Daughters of the Moon Pt. 13

"I'll send Elaine by. She can play with Niamh for now and teach you, too."

"Yes! Thank you. Thank you both," said Olivia. She looked at Siobhan and swallowed. "I promise you I'll get it right this time. I'll do right by her."

Siobhan didn't trust herself to speak so she just nodded.

"I... we're going to go," said Gwen, "We're kind of on a quest. Please let us know when Niamh is... feeling better and we can speak to her."

"Okay... okay and thanks again."

...

They were walking through the camp again. This time Siobhan didn't try to hold back her long strides. People who saw the look on her scarred face dove out of her way as if she was the Dragon himself.

Gwen matched her stride. "Siobhan, I know that was..."

"I don't want to talk about it right now."

"Okay, but..."

"I just want to find my other sisters, to save them if they can still be saved."

"Siobhan... Sophia has decreed they all be turned. We're down a lot of warriors and Sophia has decided we need them..."

"I know! I know. But I have to... I have to do what I can."

"Of course. We'll do everything we can. Okay so... next is Isabelle, who has your sister Cerwen. She's one of Anika's granddaughters. Oh, that means she's a scholar and a necromancer. Carla knows her better than me but she seems very sharp. She's very reserved for a Mircalla and she's a lot more serious than Olivia but... well she's very young. I have no idea how she captured one of your sisters or how she even got permission to sire."

"And Cerwen is one of our fiercest warriors, it hardly sounds like a good match."

Cerwen was only a few years older than Siobhan but was one of the most respected leaders among the daughters. She had taught Siobhan more than any of the daughters and had acted as an older sister when she had still been coming to terms with who she was. Cerwen could be harsh and she expected much of you, but everyone deferred to her and she was always a squad leader when the daughters were working together.

They were approaching another tent. This one was much simpler than the last one. It didn't have a bell so Gwen just raised her voice.

"Isabelle? Are you in there?"

The tent flap opened and an auburn haired vampire stepped out. She was waiflike, short, with a narrow face and a little too skinny. She wore a simple black dress with some silvery leaf embroidered on it. Her large dark eyes were hidden behind round spectacles.. Siobhan realized there was no way a vampire would need spectacles, so these must be merely an affectation. Siobhan almost laughed at the idea of this child being Cerwen's sire, then realized it would be horrible no matter who forced this change on her sister.

Isabelle looked them both over with very little expression, "I take it you're here to see Cerwen?"

"How did you know?" asked Gwen

"I can't think of any other reason you'd be here."

"Oh that's... I mean I'm sorry, Izzy. I've been busy and...."

"No, I'm sorry. That was rude of me. I..."

She pushed up her glasses and rubbed the bridge of her nose. Siobhan had the feeling she wore them mostly to push them up.

"... I haven't been myself. Losing Anika has been very hard."

"Have you turned her?" asked Siobhan quickly, interrupting whatever Gwen had been about to say.

Isabelle shook her head, "No, I'd prefer... I need her to consent and so I'm taking my time, trying to get her more comfortable. That hasn't been going well. Before we go in please tell me how Carla is. I've been so focused on grandma and Cerwen I haven't had the chance to check on her."

Gwen smiled. "She'll be okay! The docs said she'd be fine! It might take her a few weeks to come out of Langour since she's weak from siring but she'll be fine."

"That's so good to hear. Carla is wonderful. We talked quite a bit during the march. We were on our way to being friends. I think. I hope."

"Yes... thank you."

"And thank you for telling me. Please, come inside."

Isabelle turned and went into the tent and they quickly followed. Inside the furnishings were simple, with no ornamentation. There was another foldable bookshelf but this one was full of what looked like history books and tomes on magical theory. There was a small writing desk covered with well organized piles of paper.

Cerwen was sitting cross legged in the corner with her eyes closed. Her lips were moving in prayer.

"Cerwen," said Siobhan.

Cerwen opened her eyes and gazed at Siobhan, then she closed them again. A spasm of grief crossed her face.

"What's wrong with her?" Asked Siobhan.

"Nothing. I've shadowbound her. But that's all."

Isabelle gestured at a small tent spike covered in faintly glowing red runework driven into the floor of the tent about five feet from Cerwen. Cerwen's shadow was angled towards the spike even though there were no shadows cast in the soft mage lights of the tent.

"She's escaped twice already," continued Isabelle. There was an amused pride in her voice.

"I will not speak to you," said Cerwen. Her eyes were still closed, "You are not her."

