- •I brushed a trembling hand through my hair. What was going on? What happened? I was looking at the vases and…
- •I tore my eyes from the box and back to the—
- •I raised my eyebrow like Spock and waited.
- •I looked quickly at Suzanna. She was no damn help; her eyes were squeezed shut and her lips were moving in what looked like some kind of silent prayer. Jeesh.
- •I should have been nominated for some kind of Greco-Celtic Academy Award for Best Voluptuous Ascent to a Throne. God, it felt good to sit down.
- •I could see my door guards (yes, they did appear proportional) snap crisp sword salutes as the horses reached the doorway and entered the ro—
- •I could feel my jaw setting, but before I could respond, Alanna stepped in. Gracefully, she took my hand and helped me to my feet.
- •I had to clear my abused throat before I could squeak out an “I forgive you.”
- •In a formal, stilted voice he said, “Please excuse the interruption, my Lieutenant had matters of great import to discuss with me.”
- •I shut my eyes. Of course Dad wouldn’t want me to get hurt. If only it were that simple.
- •I opened my eyes. Seeing clearly—finally.
- •I looked at those high stirrups. And the tall mare. And considered my thirty-five-year-old body.
- •I mean riding a horse (one that’s actually alive) for several hours. Alternating between trot, canter, walk, back to trot. On a thirty-five-year-old butt. Without breakfast.
- •I reached down and patted her neck fondly. There are some things about this world that were just plain cool.
- •I sighed melodramatically and gave a big pretend sob while I wiped pretend tears from my eyes.
- •I just wanted to pee and then go back to sleep.
- •I closed my eyes and tried to relax, think, forget about my stomach and keep warm.
- •I straightened and took a step closer to Epi, hating the guilt he made me feel.
- •I swallowed a piece of cheese and took a quick drink of wine. “I had to see about my dad.”
- •I looked down at my half-eaten sandwich. “Are you still willing to take me there, knowing the creatures might be there?”
- •I felt a little like a mother whose four-year-old had just toddled happily off to preschool without her.
- •It was midmorning when I spied some lovely brush cover (and some soft-leafed plants) next to another stream that bisected our roadway.
- •I felt suddenly all Marilyn Monroe–like as my eyes went to half-mast and a moan escaped my lips.
- •I managed to moan some semblance of thanks.
- •I had to agree with him on that.
- •I had only taken a couple steps when I heard Dougal’s hooves thud behind me. I spoke over my shoulder to him.
- •In another world, he’s still alive.
- •I heard a snort of laughter from behind me.
- •I sniffed the air.
- •I swear, a rush of electricity shot from his teeth straight to my crotch.
- •I know it was unusual, but I didn’t know what to say.
- •I smiled at Dougal and saw him practically squirm with pleasure. If he had had a puppy’s tail, I’m sure it would’ve wagged vigorously—and he probably would’ve wet himself. He really was cute.
- •I translated that as centaur for “You’re full of crap.” But I acted as if I didn’t speak the lingo.
- •I curled my body around him and snuggled against his warmth.
- •I nodded my yes against his chest.
- •I didn’t see any fish frying. But I still smelled cooking food.
- •It took a moment for me to realize they were waiting for my permission.
- •I even managed to wave. Thank God I’ve watched a lot of pbs specials about The Royal Family.
- •I had to interrupt her. “Alanna, I can’t stand this ‘my Lady’ stuff. Can’t you call me something else?”
- •I squeezed her hands and turned back around. “At least she was a smart slut.”
- •I opened my mouth to interrupt.
- •I tried not to babble incoherently and to remember that I was dressing for my husband, not for a spot on a tv evangelism program.
- •I nodded at her to go on.
- •I shivered, remembering the weird mirror vision of myself I had glimpsed in the pot as it burst into a fiery ball.
- •I rubbed my fingers and took a wary half step away from it.
- •I blinked in surprise. “No, I didn’t know.”
- •I looked at Alanna and sighed. “Alanna, pour yourself some wine and sit here with me.”
- •I’m telling you, this guy could go on a lecture/training circuit and make a fortune teaching the Non-Octopus Technique to semi-bald, divorced, middle-aged men.
- •Intrigued, I nodded.
- •I smiled but felt the definite stirrings of nervousness.
- •I like to think I’ve attracted my share of men, but one hundred guards is just plain gluttonous.
- •I turned and began beating a hasty retreat down the empty hall.
- •I heard a ripple in the crowd. Suddenly, centaurs surrounded us and members of my guard were rushing from the temple to join them.
- •I took all of this in, but I found it hard to stop staring at the doctor. I knew this man, or perhaps I should say I knew this man’s mirror image—very well.
