Page 30 of Queen of the Hollow Hills (Eagles and Crows #3)

CHAPTER 29

W ith the tiny kitten in tow, we returned to Isurium Brigantum by midday. I was exhausted and ready to sleep, but I knew we must now be watchful. My gambit to take Chieftain Remick by surprise and nip Parisii boldness in the bud could quickly backfire.

It was possible that Ruith would take it as a declaration of war and rally his warriors.

I doubted it, but I had gambled.

In the hours to come, I would see if I was right in my assessment that Ruith was, in fact, weak and scared.

Along with the men I had taken captive, I sent word to Brennan, asking him to make ready if I needed to call his banners.

The bucket with Chieftain Remick’s head went with a messenger to the Parisii seat in Brough. My message was clear. I had avenged the wrongdoings done to my people. I had taken back my stolen goods, and the culprit of the crimes against my people had been punished. I warned Ruith that any further incursions would be met with my total forces.

And then, I waited.

Back in Isurium Brigantum, I prepared to rest in the small but comfortable chamber Aedan had readied for me.

“Do you want me to attend to the kitten?” Lollie, the girl Aedan had sent to assist me, asked. “She’s an energetic little thing,” Lollie added, patting the all-white kitten. “Pretty and a touch mad, I think. Kind of like your Roman man,” the girl said with a laugh, scratching the kitten’s belly, which earned the maid a full attack with teeth and claws.

It was clear that the girl Aedan had sent to attend me was more kitchen maid than ladies’ maid. In fact, she had hardly assisted me at all, so busy playing with the little cat. Not that I minded. I needed no pampering and was also completely enamored with the kitten.

“And just where is my Roman man?”

“Lord Fabius was shopping in the village. He made one of the guards take him.”

I rolled my eyes. “Very well. As for the kitten, I think we’ll be all right.”

The kitten had eaten her bites of chicken with great ferocity and a lot of growling. Given how thin she was and how much she’d eaten, I guessed she’d been alone for a while.

“Very well, Queen Cartimandua. But if you need anything, don’t hesitate to call for me,” the girl said, then departed.

Exhausted, I lay down in bed, my eyes drifting closed at once. I would stay in Isurium Brigantum and wait for Ruith’s reply. Whether it was a messenger or swords. I would know soon enough.

I had just drifted off to sleep when I felt a little body snuggle under my chin. I lifted my hand and set it on the kitten, giving her a light pat. “I hope that bath Lollie gave you got all your fleas off, or we’ll both be itching by morning,” I said, then drifted back to sleep.

For the first time in months, I dreamed of my daughters.

In my dream, they were older. Both girls were taller, their hair shoulder-length. Regan wore a black gown with silver trim. Aelith was dressed in white and gold. They wore the small diadems Ystradwel had given them. They held my hands and led me through a field of flowers, laughing as the butterflies surrounded us.

“You see? See where we are? Isn’t it beautiful here? This is where we are waiting for you,” Regan told me.

I looked all around, not recognizing the place. It was so beautiful. The sun shimmered softly, bathing everything in golden light. There was a single standing stone in the field. Butterflies fluttered all around it. Everywhere I looked, I saw flowers.

“Don’t be sad, Cartimandua,” Aelith added. “It is a beautiful place. One day, we’ll all be here together.”

“Aelith, let’s play,” Regan called. Letting me go, she ran off, giggling.

Aelith squeezed my hand, smiling up at me, and then took off after her sister. “I will catch you, Regan!”

The pair laughed wildly.

They raced in circles, chasing one another, as the sun shimmered on their hair. Regan’s hair was so dark that it shone blue. Aelith’s locks were so pale they looked white. Butterflies flew all around them.

It was a picture of pure joy.

Despite how warm my heart felt at the sight, I could feel my real tears slipping down my cheeks, but I bid myself not to wake. Instead, I stayed and watched my girls playing, relishing every moment.

I slept through the day, only waking the following morning. I dressed slowly, clinging to the last of my dream, then joined Aedan in his dining hall, taking the kitten with me.

“Queen Cartimandua,” Aedan said. “Good morrow.”

