Tír na nÓg Trilogy, Book II: The Rising Dark

The Dark Man

Oonagh immediately protested, but she was caught. She couldn't go against Emery, her Lady, now, not after she'd promised to answer any question. And though Emery did feel a little guilty exploiting her position (or, at least, the superiority Oonagh and everyone else seemed to think she had), she did tell her new friend that she didn't have to go with her and Tess, that she could just fall asleep and pretend she hadn't told them anything. Oonagh, however, was adamantly opposed to such a plan.

"You'll get lost, for sure! I wouldn't have you go out alone for anything! But Lady, please reconsider. Why not go tomorrow, in daylight?"

"Because we'll be seen!" Emery stated the obvious. "The whole point now is that we look like anyone else. And it's so dark no one will think otherwise."

Shaking her head, Oonagh reasoned, "Do you think they just let ladies beyond the walls at all hours of the night? Nobody comes and goes except herders bringing the animals in late and occasional travelers. We'll be stopped."

Emery shivered as she thought of the severed heads hanging over the gate and wondered to whom they belonged. They couldn't possibly be Cullen's own people . . . could they? Violators of his orders? The thought was rather harrowing, and yet, it angered her as well. Why should that man have so much authority over everyone, just because he could swing a sword and brood? She wanted so badly to see Cathbad outside of this settlement, and why shouldn't she? The druid hadn't been able to speak freely when he'd visited them, likely because he was scared of being overheard. Emery missed his ridiculous banter and cleverness, and she had a million questions for him. Why did Cullen's presence seem to dampen everything?

"Oh, Emery, don't look so sad for it!" cried Oonagh in dismay. She pouted. "Lady, I can't bear the sight of your disappointment." The girl's freckles seemed to glow in the firelight along with a sudden devilish gleam in her eyes as, against her better judgment, she began to change her mind. "I do happen to know a man who's guarding the gate tonight, though. And I do happen to know he'd be like to do me a favor, if I asked in the right way . . ."

Tess clapped her hands together in delight, probably even more excited at the thought of seeing Cathbad than Emery was. Emery's heart warmed at the sight of Tess's joy. She turned to Oonagh. "Let's go, then."

The settlement was huge. While it might have sounded easy to just head to the front gate, it took them about forty-five minutes to get to it. First of all, their roundhouse was situated as far away from the gate as possible (which irritated Emery--how could Cullen, who was supposed to protect them all--be the farthest away from potential danger?). Second, many people were still milling about, and they had to do their best to avoid them for fear of being questioned. There were children penning up and feeding animals, women calling in their families for meals, men still working in a variety of positions . . . the smithy alone seemed to burn all night long. But eventually, Oonagh having easily deflected a few nosy conversationalists, the three girls approached the gate.

It was more intimidating than Emery recalled it being when they'd entered. Perhaps her mind had been on the heads at the time, or maybe the current darkness intensified its formidableness. The entrance to the hillfort consisted of two towers built of stone and, higher up, timber, just like the main fortification walls that encircled the entire fort. The towers each housed men atop them, though, and then in between them, over the double-doored gate itself, was a triangular building, where more guards could reside and keep watch. The two doors below opened into a sort of passageway that ran around the settlement's circumference, and then there was another set of double doors that led to the outside. Multiple guards roamed--not just one--and their presence along with the whole set-up of the gate itself suddenly clarified why Oonagh had feared such an expedition.