The Battle of the Trees - Sword, Ring, and Crown Book Two

Chapter Thirty-Nine

When Venetto brought me back to the castle, I learned that my father had disappeared, taking half the lunantisidhe with him. Luke told me that Straif had told them that he hadn't wanted us interfering with my path. It had taken them some time to get free of his trap, and once they had, they found they still couldn't get to me as the trial had locked them out.

The remaining lunantisidhe swarmed around me with high-pitched cries. They were carrying vials of a golden liquid which they forced me to drink. Rielte and Ciaran were lying on either side of me as they added their healing to the Lunantisidhe's attempts. I felt some relief from the pain, but I was still slipping.

I swam in and out of consciousness for a while. I shrieked as I awoke from a dream where Joseph drew my life into him, much like I could with my links, much like I did when I made a child. My eyes flew open, and I found myself gazing into Rielte's horizontal slitted eyes. "Joseph, he...Joseph..." I sobbed.

"Shhhh...Joseph can't harm you." Xavian said as he pressed me closer to his chest.  "We cleared you of the poison, but you're still weak."

I wasn't listening and still kept sobbing. When it was clear that my distress was sickening me further, Xavian started his song.  Tylas inserted himself against my neck, and Rielte poured more healing into me.

I had quieted from the combined efforts of the three men. I cuddled Rielte closer to me and breathed in his meadow scent. His arms reached around me as I dropped off.

When I woke again, I faced Xavian and felt Ciaran behind me.

"Ciaran?"

"I'm here, love."

I was lucid enough to ask, "Do you know what my father is planning?"

"I might, but we can't speak of it now, Princess. We will talk of it later."

I must have fallen asleep again, or perhaps Ciaran did it, but the next time I awoke, Xavian had me bent forward, and I was in my underwear.

"Let me check her for anything that might be stuck to her," Xavian said before I could panic over being in such a compromising position. He slid his hands up and down my legs and arms. Then he held up a tiny sliver that had been stuck into my underarm. "This might be why. Perhaps in her battle?"

I shivered as I hunched forward, confused. I had drunk from the cauldron so anything that was wrong in my body before Joseph's poison should be gone.  Unless the cauldron couldn't fix something spelled that was attached to my body.

I vaguely remembered children ducking under my arm. I looked at the sliver as I felt a zing in my magic that made me shudder violently. Then I vomited, and with the cries of alarm of my family, I fell into darkness again.

I floated in that darkness, searching for my connection to the collective roots that always brought me peace. I could hear the sound of whisperings within the spokes and hubs, excited murmurings that I couldn't understand. Little synapses that I recognized as the lunatisidhe sparked between the spokes, and I began to understand that the collective had come out of its daze, and I felt myself click into place, into belonging.

At the center of my hub, the oiliness of Joseph's taint was contained in a tight bubble of Noc's energy. I tapped it with my mental finger, and felt Joseph's hostility. But Noc's frozen energy was too thick for it to come through. My body shuddered again as my spirit glowed, and I knew that I was probably glowing in body as well. 

 My roots hummed, and pulled. I could hear coaxing, gentle cajoling. Someone was helping me pull from my court, from my friends. I could tell it was Ciaran's doing, and I would have to have words with him. I could feel the individual presences of my friends, and someone was still talking to me.