The Fathomless Caves (35 page)

Maya the Mute also sat at one of the tables, a quill in her hand, a pile of parchment before her. Like the others quietly working around her, she was dressed in a severe black gown with her hair bound back from her brow. The nyx ribbon was a dark slash about her throat. There was something tragic about her austerity, for Isabeau was used to seeing her resplendent in red velvet and gold embroidery. With her scarred face, greying hair and plain clothing, it was hard to believe she had once been called the most beautiful woman in the land, and even harder to believe she had been the most powerful.

Isabeau turned her attention back to Dide. She knew he had not sought her out merely to talk about Maya. He was hanging over her chair now, toying with her hair, one foot swinging. Though he tried hard to conceal it, he was feeling restless as the days grew longer and warmer.

She smiled up at him. ‘Finding peace rather dull?’

‘Dull as ditch-water,’ he admitted. ‘The court seems to do naught but sit around and eat sweetmeats and gossip. Lachlan is busy enough setting up trade routes and overseeing the building o’ his new navy, but there’s
naught for his jongleur to do but sit around and sing love songs.’

‘I thought there was nothing ye’d rather do,’ Isabeau teased.

He smiled. ‘Och, I’ll sing to your bright eyes any time o’ day or night,’ he answered. ‘Ye’re always too busy to listen, though.’

‘I’m sorry,’ Isabeau answered, seizing his hand. ‘There’s so much to do, though. I canna spare the time to be sitting around with the other court ladies and talking about the latest way to wear a ribbon.’

‘Aye, I ken. Ye be the Keybearer now. At least I get to see ye at night, in bed, which is where I’d rather have ye anyway.’

‘Ye need to be doing something during the day, though, else ye’ll grow fat from eating too many sweetmeats,’ Isabeau laughed up at him. ‘Why do ye no’ bide a wee at the Theurgia? Ye could be a strong sorcerer indeed, if ye’d only learn some discipline.’

‘As long as it were ye disciplining me,’ he murmured, bending lower to kiss her ear.

She dimpled. ‘I could probably arrange that. Though I warn ye now, I be a strict taskmaster.’

‘Promises, promises.’

‘Dide, I’m serious. We have so few o’ any power left. Will ye no’ join the Coven?’

‘But I hate rules and restrictions, Beau, ye ken that.’

‘What if we made ye a journeywitch?’ she said, laughing up at him. ‘Ye would no’ need to stay here at the Tower, stuck in a classroom, but would learn your craft wherever ye were, from whatever teachers ye
found. Ye could bring much wisdom and skill back from the village skeelies and cunning men. Ye could search out children o’ Talent for me and bring them back to the Theurgia, and any useful books ye find.’

Dide had stilled, looking down into her face with intent black eyes. ‘Do ye mean it?’

‘Aye, o’ course. The Coven has been hidebound far too long. No’ everyone is suited to the secluded life o’ the Towers. I think one o’ the major mistakes the Coven made was to shut themselves away from the natural rhythm o’ living. They were no longer connected to the way the common people thought and felt, and what their needs and desires were. That’s one o’ the things I want to change. Sending out journeywitches into the countryside, to help those in need, teach the common people about the Coven and learn the native wisdom o’ hedge-witches, seems to me one way o’ doing it.’

Dide rose to his feet, striding about the table in his excitement. ‘Ye mean I could be Dide the Juggler again, and travel about in my caravan and write my songs and play the crowds …’ Suddenly he stopped. He turned back to Isabeau and sat next to her, seizing her hands. ‘But what about us?’

‘What about us?’ she asked, smiling at him. ‘Ye will have to come back regularly to give me reports and bring back the children o’ Talent ye’ve found. And I do no’ intend to stay cloistered up here either. There is much for the Coven to do out in the countryside and I intend to be doing it. Ye will be able to tell me where I am most needed, and I will come out and join ye and
we can work together to fix it. Do no’ forget I can travel where I want, how I want. No need for me to dawdle along in a caravan. I can travel the Old Ways, or turn myself into a golden eagle …’

‘Or a dragon!’

Isabeau gave a little shiver, remembering the vision of herself burning and blistering in a blast of dragon-fire. ‘Nay, I think I’ll choose a less dangerous shape next time. Maybe a nice plump pigeon.’

