NOVEL NEXT 43. Conveyed
More good news arrived in the form of Maeve's courier, who returned to the castle safe and sound, and right on schedule. He carried with him a sealed letter from Eileen.
When Kelly and I heard the rider was back, we made our way down to the study to join Maeve, Connor, and Siobhan.
Maeve checked the letter for spells and curses prior to breaking the seal. We were all hoping it would be ok, but considering how things played out a couple decades ago it made sense to be cautious.
The letter was safe though, and the news it contained was even better. Eileen was open to the idea of finding a peaceful resolution to the two families differences. However, she was unwilling to come to castle Brádaigh. Instead, she suggested meeting at a neutral location called Duma Dé. Apparently it was some ancient hilltop, but neither side owned or controlled it, so neither side would hold an advantage.
Of course I wanted to be there, and Kelly wouldn't let me go without her. Siobhan would be present. And I insisted that we had to bring Liam along, so we could hand him over to Eileen. It all sounded like a good idea, until Maeve pointed out that while a good rider on a fast horse could cover those distances in a few days, a larger group including two inexperienced riders would take much longer.
In fact, she estimated it would take us eight days to reach the meeting place. We'd be camped there however long it took to come to an agreement with Eileen, then we'd be on the road a further eight days before we were back at the castle.
Kelly actually had something of an idea where we were going, thanks to studying up on the local geography a while back. "Eileen's stronghold is over seventy-five leagues away, but this meeting place she suggested is only about forty leagues from here."
When she saw my blank stare, she clarified "A league is about three miles. So this Duma Dé place is about a hundred and twenty miles away."
I converted that to kilometers in my head, and realized if we had a car and a highway, we could be there in about two hours, instead of eight days. I sighed, "I suddenly miss cars..."
Still, it was my idea. I had to go.
Realizing that we were going to be in Otherworld for a few more weeks at least, Kelly and I both wrote up new letters for our families. We didn't mention any details and we didn't say anything about me getting hurt, we just kept it simple and said we were both safe and we were ok, but the situation was complicated and we were stuck here for a while longer yet. Maeve took the completed letters and made arrangements to have them taken over to Earth for us.
As the sun rose the following morning, Kelly and I found ourselves sitting nervously atop our horses, ready to set out on a trip that would take nearly three weeks.
Our group contained two dozen horses in total, though not all had riders. Maeve and Siobhan led the way, with Kelly and I close behind. In addition to the captain, we had eight more soldiers with us. All were armed with knife, sword, and bow. Maeve herself was similarly equipped, with a sword at her side and a bow and quiver of arrows on the sides of her saddle. Notably missing was Connor, but Maeve explained that she was leaving him in charge of the Castle.
Liam was with us as well, though he wore shackles on his wrists and his horse's reins were controlled by one of the soldiers. I was glad to see he was in good shape, he'd even shaved so he looked somewhat presentable. Finally there were five servants, then the remaining horses were laden with gear and supplies.
I was back in my 'rogue' outfit that I'd worn into the western woods, though I'd been given a new pair of trousers. Kelly had a similar outfit, and we each had daggers on our belts. Kelly was also given a bow. Apparently she'd learned how to use one in high-school. Of course I'd be relying on magic if we got into any serious trouble.
The rest of our party was similarly dressed. No more fancy blue-and-purple livery, everyone was wearing dark muted browns and blacks, and looked ready for the journey ahead. The only exception was one of the soldiers carried a Clann Brádaigh pennant, which he held high on a pike as we rode. And of course, both Maeve and I stood out with our bright violet hair.
Our party set out slowly at first, the others knew that Kelly and I were both basically learning how to ride en route. Maeve and Siobhan stayed close and gave the two of us lots of guidance. And we were told the horses we'd been given were quite calm and friendly, which was reassuring.
My leg was still a concern, but now that Kelly could work the healing spell I was confident I'd be ok. We'd brought along a few of the books on healing magic, with the idea of reading them when there was some off time. Though from the looks we got from some of the soldiers, I realized there might not actually be any off time.
Apart from the riding instructions, there wasn't much talk for the first few hours. Almost everyone else kept quiet as our group headed north and east. Just before noon we passed through one of Maeve's villages, the one that was north of the castle. It was a collection of two or three dozen small homes and buildings, surrounded by farmland and another twenty or so farmhouses. As our group rode through, several of the locals waved. They seemed happy to see their Lady, though several looked confused as to which of us actually was their Lady, between Maeve and myself.
Beyond the village we passed more of the farmland, then it was rolling hills and grassland for as far ahead as I could see.
We kept going till the sun was about an hour or so above the horizon, then finally our caravan came to a halt at the base of one of the low hills. We all dismounted, though some of us had more trouble than others with that manoeuvre. Some meaning me. I wound up on my arse on the ground, but luckily nothing was harmed apart from my dignity.
The fall was actually the least of my worries. My backside was killing me from spending all day in the saddle. Kelly seemed to be just as sore. We both kept quiet though, I didn't want to be seen whining and complaining. It was already bad enough that Maeve and Kelly and me just sort of stood there and watched while everyone else was working.
