Deception's Pawn (Princesses of Myth) (11 page)

That first morning after Samhain, Gormlaith drew me aside. “Thank you for trying to help me, Maeve,” she said shyly. “I’m sorry I was a bother.”

“Don’t thank me; I haven’t done anything for you yet,” I replied. “But if you want to start talking, I’ll listen. Maybe together we can make things better for you.”

Her laughter shivered and fell short. “There’s no need. I’m all right now. I just wanted to say how grateful I am to count you as my friend.”

That was the last she’d say about her haunted days.

I’m glad she’s herself again
, I thought.
But shouldn’t friends share more than happiness?
That troubling question set its teeth in me and refused to let go.

C
HAPTER
S
EVEN

The Most Annoying Boy in Èriu

“W
ELL DONE
, M
AEVE
!” Kian shouted, his breath making little clouds in the chilly air. “Oh,
well
done! That’s your best score yet.” He strode across the stubbled field to examine my newest target, a slender aspen. “One, two, three—” He peered at the trunk closely. “Is that all? I could have sworn … No, wait, here’s another.” He pointed at the small scar my fourth slingstone had made in the bark, then stooped to gather the fallen missiles.

“Do you see the one that missed?” I called out to him, agitated. Ever since Kian’s return home for Samhain, I’d been desperately eager to show him how much my skill with the sling had improved. I drove myself to find ways to practice even at the height of the Samhain preparations, but for those times I used ordinary rocks. Now I used the specially formed slingstones Kian had given me, and I dreaded the thought of losing one.

“I don’t think so.” He rubbed the back of his head, surveying the space between the tree and the spot where I stood. “Too bad you couldn’t demonstrate your progress with mice instead of slingstones. I know
someone
who’d find them fast enough!”

We both turned our faces to the sky. A small, familiar shape flew gorgeously against the watery winter light.

“Thank you for bringing her, Kian,” I said softly. “I’ve missed this.”

“ ‘This’?” He pounced on my words like a lad scooping up a ball, ready to play. “Why ‘this’ and not
me
? You’re a cruel girl, Maeve, tearing out a man’s heart for no good reason.”

“But I do have one,” I countered, getting into the game. “You gave me our signal at breakfast and I was so thrilled that I couldn’t eat a bite. Now I’m hungry and your heart is
soooo
tender, soft as a woman’s, that I can’t resist.”

“Don’t devour it just yet, lass. I want to give it to at least one girl before I die.”

“You mean you haven’t done that yet?” I pretended to be shocked. “
I
heard there isn’t a serving girl in Dún Beithe without a chunk of your heart as a keepsake.”

“Who’d you hear that from? One of our household gossips? They always get their stories wrong. It’s not my heart that I’ve been giving so generously.” He burst into rough laughter.

“Oh look, there’s my missing slingstone. I see it; wait here, I’ll be right back.” I dashed from his side before he could catch sight of my blushes.

A trick of the light befriended me: I did spy the errant stone in the dead grass and stowed it lovingly in my belt pouch along with its mates and my sling. By the time I returned to him, Kian was done enjoying his own crude joke.

“Putting your toys away so soon?” he teased. “I was hoping you’d keep at it until all fives stones strike the target.”

“Next time,” I said.

“All right, and next time I’ll bring the rest of our practice gear. It’s been too long since you put your hand to the sword and the spear. I won’t push you too hard. Better to have you go slow than lose days because you’re in pain. Ah, and I’ll bring you a short tunic to wear. I’ll bet you thought I forgot about that.” He was very proud of himself. “You’ll be cold at first, but once you get going, you’ll warm up fast enough, and if your feet can move freely, you’ll find that—”

“I’m not going to take up the sword again, Kian,” I said.

“What’s this? After how fiercely you argued to make me give you these lessons?” He was outraged and insulted. “Are you one of those girls who only wants what she can’t have? Is it all about
winning
for you, and not keeping?”

I bit my lower lip and bowed my head. “I value what you’ve given me.”