Siobhan jumped. She felt a rising panic at her own fears reflected back at her.

"You may look like her but she's gone. I won't dignify the thing occupying her skin by pretending. Leave me."

"Cerwen, please. I need to find Lucy."

Cerwen opened her eyes, her cool gaze washing over Siobhan, "So you don't have her. Good. She doesn't have to see what's become of her love. I hope she can avenge you."

Siobhan went forward and knelt in front of her mentor, her sister.

"Please. She could have been captured by someone else. Someone we don't know. Someone... worse. If she has been, I... I can't free you but I will free her. I swear it. Please."

"Siobhan," said Gwen, "you can't promise to free..."

Siobhan glared at her sire, her gaze a knife cutting her words off.

Gwen looked away.

Siobhan turned back to her sister and Cerwen looked into her eyes, Siobhan thought saw doubt there.

"You almost make me believe you're still in there."

"I'm still me," said Siobhan.

"You don't sound like you believe it."

"I don't know, I don't know what I am," said Siobhan. Her eyes started to burn. Her throat went rough. She swallowed the pain away.

"I just know I need to find her. To save her if I still can."

Cerwen tilted her head, "You almost had me fooled. But I won't help you. The real Siobhan wouldn't have wanted her love to see her like this."

Siobhan stood and turned away. Somewhere deep inside she was wailing, but she kept it buried. She walked slowly and carefully out of the tent. When she got outside she stared up at the moon and began to pray to the crow mother for strength, then stopped half way through. She remembered that when she had been turned she had felt the gods forsake her in the deepest depths of her soul. A prayer now would be a mockery.

"Siobhan," said Gwen.

Siobhan didn't turn to face her. She kept looking at the moon.

"I'm alright. That was actually what I was expecting. It was easier to deal with than... than Niamh."

"I can go back and talk to Cerwen. I can be very persuasive."

"No! No, don't use... whatever it is you do."

"The Painted Eyes.

"What?" asked Siobhan.

"That's what it's called."

"I see, don't... I don't want us to be what she thinks we are."

"Who cares what she thinks? We need to find Lucy."

"I care. I won't force her when so much is already being forced on her. We can still talk to Fyanna. She was closer to Lucy and she's less... rigid than Cerwen. She will speak to me."

"Siobhan," said Isabelle.

Siobhan turned and saw Isabelle regarding her. It was hard to read her expression behind her glasses.

"I'm so sorry that happened," continued Isabelle.

"Thank you. I expected no less. Cerwen can be harsh."

"Yes.... Yes she's proving to be quite a handful."

"Iasabelle," said Gwen, "I'm sorry to ask this.... But... how old are you?"

"I'm forty three."

"Oh... okay... well... that's a little young, don't you think? I mean I know you're old enough that siring won't weaken you but Mircalla are supposed to wait until at least fifty before siring."

"I know Gwen. But there's no one else."

"What do you mean?"

"I didn't capture Cerwen. Holly did but she gave Cerwen to me because she sired ten years ago and it's too soon for her to sire again. A lot of our sisters are like you, they sired in Cambria. After Caroline and Olivia I'm the only Moonlit Path left in the army that hasn't sired in the last twenty years. There's some in languor but we can't wait for them to recover. Sophia doesn't want the Secret Temple to get their hands on any of the daughters."

"But if you're not ready you shouldn't do this. This is one of the most important things you'll ever do. The Secret Temple sisters aren't my favorite people but they're still Mircalla. You can't..."

"I have a duty to the house and... Isabelle's eyes flashed, her calm demeanor cracking, "...I'm not letting Taylor or Felicity or Evelyn have her. I won't!"

Gwen's mouth snapped shut at the names, "Fuck. Could you imagine having one of them as your sire?"

Isabelle's eyes were still hot.

"Yes, Gwen, I know exactly what that'd be like. And so do you."

Gwen was silent for a minute. Her eyes went distant, thinking about Mara.

"Alright. Alright well... if you need any help," she said finally.

"I will definitely take you up on that. Our situations aren't so different. I hope I can be half the sire you are."

"That's... god that's so sweet, I don't think I'm much of a role model."

"You don't give yourself enough credit."

"Chess," said Siobhan.

They both looked at her.

"Or Go. Not checkers. She always said checkers was for children. Cerwen loves games of skill. She used to play for hours, one sister after the other. She said it was just as important to hone her mind as her body."

Isabelle smiled, "I love chess. I've been looking for a partner."

