Chapter 5
TWO OF THE guards and I hurried back to UnderBarrow, leaving Shevron, Elan, and the other guards to watch them. Nobody could tell me what was happening, just that the alarm had been sounded.
I brought up my Trace but saw no sign of any Abom, so it had to be something else. Oh cripes, had Shay made it this far? But as we entered the village proper, I saw it was something else entirely. There was a brawl in the middle of the village green. At least fifty people were involved, and the guards were wading in, trying to quell the disturbance.
Tam was standing to one side, motioning to me. I raced over to him, taking his hand as he pulled me close. “Love, we have to bring everybody in. Something’s going on and it’s not just hot tempers run amok.”
“Elan and Shevron! They’re still at the lake.”
Tam turned to a couple of guards who were waiting for his command. “Get them back here safely.”
The men raced off toward the shore.
I scanned the crowd. “What happened?”
“I don’t know. One of the guards came to tell us that there was a fracas going on, and by the time we got out here, it had escalated. As you can see, it’s not just men, and they can’t all be drunk.”
Sometimes the Bonny Fae got a little out of hand when they had too much to drink. It seemed to coordinate with full moons, so I thought that maybe Tam’s race was a little more moonstruck than normal. But we weren’t near the full moon yet—we hadn’t even reached first quarter—so that couldn’t be it. And these were village folk—mostly human.
There were a lot of shouts and catcalls. The guards responded in Gaelia, the language of the Bonny Fae. I was beginning to pick up the language but it was going to take me some time. And it wasn’t just one main cluster. There were several groups of people tussling. As Tam said, it wasn’t just the men, but women too. And in one corner, four kids were going at it.
“What the hell started this?” I looked around, trying to find some central theme, but when I couldn’t understand the language, it didn’t make for good deduction.
Tam shook his head. “I have no clue. They’re screaming insults at each other, and I’ve heard a few accusations—You slept with my wife, you stole my money, you destroyed my bucket…this is absolutely confounding.”
“What do they all have in common?”
“They all live in Willow Wood. Seriously? I don’t know.” Tam and I watched as the guards waded through, pulling them apart, cuffing them to various posts far enough apart so they couldn’t go at it with their feet. Everybody was snarling, cursing, frothing at the mouth. Part of me wanted to laugh—it seemed so ridiculous, but then I sobered. Whatever was happening was serious. There had been bloodshed, and medics were trying to treat scratches, black eyes, and broken bones.
Sarinka came running up. She was an incredible healer, Theosian by nature, and she was bound to Brighid. She was a certified mender back in Seattle, but that meant nothing now. What mattered was that she could get the job done, she could work with herbs and not just the medications doled out by the Conglomerate.
“I think I’ve figured out what’s going on. I’ve seen this before, on a much smaller scale. I’ll need to do a few blood tests, but I have the necessary reagents. I think they’ve been poisoned by Tripwater.”
“Tripwater?” I’d never heard of it. I must have looked clueless, and Tam looked about as confused as I felt, because Sarinka cleared her throat.
“Tripwater is a powder that, when introduced to water, can trigger aggressive behavior. It causes the victim to become angry over any perceived slight and sends them into a mindless rage. There must have been a few petty—or perhaps not so petty—grievances floating around for this much fallout. But that’s human nature.” She pointed to the general mercantile where two more men were still going at it, even as the guards were pulling them apart. “It affects more men than women, because testosterone already makes them tend more to violence.”
“Okay, so we’ve had someone poison the water supply. Can you cure it? Can you find out if all of the wells have been tainted with Tripwater?”
She nodded. “Yes and yes. But nobody should drink any more well water right now. Don’t even try to boil it or touch it. Have everybody who hasn’t been affected start hauling in lake water until I can find out what’s going on. I’ll need some volunteers. Thank the gods I managed to find a huge supply of medical gloves on the last raid.” She turned to me. “Can you round up a few herbalists? I’ll need a specific subset of herbs and they’re not easily identified. I need gatherers.”
