Brighid’s Quest

Brighid opened and then closed her mouth. Cuchulai

“Maybe your instincts are still trustworthy. Maybe you just need to call them back to you, and start believing in yourself again,” Brighid said haltingly. She felt out of her element trying to counsel the warrior. She’d rather take him out on a long hunt and have him work himself into exhaustion chasing elusive prey, than try to advise him on matters of his soul. And from his silent response to her words and the lack of expression on his face as he returned to ski

She glanced at the warrior. His face was set into what was becoming its typical expression of stony withdrawal. Perhaps it was the talk she’d had with Ciara, but the contrast between Cuchulai

“Stop looking at me like that.” Cuchulai

“Cu, I hate it that you-”

“Ciara says we’re ready for the rabbits now!” Like a winged whirlwind, Kyna swirled up to them, Liam close on her trail.

“Next time could I go with you to hunt? I could help. Really I could. Really.” Liam’s eyes blinked enthusiastically as he hopped from one taloned foot to the other.

Brighid told her face not to frown. This was exactly why Huntresses rarely had offspring. They interrupted when they shouldn’t and made entirely too much noise.

“To hunt hare, you must be very quiet, Liam,” she said severely.

“Oh, I am! I can be! I will. Just watch and see, I will,” he assured her, still dancing from foot to foot.

“You’re never quiet, Liam,” Kyna said with disgust.

“I am so!”

“You are not!”

“I was quiet during the evening blessing,” Liam said. His wings rustled as he fisted his hands and raised his chin defiantly.

“Everyone was quiet during the evening blessing.” Kyna rolled her eyes.

As the two children bickered, Brighid looked helplessly at Cuchulai

“Kyna, I left the gelding tethered with the goats,” he said nonchalantly.

Looking a little like a baby bird, the girl instantly swiveled her attention to him. “But he doesn’t really like the goats. They’re too small and they bother him.”

Brighid thought she knew exactly how Cu’s gelding felt.

“I should check on him,” Kyna said determinedly.

Cuchulai

“Liam, you take the rabbits to Ciara,” Kyna ordered, tossing the basket she had been carrying to the boy before she hurried away. Then she threw over her shoulder, “That’s probably as close as you’ll get to catching a rabbit!”

Liam scowled after her. “I can be quiet.”

“To trap rabbits, you must be fast, too,” Cu said. “Isn’t that true, Huntress?”

“Definitely,” Brighid said.

“Then watch me! Just watch me. I can be fast!”

And as he scooped up the ski

“By the hot breath of the Goddess those children are a

“You learn to tune them out. After a while, it’s like they’re not even here.”

Brighid’s gaze snapped back to Cu. He had crouched down and was wiping his blade clean on a small clump of frost-dampened moss. His voice was again dead and detached. He stood up and sheathed the blade. Then, without another word, he turned and walked back toward the camp.

As Brighid settled herself comfortably near the brightly burning campfire and accepted a bowl of thick stew from an eager young server, she thought that even though Partholon was prosperous and thriving, there were many things Partholonians could learn from the New Fomorians-especially about traveling in comfort. The winged people had little, and their land was stark and harsh, but she had rarely experienced such a cozy, harmonious campsite.

The cold, ever-blowing wind had been neatly blocked by the sturdy design of the goatskin tents, which fitted snugly in a warm circle around Ciara’s blazing fire. Every so often someone would feed the fire with another chunk of what one of the winged women had said was a mixture of dried lichen and goat dung. The fodder explained the vague scent that drifted with the smoke, but it was much less offensive than she would have thought-and it accomplished its job. The fire burned hot and steady.

Di

Without being obvious about it, Brighid cut her eyes to her left, where Liam had insisted he had to sit because he was, after all, her apprentice. When had he quit babbling? she wondered. When had they all stopped babbling? Maybe Cuchulai

“Here-” Cu tossed a wineskin to her as he joined the circle, sitting cross-legged to her right. “You brought it. You should drink some of it.” He nodded his thanks at the boy who handed him a steaming bowl.

“It’s weird when they’re not constantly talking,” Brighid said, lowering her voice so that it didn’t carry over the crackle and pop of the campfire.

“They came a long way today, twice as far as I expected. Any other children would have stopped hours ago.” Cu’s gaze traveled around the silent circle and he almost smiled. “I suspect it has finally caught up with them.”

“Thank the Goddess,” Brighid mumbled and took a long pull of the excellent red wine.

“I suspect they’ll be ready to go again at first light.”

“I suspect you’re right,” Brighid said. The warrior seemed more relaxed than he had been earlier, or perhaps he was just tired, too. Did keeping everyone at a distance take its toll on Cu, especially since he had spent the vast majority of his life drawing people to him?

“Maybe we’ll get lucky and they’ll skip the storytelling,” Cu said between bites of stew.

Brighid raised an eyebrow at him. “You mean the infamous tales of a certain Huntress?”

Cuchulai

Brighid snorted, but was careful not to look at the boy, afraid any show of attention would cue him to begin prattling once again about how quiet he could be.