Fire Arrow (8 page)

"I am Brie, as you already know," replied the girl, suppressing a smile, "and this is Aelwyn."

"Charmed, without a doubt. Now I hope you fair maids will do me the honor of being my guests for a simple repast at my oh-so-humble dwelling."

Brie and Aelwyn exchanged glances. Then the wyll spoke, her expression demure. "You are very kind."

The Ellyl flushed with pleasure. "Not at all. This way, if you please." He led the way through a dimly lit tunnel.

"Pray do keep in mind that we are at the very back of 'beyond' here. If you are the Breo-Saight of whom even I have heard tell out here in the hinterland, then you have had the pleasure of being entertained by King Midir himself. Most certainly my abode will seem quite squalid in comparison."

But when the Ellyl ushered them into his suite of caverns, Brie saw that they were quite comfortable, even elegant. Monodnock sang softly in his thin voice and several lights kindled in their golden wall sconces, revealing deep pile rugs and a scattering of soft pillows. A large tapestry dominated one wall, depicting a knight in the act of slaying a formidable red-scaled dragon. Shelves of books lined the walls.

As they gazed about in appreciation, Brie noticed that Monodnock's long nose was twitching, and he was darting sidelong glances at the two travelers.

"Well now," he said in a high, rather artificial voice, "perhaps you fair maidens would enjoy a nice hot bath? It must be simply ages since you have been able to pause in your travels to enjoy, uh, the pleasures of, uh, abluting." Monodnock pressed bars of sweet-smelling soap into their hands, his upper lip contorted from the effort of keeping his nose stopped up. He led them to a chamber, where he sang up some hot water in a large and elegant porcelain bathing tub.

Brie and Aelwyn again exchanged looks, but lost no time in availing themselves of the Ellyl's facilities. Each had a long luxurious soak and, after drying with feathery soft towels and dressing in fresh clothing, they rejoined Monodnock in the central chamber. His nose no longer twitching, the Ellyl greeted them with glad cries. "Isn't that ever so much better! Why you both smell—uh, I mean—look perfectly refreshed and splendid."

Then he served them Ellyl tea, which he poured from an elegant white teapot with gold-leaf trim into delicate white teacups of the same design, along with airy white cakes frosted with rich clotted cream and fresh strawberries.

"Now, ladies, pray tell me of your exploits. Nothing of import ever happens here." He sighed. "It is a terrible trial for one who yearns so to answer, the call to adventure." Monodnock ran his hand over his upright hair in a gesture meant to smooth, but the orange spikes only stood up straighter. "I fear you have been ill-used, Miss Aelwyn," he said, eyeing her face.

The wyll raised her hand to her cheek. "Oh, I'd forgotten. Have you a mirror by chance?" she asked with a trace of anxiety.

As Aelwyn critically studied the bruises on her face in a gilt-edged mirror, Brie told the Ellyl of the wyll's ambush by the morgs and goat-man.

"Ah yes. The gabha."

"You have seen them?" asked Brie.

Monodnock nodded. "I saw the first several moons ago. And since then there have been more. I do not know their business. So far they have not made themselves known to the people living along the Blue Stack Mountains, save for the occasional loss of a farm animal, which the Eirrenians attribute to wolves. The gabha have a disgustingly voracious appetite for uncooked flesh." Monodnock shuddered.

"They did not seem to want me to go to Dungal," said Aelwyn, adjusting one of her braids.

"There are not many travelers through the Blue Stacks to Dungal, but I've noticed that the gabha are keeping a close eye on those who do travel there. Still, I have not heard of any attacks on travelers before now. Oh, my dear ladies! The more I ponder the prospect, the more I am convinced that you must not even
thin\
of journeying on to Dungal."

"I will go to Dungal," Brie responded firmly.

"And I, too, though not right away," said Aelwyn. She finished the last of the cakes and drained her cup of tea. A mischievous look appeared in her eye as Monodnock refilled her cup.

"I have a splendid idea," she said. "Why do you not journey with Brie to Dungal? She could use a stalwart and brave champion such as yourself." Monodnock's face took on an expression that was half swaggering and half unsure. "Brie is headed on a quest of vital importance, which may even take her deep into the heart of Bog Maglu."

