Sara was deep asleep in the second night when she was attacked. Men, many men, seized her, tied her wrists behind her and yanked her to her feet before she could react. It was dark - torches were the only light. They brought her to face - Ian! Bastard! He was going to regret not staying away!
But then it dawned on her that this Ian had skin coarsened by weather, nasty scars, and his clothes were strange. She realized that everyone around her was dressed from some time in the past. Some time when clothes were shaggy and everyone smelled.
"Who are you?" Ian-lookalike asked. He wasn't speaking English but Sara understood. Someone in the group exclaimed "She is Cathain! Or a witch?"
Ian-lookalike came closer to peer into her face. She took the opportunity to rear back to head butt the guy behind holding her arms and knee Ian-lookalike in the groin. But several men piled on her again and she couldn't break away.
Ian-lookalike slowly straightened up. He hissed to someone near him "Get Cathain".
Cathain arrived with more people. It was crowded in the little chapel, which had walls now, without the grass Sara had bedded in. Cathain's approach set off a hum in Sara's bracelet. She could see an answering glow from Cathain's wrist.
"Welcome, Sara. What brings you to my hold?"
"Actually, I came to the ruins of your hold in my time. I don't know how I came through to your time."
"Ruins? When? But don't answer, that matters not here. I do not want to know the future."
As they talked, the people around them mumbled. Sara gathered that while she and Cathain could understand each other, courtesy of the Witchblade - no one else could understand Sara. Cathain noticed too.
"All of you, leave! Except for Iona, Conchobar, and Donnchadh." As the room cleared out Sara could see Conchobar. Her eyes threatened to leak; she wanted to touch him. But this was another time; he was another's love.
Now there was just Cathain, Conchobar, and apparently the pretty blond was Iona, and the Ian-lookalike was Donnchadh. He still stared at her distrustfully.
Cathain removed the ropes around Sara's wrists. "We must get you back to your own time. There is too much happening here. We don't need your presence to unsettle budding alliances"
"OK by me, but I don't know how I got here, let alone how to go back" Sara rubbed her wrists and wiped her bruised cheek where she had gotten much too intimate with the stone floor.
"I think you can return through the grey space. Donnchadh, I'll be back in a moment. Keep people away for a short time." Then Cathain put her hand on Sara's arm and turned her to face the same direction. They took a step forward and were surrounded by fog - the 'grey space'.
Cathain said "Since you have come here without intention, I would guess that the Witchblade brought you to talk to me. Can you tell me what occupies your mind?"
Sara thought about asking the meaning of life or was that Conchobar as good as her Conchobar but she decided to be serious. "In my time my fate and the Witchblade are being manipulated by a powerful man. He wants something from me and the Witchblade but I don't know what. So what's bugging me is - Is all the suffering and death around me happening just to get him off? Is there a point to all this?"
Cathain asked "How old is this powerful man?"
"50 , 60, I guess"
"How old is the Witchblade?"
"Maybe two thousand years or so."
"Sara, you can trust that the Witchblade will achieve it's purpose - or guide you to do so. This powerful man is deluded if he thinks he controls it."
"Ah, OK, I guess that's a better way to look at it. . . But I have another question."
"Yes"
"Who is Donnchadh?"
"He is my half-brother and most trusted leigeman. I don't think he'll forget you, Sara." Cathain smiled. "But I must get back. These are delicate times. Perhaps we will talk again."
"Yeah, we have already." Sara was thinking of her meeting with the older Cathain, "but how do I get back to my time?"
"Touch the Witchblade and tell it you want to leave the grey space."
"Oh. Wait! Show me your left arm."
Cathain turned up her left arm so Sara could see her inside wrist. There was the tattoo - 3 concentric circles with a ridged scar, the jagged line, running through them.
But then it dawned on her that this Ian had skin coarsened by weather, nasty scars, and his clothes were strange. She realized that everyone around her was dressed from some time in the past. Some time when clothes were shaggy and everyone smelled.
"Who are you?" Ian-lookalike asked. He wasn't speaking English but Sara understood. Someone in the group exclaimed "She is Cathain! Or a witch?"
Ian-lookalike came closer to peer into her face. She took the opportunity to rear back to head butt the guy behind holding her arms and knee Ian-lookalike in the groin. But several men piled on her again and she couldn't break away.
Ian-lookalike slowly straightened up. He hissed to someone near him "Get Cathain".
Cathain arrived with more people. It was crowded in the little chapel, which had walls now, without the grass Sara had bedded in. Cathain's approach set off a hum in Sara's bracelet. She could see an answering glow from Cathain's wrist.
"Welcome, Sara. What brings you to my hold?"
"Actually, I came to the ruins of your hold in my time. I don't know how I came through to your time."
"Ruins? When? But don't answer, that matters not here. I do not want to know the future."
As they talked, the people around them mumbled. Sara gathered that while she and Cathain could understand each other, courtesy of the Witchblade - no one else could understand Sara. Cathain noticed too.
"All of you, leave! Except for Iona, Conchobar, and Donnchadh." As the room cleared out Sara could see Conchobar. Her eyes threatened to leak; she wanted to touch him. But this was another time; he was another's love.
Now there was just Cathain, Conchobar, and apparently the pretty blond was Iona, and the Ian-lookalike was Donnchadh. He still stared at her distrustfully.
Cathain removed the ropes around Sara's wrists. "We must get you back to your own time. There is too much happening here. We don't need your presence to unsettle budding alliances"
"OK by me, but I don't know how I got here, let alone how to go back" Sara rubbed her wrists and wiped her bruised cheek where she had gotten much too intimate with the stone floor.
"I think you can return through the grey space. Donnchadh, I'll be back in a moment. Keep people away for a short time." Then Cathain put her hand on Sara's arm and turned her to face the same direction. They took a step forward and were surrounded by fog - the 'grey space'.
Cathain said "Since you have come here without intention, I would guess that the Witchblade brought you to talk to me. Can you tell me what occupies your mind?"
Sara thought about asking the meaning of life or was that Conchobar as good as her Conchobar but she decided to be serious. "In my time my fate and the Witchblade are being manipulated by a powerful man. He wants something from me and the Witchblade but I don't know what. So what's bugging me is - Is all the suffering and death around me happening just to get him off? Is there a point to all this?"
Cathain asked "How old is this powerful man?"
"50 , 60, I guess"
"How old is the Witchblade?"
"Maybe two thousand years or so."
"Sara, you can trust that the Witchblade will achieve it's purpose - or guide you to do so. This powerful man is deluded if he thinks he controls it."
"Ah, OK, I guess that's a better way to look at it. . . But I have another question."
"Yes"
"Who is Donnchadh?"
"He is my half-brother and most trusted leigeman. I don't think he'll forget you, Sara." Cathain smiled. "But I must get back. These are delicate times. Perhaps we will talk again."
"Yeah, we have already." Sara was thinking of her meeting with the older Cathain, "but how do I get back to my time?"
"Touch the Witchblade and tell it you want to leave the grey space."
"Oh. Wait! Show me your left arm."
Cathain turned up her left arm so Sara could see her inside wrist. There was the tattoo - 3 concentric circles with a ridged scar, the jagged line, running through them.