The Hunting Trip
Chapter 42: Duplicity

Eowyns eyes turned to Kattica even as Bregus and her sons reacted to the appearance of Gordash. The young woman gaze was cold, penetrating and unreadable, powerful and consuming. She seemed . . . Éowyn could not say what she seemed, but the Rohirric womans sense of distrust rose considerably with this puzzlement. There was something odd about the girl. She was an enigma, a mystery. And as she watched what came, the question came clear in her mind: On whose side does this woman stand? There was a strength in her gaze that Éowyn might not have thought possible in one so young. It only made Éowyn trust this woman less.

She is practiced in deception, Éowyn thought.

Bregus suddenly seemed to realize who was with Gordash, and she raced at the girl looking as if she might strike Kattica for trying something so presumptuous as to appear before her in her Protected Place. Kattica, however, did not flinch.

"How did you get in?! I have the entrances guarded! You should not be here!" Bregus demanded, snarling in Katticas face.

The girls lips curled into a fractional smile, but there was no mistaking the serious demeanor laced into her expression. "The Protected Place seems to extend to the foot of the main entrance. I merely had to cross the threshold to feel the surge in power here. From there it was merely a matter of stepping past those you have watching that way. I do not think they noticed me. They certainly did not stop us. But then, I followed your example, Bregus. Had you been considering the appearance of another witch, you might have prepared your guardians to repel a Hunter's Spell."

The old woman's jaw fell, and the young womans smile disappeared. "But then, you did not expect my appearance. May I ask if you even remembered my existence?"

"You deserted us. You proved your disloyalty," Bregus growled, crooked teeth showing in the snarled expression.

"I sought to recapture your fleeing captive. When I returned I found I had been the one deserted. Mayhap it was for the better though. For had I not become separated from the tribe, Gordash might have been left to die last night."

There was no softening in Bregus eyes. Distrust roamed rampant in the old womans sneer. "What do you want?" she asked, anger tightening her voice.

"Are you not going to welcome Gordash back into the fold?" Kattica asked, ignoring the question.

"What do you want of me?" Bregus repeated through gritted teeth.

Kattica's eyes darted first to Mattias, then around to encompass the others in the cave. Her eyes came to meet Bregus' stare and for the first time since her appearance in the cave, she looked anxious. Her voice trembled when she spoke, and when she did so it was in a hushed voice. The serious pretenses were dropped. Something new of the young woman was being revealed.

"I want to taste the power," she uttered, her eyes fixed on Bregus. She licked her lips and shuddered perceptibly as she stated this, a desperate edge sounding in her voice. "You showed me what it is to feel the darkness, to let it sift into my bones. It is tantalizing and alluring. It is . . . I would have it again. I want to taste it in its fullest form."

A cry emitted from the far end of the cave, words choked in a gasp. "You cannot! Kattica! No!" Mattias cried and all eyes turned on him momentarily. He looked exhausted and disheveled, but he came up onto his knees, finding his feet and standing, even going so far as to step forward toward the women. A twist of Bregus' head delivered two of the Romany to push him back into the corner and press him to the wall with the threat of harm. The girl watched him with a neutral face. She did nothing to aid him and simply turned away to face Bregus a moment later.

"What do you mean?" Bregus asked her slowly, contemplatively.

"Let me help you achieve your goal," the girl said with an air of desperation. To Éowyns dismay, she realized the girl was begging, and it was clear the old woman could see this as well as Éowyn.

Wariness guarded the old womans gaze. "You wish to help me with the spell?" she asked suspiciously.

Too quickly the girl spoke. "If that is the aid you need, yes!" Kattica exclaimed.

The full of Bregus' gritted malice met Kattica's naïve response. An invisible force pushed the girl back a few steps. "It is not! I need you not! I could not trust you would not trust you! Not unless . . ." The old woman paused, as if considering something outside of the girls gaze. " . . . Unless you were to. . . " an evil smile softened the menace pervading the moment. "But you would not," Bregus finished without offering.

However, as a residual reminder, the old womans clawed hand reached out to the girls abdomen, fingers slowed as if to caress it. In that gesture Bregus intent was clear.

Kattica stepped away, wrapping her hand around her protruding womb and gasped at the implications of the question. "I would not!"

