Daughters of the Moon Pt. 11

As the witching hour approached Fyanna closed the ritual. "The way is shut. Those who are worthy now dwell among us. Let refreshments be brought and let our new sisters be known among us."

And with that the three sisters removed their robes and folded them carefully, putting them in a chest near the fire. Everyone cheered as drinks were passed around. Niamh drew out her fiddle and her eyes lit as she began to play. Diedre fetched her drum and began an accompaniment, her usual smile on her face. The celebration would last until dawn. Siobhan stayed back at first, suddenly shy. She often held herself aloof at these gatherings. She was the best fighter among the daughters, silent as death in the woods, strong and fast with the blade, a perfect shot with bow and musket, but she always held herself apart. She had been afraid to reveal herself, even to her most secret sisters, for fear word would reach her mother.

Lucy came up to her, that bright smile lighting her features. "What are you doing over here?"

"Sorry, I'm just tired."

"You're tired? I just climbed a sheer cliff."

Siobhan smiled, "You're right. Let's go."

Siobhan followed Lucy to a group of her sisters, old and new. They shared their stories, their sorrows, what had led them to be here, at this moment. Many of them had husbands and brothers in the army and couldn't stand the idea of staying home while they fought. A few were like Lucy, outlanders with old pain in their eyes and determination in every line of their bodies. Lucy told the story of her sister once again, as if telling it to Siobhan had opened a door in her heart.

When the story was done Siobhan put an arm around her love and Lucy jumped, looking at her in shock.

"It's okay, look," said Siobhan.

Lucy followed her gaze and her eyes widened, Fyanna sat by the fire, kissing her longtime lover, Fiadh, their mouths moving over each other and their hands stroking each other's backs.

Lucy looked back to Siobhan, "I thought the touched were forbidden here. The church..."

Niamh was normally very quiet but at the word forbidden she sniffed in disapproval, "What is the Father to us? What happens here is no business of his."

Lucy turned to Siobhan, "But you never... I mean you said I was your first?"

Siobhan shook her head, "I never allowed myself. No secret is so safe that it can't reach the wrong ears."

"You besmirch your sisters to doubt them like that," said Cerwen.

Siobhan was silent for a long moment, "Maybe I hoped if I didn't act on my feelings they would wither; maybe I could be normal."

Lucy took her hand, "You shouldn't have to do that. You shouldn't have to change who you are."

"We owe you a great deal for getting Siobhan to finally loosen up. It may be your greatest feat so far," said Deidre. Then she laughed at her own joke. Laughter always came easy to Deidre.

As they watched, Fyanna and Fiadh rose and walked into the trees.

"Where are they going?" asked Lucy.

Siobhan felt heat blossom between her legs, she fought the urge to rub them together but she couldn't stop herself from straightening. It took all her self control to keep her voice casual.

"There's more private grove a short walk from here. It's quite nice this time of year," she said.

Lucy smiled, leaned forward and kissed Siobhan. Siobhan stiffened, tense at first, but after a moment relaxed.

When she looked up all the sisters were smirking at her, even Cerwen was smiling.

Lucy leaned forward, "Will you show it to me?" She whispered.

Siobhan' stomach tensed, her groin flexed, and she felt moisture gathering between her legs. Without a word she stood, took her love's hand, and led her into the trees. The raucous calls of her sisters urging them on their way.

...

The briefing was taking place in the feasting hall of the local clan chief. The long wooden benches and trestle tables were polished to a shine to receive the prestigious guests attending the meeting. Banners and old weapons, symbols of past victories, hung on the walls. It wasn't her father's hall but it was close enough to make Siobhan feel slightly homesick.

The benches were filled with assorted soldiers and officers. They all spoke quietly among themselves and the hall was abuzz with conversation that was at turns excited and worried. No one knew what the briefing was about, but everyone knew it was important. The letter asking for twenty volunteers from the daughters had been delivered to Cerwen by the king's personal courtier. It was the first time the king had officially requested the aid of the daughters. Competition to take the volunteer positions had been fierce, but Siobhan and Lucy had been among the first picked

The others at the briefing were a strange assortment. There was a mix of clan chiefs, barons from the Cambrian armies that had fled to Tallis when their kingdom had fallen, and military advisors from the central league army.

