A Witch's Quest Read online

  “I would not care to see you meet with misfortune or see your family suffer in any manner. In truth if you assist me I would see your family’s lot bettered by far. If you found a way to see me freed from the tower if only long enough so I might speak with the other chieftains or have them brought here to me, I assure you, you would not be regretful. If done in darkness when few people are stirring, when fewer guards are in place when the unpleasant and mean-spirited drunkard who replaces you late at night is standing guard, and often snoring so loudly no one on this level is able to sleep, no blame could come to you during his watch even if it should be discovered I have had a visitor or I am missing. Only he and I would be made to suffer. However, I would not care to incriminate my fellow chieftains so perhaps having me slip out for a short time would be the best scheme.”

  “Archibald, the night guard is a dreadfully unpleasant man. He’s nearly always filled with drink which mostly goes unnoticed for he has been assigned to the night post for years now. He is discourteous to his fellow guards and most cruel to his wife and children as well, I’m told. I owe him no loyalty or kindness.” The man grew quiet for a time and Killian believed he was weighing his options.

  “Just how much coin are you talking about?” The guard absent-mindedly placed his hand to the ring of keys on his belt.

  “Name your price; state the coin required and I will soon see it done. If I am not allowed to speak with the other Irish chieftains I shall remain here, perhaps for years as you have suggested. But neither would your lot be much improved by that option, for if you stand here outside these doors for endless days and years seeing no one or nothing but condemned men and women and these same stone walls, then I would dare to suggest you are not so much less a prisoner than me.”

  Killian realized the man was actually considering his words and he continued speaking in hope he may be able to sway his thinking.

  “You have a wife and children, and other kin who are well important to you?”

  “Are you thinking to threaten my family?” The man’s voice changed markedly at this, he bristled and he stepped back.

  “I most certainly am not. I value family more than most and in truth I am hoping to improve their lot as well as your own. Have you ever been to Ireland?”

  “To Ireland?” he scoffed. “Never been out of this city, not in all my life, and the past two and ten years I’ve not been anywhere but the walk between my home and this tower, and back again.”

  “And what of the future of your children?”

  “I didn’t say I had children.”

  “If you do have children or hope to one day become a father, would you not wish for your children to have the freedom to roam the countryside with clear fresh air and clean water? When they are grown, wouldn’t you prefer they were paid fair coin for their toil and their effort, with options of trades and employment they might prefer, with choices and most importantly with free will?”

  “Sounds to me like the tales of fancy; the false fool-hardy hopes of an imbecile or a dolt. I think you aim to trick me!”

  “I would not be inclined to trickery even in attempt to save my life, for I am a man of honor. I pride myself in keeping true to my word. I implore you to believe, this is how all those in my chiefdom live, I readily assure you of that. I swear to you by all that is dear to me...I swear on the grave of my mother.”

  The man crossed himself and swallowed hard as he stared long at Killian, now obviously taking him most seriously.

  “My own dear mother lives with my family and me. She’s ailing and in need of caring.”

  “I know of a healer no other could even hope to compare to. She’s sure to be able to offer comfort and healing to your mother.”

  “I would be grateful to see her free from her pain for she’s been a kind mother to me. But if I should risk this...which I am not saying I intend to do...and should I not be caught, tortured or killed...if I should consider it, I have not but the skills of defense, and the experience of years as a guard in a tower to offer.”

  “I possess an admirable and capable army. I am always in need of trustworthy men.”

  “How would you possibly think me trustworthy if I turned against my own king simply to assist you and benefit my lot in life? Tell me how then would you trust me?”

  “I recognize a man who has been disallowed freedoms, a man who longs for the betterment of his family. I see you take your duties seriously and that you have never been cruel or mean-spirited to me even though I am your king’s prisoner and surely therefore your enemy, yet you bear me no hatred, and I can trust in the integrity of that good character.”

  The man drew nearer and his voice became barely a whisper hoping to conceal his words from the others kept within the tower, or anyone who might be lurking beyond the bend in the corridor.

  “And if I should decide to take you up on this offer, how would you held captive within these damnable walls, see my wife now heavy with child, my three small youngsters, my ailing mother, my lame younger brother, and myself...should I find my head still attached to my body, make the passage to your Ireland?”

  “Might I ask you your name?”

  “My name is Edward Traverse.”

  “Edward, I give you my solemn promise, I would see to it me or one of the other chieftain’s will secure safe passage for you and your entire family. I will have some of my own guards now here in England, accompany and protect you. Once in Ireland, I would see to it you’re rewarded with an ample-sized cottage, plenty of food, a position in my army, a prosperous life and freedoms you have surely never known. You have my word as a chieftain, as an Irishman and as a man who also wants only the best for the people he cares for.”

  “And your name is O’Brien?”

  “Aye, I am Killian O’Brien, Chieftain of Clan O’Donnel. But I must be allowed a time, even the shortest time, to speak with the other chieftains for they would see to it you and your family are taken to Ireland as soon as you should desire it.”

  “And if nothing can be done for you and you remain here in this tower, how is it my family will be given a home or me a position in your army?”

