The Journey From Oidhche Shamhna

Disclaimer: Not Mine.

The Journey From Oidhche Shamhna

Chapter 30

For the Sharpening of a Sickle

"Rowena! Helga! Salazar!" Gryffin shouted as he hurried into the dining hall. "She is gone. She has left and not taken anything with her but two swords, and two brooms."

Helga and Rowena leaned forward and looked down the table at Salazar, who shrugged his shoulders and looked back in confusion. The students began to whisper and talk about who Gryffin cold be talking about.

"Gryffin, I think we will need a little more to go on here." Salazar raised an eyebrow and took another bite of his meal. "If you are looking for any 'she' I am sure Alya can suggest a friend."

"Bretta, she is gone." He ran his hands through his hair and walked past the front table and down the stairs to the kitchen, yelling back over his shoulder. "NOW."

The three got up, indicating that the students were to remain seated, and continue with their meal. Alya and Kista got up to walk up and down between the tables and assure the students all was well, looking at each other and wondering what had happened. The students nervously looked at each member of their tower, counting off their friends on their fingers.

Helena let her eyes sweep down the table and saw an empty seat where Bretta normally sat and leaned over to talk to the tall wizard next to her.

"I would leave too if I had my own broom."

"And where would you go?" He laughed at her seriousness. "It is better here then elsewhere on these islands. You would have to go far to find a place the war against us has left."

"But there is such a place. Is there not?" She looked up at him with the bluest eyes he had seen, and laid her hand gently on his arm. "Tell me of this place."

He looked down her face to the smoothness of the throat and smiled. "I will tell you of my father's home. It is far from here, in the rugged mountains of the east."

"My father will be angered if he sees us." She looked at him though her lashes, thrusting out her bottom lip in a pout.

"Then, we will make sure he does not." He grinned at her.

"He does not think anyone is worthy of me."

"Ah, then perhaps if he catches us together he will be impressed with my father's family. They are titled. I myself will hold a title when I reach my age of majority."

"Yes." She smiled and wrapped her arms around his. "Perhaps he will."

"Helena!" Alya slapped the back of the girls head and watched her jump back from the boy. "Manners, girl. And you, young man, may sit else where."

Helena looked up and scowled at Alya, then saw her wink and grin.

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"Where is she?" Gryffin did not wait until they were all to the bottom of the stairs before asking what he demanded to know.

"Salazar, have you sent her on a trip for supplies? Has she gone alone?" He paced and shot Salazar a threatening look.

"If I did, I would not allow you to question me like this," he said.

"Gryffin, really, if we knew where she was we would say," Helga said. "The fact that she has taken two brooms would show that she is bringing something back. Perhaps it is a surprise and she..."

"Surprise? With two swords, two swords of steel missing?" Gryffin turned to Rowena. "What do you know of this?"

"I am sure you do not mean to take this attitude with me, Gryffin. I do not have time for this." She turned to leave only to have him grab her arm.

"Then deny that you have knowledge of her trip," he sneered at her. "These last few months you have been different, Rowena. I do not know what you plan but I know you plan something."

"Leave me, Gryffin. I am returning up the stairs to finish my dinner. Then I am..."

She stopped, looking to the top of the stairs where she intended to flee to see Erwin and Hanson hurrying down.

"You were speaking to her last night. What were you speaking of?" Gryffin pushed her away from the doorway to the stairs and back into the kitchen. "You will tell me now."

"Rowena?" Helga said. "Does he tell the truth? Do you know something of this?"

"What I know is not to be shared with him." She tried to push past him again only to find herself stopped.

"Tell him or I will." Salazar stepped closer to her and held his wand to her forehead, smirking. "I will see much more than I want. If you have secrets, I will see it all, I can not always be selective."

"Salazar, do not dare." Helga pushed him back. "We do not act this way to one another, what is wrong?"

"She knows, she has planned something with Bretta." Gryffin folded his arms and glared at her.

"Why are you so concerned with a witch you say you do not care for?" Rowena lifted her chin and glared right back.

"Rowena," Helga said softly, then shook her head.

"She has gone to collect the items left in the caches at you old village, Helga. We spoke of this many moons ago." Rowena started to the stairs again, intent on pushing past Erwin, who now stood at the bottom.

"Rowena, she can spell the items there to fit in one pocket. Why would she need an extra broom?" Helga spoke softly, but to everyone's ears, it was an unusual tone for her to use.

Rowena turned and looked at her coldly. "You, Helga? You question me?"

"Of this I do."

"It is too late to stop her." Rowena turned to Gryffin angrily. "She is in disguise, she goes to Mave, or as she calls herself, Priestess Mave, or is it Queen now? I quite forget - it changes so quickly since you have allowed Mave enough time to gain more power. Bretta decided to go now while Mave's troops are at the circles for Oidhche Shamhna."

