The Sacrificial Boy by: Elsbeth Aislin learns that all choices in life come with consequences

Chapter 17

Macha sat on a small opening high above the battlements of Dun Láidir, staring at the two armies encamped outside. For the first few days, the two forces stared at one another across an empty landscape, ready to do battle at a moment’s notice. Although still very apprehensive, especially since the person who had forced the peace seemed to have stepped right out of legend, the two forces had slowly settled down to wait.

Surprisingly, with the fighting on hold and with many who had family, especially among the nobility, on the other side, men and women were making the short journey to each other’s camps.

A strange festival-like atmosphere started to form between the honor duels that took place every morning to the Traveling Players who arrived a few days later.

Still, with the proclamation yesterday that both courts would be meeting in a couple of days at Dun Láidir, rumors had begun to run rampant through both camps. Some believed that the two Kingdoms were planning to surrender, while others thought that the Black Sorceress had been offering her armies to the highest bidder. For the most part, however, people simply waited to see what would become of them in the days ahead.

Feeling someone come up behind her, Macha said. “Nikkei, you don’t need to come in here every minute to see if I am ready.”

“I’m not Nikkei.” A familiar but different sounding voice said with some amusement.

Macha spun around in surprise. “Aislin?”

The two women stared at one another before Macha, with tears running down her face, embraced her friend. Tears began to freely flow down the face of the sorceress as well; as she held the person, she valued the most in this world.

As Macha began to kiss her beloved’s face, she said between breaths. “By the goddess, I have missed you, but I am still angry, you know.”

“I know, I’m sorry.” Aislin sighed, turning her head to catch her grandmother’s apprentice on the mouth as the two enjoyed a long passionate kiss.

Stepping back, Macha wiped her tears from her face to get a better look at Aislin. The kisses were as sweet as usual, but the body she embraced was definitely different.

“Oh my, look at you, what happened, you’re beautiful.” Macha stood back in shock but couldn’t help but admire Aislin’s new appearance. She had always thought her pretty once she started to dress properly, but now, Aislin seemed to have embraced womanhood fully. There would be absolutely no confusion that the person standing in front of her was anything but female.

“It’s a long story.”

“Well, then you have to tell me everything that has happened to you since you left me. I have guessed some of it, but you owe it to me to tell me everything that’s going on.”

Aislin didn’t begrudge her friend’s anger. She knew she would be spending a lot of time making it up to her, which actually made her smile.

Seeing the smile, Macha frowned. “I’m serious, Aislin, how about tonight? Right now, I’m supposed to be getting ready for a meeting with the Council of Elders. Apparently, this mysterious Máthair, whom my grandmother hasn’t stopped talking about, will be at the full council today.” Her eyes suddenly opened wide. “Wait, you’re her aren’t you?”

Aislin laughed at Macha’s reaction, taking her by the hand, she led her to a chair. “Since they can’t start without me, we have plenty of time to talk. Let me see to your hair, while I give you the short version until we have some time alone.”

“You’re going to work on my hair,” Macha asked incredulously.

“Yes,” Aislin said in a huff, spinning her beloved back around, as her own eyes sparkled with amusement. “My friend Garnet and her sisters have taken great joy in teaching me such things.”

While Aislin worked on Macha’s hair, she explained a little of what was going on.

“So you can tell the future, like a seer? I remember your dreams.”

“Yes, well, I have them now when I am awake as well.” Aislin sighed, thankfully the visions only lasted a second or two.

Macha made an unhappy face; all the Seers eventually went blind by looking into the Spirit Realm. “Your sight?”

Understanding her concerns, Aislin said. “Don’t worry about my eyes, Macha. Because I can heal wounds of the Spirit, I seem to be unaffected by Seer blindness.”

“Thank the goddess. So you know what’s going to happen all the time?”

“No, not exactly,” Aislin said as continued to braid Macha’s hair. “Let me see, you know, when a bowman releases an arrow, it doesn’t hit the target in the same exact location every time.”

“I guess.”

“Well, seeing the future works very similar.” Aislin thought for a moment. “So if the target is a particular event in the future, each arrow, for example, takes a different path to a possible outcome of that event?”

