Chapter Fourteen
When the light blinding her faded, Ashling blinked blearily at her surroundings. The wedge tomb stood behind her now, and the echoing crash of the waves still sounded farther back. But what stood in front of her took her breath away.
There was a town. A fully formed village with beautiful stone buildings lining narrow cobblestone streets, flower boxes along the front windows teeming with all sorts of plants and what looked like herbs. The shutters of the building were different bright colors to match the wooden front doors. The land surrounding the small town was green and lush, with farm plots circling the border of the homes. Trees occupied most of the open spaces not taken by farmland.
Towards the middle of the village, sat slightly higher than the rest of the buildings on the top of a slight hill, was a huge stone castle, complete with parapets, gates, and spires. She could just make out the ivy that crawled up the sides of the beautiful stonework of the walls. She felt like he had stepped into a storybook, a fairytale brought to life.
"Holy shit," she heard a little way to her left. Turning, she saw Declan staring in awe at the town just as she had been. "Ok, officially believe all of this now."
"Did the instant travel and glowing rocks not do it for you, Dec?" Seamus quipped from behind him, also staring at their surroundings.
The hand on the small of her back had remained still the entirety of the time she was gawking, moved upwards to rest on her shoulder, the span of the muscular arm it was attached to pressing along her shoulder blades and the rest of the owner of the arm's body pressing close to her right side.
"Welcome home, Ash." She looked up to Eoin's dark gaze. His voice was deeper and huskier than usual. Her being here obviously meant a lot to him. She smiled up at him before turning once again to survey the town.
"It's so beautiful, Eoin," she said quietly.
"Just wait until you see all of it. I'll show you all of my favorite spots," he answered, sounding as excited as a child on Christmas.
"I would love that."
With one more squeeze to her shoulder, he released her before turning to their group as a whole. "Come on! We have people you will want to meet waiting for us at Dun Croí."
"Dun what?" she heard Cian ask, who was once again standing close to Eamon. The latter seemed oddly uncomfortable with the closeness, almost like he was displeased with the invasion of his personal space.
"Croí. It's there." Eoin turned and pointed to the large castle off in the distance. "It's our town hall of sorts. It is also where all training happens."
Ashling's heart rate picked up at the mention of training her magic. She was both incredibly excited and incredibly terrified. Just the thought of being able to do the small things she had seen Eoin and Eamon do with their magic was exhilarating. However, she was frightened that she would not live up to the expectations Eoin had for her strength.
"Wait, you said people," Declan jumped in. "What people?"
Eoin looked at Ash, expression mischievous. "Come on!" he called before taking her hand once more and beginning to pull her down the hill and towards the border of the town, completely ignoring Declan's indignant sputtering.
The walkthrough of the town was incredible! When they finally got close enough, the sounds of life could be heard, the chatting of people, the banging of pots and tools, and the sounds of animals from the surrounding farmland. It was a bustling place.
No one paid them any actual mind, which Ashling was unendingly grateful for. A few stopped to nod respectfully to Eoin and Eamon as they passed, but that was all the interaction had. The town's buildings were even more impressive up close, all at least two stories tall and tucked close to their neighbors. Her inner history student fought to clamber to the surface. She wanted nothing more than to explore the ancient, though incredibly preserved town, ask questions, and document everything she saw. She knew now was not the time. She secretly hoped she could do all of those things later. Perhaps she could ask Eoin when he showed her his favorite places as he promised?
It seemed like no time at all before they finally stepped past a tall rock wall and into an immaculately kept garden space. There were perfectly cut green lawns with statues in the middle of different sections, almost dividing the space into square quadrants. The sculptures were made of a very tall, dark stone in the shape of several imposing figures.
One that they had passed close to was of a woman, tall and thin in a long sleeveless dress that flowed around her legs. Her hair hung long and loose, with thick curls falling along her back and over her shoulders. Her face was serene, if not a bit haunting, and a bow hung gracefully from her fingers by her side.
"That is Abnoba, goddess of the hunt," Eoin whispered into her ear, having seen her staring. "Don't worry; you will learn all about our gods and goddesses in your training."
"She's beautiful," she said before finally pulling her eyes away from the figure and focusing on where she was walking. They entered through a giant set of wooden double doors into a large hall with a long, intricate wooden table circled by eight high-backed chairs, three on each side and one at each end. A vast fireplace burning intensely at the back of the room, with two grand staircases situated to each side leading to an upper floor out of view. The ceilings were high, supported by three enormous columns on each side of the room made of solid gray stone like the rest of the fortress.
She was a bit surprised to see that it was just as light inside as outside, having expected the old fortress to be dim. When she looked up, however, she noticed little balls of light dancing along the ceiling, brightening the entire room. She wasn't sure if she would ever get used to seeing magic used in such casual ways.