“Good morrow. Any word?”

“Not yet,” he said, then gestured to his servants to bring me food and drink as he looked over a pile of parchments before him.

I sat beside him, placing the kitten in my lap. “Anything the matter?” I asked, gesturing to his work.

“I sent a shipment to Gaul for trade, but there has been no word back, nor has anyone seen the ship it sailed on. I had word from Brennan this morning. That is not the first Brigantes ship to set sail for Gaul to be late in returning.”

“There are rumors from Gaul.”

“Of?”

“All this trade and infrastructure… The Romans have been building. Ships. Ports. Even a lighthouse. There are rumblings from Rome itself that the new emperor, Claudius, is ambitious.”

“How ambitious?”

“Ambitious enough to complete the work of Caesar.”

“What do the priestesses say? Any sign…like before?” he asked, lowering his voice.

Isurium Brigantum was so close to the Claws of the Cailleach that they had seen some of the magic we had performed that terrible night. The sky had lit up, and lightning and thunder had rolled in a cloudless sky. Aedan didn’t know what we had done, but he knew we had done something. Far to the south, a Roman emperor had gone mad, and and my daughters had died. With them, so, too, had died my faith in the twin goddesses. Since Aelith’s and Regan’s deaths, I had not attended the rites of Samhain and Beltane at the henge. I no longer sought M?d’s counsel. In fact, I had not even seen M?d since that fateful night. All my life, I had trusted the goddesses. But no longer. I had put all my faith in the Cailleach, and she had betrayed me. Now, I listened only to my heart and the whispers from the hollow hills. The dark creatures wanted only one thing…to protect themselves and the land. They would use me to that end. As long I was not blind to their motivations, they could be trusted.

“There are whispers from the hollow hills of war, but it will not be like before.” Because I will never, ever sacrifice my loved ones in Rome’s name again . “I have sent men into Gaul. Many eyes. The wind whispers Rome is on the move. Soon, I will learn the truth.”

“And Corva? Where is the priestess?”

“Corva went west chasing rumors.”

“ West ?”

“Lord Gregor. I fear for Ystradwel’s seat. This lord has convinced her that he is to be trusted, but I fear he plays her to take what is hers.”

“I hope she will not make the same mistake twice.”

“Nor I.”

The kitten on my lap sat attacking the tassel on the neck of my gown, then fell asleep just before the servants brought me a meal. As I ate, Aedan and I spoke of light things, the conversation eventually turning to his sister.

“Amma writes she is well but it is windy and cold in Barrow.”

“I am glad to see them both happy,” I said, wishing with every ounce of me that what I said was entirely accurate.

“As am I. I feared my sister might never marry again. Her relationship with her husband was…complicated. But she and King Eddin were at ease with one another. Amma came to life in his presence.”

“It is good to see Eddin happy after so many years under the Carvetti boot.”

“Yes,” Aedan agreed. “Many disagreed with how your father handled the war between the Dardani and Carvetti. I remember my father speaking passionately in opposition to your father.”

“My father prized peace. I cannot fault him for that, but there is more than one way to win that peace.”

“Agreed.”

Later that day, Aedan and I rode from the fort so he might show me a site I had not seen before.

“It is not only the Claws of the Cailleach that sit on my lands, my queen,” Aedan told me.

With Fabius, Aerin, and our guards along with us, we rode across the mountains, finally reaching a jagged crag. The massive stony space, larger than a town square, sat a bit away from an ancient forest.

“Oh, rocks!” Fabius shouted in mock glee. “I am so glad to be on horseback for an hour, in the middle of nowhere, after you just murdered a whole village—I’m sure no one is out for revenge for that—to see some rocks.”

I rolled my eyes at the Roman but said nothing.

Aedan motioned for us to dismount.

The valley where the unusual rock formation sat was windy, the breeze whistling through, blowing my skirts all around me.

Following Aedan, we walked to the bald spot on the crag. Aedan gestured to the ground. “I have asked both M?d and Onnen the meaning of these marks, but no one will explain it to me. But the old ones in the village say that these were made long ago by the little people of the hollow hills.”

