SWNOVELS Chapter Chapter Twenty: Tested
~Cillian’s P.O.V~
The soles of my boots clipped over the stone flooring as I exited the dark hall and stepped outside. Striding through the purple and white tents, I blinked away the sudden burn of sunlight and headed towards the tree line. After a week and a half of not seeing Macha, I was getting anxious. I didn’t trust her to follow the orders that I gave her before I left and I didn’t trust the others to watch over her.
In fact, I’d been proven right on both accounts already about a week ago. I’d spoken with Bria a few days after I left and she told me that Macha had been spending her nights by the lake. Not only was she not sleeping but she wasn’t letting Bria watch her eat so I was betting that she wasn’t eating either. It was frustrating that my family didn’t have the same concern about her habits as I did. Just because she acted normal throughout the day with no obvious changes didn’t mean she was fine. My father for all his talk was doing a shit job of taking care of her.
“Commander!”
Instead of turning around, I continued making my way to the edge of the camp. Mab had signed off on my ‘undercover’ work, so my two weeks off started now. While she thought I was roaming from town to town looking for Macha, I’d be force feeding Macha in her tent. So there was no reason for someone to be calling out for me. The anxiety of what that frustrationing woman could be doing without proper supervision was eating away at me. I was leaving today before she could get herself into trouble or distracted by a certain petite Nymph.
“Commander, wait!”
Coming to an abrupt stop, I stared coldly down at the male who stopped me, “What.”
“You-you can’t leave yet.” He panted out.
“I can and I am.” I replied, shouldering past the soldier.
Again the male blocked my path, “You can’t. We’ve caught word that a woman matching Macha’s description was spotted near the Tiveal Bridge a week ago.”
“Why is it only now being reported?” I asked, keeping my expression blank.
The male shriveled in on himself at my tone, “The village nearby is pretty isolated so the news about her being wanted by the Unseelie Court had just reached them.”
“Who reported it?”
“I’m not sure but Mab sent you a message.”
Stilling, I looked at his empty hands and barked, “Then where is it?”
His dark yellow eyes shifted to look over my shoulder before he dropped them to the ground. “Behind you.”
Tightening my grip on my bag, I turned on my heel to find a young pale skinned male with even paler lavender hair. Empty eyes of the same color met mine with a cold smile, “Commander, it’s good to see you again.”
“Prince Daithí,” I greeted. “What brings you here?”
“Mother sends her regrets but she wanted the Tiveal problem handled by people she trusts. I’ve never seen her so worked up over a common rebel before.”
Because Macha wasn’t just any common rebel. “You should join my team at this point, My Prince. We work together quite often.”
“Are we not already? With you in her army and me in her castle?”
Confusion and apprehension filled me at the prince’s words. Prince Daithí might’ve been the youngest of Mab’s sons but he was arguably the most dangerous. He was the one that everyone thought would succeed in stealing the throne out from under Mab and his older brother. A rumor only made worse when whispers of Mab killing his intended mate had started to circle the court. Daithí was his mother’s favorite because of his cunningness which put him in both the safest and the deadliest position in the Kingdom.
Thankfully he didn’t give me a chance to speak, “Let’s get going, Commander.”
“I’ll get my team.”
“That won’t be necessary, my personal team will be accompanying us.” He stated, raising a pale hand to motion behind me.
Instead of looking, I nodded and stepped to the side, “After you, My Prince.”
The young prince smirked before striding past me to join his small team of guards at the edge of the camp. Casting my eyes over the area, I hiked my bag up higher on my shoulder and followed after him.
Father.
A few seconds went by before I felt his mind push up against mine, Cillian? Are you here?
No. I’ve been delayed. Reports about Macha being near Tiveal Bridge have reached Mab. She sent Prince Daithí to come with me to check them out.
Just the two of you?
And his personal team. He declined when I offered to get my own.
...So you’re on your own with the Prince and his team? Cillian, something isn’t right. Pull out.
No. It might be nothing but Mab’s paranoia.
When has she ever told her sons to use their personal teams for something concerning important information. She doesn’t trust them, Cillian. Pull. Out.
I can’t do that, we still need her war plans. If I don’t contact you in the next two hours assume I’m dead and pull Baris out. They’ll be coming for him next.
Cillian-
Pushing my father out of my mind, I gave the Prince and his team a bored stare, “Everyone ready?”
The Prince nodded, “We’ll meet at the entrance of the village. And after we’re done, I’m guessing you’ll immediately take your leave?”
“Yes.”
“Where are you headed off to?”
Catching the mischievous glint in his eye, I kept my response short, “Only Mab is privy to that information.”