Gryffin pushed her against the wall and pulled his wand, holding it to the centre of her throat with just enough pressure to make it difficult to breathe.

"Erwin, no!" Helga reached to push Erwin's arm as Salazar's rushed spell of "Accio Erwin's wand" brought the piece of wood smacking to his raised palm.

"You are next, Gryffin. Set her free before you are no more," Salazar snarled at him.

Helga held on to Erwin's arm, afraid to move and afraid not to. She saw the rage in Gryffin's eyes and the defiant look in Rowena's. She turned to Salazar and saw him slowly lower his wand.

"Tell him, witch." Salazar smirked. "Tell him the whole plan or I will look and find it and more in the pretty little mind of yours."

Rowena flashed a look at Salazar, then turned her eyes to Erwin and watched as he lowered his head and turned from her.

"Fine," she spat, looking at Erwin with anger, knowing that if Salazar entered her mind he would see Erwin's betrayal that she wanted to hide.

"She plans on entering the city as a trader and requesting an audience with Mave. She will go as a Muggle, and then will magic a sleeping potion into the drink." Rowena looked at Gryffin evenly. "That is it, Bretta said she would have to see how far she could get and then..."

"That is it? That is the entire plan?" Gryffin pushed her toward Erwin. "Take this away from my sight. A plan of a woman, a plan of fools."

"What time was she to enter the city?" Salazar asked quickly.

"Sundown, she should be there now."

"When was the meeting set up for?"

"It is not a set time. We were told a time needed to be requested once there."

"You asked Hengest." Erwin grabbed her elbow and spun her around. "He is the only one that would know this. He is the only one who could act as a Muggle and enter her fortress untouched."

Rowena lifted her chin and locked her eyes on his. "Yes, I spoke to my father. Does that surprise you? Perhaps I realized he is not so different then other men."

Erwin released her arm and sneered at her. "Wait in your chambers, witch."

"I will not take..."

He grabbed her shoulder and leaned close to the face. "It ends here. The foolishness of yours ends here. Wait in your chambers as I told you. Helga, help Rowena, she is not feeling well. Tell one of the other witches to take her lessons."

"Damn her to hell, why would she do this, she knows it was unsafe to send Bretta off like this." Gryffin ran his hands though his hair.

"If you look for Hengest you will find he is no longer in town. He goes with Bretta." Erwin looked at Gryffin evenly. "He would never allow a witch to trade in his stead, nor would he allow a 'northern' witch to go without him."

"I am sure Bretta had something to say about the matter." Salazar put a jug of mead on the table and conjured three cups. "It is not right to lay all the blame on Rowena's step."

"Tell me, Erwin." Salazar leaned back in his chair. "What has happened to her?"

"She grieves for a life that we have all lost." Erwin drank his cup of mead then walked to the storeroom, searching for the whisky he knew Helga kept.

"For the whole life or just the part she held dear?" Gryffin grabbed the whisky from Erwin's hand and smashed it against the wall.

"Concern yourself with Hengest. Leave his daughter alone, and stay out of our concerns." Erwin glowered at him.

"Hengest!" Erwin spat on the ground. "I worry of Bretta."

"Bretta is lost," Salazar said evenly. "Hengest will sell her disguise and turn her to Mave. He will use this to regain what he has lost."

Gryffin sneered, reached in his robes and laid his goblin-made sword on the table. "Who will join me? Erwin, will it be you? Do you long again to feel the blood of battle?"

Erwin turned his hand over and looked at the scar that sliced from his little finger to his thumb and remembered his claiming to Rowena. He looked up to Gryffin, saw the truth behind the wizard's eyes, and nodded.

"Salazar?" Gryffin turned to the cold Slytherin.

"I shall stay here and watch the others. I see no reason to throw one good life after one such as Hengest."

"And Bretta?" Gryffin looked at him coldly.

"She has made her choice. A poor one, I admit, but still, her choice."

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Erwin and Gryffin hurried to the room where the brooms were stored and each took one large enough for themselves and one other. They only had a general idea where Mave was located and knew this would be a long night.

"Gryffin, the hat. The hat that talks to you. Have you worn it as of late?"

"No, not since last we fought together in the field by Salisbury."

"You said it guided you, perhaps it would be a good time to use it again." Erwin slid his leg over the broom he had selected.

"It tells me of the people I slay. Did I ever tell you that, Erwin? What it is like to know that those at the end of your sword were fathers and sons and had homes away from the carnage in the field?"

Erwin nodded and reached back, pulling his hood over his head, and leaned forward, nudging the broom forward and up. He then looked down under his arm and back behind him to see Gryffin doing the same. Laying down as flat as he could, and bringing up his feet to hug the broom as he did with his knees, he felt the broom speed as he turned to the south to find the coast and cross the water to the west.

