.
 
And there’s no closet with a lantern.”
 
The sound of her whispers echoing in the darkness offered little comfort.

           
Collapsing against a cold damp wall, sharp stone bit into her shoulder.
 
Aris ignored the pain and wrapped her arms around her shivering frame.
 
It didn’t really matter how much Mira explained, Aris was cold, hungry, thirsty, and terrified.
 
“This must be what it’s like to be blind,” she whimpered.

           
First she considered trying to fall asleep, like Mira had.
 
“That would make time pass more quickly.”
 
But every little sound in the darkness drew her attention.
 
“That was probably a mouse,” she whispered at a shuffling near her feet.
 
“That was just a bat,” she cried at a shrieking noise echoing in the black.
 
Aris turned sharply to look down the cave tunnel in the direction she thought she came from.
 
“Footsteps,” she asked the darkness.
 
Aris strained to stare into the emptiness, trying desperately to see something, anything.
 
Suddenly she realized that he may be coming to get her.

           
Turning Aris began running.
 
She only managed a few steps before tripping on something on the floor and sprawling on ground.
 
“Hello,” she barely managed to squeak out.
 
Scrapping her hands on the ground, Aris scrambled back up against the wall, tears streaming down her cheeks.
 
“Please,” she whimpered.
 
“Lord Tiernay?”

           
Rillan nearly left her there.
 
I don’t know what I expected.
 
As if anyone could be capable of instilling Mira’s soul in one of these sacrifices.
 
Even Mira.
 
No amount of training will change what they are.

           
Rillan knelt next to the girl and stared at her, knowing that she had no idea how close he was.
 
For the first time in his existence, he considered putting her out of her misery without waiting for permission.
 
I don’t have time for this.
 
I need to get out and inspect the so called army coming for me.
 
To do that I have to feed.
 
Somewhere in the back of Rillan’s mind was a futile hope that the army may actually be good enough to end all this.

           
Rillan stared into the girl’s wide, tearful eyes with disgust.
 
Uncertain whether the annoyance he felt was for himself or the new girl
,
.
  
Rillan forced the beast down and reached out for the girl.

           
 
A terror-filled scream like nothing Rillan ever heard echoed in his ears.
 
“By all the Gods, girl,” Rillan snarled, taking several steps back from her and covering his ears.
 

           
Aris scrambled to her feet, feeling along the wall.

           
“Calm down,” Rillan growled harshly.

           
Flinching at the sound of his voice, Aris considered her options for running.
 

           
Rillan could see the frantic look on her face and the desperate way she was cringing away from him.
 
“Don’t be stupid.
 
Come with me.
 
There’s food and rest.
 
We’ll deal with your inadequate training when you’ve had some time to think clearly.”

           
Mention of food seemed to register with her.
 
Rillan waited for Aris to gain some composure before reaching out for her again.
 
She didn’t say a word, as he walked her down the halls toward the main tunnels.
 
This is why they get left in the labyrinth for days
, he groused angrily on the way back to his rooms.
 

* * * *

           
Mira stared sadly at the pile of flowers that the girls were gathering and weaving into wreaths and garland to decorate the stone circle for the ceremony.
 
Helen pointed in different directions, and girls went running to take care of her orders.
 
Mira’s head spun.
 
Helen proved to be a most efficient planner; from the flowers to the clothing, even the handfasting cord.

           
Holding out the cord for Mira to see, Helen waited for the lavish thanks and praise that she believed she deserved.
 
The cord was woven from pearl white silk thread and speckled with tiny flowers and ivy.
 
Helen beamed with pride.
 
The cord was exactly what she wanted when she finally chose to be handfasted.
 
She couldn’t imagine that any woman would not see the beauty in the simple cord.

           
“Thank you Helen,” Mira said softly.
 
“It’s gorgeous.
 
If you hadn’t taken this all in hand, I don’t know that it would have been accomplished so quickly.”
 
Mira’s voice trailed off, as she spoke.
 
Standing, shakily turning the cord over and over in her hands
,
Mira began to cry.