But the old woman was smiling again, offering her words in a seductive voice. "It would be exceptional, I assure you. You would not know what came of you. No greater magic would you ever behold."

The girl stared, staggered by the offer, thunderstruck by the daring of the old woman that she would even consider proposing it. More frightening still, in the same gaze there was an air of hunger about her, as if, for just that moment, Kattica might actually consider it. Needy and wanting was her expression, unfulfilled and yearning. So great was the desire that she was actually shaking. But the lust wavered in her eyes, and she dipped her head, as if fighting back something deep in her heart. Then she gazed up to seek the eyes of Mattias. And with that she shook her head in answer. "I . . . cannot."

"Then I have no use for you," the old woman said, her mood suddenly changed. Effectively, she waved her away, dismissing the girl. "Leave," Bregus said on the whisper of a breath.

"No . . ." the girl replied, the breaking of a sob disrupting her gasp of disbelief.

No other would speak. Silence followed, punishing and hammering. The girl did not move, sobbing instead at the release of pent emotions. She seemed to dissipate, her strength dying before the eyes of all who watched. "Please . . . " she began, but no other words followed.

"Leave or die," Bregus restated as she stared darkly at the girls cowering form. There was no questioning her words.

No questioning, except from one brave enough to call out.

"What of the soldiers, Mother?" Gordash asked, his voice breeching the silence. Studying him now as if for the first time, Éowyn noted that he appeared dismayed, as if he could not comprehend the turn in direction of the womens conversation. He looked wildly about as if searching for another who might share his puzzlement. His voice was a startling interruption, but the intense silence of the rest of the Romany remained. Suddenly it seemed to Éowyn as if this were a performance, and what she was watching was a scene being played for the gathered tribe. She had not a role in this, and all she could do was watch and see what might unfold in the drama. And though she gasped and sighed for the actions being shown, the Romany were oddly silent.

Still those words, the reminder of the soldiers and what might come, were enough to get Bregus notice. The old woman flinched when he continued. "The strangers spoke of them. Surely they will be coming. We must be prepared!"

Though the old womans eyes widened with this prediction, others seemed not so moved.

"No one may enter. The doors are guarded," Curtik said, speaking for the first time since Kattica took her assertive steps into the cave. His voice was flat, but he looked to be studying and assessing the girl.

Kattica seemed not to notice him. "We entered," she said as her eyes met Bregus. Her voice held the hint of tremulous hope.

"More reason, I say, to distrust," Curtik muttered, stepping to Bregus side as he warily eyed the girl.

"Please, Bregus . . . " Kattica stepped toward Bregus as well, her arms out in a beseeching gesture. "I beg you to reconsider my aid. Think of how I may help you! Think of how much you have yet to do, and what will be happening at the time of the spell. I stand in this hall and I feel the magic drift over me. It is wonderful and potent. Even now without the benefit of a spell cast, it is rousing. You know of what I speak. When your spell of immortality is cast, you will be focused on that magic. How can you not? You will not have time to maintain the door too," Kattica reasoned. "What if the soldiers choose that moment to strike? I would not doubt they would do so. Word will have reached them of our assault on the strangers."

Bregus looked to be contemplating this statement. "No word has reached them," she flatly said. "The soldiers will not come."

"How can you say that? Can you not see it?" Kattica quarreled, her confidence regained modestly by the query. "I am sure, Bregus, for I have seen them! They are free and they would plan their attack. They are coming, Bregus, and they come with the soldiers!"

"You lie!" the old woman snapped.

"Seek them out then! In this place you know that you can. Use your mind and look! Do you see them out there? They are coming!" Kattica exclaimed, grasping at what might be perceived as Bregus' greatest fear, and simultaneously, as she did, her own panic seemed to escalate.

And still the Romany mindlessly watched. Amazed, Éowyn could not fathom their emotionless response. Their nothingness continued as Bregus stepped to the water and looked out with anxious eyes, gazing at the falling river. A long silence followed.

"What do you want?" she finally asked without the attempt at pandering words. She turned away from the translucent wall and eyed the girl with a venomous stare.

"To show my loyalty," Kattica promptly answered.

"Wrong! You had the chance before to show your loyalty and instead you tried to probe my mind. What do you really want?" the old woman asked.

