"It was Fara who led me to the lake and to Hanna," interjected Collun, handing Brie an oatcake. He offered her honey, which she refused, and then he sat down to eat an oatcake himself. In the light of the fire, Brie covertly watched Collun. He looked different to her. Taller and leaner. Of course he had gotten older since she had left him at Cuillean's dun. But his gestures were the same. Brie's heart squeezed with some indefinable emotion.
Collun looked up and Brie quickly averted her eyes. Abruptly Collun rose and left the fire, carrying the pan he'd used for cooking.
"I like your friend," came Hanna's voice, drowsy. Soon Brie could hear Hanna's even breathing.
When he returned to the fire, Brie asked Collun if Hanna would be all right now.
"I believe so, though I know little of weather magic. At any rate, sleep will do her good," Collun responded. "It looks as though you could use more rest yourself," he added, gazing down at Brie's haggard face. Suddenly self-conscious, she raised her hand to her matted hair, bits of insect and candle wax still tangled in it.
"Collun, I..."
"Go to sleep, Brie." She could not read his face in the darkness above the fire, but the chill in his voice puzzled her. It was almost enough to keep her from sleep, but not quite. Again she drifted off, to the sounds of Hanna breathing and the firewood settling.
***
Brie woke early. The sun had dawned bright and it promised to be a warm spring day. Both Collun and Hanna still slept. Brie stood, dug out the remaining sliver of Monodnock's white lilac soap from her pack, and walked to the lake. Fara appeared silently at her side as she gazed out over the smooth mirrored surface. It was as if the bell tower, with its strange rooms and great evil bell, had never even existed. Like the fire arrow, it was gone without so much as a ripple to show for it.
Fara rubbed against Brie's leg, purring. "I know," Brie said, rubbing her thumbs over the tips of her fingers, remembering the tingling feeling of the arrow. "I'll get over it." But she was not sure she ever would.
Quickly Brie washed in the cold water. When she returned to camp she found that Hanna still slept, but Collun had kindled the fire. He was brewing chicory and the familiar smell warmed her. She had not had chicory since leaving Eirren. Collun poured her a cup and she took it gratefully.
"If you had not come, I would have died. Thank you," she said humbly.
"In truth, I did little." Again she heard the chill in his voice.
"Collun...," she began.
"More oatcakes?" He interrupted her.
"Please," for she was still very hungry, though this new tone in Collun's voice distracted her from her rumbling stomach.
Suddenly Brie remembered the dream she had had of Cuillean's dun and the soldier Renin dead. "Did something happen, Collun? At Cuillean's dun?"
Collun's face shifted, his eyes went opaque like teine stones. "Several months after you left, there was an attack, by Scathians and morgs."
"The soldier Renin?"
"Dead." His voice was flat. "You knew?"
"It was a dream I had, but tell me."
"There is not much to tell. They came by sea. We were taken by surprise. Fortunately it was a small band and we managed to fight them off." His jaw had gone rigid. "We buried Renin on that headland overlooking the sea. And over his cairn I pledged that would be the end of it; I would no longer be the bearer of the cailceadon. It has cost too much." Brie knew that Collun was thinking of Crann, the wizard of the trees.
"I journeyed to Temair and gave the trine and stone to Queen Aine and King Gwynn."
Brie knew how much it must have cost Collun to give up his beloved trine.
"They agreed to take it?"
"It was not a choice."
Anger, that was what Brie heard in Collun's voice. A silence grew up between them.
"So, Brie, did you find your revenge?" Collun's eyes were still hard, opaque; and though they were said almost casually, the words were like a knife thrust.
SEVENTEEN
Return to Ardara
Brie looked down at her hands; they looked dirty and she rubbed at them, though she had just washed them in the lake with Monodnock's soap, two, three times.
"Why did you come here?" she whispered.
Collun turned away. "When I was at the royal dun in Temair, there were visitors, neighbors of your aunt and uncle. They told of your stay at Dun Slieve and of your subsequent departure for the north and the mountains. Then word came of creatures called gabha who had attacked a farmhold along the way into the Blue Stacks. I was concerned and thought to journey there, but was told the mountains were impassable. I spent the winter in Temair with my sister."
"How is Nessa?" asked Brie quickly.
"Well, thank you," he replied politely. The cadence of his voice was stilted, formal, as if she were a stranger with whom he was exchanging pleasantries.
"Near winter's end the Ellyl horse Ciaran came to Temair. Through Fiain she conveyed the message that she believed you to be in danger. Ciaran, Fiain, and I made our way through the Blue Stacks, fending off several goat-men as we went. I had thought to journey to the village of Ardara, where your trail led, but Ciaran pushed us straight north.
"She was unerring, insistent, but I confess I came to feel the whole thing a fool's errand. Then, not long ago, something happened. I was sitting by the campfire when suddenly I heard you calling me. Your voice, clear as a bell, if you will pardon the expression." Brie smiled, but Collun did not smile back.
"It was so real that I actually stood up and looked around the campfire. And then I saw you. Only it wasn't you; that is, your edges were blurry and there was gold around you. And then you were gone, just like that. But for a moment I could see a large tower in the middle of a lake. Then everything faded. I looked at the map of Dungal I had brought with me from Temair. And there was a lake, very near to where we were. It did not take us long to reach the lake and the tower.
"It was Ciaran who led us over that confounded path in the water and Ciaran who broke the door down."
"How?"
"When that big crack appeared, she just flew out with her hooves, right in the center of it. The door split open and there you were.
"What happened to you in the bell tower, Brie?" he asked, and for just a moment she heard an echo of the old gentle voice she remembered so vividly. Strangely her eyes pricked with tears. Running her hand through her wet hair, she answered, making her voice brisk.
"I was a prisoner, a sorcerer's prisoner. Balor is his name. He turns out to be a cousin of mine."
Collun stared at her. "Cousin?"
"It is a long tale; I have not the heart for it now. But Balor is planning to invàde and overthrow Dungal, with Eirren not far behind. The people of Dungal must be warned. There may still be time to raise an army." There was color in her cheeks and her hands were clenched.
"I see," said Collun.
"Is Hanna strong enough to travel?"
"I am," the older woman said, coming up behind. "And if what you say is true, we must leave at once." She was pale, but her eyes held strength. "Where is this sorcerer now?" she asked.
"I do not know. North, he said, to marshal his forces."
"He must have a stronghold of some kind. Did he say anything else?"
Brie shook her head. "Wait, yes ... He said something about going to meet a sea serpent."
Hanna's eyes darkened with a puzzled expression. "Serpent," she said, musing. "Where is that wizard's map of yours?" she asked abruptly.
Brie handed her Crann's map, with a sidelong glance at Collun.
"I seem to recall hearing of a rock formation, far north, lying off the coast, that bears a resemblance to a wurme or serpent." The older woman ran her finger along the line of Dungal's coast on the map.
"Ah," she breathed. "Carreg-sarff. Here, as I thought." She pointed to a cluster of dots on the map. "Perhaps the villain Balor has chosen Sedd Wydyr as his stronghold."