Lilith stood in the shadow of a large elm with several elders watching the sacrifices scurry about planning the handfasting of Liam and Mira. The entire town was focused on preparations for the handfasting. Though it wasn't standard for everything to stand still for one random ceremony, it was the town's way of avoiding thinking about the danger coming.
An older man with a long gray beard and wrinkled leather skin sighed heavily. "The army is only a day or two off. We've no word from the vampire. Should we stop them and prepare for war?"
"What war?" Lilith harrumphed. "If the army attacks us, no matter how weak Rillan Tiernay says they may be, we will be slaughtered as livestock. We've no weapons, we no knowledge of weapon use. What do you propose? Pitchforks and pails as swords and shields?"
The old man shook his head and sighed again. "I don't like waiting for death, Lilith."
"Isn't that what we do every day? We all die."
"Leave it to you to get philosophical about the matter."
"No," Lilith said, turning toward him. "Not philosophical, merely practical. Fewer people will die if we surrender without fuss. You know that. We, long ago, became too used to used to our protected existence. Change isn't a bad or good thing. It simply is."
"And if the army arrives to 'change our existence'," he said sarcastically, "during a handfasting ceremony?"
Lilith leveled a small knowing smile on her friend. "Then we invite them to the festivities. That should certainly confuse them."
The old man growled, but gave in. "There is no point in arguing with you Lilith. When was the last time you didn't have the last word in a conversation."
"I often fail to have the last word."
"Okay, so when was the last time you didn't come out two or three points ahead?"
Lilith returned to watching the girls dart back and forth in a rush of excitement. She was happy that they had found something to smile about. The sacrifices of recent generations spent far too much time dwelling on what their end would be like and not nearly enough time enjoying what they had.
* * * *
"I just want to see if the headdress matches the handfasting cord as well as I think it will," Helen said excitedly. She studiously ignored the exasperated expression on Mira's face as the door to Mira's room swung open.
Helen virtually skipped across the room, chattering happily. "We should have everything ready tomorrow or maybe the day after at the latest."
Mira sighed and nodded. "Not to sound ungrateful, but it all seems to be moving so quickly."
Smiling dismissively Helen picked up one of the packages sitting on top of Mira's clothes and the handfasting cord. "You're still recovering from your time away from us. I have faith in the Fates that when you're at the ceremony and everyone is gathered around and you're standing with Liam, you'll start to feel better. You may even smile," she added with amusement. Holding up the package to Mira, Helen changed the subject. "What's this," she asked curiously.
"I don't know," Mira replied heavily. "I assumed you had left it. It was with the rest of the stuff you left for me."
Helen's eyes gleamed with excitement. "No. Maybe Liam left it," she suggested, certain that it was an early surprise for Mira.
The comment only made Mira less inclined to open the package. In truth her mind kept coming back to a disturbing idea she had that morning. Lilith had said that he had a new assignment, but she didn't say what. Mira was more than smart enough to add everything together. There were rumors of a coming army and no one was preparing for war. Mira may not have known what they intended Rillan to do, but she could figure out easily enough that it had to have something to do with the coming army. She was more than a little distracted with that train of thought. She wasn't interested in handfasting presents.
Helen pushed the package into Mira's hands. "Open it," she persisted in her annoyingly cheerful manor.
Lacking the strength of will to protest, Mira untied the string and unwrapped the soft purple fabric covering the package. Immediately, she recognized the long carved wooden box that held the whistle she was so fond of. Her hands began to shake as she flipped the latch and opened it. A tear formed in her eye and she choked back the urge to start crying again. "This isn't from Liam," she said breathlessly.
Helen's mood dropped. "What is it?" She moved around so that she could see the whistle in the box. "It's very pretty," she said in confusion. "I didn't know you could play."
Mira didn't respond. She didn't have it in her to explain the whistle to Helen. Closing the box carefully she placed it on her bed and looked at the second package. It was smaller than the whistle and looked to be more carefully wrapped. For several long moments she stood staring at the small bundle. When she finally gathered her strength she lifted it lightly in her hands and pulled the string and fabric from the little box. The box itself was nothing special. It was only a plain hinged wooden box, too small for most uses. Opening the lid Mira found a silver rose shaped pendant on a long soft black ribbon. A single dark pearl graced the center of the beautifully shaped flower.
Helen gasped, "By the Fates, it's beautiful. Who gave it to you?" She was already searching the wrapping and boxes for some note or indication of who the gifts were from. Liam wasn't going to like this. It wasn't exactly respectful to gift a woman with things better than her betrothed was capable of providing upon their handfasting.
"Never mind, Helen," Mira said softly. "Please go. I need some rest."
Helen looked up with some concern. "You slept in very late. Now you want to go back to sleep. It's not even noon."
"Please. I'm not feeling well."
"Alright," Helen conceded. She wanted to go talk to Liam anyway. "I'll be back to check on you later."
Mira accepted that and closed the door after her as Helen left. Placing the pendant back in its box, Mira sat down on the edge of her bed. Her head spinning, she could only think of one thing that had ever helped her with this kind of loneliness and confusion. Lifting the whistle to her lips, Mira began to play.
* * * *
Churning, cold, black wrapped around Aris. Nausea wracked her body. Before she could remember where she was or what was happening her body heaved and vomit covered her chest. Pain shot through her as she sat up in bed and realized that at some point she must have peed herself as well. The room reeked.
Rolling over she managed to get out of the mess she was lying in. As visions of a monster with empty eye sockets and a lipless mouthful of razor sharp teeth flashed across her memory, she fell to her knees shrieking in terror.
* * * *
Sunset seemed to settle unnaturally early on the forest as the Noviodunum soldiers prepared to make camp. Anger and frustration had spread like wild fire throughout the troops as word circulated that Marcus had not been seen in days and Darius was giving orders. The general consensus was that if dark came early then camp should come early too.
"My Lord," the guard said with a sneer. "The troops could do with hearing from Marcus."
"I told you," Darius replied with conviction. "Marcus is not feeling well. You can attempt to speak with him if you wish," Darius stepped aside to allow the guard into the large tent. "I happen to think that exposing the men to a potentially catching illness and allowing them to see the state he's in would be worse than letting them speculate. For now you'll just have to take his orders as I convey them to you and attempt to be happy with that.
The guard looked at the door that Darius had cleared. At the word "catching" he was almost guaranteed to not set foot in the tent. Darius was counting on that. Hesitating, he leveled his gaze on Darius, "How do I know you didn't do something to him?"
"I hardly think I would be encouraging you to go in there and examine the situation if I had done anything that would encourage you or any of your fellows to off my head. Think as you like. I for one am more annoyed than you can possibly imagine at being put in the middle of this," Darius growled at the guard. "You want to take up the position of sitting next to his bed and waiting for him to be coherent enough to give orders then be my guest. I'll return to Noviodunum. Avenging his father's death is no great concern of mine."
Being just ignorant enough of the true politics behind the situation, the guard decided to take Darius at his word. "Fine. What are the orders?"
"We keep going as we have been. Break camp at dawn. We should arrive at the druid town in less than a day's march. We'll make camp when the town is in sight, assess the situation, and decide on a course of attack then. I suggest that whoever Darius normally would consult on tactics be gathered for a meeting tomorrow."