Kattica's eyes searched those about her as if trying to find the answer within them. Tears filled her eyes again as they settled upon Bregus. Her voice quavered as she explained, "You misconstrue my intentions. I did not mean for you to take my actions as anything but an aid to you. Please, understand."

"Answer my question! What do you want?" Bregus screamed.

Kattica winced, cringing at the assaulting words. "As it was then, it is now. I want to help. My goal has never wavered. And when it is done, I want my freedom. That is always what I have asked!" she cried.

"You had your freedom already," Bregus said with contempt. "Why return?"

"I would not want to take my leave alone," Kattica answered. Her face softened with the revelation of this weakness while her eyes darted to the form of her husband.

Bregus caught the meaning of this. "Mattias?" she scoffed incredulously. Then laughing from her belly, she said, "You come to save Mattias?"

"Why should I not?" the girl asked, glancing at the man. And then she glared again at Bregus as she defended her stance, "I would not want my child to go fatherless."

"He has betrayed you. You have betrayed him. Can that trust be repaired?" Bregus mocked. "You risk much for what I see to be a faithless love."

Rage blossomed in Katticas glare, and the words of retort spilled out in a vexing tongue. "As do you," Kattica responded.

Even Éowyn could have predicted the loud smacking sound of skin meeting skin. The blow Bregus delivered was forceful, and the girl's head was swung around with the suddenness of it.

Still the watching Romany remained silent and uninvolved. However, anything that might have been called civility was lost.

"Search her!" Bregus demanded, and a swarm of Romanies suddenly appeared, valiant and hardened in their determination. They surrounded the girl, holding back her hands and reaching in to empty her pockets and run hands over her body.

It was ugly. The unsavory touches rolled over the girl, and Éowyn felt herself squirm for the violation they put upon the other. Kattica grimaced at their touches, but amazingly, she seemed not to resist them. Before her they laid out the items that they pulled from the deep wells of her skirt. All they revealed were her knife, her grandmother's amulet, and her medicine kit. There was nothing else.

Bregus immediately came forward and took the medicine kit, glancing at it before pocketing it, then walking away. Greedily, Curtik followed her example. Stepping up, he fingered the knife, smiling covetously at the item before putting it in his belt. He began to walk away, but Bregus turned back, as if realizing something, and eyed the charm from across the room. Curtiks steps froze as he noticed her gaze and then he turned and directed his eyes at that article as well. He then picked up the amulet, bouncing the carved, golden stone in his opposite hand as he turned to the girl and said, "If you are in the Protected Place, you will not need this charm, will you?

Kattica seemed about to protest, but then looked at him with a quizzical eye and seemingly refrained what she might say. She paled while the younger Romany man tied the charm about his own neck, seemingly mocking the girl's vulnerability. The hands that held her withdrew then, and she gaped at Curtik as if he had something to do with it. However, Kattica apparently was strong. In the next minute, her shocked demeanor dissipated and she regained control of her composure, standing resilient and proud.

He sauntered past Bregus side. "And now Gordash," he said, indicating to Bregus with a gesture that Gordash should also be searched.

The old woman gazed at Curtik long, surmising something in his words before nodding to him. Éowyn could see it. There was collusion between them, and an order was about to spill forth from Bregus.

But before it could, Kattica interrupted, stepping forward to face the old woman again. "Gordash has shown you no disloyalty! He does not deserve to be treated with paranoid charges. He is healed and capable in both body and mind. By my hand he is thus, and if you would find me free of suspicion, you must find him too. He would never try to harm you!"

"He could be plotting your murder," Curtik slyly said, stepping toward the old woman, eye contact made.

"You plot murder!" cried Mattias from the other end of the room.

But Kattica also came forward and she turned the old woman's head to face hers before Curtik could reach her. Softly she said, "Gordash is loyal to you, Mother. Look into his mind and see. Read him for yourself. He would do nothing to hurt you."

Eowyn watched with trepidation, her distrust of Kattica increasing with each move the girl made.But any contemplation was wiped away as the scene continued to unfold and she found herself yet again compelled to watch, wait and learn what might come.

The old woman gazed at the large man then, stepping before him and tracing a finger over the skin of his face. She dipped her head, eyes closing, and the caress was a delicate thing, a blissful bond. He too closed his eyes, and he seemed to relinquish something of himself to Bregus without question.

