Page 22 of Queen of the Hollow Hills (Eagles and Crows #3)

CHAPTER 21

I opened my eyes to see a world frozen in place. Lightning bounced between the stones but at a snail’s pace. M?d’s arms were lifted in the air, her mouth agape as she called. Her cape and hair floated around her, but the movement was so slow.

I turned back and looked at Corva, who stared at me, her red cape flying behind her, a look of both fear and determination in her gaze.

But within that still space, the ground opened before me, and the Cailleach in her dark robes came from it. She walked toward me, moving at a normal pace, until she came before me once more, her face shadowed by her hood.

“Lady of Winter,” I whispered.

“Why are you here, Cartimandua?”

“Caligula marches. I have come to beg your aid to stop the Romans, as you have warned so many times.”

“ Is this what I have warned of?”

“Is it not?”

“This place is one of sacrifice. For ages, blood has wet this ground, feeding the magic of the hollow hills. There is no blood now, but still, you ask for my magic.”

“I must protect my people. We must stop Rome. Take my blood, if need be, Dark Mother.”

The Cailleach paused. I could just catch the shadow of the smirk on her face. She leaned toward me, her face close to mine, and pushed her hood back. With eyes like lightning, she stared at me. “Do you think you know better than me, girl?” she asked, her voice booming, her eyes becoming so blindingly bright I winced hard. “Do you think you can take my sacrifice away and substitute yourself? Who are you to me? When you are but dust, I will remain, Cartimandua of the Brigantes. I will remain, and you will be all but forgotten! And yet… I accept your offering, Queen Cartimandua. I take what you freely give. Now, see! See him and take my power into your hands. See him and whisper madness!” the Cailleach said, setting her hands on the side of my head.

For a moment, it felt like my head would burst, but then, my body flew from itself. I sped with the speed of light across the land, across the sea, to far-off Gaul where the Romans gathered.

I gasped when I saw them. Thousands of soldiers. Dozens upon dozens of boats. And before them, draped in purple, a very tall and thin man with a bald head trimmed in golden leaves. He stood, his arms crossed his chest, and stared at the channel.

“Neptune, speak to me. Tell me when to launch. Tell me when to make my conquest!”

I stared.

Like me, the man spoke to his gods, but his gods did not answer.

“Neptune! Speak now! What must I do?”

I hesitated a long moment, and then, forming an idea, I whispered, “Caligula, Emperor of Rome, do you hear the call of the waves?”

“Yes, Lord Neptune. Command me! Command me, Lord.”

I reached out, setting my hand on the man’s head. His mind whirled with a hundred thoughts at once, all disjointed. Such mad ideas… So much jealousy, shame, fear, and rage. It was a mess of voices.

I looked out at the sea. “Send your men into the water with their swords. Slice the waves! Let the enemy know you have defeated Ocean, and then return to Rome ,” I whispered, my eyes going to the beach onto which the dark waves broke. “Return to Rome with your pockets full of seashells so all the world will know you are master of these waves. With Neptune’s strength, you have conquered Ocean. Return home a victor.”

Caligula turned to his man. “Sound the horn. Line the men up along the shore.”

“Emperor?”

“Do as I say!”

Summoning the soldiers, the emperor’s chief man then commanded the legions. The men lined up, ten deep, all along the shoreline. I watched in awe as Caligula mounted his horse and rode into the surf. His animal huffed and pranced in protest but did as his master commanded. When Caligula reached the center of his army, he called out.

“Forward! March!”

The men, not hesitating, began their march into the sea.

Caligula called out once more when the first man in each row was waist-deep. “Halt and attack!”

The men looked confused.

“Attack, Rome. Attack. Defeat Ocean! Attack!”

Perplexed but unwilling to tempt the ire of their emperor, the men pulled their swords and began hacking and jabbing against the waves. The onslaught seemed to last for hours. Only when the men began to tire did the emperor signal to his man to sound the horn, signaling the battle was done.

“Victory!” Caligula called. “Victory for Rome! Collect the treasures of the sea. These shells and glory are your payment,” Caligula said, then reined his horse in and rode back to land once more. One of his men waited for him as he dismounted.

“Emperor,” the man said, barely holding in his shock and fury.

“Prepare to return to Rome. Ocean is defeated.”

“But Emperor Caligula?—”

Caligula turned to the man, fury in his eyes. With his gaze, he dared him to speak.

“Yes, Emperor,” the man replied, then hurried off, shouting orders as he went.