- •I turned back to face ClanFintan and tugged on his arm until he bent for my quick kiss.
- •I frowned at her. “Don’t worry about it. It just means she’s crazy about him, too.” She looked like that explanation helped. “You two aren’t married in this world?”
- •I shrugged. “Whatever, but we might be here for a while, so feel free to sit and pour yourself some wine. After all, grapes are my favorite breakfast fruit.”
- •I looked at Alanna’s worried face and sighed. “I can’t do this anymore,” I said to her. My eyes sought ClanFintan’s. “I don’t want to lie to you anymore.”
- •I returned his smile before looking nervously back at ClanFintan.
- •I wanted to throw my arms around him and bury my face in his heat, but I could feel Alanna’s and Carolan’s eyes boring joyfully into our romantic interlude.
- •I shouldn’t have been surprised. I already knew he was a biter.
- •I kissed him lightly on the cheek.
- •I felt ClanFintan’s startled reaction, which made me remember that the map that zapped me had shown all the land to the east of the river as centaur lands.
- •I remembered their horrible, ground-eating strides and had to agree with him.
- •I tried not to get distracted by the lovely image he was painting, and the thought of what it might look like now.
- •I searched my memory, wishing the biology electives I had taken in college hadn’t been ten-plus years ago.
- •I smiled my thanks at her before turning back to Carolan. “Well, what do we need to do?”
- •I found myself suddenly encompassed within the centaur’s strong arms.
- •I swear, underneath the layer of sweat and yuck he blushed. “Perhaps it has slipped my mind.”
- •It was the assistant who had been sent to get the dead child’s parents. I could see the shadowed forms of two people standing behind her in the hallway. I squared my shoulders and walked toward them.
- •I complied happily, resting my forearms against the ledge on which I had been sitting. He swept my hair out of the way and began rubbing soap all over the back of my body.
- •I remembered his little tкte-а-tкte with my guards and grinned. “You won’t have to.”
- •I rejoined Alanna, pulled the robe over my head and walked down the stone stairs into the warm pool to give myself a quick morning bath.
- •I smiled at his accented pronunciation.
- •I studied her face, thinking I saw a familiar expression.
- •Victoria caught my eye and raised her eyebrows at me. “I know a young centaur who would be happy to be our runner.”
- •I mean, please, I am an English teacher. Some things just aren’t acceptable.
- •I frowned and continued to dry myself.
- •I gulped and tried not to look worried.
- •I snuggled comfortably against him. “Are you sure it was just me? I think you cast some kind of spell or something.”
- •I wriggled around, pressing myself against his hard chest so that I could breathe in his ear, “Why not?”
- •I smiled at him and patted his arm like he was a cross between a teenager and a puppy. “Thank you, Dougal. It’s perfect.”
- •I thought poor Dougal might faint.
- •I laughed, but my eyes gravitated to my husband’s handsome profile. As if he felt my gaze, he turned his head in my direction and smiled warmly from across the fire.
- •It was wide and sturdy, and I didn’t have any trouble balancing on it. I looked at him and grinned happily.
- •I playfully slapped his hand away and smiled through my eggs. “You’re so fresh.”
- •I turned my face into the breeze, shaking out my own hair, liking the way it was lifted off my shoulders. I breathed deeply, stretching my sore muscles, and…
- •I closed my eyes and whispered, “Please don’t make me go down there.”
- •I had the disconcerting feeling that she knew who I was. On impulse I slid off ClanFintan’s back, and took her hand in mine, squeezing it warmly.
- •I leaned over and whispered to ClanFintan, “Isn’t Terpsichore the Muse that danced at our handfast?”
- •I tried more delicious food than I could keep count of, then, satisfied, I leaned back against my husband’s warm chest to enjoy the talent of the Muses, and the delicious quality of their red wine.
- •Vic covered his hand with her own. “Fight the battle with a clear mind, my friend. I will protect Rhea with my life.”
- •I took the small telescope and tried to thank her, but she had already moved away and was speaking to a group of nervous young girls.
- •I heard the Huntress directly behind me, I think her name was Elaine, snort a quick laugh at my response. Nope—they sure didn’t act nervous.
- •I slid off her back, and Vic opened the door. Sila was in the middle of the room, helping patients from their beds and onto thick blanket-like pallets. She looked up as we entered.
- •I almost called her Michelle, but caught myself in time.
- •I saw that Terpsichore was walking purposefully to stand by the dark woman’s side. She looked serene and lovely and spoke in a calm, unhurried voice.
- •In response, Dougal unsheathed his claymore, and Victoria pulled her crossbow and quiver from the sling at her side.
- •I went back to work on his cuts. He stood quietly, and soon I was able to lather in the salve. That done, I reluctantly moved to the rear of his body.