I looked at the rocks. Across the surface were images of circles and mazes, interlocking rings, and odd, cup-like divots carved into the stones.

“They are even on the standing rocks,” Aedan said, pointing. Reaching for my hand, he said, “Come.”

Taking the chieftain’s hand, I crossed the stones. Aedan and I climbed up a small jumble of rocks. As we did so, I saw that these stones, too, had been marked.

“Look,” Aedan said, gesturing to the rocks before us. “You can see better here.”

He was right. From this vantage point, I was able to see that the whole top of the rise was covered with the circular symbols. Grooves in the stones connected many of the images. But as I looked, I realized something. The marks…they looked like the image etched over my heart.

I gasped lightly and touched my chest.

“Cartimandua?” Aedan asked.

“Look,” I said, undoing my top lace and working to pull the fabric aside to reveal the mark the Cailleach had set on me.

Aedan paused, his eyes going from the mark on my chest to the landscape around us. “Two discs,” he said, gesturing to my skin. “Interlocked. This is a rod—or is that lightning?—between them. Look there,” Aedan said, pointing.

I saw a similar mark etched into the stones. Around it were other interlocking circles.

“Cartimandua, how did you come by that mark?” Aedan asked.

“You would not believe me if I told you. It is the same, though. Is it not?”

Aedan nodded. “Yes. Or nearly. What does it mean?”

Lacing up my bodice, I shook my head. “I don’t know, but I believe you that it is the ancient ones who were the scribes.”

“Some of the elders say it is a map of the stars. In fact, they whisper that once, long ago, the gods came from the heavens to visit the ancient Brigantes. That is why the three sisters grace our banner, an echo of a knowing long forgotten.”

Fabius, who was walking around the stones, paused. “Queen Cartimandua? Why do you have these here?”

“The chieftain and I were just asking the same. We don’t exactly?—”

“No, I mean… There is a place in Capri near the old village where we have the same symbols. Even the same small cups.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, it’s the same. The circles. The divots. I don’t remember exactly how it looked, but it was the same. We children were forbidden to go there, so naturally my brothers and I went as often as we could. The last time we got caught… My flesh remembers well. They are the same.”

“Here, as on your island?” Aedan said.

Fabius nodded. “Isn’t that odd?”

“Very, my friend.”

The wind blew hard once more, the gust making all of us sway and hurry to brace our footing. When it did so, I heard the sound of a flute on the wind. The strange sound seemed to echo from the forest beyond us. And then, I heard the soft voice of a woman singing.

“Faerie things,” Conall said with a frown. “Perhaps we should go, my queen.”

I turned to Aedan. “Thank you for bringing me here.”

He nodded, his eyes flicking to my chest once more. “What does it mean?”

I shook my head. “I truly do not know, but all I can say is that this land and myself are connected.”

“You need no mark on your chest to tell you that,” Aedan said with a chuckle.

“Indeed, a gemstone crown would have been an equally effective reminder, and far prettier.”

“Oh, trust me, that patch of white flesh is very pretty.”

“Aedan,” I said with a laugh.

Again the wind blew, and this time, I felt like it was pushing me away from the rocks toward the horses. And with it, once more, the voice. But this time, I caught the lilt of the sound. The singer’s tone was melancholy.

“Look,” Fabius said, gesturing to the forest.

Aedan and I joined him.

Following Fabius’s gaze, we looked across the field to the forest line. There, at the edge of the woods, I spotted her. Weaving between the trees was a red-haired woman. I could hear her sorrowful lament on the wind.

And then…I saw her green cloak.

“We need to go,” I said, then turned toward the horses.

Aedan and Fabius followed behind me.

“Cartimandua. What is it?” Aedan asked.

“The caoineag.”

Despite my worries, when we returned to Isurium Brigantum, there was no news from the Parisii.

Conall checked with the others for news, but came back shaking his head. “There is nothing, my queen.”

“Our crows?” I asked.

“No movement in the Parisii capital. Ruith has not called for his chieftains nor sent riders elsewhere.”

I frowned. A feeling of dread had settled in my heart and would not let go.

