Far Away (Gypsy Fairy Tale Book Two) (8 page)

Chapter 17

Kieran guided us through the crowds easily, covering more ground in a matter of minutes than we managed all morning. I didn’t know where we were going, but people seemed to sense Kieran’s and get out of our way.

I clutched at his hand, afraid to let go even for a minute. I still couldn’t believe he was really here and we were finally together. I was afraid of where we were going, afraid to take my eyes off his broad back with my backpack slung over his shoulder. I was afraid if I looked away for even a minute, he would disappear.

Alec followed behind us, struggling to keep up. I looked back again and again, asking if he was okay. He nodded, but said nothing, seeming almost angry but I pointed out his weakness.

Slowing just a little, Kieran glanced back, “So, the Mileans wanted you to represent your family line?”

“Yes,” Alec huffed. “But I refused.”

Kieran nodded, “But not before they conveniently told you their plans.”

Suddenly Alec pushed past me and shoved Kieran roughly. The two of them stood toe to toe, glaring at each other with clenched fists.

“Listen to me gypsy,” Alec snapped. “I don’t care if you trust me or not, but I promised Harmony that I would help you and that's all that matters. Otherwise, you and your unnatural clan could be wiped off the face of the earth and I wouldn’t care.”

Kieran flinched; I didn’t know if it was from the insult or the sound of my name on Alec’s lips. He gripped my hand tighter, “You know it won’t change anything.”

Alec glanced back at me, “I know.”

“All right then,” Kieran said and offered his other hand Alec. “A truce.”

They shook hands cautiously, as if both expected an attack from the other despite their claim of peace.

It was a brief exchange and then we were back on her way through the crowd. It should have made me feel better, but I could still feel the tension radiating from each of them.

“How did they know where we would be?” Kieran asked after we went a little further.

“They said it was something to do with planets.”

“Aye.”

“Well,” Alec said breathlessly as he limped along behind me. “They said when this happens your family is always at this festival.”

“Not just my family,” Kieran mattered. “
All
of us.”

I didn’t understand, but before I could ask any questions, he was grilling Alec for more information. His brow furrowed deeper with every answer.

“What exactly is their plan?” Kieran asked.

“They wanted to wait until all of you were together and then attack. Their goal is to take each of you down however they can and –“

Alec paused. I was already terrified, but I jerked Kieran to stop and turned back to Alec.

“And what?” I demanded.

He looked from me to Kieran and then back to me. I began to tremble even before I heard the words.

Don’t say it...Don’t say it...

“And then behead you or tear you apart in some way and burn your bodies in the Imbolc bonfires,” Alec said quickly.

“Bonfires?”

Alec nodded, “The bonfires are part of the festival later tonight. They plan to use them to erase any evidence of the Tuatha De Danann.

I didn’t remember falling to my knees. I just remember Kieran pulling me up off the ground and into his arms.

“Tis alright,” he said. “We’ll warn the others and it will be all right.”

I tried believing him even as my icy tears with my cheeks. I just held onto the hope that this would all just work out and go away. I wanted so badly to believe that is what would happen.

We’ll be okay...We’ll be okay...

As we stood there, from each direction and through the rows of tents, came the rest of Kieran’s family.

The Tuatha De Danann were amazing to see up close, graceful and beautiful in a way that couldn’t exist without magic. Megan’s ebony hair was as vivid a contrast to the snowy landscape as Alana’s fiery tresses and while both of them wore the seasonal clothes of winter, it seemed the garments were more for fashion than for warmth. Kieran’s father Niall was the same as before, a tall think figure in all black. The grey at his temples seemed more silver, but perhaps that was due to the snow falling into his hair.

All of them turned their too green eyes and looked at us expectantly.

“So, it is true then?” Megan asked.

“Tis,” Kieran replied.

Niall stepped forward and motioned to the festival crowd, “We can’t put our friends in danger.”

“We could lead them away into the forest,” Megan suggested as she shoved her hands back into her coat pockets.

Kieran nodded and backed out of my arms, “That is a fine idea.”

“How do we know they would follow?” Niall asked.

Alana stepped forward, her eyes glittering, “We could stay and fight.”

Niall shook his head, “It is no time to settle old scores.”

Megan turned away from all of us and squared her thin shoulders, “They’re here.”

We all turned to the direction that she faced. A large group of men pushed through the crowd and came to stand only feet from where we stood.

The Mileans looked like any other group of farmers or tradesmen, they all looked strong and had their jaws set with determination. There were so many of them, each one glaring at us hatefully. How would we ever escape?

There was movement within their ranks as one of them pushed himself to the front. I recognized him as one of the four men I had seen in America.
How did he get back to Ireland so quickly?

