Odette: Path C

I pulled the dress on, then stood up and let the skirts fall to the floor. "Am I supposed to put these back on?" I asked, gesturing at the necklaces.

She picked them up and put them over my head, adjusting them so the amulet was centered.

"I need the restroom," I said as she led me out.

In less than ten minutes, she was leading me into a hastily erected pavilion off away from the gathering of houses. There were white sheets enclosing it and some filmy, sheer ones as well. I looked out at the huge open space in front of the little pavilion and the structure in the center of it. It was a round staircase in the center, and at the top of the stairs was what looked like a birds nest with pillows instead of branches.

"What is that?" I asked as Nore started pulling off my dress. I didn't ask, I let her since I saw a white gown laid out. Two women came in, both with buckets of water and cloths, and they began washing me. Very thoroughly!

"It is the ríchathaoir," Nore answered.

"It doesn't look like a throne," I said, looking again through the sheer fabric on that side.

Cailleach Willa came in and handed me an apple. "Eat!" she commanded.

I ate as two more servants came in and started disrobing her and washing her as well. I was shivering as they washed my hair and rubbed scented oils into my skin. More women in white came in and the first two held me with my arms wide while four of them began painting my naked body with tiny white swirls and designs, runes as well. The brush strokes tickled and made me giggle until Nore was laughing with me. Even Cailleach Willa offered a smile as her hair was dried off. My smile disappeared when I saw them put the white gown on Cailleach Willa. The only white gown. My brown dress was nowhere to be seen. All I had was paint and the necklaces.

I turned to Nore fearfully, but she was still smiling as she looked at something in the open field.

I turned and looked and Feen was there, pacing angrily. He looked different. He had on his buckskin pants, but no shirt at all. His hair was all gathered up and knotted in the back of his head like he wanted it out of his way. He also had a giant black handprint on his face, just like the one he had put on me.

"What does that mean?" I asked Nore. "The black handprint?"

Nore smiled and pressed her lips together.

I looked back at Cailleach Willa. "Means he's willin'a die."

"Die?" I asked, spinning back to look at Feen. "Why?"

"Keep you from bein' took."

"Me? Someone is going to try and take me?"

"S'Mabon," she nodded. "Gon'," she said to the women.

The women in white pulled me out to the field and I protested and pulled back. "I need clothes!" I shrieked.

They didn't listen, they dragged me out and up the steps to the high nest, then held me there and turned me to face Cailleach Willa at the bottom. To my horror, I could see people starting to head to the field in the distance. I whimpered, but then Feen was there, standing next to Cailleach Willa and I felt a calm wash over me as I looked at him.

"Nore," Cailleach Willa said, gesturing to me.

Nore nodded at her, then turned to me. "You must sit on the ríchathaoir until change of day. If you are claimed afore, you spend a year and a day with them and they receive Bheinn's deolchaire. You must sit as a Banríon all day. You musn't waver or hide or you will shame us and lose Bheinn's deolchaire. You have a cosantóir, but you must not speak to or acknowledge them. Even to call for help or shout warning. At change of day, if none have touched you, your cosantóir may claim you. You may speak only to your seirbhíseach, and no one else. Do you understand?"

"I think so? Who is my handmaiden?"

"You may choose."

"Can I choose you?"

She grinned. "Yes!" she answered, climbing the steps eagerly.

The women in white turned me again and helped me step into the bowl with the thin mattress and pillows in it and I sat down as they lowered me. They arranged me and I sat there shaking as my eyes darted around to all of the people arriving. They piled pillows behind me so I could lean on them and laid a light blanket over my lap, but not my exposed chest. They laid my painted arms out on cushions like they were displaying them. Two more climbed up and they began arranging a large wreath on my head, adding and moving flowers as the other women left. Finally, it was only Nore and I and she sat down on the step just below the throne.

"Can you tell me more now?" I asked in a whisper. "What is happening? Can I cover my chest?!? Please?"

"No!"she hissed urgently. "Cover nothing, try not to move."

I was starting to hyperventilate as throngs of people began gathering around the field. People were moving tables, chairs, bringing food and drink and instruments.

"What is going to happen?" I asked.

She offered me a smile, but didn't answer.

I saw Cailleach Willa when they pulled back the white curtains to the pavilion and tied them all to the poles on the corners. She was in her own chair now, in white. There was also a huge bell near her and a hammer next to it, along with a long rope and ribbons tied to it.