"Ah, to travel," Monodnock began, his eyes wearing an exalted look, "to sally forth, to ... to Bog Maglu?!" He sputtered, raising a trembling hand to his mouth. The Ellyl's face had gone a distinct shade paler, making his hair look even more orange. The hand holding his teacup was shaking so that the cup rattled in its saucer.

"You, uh, didn't actually say 'Bog Maglu,' did you?"

Aelwyn nodded.

"Why, uh, of course, quest and all ... It sounds perfectly, immeasurably thrilling of course ... Bog Maglu, are you sure? I am sure I should be delighted, under other circumstances, but there are penalties for deserting a post, rather severe and all. Desperate as I am to come to the aid of a damsel in distress, it is a terrible crushing disappointment to have to decline ... More cakes, ladies?" he finished brightly.

After that Monodnock seemed to hurry them through the rest of the meal, looking quite pink around the ears. He brought out several fur-lined blankets and more feather pillows, made sure Brie and Aelwyn were quite comfortable, and bade them an abrupt good night. Then he disappeared into his adjoining room.

Brie and Aelwyn took one look at each other and were overcome with giggles. They desperately tried to smother their laughter so Monodnock wouldn't hear. Fatigue soon overwhelmed them, however, and they nestled into their luxurious bedding and fell fast asleep.

***

Brie woke suddenly, something hard digging into her back. She opened her eyes to find herself sitting on the lake path, her back against the hard rock of a scree. Her pack, quiver, and bow were placed neatly beside her. Aelwyn was nearby and she, too, was just waking up.

"We seem to have been rather unceremoniously dismissed from the porth," Brie said.

"Perhaps Mr. Monodnock is not at his best in the morning," said Aelwyn, stretching her body.

"You shouldn't have teased him like that," Brie grumbled, rubbing her back.

"I suppose you're right, but wasn't his expression priceless?...'To sally forth, to Bog Maglu?!' Still, I wish he had saved us some of that strawberry cream cake."

But when they opened their packs they discovered that Monodnock had indeed given them each a hefty portion of cake, as well as a piece of medlar fruit and a big hunk of cheese. They also found that all their clothing had been freshly laundered. And tucked discreetly in with the rest were two bars of sweet-smelling white lilac soap.

"At least his heart is in the right place," said Aelwyn, biting into a strawberry. "You know, I've been meaning to tell you what a great fool you are."

"Oh?" Brie raised her eyebrows.

"To leave behind that handsome young man who cares •for you at Cuillean's dun."

"Indeed." The color rose in Brie's face.

"I saw the way his eyes stayed on you. Collun, that was his name, was it not?"

Brie nodded. "We are friends."

"Of course." Aelwyn yawned, then gazed critically at Brie. "It is not as if you were pretty."

Brie was surprised into laughing out loud.

Aelwyn ignored her. "Although if you took a little trouble..." She reached under several layers of her colorful clothing and retrieved the soft leather pouch that contained her treasures. As she removed her hand, Brie saw something sparkling in her fingers. The wyll leaned over and fastened a pair of earrings to Brie's ears. They were spiral mosaics of differently colored iridescent stones. Aelwyn then unplaited Brie's hair and caught it loosely with a bioran that also glimmered with iridescent gems.

Aelwyn settled back into her place and gazed critically at her handiwork. "Yes. You could do better with what you have."

"Thank you," Brie responded with a smile.

"Still, it is not often one wins that kind of loyalty, especially from one so fair."

Brie's forehead furrowed in puzzlement. "It is Collun we are talking of?" she asked.

"Of course. He must be powerful, as well, to live in such a large dun."

Brie almost laughed again, but refrained, removing the wyll's ornaments from her hair and ears. "It was his father's dun. Collun is a gardener, not a lord."

"So you say," responded Aelwyn, accepting the shiny things from Brie. "But you ought to think about taking more care about your appearance, perhaps wear a skirt every so often; that is, if you do not wish to end up old and unwed."

"Unwed?" Brie replied with some measure of astonishment in her voice.

"Surely the prospect is not an appealing one?"

"I have never thought of it, one way or another," Brie responded. And indeed she had not.

Aelwyn gazed at her with a look of incomprehension. "I believe you speak truly."

"Of course."

Aelwyn stood, shaking out her skirts. "Well, you reap as you sow," she said briskly. "It is time for me to go. My friend's time is near."

