Chapter Two
"Every moment of their engagement Sidhe spent in agony.
She began to hate her father,
believing that he was trying to rid himself of the burden
two female heirs had thrust upon him.
She hated her father; she hated Radalph …
and, then she began to hate herself …"
—The Pasegean Scrolls
She was floating; floating as if on a bed of pure fluff. "It’s a cloud!" she whispered loudly, a look of pure delight upon her face. She could remember nothing, it hurt too much to think.
A soothing voice came to her. "Samandia … you’re here. Wake up …" then, the gentle whispering stopped as the owner of the voice became angry. "WAKE UP!"
Samandia screamed as she cloud dissipated and she fell until she disintegrated into nothingness …
She jerked awake, the intensity of the dream surprising. As her eyes began to focus, she saw what seemed to be a cave. I must be still dreaming … she thought, and shook her head, trying to clear it.
A face came into view. It was a woman, with beautiful emerald green eyes and ebony hair which cascaded down her back. For a moment Samandia did not recognise her, then it came to her. "Sidhe?"
"Yes, you are right, Samandia. In this haven of magic I can return to my true self, who I was before my death. You might think me evil through my actions, Samandia, but it was the only way. My first life was squandered through selfish actions and lies, but I will not waste my second."
"Even if it hurts others?"
Sidhe sighed. "I do not see it as hurting you—really, I am only preparing you for suffering. All life is suffering, Samandia … I should know."
"Why me, though? Why did you choose me—why do I deserve this? Why not any other girl in Arsinuae?"
"Because, Samandia, he chose you. And you shall choose the others."
Narrowing her eyes, Samandia looked at Sidhe questioningly. "Others? What do you mean?"
She laughed. "You didn’t think you were to be the only one, did you? Oh, no … you will summon the other four—" Sidhe’s face turned to scowl unexpectedly, and she dragged the other girl from the stone slab she had been sleeping on. "—and you will do it today!"
Samandia tried to shake Sidhe’s grip, but the mage was too strong for her. Sidhe pulled her over to a stone table which seemed to have grown up straight from the floor. Atop the grey rock she spied a bowl of dark liquid. It seemed to swirl in a clockwise direction, and, upon closer inspection, seemed more clouded than black.
"Now, call forth those who will be your coven, Samandia." Bowing her head, Samandia said nothing. Angered, Sidhe screeched: "Do it, or I’ll call them myself!"
Stepping away from the bowl, Samandia offered it to the other woman. Sneering, Sidhe took Samandia’s place. "You dare to defy me, child? Well … you will regret this, my dear." With that, she began to chant:
"Within this clouded bowl I see,
the women granted thus to me.
Come, you four, and grace my hall,
When thy given name my voice doth call."
She glanced back to Samandia, giving the girl one last chance. The younger woman stared straight back into Sidhe’s bright green eyes, with her own showing no chance of backing down. With a devious smile on her face, Sidhe opened her mouth to proclaim the second of the coven:
"A young girl, not yet a maid,
Yet her fate has already been laid
Full of magic, mystery and men;
I call to coven: Kessah Darvosten."
A stricken look overcame Samandia’s features. "No! Not my sister!"
Sidhe ignored the other woman’s pleas. She was warned—and had her chance to plead before!
The face of a young girl, only sixteen, with nut-brown hair and hazel eyes appeared in the clouded liquid. "I come to serve thee, mistress Sidhe." Samandia knew that it was her sister’s voice, yet it sounded so strange—hypnotic, in a sense. Sidhe, satisfied with her choice, and with a glance back at Samandia’s concerned face, called her next witch to coven:
"Sweet of voice, yet speaks of sour,
all her gossip delivered dour,
She walks heavy, not floating light;
I call to coven: Llyne Penwhite."
Samandia was surprised. "Llyne?! Why her? To spite me—it truly does not!"
Not shocked, my dear? Sidhe smirked. You will learn, Samandia, that pain can be prorogued for a time—but yours cannot be avenged!
A blonde-haired, green eyed maid appeared next to the first, mist shrouding her face for a moment then dissipating. "I come to serve thee, mistress Sidhe." As with the first, Llyne’s voice sounded as if it were faraway from where Samandia stood. For the first time, the maid wondered exactly where this cave was located. Is it outside of our dimension? Or does it hang in another?