He and Gryffin travelled silently. The only sound they could hear was that of their cloaks snapping in the wind and the sound of air rushing past their ears. They travelled high over the Muggle towns and were careful to avoid crossing the moon and casting their shadow to the lands below. Not wearing a spell to render them invisible, they had to be careful and skirt their way around the flickering lights of fires and the smell of smoke from the hearths they saw.

They reached the coast and, finding familiar landmarks, Gryffin took the lead and headed out across the open water. Here they did not have to fear the sight of others and dipped the noses of the brooms down to skim the warmer air at the surface of the water. Erwin stretched his legs further back, and reached with his arms as far forward as he could. They needed to find more speed. Time was passing, and the trip too slow.

Reaching the far shore, they hovered and sat up to ease the pain in their legs and shoulders from the long ride in one position.

"She would be inland, near fresh water." Erwin started climbing slowly for a better advantage as Gryffin joined him, helping his search.

"There are too many places that would fit that." He spun around and looked back out at the open water. "We need a tracking spell. Yet I have nothing to follow."

"The best place for gathering information is the brothels." Gryffin frowned. "We need to find a city that is large enough for traders and find the whores."

Erwin leaned forward and pulled his boom even higher to search more ground. Seeing no city lights, they began to circle in ever-increasing arcs until they finally saw the lights of a city in the distance. They landed outside of town and shrunk their brooms to fit into their pockets. Hiding their wands in their sleeves after enlarging their swords that they then strapped around their waists, they set off for the city, to find a tavern still open at these hours and the whores that would be familiar with the traders.

Gryffin looked up, judged the time by Orion's heel, and cursed the time that had past.

"I fear we are too late."

"It was too late when we left." Erwin sneered at him. "It was too late the moment Rowena decided to seek the assistance of Hengest."

Gryffin opened the door to the tavern and quickly crossed to a table, pulling around a chair to make sure his back was not to the door. He held up two fingers to the bar wench and turned to Erwin.

"Have you ever taken a whore or do you only use Muggle widows?"

Erwin clenched his fists on the table and turned his head angrily to Gryffin.

"I do not care about your history in taking witches. I want to know if you can do this quickly, if you know the way to treat her." Gryffin snorted, looking at his face. "No, I guess not."

He stood as the drinks were set on the table and grabbed the serving wench around the waist, leaning down to kiss her breasts.

"I am in a hurry, wench. The back will do well, or the kitchen if you prefer."

She looked at him and reached her hand to feel what he had in his trousers. "You are new here. Are you clean?"

"As clean as you, I am sure." He smirked but looked at Erwin, his eyebrow raised in question.

"We have an old woman in the back. She will inspect you first."

"Inspect me? I will not be treated as a horse. I only want to bend your face to the table."

"Two pieces of gold and if he watches one more."

Gryffin chuckled and pulled her close, rubbing his knee into her. "Two pieces? I would think you worth no more the half of one."

"Prices have gone up. Since the traders brought the sickness most of the whores are dirty or have left."

Erwin stood and looked at Gryffin. He was sure he had seen something as she had held her hand out for payment. Taking her wrist, he pulled up her arm and turned her hand over. He locked his eyes on hers as he pried up her thumb to release her fist and looked down to see the bridal mark on her hand.

"You are a ..."

"So, what will it be? Two pieces or three?" She looked at Erwin and lifted her chin.

Gryffin still held her and had felt the tremble of fear that ran though her.

"I will not hurt you, witch." He looked around the tavern and lowered his head to her ear, licking the outer shell and pulling her closer. "Do you want to get out of here?"

She pulled away enough to look at him, and then to Erwin, who turned over his own hand to show her the joining signs of his people.

"You?" She gasped and looked back over the shoulder at the tavern owner. She made her decision in an instant and decided to place her trust in them.

"Do not act anything but a whore." Gryffin lowered a hand to her hip and began to raise her skirt. "You must keep up the part. I am no longer interested in your goods. Your employer, however must think I am. Are you alone here?"

"No, I have a son." She reached out, stroked Erwin's chest, and falsely smiled. "I will do anything for you, anything if you take him from here."

Erwin saw the owner watching him, reached in his pocket, and gave her five pieces of gold. "Is this enough to avoid the inspection and get the old woman to leave the room?"

"He will want to know more." She puzzled her brow. "You will take my son? You will take him with you? He is a good boy, a smart boy. Please, you can come back and have me anytime you want if you take him and keep him safe from here."

"Get us a room and we will talk." Gryffin lowered his head again, feeling the gaze of her employer. "Try for one with a window, or even out in the back."

She stepped back, ran her hand back over his bulge, and sauntered back to the owner, depositing the money in his hand. Erwin could not hear what they were saying. He was tempted to pull out his wand and spell them to carry their words closer. Just as he was about to, he saw her turn and crook her finger to them as she walked slowly up the stairs, swaying her hips and pushing her blouse lower on her shoulders.

