The Swordswoman - Books 1-3

Chapter 1-2

"They are back," the man said simply.

The change in the atmosphere was sudden, passing from interest and slight amusement, to tension and, Melcorka thought, fear. "Who is back?" she asked.

"Leave, Melcorka." Bearnas seemed to realise that Melcorka was examining the man"s nakedness with undisguised curiosity. "You are too young yet."

"I am twenty years old," Melcorka reminded her.

"Oh, let the girl look." Granny Rowan laughed. "It will do her no harm to see what a man looks like."

"It is not what she sees," Bearnas said, "it is what she might hear."

Granny Rowan"s cackle followed Melcorka through to the other room. "You will remember the views," she said.

Melcorka stood as close to the door as she could as the adults spoke. She heard the murmur of voices and a sudden hush, followed by her mother"s raised voice. "Melcorka! Move away from the door and pack your things. We are leaving Dachaigh."

It was as quick as that. One minute Melcorka was settled in the home she had known all her life, and the next, her mother had decided they would leave.

"Where are we going?" Melcorka asked. "Why are we going?"

"Don"t ask, don"t argue, just do as I tell you." Bearnas opened the door and touched Melcorka"s shoulder. "All your young life you have wanted to travel, to see what lies beyond the confines of our small island. Well, my dear, now you are going to do just that." Her smile lacked humour as her hazel eyes seemed to drive into Melcorka"s soul. "It is your destiny, Melcorka. It is your birthright."

"What do you mean?" But Bearnas said no more and the day passed in a frenzy of packing and preparing.

"Bearnas!" Granny Rowan gestured to the window. "Your friend is back."

Melcorka heard the harsh call and then saw the sea-eagle land on the stunted, gnarled apple tree that stood outside the house. The bird sat still, with its head swivelling until it stared right inside the cottage window.

"Open the window, Melcorka." Although Bearnas spoke quietly, there was complete authority in her voice.

The sea-eagle hopped inside, perched on the top of the bed, looked around the room and jumped on to Bearnas" outstretched arm.

"Welcome back, Bright- Eyes." Bearnas tickled the bird"s throat.

Melcorka shook her head. "It"s not a welcome back, Mother. We have never seen that eagle before."

"The sea-eagle is my totem bird." Bearnas seemed to be musing, so quiet were her words. "Your bird is the oystercatcher, Melcorka. Watch for the oystercatcher, and follow where she leads. The oystercatcher will guide you to do what is best."

"Mother…" Melcorka started, but Bearnas had left the room, taking the sea-eagle with her.

Granny Rowan watched her go. "There will be a time when you are grateful for the flight of an eagle, Melcorka." Her eyes were opaque. "That time is not today."

Somebody had found clothes for Baetan, so he stood in the far corner of the house wearing a linen leine, the ubiquitous shirt that everybody, male and female, wore. Baetan"s leine strained to reach around his chest, while his loose tartan trousers barely extended past his knees.

leineleine"We need a boat," Baetan said.

"Of course," Bearnas agreed.

"We don"t have a boat," Melcorka started, until Granny Rowan put a hand on her shoulder.

"There are many things you don"t yet know," Granny Rowan said quietly. "It"s best if you hold your tongue and let the world reveal its wonders."

"Where are we going?" Melcorka asked again. "Are we going to Mainland Alba?"

"Better than that. We"re going to see the king," Bearnas told her, "and that is as much as I know myself."

"The king? Do you mean the Lord of the Isles?"

"No!" Bearnas" tone could have cracked granite. "Not the Lord of the Isles. We are going to see the king himself!"

"We will need a boat," Baetan persisted.

"We have a boat." Bearnas ignored Melcorka"s repeated headshake. "Come this way."

Seabirds screamed harsh greetings as Bearnas left the cottage where Melcorka had spent all her life and walked in a straight line, eastward over the rising moorland, toward the mid-morning sun. Melcorka followed, wondering. "Mother…?"

"Don"t ask, Melcorka." Bearnas glanced to her right, where the sea-eagle circled.

A westerly wind whispered through the damp heather, a friendly hand on their back that pressed them onward. "Mother, we are heading toward the f*******n Cave."

"Thank you, Melcorka." Bearnas did not try and hide her sarcasm. Bright-Eyes landed on her shoulder as if it had never perched anywhere else.

A dip in the moor cracked into a gulley that deepened with every step, until they were descending along a narrow cut with walls of rock on both sides. A cave loomed ahead, ten feet high, black and cold. All her life, Melcorka had been warned not to enter this place, but now her mother strode in without looking to left or right.

"Mother…" After wanting desperately to explore the f*******n Cave, now Melcorka hesitated. She took a deep breath and stepped forward.

A cloak of darkness wrapped around her, crisp, fresh and scented with salt. She peered ahead, listened to the confident padding of her mother"s feet and the heavy tread of Baetan. She could identify each just by the sound of their footsteps, although she did not know how, or why.

"Here we are." Even in the dark, Bearnas seemed to know exactly where she was. She stopped beside a niche in the wall and lifted out three rush torches. Striking a spark with two pieces of flint, she allowed the rushes to catch fire. Yellow light pooled around them. "Hold that." She handed one to Baetan. "It"s not far now."