Kieran pushed me slightly behind him as his family came in close. Even Alec moved closer as if he was preparing for an attack.

“Well, well, what do we have here?” The Irishman said as he looked us over, stopping when he came to me peeking out at him from around Kieran’s shoulder.

“
FraochÚn de na Tuatha Dé Danann
...”

Niall took a single step forward, possibly only a few inches, and spread his long hands wide. “We have no quarrel with you.”

“Perhaps not, but it is us that has a quarrel with the Tuatha De Danann.” The man’s eyes narrowed as he glared at Kieran and me, “It seems that some of you still crave the pleasures of human flesh.”

I shrank back behind Kieran’s shoulder and clutched his arm. The man then turned his attention to Alec, curling his lip in disgust.

“And you,” he said and pointed a finger at Alec. “You have brought nothing but shame to your family.”

Alec balled his hands into fists and stood his ground, “I’m where I belonged.”

“Then I hope you are prepared to die with them.”

Alec pulled a large hunting knife from his coat, “I am.”

Where did that knife come from? I knew he didn’t have it when we went through security at the airport. Where ever he got it from, Alec made an imposing figure as he turned the knife on the man.

The man shrugged as if all this talk of murder was nothing to him, “Then I will offer my prayer for your soul.”

The other Mileans took their knives and guns from their coats. The festival crowd panicked the sight of the weapons and a sort of chaos ensued, people running in every direction and mothers snatching up their children.

Through it all, our two groups remained motionless. I could feel the centuries-old hate radiating off the Mileans and a sort of static charge emanating from Kieran and the others.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see groups of Irish Travellers ready to step between the Tuatha De Danann and harm. Even in the face of near certain death, they were willing to go on protecting the secret.

Niall raised his hand, signaling for the travelers to remain where they were.

Kieran stepped forward, “Let these two mortals go. Your quarrel is with us, not them.”

No...No...

“No,” I cried out in a week whisper. “I won’t leave you.”

The Mileans laughed as if the display of my agony amused them. The one that seemed to be the leader shook his head.

“No,” he said as he loaded the ammunition clip into his gun. “They’re both traitors to their own kind and deserve to die with you.”

I heard the sliding action of the gun as he chambered a round. The rest of the group raised their weapons and took aim.

I closed my eyes. I knew there was no magic to save me this time. This was it. This was the end. It was all for nothing...It didn’t matter how hard I tried...It didn’t matter...It was over...

I held my breath and just waited to die.

Chapter 18

Nothing happened. There was no gunshot. There was no pain.

I opened my eyes slowly, expecting to see the bodies of the dead scattered about on one side or the other, but everyone was still standing in the exact same places. No one was harmed and no one was dying.

What was this?
Why aren’t we dead?

I looked to Kieran, confused and hoping he would tell me what was happening, but something off to the side held his attention. Leaning forward, I looked in the direction Kieran was staring.

Between the two groups came a single slim figure in faded blue jeans and a black hoodie. Everyone’s eyes were fixed on the single person, walking alone in the snow.

The figure reached up and pushed back the hood, allowing a mass of fiery red hair to tumble down. The lone stranger was a woman!

“Kieran,” I whispered softly, barely allowing my lips to move. “Who is that?”

He didn’t answer. Kieran just stared at this woman as if he was just as dumbfounded as everyone else.

The woman was really no more than a girl, still boyishly slender and almost frail. She turned to gaze at us, revealing a beautiful face, burned and scarred on one side.

“What is all this?” She asked with green eyes blazing

No one answered. Both the Mileans and the travellers to the side raised their hands and made the sign of the cross. Who was this woman?

She turned from us and took a few steps toward the Mileans. They matched her movements by moving backwards. Why were they all so frightened?

“Are you daring to attack the flesh of my flesh?” She asked them as she stepped forward slowly with purpose. “What gives you that right?”

She walked the long line of our enemy, looking in the eye each man.

“You want to eliminate all of us,” she accused and spread her arms wide. “Well what are you waiting for?”

The Mileans remained motionless, watching her fearfully as she moved past each of them. Each of her steps made a crunching sound in the snow and echoed over the frozen pasture.

She smirked, stretching the scarred side of her face, and turned away from them to face us.

“Cowards,” she declared.

The Mileans surged to life, “Now!”

It happened so suddenly, Kieran pulled both Alec and me off to the side and behind the nearest tent.

“Stay down!” Kieran ordered

I peeked around the edge of the tent just in time to see the strange woman throwing what seemed to be balls of fire at the Mileans. I tried to keep watching, but a thick fog rolled in and obscured everything.

The fight was all around us. I caught shadow glimpses of Megan and Alana fighting, snapping the necks of their attackers. Niall was close enough that I could make out his black clothes and the blood of his victims splattered over me as he tore his knife across the victims’ throat.