They walked back the way they had come, and Aelwyn pointed out a path that followed the lake's edge on the opposite bank. "In the first farmhold you come to beyond the lake lives a Dungalan woman married to an Eirrenian farmer. I do not care for the farmer, but the girl is kind. She will give you a welcome, as well as fresh supplies. They can direct you to the path leading into the mountains and Beirthoud's Pass. And, Breo-Saight, if you should journey into Dungal, to the hill country, and your way takes you near the village Cerriw, know that you will receive a welcome at the home of my family. I may be there as well by then. Farewell."

***

It was midday when Brie arrived at the first farmhold. A heavy, soaking rain had begun to fall, and Brie was welcomed into the snug farm kitchen, where a fire burned cozily on the hearth. Bread was baking and a large well-fed cat rubbed against Brie's legs.

The farmer Ladran was warm enough in his welcome, though Brie thought there was something sly in his eyes. It was his wife, Rilla, who urged Brie to stop with them for the rest of the day and overnight, as well.

"We get so few visitors," she said with a shy smile.

Rilla was a small, pale girl, with copper hair cut short and a voice as soft as ash. When the farmer gazed at his wife, his slyness disappeared; to even the least observant it was plain he was devoted to her.

Brie described Bricriu and asked if the farmer and his wife had seen such a man. Ladran quickly shook his head. "No, no travelers through here, not in a long while."

Rilla looked at Ladran, puzzled. "I thought I saw you talking to, a man a few days ago."

"Ah, no," Ladran responded glibly. "That was Farmer Gluhn. You haven't seen him since he shaved off his beard. He had a sheep go missing, second one in a fortnight, and was asking if I'd seen it about."

Rilla nodded, though said nothing.

She invited Brie to share their meal and served a soup thick with corn and potato, along with bread that was crusty on the outside and melting-soft on the inside.

During the meal Ladran asked Brie where she journeyed. When she replied, "Dungal," a look of the most appalling emptiness came over Rilla's face, the look of one who has lost a part of her body and can still feel the ache of it.

Ladran, paying no heed to his wife's discomfort, advised Brie against the journey. "It's a nice little place," he said, "but there's nothing on that side of the Blue Stacks that you can't find on this side, and then some. And who in their right mind would want to go to all that trouble getting over Beirthoud's Pass? That's my opinion, anyway. And I say that even though I found the treasure of my own life there." His eyes softened as he gazed toward Rilla.

Brie said she was set on going, and Ladran replied that in that case he'd be more than happy to show her the best way through the Blue Stack Mountains.

After dinner Rilla took out a box of paints. She began painting on small circles of wood. "Panners, they're called," explained Ladran. Each was no bigger than a small locket. "No one makes a lovelier panner than my Rilla. It's a craft native to Dungal."

Brie went around behind Rilla and saw that she was painting a miniature portrait on the small wooden disk. The face was that of a man, with a beard and keen blue eyes.

"My father," Rilla said softly. It was extraordinary, Brie thought, how the girl used tiny dots of color and hatch marks to create a face so alive it looked as though it might speak.

"It's exquisite," Brie said.

Rilla flushed slightly then smiled.

***

It rained through the night and into the next day. Rilla shyly invited Brie to stay on with them for the day and, as it was not the most inviting weather to travel in, Brie found herself accepting. Rilla offered her a pallet in the farmhouse, but catching a frown on Ladran's face, Brie said she preferred to sleep in the barn.

Ladran was gone on an errand to a neighboring town from late morning until sundown. As she helped Rilla with chores around the farmhold, Brie found the young farmwife to be very reserved, but then she asked her about Dungal and Rilla's reticence evaporated. Her soft voice became animated as she spoke of her family in the fishing village of Ardara; of the fishing boat called Storm Petrel, on which her father would go out every morning; and of the times, remembered with an acute longing, that Rilla had joined her father on the boat. As Rilla spoke, Brie could almost feel the rough wooden planks of the Storm Petrel under her bare feet and the spray on her face.

"Why did you leave?" Brie asked.

Rilla's face closed. "I married Ladran. He has been a good husband to me," she said tonelessly, and after that she would not speak more of Dungal.

Later, as Brie swept the hearth and Rilla made preserves out of gooseberries, Brie felt as though she was being watched. She turned to find Rilla gazing intently at her. The look on her face was strange, as if she were watching a story unfold. Then she gave a little nod and a smile, and returned to the stirring of the simmering berries.