Defiance (The Priestess Trilogy) (22 page)

Odhrán relished the cooling sensation the rain offered as it soaked through his clothing. The fevered feeling that had been growing from his wound began to wash away by the rain. In the distance ahead of them, he could see the end of the
woods and
grassy hills
that were both welcoming but completely out in the open
.

He found himself hesitating as he tried to gain his bearing.
Odhrán
was not entirely sure of
where they were. And, until the clouds cleared, he would be unable to guide them in the correct direction.

Beside him
Daire
groaned in pain
.

Odhrán exhaled.
“
We will have to rest here,” he said
.
He looked down at
Daire
. “You can rest for now, but you must stay awake
.”

The man mumbled an
indistinguishable reply.

Odhrán
helped
Shiovra
settle
Daire
down comfortably against a tree where he sat with his eyes half open
.
He watched
Shiovra
knelt beside her cousin
, gently patting his forehead with a piece of cloth wet from
the rain. Concern marred the woman’s lovely face
.
Odhrán realized that she expressed that same amount of concern for the man as she had for him.

He took a deep breath and weighed their options. The wounds he and
Daire
carried would only continue to slow them down an
d they could not be certain how soon
Meara
and her men would reach them.
The direness of their situation only continued to grow.
Closing his eyes,
Odhrán called to the priestess, “
Shiovra
.
”

She looked up, her hand pausing in its ministrations. “Hmm?”

“It is impossible to cross this field quickly with both
Daire
and myself wounded as we are
,” Odhrán explained. “
Meara
and her group are still missing.
We cannot be certain that none of Méav’s men escaped Caher Dearg’s fall. They could be approaching us as we speak.
”

“And?” questioned the woman, a slight frown crossing her face
.

“
Daire
and I shall remain here as bait. I want you to keep going. Find the nearest village and send word to Tara as well as Dún Fiáin.”

A surprised look crossed
Shiovra
’s face, only to be quickly replaced with anger. “What
?!”

“You need to be safe.”

She rose quickly to her feet, her hands clenched.
“You cannot possibly be telling me that you and
Daire
are…” Her voice trailed
off and she shook her head. “No.”

“Do not worry
about us
,” Od
hrán said sternly.
He was growing weary of arguing with the priestess.
“It is my duty to protect you…”

“You keep saying that,
”
snapped
Shiovra
harshly.

“That
is because I speak the truth,” he countered angrily
.
Odhrán leaned against the tree himself, tired and in pain. “If you stay
with us, you
will
be caught.
We are moving far too slowly
.” He
watched her carefully. It was not
his
desire
to
resort to such means, but necessity demanded it
.

“Listen to him,” added
Daire
in a rough voice.

She
stood stiffly, unmoving.
“No,” she refused simply.

Odhrán found he was a bit
surprised by the
harshness in her voice. “No?”

Shiovra
raised her chin defiantly. “No,” she repeated
.
“I will not abandon you here to possibly die.”

He exhaled in irritation, running his hands through his hair. Though he found it admirable that the woman refused to leave them injured as they were, he was quickly losing his patience. “
Shiovra
…”

“N
o.” She held his gaze without waver.
“Are you both
so willing to sacrifice yourselves
for me? You want me to turn my back on
Daire
, who lie
s on the dangerous borders of
unconscious
ness, just to keep myself safe? And you, a Milidh man who risked his life for a woman he hardly knows and carries the wound to prove it…you want me to turn my back on you as well?!
” she demande
d. “Do not jest with me!”

Setting his face firm, Odhrán took a step towards the woman
.

Shiovra
sighed and shook her head.
“Do
not needlessly sacrifice your own lives,
” the priestess
continued in a calmer tone
. “We will find a way, but not like this.” She
glanced down at
Daire
briefly before meeting his gaze once more
. “Caher Dearg has fallen.
Méav
’s men, those who escaped, are scattered
. I am not going to just walk aw
ay and leave you here
. The three of us will make it to safety
together
.”

Odhrán studied the determined look on her face for a moment
. “
Shiovra
,” he said quietly. “I understand how you feel, but your will is not enough to change the current situation. So at least you…”

“No.
”

Exhaling in frustration, he pulled his dagger swiftly from his belt and held it pointed at her throat. Odhrán’s hand remained steady
on the handle
.

Shiovra
frowned, her eyes narrowing
, but she did not move
.
“So you are willing to
kill
me if I do not heed your orders?”