I nodded, then paused. “How long does it take to affect someone with Tripwater?”
“Oh, two hours? Maybe less. It works quickly.” Sarinka stopped. “I see where you’re going with this. The water had to have been tainted within the past couple hours or the entire town would already have been at each other’s throats. Nobody living in the Barrow will be affected because we source our water there.”
I turned to Tam. “Gather the guards who haven’t drunk any water in the past three hours—add an hour to be safe—and have them start questioning everyone who can think as to whether they’ve seen any strangers in the area, especially around the wells. Meanwhile, I’ll go talk to Memy Pendrake about the herbalists. She’ll know more than I will.”
Memy Pendrake was an old, old woman and she looked it—her face a wrinkled map of her life, showing every journey she had ever taken. That she was Bonny Fae meant that she was far older than any of us could fathom, even Tam. She was an herbalist and healer, although she now preferred sitting in the sun or by the fire, dreaming away the days. But when you asked her a question, she was sharp as a tack. We had become friends over the past few months.
I raced back to UnderBarrow, through the labyrinth of passages to her door. When she answered, it was with a smile on her face, and a plate of cookies in hand. She was wearing a long flowing dress, and her hair was braided, down to her knees. It was the color of spun silver, gleaming as brightly as a full moon on a clear night.
“I had a feeling you were coming to call on me, child. I don’t know why—the vision comes and goes these days—but I sensed you near.”
I accepted one of her cookies. They were always excellent and I also had no wish to offend her. “Thank you. Memy, I need a favor and I need it quickly. We have an emergency and I need the names of all of the herbalists you know. Sarinka needs them.”
Memy motioned for me to follow her into her chamber. UnderBarrow was a labyrinth of chambers, some spacious like Memy’s, with two or three rooms to the apartment. Others were more utilitarian. The sitting room wasn’t large, but it was homey and comfortable. Two armchairs sat kitty-corner the fireplace, and a desk rested against one wall. A small table and chairs were positioned near a wood cook stove where a kettle was whistling. A china teapot rested on the counter, next to a sheet pan of freshly baked cookies.
“You might as well stop for a moment. It will take me a few moments to gather the information for Sarinka. Pour the tea, child, and I’ll be with you.” She motioned toward the kettle. While she hunted down the names, I poured the water into the teapot and carried it to the table. Then I moved the cookies off the cookie sheet onto the plate and carried them over to sit near the teapot. Finally, I found the teacups and saucers in an upper cupboard, and brought them, along with the honey and lemon, to the table. By the time she was finished looking through her desk, tea was ready and I was pouring.
Memy returned to the table. She was carrying a list of names, and she settled herself opposite me. “Drink while I go over these. What does Sarinka need them for?”
“She needs to make something to counter Tripwater and said she needed herbalists who will recognize some rare plants.”
“Tripwater?” Memy looked up from her paper. “I haven’t heard of that being used in a long while. Who on earth could have done this?”
“We don’t know, but somebody poisoned at least one of the wells with it. Perhaps all of them. Sarinka says she can make an antidote, but it will take some time and she’ll need help. A lot of people have already been affected.” I added lemon and honey to my cup. I didn’t like tea much, but I was learning because it was the drink of choice among the Bonny Fae.
“Then that gives me a good idea of which herbalists won’t be of much use. She’ll need those with the most experience, because some of those herbs can be very tricky. Campwort looks a lot like knuckleberry bush, but knuckleberry bush is deadly, whereas campwort tends to be a cure-all. Let me see, Minda would be of great help, and Luisa, but not Hanny.” She went down the list, crossing off some names and adding a couple more. Finally, she handed the paper to me. “You get those twelve together and they’ll help her fix things right up.”
“Where do I find them? I don’t see any apartment or chamber numbers here.” I stared at the list of names, feeling like an idiot. I had basically lived in UnderBarrow for six months and still felt like a total stranger.
“No worries there, child. Do you know who Dame Ferrika is?”
I knew the name, but not the person. “I’ve heard of her.”