“Value it enough to cast it aside.”

“That’s not how it is!” My eyes flashed up into his. “Will you listen? Will you promise not to make fun of me when I tell you the truth? While you were gone and left me to practice using the sling on my own, I had time to think about our other lessons. The sword, the shield, the spear—they’re not for me. I first wanted to master them so I could become someone I was never born to be. I wish I’d never done it: it cost my friend Kelan his life.”

“How did that—?”

“Please don’t ask.” I fought against tears. “Let me choose my own time to tell you, if I ever do.”

Kian rested a comforting hand on my shoulder. Its strength felt good and I leaned closer to the shielding warmth of his body. “Go on, then.”

“The second time, I wanted to prove something to myself, to you, and maybe even to Kelan’s spirit.”

“I remember,” he said. “You argued that there are women who wield swords as ably as any man. The bards say so.”

“And I still say it might
be
so,” I replied. “But I can never be one. My training didn’t start early enough, it’s been interrupted, and … and what I really desire to do with my life has nothing to do with weapons.”

“What’s that?”

I shook my head, unwilling to confide in him just yet. What could I tell him?
“I want to be more than a wife and mother of kings. I want to rule in my own right, in my own name, but not for the sake of wealth or pride. If I want power, it’s only so that I can help the people I rule. I want them to come to me for justice. I want to protect them from hardship. I want them to know that if this world’s unfair, I will still treat them fairly.”

How could I say such things until I felt secure enough to face the incredulous laughter that might follow, even from a friend? No matter what else I might share with Kian, I wasn’t ready to share my dreams. The one person with whom I could share them was far from me now, walking the unknown shores of Avallach. Once again the pain of missing Odran tore my heart.

Kian accepted my silence, and I was thankful for that. “If that’s what you want, Maeve, let it be so.” He looked up to where Ea hovered over the cold land. “We should go home.” He turned to call back the kestrel.

“Wait, Kian,” I cried, grabbing his arm. “I don’t want you to teach me more swordsmanship, but I still need you to help me master this.” I touched the pouch holding my sling. “Didn’t you hear me say that next time I’ll hit the target with all five of my stones? I can’t do that without your training.”

“You did well enough without me before Samhain,” he said gruffly.

“Well enough isn’t good enough for me. Please, Kian,
think:
suppose you taught me everything you know about spears and swords. What could I do with that knowledge? Do you honestly see me carrying those weapons, riding off on a cattle raid? But this—!” I pulled out the sling. “I can
use
this. It’ll be my hidden strength, my independence. With your help, I’ll never need to rely on anyone else to protect me. I’ll be free to take care of myself!”

He looked at me wistfully. “I think you can do that now, Maeve. Fine, I’ll do what you ask. Did I ever have another choice? You’ve picked your weapon. I only hope you’ll be able to pick your battles as wisely.”

I grinned. “What battles, Kian? All I want is to be able to hit one tree with five stones.”

“Next time. We’re losing light. Let’s go.”

As always, I watched in fascination as Kian called Ea back to him. First he got her attention with a shrill whistle, then tied a bit of meat to a long string and whirled it over his head. The kestrel came flying to claim it, landing prettily on his leather-sheathed forearm. After she’d swallowed her treat, he hooded her and we headed back to the ringfort.

“I wish you’d teach me how to do that,” I said. Every time I’d let Ea fly from the crannog, she’d returned when it suited
her, not on my command. “You let me send her flying, so why won’t you let me bring her back? It looks easy enough.”

“I don’t know if she’d return to you,” Kian replied.

Oh, is that so? Just give me the chance and you’ll see!
I kept my defiant thought to myself and instead spoke as calmly and reasonably as I could: “
I
can spin a loaded sling overhead without braining myself, unlike
some
people. I think I can spin that lure too.”

“Yes, but I’m as much a part of what brings her back as the lure is,” he countered.

“Hmm, so she comes back for
two
pieces of meat instead of one.” I said it so that he’d know I was only joking.