They all shared a smile but Siobhan's smile faded before the others. Isabelle seemed kind and there was a practicality to her she knew Cerwen would appreciate. But in the end she was still going to force her blood on Cerwen. It was no different than what Sophia had done to her. And Siobhan was letting it happen. She was helping.

"Look, we should go," said Gwen, "We need to talk to at least one of the daughters."

"Caroline should be in her tent with Fyanna," said Isabelle, smirking, "Just be careful. Caroline was very excited about her new thrall last I saw her. She might not want to be disturbed."

"Thanks. And... good luck."

Isabelle looked back to her tent and pushed up her glasses.

"I will definitely need it."

...

Siobhan and Gwen made their way through the camp. Siobhan was quiet, her thoughts tumbling over each other. When Adrian had told her she would betray her people after being turned she had thought him mad, but she had visited her sister, captured and threatened by the enemy, and left her to her fate. Not just left her, gave her captor advice on winning her affection. She had only been a vampire for a single night and had already betrayed her dearest friend. But to come to Cerwen's aid would ruin any chance she had of finding Lucy.

Gwen left her alone. Siobhan appreciated that Gwen knew when to speak and when to be silent. But she kept giving Siobhan little worried glances as if she could sense her turmoil. With a start Siobhan realized, for all she knew, Gwen could actually read her mind.

"The last of your sisters Elaine found is Fyanna. She's with Caroline. Fyanna really, really should be fine. Caroline's only a little younger than me and is just the sweetest. She's one of the kindest members of the house."

Siobhan almost made a joke about how the kindest vampire wasn't exactly reassuring, but then she decided, with what she knew now, it wasn't a particularly funny joke.

They were in front of another tent. This one did have a bell. Siobhan rang it, a little too hard, and the ring echoed loudly into the night.

There was no answer, after a moment Gwen called out.

"Caroline? Are you in there?"

Siobhan waited, very patiently, for about five seconds, then pushed through the entrance of the tent.

Her eyes came to rest on Caroline's body on the floor, laying in the stillness of death. Her dress was torn and dark lines and patches of blood were splattered across the fabric. Siobhan gasped and moved forward, as she did she saw Caroline move.

"Caroline!" said Gwen

There was a gust of air and Gwen was already kneeling by Caroline's side when Siobhan arrived.

"Leave me alone," said Caroline. Her voice was weak and full of pain.

"Caroline what happened? Why don't you heal?"

"I don't deserve it. I deserve to sit here and suffer."

"Where is Fyanna?" asked Siobhan

"I lost her. I let them take her from me."

"Who?" Asked Gwen

"Evelyn. God, I'm so stupid. So stupid."

"What happened?"

"I found her on the battlefield and she was so beautiful. She was surrounded by dead larvae and there were dozens coming after her but she fought them all. It was glorious. I tore them apart to get to her. I had to have her.

"When she woke up and she saw me I smiled at her and she... god she smiled right back. It's like she knew we were meant to be...We talked... we talked for hours. She told me everything. Her life, her dreams, she's a goddess already, she was sent by the moon to..."

"Caroline, this is very sweet but please..."

"Sorry. I'm sorry, I'm so stupid."

"What did you do?"

"Felicity came to me with a Wager. Her sword and her finest pair of horses. Fyanna loves horses. Riding through the rolling hills of her clan's lands, her hair a banner in the wind, is her favorite thing in life. But she never had the money to have a horse of her own. I wanted to give her a gift so I accepted. Felicity has never beaten me."

"Oh, I see where this is going," said Gwen.

"Of course you do. Anyone with half a brain could have seen this coming. It's the exact same trick they tried to pull on Carla that one time. But I as blind. Evelyn was her second and Felicity declined to duel. I fought so hard. I refused to heal no matter how much she cut me. But eventually I couldn't stand, I couldn't hold my sword. I lost the most wonderful woman in the world for a horse. A horse!

Caroline started to cry.

Wordlessly Siobhan got up and left the tent. Caroline's wails filled her ears. She knew Caroline's affection for Fyanna was a lie, a madness brought on from her blood. She still wasn't sure if creatures like them were even capable of love. But Caroline's pain was so raw and so genuine, a mirror of Siobhan's own, that she was filled with a need to see it eased.

When she got outside there was another gust and Gwen was there.

"Her tent's this way," she said.

They walked quickly, the tents blurring like they were on a racing horses, and Siobhan's determination only grew with the power of her strides. The furious motion feeding into her need to save Fyanna.