It took but a moment, and then the old woman opened her eyes, smiling cheerily as she said, "It is true. You would wish me no harm."

"Always, Mother," Gordash said in a voice that was readily assuring.

"Bregus?" Curtik gasped.

The old woman snapped her head at the younger Romany, noting his response with a raised brow. "Is there a query?" she purred in a voice that was sinister and smooth. Curtik swayed, and Éowyn almost felt lost in tenor of the voice. It resonated to her core, and she felt inexplicably lightened by it. There too, all in the main cavern room appeared to do so. The old witch's voice had a quality to it that seemed to hold a conviction that was pleasing and believable.

The younger man withdrew his objections. "No. No questions. I . . . I will comply. Of course."

"Gordash is the elder male then. He shall lead us," she purred, and a sense of rightness seemed to abound then in Éowyn, as a swell in the chests of all who heard these words showed their pride.

The young man smiled coyly. "Gordash is the leader of our tribe," he agreed. Then he smiled serenely as he gazed with penetrating eyes upon Bregus and said, "I have no complaints. Mother." The last word seemed a parting thought, as if it contained a message for the elder.

The old witch nodded and let it pass, seeming to be placated with his reply. A satisfied smile curved her lips. Bregus eyes flared and mischief graced her smile as she took in all about her. After a moment, she turned on her heel, guiding her hand to direct all to the inner cave and again the young Romany took her side. Gordash stepped forward into the cave, and others that had been milling to Bregus' whims followed. "Come, we have much for which to prepare," she said to Kattica.

"I may stay then?" Kattica gushed as if amazed it would be allowed.

Bregus smiled, and Éowyn felt happy for the woman then, though she still was not certain that she should feel this. She wondered at this, and as she did, the witch spoke. "I will find a task for you," the old woman said, but the words did not come out right in Éowyns ears. She thought she heard the old woman say, "I have a use for you." Éowyn shook her head, feeling as though something was not right in this, but she was unable to put her finger to it.

Kattica seemed to be nonplussed by the statement as well. She did not turn as Bregus did, instead hesitating. Her steps slowed and she looked down, noticing wholly, for the first time, Legolas and Éowyn. She swallowed as she noticed them, and then swung her head back to Bregus. "I give myself the first task then," Kattica said.

The old woman stopped, her expression startled as she halted in her steps and turned to stand next to the girl. "You do not choose your assignments," the old woman cautioned.

Kattica shook her head, ignoring the old womans remark as she said, "What is wrong with him?" She knelt before the fair creature, reaching out a hand to touch his face, but the witch swept down and pulled Kattica's hand back before she could.

"Things have gone wrong. He . . . he fades," Bregus said without hint of emotion or explanation for her sudden movement.

"But how?" the girl asked. Concern tinged her voice.

There was a pause, as if Bregus were contemplating her answer. The elders eyes focused on Éowyn and they narrowed as she found her words and accused, "She did it. She incurred sea-longing in his mind."

The suddenness of this charge threw Éowyn and she felt hot rage siege her for the old womans easy choice of blame. "That is not the whole tale!" Éowyn countered with vehemence. "His back was broken before I came upon him. It appeared he was attacked," she said.

Kattica's eyes went wide with this revelation as she cocked her head to further study the body, but what Éowyn might have perceived as compassion a moment before quickly passed, and suddenly their was a fire in the girls eye. And desire. "Sea-longing? Truly? Oh, but I must . . ." Again Bregus pulled Katticas hands aside as the girl bent to touch the face and neck of the Elf.

"No! Do not!" the old woman reprimanded.

Mouth agape, Kattica asked, "Why not?"

"His spirit is shattered. It is precarious. I will not have him lost to me before my spell is wrought," Bregus answered.

"But how -- ?" Kattica began, her voice turning to something of innocence.

"Neither will I allow you to take pleasure in him."

The girl's eyes widened at first, as if she had been caught trying to steal someone elses possession, but then they narrowed with annoyance, and she gazed first upon the old woman, then again at the younger man who was standing at the doorway before saying, "But the Elf is alive. What more is there that you require of him?"

"That he stays that way," Bregus replied.