‘Ah, a pretty pigeon for the plucking,’ Dide said with a leer, pulling her close so he could nuzzle under her ear.

Conscious of the interested gazes of many of the young apprentices, Isabeau pulled away, frowning at him quellingly. ‘So would ye like that? To join the Coven and be my first journeywitch?’

‘Ye ken I must always serve my master first?’ Dide said with slight hesitation.

Isabeau nodded. ‘Aye, o’ course. I ken how it is wi’ ye.’

‘There be no reason why I canna serve ye both, though, as long as the tasks do no’ conflict. That is why they call me the Juggler, because I be so adept at keeping several balls in the air at once.’ From somewhere about his clothes Dide pulled out his golden balls and deftly sent them spinning up into the air, before concealing them again, one by one.

‘Mind ye, I canna be o’ as much use to Himself as I used to be. Too many people now ken that I serve him. I fear my disguise as a mere juggler has worn rather thin.’

‘Ye will be o’ greatest use to him doing as ye’ve always done, singing your songs and telling your tales, and making him a hero in the eyes o’ his people.’

Dide nodded, knowing this to be true. They were silent for a moment, then suddenly Dide seized her hand, bending close so he could look straight into her eyes. ‘Do ye still dream o’ him?’

Isabeau smiled up at him. ‘Nay. I dream only o’ ye.’

‘Liar,’ he said, his voice husky and warm. ‘Sweet lies though. Lie to me some more.’

‘Mmmm,’ Isabeau said. ‘Like “I love ye”?’

‘With falsehoods like that ye can lie to me any time.’

She kissed him tenderly. ‘It be no falsehood. I shall miss ye horribly when ye’ve gone.’

‘Ye’d better,’ he answered, drawing her even closer so he could kiss her again. This time Isabeau forgot all about her position as Keybearer of the Coven, and melted willingly into his embrace. Both were rather breathless when they at last drew apart.

‘Do ye no’ mind?’ Dide asked huskily. ‘That I want to go, I mean?’

Isabeau shook her head, though there was a sheen of tears in her eyes. ‘I’d no’ lock a skylark up in a cage. Why should I wish to lock ye up?’

He toyed with the star and circle talisman hanging around her neck. ‘Well, ye do carry a big key,’ he said with a poor attempt at light-heartedness.

‘Aye, but this be a key for setting free, no’ for locking up,’ Isabeau answered. ‘I ken ye would never be happy, stuck in the one place all the time. Ye were meant to be on the road, travelling free.’

‘Over the hills and by the burn, the road unrolls through forest and fern, taking my feet I know no’ where, happen I’ll meet ye at the fair!’ Dide sang softly, his eyes alight with happiness.

‘Happen I will,’ Isabeau replied, smiling.

When he had gone, his step now light, his face free of the weariness of spirit that had shadowed it before, Isabeau turned back to her task. On the table before her lay
The Book of Shadows
. She had been writing her account of the Battle of Bonnyblair and all the strange and wondrous things that had happened there. It was a task she had put off for some time, for the sight of the many pages filled with Meghan’s spidery handwriting had pierced her with a sword of grief.
The Book of Shadows
was one of the Coven’s most precious heirlooms, containing within its pages all the history and lore of the Coven of Witches, all recorded in the many different hands of the Keybearers since the time of the First Crossing. It seemed somehow presumptuous for Isabeau to write in it herself when she had spent so many years gingerly reading its pages under the stern eye of her guardian. Every time she took it down from its shelf and unlocked it with a silver key as long as her finger, she expected to hear Meghan’s voice, saying, ‘Carefully, lassie! Must ye be so clumsy? Och, what a heedless lass ye are!’

At last, though, she had taken it down and let it fall open on the table before her. As she had expected, it opened upon a blank new page at the very back of the
book. Upon that virgin white expanse, she had described the attack of the Fairgean upon the Beltane feast, their journey to Carraig and the long struggle for the Isle of the Gods.

She had drawn a picture of the flying ship with its escort of seven great dragons and recounted the signing of the Pact of Peace by the Fairgean. Now she had only to finish the account of Maya the Ensorcellor’s trial and her binding by the nyx. She picked up her quill and looked down the room once more.