She stood in front of an open door when they reached the top of the stairs and, looking up the hallway, motioned them inside.

"It's the best I could do," she said, pointing to the window. "If you leave from there he will know what you are. You can beat me and he will just think you were drunk. That way you can sneak down the back stairway and out the back."

"We will not beat you, or harm you." Gryffin put two fingers under her chin and lifted her face. "Now tell me your story, quickly, but I need to know."

"We were caught coming back from market, my son and I. My husband was working the fields and we were just going to take the harvest to the stalls." She walked to the window and stood looking at the dark street below. "They saw him when he was cutting hay. He sharpened the sickle with magic. He knew better, he just forgot, just for a moment he forgot. One small forgetfulness, that was all."

She turned back and looked between the two. "He was a good man, a good father, and will be remembered. He will be remembered? If I put down his name would you take it to the circle and let his gods know? So he will be remembered, I mean. A sharp sickle should not keep him from his gods."

Erwin nodded and shot Gryffin a look that clearly told him to watch his tongue about the fires of Oidhche Shamhna having been gone now for three years.

"I saw the smoke first, I think. Sometimes I remember it all pushed together in my mind. I think I saw the smoke before I heard his scream. It is so hard to know for sure... we were by the river, coming back from the market, and there are caves. Some times we could go there for salt. It is said that long ago before our clans came here that is where the men went for salt."

"I sent him running, I told him to hide before I ran to the farm and tried to pull Mica out of the fire. It was too late of course, but then you knew that or I would not be here. It was too late, but there was that smell in the air. Do you know that smell? Is it in your land as well?" She saw Gryffin nod and smiled at him.

"I lied to them. I lied away my birthright and my clan. I told them my name was Bridget and that I only came to the farm once a week to service him since his wife had died. I told them she had died in childbirth and that the spawn was dead as well."

She turned back to the window and traced her finger against the glass. "Sometimes I can get away for a while and run to the cave and give him food. He hides still. Still in the cave during the day and at night he walks the fields that his father tended.

"They brought me here. Four years now he has hid in the cave while I stay here to feed him." She turned back and locked her eyes on Gryffin's. "If you could take him away I can help you find Mave. That is why you came, is it not?"

"Yes," he said, crossing the room and grabbing her by the arms.

"You must promise to save my son and not let him forget his father's name."

"You will come with us and do that yourself."

"No, I would only be an embarrassment to him. If he learns how I have..."

"You have no shame, witch. My gods, you have no shame in keeping your son alive."

"I have been branded." She raised her sleeve and showed him her arm. "To work in Mave's world, a whore must be branded."

"To live in ours she only needs to be brave." Gryffin looked to Erwin and saw the nod.

"My... a witch is at Mave's. I need to get her. When that is done we will come back for you."

"No, you will get my son first and take him with you. I trust no one who claims to come back."

"You would send him away with strangers?" Erwin frowned at her.

"Stranger? Are you not a friend of this one who pretends not to be Godric of Gryffindor?" She smirked at him.

Turning to Gryffin, she smiled at his dark look "On this side of the water you are well known by us. You are the one she fears. The one that carries the goblin sword and she thinks of as a hound from hell. I will show you where my son lies, and you will swear to me to collect him." She looked around the room and ran to the window and blew on the glass until it was foggy with her breath. Quickly, she put a mark where they were and how the river ran and the oak near the cave.

Scrubbing off the map, she turned back to Gryffin. "Now the oath. Quickly, we have almost run though the time of your five pieces of gold."

"I oath to collect him, and keep him safe, and to make sure he remembers the name of Mica." Gryffin looked at her and saw her close her eyes, and her lips move in prayer.

He gently put two fingers under her chin and raised her face to his. "I also swear that you will not be left to be used by men."

"It will not matter if he is safe." She smiled a true smile at him. "His name is Laulen. He would be but thirteen now. He is smart, very smart and good. We have a password. You must say 'eternal' for him to answer. Tell him to take you to Mave, and tell him he is loved."

"Laulen," Erwin repeated.

She reached up, grabbed her blouse, and ripped it down to her waist, exposing one breast and a patchwork of scars. She pulled her skirt off, stood in front of them with only her torn blouse on as she loosened her hair, and shook it to fall at will.

"Now hit me hard enough that he will believe it and not punish me for causing trouble." She lifted her face to Gryffin. "Hurry, I hear the stairs."

"What is your name, witch?" Erwin put out his hand to stop Gryffin.

"Peska." She looked at him and pushed his hand away to give Gryffin access. "Peska."

Gryffin's hand crashed down on the side of her face, sending blood spraying across the coverlet on the bed as her nose broke and she spun to darkness. He watched as she crumpled to a heap before turning to the door.