He laughed without taking offense. “You’re not going to give me any peace until I let you have your way, Maeve. I might as well surrender now. Come this way.”

We turned off from our accustomed homeward path and came to a place where the trees ended abruptly and a wide expanse of well-trampled earth lay before us.

“This looks like the road I traveled when I first came to Dún Beithe,” I said.

Kian nodded. “You’ll have room to swing the lure and I’ll be able to watch her flight in case I need to step in.”

“And rescue me if I fail?” I arched one brow at him.

“Rescue
her
,” he corrected me with good humor. “Are you ready?”

He wrapped his cloak over his free arm and coaxed Ea onto it so I could claim first the leather sleeve and then the falcon. I removed her hood with care. “There you are, my love,” I cooed. “You’re a lucky bird: you’ll have one more flight today and then you’ll come back to
me
, understand?”

Kian chuckled. “If all I had to do to make her return to me was talk to her, I could’ve trained her in a morning.”

I sent Ea flying. The kestrel was still avid to spread her wings. She circled over the unfamiliar landscape, then turned her fiery eyes to the southwest, where the road led to Connacht, our former home.

“I wonder what’s drawing her attention,” Kian mused. “Maybe you should try summoning her now, before she gets any unlucky ideas.” He handed me the string and took a leaf-wrapped piece of raw meat from his pouch. “Good thing I packed a few extra tidbits for her. Do you want me to tie that on for you, or can you manage?”

I ignored the gentle jab and deftly attached the bait. My summoning whistle was so loud and piercing that it made Kian gape. Ea must have heard it too, for she turned in her flight just as I stepped into the middle of the pathway, twirling the lure above my head. Her wings dipped, then rose as she came flying toward me. She was so beautiful that my eyes stung with tears of joy to see her, and my heart raced so wildly I thought I heard it pounding ever louder in my ears.

“That’s the way, my darling,” I whispered. “That’s right, you know me, you’re going to fly right to my—”

“Get out of the way! A hundred curses, you stupid girl, stand aside!”

I wheeled in place. Why hadn’t I heard the hoofbeats coming up fast behind me? I’d been too rapt in Ea’s flight. The lone rider sped down the road straight at me, yet I still stood where I was, looping the sky with the lure.

“Maeve!” Kian bellowed, and swept me out of the horse’s headlong course so violently that I dropped the string and
ended up sprawled in the yellow-flowered gorse and dead bracken by the roadside.

The rider pulled his steed to a halt and came back toward us. “Is she all right?” He didn’t look much older than I. His long red-gold hair fell in tangles to his waist and his pale-green eyes fixed on Kian. I might as well have been a mushroom.

“You fool, why didn’t you stop before you overran us?” Kian shouted, closing in on the young stranger. “Why didn’t you turn your horse? You had plenty of room!” He threw his arms open as wide as they could go.

“Watch what you’re saying.” The green eyes narrowed dangerously. “I
couldn’t
stop. My mount’s one of the finest and fastest in all Èriu. When I give him his head in a gallop, I’d sooner be able to rein in the lightning! If I’d pulled him one way, the girl might’ve panicked and dashed into our path, and if I turned him away from her then, she could’ve played the squirrel and scurried right back under his hooves. Now do you understand?”

“
I
do.” I stood up, pulling bits of dead leaves and flowers out of my hair. “Whoever you are, you’re the worst horseman I’ve ever met and the rudest man as well. A capable rider wouldn’t try to cover his mistakes with excuses, and a gallant man would ask
me
if I’m all right, not him.” I pointed at Kian. “I don’t need anyone to answer for me. I’ve got a tongue of my own.”

“Only one? It sounds like you’ve got two at least, and both dipped in hemlock.” The stranger had a wolfish grin that was much too charming for such an unmannerly man. “Your little tumble doesn’t seem to have done you any harm, but why were you standing in the middle of the road whipping a string
around your head?” He leaned in Kian’s direction and in a false whisper asked, “She’s not crazy, is she?”