As if sensing her regard, Maya looked up at her and smiled. For the first time since Isabeau had met her, the Fairge looked to be at peace. Isabeau smiled back and began to write once more.

Isabeau wrote the last word with a flourish and scattered sand over the page. Then she shut the book, laying her hands on the red embossed cover for a long moment. She knew when next she opened it, to write down all that she had learnt and achieved, a fresh white page would be there, waiting for her to write upon.

Aedan MacCuinn
: the first Rìgh, High Lord of Eileanan. Called Aedan Whitelock, he was directly descended from Cuinn Lionheart (see
First Coven
). In 710 he united the warring lands of Eileanan into one country, all except for Tìrsoilleir and Arran, which remained independent.

Aedan’s Pact
: Aedan MacCuinn, first Rìgh of Eileanan, drew up a pact between all inhabitants of the island, agreeing to live in harmony and not to interfere in each other’s culture, but to work together for peace and prosperity. The Fairgean refused to sign and so were cast out, causing the Second Fairgean Wars.

ahdayeh
: the art of fighting.

Ahearn Horse-laird
: one of the First Coven of Witches.

Aislinna the Dreamer
: one of the First Coven of Witches.

Alasdair MacFaghan
: baby son of Khan’gharad Dragon-laird and Ishbel the Winged, twin brother of Heloïse and younger brother of Iseult and Isabeau.

Anghus MacRuraich
: Prionnsa of Rurach. He uses clairvoyant talents to search and find.

Arkening the Dreamwalker
: sorceress who can travel the dream-roads.

Arran
: southeast land of Eileanan, ruled by the MacFóghnan clan.

Aslinn the Piper
: piper in the service of Anghus MacRuraich.

Aslinn
: deeply forested land ruled by the MacAislin clan.

autumn equinox
: when the night reaches the same length as the day.

banprionnsa
: princess or duchess.

banrìgh
: queen.

Beltane
: May Day; the first day of summer.

Berhtfane
: sea loch in Clachan.

Berhtilde the Bright Warrior-maid
: one of the First Coven of Witches.

berhtildes
: the female warriors of Tìrsoilleir, named after the country’s founder (see
First Coven
). Cut off left breast to make wielding a bow easier.

blaygird
: evil, awful.

Blèssem
: The Blessed Fields. Rich farmland lying south of Rionnagan, ruled by the MacThanach clan.

blizzard-owls
: giant white owls that inhabit the snowy mountain regions. Sorcha the Murderess had a blizzard-owl as her familiar.

Blue Guards
: The Yeomen of the Guard, the Rìgh’s own elite company of soldiers. They act as his personal bodyguard, both on the battlefield and in peacetime.

The Book of Shadows
: an ancient magical book which contains all the history and lore of the Coven.

Brangaine NicSian
: Banprionnsa of Siantan. She can whistle the wind.

Brann the Raven
: one of the First Coven of Witches. Known for probing the darker mysteries of magic, and for fascination with machinery and technology.

Bright Soldiers
: name for members of the Tìrsoilleirean army.

Bronwen NicCuinn
: young daughter of Jaspar MacCuinn, former Rìgh of Eileanan, and Maya the Ensorcellor. Was Banrìgh of Eileanan for one day.

Brun
: a cluricaun.

Buba
: an elf-owl; Isabeau’s familiar.

Candlemas
: the end of winter and beginning of spring.

Carraig
: Land of the Sea-witches, the northernmost county of Eileanan. Ruled by the MacSeinn clan, descendants of Seinneadair, one of the First Coven of Witches. Clan was driven out by Fairgean, taking refuge in Rionnagan.

Celestines
: race of faery creatures, renowned for empathic abilities and knowledge of stars and prophecy.

Circle of Seven
: ruling council of dragons, made up of the oldest and wisest female dragons.

Clachan
: southernmost land of Eileanan, a province of Rionnagan ruled by the MacCuinn clan.

clàrsach
: stringed instrument like a small harp.

claymore
: a heavy, two-edged sword, often as tall as a man.

cluricaun
: small woodland faery.

coh
: Khan’cohban word for the universal life–death energy.

