Elphame's Choice

"El! This way." Cuchulainn raised his hand, beckoning for his sister and the Huntress to join him near the entrance to the castle.

Chagrined to realize just how tired the relatively short walk had made her, Elphame forced a smile firmly on her face and straightened her shoulders. She stifled a grimace as her right shoulder reminded her that it was still far from healed. As she and Brighid approached her brother, Brenna emerged from the interior of the castle, wiping her hands on her blood-spattered apron. She caught sight of Elphame and Brighid and called an enthusiastic greeting, but she instantly changed from friend to concerned Healer when they were close enough for her to get a good look at her patient.

"How is the worker's hand? I hope the injury wasn't too severe," Elphame asked Brenna.

"He will recover, but I believe he will rethink the impulse to wink at an attractive maid while he's cutting logs." She narrowed her eyes at Elphame, taking in her pale, drawn face. "I can see the surprise we planned for you comes none too soon," she huffed. Ignoring her protests, she raised Elphame's bodice and checked the dressing on her wound.

"Is she well? Should we call a chaise for her?" Cuchulainn asked, peering over Brenna's shoulder.

"No, she doesn't need a chaise!" Elphame snapped, pulling down her shirt and sending Brenna and her brother twin looks of annoyance. "She needs a bath, something besides broth to eat and some privacy."

Brenna's lips tilted in her endearing lopsided grin. "Then your surprise will be most welcome."

"What surprise are you talking about?" Elphame said, trying not to grit her teeth. Honestly! The three of them were going to drive her mad. She just wanted a bath and dinner - and some time by herself to sort through her turbulent emotions.

"Come with us, sister-mine," Cu said mysteriously. He looped an arm through hers and led her into the castle.

"Elphame! Good to see you up and about again, my Lady!"

El looked up at the voice coming from the newly rebuilt soldier's walk just inside the main castle walls.

She waved at the man, and searched through her memory for his name.

"Thank you, Brendan," she called.

Then his voice was joined by many others, which she answered in kind, as she walked slowly through the gap in the inner wall and into the center of her castle, where she stopped in wonderment at the change five days had wrought.

The great heart of the castle looked newborn. The fountain was gurgling merrily. Someone had brought in huge ferns from the forest floor which had been potted in large clay containers and arranged in a curving pattern around the marble girl. Sconces newly attached to the walls and columns held torches that burned brightly, bringing light and warmth and a fire-colored pulse to the castle. The floor was spotless, smooth and soft, and now that it had been cleaned, the stone looked as if the weathering of more than a century had simply served to hone its beauty.

"Oh, Cu! The columns!"

She squeezed his arm affectionately before hurrying to the giant central column. It stood like a newly commissioned sentinel, watchful and proud. It had been lovingly restored. The dancing torchlight stroked the intricate carvings of interwoven knots and the lovely designs they formed of birds and flowers and rearing mares.

And the stone hummed, with a musical, resonate voice that seemed to echo through her soul. Without even touching it she could feel the pull of its call.

Automatically, Elphame drew closer to the pillar, eager for a more intimate communication with the stone.

Then she felt the dozens of watching eyes and remembered that she was not alone. Elphame fisted her hands at her sides. What had she been thinking? She hadn't meant to put on a performance for the entire castle.

The centaur's hooves clopped solidly against the stone floor as Danann stepped from the group of workers that had congregated near the fountain.

"The stone calls you. It is a unique gift, one you should not hesitate to answer." The old centaur didn't raise his voice, but it carried throughout the increasingly crowded room.

Elphame looked nervously from Danann around the room.

"No," he said, joining her beside the column and lowering his voice for her ears alone. "Do not fragment your attention. You have only one course of action. When the stone speaks, you answer." He softened the admonishment of his words with a kind smile. "You are destined to be The MacCallan. Your castle has called you from a great distance and across a gulf of time. Now you must answer with your soul, as well as your body."

