The Raven Queen (19 page)

‘I need big hairy men with big sharp swords, who can slow the Tuatha down for long enough so I can use
the mist of dreams to lock the mound. Know anyone who's got some of them?' she asked.

Finn chuckled. ‘Lock the mound, eh?' he said. He looked at her with admiration. ‘That's a big task. Not even Cú Chulainn ever tried to do that. So what do you need us to do?'

Maddy looked up at him in shock while he roared with laughter, the men in the hall joining in. ‘I admit it, little Hound, your honeyed words have won me over. Who could resist such charm, such oratory?'

Maddy gaped at him. ‘You were going to help me all along? Then why didn't you say something?'

‘Because it was amusing to watch you rage and let your tongue loose,' said Finn. ‘We have little other entertainment here.' He looked back over his shoulder at the weeping women, who gazed back, their seeping eyes hopeful. He frowned. ‘But you are right. Perhaps it is time to find a more fitting tribute to my wife. One that does not cause another person sorrow.'

He stood up and held a hand out to Maddy, pulling her to her feet. ‘So I ask again, little Hound, what do you need the Fianna to do for you?'

‘It's not much,' said Maddy. ‘I need a distraction, something that will keep the Tuatha busy long enough for me to get to the mound on my own. I also need my cousins and two wolves to be rescued.'

‘Is that all?' said Finn. ‘You heard her, lads! Get those weapons down from the wall, saddle up your horses and unfurl your banners. The Fianna are riding again!' The men cheered and the hall burst into activity as they rushed to and fro, dogs jumping up and barking with excitement.

‘So,' said Finn, as the din of organized chaos crashed around them, ‘this distraction – do you have something in mind?'

‘Funnily enough, this time I do have a plan,' said Maddy.

Roisin cringed as the Tuatha army crashed its way through the burnt forest. Their giant white horses brushed against fragile trees, crumbling scorched bark in their wake. Their huge hoofs thudded down, sending up clouds of thick black soot. She could only imagine what the forest must be feeling as the army rode through on its way to the White Tower.
It must be like nails scraping over an open wound
, she thought.

The Morrighan was taking no chances that her prisoners would escape. Danny and Roisin had been lifted up on to the Tuatha horses and their mounts plodded obediently next to hers. Like their boats, Tuatha horses only did what the Tuatha willed. Roisin and Danny could have been expert riders, but nothing they could do would persuade these giant beasts to disobey the orders given to them by Tuatha. The Morrighan had not seemed to be too bothered about the possibility
of Nero slipping away into the forest – at least she had made no attempt to restrain him. The grey wolf loped beside them, careful where he put his paws on the sharp carbon of the forest floor. Roisin knew he was desperate to get to Fenris and so far they had been making good time. The forest around them was silent and there was no sign of Liadan's soldiers.

The monarchs were also kept close, much to the disgust of Sorcha and Nuada, who insisted that they alone, of all the courts, were the only ones who remained loyal to the High Queen's rule. But the Morrighan was not convinced. Spring, Summer and Autumn were all forced to ride with her and her human prisoners. Their combined troops spread out behind them, each under the command of a trusted captain. Everyone was sullen and unhappy and the monarchs rode in an angry silence.

Danny clung to his saddle, looking slightly green around the gills. He wasn't comfortable on horseback – the rocking movement always made him slightly seasick. Roisin couldn't make herself heard over the thundering of the hoofs and jingle of tack but she smiled at him and mouthed,
Are you OK?
He gave her a weak smile back and a thumbs up. Behind them, the casket had been wrapped in a rough brown cloth and placed on a cart and was being dragged by two mounted Tuatha.

A shout rippled along the front ranks and the
Morrighan pulled her horse to a halt as a scout galloped along the line. He reined in before her, his horse's white coat gunmetal grey with sweat and ash, its chest foamy with saliva.

‘What news?' said the Morrighan.

‘There is no sign of any enemy, Great Queen, not even scouts,' he said.

‘How far have you ranged?' she asked.

‘Twenty-five miles in all directions, Majesty,' said the scout. ‘We are the only living things moving in the forest and out on the plains. It looks as if the faeries who have not joined us have gone to ground.'

