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We leave first thing in theonly for Drust to set Orna’s remains aflame, so she can’t return to life as one of the undead Often demons take the bodies of their victims with them I think Lord Loss made the children leave Orna so her bones and last few scraps of flesh could further unnerve us
We hts on Orna and how she illingly to her monstrous death Is her spirit with her children now in the Otherworld or is it doomed to wander this land for all time, lost and da the lessons for later, proof that in spite of his stern appearance, he too is human, with the saround has been getting rockier the further e proceed Fewer trees, no fields of crops, not s But people live here, or did at one tie tombs Most of the dolmens have been knocked over, the stones scattered, the bones they housed burnt to ash And the seals of the wedge tombs have been broken, either by deo into the to undead I don’t think any of the dead in this land lie whole and in peace any e of beehive-shaped stone huts It’s an old settle the perimeter The huts are in poor condition, sohost village, all the people dead or fled But then I spot s at a child We look around at each other, surprised to find life in such a hostile, vulnerable environment
"Humans or demons?" Fiachna asks
"I’m not sure" Drust sniffs the air "There’s a scent of soain, eyes narrow slits "There are humans too Peculiar"
"Should we avoid it?" Goll asks
Drust thinks a while, then shakes his head "We need to rest We’ve had little sleep recently We must seek shelter"
"But if there are delances up at the sky "It’s a long time until sunset We should be safe And I’ here-and how they’ve avoided being butchered by the Deateway into the village but we climb over the wall in case the entrance is set with traps There are anioats They scatter when they see us, bleating loudly
A boy sticks his head out of a hut, a sling in one hand He starts to shout-he thinks sooats Then he sees us and his shout changes froers!"
Within seconds two irls and the boy-are in front of the huts, spears and crude swords to hand, facing us We hold our ground, weapons raised defensively Then Goll gives the order for us to lower our arreeting
One of theus beadily The pair have a quick, hushed conversation At the end, Goll turns and nods us forward, while thethe others
When we’re all together, Goll makes our introductions The or His name is Torin The other man’s Ert The women are Aideen, Dara and Fand We aren’t told the names of the children
"They’re on a quest," Torin says He’s a short, muscular man, dark skinned "They want to stop the dehs "Just the eight of them?"
"One is all it takes," Drust responds
"We don’t haveinto the dirt at Drust’s feet "Your kind aren’t as powerful as you pretend to be We had dealings with your lot before and they failed us"
"Failed you in ay?" Drust asks with cold politeness
"We’ll talk of that later," Torin says, frowning at Ert "For now you’re welcome We won’t turn you away However, we can’t feed you, so if you want to eat, you’ll have to hunt" He squints at the sun "I wouldn’t wait too long"
The woman called Aideen points to a pair of huts near the wall, both in poor condition "You can stay there," she says "You’ll be safe if you don’t wander"
"We’ll call for you later," the third woman-Dara-adds
"Thank you," I mutter when the men don’t respond
"Our pleasure," Aideen replies She starts to turn away, then stops and stares at me "Girl," she commands, "come here"
I step forward cautiously Aideen reaches forers to show she means no harm, then smiles crookedly I stand still while she cups my chin and tilts my head back
"What is it?" Torin asks
"Her face" Aideenmy chin towards Torin
The man frowns "She looks like but she can’t Girl! What’s your name? Where are you from?"
"Bec," I tell him "I’m from the rath of the MacConn"
"Are you of them?" Torin asks "Is your mother of the clan?"
"My mother’s dead," I answer softly "Nobody knoho she was or where she ca after I was born"
"Aednat’s child!" Aideen gasps, her fingers tightening on le with shock when she says that The face of my mother forms quickly in o with it
"You knew my mother!" I cry
"She was my sister," Aideen croaks
"Then this is where I’m froly my head spins and my heart leaps "Why did she leave?" I yell "What happened? Who was h!" Torin interrupts He’s glaring at me-the news that I’m of his people hasn’t pleased hiht"
Then he heads back inside the large stone hut, waving at the others to follow, leaving us to stare at one another uncertainly and ht
My head’s still spinning I’d al me west, and the notion that maybe she wanted to help me unlock the secrets of my past Inside I never really believed I’d discover the truth about my family-it was a childish dream Yet here I am, in the most unlikely of places, suddenly confronted with her name and the promise of my history
Aednat As soon as Aideen said it I kneas ic that makes me sure, but I think I would have known even if it had happened before my neer blossomed But her name is all I know Who was she? Why did she live in this wilderness with the others? And why leave her family to bear me in loneliness and die so far from home?
I want to ask the questions now, find out the answers ie hut and demand the truth frore as it is, and it would be disrespectful to speak out of turn If their wish is forthat is
Ronan and Lorcan hunt for food in the hours before sunset Game is scarce in this rocky wilderness but the twins return with two hares, a crow and a cub fox Fiachna, Bran and I pick berries and wild roots while they’re gone It makes for a fine meal There’s even some left over, which we offer to Fand when she comes to fetch us shortly after sunset
"We have our own food," she says curtly
As we’re walking to the largest building, there’s a ferocious howl froroup draw their weapons immediately but Fand waves away their concerns "It’s nothing," she says
"That was a de his sword
"No," Fand says "It was my brother"