Elphame licked her lips and swallowed past the dryness in her throat. His words made sense to her. She was connected to this castle - to its walls and floors and columns, and to the spirits of its past. She wanted that connection, her very soul craved it.

She spared one more look at Danann. He nodded encouragement.

Elphame cleared her mind and pressed her palms against the central column. The ancient stone became fluid under her hands as the warmth began. The heat grew rapidly, spreading up her arms and enclosing her body - and the rush of feeling filled her mind with a single shout of joy.

Faith and Fidelity!

Her heart leaped in recognition of the motto of Clan MacCallan which the stones of the castle - her castle -  had cried with a single, victorious voice. Elphame gasped at the sweet intensity of happiness.

From a detached part of her mind she noticed that Cuchulainn had moved toward her, and that Danann had stayed him by laying his gnarled hand against the warrior's arm.

"Your sister is safe. She draws her strength from these stones."

Elphame heard the Stonemaster's voice as if it came from a great distance, but his words registered deep within her consciousness.

She could draw strength from the stones? What an incredible thought, but how could it be possible?

The instant she wondered the heat filling her changed, shifted and reacted to her unspoken request. The heat under her hands increased and Elphame felt them actually slide a little way into the temporarily malleable stone.

Energy surged into her body. Like a diver surfacing after an unbearably long underwater search, Elphame drank in strength from the stone. The ache in her shoulder and side was soothed, and the headache that had dogged her for five days evaporated.

Elphame closed her eyes, and took several deep, cleansing breaths, centering herself as Danann had taught her all those days ago. Then she concentrated on her connection with the living stone. Thank you.

I don't know why you are allowing me this magical gift, but thank you.

The spirit of the castle's central column answered her - this time in more than fragments of feelings and tides of emotions.

We hare long awaited the return of The MacCallan and the pulse of life within our walls. We rejoice that you have come to claim your birthright. Behold what is yours, Goddess!

With a force that almost frightened her, Elphame felt her senses stretch as her spirit joined with the spirits of the stone. There was a moment of confusion and swirling vertigo while she became accustomed to her new awareness. Then more power filled her and with a burst of energy she was suddenly as one with the castle. Its walls became her skin, her limbs were towers and partially rebuilt chambers, and her spine was the central column itself. She could feel every nook and alcove of the castle. They were tissue and blood, just as she could feel what a sublime pleasure it was that her "body" was alive and being cared for. This is my home. The loving caress of her thoughts flowed throughout the foundation of MacCallan Castle.

Her clan's ancestral home lived once more.

Cuchulainn watched as the spirit realm enfolded his sister. Danann's firm hand remained a constant pressure on his arm, as if the old centaur knew how difficult it was for him to release his sister to a realm that he had so completely rejected. But even he had to admit that she was awe-inspiring. Just moments before she looked weary and strained. Now, before his eyes he watched her change. She glowed with the power of the ancient heart of the castle. Her cheeks flushed and her hair snapped around her with the indwelling of her castle's spirit.

For the first time in his life, Cuchulainn saw the Goddess within his sister come fully alive, and for a moment it was as if he was watching an awesome stranger take her place. He knew it was what she had always desired, this connection with the spirit realm, and he knew he should feel happy for her - she was finally experiencing her destiny, but it saddened him almost as much as it awed him.

He broke his eyes from Elphame to study the people and centaurs surrounding them. Many of them had joined hands. Two women had fallen to their knees. On all of their faces Cuchulainn saw reflected the awe and love he felt for his amazing Goddess-touched sister. They would follow her anywhere. We, he amended, we would follow her anywhere.

At that moment Elphame threw back her head and in a voice magnified by the power of the spirits of the castle shouted the words that filled her to overflowing.

"Faith and Fidelity!"

"Faith and Fidelity!" Automatically, Cuchulainn's voice joined his sister's in their Clan's ancient battle cry, and soon all the voices of MacCallan Castle blended together in a shout that echoed from the walls of living stone and out into the listening forest.

"Faith and Fidelity!"