“She wouldn’t mind if you told me, I’m her favorite after all.” He replied in a falsely disinterested tone.
“Then I’m sure she’ll tell you if you ask her.”
Pale lavender eyes hardened at the jab, “I am your Prince, Commander. You will answer if I order you to.”
“The only orders I take are from My Queen, My Prince. And no one else’s.”
“No else’s?”
My eyes narrowed slightly at the unmistakable feeling of being tested, “Correct.”
“And when you say your Queen…”
“Is there something you’d like to ask me, My Prince?”
His lips quirked, “No. Just giving you a hard time, Commander. Let’s move out.”
Not wanting them to arrive first, I immediately traveled out. The last thing I saw was the Prince’s blank expression before the darkness took over my vision. As the feeling of weightlessness overcame me, I couldn’t help but think of Macha. I’d been genuinely shocked when she revealed the reason for hating me. How she could think that I picked Mab over her was baffling. I’d been picking Macha everyday for seven hundred and fifty years. I would’ve never become Mab’s commander otherwise. And if I didn’t die today, I was going to get it through her thick fucking head. Because that thinking was just offensive.
After a few stops, my boots crunched over a familiar dirt road and I quickly pulled an axe from over my shoulder. Scanning the area around me, I watched as the Prince and his team popped into existence a few feet away. He raised a lavender brow but said nothing as they turned to walk into the village.
We had barely reached a crossroads when a man and a woman came running up the path to meet us. Different colored eyes peeked out of the surrounding houses to watch us and the couple running towards us in concern. The children that had been playing outside were now being ushered back inside as quickly as possible. Mab’s ‘Queen of the people’ act might’ve worked on the Fae inside the Kingdom but the ones on the outskirts knew better. They were the ones that were ignored and suffered routinely from the cruelty of Mab’s soldiers.
“Prince Daithí! What an honor to receive you in our humble village! I’m Finn, the Chieftain of this village,” The yellow haired man greeted before motioning to the pink eyed woman. “and this is my mate, Sarah.”
“We’ve gotten reports of a possible sighting of the fugitive Macha from someone in this village.” The Prince announced, dismissing the man’s kindness.
Finn nodded, “Oh, yes. Of course! It was our elder Brogan who spotted her. Caelan!”
Footsteps skittered over the dirt floor before a barefooted boy came running around the corner with his navy colored hair flapping in the breeze. Panting, he came to a stop before Finn with a large grin, “Yes, Chieftain?”
“Go get Brogan for us please and tell him to hurry, the Prince is here to see him.”
Wide navy eyes took us in as he spun around and when he caught sight of the dark purple tunic lined with gold that Daithí wore, he started to bow. Thankfully, a brown hand quickly caught his shoulder and yanked him up straight. Finn gave the boy a tight smile, “Caelan. It’s treason to bow to anyone but the Queen. We only bow to Queen Mab. Do you understand?”
Fear covered the boy’s tan face as he nodded quickly before running off.
“I’m sorry about that, My Prince. The young ones still get very confused.”
Daithí waved a hand at the Chieftains words, “I understand, besides the boy doesn’t look older than two hundred. I wouldn’t brand him for that, I’d brand the ones responsible for teaching him.”
The Chieftain stiffened at the casually mentioned threat but wisely kept his mouth shut.
Disgust rolled through my body at the situation, I couldn’t wait until that dictating bitch was dead. People shouldn’t be punished for making an honest mistake like the one the child had just made. Despite Macha’s own past of not being the best Queen, she was never and could never be as bad a Mab. Macha’s strict hold over her citizens had been over their safety not their freedom and beliefs. A bigger difference between the two was that Macha’s citizens had never been afraid of what she’d do to them for disagreeing with her. While the Unseelie’s feared their own Queen and Princes more than any enemy that came pounding on their walls.
A thumping sound followed by a slow shuffle caused my head to turn in it’s direction. Coming up the dirt road on my right was a man with a limp that couldn’t have been much older than my father. His wooden cane hit the floor seconds before his left leg slid forwards in an off kiltered walk.
When he stopped just slightly off to the side of us, the Chieftain made introductions, “Elder Brogan this is the young Prince Daithí. Prince Daithí, this is our Elder Brogan.”
The Elder made no move beside turning his head to acknowledge Daithí.
“Tell us what you saw, Borgan.” The Prince demanded, showing his distaste already for the Elder by not using his title.
The old man raised an unkept red brow at the order, “I saw a woman with long blue hair near the Troll’s Bridge and I remember because I was going to tell her that she shouldn’t be so close.”
“Could you describe this woman in more detail?”