The only other two who weren't busy were Liam and one soldier who was guarding him. Siobhan walked around giving orders, and the five servants and seven other soldiers all rushed about putting our camp together.
Three servants were doing nothing but looking after all the horses. There was a little stream that ran past our camp and I realized that's probably why we stopped here. The horses had water and they could munch on the tall grasses.
The other two servants and a few of the soldiers set up our tents. There was a large fancy tent for Lady Maeve, a slightly smaller fancy tent for Kelly and I, a smaller tent for Siobhan, and it looked like everybody else was sleeping under the stars.
A few soldiers got a fire started, and when the tents were up some of the servants got to work making dinner, while others got the insides of the tents outfitted. Folding chairs were set up for those of us who were too important to work, so we could watch in comfort while everyone else toiled. I honestly felt pretty bad at this point, and I really wanted to help somehow. But I had no idea what to do and I knew I'd just get in the way.
I'd never been interested in camping as a kid, I was never a boy-scout or anything like that. My only knowledge of this stuff was from movies or TV shows, and I was pretty sure what they did in the movies wasn't anything like what I was seeing here in real life.
So I sat in my little folding chair between Maeve and Kelly and I sighed. I said softly, "I feel bad doing nothing. I want to help, but I don't know anything about this stuff."
I expected Maeve to laugh, or tell me it was fine and I didn't need to worry about it. Instead she said softly, "For now you two need to learn to ride, so you aren't so stiff at the end of the day. And Tegan, I am concerned about your leg. Once I'm satisfied with your riding, if you want, I will see you both learn how to set up and break camp."
Kelly and me were both surprised, but I thanked her for that.
My fae-mom shrugged slightly, "It's a good skill to have. My mother, and Taralynn before her, both believed if you're to order someone to do a thing, you best know how to do it yourself. Partially so you know they're doing it right, but also because it's important to be self-sufficient when necessary."
That made sense to me, and sounded kind of wise. Kelly asked quietly, "So you know how to do all this stuff?"
Maeve nodded. "When I was young my mother took me on expeditions and hunting trips. She had me work with the soldiers and servants, so I'd learn."
Before long camp was all set and dinner was ready. Siobhan sat and ate with Maeve and Kelly and me. The food was pretty good considering the conditions, though by now I knew food in Otherworld always tasted good.
After dinner, Kelly and I got into our tent. There were primitive sleeping-bags for us, and after we stripped off our clothes we climbed into them and lay down. They weren't great but it beat sleeping on the ground. Despite not doing any work, I was asleep pretty quick.
Morning was a reverse of the night before. Breakfast was prepared and served, then everyone got busy breaking camp and packing things away. Everyone except Maeve and Kelly and me. We sat around and watched, until our chairs were folded up and packed. Then we stood, until everything was ready to go.
I needed help getting up into the saddle again, and my behind immediately started aching. The thought of a full week of this did not bring me any joy. From the look on Kelly's face as she settled into place on her horse I knew she felt the same.
Soon enough the lot of us were on the move again. Today two soldiers took the lead, including the one carrying Maeve's pennant. My fae-mom and I rode side-by-side behind them, and Siobhan rode next to Kelly behind us. As we rode, Maeve gave me more tips and pointers, and I could hear Siobhan doing the same for Kelly.
I was still uncomfortable, but it actually helped. And I found myself enjoying spending this time with Maeve. I guess it was a kind of bonding experience or something, her teaching me to ride like I'm sure she learned from her own mom.
We kept this up day after day and it honestly got kind of monotonous after the second day. We eventually left the rolling hills behind and passed into thick forest. I was a little anxious travelling through the woods, considering how my last forest adventure turned out. Maeve and Siobhan both assured me it was safe though. And being surrounded by armed soldiers helped too of course.
On the seventh day we emerged from the forest into a landscape that was similar to the earlier rolling hills, except the terrain was more rocky and the grass was shorter and scruffier. The weather had been pretty good so far, but now it was overcast and grey. There was a cool wind coming from the north now, and it felt like there was a constant threat of rain.
That night everyone was quieter and more subdued when they set up camp. The only positive thing was by now both Kelly and I had gotten good enough at riding that we weren't dealing with constantly-aching backsides.
As we had dinner with Maeve and Siobhan, my fae-mom said "Tomorrow we'll reach Duma Dé. Eileen may already be there when we arrive, so we'll have to be cautious as we approach." She looked at me, "Tegan I'll be depending on you to watch for any magical hazards. Can you do that?"
I nodded, "Yes, I think so."
"Good." She continued, "I hope Eileen will be there to talk and not fight, but until we are certain, listen to me and Siobhan, do exactly as we say. Lives may depend on it."
Both Kelly and I nodded, and I felt some dread settle in my stomach. This meeting was my idea. If anyone got hurt, it would be on me. I hadn't forgotten that I'd already cost Ruadhan his life, I hoped there wouldn't be any more.