"Could I not just "

"He lives in this sea-longing. She helped him find his way there when he cried out in his pain. It seemed to sooth him and he has remained there since," Bregus continued. "He is content in this state. Leave him."

"This state is what is killing him," Éowyn muttered, unable to contain herself. She knew that Legolas was in greater agony than the old woman would admit to. Further, Bregus knew his ache. If the Elf were merely in a comfortablestate of something likened to meditation, why would she not allow Kattica near him?

"He is well enough," Bregus countered defensively.

Éowyn raged. She felt like striking at something, the old woman perhaps, for how trivial she made the situation to be. Yet Éowyn was manacled and injured. She could not strike out in any means other than words. "You read minds, do you, witch? Very well. Read his, and tell me that it is truly a state of contentment in which he lies," she snarled.

"There is no need," Bregus answered shortly.

"There is! He fades! He will not live out the day!" Éowyn rallied.

"And you brought it upon him!" the old woman reminded her in return. Éowyn stared back with a malicious gaze, surprised at the childishness of the return and refusing to flinch despite inwardly recoiling at the attribution the witch gave her.

Though it anguished her to witness it, Éowyn could not have planned it better. At that exact minute, Legolas moaned, just as he had before, his face contorting into something of agony. It could not be made any clearer to any that watched him that there was something that pained him, even in his trancelike state. He cried a piteous whimper, his face seizing with discomfort. And then he let out a panted breath, the air hitching in his throat, as if he were pushing back a horrible ache. It slowly subsided, his breathing returning to something akin to normal as his eyes slipped back into their dazed fix.

Éowyn looked in turn to the two women, gauging what she could of them from their reactions.

Their faces were telling, and Éowyn then realized there might be trust yet she could avail to the girls cause. Kattica had noticeably paled in the brief moment, her expression fearful and appalled. At the same time, the look of disgust on Bregus face was telling that she was more angered than upset at the Elfs poor condition. It seemed to Éowyn that the old woman would rather put blame elsewhere for what was occurring rather than see to fixing it. And Éowyn also knew Bregus would not hear of blaming herself. It was a pointless argument, but one she might make if the old woman continued to refuse treatment.

It sickened her, but she saw no other recourse than to draw the witchs help. Primitive as she found the old womans technique to be, there were benefits that could be garnered from her healing skills. Not that Éowyn thought Bregus had any way of mending Legolas broken bones through conventional means, but she could not deny there was something of a healing power within the witch that touched from the inside. She could reach into the soul. Frightening as that was, Éowyn felt that was exactly where Legolas restoration needed to begin. His pain came from his heart as well as from his outward hurts.

Fortunately, Bregus seemed to surmise the same and relented to Éowyns desperation. She sighed in exasperation as she spoke to the lady. "Again and again I seem to rescue you from your ineptitude. Let us see what might be done."

Éowyn silently fumed at the old woman, for she could say much about Bregus reluctance and how it had brought on this horrible event, but lashing back would do nothing to save the situation. Legolas was failing and his soul must be reached before he gave in completely to his sorrow. Or so it seemed.

Slowly spreading her fingers and focusing on the Elfs breathing, the old woman seemed to search for something of her own mind. Her eyes grew unfocused as she leaned over the body, and as she placed her hands upon Legolas chest and chin, her eyes closed.

Nodding her head as she quietly delved through internal meanderings, her lips parted, and whispered words passed over them. Her brow furrowed as she softly uttered words barely perceptible as sound. Éowyn wondered what it was that she said for the speech was not recognizable in the common tongue.

Her attention was drawn away from the witch, however, as there was a reaction from Legolas to these ministrations. He gasped, his hands flexing and eyes widening. His gaze remained vague, but it seemed he saw something from within. Éowyn rejoiced for that. Despite her trepidation at Bregus turn toward good intentions, she had to concede she was relieved to see some reaction from her friend. He had laid so still in his paling condition, and she had thought certain she might not hear sound from him again except for those cries of pain.

However, the reaction that followed was wholly unexpected. Eyes that had been dully staring into the waterfall came alive with awareness, and Legolas suddenly turned his head to the old woman, anger darkening those blue orbs. The Elfs nostrils flared in a flash of fury, and his free hands lashed out, foisting her fingers away from his body. "Do not touch me!" he screamed, and the rage that showed in his eyes was electric and violent.

