Celtic Nights

Truth and Hate

Malwas diverted from his private quarters to the guest wing. The wizard who had brought Derryth to him had reported she and Lann had spoken extensively before his daughter died. The half-demon had sensibly disarmed and imprisoned the druid before this discussion took place but they apparently had spoken without rancour. He needed more information.

After her first escape from him, he had expected the danaan to rid herself of his child. He had discovered later her friends and her druidic circle had urged her to do so. There was no taboo to prevent her and considerable stigma in bearing a half-fomor. She likely would have followed the advice had the priestess of Danu she consulted not told her the baby was a girl.

The Marnad chieftainship passed through the female line. Derryth’s grandfather had ruled because he had no sisters, acting as regent for his daughter until it became apparent she had no talent for magic and was thus ineligible. Among Diarmit Marnad’s grandchildren, there were only two girls; Derryth, who was more interested in the land than the title, and Gwenaera, whose father had married outside the clan.

At the time of Lann’s advent, Derryth had only one son and the Drummond-borne Gwenaera had no heirs at all. The druid had not wished to risk ending the clan’s matrilineal line by aborting a daughter. She had gone to great effort to present Lann to the danaan Queen as her legitimate child. Her family had recoiled from a half-fomor heir but the war changed their attitude.

Malwas was still pleased with himself over how he had manipulated events leading to his daughter’s investiture as chieftain. Tradition’s hold on the Marnads had made them balk at their chieftainship descending to a minor family. Losses on the battlefield had winnowed the young moderates, leaving the older conservatives in control of the clan. The morale shattering loss of their battle standard steered the clan out of the war.

It had been a hard fight to take the Marnad colours but it had gained much, including Gwenaera and the two surviving grandsons of Diarmit Marnad. Malwas had directed that campaign himself before he met secretly with Derryth’s uncle Caerul, the eldest brother of the last female clan chieftain. He had been overlooked for the regency and the insult had festered within him.

Diarmit Marnad died of grief shortly when he learned of his grandchildren were missing presumed slain. The conservatives, desperate and frightened, had clamoured for an heir. Caerul put forward Lann as the perfect choice. She was the legitimate daughter of a female Marnad, acknowledged by the rightful Queen. Half fomor, Caerul granted, but young and easily guided.

The Marnads had not known of Lann’s demonic blood when they named her chieftain. Their ignorance had not lasted. His daughter’s first act as head of the clan was to open the wards to a fomori army and collect the heads of her clan. Malwas planned to tell Derryth this so he could delight in her pain when she realised her dogged efforts to make her clan accept their child had worked too well.

The guards saluted as he passed them by. Malwas entered his guest’s room without knocking and quickly behind him. Derryth stood amidst a pool of broken glass, blood welling from a sheet wrapped around her arm. Not for a moment did he think she was trying to kill herself. She would never do that. What she had done was smash one of the windows to climb out, using the sheet to muffle the noise.

It had worked last time but Malwas learned from his mistakes. He had placed a transparent wall of force behind the windows so nothing could pass through them. That was why the glass had fallen back into the room when she broke it. When she heard the door, she snatched up one of the shards to use as a weapon and whirled around to be difficult.

“Have you forgotten you swore a hearth oath?” He asked mildly, unafraid. However much she wanted, she would do him little damage and a mental summons would bring the guards immediately. The druid was a skilled archer as he had a scar to attest but a poor swordswoman. She shifted away into the middle of the room so he could not pin her against the wall.

“I remember, you bastard.” Derryth tried again to call forth her magic and again nothing happened. Malwas saw her free hand flutter. He smiled, taking delight in thwarting her stubbornness. All the rooms in the temple were warded against arcane magic such as used by sorcerers like the little danaan. Her druidic magic would function normally. She needed only to offer a prayer to the Spider Goddess before casting.

She did not know that and even if she had known she would not do it. When Derryth had surrendered herself to him in a prisoner exchange, he had attempted to threaten her into conversion. It had not worked. Malwas rarely met anyone so unsusceptible to his charm or his coercion. The druid might cave in a given situation but she had yet to remain under his hand.

“No longer grief stricken over our loss?” Malwas deliberately said our loss. Before she had fled from him the second time, she had slipped in calling Lann their child not just hers. She had taunted him into acknowledging their daughter publicly for a child born out of wedlock was not a bastard if her father gave her his name. Lann was formally Lann Marnad of House Corserine.

“I lost my children when I went to Avalon.” Derryth shook with rage. “I would have taken them with me had I known how they would suffer in my absence. Fang lost his family to a war your kind started and Lann grew up with your poison.” She drew in a shaking breath to keep from screaming. “It is very tempting to lay the blame for their deaths in your hands so keep your snake’s tongue to yourself!”

“I am pleased to see you recovered.” Malwas was taken aback to find this was true and hastily shored his position. “A passive woman is not to my taste.” He caressed her with his eyes being obvious because it would annoy her. She did not shrink from his gaze but her shoulders stiffened and her grip tightened on the glass shard. “You will only hurt yourself. Think of the children.”

“What children?” Derryth fought the instinct to cross her arms protectively over her belly. He could not know for certain he had quickened her. Though she knew her body well, she was not even sure herself the seeds would take. Malwas smiled again as her tense stance eased from aggressive to wary. It was so easy to divert her now he knew her vulnerabilities.

“You went back to your clan hold to rescue the children of your chieftain and your brothers. Even half fomor, they are still Marnads. Your clan has lost so many you could not abandon any heirs, could you?” He laughed at the expression on her face. “Did you think I was not aware of our daughter’s plan to convert your clan? To see the Marnad, scions of the long departed sidhe, reborn as fomori would be very poetic.”

“It is hardly poetry. My kin suffered at the hands of the daughter who you twisted into your image.” Her hands clenched. The glass cut into her fingers but she did not notice. If she attacked him, it would have to be quick. Derryth circled around slowly so she was between him and the door. Let him talk, distract him and wait for the right moment to strike.

“You cannot bear to think you brought evil into the world.” Malwas’s red eyes danced. “Akria blessed Lann. She was as much the daughter of the Spider Queen as she was ours.” He held up his hand when Derryth made to curse him. “I am not here to gloat.” He dropped his stare to her heaving breasts. “Or share your bed however alluring you are. I came to make you an offer.”

“Here is me without my long spoon.” It was her turn to laugh at his face. He had evidently not heard that expression. It was a Christian term she had picked up in Glevum, imported there by often used by the vagabond Roman halflings. She remembered it because she had laughed about it with her pagan companions. “You need a long spoon to sup with the devil.”

“I am hardly a fiend. I give you a chance to guide and protect your kin. I will bring the Marnad heirs here, if you cooperate.” He shook his head as she glared. “Calm yourself, danaan. I am not asking you to betray your precious queen or your vows. I will ensure your kin are safe in your care. All I want is your word you will not try to escape so long as they are my guests.”

“I will consider your offer.” Derryth said absently, her thoughts directed inwards. Could she trust him? Definitely not but he would keep to his end of the bargain if he got what he wanted. What did he want? She was no prize. How could she tell what a fomori wanted? Although she loved Bovos, half the time she did not understand him and the other half she thought he was touched.

“I thought you would.” Malwas approached her slowly and took her arm, dropping the glass shard to the floor. He unwound the blood spattered sheet. The cuts were not deep except for the one across her palm but they bled freely. The priest brought her hand to his lips and murmured a spell against her skin. Derryth only flinched when she felt the rush of Akria’s magic mending her flesh.