Odhrán cocked his head to the side slightly, slightly amused by her words.
“Kill is a strong word
to use, priestess
. More like threaten
,” he replied in a steady tone.
“
You need to go, even wounded as we are, we can hold our own long enough for you to get a safe distance away.
” He gestured to dagger towards the field.

Shiovra
hesitated a moment, then slowly made her way to
wards him with careful steps.

To Odhrán’s surprise the priestess reached out, placing her hand lightly upon the one that held the dagger
.
Her fingers were cold against his skin, but they did not tremble, resting steadily upon his hand. Whatever fear she had felt towards him before was replaced by the fires of defiance.

“I am not afraid,” she told him
, stepping close enough
that the tip of the blade was touching
her throat.
“I
do not doubt you could hold your own
, but I will not leave you injured as you are
. I am a priestess. My duty is to protect the lives of others, even those of my guardian warriors,” she breathed then closed her eyes. “Force me to abandon you and you shall
never
have my trust.”

His hand did not waver, his eyes narrowed on her face.
If he wanted, he could take the woman’s life easily at that moment.
With an aggravated exhale,
Odhrán lowered his hand and let the dagger fall to the ground with a thud
.

Shiovra
opened
her eyes.
“For ten years I have only know the Milidh to be an enemy,” she began softly
.
“If your aspiration is to gain my trust, then you should consider rethinking your actions. Idle threats help by no means
.”
Shiovra
sighed and turned away. “
We must keep moving.
Together
.”

Odhrán
watched as the priestess returned to
Daire
’s side, patting his face with the wet cloth.
The man continued to sit with a half-lidded gaze, struggling to maintain consciousness.

Daire
groaned, flinching as
Shiovra
focused on cleaning his head wound.
“What are we going to do now?
”
he
asked weekly.
“
Where
can
we go?”

“I might be able to
help with that,” came another voice.

Odhrán tensed, pulling his other dagger from his belt.

A figure walke
d towards them through the rain.

Shiovra
lurched to her feet
. “Eiladyr!”

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

Meara
had pulled her warriors
quickly
from Caher Dearg when the ground beneath their feet began to tremble. They
made haste
for the woods, pulling their wounded along. None of the men had been gravely injured
, but their wounds would hinder their retreat, but h
er warriors had fared
much
better than
Méav
’s feared huntsmen
. When the trembling
had begu
n,
many of
Méav
’s men were faced
with
a
barrier of white hot flames that blocked any es
cape. Only
Meara
’s men and huntsmen
who were not wi
thin the gates managed to flee
. Once Caher Dearg had fallen
,
Méav
’s remaining men scattered, not bothering to finish the battle.

Meara
paused slightly to glance back at the ruins of the once loathed ring
-
fort. Her heart was heavy as she fidgeted with the sleeve of her shirt. She
could only hope
the rescue attempt had not been in vain and that the High Priestess, as well as
Daire
and Odhrán, had made it out safely. Yet, for now, she could only trust that they had.

Turning back to the forest, she faced her warriors who waited patiently for orders. Taking a deep breath, she began, “Ainnle! I want you to help Orla tend to the wounded. Once that is done, we will focus on finding our l
ost priestess and her guardians. We need to
search for any signs that can lead us to their whereabouts.” She paus
ed as her men nodded. “F
ind
ing them is of the utmost importance. We cannot assume they have not obtained any injuries
!”

Meara
received an approving roar from her men. Nodding, she began to help Ainnle and
Orla tend to the wounded, worry working at the back of her mind
.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

Progress
across the field was slow, hindered by the injuries Odhrán and
Daire
had s
ustained. The rain had begun to slacken
, leavi
ng them with a thick milky fog as
Eiladyr led them
from the field and into more trees
. The fog drifted through the trees making it
increasingly
difficult to
make their way
safely through. The
dense woods themselves were
quiet, save for the soft rustling of wind
and occasional chirp of birds. The sun had begu
n to rise,
casting its radiant glow through the thick canopy of leaves
. The damp,
earthy scent from
the passing storm lingered refreshingly in the air.

“I can
not believe…
Meara
’s idea worked…we managed to get you out…”
Daire
said through labored breaths
and they slowly made their way along
.

Eiladyr looked
Daire
over. “Barely,” he muttered
under his breath
.

Shiovra
looked down at her hand. She had fared much better than Odhrán and
Daire
, but her wound would need tending to as well. The bleeding had stopped, but it still needed cleaned and wrapped with clean binding to heal properly. “We are alive, that is what matters,”
Shiovra
said quietly.