Éowyns breath hitched, and she was momentarily caught off guard by the Elfs flailing swing. "Legolas!" she cried. But his movement was not checked, nor did he seem to hear her. All that filled his gaze was hatred and a desperate attempt to push the old woman away. The witch caught the brunt of his blow squarely in the chest. It knocked her aside, bowling her to the ground, and Éowyn could see the shock in the old womans eyes.

But that expression swiftly disappeared as Bregus regrouped. When she turned again, her feet beneath her, she appeared as if she might strike the Elf. However, he dropped his hands and immediately turned his attention back to the watery window, seeming not to regard any of those about him. His brow furrowed in sorrow and pain just as it had before, and his gaze softened as his eyes unfocused.

Grimacing with heated anger, the old woman scowled through her panted ire before changing the direction of her vexing glare. Accusation came to rest upon Éowyn, and like the swiftness of the force that had hit the old woman, so to did an unseen blow push Éowyn to the ground. Bregus had not moved, yet Éowyn felt as if strong hands had been flung at her bound body. She could not fashion what had throttled her with such strength, and at the same time, sharp agony sprung up from her shoulder, spears of deep hurt. She rocked with the force of it, groaning at the pain this caused her.

"You made me a target!" Bregus screamed.

"I did not! I did not know he would strike out," Éowyn muttered, her jaw clenched in pain.

"What did you see, Bregus?" Kattica eagerly asked interrupting the two women, eyes concernedly fixed on the Elf. "Is there more that might be done for him?"

The pain was withdrawn as the tussle ceased. Bregus turned her head to regard Kattica, "He is alive. That is all I require. I have done all I will," Bregus announced haughtily.

"It is not enough!" Éowyn chimed out, not caring if she were struck again.

"I have heard too much from you already. You will be silent!" the witch screamed.

"I think we must awaken him! He must find his way back to a natural state if there is to be any way of keeping him alive," Éowyn hurriedly added, afraid but finding reason to speak in pursuit of a remedy for the Elfs ailment.

The old woman sighed in frustration. Kattica turned back to Bregus then. "You think that is wrong?"

With an air of exasperation, the old woman threw her hands into the air. "I should know? I know nothing of Elven ailments!"

"Then you concur that he is sick," Kattica noted. The old woman scowled. Continuing, Kattica calmly said, "If he is sick, perhaps we should let her try to rouse him."

"I would not lose my Elf! I cannot spare him from my plan!" Bregus shouted.

Kattica dipped her eyes in a respectful show of acquiescence, saying humbly, "I understand, Mother. I only seek your approval. He appears to be . . . hurting. Your attempt did not seem to relieve him of this."

"She will destroy him and ruin everything!" Bregus screeched, her eyes wide and staring at Éowyn.

Kattica stood to meet the elder's eyes, thus breaking her sightline, which was wrathfully fixed on Éowyn. With a quiet degree of confidence, Kattica assured the elder, "She will not."

"What guarantee can you offer of that?" the witch snarled.

Kattica remained quiet for a moment, her lips turning down into a frown. Then she said, "The Elf is dying. I cannot know for sure, but I think he will be gone soon if something is not done for him. This woman has no magic for which to touch him, therefore I do not think she can truly hurt him by trying. Further she is his friend. I do not think she would see harm done unto him. Let her try in her own way. I will stay with her and oversee her actions. And if he fades still, I will see to it that he is pushed back into this sea-longing."

The old woman scowled, "You try to trick me. You would play with his mind. I know of the joy you found in committing that act."

The girl stiffened at the reminder, but she did not draw back. "Would you stand over him yourself then?" she asked, her voice calm but her eyes challenging. She received no answer to this and after a time passed, she sighed and said, "I am your apprentice. I would not touch his mind unless it was required of me."

"And what assurance can you offer of that?" Curtik interjected.

Turning her head to him, Kattica paused, pursing her lips. Again a silence followed as she considered him. Then shrugging, she coolly said, "You guard him then. I will go make the plans with Bregus, if you doubt me."

He looked slightly startled by this comment, his eyes going wider as if he might fear being assigned such a thing. But he regained himself a second later. "I have not time for this," Curtik waved her off.