“Oh, sure sure. She was really tall, taller than me with these strange tattoos all over her.”
The Prince leaned towards the man, “What color were these tattoos?”
“Silver or white, something like that. Swirly too.”
Stepping up beside the Prince, I decided to ask a question of my own, “Elder Brogan was there anything else that caused you to believe it was the fugitive Macha?”
“Ermmm,” The Elder scrunched up his face before suddenly slamming his cane into the ground. “Yes! She had two swords strapped across her back and they were a vibrant blue color. The same as her hair.”
The Prince nodded as if it was a great find but I wasn’t too concerned. There was no way the man could give them any information of real substance. Except...if he saw her so clearly then he also saw-
“Was she alone?”
The Elder shook his head.
Prince Daithí flashed his sharpened teeth, “Describe them, old man.”
“There was this dark skinned woman with pink hair and a tan man with brown hair…Oh! And when she first appeared she was wrapped around this large-” The Elder cut himself off when his eyes caught on mine for the first time.
Tightening my grip on my axe, I narrowed my eyes at the old man and raised a lip to give a quick threatening flash of my sharpened teeth. Don’t.
“Who was she wrapped around?” The Prince barked, fed up with the Elder.
Tapping his cane three times in thought, his red eyes swung back to the royals lavender ones, “She was wrapped around this large white male with dark orange hair. Looked like lovers.”
His cover was good if not over the top, I highly doubted we looked like that with her nails piercing my chest. But this was a sign that I needed to start wearing a cloak whenever I went anywhere with her in public. The tensions between Mab and Macha was starting to heat up which meant that soon no one would be safe. And Mab’s paranoia was going to cause heads to roll in and out of Court.
“Interesting. Thank you for your information.” The Prince was halfway turned around when a sharp gust of wind snapped the man’s cane in half and sent him tumbling to the floor. “Next time, I expect to be informed immediately and spoken to with respect. My title is not optional when you speak to me.”
The Chieftain and his wife gasped as they rushed over to help the Elder to his feet.
“Commander, please inform these uneducated Fae about the dangers of this woman.”
Nodding, I stepped into the center of the crossroads and did a slow three sixty as I projected my voice, “The fugitive Macha is wanted by Queen Mab on the charges of high treason and mass murder. She is to be considered extremely dangerous and mentally unstable. Macha is a ruthless Unseelie of the old ways and she will not hesitate to kill. If you see her, you are to report it to a soldier immediately. For the safety of yourself and your neighbors do not attack or attempt to capture her yourself. Anyone one found to be helping or working with her will face the punishment of death and denied a sky pyre.”
The Fae watching from their houses sunk lower to avoid my eyes and the harsh knowledge of the punishment. To be denied a sky pyre was the cruelest fate that a Fae could be sentenced to. Without it, the Fae would never ascend into the stars to meet their ancestors or watch over their descendants. It was a punishment that caused even me to flinch but I knew that Macha was worth it. The future of Tir Na Nog was worth it.
When I was sure the village Fae had been scared enough, I walked down the path after the Prince and his silent team. The group of females and males had watched the area around their prince with sharp eyes. This was why Mab didn’t like her sons using their personal teams on missions important to her. Because she could never tell who held their true loyalty.
“Well, Commander this is where we part.” The Prince smiled coldly. “Before I leave, I’d like to give you a piece of advice.”
Ice raced through my veins, “I’d be honored, My Prince.”
“Unbreakable loyalty is only admirable when it’s to the right person.” He said, dead eyes glinting with something sharp.
I nodded my false understanding to his cryptic words and watched them all closely before they disappeared. Without thinking, I instantly started to travel from place to place. My interaction with the youngest Prince had put me on high alert, I wasn’t sure what his game was but I knew it wasn’t anything good.
I’d double the amount of places and broaden my range before I traveled to Macha’s base. Until I knew for sure, I was going to start acting like I was being followed. If Mab found our base before the actual war started we’d be done for. The only downside to this plan was that I was going to need a few hours of sleep after all of this traveling. But, I was hoping I wouldn’t be too tired to check in on Macha. It was late in the afternoon but I wouldn’t put it past her to be doing something that she shouldn’t be.
Please Divines, for once let this woman be in her tent doing something normal and calm.
—-
Daithí pronounced Dah-Hee
You’ve finally met Macha’s youngest brother!! What do we think of Daithí?? Anyone think he’s like Macha at all, lol. This is the first character I’ve written that makes ME feel uncomfortable. Also I wrote this in a day so sorry if it’s shit lol. I just had to put something out for y’all. I think I’m addicted to the notifications lmao.
As always, feel free to comment or like at will!
Smooches, Verbage💋