“Ask Damh Varias to introduce you. She knows where everyone in UnderBarrow lives. She’s the Head Mistress of the UnderBarrow staff. She can send someone to fetch all the herbalists for you a lot faster than you can look them up yourself.” Memy gave me a satisfied wink and sipped her tea. “Fury, one of these days I’ll teach you to pour a proper tea. This…will do, but you will have to learn if you’re to be our new queen.”
I glanced at her. Damh Varias had released the official announcement and I had been getting congratulations from all sides, but it still took me by surprise.
She must have read my expression, because she laughed. “Don’t think old Memy doesn’t see everything that happens in the Barrow. Now, about that tea—we’ll get you straightened out.”
I blushed, feeling foolish all over again. “I’m sorry.”
“No, don’t go on about it. You aren’t used to our ways, and that is not a fault, it’s simply a fact. But when you take your place on the throne with Lord Tam, you’re going to have to know a bit more about the culture here. You come to me after this crisis is over. Hecate may teach you how to fight and track the creatures you do, but I can teach you how to navigate the polite vagaries of UnderBarrow nobility. And that is a lesson you will truly need, my dear.” She waved to the door. “Now go. I know you’re in a hurry. Take another cookie. You look like you can use the extra energy.”
As I quickly thanked her, I grabbed a cookie and the list and headed out to find Damh Varias.
TWENTY MINUTES LATER, I had met Dame Ferrika, who was almost as daunting as the Elder Gods. She was a tall woman, thin and gaunt, and she wore her hair in a braid wrapped around her head. She was polite, but icy, and I had the feeling that nobody ever rose to her standards. Which was probably why she had the job she did—exacting expectations led to high-quality workmanship.
She sent me packing with a promise that she would have the herbalists gather at Sarinka’s within the hour. I hurried away with Damh Varias, grateful to be out of her sight.
“She’s strict, isn’t she?”
“She’s more than strict, Fury. She keeps UnderBarrow in line, and she’s also an aunt to Lord Tam. She’ll be one of your relatives, my dear.” Damh Varias grinned at me, a twinkle in his eye. I had the feeling he was taking delight in scaring me silly.
“His aunt?” I paused, then asked a question I had been wondering about for some time. “Where are Ta—Lord Tam’s parents?”
“His mother and father rule over a Barrow back in Eire. You might say UnderBarrow is a hive off that one. Once, long ago, they were known as the Winter King and Queen. Now, the Winter Court is known as the Bonny Fae Court, and the Summer Court is known as the Woodland Fae Court. Perhaps one day we’ll return to the old nomenclatures, but until that day, Bonny Fae we remain.”
I stared at him. So Tam’s parents were still alive? For some reason, I had never thought about it before, but now it made me nervous.
“Does Lord Tam keep contact with them?”
Damh Varias inclined his head. “He does. When you marry, they’ll be here to welcome you into the family.”
I froze. The bigwigs of the Bonny Fae world were going to be my in-laws. For some reason, it hadn’t registered that I would be dealing not just with Tam’s people, but with Tam’s actual people. I would have a mother-in-law, and a father-in-law, and they would be looking me over like a prize horse. What would they think about having a Theosian for a daughter-in-law? At least the Bonny Fae seemed more open to integrated marriages than some other races, but still, I had no mother or father for them to meet, and what I did wasn’t exactly suitable for Court business.
Damh Varias must have seen the fear on my face, because he laughed and clapped me on the shoulder—a rarity, given how proper he was. “Oh, Fury. I wouldn’t worry too much. If you were marrying the Lord of Verdanya, you might have a problem, but with the Bonny Fae Court? They’ll be honest, but they’ll also be thrilled. We are darker than the Woodland Fae, and the High Court will appreciate your occupation and nature.”
“I hope so,” I muttered. “I don’t think I realized what a big deal marrying Lord Tam is. To me, he’s always just been ‘Tam.’ But now I’m in his world and it’s a whole different game.”