"Curtik is needed for the planning," Bregus said, excusing him as if he needed her to do so.

"Gordash then? Szandor?" Kattica offered, smiling, as if she knew the old woman would not allow them either.

"I plan to employ them," the old woman said, following suit, and a queer smile of her own came to her face with the words.

Kattica nodded as if she knew this would come, and she said with a surety that challenged anyone to counter her, "Then trust in my intentions."

"Your intentions?" Bregus began. "Why might I trust your intentions when I can . . ." A small malicious smile slowly crept over the old woman's face. ". . . trust your pledge instead," the elder returned.

Suspicion made the girl's eyes narrow. "What pledge?" Kattica asked.

It seemed as if this was a moment for which the old woman had been waiting. "The pledge you will now make me assuring me of your loyalty. I know you will not sacrifice yourself and your child for the spell I cast tonight, but . . . I would ask for something else instead."

Katticas nostrils flared, her eyes uncertain as she asked, "And that would be . . . ?"

The witch laughed, enjoying, it seemed, the suspicion the girl was displaying. "Oh, nothing so bad as you might fear. All that I ask is an assurance from you that all will be well with you supervising this task."

"And . . .?" Kattica prompted.

"Simply this: if you fail me and the Elf dies, you will indenture your soul to me," the old woman asserted and there was nothing of frivolity in her tone.

"If he dies, the immortality spell cannot be cast and you will have nothing to gain in keeping me," the girl protested.

"Except your body. If the Elf dies, I would have a fallback as a means to live on for another lifetime. You would offer your body to me. That is what I want. Just as Curtik offered himself up for Bäla last night," Bregus said.

Katticas eyes went wide. "Bäla?" She turned her eyes to the youngest son, the horror clearly expressed in her gaze. She asked, "You are Bäla?"

He laughed at her mortification. "In spirit only, with none of the talent of my former life, Im afraid," he said with a bow.

"The moon was obscured and not all of what Bäla was could be transferred," Bregus contributed. "But tonight the moon should be ample and clear. I could take you if you offer it . . . in exchange for my trust."

"Abominable!" Kattica shuddered in a horror stricken voice.

Bregus laughed a maniacal cackle, amused by the girls show of revulsion. "Oh girl! What a fool you are! You would think I would truly want a twisted and scarred cripple to house my soul? Hardly," she scoffed, "but at least my power would stay with me." She leered at the girls belly. "And I would have a new child to foster to my dark powers."

"No!" the girl screamed. Her brow twisted in confusion and denial. "I never swore I could heal the Elf."

"But you seem to have made it your job to see him bettered. And I have deemed it yours. You may even . . . touch him if it will help to make it so."

A long moment passed before Kattica again spoke.

"Nay," she said coolly. "I will not do it."

"Ah, fear. I see it within you. So the enticement of probing his mind loses its allure? Where is your intonation of faith now?" Bregus sneered.

"I have nothing to gain from this!" Kattica replied in a riled voice.

"Except my trust," the old woman said, sneering in return.

Another long moment passed and neither dared move. "I will not do it. You will have to believe me true," Kattica said.

"Then you are to be cast out! No, killed!" the old woman said, pushing aside everything of their former agreement.

Katticas eyes went wide and she shouted. "This is not as we had agreed! Gordash will protest!"

"He will say nothing because he is mine to rule. Be happy I do not kill you on the spot. Keep the Elf alive and this little change in our agreement will effect nothing."

A sob escaped Kattica and her face twisted with her misery. But she did not turn away. "I do not want this!"

"I do not ask you to want this. You say you wish to help? You wish to taste the power? Then keep him alive!" Bregus said, pointing at her Elven prisoner.

"Mother, no!" Mattias cried from across the room where he had been listening. No one seemed to give him any attention though. Bregus stretched a hand in his direction without looking and he was pushed to the ground.

A hand reached out and pulled the old woman's arm away, and Bregus met the tear-streaked face of Kattica. The girl nodded her agreement.

"So be it. You have your task," Bregus instructed smugly, and again she set out to exit the room.

Following in her wake, the one called Curtik followed, and he beamed in approval as he gazed back on the girl.

A/N: Oh no! That can't be all, can it? 'Course not. Forge ahead. The next chapter is up and waiting for you to read. Happy Halloween!