An hour passed and people kept coming.The buzz was deafening and I was terrified. There were so many people! Tables and chairs circled the field and there were cookfires all around.

"May I have a drink?" I finally asked Nore. I hadn't spoken to her in forty five minutes, I was angry at her not answering any questions. She lifted two fingers at the tent and one of the women in white hurried up with a cup.

Feen had been circling the throne, watching the crowd and I had been trying not to watch him too closely. I was supposed to be pretending he wasn't there. It was hard not to look though, especially when his eyes lifted to mine.

"It's almost time," Nore whispered. "When Cailleach Willa stands, so you must as well. Stand as a Banríon, proud and fierce. Do not cower or hide or cover yourself like you do. It is not our way."

"It is MY way!" I hissed, horrified at the thought of all of these people seeing me. The only consolation was that they couldn't really see details. I was high up and far enough that they could only see vague impressions. Surely. Right? And they wouldn't be getting closer.

"Once she rings the bell you may sit again, but as you were. Don't fidget around or get upset at what happens."

"Why? What's going to happen?" I asked in alarm.

She smiled. "Just stay calm and indifferent."

I opened my mouth, but Cailleach Willa stood. Nore jumped up, but I stood slowly, letting the blanket fall as I did. I squared my shoulders and stood as tall as I could, ignoring the screams of the crowd. I focused on a tall tree poking out above the rest and lifted my chin. The yelling and shouting died down and I could hear Cailleach Willa speaking, but my heart was hammering so loud in my ears that I didn't know what she was saying.

Nore touched my wrist. "Be ready," she whispered. "Stay calm and sit as if nothing is happening."

I took a calming breath, but still jerked when the bell sounded. I started to sit as slowly as I stood, but paused halfway down and ended up falling the last few inches to my butt. A man came screaming out of the crowd, straight at the throne. He was large and terrifying and I half whimpered as I watched him charging straight for me.

Feen was there suddenly, intercepting him. He grabbed him by the throat, lifted him in the air and slammed him down on the ground so hard that I felt it in the throne.

"Close your mouth," Nore whispered.

I closed my mouth.

"Try not to watch, sip your water as if you are not concerned. Feen won't let them get to you."

I lifted the cup, but did not drink. "If... if they get to me... they will rape me, won't they?" I asked, terror clawing at my throat.

"And they will own you for a year and a day. Until a new Banríon is crowned and claimed."

I was shaking and I made myself look away from the next man who came charging out of the crowd. He went straight for Feen, not me.

"What if they come a bunch at once?"

"They can't, they drew lots for order. One at a time and only one can claim."

"What... what if they hurt Feen?"

"They won't," she laughed softly.

"What if they do?"

"Hope they don't," she shrugged. "And if someone does, hope it is any clan but the Olc clan. None will harm you for true, save perhaps the Olc clan."

"Why?"

"They live closest to below, furthest from the mountain. They have... a fearg in them."

"Why are they angry, OH! Please!" I whispered as another man rushed Feen. I made myself look away.

"Too close to the one below we reckon. Look, there, off to the right, straight off from your shoulder. See the tall man wearing all black and the pale girl with him with the white hair and red eyes?"

"A true albino," I said, a little shocked.

"Puca is evil, she is. The man is Bayn Olc. That next to him with the kilt, the one with the shorter hair tied back?"

"The little one?"

"Yes, don't let his size fool ya. That's Bayn's cousin Hasslin. Hass is quick and mean. Seen him fight Gun's brother two years off, climbed him like a squirrel and choked him to sleep."

"Gun has a brother? Feen's uncle? Where is he?"

"Watching the below. Like Feen was. There, that man next to Hass now, the one talkin, he is Barret Cleas. He's a weasel, that one. All Clan Cleas are. They are kin to Olc. Not so mean, but watch what you trade. They'll put a layer of good potatoes over a bushel of bad. Don't trust a one. See Hass movin off, that's his brother Rast. Hass is quick tempered and flares, but Rast is a slow burn. He's not a fighter like Hass, but he'll poison you and watch you die a slow death. And be happy to do it. Hass'd cut your throat and be done. They are smart too. Bet they traded off to be near the last, wait till Feen was tired."

"Is every man going to make a try for me?" I asked fearfully, looking around.