I cowered on the ground, too terrified to move. Kieran grabbed Alec’s harm, “Take Harmony and run. Go to the woods behind us. You’ll be safe there.”

“No,” I argued in a panic. “I won’t leave you!”

“It’s the only way,” Kieran soothed.

I shook my head, “I won’t leave you!”

Kieran took my face in his hands and stared down into my eyes, “But I need you to live.”

No...No...

The breath left my body in a rush; I didn’t hear the fighting all around us anymore and the world began to spin. My trembling hands clutched at his coat, his neck, his hair, anything just so I could keep touching him.

No Kieran...No...

Kieran pulled me to him, holding my head against his chest. “Shh...Harmony...I need you to listen to me...Look at me...Look at me...”

I looked up at him, my vision blurry from too many tears. “Please don’t say goodbye...Please don’t.”

“Okay, I won’t say it,” Kieran said, his voice cracking ever so slightly. “But I will say that I have loved you with everything I ever was or ever could be, and I very much wanted a forever with you.”

I was sobbing then, horrible sobs that racked my body. “No...No...”

Suddenly someone was on top of us, pulling Kieran to his feet as Alec pulled me away. I fought against him until I heard the snap the bones through the mist.

“Kieran!”

The noise of the battlefield filled my ears and the fog clouded my vision. Where was Kieran? Where did he go? He dragged me through the fog and into the woods, pulling me along for a long time before the mist began to clear.

We stopped at last in a clearing, so far away that I couldn’t hear the sounds of battle anymore. I punched and smacked at Alec with my useless fists.

“We have to go back and help them,” I cried. “We can’t just leave them there.”

“If you go back, all the good you’ll do is get yourself killed,” Alec argued.

“But they can’t possibly win against so many.”

“Maybe not.”

Kieran...What if...

I backed away from him, “If he dies, I’ll never forgive you.”

“I’ll take that chance,” he said. “You would’ve have been killed back there...We both would have.”

I sank down to the forest floor, already feeling the heartache returning. It was different this time. It wasn’t ever going to go away.

“That was your plan all along,” I whispered. “To just let Kieran die.”

“You know better than that,” Alec said. He sat down beside me and wiped some of the blood off of my face with his sleeve. “Now all that we can do is wait for them to find us.”

“And what if they don’t?”

“They will.”

It was near dark when Megan and Alana staggered cut and dirty out of the trees and into the clearing. They were both out of breath and panting as they looked around.

“The others aren’t here yet?” Megan asked, looking back into the woods.

“Here?” I asked. “I thought all of you were together!”

Alana wiped some of the blood off her cheek, “I thought he left with you.”

“No matter,” Megan said with a sharp look. “I am sure they will be here soon.”

I covered my face with my hands. This couldn’t be real. Any minute I just knew that Kieran was going to walk up alive and well, and all of this would just be a bad memory.

Please...Please...

No one spoke. No one moved. We all huddled together and waited in the twilight for whatever it was that was going to happen next.

I stared into the fire, crying without a sound. Brushing the tears from my cheeks, I could still smell him on my hands.

Oh Kieran...Please...Please...

There was movement in the forest, a commotion of twigs snapping and leaves rustling. I strained my eyes to see through the darkness until I could just make out two figures coming into the clearing, one of them seemed to be carrying something.

“Kieran?” I called out nervously.

It was Niall’s voice that came out of the darkness, “Megan, Alana, come and give us some help.”

Somehow I beat them both to the two figures. I was standing in front of Niall, staring at the red haired girl at his side. I didn’t want to look down, but I forced myself to do it.

Don’t be him...Don’t be him...

There, in his father’s arms, lay Kieran. Even in the dark, I could see the blood covering his face and chest.

“Wh-What happened?" I asked, afraid to reach out and touch him, not sure where it would hurt him.

Megan and Alana pulled Kieran from Niall’s arms as if he weighed nothing and eased him down onto the ground. Niall took my arm and pulled me back, “They shot him. They shot him again and again, too quickly for him to recover, and when he fell, they must’ve cut his throat... I got there just as they were trying to behead him.”

“And where were you?” I accused.

“I was taking care of four others so that Megan and Alana could get away,” he murmured as if in a daze. “I heard the whoosh of the axe and turned –“

“Please!” I held up my hand, horrified that someone could do that to my Kieran.

Past Niall’s shoulder, I could just make out Kieran lying on the black ground. His shirt open and his pale chest exposed. Even in the darkness, I could see the blood still flowing. I tried not to see the odd angle of his head or the bloody wound at his throat so deep that I could see the pale pink-yellow of his windpipe and specks of white bone.

No one could survive that. There was too much blood, too much damage, not even magic—

“Will he die?” I choked out.

No one answered me.