Now that the fire had thinned out the forest, they could see across the lake to the White Tower – Liadan's tower. It made Roisin shudder to look at it. It rose from a wide base of rough-hewn caves, getting narrower and more complicated and intricate as it climbed. Towers shot from the top of it in all directions like frozen fireworks. It was as if someone had started to build their dream castle and then turned it into a nightmare, cramming it with every possible feature, from overblown ornate plastering to hopelessly frilly balconies edging top windows, until it became grotesque with its own fancies.

‘You are dismissed,' the Morrighan said to the scout. He bowed his head and turned his horse's head to work his way through the ranks.

Aengus Óg nudged his horse forward. ‘What is Cernunnos playing at?' he asked. ‘Does he mean to hold out in the White Tower until winter comes and his wife's power grows stronger?'

‘No, that is not his way,' said the Morrighan. ‘Cernunnos never had time for sieges – he thought they were a coward's way of waging war.'

‘Then where is he?' asked Nuada.

‘He always was cunning in battle,' said Meabh, spurring her horse forward to join Aengus Óg. ‘He's leading us into a bottleneck.' She pointed to the narrow road that led from the beach around the hill where the tower squatted, weaving round and round like a dusty ribbon until it reached the bronze gates of the tower, flashing in the sun.

‘I see his plan,' said the Morrighan. ‘He hopes to put us in such a position that our greater numbers will be no advantage at all.'

‘Well, I don't see it,' said Niamh petulantly, while Sorcha sighed and rolled her eyes.

‘Look, bubble-head,' said Meabh, pointing to the road that wound up to the tower gates. ‘See how wide that road is?' Niamh nodded. ‘How many soldiers do you think can travel abreast there?'

Niamh frowned. ‘Two?'

‘Exactly,' said Meabh. ‘Liadan and Cernunnos can
hold off this great army at the gates of the White Tower with just a handful of men, because they only need to fight us two at a time. Our troops will have to queue on the road and wait their turn to do battle, while Liadan's elves pick us off, two by two. We could lose half our army just trying to breach the gates, and it will take weeks.'

‘But you can make sure this doesn't happen, can you not, Great Queen?' asked Sorcha. ‘With your help, we can take this advantage away.'

‘Indeed,' said the Morrighan, nodding her veiled head. ‘Do you and your men have something to stop your ears?'

They all nodded. Roisin and Danny looked at each other and raised their eyebrows. ‘We don't,' said Danny.

‘That is hardly our concern,' sneered Sorcha, while the Morrighan said nothing.

‘Meabh, ride on ahead and get us through the lake. It seems that the ice bridge has conveniently melted,' said the Morrighan. As Meabh went to ride past her, the Morrighan grabbed her arm. ‘I'll be watching you, Meabh.'

Meabh nodded and spurred her horse into a gallop. The Morrighan stood up in her stirrups and called to the army behind her. ‘As soon as Queen Meabh clears a path, the cavalry will ride hell for leather and aim for the beach. Foot soldiers, I want you to run behind. Once
we get to the beach your troops are to form ranks. Foot soldiers are to breach the road first, cavalry will follow behind. Once we reach the gates, we will take stock.'

Roisin turned her head and saw the captains of the three courts nodding and passing the orders on to their seconds-in-command, who passed them on to the cavalry and so on, until the Morrighan's words rippled through the waiting ranks. She licked her lips nervously and sat deep in the saddle to get a better seat and took a tighter grip on her horse's reins. Danny whistled to get Nero's attention. ‘Be careful,' he said.

The grey wolf nodded, his face tight with tension.

The world stood still as the assembled army watched Meabh gallop down to the stony beach. No wind blew across their faces or set banners snapping. There was not a sound from the assembled troops behind her. All eyes were focused on the red-haired figure as she slowed her horse to a walk. Meabh held up her hand and called out and the waters of the lake shot violently into the air. In front of Roisin's astonished eyes the towering wall of water hung suspended and then peeled itself in two, folding over and leaving a path clear from one beach to the other.

