Tír na nÓg Trilogy, Book II: The Rising Dark

Little Flower

They really had brought a woman back, and she was absolutely ethereal. She must've been as young as or perhaps younger than Emery and Tess. She was average height but slender, fair-skinned and delicate. Her hair cascaded down her back in golden curls, shining under the sunlight as she stood looking helpless and startled. She wore a glittering silvery dress with a blue-ish sheen to it, somewhat too shiny outdoors, and when Emery caught a look at her face, she saw pale green doe eyes under fluttery golden lashes, a tiny rosebud-of-a-mouth, and dewy pink cheeks. For all her innocent demeanor, though, Emery distinctly sensed that she was cleverer than she let on.

As they approached the group that had gathered around the young woman as well as King Cú Roí and the other returned warriors, Emery realized an argument was taking place. Tlactha stood next to Cú Roí and was, strangely, larger than she'd seemed in her abode. She in fact rose a head above him, almost like the giantess Ainle had claimed her to be, as Cú Roí himself was a large man. The druidess was practically yelling at him in her pinched voice, pointing to the golden-haired girl intermittently, her triangular teeth menacing.

Emery caught her words as they drew as near as they dared: "--your demise! Damn you Cú Roí! You bring disaster upon us all! Return this woman or your own blood will spill before the night is out."

"Old woman!" bawled the king, clearly frustrated by whatever she'd been yelling at him. "I will have no more! Return to your hole!"

"You dare speak so to me, the daughter of Mug Ruith? After what I've done for you? The heads I've aided you in acquiring? Is this the end of it all?"

Tlachta was practically screaming, and she seemed to be growing larger without actually physically growing larger . . . it was as if her presence somehow expanded. Emery was about to grab Tess and run, but when she turned to her friend, she realized Tess had taken steps toward the blonde girl. Emery stood as if frozen, afraid for Tess but also unwilling to go toward the group of restless men, the roaring king, and the freaky druidess.

Tess touched the young woman on the arm, and she turned. Whatever Tess said to her, a relief seemed to relax both of them, and then they began to walk toward Emery and Cathbad. When Cú Roí saw them, he protested, but Cathbad leapt to explain that Tess and Emery were going to take the terrified girl to rest in their chamber, which seemed reasonable enough to the king, who went back to yelling at his druidess and ordering his men about.

Rejoining the girls, Cathbad hurriedly said, "I must find my Lord. I will come to you as soon as I can. This situation grows tenuous."

Tess walked with an arm around the frightened girl, which for some reason irritated Emery. She might have looked fragile, but there was something off-putting about her. Emery couldn't quite pinpoint what it was, but she did know that Tess often saw the best of everyone; she wasn't a cynic like Emery was, and that had often put Tess in precarious situations with people she assumed were her friends.

By the time the three of them had made it to their bedchamber, the doey-eyed girl had at least stopped trembling, though she immediately sat on the bed as if unable to stand any longer. "It's all right, now. Everything's going to be all right," Tess tried, though Emery doubted her words were taken to heart.

"Who are you?" Emery asked a little more bluntly than her friend.

The girl raised her pale green eyes without raising her head, giving the impression of a child in trouble. "I am Bláthíne. It means Little Flower. My father is Mend, King of Fir Fálgae."

When she spoke, her voice was like a spring rain, gentle and delicate. "Did they kidnap you?" Tess asked softly.

Bláthíne nodded, her golden hair falling around her heart-shaped face. She began to tear up. "The large man, he killed my father. He took hold of me, and he brought me here. I did not wish to come!"