"Eoin! You have returned!" a voice called from the front of the room. An elderly woman stood halfway down one of the staircases, stopped as if their entrance had taken her off guard. She bore a striking figure, no taller than Ashling herself, but she had a presence about her that demanded respect. Her long, white-gray hair was brushed neatly and left loose. A white blouse and blue blazer paired with blue dress pants only added to her professional air.
"I have," Eoin answered, releasing Ashling's hand and stepping forward. He bowed his head slightly, closed fist coming to briefly lay over his heart in a greeting of reverence. Was this woman a leader of some sort?
The woman in question had quickly descended the rest of the stairs, all but ignoring Eoin to stride past him to Ashling. "Hello, my dear," she said, voice considerably softer than it had been moments before. "I have been waiting a very long time to meet you. What is your name, child?"
Suddenly, Ashling understood. This woman must be one of the family members that Eoin had mentioned. "Ashling," she responded tentatively, unsure of how to proceed. Suddenly remembering her brothers standing behind her, unaware of who this woman was, she decided introducing them was equally important. "And these are my brothers: Declan, Cian, and Seamus."
"Brothers?" the woman asked, clearly surprised by the new information. "Well, that is unexpected."
She could all but feel Declan prickle behind her. "Yeah, people keep saying that and then not explaining what that means," he growled, displeasure and unease evident in his tone.
Without missing a beat, the woman walked around Ashling, stood next to Declan, who dwarfed her shorter frame, and cuffed him upside the head, eliciting a "what the hell" from the eldest McCoubrie.
"Do not use that tone with me, young man! Your father was just the same, and I did not stand for it then either!"
"You knew our father?" The question came from Seamus, who had taken a step back from Declan, hoping to avoid the wrath of the strange woman.
"Of course, I did!" she exclaimed, looking towards Seamus, who flinched and took another step backward. "Niall McCoubrie was my son after all!"
"Wait, what?" It was Cian behind the outburst this time, though all their reactions mirrored his. "You're our grandmother?"
"Yes, I am. My name is Maire McCoubrie, and I dare say, it is about time that I meet my grandchildren." She seemed offended like they had been staying away from her on purpose.
Cian, rather than acknowledge that sentiment for now, instead whirled on Eamon. The latter man had been unsurprised by the familial revelations of a moment ago but flinched as the red-headed man's ire was suddenly directed at him. "Did you not think that this might have been worth mentioning during the whole life-changing conversations thing?"
Cian rarely, if ever, got angry. He hated conflict and would go out of his way to keep the peace in their family. So, seeing his green eyes flash with anger, all of the McCoubrie siblings knew better than to get in the way.
"I-uh," Eamon started, obviously taken aback by the heat of Cian's rage. "I was instructed not to."
"Instructed? Really?" Cian asked, crossing his arms across his chest as if holding back the full force of emotion running through him. "By whom?"
"That would be me," Maire chirped curtly. Cian turned, his glare settling on the older woman. The tension that had been radiating through Eamon left him, his form seeming to physically deflate now that Cian's attention was turned elsewhere.
"Why?" Cian gritted out. He didn't understand. Why would she choose to not let her family members, who had been struggling through life thinking that they had no other family, know that there were family members out there? Maybe she didn't want to know them? Perhaps she considered them a burden? Why else would someone do something like that?
"Because the mission that Eoin and Eamon were sent on was of the utmost secrecy," Maire answered, nodding in Ashling's direction. The answer did very little to appease Cian's temper.
"But why keep it secret from us? Wouldn't our family knowing that an actual blood relation was waiting for us make us want to follow them even more?" His voice was rising at this point, echoing off of the vaulted ceilings. "All these years we have struggled, just the four of us! We had no idea we even had any other family! All this time, you were here? Why didn't you come for us sooner? Why now?" Cian stood for a moment, chest heaving in anger and frustration before exhaling sharply and almost deflating in on himself. "You know what, never mind."
With his outpouring of obviously pent-up anger, frustration and anxiety finally exhausted, Cian turned on his heel and marched back out the double doors they had entered from. Eamon was the first to break through the shock that Cian's words had put everyone in, quickly turning to run after him with a call. "Cian, wait!"
Ashling was suddenly overcome with sadness. The deep, all-consuming kind that she always felt when she thought about how much her family had been through. Especially Declan and Cian, having both been legal adults when their parents passed. Though they were doing just fine on their own, having a support system would have been such a relief over the last decade.
Eoin had moved close to her again, not quite touching, but close enough that she could feel his body heat. A quiet, reassuring presence at her side.
Maire, for her part, seemed abashed by Cian's outburst. She looked to the three remaining of her grandchildren. "I'm sorry," she said quietly, "I didn't know. Come, let me show you to your rooms. You must be exhausted from your travels." She didn't clarify which part of the information revealed in Cian's rant she was ignorant to, but no one had the energy to press her on it. They simply fell into line behind her as she led them up one of the grand staircases.