"Not all of them, just ones who want a shot at you. Cailleach Willa was sure we'd make a record tribute this year and judgin' from how long it took to get started, I'd say she was right. Look over at Cailleach Willa!" Nore said suddenly, urgently.

I spun to Feen in alarm and watched as a man tackled him to the ground. The man was fast and viscous, but after a punch and roll, Feen got him down and choked him out.

"Sit back," Nore hissed, "and look somewhere else. Feen will protect you."

"Then don't scare me like that!"

"I thought I saw a knife," she said, sounding almost a little fearful herself.

"They can use knives?!?

"No, no one can use anything but their hands. We don't trust the Olc's and Cleas's not to though. Four years yon, Con still swears Bayn blew something in his eyes that burned so bad he couldn't see for a day. When the year was up, Puca wouldn't go back to her clan and she was changed. She is Olc through and through now, and not by bond."

I sipped my water and scanned the crowd, trying to watch Feen in my periphery. "That man there, the one all in white, who is he?" I asked. The man was staring at me.

"Draoi Lukel."

"Really? A real life druid?"

"You have them below?" she asked curiously.

"Only in stories! Can he really do magic?"

"Same as Cailleach Willa."

"So if it's a girl they are a witch, if it's a boy they are a druid?"

She laughed. "That is like saying red redbird and blue bluebird. Why?"

I felt my face heating. "But they can really do magic?"

"How do you think she chose you? She found the mountains cainéal and made it wider. Made it pour into you instead of dripping like it was. It is how a banríon is always chosen. And you speak the old tongue as well as Cailleach Willa herself. She opened that..."

Nore trailed off, her eyes wide as the crowd collectively gasped.

I spun, standing up, ready to run to Feen. He was standing over a man, covered in blood. It was not his blood. The man had to be carried away and Nore caught my hand and pulled me to sit down.

"You care for him," she said softly. "I did not think you could."

"I do, despite myself. Did Willa do that too?"

"No," she answered, smiling.

"Did... Feen just kill that man?" I asked breathily.

"All know it is a risk going in. More of one with Feen bearing the dark mark. It means he loves you and will die for you. You aren't just kin he is giving token protection to."

"Oh," I said faintly. When I looked up, the man was still looking at me and I was sure he hadn't looked away. "Why is he staring?"

"He is likely trying to read you, or is trying to listen."

"Can he?"

She shrugged. "Draoi Lukel, his máthair was like you. From below. Like you, the mountain called her, brought her in. She had the bronntanas, she was trained as a cailleach."

"Mar sin a rugadh draoi dó?" I asked, watching the man watch me.

"What?"

I froze, realizing what I had said. "Umm. So he was born a druid?"

"In a way, he was born with the bronntanas and was trained."

My skin was crawling and I felt a little numb. I didn't like that I kept saying things I shouldn't know how to say, or understanding what should take me longer to figure out. I pressed my lips together and focused on the tall treetop again. I tried not to focus on the movement I could see in my periphery below.

Feen would win. He had told me he would. I hadn't understood what he meant at the time, but I knew now and I did not doubt him.

When the sun rose high, I was brought another apple and a tall mug of cider. Feen also sat on the stairs, climbing more than halfway up to sit and eat a huge meal that was brought to him. More than anything, I wanted to go down to him.

I knew I wasn't supposed to speak to him, but I turned to Nore and said loudly enough for him to hear, "Tell him to please be safe! Tell him I..."

"Tell who what?" she asked with a smirk. "There is no one here."

I sighed.

"He knows," she whispered.

As soon as Feen finished and stood, the bell was sounded again. I lounged back and looked away, out towards Willa and her tent. I tried to look impassive and commanding, but mostly I felt tense and stressed. I watched the comings and goings of the tent for hours, until everyone went quiet and the entire field went into a hush. Nore stood, her hands on her mouth and I turned to look.

At first I didn't understand what I was seeing. Gun was walking slowly out onto the field and Feen was watching him come with a stupefied look on his face. It hit me then, what was happening. Gun wasn't going out to see his son or talk to his son...

"He won't hurt his athair!" Nore wailed in a whisper. "How could Gun do this to him?"

Feen did indeed look torn and crushed. I felt sick, I wanted to go to him. Why would Gun do this? I knew then, it wasn't about Feen as much as it was about me and punishing me. He wanted me punished more than Feen would.

When Nore caught me around the waist and pulled me back, I realized I had started down the steps. "He can't!" I whispered fearfully.