Melcorka heard the surge of water, and then the light from the torch was reflected from their left, and she realised they were walking along a rocky ledge with water gurgling beneath them. The sound of surf grew louder until it echoed around the cave. "Where are we?"

"This cave extends from the side of the hill to a sea exit in the Eastern Cliffs," Bearnas explained. "Now, stand still and don"t get in the way." Bending down, she rolled back what Melcorka had thought was the wall of the cave. "It"s not magic, Melcorka, don"t look so surprised! It"s only a leather screen."

There had been an occasional visit from storm-tossed fishing boats to Dachaigh, but the vessel that Bearnas revealed behind the screen was different to anything Melcorka had seen before. Both the stem and stern rose sharply, while the hull was narrow and made of shaped wooden planks, overlapping in clinker fashion. There were holes for six oars on each side and space amidships to fit a mast. At the bow, rising in an open-mouthed scream, a carved sea-eagle"s head glared forward.

"What do you think, Melcorka?" Bearnas stepped back.

"It"s huge!" Melcorka did not hide her surprise. "But where did it come from?"

"We put it here before you were born," Bearnas said. "I did not want you to know about it until it was time."

"Time for what, Mother?"

"Until it was time for you to leave the island… until it was time for you to meet the king… until it was time for you to become who you really are." Bearnas slapped the hull of the boat. "You like her?"

"Yes, indeed," Melcorka said. "But I know who I am. I am Melcorka, your daughter. Are we really going to meet the king?"

"She"s a beauty, isn"t she?" Bearnas ran her hand along the smooth line of the hull. "We call her Wave Skimmer because that is exactly what she does." When she looked at Melcorka, her eyes were level and calm. "Yes, we are going to meet the king."

Wave Skimmer"Why?" Melcorka asked.

"Baetan gave me some information that we have to pass on," Bearnas said quietly. "After that…" she shrugged, "we"ll see what happens."

"What information did Baetan give you?" Melcorka asked.

"That was for me," Bearnas said. "If the king wishes you to know, he will tell you. Or if our situation alters, then you will know."

"We might be better going to the Lord of the Isles," old Oengus suggested.

"You know full well that we will not approach that man," Bearnas snapped, "and I will not hear his name again." Her voice was as grim as Melcorka had ever heard it.

Multiple gleams of light reflecting on the water warned Melcorka that they were not alone. When she looked back, it seemed that most of the population of the island had followed them into the f*******n Cave. Torchlight highlighted cheekbones and dark eye sockets, weather-tanned foreheads and the determined chins of men and women she had known all her life. Some carried bundles and casks, which they placed on the rocky shelf beside the boat.

"Mother – should we not see Donald of the Isles before we see the king?" Melcorka tried again.

"You should do what I tell you." Bearnas emphasised her words with a stinging slap to Melcorka"s rump.

Oengus shook his head and touched Melcorka on the shoulder. "Best keep your tongue still, little girl," he said.

"But why?"

"There is history there," Oengus said quietly, "old history."

"But Mother…" Melcorka began.

"Enough!" When Bearnas lifted a single finger, Melcorka clamped her mouth shut.

"Let"s get her launched," Oengus said, and within minutes everybody had crowded round. "Come on, Melcorka. You too!"

There were log rollers stacked between the boat and the wall of the cave, but even with them, Wave Skimmer was heavier that Melcorka had expected. It took them an hour to manoeuvre her onto the water, where she took on her true appearance, long and low and sleek. Something surged within Melcorka, so she wanted desperately to board that boat and sail her to… she did not know where, exactly. She only knew that something deep within her was calling.

Wave SkimmerDespite his grey beard and the pink scalp that shone through his thinning hair, Oengus leapt on board like a teenager, tied a cable to her stern post and attached it to a stone bollard on the shelf. "All secure, Bearnas."

Bright-Eyes fluttered to the figurehead and perched on top, a flesh and blood eagle on top of a carved wooden one and Melcorka was unsure which looked the fiercer. Bearnas stepped on Wave Skimmer and balanced in the bow. "Are we all here?" Although she did not raise her voice, her words penetrated even to the back of the cave.

Wave Skimmer"We are all here." The reply came in a unified chorus from everybody except Baetan and Melcorka.

"Who are we?" Bearnas nearly sang the words.

"We are the Cenel Bearnas." The words echoed around the cave.

Bearnas cupped a hand to her right ear. "Who are we?"

The reply came, louder than before. "We are the Cenel Bearnas!"

"Who are we?" Bearnas shouted the question this time and the reply came in a full-throated roar that made Melcorka wonder that these people who she had known all her life could make so much noise. She looked around at her friends and neighbours, the smiling farmers and grumpy potter, the peat-cutters and dreamers, the sennachie and the ditch-digger. She knew them all, yet here, they were unfamiliar. Who were they?

Who are we"We are the Cenel Bearnas!" The words echoed around the cave and re-echoed again.

"Then let us BE the Cenel Bearnas!" Bearnas shouted, and the islanders gave a triple cheer that raised the hairs on the back of Melcorka"s neck. She joined in with the rest, raising her fist in the air and stamping her feet on the deck, even though she had no idea what or why she was cheering.

BEThe noise faded to a whisper that slid away, leaving only the surge and suck of the waves and the slightly ragged breathing of the islanders.