“You’re right, it is a different game. And there are a lot of rules to learn, and nuances that won’t come easy. But you’ll work through it with our help. I, for one, welcome your presence. We’ve been wanting his Lordship to marry and settle in for some time, but after…” He paused.
“I sense a story behind that. After what?”
Damh Varias shook his head. “Best he tell you himself.”
“What? Is he already married? Is there someone I have to worry about?”
“Only ghosts and memories, Fury. Come, let’s check on Sarinka.” He escorted me to the front of UnderBarrow and out. I wanted to push him into telling me what he meant, but the Bonny Fae could be cagey, and if Damh Varias didn’t want to say anything, he wouldn’t.
Outside, there were a few more brawls going on with the guards breaking them up, but Sarinka was standing in the middle of the town square over a massive cauldron. She was flanked by two women, whom I assumed were also herbalists. They were Bonny Fae by the look of them, and they were feeding herbs into the cauldron on her cue. Another woman raced back from the trail into the forest, her basket overflowing with a plant that I recognized, but had no clue what the name was.
“I see the herbalists found you,” I said as we approached.
“They did. Thank you kindly. I’ve got four of them out in the woodlands searching for the other herbs I need. These are the ones that are easier to find. Thank the gods that it’s summer and not winter, or we’d be up the stream without a paddle.” She motioned to the woman on her left. “Those go in now. Mind you, don’t add the flowers—just the roots.”
“How long till you finish with the antidote?” Damh Varias asked.
“At least till sundown. Then it has to steep overnight. Tomorrow morning it should be ready for use. Until then, we’re sedating all of those who were hit by the Tripwater. Also,” Sarinka said, wiping her hands on her apron and resting them on her hips, “we discovered that they tainted two out of the four wells. So I’m making a massive batch because we’ll have to pour at least two gallons of the antidote into each well. I’m pouring it in the other ones as well, to make certain that we didn’t miss anything. And you’d best post guards on each well for now, till we figure out how this happened and who did it.”
She wiped her forehead with her apron—the day was warming up, and she had been standing over a roaring fire for quite some time—and turned back to her work. “Go on with you, now. I need to focus.”
We left her be. I crossed my arms, hugging myself. I was impatient and wanted to be doing something now, but Sarinka’s antidote would take time, and so would Heimdall’s explosive.
“I feel so helpless. There’s nothing I can do right now.”
Damh Varias started to answer, then closed his mouth, gesturing over my shoulder. I turned to see Hecate standing there.
“There is something you can do right now. Come with me.” She nodded to Damh Varias and turned, motioning for me to follow her.
We made our way through the narrow trail leading to the encampment where the gods had set up shop. Several hundred yards to the north was the new Temple Valhalla. While Hecate, Athena, and Artemis hadn’t created a new version of Naós ton Theón, they had erected a plaza and enclosed gazebo. To the west, the Celts were creating their temple—the Temple of the Sylvan Woodland. The Finns had set up a temporary camp to the northeast until they could build a new settlement on the edge of the lake.
The Greek gazebo was actually quite spectacular, for being so hastily cobbled together. While not the gleaming marble of the temple back on the Peninsula of the Gods, the pillars were made of birch logs, and the roof was thatched from cedar boughs. The sides were colorful tapestries from the old temple that they had rescued, and inside, it was big enough for three rooms—one for each of the goddesses. Other Greek gods had also trickled into the woods, but so far, no permanent plans had been made.
Hecate lifted the curtain that they were using as a door and motioned for me to join her in her “office.” I slipped inside, taking a seat. No leather couches here, but simple wooden benches with cushions on them. And her desk was a plank of wood atop four cedar stumps.
“Sit. Rest for a moment before we talk.” She paused, then at my skeptical look, added, “It’s nothing urgent. Don’t worry.”
So I sat, closing my eyes. Instead of the sounds of air conditioning and office machines, we listened to birdsong and the wind through the trees. Slowly, I began to relax. As I drifted, the currents of the wind caught my attention. Even though the tapestries kept them at bay, I could feel the direction they were blowing. The warmth had penetrated the forest enough to make me drowsy as I lingered in the moment. I took a deep breath, held it, and then slowly exhaled, the tension and worry streaming out on my breath.