I saw Feen look past his father, up to me where Nore was pulling me back to the throne. I froze then, when he let out a savage roar and charged Gun. He lowered his shoulder and caught his father in the belly, lifting him and driving him back a good thirty feet before driving him down to the ground at the edge of the field. They rolled and the crowd moved for them and I took another step down to see better. Nore had stopped trying to pull me back and was watching with me. Gun came up and took a heavy swing, but Feen dodged it and caught Guns arm, then stood, holding onto Guns arm over his shoulder. He bent and threw Gun back into the field, slamming him on his face. The collective crowd made a noise of commiseration for the pain that must have caused. Gun rolled and kicked out, kicking behind Feens knee, making Feen go down.

I was holding my hands over my mouth, watching fearfully as the fight went on and on. Feen was faster and stronger, but Gun never seemed to run out of steam! He kept getting back up and fighting back!

"Feen!" Nore hissed. "Take him out! Stop holding back!"

It wasn't until she said so that I realized Feen was holding back. He didn't want to actually hurt his father and that's what Gun was counting on!

"Déan é!" I screamed.

Nore caught me then and pulled me bodily back to the throne, turning me away from the fight. I was still stunned by my own words. 'Do it!' Had I really just commanded him to hurt his father?

Nore wrestled me down to a sitting position and I tried to look around her. "You must..." she began, but cut off as the crowd let out a collective cheer.

We both stood to look.

Feen staggered away from Gun, laying face down on the ground. Feen held his arms up in an 'X' above his head and the bell was rung. Feen sat on the ground and someone brought him water as more women in white hurried to Gun. He had to be carried off the field, but I could only watch Feen. He looked heartbroken, but still determined. My heart broke for him.

When Feen stood, there was silence as he looked around. He circled twice, waiting, then suddenly took off towards me at a full sprint. He took the stairs four at a time and I watched him come, horrified.

I realized last second that the next man had gone around, put the throne and stairs between him and Feen and was sneaking up the back. Feen caught him at the shoulders and they were both flying off the stairs to the field below.

"Sneaking Cleas!" Nore spat.

The two rolled and Feen came up on top, then slammed the smaller man's head against the ground again and again until a woman in white hurried out and called to him.

Feen stood, staggering again and rotating his left shoulder like he had hurt it. 'No!' I said mentally. 'Don't show where your weakness is, the rest are watching!'.

"Wipe your tears," Nore said softly. "But do not look as though you are. Go back to watching the puball, Feen will win."

"Can I have a knife? Just in case?" I whispered.

Nore looked at me, shocked, then laughed. "You cannot kill the winner just because it is not Feen"

"Why not? I am not going to let a man rape me."

"It is not... rape. It is..."

"It's rape. If I am not willing, and I am married to another man and I don't want it to happen, it is rape. I don't care about this stupid event! I will kill any man who comes up those stairs that isn't Feen!"

Nore looked at me and her smile was pleased. "I did not like you at first, col ceathrar, but I have learned to. You care for Feen."

"That is why you call him Col. Cousin."

"Gun is my uncle."

"I didn't understand it until you said all of it. Will you tell me about him? How he grew up? Why he was watching the town? Anything to distract me?"

"Feen has always been the way he is now. Most would say he was a fathach milis, but a few know that he can be ferocious. Like now. He is...steadfast. Unwavering in his loyalty and affection. So unlike Gun, who is so volatile. When we were just little, he would follow the rest of us, not to play too, to make sure we were all safe. He has always taken it on himself to protect, like he knows that his size makes him best suited to that job. When Gun tried to make him bond Gitty so her athair would prentice him, he took off down the mountain. To watch, to protect us from those below. He had no want to bond Gitty, or take up smithing. So he just didn't. He left. Past time for him to come back and take up his athairs mantle as ceannaire. Councils been waiting nigh on 4 years now to be rid of Gun. He had a fascination with the people below too. Not understanding them or how they could be so awful to each other. He'd come back maybe twice in a year till Gitty was bonded, then he'd come back more oft. Tell us about below, about the people in that town, about the Olc's and Cleas's who were so close."

Nore spent the evening telling me about Feen and I was smiling sadly as I listened. My affection for him swelled with every story and the way Nore smiled as she talked about him made me fond of her too. She cared about him and she liked who he was as a person. That spoke to me, the way she looked up to him and respected him.