‘NOW!' screamed the Morrighan, kicking her horse into a gallop. Every Tuatha horse surged forward at the same moment and Roisin clung to her horse's mane as
the animal charged downhill toward the path, tipping Roisin forward and unbalancing her. Nero was a quicksilver streak ahead of the army, racing away from the lethal hoofs, throwing a lone shadow on the path still damp with lake water. Roisin's ears filled with the thunder of hoofs and her eyes teared in the wind, so she rode blind. She clung on until she thought her finger bones would snap and squeezed her eyes shut. She felt a coolness on her face and looked up to see the walls of water towering over her a mile high, fish still lazily swimming in their depths, unconcerned at the chasm that had just appeared in their world. On they galloped, the beach on the far side of the water tunnel shimmering in the summer sun.

She let out a sigh of relief when she heard her horse's hoofs crunch on the shale of the beach. The horse pulled up to a standing stop as the foot soldiers rushed past them and on to the road, disappearing out of sight around the first bend. When the last of the infantry were on the road the cavalry followed, with the monarchs, Roisin, Danny, Nero and the precious casket at their heart.

Roisin found herself on the outside edge. She tried not to look down and see just how close her horse's hoofs were to the edge of the road and the long plunge to the rocks below. Her heart leaped into her throat when one
of his hoofs slipped and part of the crust of the road tumbled into the lake below. She swallowed her scream and hid her face in his mane, trusting him to get her to the White Tower safely.

As they rounded the last corner and the road climbed in a fairly straight line to the ornate bronze gates of the tower, Roisin was horrified to hear shouts and screams. It seemed Cernunnos was more willing to join in battle then they had thought and the gates had been opened to let loose the Winter Court's cavalry.

Liadan's elven mounts tore through the Tuatha foot soldiers like a blade through paper, raising their front legs to strike out with their talons, ripping the Tuatha who rushed to meet them. The mounts lashed out with their snake-like necks, sinking their fangs into the soldiers and flinging them off the road to their death. The elves on their backs stabbed with their long spears and the Tuatha found themselves being driven back. The mounts were packed close together and heavily armoured, and with the long reach of their riders' weapons it was proving hard for the Tuatha to get close enough to inflict a mortal wound on mount or rider. The foot soldiers were slowly being driven back into the cavalry, falling off the side of the road as they collided with the mounted Tuatha behind them and found themselves with nowhere to put their feet.

Roisin screamed as her horse reared, lashing out with his front feet at the soldiers who pressed into him, infected by their panic.

‘Great queen, do something!' cried Nuada. ‘We cannot go back – there are too many behind us!'

The Morrighan reached up and pulled the veil from her face. Roisin gasped in horror as three faces fought and blurred across her skull – the young girl, the mother, the old woman, their mouths opening and closing like fishes' and their eyes rolling as they sought to be the dominant one. The Raven Queen stood up in her stirrups, launched herself into the air and flew over the carnage, her shadow plunging the fighters below into darkness. Then she opened her mouth and the most horrible scream rolled out of her, a sonic boom that flattened Roisin's hair. It was filled with the sound of despair, so much so that Roisin began to weep and look at the cool blue waters of the lake below, actually tempted to throw herself into them. But the line held by the Winter Court's cavalry began to waver and then disintegrate as the Morrighan's shriek blasted at their ears and they turned and started to retreat up the road.

The Tuatha troops cheered and surged forward, and Roisin's horse shook his head to clear it of the Morrighan's scream and charged after them. They finally had a clear road to the gates, which were now hanging half off
their hinges as the Tuatha soldiers pulled at them, their comrades flooding into the courtyard and up the wide stone steps that led to Liadan's hall. The carved wooden door with its intricate locks that guarded her inner hall had been smashed open.

Roisin dismounted with rubbery legs and wiped the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand. Danny rode up beside her, looking as if he was going to vomit. He got down and grabbed Roisin in a hug. ‘That was too close,' he mumbled into her hair. She nodded and clutched at him, breathing in his warm smell and sending up a prayer of thanks that they were both still alive to whoever might be listening.

A heavy hand landed on their shoulders. The Morrighan pulled them up the stone steps with her, as soldiers hauled the casket from its cart and dragged it along behind them.

‘No time to celebrate, little ones,' said the Morrighan, her face veiled once again. ‘The battle is not yet won.'