Finally, I opened my eyes and straightened my shoulders. Hecate was watching me, a bemused smile on her face.
“What did you want to talk to me about?”
“Nothing,” she said. “Everything. I want to ask you a question, and you aren’t to answer now. I want you to seriously think about it for a while.”
“All right,” I said. Whenever anybody asked me to think over something “for a while,” it usually meant that whatever they were asking was pretty big. “Ask away.”
“A simple question. Are you happier out here than you were in Seattle? That simple. Think about it. Dissect it if you will. But come back when you truly know the answer in your heart.” She leaned back in her chair, stretching as she yawned.
I blinked. “That’s it? That’s the big question?”
“Yes, but you need to really think about it because your answer affects a great deal. Well, yours and several other answers combined.”
I nodded. When Hecate said “Don’t answer now,” she meant it. “About the village and whoever poisoned the wells. Do you have any idea of who did it?”
Hecate’s easy smile faded. “No, but I wish I did. Thor’s poking around now, looking into it. I wouldn’t want him on my bad side, especially if I were human. That much I’ll tell you.”
I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees and clasping my hands. “I’m not sure what to do, Hecate.”
“What do you mean?” She looked perplexed. “The herbalists are concocting an antidote. That will help those who were afflicted.”
“Not about the wells. Just in general.” I stood, stretching, and began to pace. “Back in the city it was go-go-go. When I wasn’t chasing after Abominations, I was working on a psychic cleansing. Or visiting Jason. Or hanging out at Dream Wardens. Here, the whole routine is gone. I don’t have many Aboms to chase. There aren’t really any psychic cleansings for me to tackle. It’s not the same. I could hang out at Dream Wardens here, I suppose, but…”
“I understand. You’ve been uprooted. Fury, your whole life was spent in the city. Most of your friends are much older than you and they’ve gone through a number of significant changes in their lives, including living situations. Don’t be surprised if you feel like they’re handling this better than you are.”
I lifted a corner of the tapestry nearest me and peered outside. There were no windows—without the tapestries the entire gazebo would be open to the elements. She was right. I had been feeling like I wasn’t picking this up as fast as everybody else. Jason had adapted. Tam adapted. Of course, he still lived in UnderBarrow, but the Barrow hadn’t been moved in thousands of years and now, it seemed that the time in Seattle had never existed. Even Greta and Hans were adapting. Of course, Greta was steeped in her training with Freya to a point even I couldn’t quite fathom.
I turned back to Hecate. “You nailed it. Really, I think that’s part of my problem. I don’t know how to change easily. My life was thrown into a tailspin when I was thirteen. And when Jason took me in, it pretty much settled into a pattern. Even after I moved out and into my own apartment, it stayed the same. I cherished the routine because, after Marlene died, change seemed like an enemy. I need to learn how to adapt.”
“Your days are fuller than you think. You train with me three times a week. You train your body six days a week. But now, it’s time to train your mind.”
“What do you mean? Go back to school?”
“In a way,” she said, laughing as she shook her head. “Fury, you’ve agreed to marry the Lord of UnderBarrow. Don’t you think it’s time you started learning about the people and the history of the world you’re going to enter? You can’t just stay like this after your marriage. Yes, you’ll always be bound to me, and your work with me comes first. But that leaves a large chunk of your life that you’ll need to devote to the Bonny Fae. You owe it to Tam to embrace his world and make it your own, as well.”
I stared at her. “I plan on learning the language—”
“Girl, don’t be dense. You’ll need to know the customs, the laws, the rules, the history. It’s like marching into Olympus and expecting everybody to adapt to you instead of the other way around. You’d be tossed off the mountain quicker than you could blink. Tam is Lord of his people. You owe it to him to know how to act, to be able to communicate. To not be a disruption in his kingdom.”