  “I would see it arranged. Once more you have my promise. My men are loyal and do not question my word.”

  “I shall think on it for a time, O’Brien, and soon come back to you with my decision.”

  “I thank you for considering the possibility and I know well, much weighs on your decision, but if you might decide as soon as possible, I would be ever grateful. I must learn of the fate of someone immeasurably dear to me, and I feel only the other Irish chieftains will be capable of discovering the truth of the matter.”

  He nodded again to Killian as he walked back to his usual position in the corridor, this time with a look of hopefulness on his face that he had never seen before, which in turn made Killian hopeful as well.

  Chapter Two

  “It has been days now, are you certain she still lives?” the king asked his physician.

  “Yes it is so, Your Majesty, her breath is undoubtedly shallow, and her heart beats slow, but she lives.”

  “You must do what you are able to ensure she wakens.”

  “I assure you I am doing all that I am able to see that become a certainty, Your Majesty!” He bowed and worriedly glanced at the king and then placed his hand to the woman’s head.

  “Perhaps if she were bled?” the trembling man began as he fearfully stared at the king.

  “She has bled sufficiently already!” Danhoul dared to exclaim as he moved from where he stood in the dark corner in the chamber.

  The king stared at Danhoul with noticeable suspicion.

  “You are certain you are a physician; I have never met or known of a physician with as few years as you must claim?” the king questioned the young Irishman.

  “Aye, I am a physician. I have been schooled extensively in Dublin, Ireland. I am this woman’s personal physician.”

  “And where is her husband? You’ve told me he is d
etained, and that you have been unable to locate him, but you’ve been very unforthcoming. Perhaps a time in my dungeon will loosen your tongue!”

  “Would you have the woman die? She may well do so if I don’t see to her healin’?”

  “Are you insinuating my physician is of lesser capabilities than yourself? You’re clearly not a man who has lived many years. What is your age?”

  “My age is twenty years,” he lied, not wanting to reveal he was actually only seven and ten years. “But I have spent much of my life learning the ways of healing those in need. I am merely sayin’ I know well of such ailments of women, and if I am sent to the dungeon as you have suggested, your physician will perhaps drain this young woman dry of her life blood. She can ill afford to lose any more for she has already suffered perilous blood loss.”

  “Yes, well I do hope to see her revived and returned to sturdy health for I owe a deep gratitude to the woman. It is said she saved the life of my daughter Elizabeth.”

  “She saved the life of a small girl, aye, for I was there to witness the incident. If it was your daughter I could not say, for never having seen your daughter before I would not know her from any other girl-child.”

  “Well a good many who witnessed the occurrence have confirmed it was indeed my daughter Elizabeth who was pulled from the path of the runaway horse by this woman.”

  “In my opinion the horse was no runaway, but put on a purposeful path by the rider, and the woman who attended the girl was much at fault as well. To the eyes of an Irishman, I would say it was an elaborate plan to end the life of your child. If I were you I would seek to discover who would most benefit in your younger daughter’s death!”

  “By Christ Almighty, do all Irishmen offer their opinion so freely? Have you no thought for your life? My own advisors would not dare to presume what I should do in response to this unfortunate turn of events! Perhaps you would care to join another stubborn Irishman within my tower for he will not be swayed to my way of thinking or abide my word no matter that I have threatened to have him sent to the block.”

  “Who is this man and what matter is he to be swayed upon?” Danhoul knew he pushed his good luck by pressing the subject.

  “It is of little consequence to the situation here at hand. Tell me, since you claim to know so much, what prevents the woman from coming out of her death-like state?”

  Danhoul glanced down at the pale face, closed eyes and felt his heart squeeze.

  “She received an injurious blow to her head when she was struck and thrown to the ground by the immense wheel of the carriage. She was also battered and suffered much damage to her middle.”

  “My physician said she carried a child?”

  “Aye, she was with child, but regrettably she has lost the babe.”

  “That is a sorrowful pity! She would surely be a fine mother if she held her own life in little regard to save the life of a child, an English child she had never met.”

  “She is a good woman with a kind heart and a giving nature. She could no more stand by and see a child harmed than to harm a child with her own hands.”

  “How is it you have been unable to locate her husband?” the king asked directly.

  “I have attempted to get word to him through Irish soldiers and messengers, but he is apparently at the moment unreachable. He is on business in London, but has not been in contact for days now.”

  “Have you sought out the side streets or brothels? If a man desires to get lost in London, there’s many a place he can go and not see the light of day for a goodly time. Although if he has a wife as lovely and enchantingly beautiful as this woman, I can’t believe he’d be looking elsewhere! Unless she was perhaps denying him her honey after she learned she was with child! She certainly wouldn’t be the first woman who did so.” The king seemed to be nearly thinking aloud as he pondered the situation.

  “It is said your own wife, the queen, is now with child?” Danhoul was hoping to infuriate the king and possibly be taken to the tower himself for a time so that he might get word to Killian that they remained in England, and also to tell him of Alainn’s grave condition. He reasoned if he riled the king sufficiently it might come to that. But then who would remain here to ensure Alainn didn’t meet with further ill fortune?