- •I saw Dougal flush in happy surprise. When Vic finally raised her eyes to meet his, I thought I detected an unaccustomed shyness in her gaze.
- •I pulled one foot up, and put it out in front of me, set it down—
- •I brushed some of the clinging sand from his face, then kissed the spot I had cleaned.
- •I jerked upright.
- •I smiled at him, but ClanFintan didn’t hesitate in his pace.
- •I stepped into Alanna’s arms, returning her embrace.
- •I took a long drink, focusing on getting the trembling inside me under control.
- •I looked away, unable to watch their agony.
- •I nodded against his chest and sent up another plea to the Goddess for her to watch after the mare.
- •I could see Alanna was putting on a brave face, and I smiled in response.
- •I shrugged my shoulders in a nonchalant way. “When isn’t it in my way?”
- •I tried to come up with a pithy reply, but in actuality I was relieved when Victoria’s voice cut through the need for any further words.
- •I saw the familiar figure of Victoria firing off arrows quickly, each finding its deadly mark. Between loading and shooting, her attention suddenly wavered, and she met my gaze.
- •I pulled my attention from Alanna and what was happening around me. Instead, I listened to my heart, or maybe, more accurately, my soul.
- •It seemed the mare battled on that small hill for time unending, but my mind knew logically that only minutes had passed before dark, winged shapes completely surrounded us.
- •In the middle of my thought I felt the tremor that passed through my body as it became semivisible. I mentally crossed my fingers that I was doing the right thing.
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I jerked upright.
“Nuada has Terpsichore.”
“May her Goddess protect her,” his deep voice echoed in the night.
“She stayed behind on purpose,” I explained. “She wanted to carry the pox to the Fomorians.”
His head jerked back in surprise. “Will it work?”
“I wish I knew.” Frustration was clear in my voice. “I know it’s contagious, and I know how it’s spread. What Terpsichore was doing would spread the disease to humans. I just don’t know if the creatures are human enough to catch it.”
“When will we know?”
“I’ve been trying to figure that out.” I sighed. “I think I remember that it took about a week from exposure to the appearance of symptoms. But I have no idea if the Fomorian physiology will be effected like that. My guess is that they will either get very sick, very soon, or it won’t hurt them at all.”
“Then what we need is time,” he said thoughtfully.
“And a lot of luck,” I added. Silently, I sent a prayer up to Epona that the Muse’s sacrifice had not been in vain. Exhaustion tugged at me.
“Rest, we should be near the temple by daybreak.”
With his reassuring words ringing in my ears I closed my eyes and fell into a deep, uneventful sleep.
Sometime between my dream vision and dawn, a line of low-hanging clouds drifted in from the north, bringing with them drizzle that hung like fog in the moist air. It must have been several hours past dawn, although the sun remained hidden and the morning was gloomy, when we heard a shout, and one of my warriors burst from his post near the riverbank.
“Epona be praised! You live!” He saluted me and I was touched to see tears in his eyes.
I smiled at him, but ClanFintan didn’t hesitate in his pace.
“Almost there,” I breathed into his ear.
He grunted and nodded his head, concentrating on keeping up his pace.
We followed a familiar turn in the bank, and I can honestly say I was pleased beyond words to see the bridge stretching in all its scary length high over the water.
As we jumped onto the bridge, another sentry caught sight of us and sent up a yell that was taken up by another, then another.
“I guess some of my warriors got away from the creatures,” I said as more and more voices were raised in excited welcome.
We crossed the bridge and made the sharp turn to the temple. Even in the gray of the foggy morning, its marble walls gleamed invitingly. People were pouring out of the temple and running toward us. From inside the walls burst a group of centaurs, led by a shimmering blonde who was followed closely by a young palomino.
“Victoria! Dougal!” I yelled as they galloped to us.
“I told her you would make it,” Dougal said gleefully.
“This one time I will allow him to be right.” Vic laughed happily and hugged me so hard I almost fell off ClanFintan’s back.
Soon we were enfolded in a wave of jubilant people and centaurs. As we went through the rear entrance, Epi trumpeted a joyous welcome. Then I heard a familiar voice, and I looked into the courtyard to see Alanna and Carolan running to join us. ClanFintan wearily helped me down. Carolan gave me a quick inspection.
“I’m fine—I’m fine. Take care of him,” I brushed him off and, after giving me one more look over, he began examining ClanFintan’s many wounds.
“Come with me,” he ordered the centaur in a grim-sounding voice.
ClanFintan kissed me quickly, whispering, “I will join you in your chambers as soon as he is finished with me.” Then he did as the doctor ordered, much to my relief.