“He has no one to send riders to. Cuneda is dead, and the Coritani are building alliances with the Northern Iceni,” Aedan said. “Ruith has no allies.”

I sighed.

“There is nothing, Cartimandua. At least, for now,” Aedan reassured me.

“All right,” I replied with a sigh. “Speaking of Northern Iceni. You know, I hear they have two princesses. An alliance with the Northern Iceni would make the Parisii sweat.”

Aedan laughed. “What do I want with a Northern Iceni girl when there are so many beautiful Brigantes women to pick from?” he replied then winked at me.

I shook my head.

Despite my jesting with Aedan, I still couldn’t shake the feeling seeing the caoineag had brought me. My stomach ached with worry.

The evening passed quietly. We shared a dinner with Aedan’s household once more, and then I retired to my bedchamber, the white kitten curling up against me. The feisty little beauty attacked my fingers and made a menace of herself before falling asleep.

“How about Ofilla,” I said, petting her. “A mad beauty. That’s you, my girl. Little Ofilla.”

Petting the tiny kitten, I slipped off to dreams thinking of Cormag. I ached for my husband, feeling his warmth and touch in my bed. Perhaps Ruith would not respond at all. Maybe I was only worrying myself for nothing. If the Parisii did not answer, I should return to Rigodonum. No response was a response. But the messenger Aedan had sent had also not returned. Until there was some news of the man, I should stay. I would not put it beneath Ruith to kill our messenger, even though honor and tradition forbid it.

Sighing, I passed into dreams as the little kitten finally fell asleep beside me. As my eyelids grew heavy, the sound of Regan’s and Aelith’s voices called me.

I woke early the following day to the sound of Conall’s voice. “My queen?”

Drifting from the dream, I heard my daughters rush off, laughing as they went. I tried to cling to the memory of the dream but was left only with a feeling. But what a feeling. The presence of my daughters surrounded me, like the fading of a warm hug.

“Queen Cartimandua?”

“A moment,” I called, shifting Ofilla, who had stretched long beside me, then rose.

It was still very early. The sun had just risen, the light peeking through the shutters’ cracks.

Grabbing a robe, I opened the door. “Conall?”

“Our messenger has returned from Ruith.”

I nodded. “I’ll be ready in a moment.”

Conall nodded. “They have woken Aedan as well.”

“Thank you.”

Hurrying back inside, I quickly redressed, pulling on a simple dark green gown. I brushed my long hair, slipped on my boots, and went downstairs. By the time I reached the dining room, Aedan was already there.

“My queen,” the messenger said, bowing deeply.

“What is the news? Relay not only what was said but what was seen.”

“I imparted your message, my queen, and sent along your gift. Queen Cailleacha turned red but was stone silent. Ruith launched into a tirade in a language I did not know. When he collected himself, he said, ‘Tell your bitch queen that Remick earned what he got, but if the Brigantes step foot onto Parisii lands again, I will return full force with my army.’ The queen said nothing. Queen Cailleacha saw that I was given food and drink and a place to rest before riding home once more. I was unharried. Nothing more was spoken.”

“Any sign of a rising force? Any show of movement to contradict his words?” Conall asked.

“No. Forgive me if I did wrong, Queen Cartimandua, but I lingered a day in the city in disguise to make sure. I saw nothing that would lead me to believe they are gathering forces. If anything, the Parisii were oddly quiet.”

“Very well. Thank you. Please, take your rest. You have done well.”

“Thank you, Queen Cartimandua,” he said then departed.

“Ruith is weakened and without friends,” I told Aedan and Conall, who nodded in agreement. “We have pulled his teeth.”

“So we have,” Conall agreed.

“Ruith is free to call me any names he likes as long as he sits and rots in Brough. Now, with that news, I think I will go back to bed.”

Aedan laughed. “I think Isurium Brigantum suits you, Cartimandua.”

“This is a very comfortable little fort you have here, Chieftain.”

“Little?”

“Ah, men…” I replied, giving him a knowing wink then departed.

I made my way back to my chamber and tumbled, fully dressed, back onto the bed. Just a few more hours’ sleep, and then I would be ready to face the world once more.

Just a few more hours…