Siobhan shifted uncomfortably. Lucy was right next to her and she was very aware of the occasional press of their thighs against each other on the tight benches. Siobhan had been spoiled recently, she had found many opportunities to be alone with her love, and being in public with her, unable to even look at her for fear of what others would see in her eyes, felt stifling. All the daughters looked their best in their black tunics with raven feathers woven in their hair. They all had the symbol of the three rayed vortex on a pin on their chests and the three streaks representing the three aspects of the goddess marked in ash on each cheek. She could feel the unease of the men around her and took pride in it.

The buzz of conversation died down as a man walked up to the chief's table. Instead of a feast the table was covered with a cloth with a something hidden underneath

The man wore the uniform of the first legion of the central league army, one of the most respected professional military forces in the world. He looked surprisingly young for the number of honors pinned to his uniform.

When the conversation had ceased entirely he began to speak.

"Thank you all for coming. My name is Captain Lucius Varinus and I am the senior military attaché from the central league army. A contingent of the famed and feared Daughters of Morgen are here today, and I've organized this briefing to discuss a special and dangerous assignment for them that may be the key to victory in the coming battle. I'm here to give you a review of the current military situation and your place in it, so that you can understand the importance of this mission and its place in the coming war."

Palpable excitement ran through the room as they realized the import of his words.

"Forgive me if any of this is redundant information for you, but rumor and hearsay are thicker than crows during a war, and I think it's important to make sure we all begin on the same page. One year ago, the Dragon awoke from his slumber and rallied the vampires of the kingdom of Ardeal for his fifth invasion of the lands of men. The fourth invasion was a complete rout of the vampires by the combined forces of the League and the Good King. This past success made the League Diet complacent and slow to act this time. The government was confident the Good King of Celador could handle this invasion himself. The invasion started as it always does, with Northambria falling quickly, but then things diverged from how the Dragon's invasions usually proceed. The Dragon marched toward Celador as he always does, but a second army, equal in size to the Dragon's, continued south and smashed the kingdom of Cambria in just two months. They've occupied the entire country and have completely supplanted or turned the local nobility. Northambria and Cambria are now part of a new Ardealian empire."

Siobhan looked to Lucy. She was very pale but her face was carefully blank.

"Three months ago, the Dragon met the Good King on the fields of Ajencore, as he has three times before. The Dragon was defeated and his army destroyed, however the cost of victory was higher than ever before. The Good King has been severely wounded but has refused to abdicate and his army has been decimated. For all intents and purposes, Celador had been neutralized. The traditional check against the vampire scourge is gone. The Dragon is gone, his army is gone, but the second army is still in the field. Rather than fall in on itself or retreat to Ardeal as the vampires always do when the Dragon is driven into slumber, they are coming here."

There was a general mutter of fear and anger that raced through the room. Siobhan kept her face blank; the Daughters of Morgen did not show fear in front of men.

"Based on battlefield accounts, the source of the vampires' newfound strength has become clear. The vampires appear to have made advances in their necromancy since the last invasion, just as the league has advanced its own arcane and scientific knowledge. This has allowed the vampires to field an army that is far larger than any the dead have sent before, and they have access to greater magics than they have wielded against us in the past. To make matters worse, the orc clans on the league's southeastern border are gearing up for a full scale invasion, and the men you have been promised to help defend your borders are not coming."

There was an angry mutter throughout the room, and Siobhan reflected that anger. The alliance with the League had been formalized only in the last few years and was very controversial among the clans. The trade benefits and promise of military support had just barely overcome the clans' fear of being subsumed by the league, as so many other nations and city states had been. After the intense disagreement about whether to ally with the League, their refusal to send help had come as the bitterest betrayal.

