Warrior, Forbidden: Book Three of the Comhairle Chronicles

Chapter Four: Uncomfortable Allies

Three Taghadairean sat in Tancred's office, and while Aodh felt grateful that they'd at least donned loose, tunic-like dresses, their helms and swords still made them intimidating. He wondered if they could see into his head, the way they did during the trials. He hoped not. He was having a hard enough time keeping his dislike hidden behind a neutral expression without having to master his thoughts as well.

"You summoned us, ghaisgich chief. Why are we here?" one of the three shield-maidens asked, and Aodh felt relieved that they hadn't all spoken in unison as they often did during the trials. They were unsettling enough without that.

"Your commander is missing," Tancred announced without preamble, perhaps feeling as unsettled as Aodh. There wasn't a gaisgeach alive who wanted to spend more time with the choosers-of-the-slain.

"The commander is otherwise engaged at present," the Taghadair retorted, her blonde brows dropping into a scowl over her entirely black eyes. "I am second-in-command, and anything you wish to say to her, you can say to me."

Tanc shook his head. "You misunderstand. I don't mean she is missing from this meeting. I mean she is missing; abducted, kidnapped, knocked unconscious and bundled off to goodness-knows-where. Wherever you think she is, I'm confident you're mistaken."

Not one of the shield-maidens reacted, keeping their expressions schooled as they appraised the chief. The one who seemed to want to do all the talking sounded almost bored as she drawled, "And what makes you say that? The Ceannard has been a warrior for millennia. She even has many centuries on you, chief. She would not allow herself to be taken."

"Right. Excellent. That's that cleared up then," Aodh muttered, irritated. "Maybe you can tell whichever deity sends me visions the same thing? I'd really prefer not to crash my car because some divine power decides to zap impossible events into my skull."

That made the shield-maidens pause, at least, and the deputy-leader's brows dropped back into another frown. "You're the seer. I remember now. You thought about doing what the last balach did - choosing sacrifice in the hope you'd lose your gift. You came to your senses and chose combat instead... Lucky, really, considering what the Ceannard intended to take if you'd followed through on your plan. She would have removed your sense of hearing, just like she took the last boy's ability to see. Call it a teachable moment. She always was creative. You're lucky you made the other choice."

"You're heartless monsters, aren't you?" Aodh grumbled, glaring back at their guests.

"No. We are your test," she retorted. "More so than any of the challenges. We are what we have to be. But that is irrelevant. Tell me what you saw, seer."

For some reason, he didn't want to. He didn't want to describe how their Ceannard had drugged herself out of her mind, fucked a fallen angel, and then allowed herself to be knocked unconscious by a someone carrying a Comhairle sword. He could only imagine the shame that would follow such a failure, especially amongst creatures who'd served as the gods personal warriors for longer than most ghaisgich had lived.

But why did he care? It shouldn't matter to him. The commander had been fucking awful during his own trials, reminding him that his own parents hadn't wanted him, not after they realised the things he dreamed often came to pass.

His mother thought he cursed people, some kind of sorcerer, not understanding that he only 'saw what was' rather than 'influencing what would be'. At first, his father had beaten him for bewitching their neighbours, but later he'd beaten him for daring to open his mouth at all. Between the age of five and fifteen, he'd barely spoken a word, terrified of punishment, but his parents still hadn't forgiven him. They kept him from most of his siblings, afraid he'd influence them. They made him sleep outside on all but the coldest nights, and used him as labour, but he'd never been part of the family.