"I take it Evelyn would not be a good sire," said Siobhan.

"God no. She's awful," said Gwen, "She's not evil or anything. Well she's a little evil. She's... she's very full of herself. She's the kind of person who would never allow her childe to be better than she is, at anything."

Siobhan nodded, "She's weak and she hides her self-doubt with cruelty and bravado."

"... That's one way to put it."

"I will not allow Fyanna to be controlled by this woman."

"No, we sure as hell won't," said Gwen. Siobhan could hear a mirror of her own determination in her sire's voice. She felt a surge of affection for the woman at her side.

They kept running. People had to dive out of the way to avoid being trampled. After a few moments they were at another tent. This one was similar to Caroline's fine but not ostentatious. Evelyn's tent had far more crescents embroidered on it than the other though, the symbol repeated in a band around the entire tent.

Siobhan pushed her way past Gwen and went inside. In the dim light, she saw Fyanna in the tents bedroll. Evelyn was laid out next to her, pinning Fyanna's hands above her head with one hand. The vampire had stripped Fyanna to the waist and was fondling her breasts. Her free hand pinching a nipple and she was licking her other breast with long laps of her tongue. Fyanna was staring off into the distance, trying to be somewhere else, when she heard Siobhan she turned to her and her eyes widened.

Without thinking Siobhan surged forward, grabbing Evelyn. She rotated her hips, putting the whole force of her body into the motion, and hurled Evelyn clear out the tent's entrance. She heard a startled screech and a yell from Gwen outside the tent.

Siobhan turned back to Fyanna who was covering herself with a blanket and staring up at her in shock. Siobhan waited, bracing herself for Fyanna's scorn and disgust.

"Siobhan? Is that you?"

Siobhan nodded. Afraid to speak.

"I can't believe they got you. You're getting sloppy."

Siobhan smiled and she had to suppress a hysterical laugh.

"He could fly and shoot lightning. I'm not the Morgen herself"

"You look like her now, god!"

"Fyanna!"

"Really? You're going to give me a hard time for blasphemy? Are you..." Fyanna trailed off

"Still me? Okay? Everyone keeps asking me and I don't have answers."

Fyanna looked sympathetic.

"Is Caroline okay?" she asked.

Siobhan stared at her, shocked by the concern in her voice.

"She was very upset. She was being dramatic," she said after a moment.

Fyanna snorted, "She is very dramatic. Artists."

"You're... I'm surprised you're concerned."

Fyanna pushed back her hair, "I can't explain it. She swears she didn't do anything to me and I believe her but... she's very cute."

"She wasn't at her best when I saw her, but I believe you."

Siobhan heard Gwen and Evelyn arguing outside the tent, their voices gradually rising in pitch and volume.

"I should probably go out there and help," said Siobhan.

Fyanna nodded, "Alright, thank you for saving me. I'm a little tired of being saved but I still appreciate it."

Siobhan nodded, "I'll see you soon I'll... tell Caroline you were asking after her."

Fyanna nodded, "See you soon. And Siobhan. You're still you. Let me clear that up for you."

Siobhan's chest twisted in a knot and she had to look away. She turned from Fyanna and left the tent.

When she walked out Gwen and Evelyn were facing each other, their postures stiff and their heads thrust forward. They both had a hand on their swords. A small crowd of people were watching, passers by who stopped to watch the drama unfold.

"... no, I deny your challenge. You have no grounds to compel a challenge and nothing to wager that I would want," said Evelyn

"How about the fact you're unfit to sire. When I tell an arbiter what you were doing they'll compel you," said Gwen.

"You can't be that stupid. Sophia herself decreed they be turned. I was merely following her command."

Slowly, Gwen drew her sword. She laid it across her hands.

"What if I wager this? A genuine blademaster's blood sword. They don't make them like this anymore."

Evelyn licked her lips, "No Gwen. You'll not tempt me into a wager. I'm not as foolish as Caroline."

"What happened to the great blademaster? My sisters tell me about her, but I don't see one here," said Gwen, her voice rich with scorn.

"Even the greatest blademaster must bow to reality," said Evelyne, her words low and bitter.

Then she took a step forward, her eyes lit with malice.

"The Gevudan or Savon you devoured when you wandered as a feral makes you too strong for me."

There were gasps from one or two of the onlookers. Gwen's face went blank. Siobhan recognized it as the dead eyed look people sometimes got when they were consumed by rage. Siobhan saw Gwen's hand tighten on her sword.