“I see.” Macha nodded.

“Unfortunately, the target doesn’t exactly sit still, as the future continues to be very fluid. Sometimes you find that a particular arrow is missing altogether. But like with any good bowmen, when you get closer to the target, accuracy improves.”

“So if your vision is of something far off into the future, it’s much harder to determine if one of those possible futures will come true. On the other hand, a vision about tomorrow might actually happen.”

“One would think so, but I am not always that accurate. The most powerful of Seers can look at many different outcomes and determine the one that is most likely to be true.”

“Still, there is a lot more you aren’t telling me isn’t there.” Macha gave Aislin the eye for a second, then laughed. “So my beloved, beyond the whole Seer thing, I find it terribly amusing that not too long ago, the council wouldn’t meet with you, and now you are more or less in charge of that same council.” Macha stopped laughing before turning around. “Actually, how did you manage that?”

Before she started to answer, Aislin felt someone outside the door. “We have a visitor.”

“Macha, I don’t know why you won’t have servants help you dress. I think you lived in that village far too-” The young girl, looking a lot like a much younger version of Macha, stopped as she entered the sitting room. “Oh, I see you already have someone helping you. You may go now; I need to speak to my sister alone.”

Macha looked at her sister strangely, unaware that to the young girl, Aislin appeared differently. “Nikkei, don’t be rude. This person is Aislin, she is my friend.”

The young girl frowned, looking at Aislin once more. Gone was the older looking woman in servant’s clothes, replaced with a young woman with raven black hair, dressed in an expensive looking forest green gown. Rubbing her eyes, thinking she needed to get more sleep, the young girl apologized.

“I’m sorry; mother did say you made a friend in that village. My name is Nikkei, as you might have guessed, Macha’s sister.”

“A pleasure to meet you, Nikkei.”

Still, the young girl was a bit confused. Someone had mentioned that Aislin was actually a boy. Of course, that was nonsense; she must be a different friend. “Oh, you must be an apprentice to one of the Wise Women on your lord’s land.”

“Actually, Nikkei, she’s-“ Greatly annoyed at her sister, Macha began to say.

“I am a King’s Healer,” Aislin admitted.

The young girl stopped talking and then looked to her sister for confirmation. At a slight nod from Macha, she dropped to the ground in a deep curtsey. “I am terribly sorry, my lady, I didn’t know.”

Aislin helped the young girl up, telling her to call her Aislin. As the three chatted for a while, Nikkei decided she liked the King’s healer but still felt embarrassed about how she treated her at first. It didn’t help when she asked. “So Aislin, I have met a number of the King’s Healers camped outside. Who is your senior?”

“I don’t have one.” The raven-haired beauty said kindly.

Nikkei almost wailed aloud. Unlike the Court Healers and the Wise Women, the King’s Healers used strength as a means to determine who would lead them. She couldn’t believe she had insulted one of the most powerful healers in the Kingdom. Suddenly, it dawned on the young girl why Aislin was with her sister. “Oh, you must be here to meet the Máthair.”

“Yes, well, something like that.”

“I see well it was nice to meet one of my sister’s friends.” The young girl curtsied once more. “I’m sorry to have disturbed you, my lady.”

“It was nice to meet you too, Nikkei.”

Smiling, the young girl turned to her sister. “I’ll be in my room when you’re ready.”

As the door closed, Macha giggled. “She is in for a surprise later today.”

Suddenly as everything that she had heard about her beloved, all of the rumors, the stories came together, Macha felt rather small. The powerful and beautiful sorceress Aislin had become wouldn’t really be interested in the simple daughter of a knight. The young apprentice even felt embarrassed about yelling at Aislin earlier.

“You know you don’t really have to come by tonight.”

“Why is that?”

“Well, I’m sure you must be very busy, so don’t worry about me. Please, go on ahead; I have taken up enough of your time.” Not wanting Aislin to see her tears, Macha began to walk to the other side of the room to finish dressing.