  The other Irish chieftains had recently gone directly to the king’s advisors asking to be permitted to speak with Killian on a separate matter for no one cared to reveal to the king or any of his ministers of the connection between Killian and Alainn, but they had been swiftly denied.

  Danhoul knew he most definitely couldn’t allow it to be known her name was Alainn O’Brien for he believed the king would soon discover she was Killian’s bride. The surname Alainn had known and lived with her entire life previous to her marriage to Killian, was the name Danhoul had given the king when she’d been taken to the castle and first been seen by the physician. King Henry only knew this injured and ailing young Irishwoman as Alainn McCreary. If he had given the king her actual maiden name, O’Rorke, he may have been able to make a connection to the Fitzgeralds for Alainn’s paternal grandmother had been a Fitzgerald though she’d had no contact with any of that family since she was barely more than a child. The Fitzgerald name was associated with much discord and suspicion due to the recent unrest and the consequential executions of many Fitzgerald men.

  “You dare speak to me of such personal matters or mention my queen when you are barely more than a stranger to me? Do you not value your neck, Irishman?”

  The king’s enraged words brought Danhoul from his concerned thoughts to the present displeasing and dangerous situation.

  “I value my neck as much as any other I suspect, Your Majesty. I was simply makin’ conversation for it has been an insufferably long three days attending to the woman with little sleep and no marked improvement in her condition. I’ve not seen anyone bar you, your physician and a messenger. I have scarcely been allowed to leave the chamber to relieve myself. I have not been informed as to why I am being treated with undue suspicion or as though I am a prisoner.”

  Danhoul observed the king closely as he continued to speak to him.

  “I have heard it said you are to be father, that your queen is with child. I thought the gossip of an expected child and future heir was perhaps simply rumor fabricated by the gossipmongers. However, I do pride myself in being able to accurately read a man simply by looking at his face. By the joy clearly evident on your own face, Your Majesty, I believe you are a man who is much pleased regarding something, perhaps the possibility your queen carried a son and an heir to the throne.”

  “I am the bloody king of England, of course I am well-pleased. I am king of the greatest, richest, most powerful nation in all of Europe, nay, in all the world! How could I be anything but a most pleased and contented man?”

  While it was true during his time here in England Danhoul had heard the rumors that Queen Jane carried a child, in truth it was because of his time spent in the future and consequential knowledge of future dates and events, he knew it was certain Jane Seymour, the third of King Henry VIII’s famous wives, now carried a child. But he had also capably read the king’s thoughts and when the king learned Alainn had lost the baby, he actually revealed deep and sincere empathy to her plight.

  Danhoul, himself was heartsick, not only that she had lost the child, but that she would not waken. He had tried to go to her within her mind as he was often able, for they had a distinct connection of minds and could nearly always converse through telepathy, but she seemed unreachable. He wasn’t able to hear any thoughts, and that terrified him. Alainn’s mind seemed entirely blank and had been so since she’d been injured.

  He knew he must soon attempt something with his magic, beyond what concealed magical healing he had done with his hands. He had been most thankful even in the midst of melee of the wild crowd, he’d been able to convince the king’s guards that he should accompany Alainn back to the castle after the unfortunate incident.

  Now
as he looked down at her, he once more attempted to speak with her through telepathy. It was as though he was hitting up against a stone wall whenever he tried to telepathically reach her. He did not sense any harm had come to her mind although her head had struck the cobblestones with a great thud. When it happened he had tried to still time and for the briefest few moments it had held, but his powers were still not as strong or perfected as they needed to be to accomplish such a difficult feat.

  “If she does not waken by dawn tomorrow, I will permit my physician to bleed her, for although I have allowed you to do what you would in the manner you have seen fit and I sense you seem to know and care for her, I much admit I am not a patient man. On the morrow, if she remains in this slumberous state, she will indeed be bled.”

  “Then know this, Your Majesty, if you order the bleedin’, the woman will die by your hand as surely as if you’d struck her with a sword or ordered her death!”

  The man’s face filled with arrogance as he spoke.

  “As I’ve said, I am not a patient man and she is of little use to me when she is near death. If she dies during the bleeding, then it will surely be God’s will and she was clearly not meant to live at any rate.”

  “And what use will she be to you if she wakens?” Danhoul answered with unhidden contempt in his voice.

  A wicked sneer crossed the king’s face, and he smiled.

  “I’d like to get to know this woman for she is truly most beautiful. I would desire to thank her personally in a manner surely only a king could manage.”

  Danhoul watched as the man donned in his long rich velvet robe, left the room. The physician also wore a smug expression of superiority as he nodded to Danhoul and exited the chamber as well.

  Danhoul glanced through the pane-glass window slat at the pinkish glow that began to break the grey night sky. It was nearly morn and Alainn had yet to waken. He was undeniably weary for he’d spent most of the night attempting to waken her by way of magic, but he’d seen no improvement and entirely no response to his voice.