The Prophetess of Caer

Chapter Two

Aisling looked around for any support from her friends, Croí smiling at her and Ási shaking his head. She sighed, and then stated "I guess I have to, don't I?"

Fírinne and Folláine nodded, and Aisling took stock of their appearances. Fírinne had curly burgundy hair tied up in a high ponytail, which complimented her dark skin and eyes. Folláine had pale skin and light hair, with a petite build, the opposite of her friend.  Both the girls wore a simple tunic and pants with the kingdom's crest on it, but Folláine had a music note beside the crest, showing that she was part of the Bard's coven.

Aisling looked around the room, walking over to the weapon's rack and grabbing two scimitars with a blood red hilt and sheath, and a design of an eye on the handles. They also had bright green beads hanging off of the pommels. She was surprised to see the weapons she had trained with since she was eight years old here, but it didn't matter, they were probably transported here when her prophecy was issued.

Aisling turned to the other four kids there and told them "Grab your weapons, we'll depart as soon as we have all the supplies we need"

Croí walked up to her and said "Ási told me to say he's sorry for getting mad at you, and wants to talk to you as soon as we've left"

Aisling nodded, saying "I'll go talk to him when we leave"

Aisling walked over to the cubby wall with supply packs in it, and grabbed one, then jogged over to the door and opened it, seeing the saddles and saddlebags sitting on their posts, and took the one that belonged to 'Aiden' and stuffed her pack in the saddlebag. She left the saddle on the post and went to help Fírinne with her horse because she was having trouble. When she got to Fírinne, she said "You need to bridle the horse before you saddle it or else it will run around and be very hard to control"

Fírinne smiled at her and, in her musical accent, said "Thanks, I don't have much experience with horses, we weren't farmers and didn't have enough money for a horse, this is my first time being around one outside of a faire"

Aisling helped her get the clunky saddle on to the horse, and showed her how to tie the saddle on to the horse. She grabbed a brush and handed it to Fírinne, saying "You brush the horses mane so that it doesn't get tangled, you don't have to, but I like to, because then you can braid it"

The other girl laughed slightly, and responded to that with "I never thought a Prince like you would be so..." She trailed off, glancing back at Ási. Aisling furrowed her brows, confused, "So what?"

She also glanced back at Ási, wondering what Fírinne was looking at Ási for. Ási was glaring at Fírinne, so Aisling walked back to see what was wrong.

Finally everyone was saddled and ready to go, so Aisling rang the second bell, and they were off. She dropped back to talk to Folláine, as she hadn't spent much time with her, and wanted to get to know her better. Suddenly, Ási rode up next to her and muttered something "What? I couldn't hear you"

Ási repeated himself "I'm sorry for being rude" he said.

Aisling smiled "Apology accepted" and then she vanished.

Ási panicked, looking around for Aisling, his eyes wide in fear "Aisling, Aisling!" he called, but to no avail, Aisling had vanished.

Aisling jolted up with a shout, looking around at her surroundings. She felt ropes on her wrists, coarse and spiked, she could taste the metallic gag in her mouth, as if she had swallowed blood. She tried to stand up, to see if she could break the chair she was tied to, but it was nailed to the ground. A smooth voice interuppted the silence "Hello, Prince Aisling Ruasdoittr"

Aisling's eyes widened. In the kingdom of Caer, using someone's last name to address them was considered disrespectful, especially royalty. She did not respond, as the fact to never respond to any strange people she didn't recognize was burnt into her head. The reason for this was that while the Fae of the Summer Court or the 'Seelie' were peaceful, the Fae of the Winter Court or 'Unseelie' were not, and often kidnapped children for their own gain. Both Croí and Ási belonged to the Seelie Court, so they were allowed to be with human children, but if they had been born in the Unseelie Court, they would be trapped in the realm of the Fae for all eternity, unless they escaped as changelings.