The apprentice only took a few steps before Aislin enveloped her in a hug. Holding her for a moment, she said. “When we are done tonight, would you be willing to come home with me. You don’t know how much I have missed waking up with you by my side.”

Macha turned around, answering her with a kiss.

--0--

“No matter how long you look at that map, it won’t change the outcome of what happened last week.”

King Llwynog, the ruler of the Kingdom of Dál Riata, let out a sigh as a woman, dressed all in white, entered the room.

“Of course, if it makes you feel better, you could always just blame me for what happened and send me to the chopping block.”

“Don’t be so melodramatic, Isla.” He said with a chuckle, motioning to the King’s Healer to take a seat. “I could blame my spies as well; of course, I should have believed the information coming from the kingdoms around the Old Forest.”

“True, but even so, one does not expect a myth to simply show up in the middle of a battlefield and demand a truce.”

King Llwynog looked out the Keep’s window. The same castle he had weeks before laid siege to; now he and his court were guests. In the morning, the two kings would be meeting with this so-called myth. “From what Mistress Galena said, she understood this sorceress wasn’t giving us much choice.”

“Your master Thaumaturgist did appear to be a trifle upset,” Isla smirked.

Llwynog gave a small chuckle. “From what I was told, she was terrified.”

“Well, what do you expect when King Conall’s Thaumaturgist threatened the sorceress with a pair of rather large and powerful elementals?”

“So I heard, but then she dispelled them or something.” He didn’t quite understand what happened, other than his herald insisted the two Kings agree to the truce and meet with the sorceress.

The woman nodded slowly. “Actually, it’s rather more serious; the sorceress shattered the bindings and banished the elementals. Galena said she had never experienced that much raw power.”

The older woman had to be actually brought to the healer’s tent and given a potion to help her sleep.

“Have you heard anything about what happened to Prince Rupert?”

Glad to change the subject, she knew the disappearance of the Heir to the kingdom, and the numerous regiments of horse had shocked the entire army. When ordered to redeploy away from the forest, the army was more than happy to comply.

The King shrugged. “Nothing, although something tells me he is safe, at least for now.”

“If I may ask, what do you expect tomorrow?”

The King thought for a moment and then answered. “Besides ransom demands, I’m not sure. Although with the time already lost, I cannot see actually fighting a battle to be in our best interest.”

“So, you think she knows of the loss of Farraige?”

The port city had been attacked with great loss of life by the ocean-going Trodaá. With most of the king’s troops marching off to face King Conall’s army, they had been raiding up and down the coastline with impunity. Such attacks were soon to become a full-fledged invasion.

“How can she not Isla.”

The overall plan had been for a quick ending to the war between the two kingdoms. While defending the ground of his own choosing, the two wings of cavalry were to attack the enemy from the rear.

“With Conall bringing up more troops, at this point, I would have no choice but to concede the valley.”

“Your Majesty, you know that’s not what he is going to demand. We will lose the valley, and you must release all claims to his throne.”

“My wife won’t be pleased, but that will be my burden to bear.” He said with a small laugh.

The King’s Healer looked serious for a moment. “What if they decided to continue the battle anyway? King Conall must know of the attacks on our coastline.”

“You are right; however we cannot afford to defend ourselves from both.” Pausing for a moment, he asked. “You and the other healers, however, do not seem overly concerned about this sorceress’s sudden appearance.”

Isla didn’t say anything about the comment.

“You thought I might have missed that, no? What I have been told, your elders are meeting with someone called the Máthair this evening. The sorceress, I presume.”

Once again, the Court Healer remained silent.

The king nodded. “It would present some difficulties for both our forces if you and your sisters decide to side with the sorceress.” Looking up concerned, he stared at the healer for a moment. “They wouldn't do that, would they? Would you? No don’t answer me; I have never doubted your loyalty.”

The two sat together silently, seeing that conversation had come to an end, the Court healer stood up and started to walk out of the room.

“Isla”

The healer stopped and looked back, the man had appeared to have aged quite a bit since the army left the capitol.

“When you speak to the Sorceress, will you tell her I would like to meet with her tonight if possible?”

“Yes, Uncle.”