“My Lord Abbot, I—”
“Silence! You will go to your cell, now. I shall deal with you forthwith.”
Odhrán glanced at Clíodhna, fear patent in his eyes. She gripped his shoulder to reassure him, but the fear didn’t go. He rose and tried once again to plead with the Abbot. “Please be merciful, my Lord Abbot. Clíodhna wasn’t the transgressor. I am at fault. I—”
“I said silence! Go now, or you will simply make things worse for the wanton!” Odhrán slunk out the door into the storm and disappeared in the downpour.
Her spine straightening at this pejorative, Clíodhna said, “I request that you speak of me with more respect, Abbot Pátraic. I am a member of this community, and—”
Clíodhna didn’t see the slap coming. Her cheekbone exploded with sharp pain as her head rocked to the side. Clenching her fists and her jaw, she glared at the Abbot. “How dare you strike me! How dare you insult me! I will not allow such treatment from a stranger!”
He laughed.
As the last echo of his nasty mirth died, lightning struck the doorway behind him, making him jump away. Flames licked the wooden frame. Clíodhna dove into the darkness and ran from the irrational Abbot and his abbey as fast as she could. She knew the path well, even without the benefit of visibility. After slipping several times, she slowed her pace, confident Pátraic wouldn’t follow her.
Wrung out from the emotional adventures of the day, she dragged herself into her roundhouse, thankful to be safe home. Clíodhna had no idea how long she’d been in the abbey, nor when she must retrieve her children, but for now, she curled up in a knot and shook.
Her righteous anger, her inflamed passion, her abject misery, these all warred within her, threatening to burst forth with ferocious intensity. Her blood burned with the emotions swirling, fighting to be free, echoed by the fierce storm outside.
Clíodhna bolted upright, a horrible thought occurring to her. What if Pátraic took his rage out on her children? She must get them home immediately.
After taking a moment to grab her oiled leather cloak, along with Etromma and Donn’s, she braved the fury of the storm once again, the rain now blowing sideways.
Not three steps from her door, a hand on her shoulder made her whirl, knife in hand, ready to fight whoever interrupted her mission.
Adhna stood tall and untouched by the tempest surrounding him. “You must come with me, Clíodhna.”
Clíodhna glanced toward the abbey. “I need to get my children. They may be in danger.”
He gripped her shoulder. “They are safe for now and will be so until you retrieve them. I have seen to that. You must come with me now.”
“Why?”
“You must calm the storm.”
The rain didn’t touch him. The wind didn’t blow his hair or beard. He stood like a statue against the maelstrom. Despite his assurances about her children, she wouldn’t have followed him, if not for that patent sign of his powers.
* * *
Adhna led her along a path Clíodhna didn’t recognize. She’d lived here for seasons. How did she not know every path in this area? It rose with the hills, up and up into the blinding rain. Mud squelched beneath her boots, making her slip and slide several times until Adhna reached back for her hand, keeping her steady. Hand in hand, they climbed higher, past the tree line, past two huge rocky outcroppings looming on either side of the path. They passed through a strange mist, still despite the raging storm, and emerged onto a bare hilltop.
No, not bare. A single stone jutted out of the grass, with smaller stones forming a circle. The smaller stones came barely to her knees, but the tallest monolith towered above her in sinister threat.
Adhna still clasped her hand, but she resisted being drawn into the Faerie circle. She’d been so wary of a bargain with the Fae, why would she willingly enter such a place with Adhna? He had been true to her so far, but that held no meaning now.
“You must enter, Clíodhna. For your own safety.”
Her safety. Safety didn’t exist. That Abbot would come after her now that she’d defied him. If she stood on this hilltop long enough, the storm might sweep her away into oblivion. Safety in non-existence hadn’t been an option she’d considered. But if her only other path lie in entering Faerie, perhaps death would be a better choice.
Despite her reluctance, he yanked her into the circle. Clíodhna cried out in pain and surprise. Adhna had never handled her with rough hands before. Didn’t a human need to enter such a circle freely? All the tales said so. She stood within the stones, shaking from nerves and fear.
The storm remained outside.
“Now, calm the storm, Clíodhna.”
“Me? I have no such power, Adhna. How can I stop this?”
He raised his eyebrows, his expression sad. “You created this storm. It’s a manifestation of your own rage, brought forth into the mortal realm. It’s disturbed both your world and my own. My Queen has commanded me to show you how to halt the tempest.”
She had caused this? How had she done that? Thinking back to the beginning, when Clíodhna spoke to Odhrán, and how upset she’d become when he spoke of his moving away, a glimmer of understanding poked through her confusion. Then the passionate lovemaking and the fury at the Abbot… possibly she did have a hand in it.
With a painful swallow, she glanced at her mentor. “Very well. Maybe you’re right. Show me how.”
He led her to the center of the circle, facing the tall stone. “Sit. Draw in the earth’s strength. Concentrate on
