Withstanding Trials: Day 18

Word Count: 108,563

Summary of Events:

Aodhán was woken by Conchobhar, who took him outside to a hunting blind, from which they could see the glow of firelight over the hill, indicating that the festival had begun. Saraid was fetching water from the well in a heavy fog and was startled by Aodhán, causing her to let go of the handle for cranking the bucket, which hit her in the face. She was taken by Aodhán to the blacksmith's hut, where Aodhán was told to stay put, while Saraid was taken by the blacksmith to the cave his family had moved into for the duration of the festival to be tended to by his wife. Aodhán disobeyed the blacksmith and went to do what he'd come to do, but it ended up taking longer than he'd expected, and he injured himself in his hurry back to the blacksmith's hut, which he entered expecting to find the blacksmith's family, but instead found nothing and no one…

Excerpt of the Day:

Aodhán felt unnerved until he remembered someone having mentioned to him that the reason nobody died in the attacks anymore was because they’d developed hiding places, which it would make sense for them to have retreated to, considering the festival had begun, and even if the attacks usually happened on the peak night in a couple days’ time, it wasn’t always guaranteed, meaning that it was best to retreat to the hiding places early. That also explained why Amhlaoibh had headed away from the hut with Saraid.

“I told you not to move,” Amhlaoibh’s voice said, low and ominous.

Startling, Aodhán turned around to see Amhlaoibh standing beside the door, his thick arms crossed over his powerful chest, displeasure creasing his face.

“I’m sorry sir,” Aodhán replied, his jaw quivering.

“Explain yourself boy,” Amhlaoibh ordered, his voice becoming slightly louder and more stern.

“I was just… wanting… to…” Aodhán was groping desperately for some excuse, he’d not thought to have one at the ready. “Go… and look… over the hill… because… I’d… been able to… see their fire, last night… so… I wanted… to see… how close… how close it was.”

The scowl that came over Amhlaoibh’s face told Aodhán he’d not chosen a good excuse.

Aodhán didn’t know what to say. He hoped the door into the forge wasn’t locked and that he’d be able to escape through the forge too, as he doubted he’d be able to get out the door Amhlaoibh was standing beside.

“There’s no way you got to the hill and back, from here, in the fog, in the time since I left you with those water buckets,” Amhlaoibh said. “Where did you go?”

“I… went to check that I’d replaced the pin at the well,” Aodhán replied.

“That shouldn’t have taken long,” Amhlaoibh replied.

“I thought I heard something in the woods while I was there,” Aodhán replied. “So I went to investigate it, then I realised I was tarrying and hurried back.”

“What happened to make your leg bleed?” Amhlaoibh asked.

“I must be growing,” Aodhán replied. “I went to jump over a log and caught my foot on it, and there was a rock on the other side that I struck my leg on.”

“I expect you to actually not move this time, boy,” Amhlaoibh warned.

Aodhán watched with surprise as Amhlaoibh turned to the door and exited the hut, leaving him alone. He surveyed his surroundings and sat down on the floor in the hope that not standing on his aching leg would make it feel better.

He felt uneasy and sick to have lied to Amhlaoibh, but even Conchobhar didn’t know the truth. He hated lying, but he was sure the truth would make everyone distrust him, and Amhlaoibh more than anyone.

That was actually the whole reason Aodhán had hoped that he’d gone early enough to be completely unnoticed, as he wouldn’t have had to lie then, not that lying was really justified at any time.