Sidhe, reading her thoughts, spoke. "My cave stands outside of time itself, Samandia. That is why I appear to breathe and no one will miss you where you came from. As far as they know, you never left, as time stands still in the dimension you belong to." Not waiting for a comment, Sidhe raised her voice to call her third witch:
"Spiteful? No. Pitiful? Yes.
This maid is shy when at her best.
Rarely spoken, rarely heard;
I call to coven: Catalina Sheperd."
At this, Samandia smothered a giggle. "Catalina?! Now, at least Llyne can stand up for herself!"
Sidhe shook her head. She is not as observant as I expected—she cannot spy through the suppression and misery and read the power engraved into Catalina’s soul …
Once more, a face appeared with the first two. A first, with her mouse-brown hair and light blue eyes, Catalina seemed meek. But, as she spoke, her features changed, as did her voice. "I come to serve thee, mistress Sidhe." Samandia was startled by the force in Catalina’s words. But, before she could question the mage, Sidhe had begun to chant once more:
"Plagued by fate and destiny,
moody, hateful and melancholy.
She throws her world into disarray;
I call to coven: Tierna Farray."
Knitting her brows, Samandia tried to place the name. Someone had mentioned it to her recently … Of course! Llyne! She tried to recall the somewhat one-sided conversation between Llyne and herself earlier, but Samandia’s mind went blank.
"She only arrived in Fernan last night, Samandia. Although you do not know her as yet, when you meet her again you shall know her better than you know yourself." Samandia stared towards Sidhe questioningly, but the mage was in no mood to explain.
Tierna’s face appeared in the bowl, her shorter red hair and brown eyes standing her apart from the other three maids. "I come to serve thee, mistress Sidhe." The mage looked down into the liquid with pride. Taking her index finger, she stirred the clouded brew anti-clockwise three times, the opposite direction to the way it naturally travelled. With this, she called each of them forth from the bowl.
"My coven, these four young maids,
To each I have a due yet unpaid.
I call you out from the cloudy brew,
So that I may bestow a gift on each of you."
With this, Sidhe blew on the brew; blowing the cloud and mist into her cave—and the four witches as well. They all stood with Samandia, in the same order as before, in the same stances as before.
Sidhe spoke, startling Samandia. "You see, I have learnt my lesson through your ignorant actions. While your first, back on that forest path six years ago, you may have called a triumph, I shall not be delayed again. I shall give them that which they ask for in their changed state—not in their true minds."
With the tip of her finger, Sidhe touched Kessah’s head. She felt a wish course through her body. I long to receive all that I desire in the mortal world, mistress Sidhe. Smirking, Sidhe granted the wish and Kessah bowed her head, unconscious as the spell took effect.
The mage moved onto the next witch, Llyne Penwhite. Sidhe briefly touched Llyne’s forehead, I wish to love someone as I have never known before—and have that love returned in its entirety, and grudgingly granted her wish. The blonde also bowed her head as the wish jumped from herself to Arsinuae and back again.
Catalina’s eyes showed a lust for power unrivalled by many in Arsinuae. Touching her fingertips to the maid’s forehead, Sidhe felt a relief at the wish. Give me not power over others—bestow power over myself so that I might earn the power over those who would disobey my orders. The brown-haired girl slumped to the ground, her wish so draining to her own body as well as Sidhe’s.
Sidhe felt weak. She did not know if she could handle what Tierna was willing to wish for. Still, she decided to try anyway. Brushing Tierna’s forehead with her fingertips, Sidhe felt her mana being replenished. I wish only to serve you, and to help you in anyway that I am capable of. Her wish an easy one to fulfil, and not particularly draining to either party, Tierna neither slumped nor moved her head. She simply stood in place, unconscious yet willing to fulfil Sidhe’s bidding.
Pleased with her new witches, and with a sneer to Samandia, Sidhe began the last incantation of all:
"I bind thee, Kessah Darvosten;
she who shall stay behind.
I bind thee, Llyne Penwhite;
she whose soul, through love, will be lightened.
I bind thee, Catalina Sheperd;
and hope that you shall never be conquered.
I bind thee, Tierna Farray;
knowing that you shall always serve me.
I bind you to me, Queen Sidhe—
and to Samandia Darvosten,
the one I shall speak through.
Now, having all things of magic perpetrated,
I send thee back from whence ye came!"
Copyright 2000 M. Lees