Captain Varinus raised a hand, "I can only say there was a great deal of debate about the best reaction to these dual threats, and if my allies in central command were given more sway, those armies would have come. Although the League has not met its obligations, it has not abandoned you. We haven't sent men but we've sent material. A musket for every hand that can hold one and dozens of the latest cannons from our finest artifactories. A full circle of the Academy's war mages has come, and the Illuminated Order, an Order of the Champion dedicated to destroying the undead, has sent their best men."

There was a general grumbling but it was less angry than before.

"It is the last thing the league has sent that I am here to discuss with you today. The armies of the dead are not like the armies of the living. They feel no fear or pain and they do not break as the armies of men do. And the vampires that lead them have terrible power at their command. We estimate there are no more than three hundred vampires in the approaching army, but each one is a regiment in and of itself, able to slay or break hundreds of men.

Siobhan was starting to question the purpose of this briefing. It was starting to sound like the captain was trying to convince them to surrender.

"But even though vampires are the greatest strength of the undead army, they are also its greatest weakness. Each vampire has the strength of a regiment and so each that falls is the loss of a regiment for the enemy. And vampires don't have subordinates who can take their place. If I were to fall in battle, my first lieutenant would step into my role, but if a vampire is killed, their troops, living or dead, will crumble around them.

It is this weakness that the league's final piece of aid is meant to exploit, and we have asked the Daughters of Morgen to wield it."

With that the Captain pulled the cloth from the clan chief's table, revealing a sleek, glossy long gun with a brass tube on top. There was an appreciative mutter throughout the room.

"These are the latest design of the guild weaponsmiths. It is a rifle with built in stabilizing enchantments that give it accuracy up to five hundred yards. The scope on top will enhance the wielder's vision, allowing pinpoint precision for the rifle's full range."

"Yessss," hissed Lucy.

"The rifles come with incendiary bullets as ammunition. These bullets have been infused with a powerful, compact enchantment to make them ignite on impact. Vampires have great difficulty healing wounds made by fire. A shot to the head or chest will incapacitate any vampire and will kill younger, weaker ones. You will also be given a new form of smokeless firing powder, which generates more force to propel the bullet, will not give away your position, and will not sully the barrels.

Siobhan looked at her sisters. They were all looking at each other with wide eyed excitement. Even the normally stoic Niamh had a fierce smile and Fyanna was practically bouncing in her seat. Siobhan herself had difficulty containing her reaction. For the first time since the rumors of the approaching darkness reached their halls and villages, it felt like they were being given a chance.

"If you're wondering why all your warriors aren't being given these weapons and ammunition, it's because the cost to produce each one could arm a hundred men. Our arcanists are working furiously to lower the production costs, but for now they must remain a specialist weapon in the hands of an elite few. In honor of its first use, the guild's weaponsmiths have named the rifle the Flackrack, after the legendary sword of the Morgen which deals wounds that can never heal. I admit the name doesn't roll off my tongue but I was told you'd appreciate it. I believe it translates as...

"The Answer," said Cerwen, loud enough that everyone heard.

Varinus smiled, "Yes. A good name. We have requested the aid of the daughters of Morgen, and they have sent their twenty best. Each of them will be given an Answer and will act as skirmishers and snipers, ranging ahead of your clan schiltrons and taking out the enemy's leaders wherever they can be found. Each vampire you slay will be a linchpin taken from the enemy, and if you kill enough of them the entire army will collapse. This is a dangerous assignment; many of you will be beyond the front line, protected only by your skill and cleverness. But it is our hope that, by scalping out the vampires that hold the enemy together, you may be the key to your country's salvation.

We estimate the Tallisian army will engage the enemy in three weeks time. You have that long to train and familiarize yourself with your new weapons, so that you may meet the darkness on your borders and send it back to the abyss where it belongs."

With that, Captain Vilanis saluted them and everyone started cheering. The men around them were looking at them and Siobhan realized they were looking at them with hope. They were looking at them and praying the Daughters of Morgen, the warrior women of Tallis who were always feared and respected but never completely trusted, could save them all. Siobhan sat up straighter on her bench and looked to her sisters. She saw pride in determination on each and every face and she vowed they wouldn't fail.

