“Yeah, that they’d figure out about the farm, or use her somehow to attack New Hope again. But I know she was really good friends with some of the people there.”
“We had good friends,” he agreed. “We traveled there with Poe and Kim and Eddie and Joe, from the mountains, and Flynn and his group from the little village below.”
“The boy with the wolf.” She glanced back, saw the white wolf in the shadows still.
“Lupa. And along the way, there were others.”
He painted a picture for her, more detailed than her mother had. And she began to see her mother, too, through his eyes. Young, brave, beautiful, learning to drive, nervous about becoming a mother, standing up to a bully at the town meeting.
She dozed off with her head on his shoulder, his voice in her head.
And his voice woke her.
“Fallon. Wake up, baby, it’s nearly dawn.”
“What? But … I fell asleep. I didn’t mean to.”
“You gave me the chance to hold my daughter while she slept. One more gift. Come on now. I’ll walk you back as far as I can.”
“I don’t want you to go.”
“You know, it’s true when people who love you say they’ll always be with you.”
“It’s not the same,” she told him as she dragged her feet.
“I know, but that doesn’t make it less true. What will you do today?”
“Feed the chickens, gather the eggs. Mallick usually milks the cow. After breakfast we have lessons in the workroom. Sometimes it’s boring, sometimes it’s not. We have to tend the greenhouse plants, too. And today he said I can start learning how to use a sword.”
“And you look forward to that.”
“I learn with a sword chosen for the girl I am. But on a night, like my birth, wild with storm, burned in lightning, on a night after I hold the Book of Spells, after I travel in the Well of Light, I take up the sword and shield of The One. Of the daughter of the Tuatha de Danann, the Warrior of Light. With these I challenge the dark and give no quarter. In these my power and my blood run in ice and flame.”
Her eyes that had gone dark and fierce blinked. And the child came back.
“You looked like your mother just then when a vision came on her.”
“I felt different. I felt strong.”
“You are strong.” He kissed her forehead. “I have to go.”
“Dad.” She threw her arms around him, held tight. “Will I ever see you again?”
“I know you will.” He kissed her again, drew her back. “We are who we are, Fallon. I see who you are, and I’m so proud. I love you,” he said, stepping back into the shadows as the first hint of the sun shimmered over the eastern hills.
“I love you, Dad.”
Furious, and more than a little frightened, Mallick stormed out of the cottage. The girl hadn’t slept in her bed, and was nowhere to be seen. When he found her, by the gods, she’d know the punishment for a night’s foolishness.
As he turned toward the stables intending to saddle his horse, he saw the white owl fly out of the woods. Then the girl walked out. And the wolf, the damnable wolf she’d surely spent the night tracking, stopped at the edge before slinking back and away.
The hand on the hilt of his sword, one belted on in haste, went lax with relief. And his temper rose in one hot flood.
“Are you mad or simply stupid? To wander off through the night, without leave. I was about to do a searching spell with hope I wouldn’t find your mangled body. There are predators, girl, on four legs and two, that would find you a tasty meal. You would climb out your window and wander alone through the night?”
“I wasn’t alone. I was with my father.”
“You risk yourself for …” His hearing caught up with temper, as did his vision. Her eyes were heavy, yes, but also dazed and damp. “Your father? Your sire?”
“He said I called him, with my heart, and he came. He came through the thinning veil. We walked in the woods, and talked and talked. I took him to faerie-land, and we talked. I fell asleep for a little while. I wish I hadn’t. Then he had to go.”
“You’ve been given a gift.”
“I know. I’m not really sad.” But tears spilled. “He’s like Dad. Simon. I mean, strong and brave and kind. He said he was glad we had Simon, my mom and me, and my brothers, just like Dad said he was glad Mom and me had Max.”
“You’re a fortunate girl.”
“Are you still really mad?”
While the sorcerer felt considerable awe she’d had the power and will to bring her sire into the living world, the teacher had to be firm.
“You broke my trust, or the trust I believed we had between us.”
“I’m sorry. The wolf hunts at night, and I wanted to track him. I should’ve asked if I could, but I was afraid you’d say no.”
“You’ve slipped out before?”
“Yes. But this time I found Faol Ban. I still need to get him to come to me, but I found him last night before my father came. If I’m to be a warrior, I should be able to go into the woods at night.”
“You’re not a warrior yet, and it’s within my power to bar you from the woods altogether.”
“Oh, but—”
“Did your parents permit you to wander at night, alone?”
Her head drooped. “No. But I’m thirteen now, so—”
Head inclined, Mallick folded his arms. “A great age when you wish it to be, a small one when you don’t.”
With her eyes cast down, he didn’t see calculation come into them. “You gave me the quest. I should’ve told you I needed to track at night, and I’m sorry I didn’t. But I can’t fulfill the quest if I can’t track the wolf.”
“You’re a clever girl,” he muttered.
She kept her head down, but shifted her eyes up. “It’s all true. I am sorry, and you gave me the quest. He took the bread I had in my pocket—not from my hand yet. I know how to make the biscuits our dogs like. I can get him to come to me, let me borrow the collar if I have time.”
Now Mallick calculated. “Mick will go with you.”
“Mick? Why—”
He cut her off with a steely stare. “Mick knows the woods—and better than you. He’s a dead shot with a bow.”
“I don’t need a boy to—”
“His sex is of no consequence. His skill is. And I would be more inclined to let you track at night—two hours only—if you take a companion. Those are my terms.”
“Fine.”
“Your word, here and now, you’ll abide by them.”
“I’ll abide by them. You have my word.”
“Very well. You may sleep for an hour before lessons.”
“I’m not tired, honest. I feel … really good.”
“In that case, take your energy, deal with the chickens and the cow before you make breakfast and bring in more firewood. Later you’ll harvest from the greenhouse what you need to make soup.”
“Why am I doing all the chores?”
“A small punishment for the scope of the crime. We’ll see if you can earn Faol Ban’s trust, and regain mine.”
“Are you still going to teach me to use a sword? I had a vision about the sword—the one on the mantel, and the sword and shield I use to fight.”
“Damnable girl! You wait so long to tell me.”
“You were mad.” And still was, she realized.
“Tell me now.”
“Okay.” She closed her eyes to bring back the words if not the feeling that had coursed through her, and told him.
“I almost felt them in my hands. It’s hard to explain, but I almost felt them. The sword in my right, the shield in my left. I can’t take up that sword until I take up the one on the mantel and learn how to use it.”
“Yes, a clever girl—and yes, no less true for the slyness. Do your chores, and do them well. If I’m satisfied, you’ll take up the sword chosen to teach you.”
When she gave a quick cheer and raced off, Mallick looked toward the heavens. He prayed to all the gods he had the strength to deal with the child and prepare the warrior.
Despite Mallick’s charm on the blades to prevent them from breaking flesh and drawing blood, Fallon ended her first lesson bruised, aching, and exhilarated.
At dusk she walked out, hard biscuits in her pocket, to meet Mick, who waited at the edge of the woods.
She took her bow and quiver as well. They’d see who was such a dead shot.
“Hey. So did you really find Faol Ban or did you just make it up because Mallick was pissed at you?”