Connor
: Lachlan’s squire; Johanna the Healer’s brother. Was once a beggar-boy in Lucescere and member of the League of the Healing Hand.

corrigan
: mountain faery with the power of assuming the look of a boulder. The most powerful can cast other illusions.

craft
: applications of the One Power through spells, incantations and magical objects.

Cuinn Lionheart
: leader of the First Coven of Witches. Descendants are called MacCuinn.

cunning
: applications of the One Power through will and desire.

cunning man
: village wise man or warlock.

Cursed Peaks
: what the Khan’cohbans call Dragonclaw.

cursehags
: wicked faery race, prone to curses and evil spells. Known for their filthy personal habits.

dai-dein
: father.

Daillas the Lame
: sorcerer and headmaster at the Theurgia.

Day of Betrayal
: the day Jaspar the Ensorcelled turned on the witches, exiling or executing them, and burning the Witch Towers.

Deus Vult
: war cry of the Bright Soldiers, meaning ‘God wills’.

Didier, Earl of Caerlaverock
: the oldest friend of the Rìgh, Lachlan MacCuinn, recently granted the earldom in gratitude for his many years of loyal service. Formerly a jongleur known as Dide the Juggler.

Dillon of the Joyous Sword
: Lachlan’s bodyguard and a Yeoman of the Guard; formerly a beggar-boy and captain of the League of the Healing Hand.

donbeag
: small, brown shrew-like creature that can fly short distances due to the sails of skin between its legs.

Donncan MacCuinn:
third son of Parteta the Brave and elder brother of Lachlan the Winged. Was turned into a blackbird by Maya.

Donncan Feargus MacCuinn
: eldest son of Iseult and Lachlan. Has wings like a bird and can fly. Was named for Lachlan’s two brothers that were transformed into blackbirds by Maya.

doom-eels
: sea-dwelling eels with phosphorescent tails that deliver an electric shock if touched.

dragon
: large, fire-breathing flying creature with a smooth, scaly skin and claws. Named by the First Coven for a mythical creature from the Other World. They can see both ways along the thread of time.

dragonbane
: a rare and deadly poison, distilled from the dragonbane flower and capable of killing a dragon.

Dragonclaw
: a tall, sharply pointed mountain in the northwestern range of the Sithiche Mountains. Isabeau and Meghan lived by a small loch at its foot, in a secret valley.

dragon-fear
: uncontrollable terror caused by proximity to dragons.

Dragon-Star
: comet that comes by every eight years. Also called Red Wanderer.

dram
: measure of drink.

Dream-Walkers
: name for witches from the Tower of Dreamers in Aslinn. Some can see the future and the past in dreams, others can send dream-messages, or walk the dream-road.

Dughall MacBrann
: son of the Prionnsa of Ravenshaw and cousin to the Rìgh.

Duncan Ironfist
: the captain of the Yeomen of the Guard.

Dùn Eidean
: the capital city of Blèssem.

Dùn Gorm
: the city surrounding Rhyssmadill.

Eà
: the Great Life Spirit, mother and father of all.

Eileanan
: largest island in the archipelago called the Far Islands.

Elemental Powers
: the forces of air, earth, fire, water and spirit which together make up the One Power.

Elfrida NicHilde
: Banprionnsa of Tìrsoilleir.

elf-owl
: the smallest of all the owls, about the size of a sparrow, with a round head and big yellow eyes.

elven cat
: small, fierce wildcat that lives in caves and hollow logs.

Enit Silverthroat
: a jongleur; grandmother of Dide and Nina.

equinox
: when the sun crosses the celestial equator; a time when day and night are of equal length, occurring twice a year.

fain
: gladly; willingly.

The Fair Isles
: a group of lush tropical islands to the south of Eileanan.

Fairge
;
Fairgean
: faery creatures who need both sea and land to live. The Fairgean were finally cast out of Eileanan in 710 by Aedan Whitelock when they refused to accept his authority. For the next four hundred and twenty years they lived on rafts, rocks jutting up out of the icy seas, and what small islands were still uninhabited. The Fairgean king swore revenge and the winning back of Eileanan’s coast.

Fand
: slave in the Fairgean king’s court.

The Fang
: the highest mountain in Eileanan, an extinct volcano called the Skull of the World by the Khan’cohbans.