Caligula stopped once more, looking out at the sea.

“You have done well,” I whispered. “You have done well. Return home. Return home and do not come to Britannia again. Ocean is defeated. Go home triumphant, Caligula.”

Smiling, the emperor bent and picked up a seashell. He slipped it into his pocket, then turned and disappeared into the camp, whistling as he went.

I exhaled a deep, shuddering breath, feeling like my spirit was snapping into my body. Gasping, I opened my eyes. Everything hurt. I felt like a bolt of lightning was running through me.

Corva ran to me. “Cartimandua,” she said, aghast.

I lifted my hands from the stones, feeling the burned flesh on my palms, and then looked from Corva to M?d.

“It is done,” I whispered.

The world began to spin around me, black spots appearing before my eyes. And a moment later, I fell into darkness.

When I opened my eyes again, I was in a soft bed. I could hear the crackling of fire and felt soft coverlets on me. I opened my eyes just a crack. Golden light shone in through an open window casement. My head ached terribly. When I moved to push my covers aside, I realized my hands were bandaged.

“Queen Cartimandua.” Lady Amma appeared over my bedside. She gave me a soft smile and then turned to someone I didn’t see. “Fetch Priestess Corva. Tell her the queen is awake. And let my brother know.”

The door opened and closed.

I looked at my hands, seeing the bandages thereon.

“Priestess Corva said they are burned,” Amma told me, then poured me some water. “May I help you drink, my queen?”

I nodded, then sat up in bed, finding myself in my room in Isurium Brigantum once more.

“How did I get here?” I asked, then took a sip as Amma carefully helped me.

“The priestesses delivered you on a litter. Aedan and M?d had very harsh words. I don’t think I have ever seen my brother that angry before. And I have never seen anyone speak to the priestess in such a manner. It was…harrowing. Well, that is of no importance now. Are you in any pain, your majesty? What can I do for you?”

“My head and hands ache. Where is M?d?”

“Gone. Only Corva remains.”

“Typical,” I grumbled, then sipped once more.

Amma adjusted my pillows so I might lean back.

The door opened a moment later, Corva entering in a rush. I was surprised to see her in a sleeping gown, her long, red hair unbound. She had hastily pulled a robe over her shoulders.

“Cartimandua,” she said, looking worried.

Amma set the cup aside. “I will leave you now and find my brother. He insisted on knowing when you were awake. Please ask our servants for anything you need,” she told me, then departed.

“Corva,” I said, exhaling deeply.

“Cartimandua,” she said worriedly. “Are you all right?”

“My head aches,” I said. “And these?” I lifted my hands.

“Burned. We bandaged your hands,” Corva told me. “The burns will heal, but it will take a few days. I will fetch you something for your head,” she said, then moved to rise.

“Wait. Rome? What news?”

“I sent eyes to Gaul. Cartimandua, what did you see? What did you do? You said it was done. What happened?”

“Caligula is a madman,” I whispered. “I saw inside his mind. Such thoughts… It was simultaneously like a hundred versions of reality, and so much rage and shame. He was so desperate to make his god speak to him. So… So, I spoke.”

“You?”

I nodded.

“And he heard you as his god?”

“Yes. I told him to make battle with the sea and collect shells as spoils of war.”

Corva stared. “And did he?”

“Yes. When it was done, he sent his men home. If it is true, if the vision is real…”

“Then they will not sail,” Corva said, gaping. “May the goddesses be thanked.”

“Let us pray it worked.

“Oh, Cartimandua, what you did, though… The Cailleach cannot have been pleased. A blood sacrifice is required to make that magic, which is why we never perform such rites. That is an old magic from a time before us all, a world before us all. It is too great a risk. And yet, I saw the magic myself, emanating from you like a bright blue light rising from the hollow hills below you, circling the stones, and then darting away like an arrow to the south. I… It was like nothing I have ever seen before.”

“If it is real, true, the danger has passed.”

“May it be so.”

A moment later, the door to the chamber burst open, and Conall rushed in.

“Conall?” I asked in alarm, confused by his abruptness. “What is it?” I asked, rising.

A second later, Brodi appeared.

“Brodi?”

“Queen Cartimandua. You must ride at once,” Brodi told me.

“Brodi? What has happened?”

“My queen… Queen Cartimandua… It’s… Oh, my queen,” he said, his face screwing up in anguish.

Something stilled inside me. “Tell me.”

The words coming from his mouth in a mournful whisper, Brodi said, “The princesses.”