Hecate stood beside me. She lifted back the tapestry and tied it so that we had a good view of the forest. “Look out there. It’s a whole different world than Seattle. And UnderBarrow is, as well. You’ve been a guest, but now you’re going to be their queen. You must understand what that means.”
I stared at the thicket of cedar and fir that surrounded the gazebo, and as the bustling sounds of the woods filtered in, the realization that Seattle had well and truly fallen crashed into me like a Monotrain derailing off the tracks. A longing for my old life welled up, and I burst into tears, surprising even myself. I leaned against one of the pillars supporting the thatched roof and cried.
“I loved the city. Even with the Corp-Rats and the Devani and all the bogeys, I loved it. It’s all I’ve ever known. I’m not sure what I have to offer out here.”
Hecate opened her arms and I fell into her embrace as she held me against her shoulder. She was incredibly tall, and I found myself nestled against her breasts, which seemed weird at first, but the warmth of her hug wedged a crack in the barricade I had erected. My fear and worry came flooding out in the wash of tears and she let me cry until the sobs began to subside on their own. After a few minutes, I stood back and she handed me a handkerchief.
I wiped my eyes, noting that my makeup truly was waterproof, and blew my nose. “Thanks. I’m sorry. I didn’t realize that I was so upset.”
“That’s one of the reasons I wanted to talk to you. The first few months of any new situation, especially one as drastic as the one we came out of, are always a blur. We had to escape, then set up a new way of life, manage through the rest of the winter, all of that. Now, things are slowing down. We have time to breathe. And to think. I figured it was about time for a meltdown.” She winked, taking the sting off her words.
“I suppose it was.” I inhaled a deep breath, then let it slowly whistle through my teeth, taking the edge off the raw feeling that was irritating my lungs. Hiccupping, I let out one last choked sob, and sighed. “You asked me how I feel out here. I guess I feel like I’m a lot less useful than I was in the city.”
“I figured you did. But go beyond that, Fury. Sit down, breathe, let everything settle.”
I did as she asked. After a moment, I closed my eyes and once again I leaned back. This time, I could hear the chirping of birds, the susurration of wind through the tree boughs, the rustle of bushes. I could hear the forest around me, taking a deep breath and letting it out. There was a heartbeat to the land, I realized, just like there was a heartbeat to the city. Time here was based on the sun and the moon more than on lights and clocks. The rhythms were different, but they still existed. I just had to learn to settle into a new pace.
A few minutes later, I opened my eyes and sat up. “The silence out here has made me nervous. I can hear myself think, and that’s sometimes a scary thing. I can get used to it, though. And my lungs appreciate the cleaner air, that I do know. I don’t feel as rushed. And as long as I’m with Tam, I’m happy.”
“Then you have your answer. Home isn’t a place, so much as a state of mind.”
I nodded, biting my lip. Then something jogged my memory and I recalled my conversation with Shevron. I straightened. “I was talking with Jason’s sister. Verdanya is getting hit by Abominations. They have no one who knows how to fight them. Is there some way that we can train others who have the talent to see a soul-hole? To fight them, I mean?”
Hecate tilted her head, looking at me with a curious light in her eye. “I hadn’t thought about that, but you’re right on several counts. They’re closer to the city and the World Tree. They’d be far more vulnerable to Aboms. And they need a way to fight them. Perhaps you have something there, Fury. Let me think about it. Meanwhile, why don’t you go back to the village and see how they’re coming with the antidote. I’ll check with Thor on whether he’s discovered anything.”
I nodded. As I exited the gazebo, I thought about everything she had said. My life was changing and I had to run with that. Seattle was gone, and everything we had done there was in the past. While I would always carry my past there with me, it was time for the next chapter. And Hecate was right about another thing. I owed it to Tam to learn his culture, to learn his ways, and to become part of the world I was about to join.
I sucked in a deep breath, feeling the wind stirring again. New beginnings were on the horizon. Regardless of Lyon, regardless of Aboms, I was entering a new phase of my life. Ready to tackle my future head-on, I returned to Willow Wood, and to UnderBarrow.