Faodhagan the Red
: one of the twin sorcerers from the First Coven of Witches. Particularly noted for working in stone; designed and built many of the Witch Towers,
as well as the dragons’ palace and the Great Stairway.

The Fathomless Caves
: the sacred system of caves and grottos that riddle the Isle of the Gods.

Feargus MacCuinn
: second son of Parteta the Brave. Was turned into a blackbird by Maya the Ensorcellor.

The Fiery Womb
: cave deep within the Isle of the Gods where the Fairgean believe the gods were born.

Finn the Cat
: nickname of Fionnghal NicRuraich.

Fionnghal NicRuraich
: eldest daughter and heir of Anghus MacRuraich of Rurach; was once a beggar-girl in Lucescere and lieutenant of the League of the Healing Hand. Has strong searching and finding powers.

The Firemaker
: hereditary title given to the oldest living female descendant of Faodhagan (see
First Coven
) and a woman of the Khan’cohbans. Able to conjure fire, a power of immense importance on the snow-bound mountain heights, she is considered a gift of the Gods of White to the Khan’cohbans.

First Coven of Witches
: thirteen witches who fled persecution in their own land, invoking an ancient spell that folded the fabric of the universe and brought them and all their followers to Eileanan. The eleven great clans of Eileanan are all descended from the First Coven, with the MacCuinn clan being the greatest of the eleven. The thirteen witches were Cuinn Lionheart, his son Owein of the Longbow, Ahearn Horse-laird, Aislinna the Dreamer, Berhtilde the Bright Warrior-maid, Fóghnan the Thistle, Rùraich the Searcher, Seinneadair the Singer, Sian the Storm-rider, Tuathanach the Farmer, Brann the Raven, Faodhagan the Red and his twin sister Sorcha the Bright (now called the Murderess).

Fóghnan the Thistle
: one of the First Coven of Witches. Known for her prophetic and clairvoyant abilities, Fóghnan the Thistle was murdered by Balfour MacCuinn, Owein of the Longbow’s eldest son.

fraitching
: arguing.

frost-giant
: huge snow-dwelling faery that lives on the Spine of the World.

geal’teas
: long-horned, snow-dwelling creatures which provide Khan’cohbans with food, milk and clothing. Their very thick white wool is much prized all over Eileanan.

geas
: an obligation due to a debt of honour.

General Staff
: the group of officers of the Yeomen of the Guard that assists the Rìgh in the formulation and dissemination of his tactics and policies, transmit his orders, and oversee their execution.

gillie
: steward to a laird.

Gitâ
: a donbeag; Meghan’s familiar.

Gladrielle the Blue
: the smaller of the two moons, lavender-blue in colour.

glen
: valley.

Goblin
: an elven cat; Finn the Cat’s familiar.

The Great Crossing
: when Cuinn led the First Coven to Eileanan.

The Great Stairway
: the road which climbs Dragonclaw, leading to the palace of the dragons and then down the other side of the mountain to Tìrlethan.

greeting
: crying.

Greycloaks
: The Rìgh’s army, so called because of their camouflaging cloaks.

Gwilym the Ugly
: one-legged sorcerer who spent the years of Maya the Ensorcellor’s rule in Arran but who escaped the autocratic rule of Margrit NicFóghnan to help Lachlan win the throne. Was rewarded with the position of court sorcerer.

harquebus
: a matchlock gun with a long butt, usually fired from a tall stock.

harquebusier
: soldier bearing and firing a harquebus.

Haven
: large cave where the Pride of the Red Dragon spend their winter.

Heloïse MacFaghan
: baby daughter of Khan’gharad Dragon-laird and Ishbel the Winged, twin sister of Alasdair and younger sister of Iseult and Isabeau.

holt
: place of refuge.

horse-eel
: faery creature of the sea and lochan; tricks people into mounting it and carries them away.

Iain MacFóghnan
: Prionnsa of Arran.

Isabeau the Shapechanger
: sorceress of the Coven, and twin sister of Iseult. Also called Khan’tinka.

Iseult of the Snows
: twin sister of Isabeau, Banrìgh of Eileanan by marriage to Lachlan the Winged. Also called Khan’derin.

Ishbel the Winged
: wind witch who can fly. Mother of Iseult and Isabeau.