Page 24 of Wind and Water
The woods are miles away, but I start toward them.
Liam takes my hand and stops me. “We need help, and the centaur’s woods is at least a day’s walk. Clandunna is close and has an honorable leader. She will help us.” He pulls me toward the village.
“Momma is that way, and you want me to go in the opposite direction. Now you really are asking too much.” I snatch my hand from his.
“I swear, with or without Selina’s help, we will go find Birdie in the morning. You need rest, and we’ll need help if the centaurs are not hospitable.” He says it as if the possibility that they are is unlikely.
“I can’t leave her.” More tears that I can’t control blur my vision.
Pulling me into a hug, he says, “I know. I don’t want to waste time either. Your mother is remarkable. She can make friends with anyone. Perhaps she’s charmed the centaurs like she did the owner of that pub in London. She’s been here for three weeks, sweetheart. A few more hours won’t change her fate. Going into a possible altercation without planning and while you need to rest is foolish. I can’t risk your safety.”
That’s what this is about. I push away. “Because I’m some woman from a prophecy you’re not even sure is real. I don’t care about your oracle’s orders. I need my mother to be safe and sound.”
“I care very deeply about Birdie.” His tone is harsh as he crosses his arms over his chest. “My duty is to bring you to the oracle and the Watcher’s Gate.”
“So, you admit it.” I wish I could go find my mother by myself and get us both back to our own world where we belong.
He raises his arms out wide; he then lets them fall to his sides. “I do not need to hide the objective. You have known about it from the start. If that were all I cared about, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation. I would find another portal that might get us closer to home and drag you through it.”
I stutter with rage, trying to find words that will express my feelings, but nothing comes out.
He presses two fingers over my mouth. Softly, he says, “I will not leave Birdie. We will find her. She is not expendable.”
“Thank you.” I fall into his embrace.
Cawing, a white bird circles. Graceful and focused, it stays directly above us. Every few seconds, it caws, as if wanting our attention.
“A white raven.” Liam’s voice is soft, almost reverent.
“I didn’t know ravens came in white.” Maybe they’re all white in this world. What do I know?
“They are rare and often a harbinger of good news.” He watches the bird as if waiting for something. “My mother can see and speak through ravens. But it doesn’t seem as if this one is from her. It would have flown down and delivered a message to me.”
“You can speak to birds?” The amount I need to learn here is beyond my current capacity for worry. I shake away those worries and focus on Momma.
“Only those who bring word or warning from another.” Taking my hand, we head toward the village and away from the direction of my only family. My heart lodges in my throat.
Chapter Six
Liam
The raven follows us down the hills, continuing to call out as we go. It’s strange that a white raven would appear. I was certain it would be a message from my mother, but I sense no connection.
I’ve only been to Clandunna a handful of times, when I brought word from my mother or during regular patrols. We sometimes check with towns and villages for word about dark magic. It’s a nice little community at the southern end of the continent. Sitting on a peninsula, it has the Gulf of Uaine on one side and the ocean on the other, with a river running through for fresh water.
The forest at the southern end of the point is small but one of the oldest in Domhan. Those trees have lived long enough to have obtained a kind of consciousness.
We’re much farther from home than I’d hoped. The Storr portal should have brought us near the Naomh River. It would have been an hour’s ride to the oracle from there.
Now I’m weeks south, without a horse, missing one human, and three weeks later than when I left the Wren’s world. Nothinghas gone to plan, and the thought of Birdie in the hands of centaurs is sobering.
“Do they all go to bed early here?” Wren asks, looking at the empty central area surrounded by small houses grouped by family.
The raven lands on the back of a bench at the center of town. Its gaze is fixed on Wren.
She approaches the bird. “You’re persistent. Have you a message for me?”
The raven caws loudly.