...

Siobhan was sprawled in bed at an inn in the town they had been training in for the last two weeks. Her sisters had told her the owner of the inn was moon-touched and had worked out a system for women like her to use her rooms without fear of discovery. Siobhan knew it was still dangerous. She couldn't afford to make a scandal for her clan on the eve of their greatest battle, but her need to share an actual bed with her love before they went to battle had enticed her to risk it.

Lucy was resting her head on Siobhan's stomach and Siobhan was idly running a hand through her hair. the sweat of their lovemaking was just beginning to dry. The sex had been intense, almost desperate. They were leaving tomorrow to join the main army at its staging ground near the border and this might be the last time they could be together before it was time to fight.

"I've been trying to do what you asked of me," said Lucy, "I've been trying to think of the future. Of our future."

"That's good."

"I've been talking to some of the league advisors and they were telling me if we pull this off, if we kill enough vampires to rout this army, we could get recommendations and connections to get positions with any local force in the league, or as bodyguard to a local lord. A lady's bodyguard sounds like a cushy job."

"You want to leave Tallis?"

"I think we have to. I love your country. It's beautiful and the people are kind, but... we aren't accepted here. I see how scared you are of your parents finding out about us."

"I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay. It's not your fault. It's a shitty world and we need to make the best of it. But it's not like this everywhere. The church of the Father isn't so strong in the south. The church of the Mother and the Champion are bigger there and they have no problem with the touched. We could be together. We could even get married."

"You're asking me to marry you?"

Lucy tensed, her head pressing into Siobhan's stomach.

"Ummm... That's not what I meant. I don't have a ring or anything. I just meant we could if we wanted to. The church of the Mother will marry two women."

Siobhan reached down and put a hand on Lucy's stomach. She felt the need to touch her, to have a hand on her skin. She looked up, at the sun shining through the slats of the shutters, dappling across the sheets, across her love's body. She thought about waking to this, every morning, in a house of their own rather than a musty inn.

"I've never thought of leaving," said Siobhan, "Not in my whole life. Even though you're right, it would be much easier for us elsewhere. I know even if I stayed I'd have to leave home soon after the war when I'm... when I'm wed to another clan's son, but at least I could still visit on feast days and holidays. If we elope I would never see my family again."

"I'm sorry. I didn't have a family so I never thought about how hard that would be. Home has never been a place for me. It was always where my sister was and now it's wherever you are. But if you want to, we can stay here. We'll... figure something out."

Siobhan ran a hand through her love's hair and breathed out. Home was wherever she was. Lucy said things that were so sweet so casually sometimes it took her breath away.

"I love you," she said. Now that the barrier had been broken, Siobhan said it all the time.

"I love you too."

"And yes. Let's go south when this is over. Where we can be together openly. If my family can't accept me as I am, they will... they will have to do without me."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. I'm tired of holding myself back. I've lived behind walls my whole life and I won't do it anymore."

Lucy took the hand on her stomach and kissed it. Then put it back on her stomach and put a hand over it.

"Can I tell you something and you promise you won't think it's weird or get too worked up?"

"I can not tell you how stressful it is when you say things like that."

"Sorry."

"But yes. Go ahead."

"I've heard that dryads have started to leave their forests and live in some of the cities down south."

"That's interesting?" said Siobhan. She was a confused by the change of topic

"And the dryads know magic humans don't and it makes them great midwives. And, allegedly... I mean I don't know if this is true but I've heard... they can even help two human women have a baby together. The same way they do with each other."

Siobhan snorted, "That can't be true."

"I'm not totally sure but I've heard it from more than one person and some of them were mages who seemed like they knew what they were talking about."

"You want to have children. You and me. Even saying that sounds mad."

"I know, and I'm not saying we should have kids. I mean we don't have to. I mean... I don't want to anytime soon. Not this year or next year or... I don't know about the year after that. But the point is I don't mean right now, but I'd like a family. I never had much of one and when I think about the future, the one you asked me to think about, I want there to be a lot of family in it. And I know family is important to you."