In the City of Cats

Part 12

Deirdre arrived sometime late that afternoon.  Ciara had stayed in the house by Alana's grave since Crovan had brought her there, but she knew the sound of Thirteen's footsteps as well as her own.  Crovan rose from his seat on the other side of the room and he put his hand on his sword, but Ciara could see the fear in his face, which made him look much younger.
	“Will you bury me here when I am dead?” he said.
	“She won't kill you.  I'll see to that,” Ciara said.
	Crovan snorted and went outside.  Ciara followed him, at a loss to know who she should feel more worried for.
	Deirdre stood in the middle of the ancient town, sword drawn, surrounded by wary lynxes.  Most of them had their weapons drawn, too, and Ciara wondered why they hadn't simply rushed her.  Crovan gave her a smile and reached back to pull the door shut.
	“Don't worry about your mother, Princess.  As long as she doesn't attack any of us, she's safe.  It is forbidden for us to spill blood on this sacred ground, except in its defense,” Crovan said.
	Deirdre apparently heard him, because she lowered her sword a little and cast a contemptuous glance at the fighters around her before she turned to Crovan.
	“Release my daughter to me and I will be on my way.  Ciara, where are your rabbits?  Are you all okay?” Deidre said.
	“Princess Ciara is my guest, not my prisoner.  She's free to go when she likes,” Crovan said.
	Deirdre came for him and three of the lynxes in front of her raised their swords.  This failed to stop her as she knocked the youngest aside and stepped through the ring to face off against the General.  Crovan still hadn't drawn his sword, but he didn't need to.  Ciara stepped between them, which stopped Deirdre in her tracks.
	“You came alone?  Are you mad?” Ciara said.
	“What choice did I have?  If I'd charged in here at the head of an army they'd have cut your throat,” Deirdre said.
	Ciara heard Crovan give a little snarl of anger behind her.
	“We are not savages, madam.  We do not harm the innocent, even if they are the children of our enemies.  I merely wished to have a talk with the Princess,” Crovan said.
	“You could have talked to her in Blackpool.  You didn't have to drag her out of her bed at midnight and at the point of a sword,” Deirdre said.
	“You left me with no options.  My city is in ruins, my queen is dead, and why?  Only so you can have your revenge.  Tell me what it is that gives you the right to stand in judgment of me,” Crovan said.
	Ciara saw Niamh and Fiachra emerge from the trees on the far side of the clearing.  The rest of General Crovan's lynxes were with them, but the cats didn't have their weapons drawn and Niamh was laughing.  That, Ciara thought, was Niamh all over.  The girl could make friends with anyone, given time and a bit of kindness.  Niamh's smile faded when she saw Deirdre and Fiachra put a hand on his sister's arm.  His small gesture made Ciara angry all over again.
	“Nobody learns anything.  They take their lessons and use them to prop up their old prejudices instead.  That's how it always goes, but you have the chance to change that now,” Ciara said.
	Deirdre shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot and Crovan looked away, both clearly embarrassed.  For just that moment, Ciara thought there was a chance they might listen to her.  Then, before either of them could answer her, a horn sounded from among the trees and the clearing filled with Cearnach soldiers.  General Nessa led the charge mounted, of course, on a white stallion.  The lynxes fell back to flank their commander, but they were badly outnumbered and still tired from the morning's march.  Deirdre stepped back a safe distance from the cats, but Ciara saw her mother's lip curl in disgust.  Deirdre had always believed in fighting fair, and she had nothing but contempt for any commander who would launch a surprise attack like this.
	A few of the closest Cearnach fighters hesitated when they spotted Deirdre, and Ciara hoped her mother would take advantage of that, but Nessa was there at the head of the attack and she spurred them on with shouts and threats for the laggards.  The rest of the foxes never even glanced at them.  They hit the flimsy Blackpool line a moment later and broke it open.  Ciara saw Crovan draw his sword at last and he killed the first two soldiers who reached him, but the General and his allies were soon lost in the crush.
	Ciara grabbed Deirdre's arm to pull her back to the trees.  Deirdre resisted for a moment and Ciara saw her hand tighten on the hilt of her sword.
	“None of this is Crovan's fault.  He was only trying to protect what he has left,” Ciara said.
	“As are we all.  I didn't want it like this, but when are we ever given a choice?” Deirdre said,  and she shook her head. “It's bound to be a short fight, so we'd better slip away while we can.  General Nessa might be more or less on our side but I don't trust her not to try something clever.  Fithir will always listen to me over her, and she might decide it's time to change that.”
	Niamh and Fiachra met them where Deirdre had left Thirteen.  The yellow mare whinnied at them and put her muzzle into Ciara's hands. It was a familiar gesture in a world where everything she'd known was falling apart, and Ciara found it comforting.
	“We've murdered them,” Ciara said.
	“It was us or them.  That's what Fithir would say,” Deirdre said.
	“If that's true, are we that far behind?  What happens when Blackpool is gone?” said Fiachra.
	“I suppose we'll have plenty of opportunity to learn.  Your foxes are keen on teaching the rest of us how they would have us live.  Or not,” Niamh said.
	The girl slipped her arms around Ciara's waist and Ciara laid her head back against Niamh's chest and shut her eyes.  Behind them the sounds of combat had all but faded.  Crovan was dead.  Ciara didn't need to see his body to know that he was, or that, like Sabia before him, his death was her fault.
	“We had to save Brigit.  That's what family is for,” Deirdre said.
	“I can't blame Sabia for what she did.  After Alana was killed, I never thought anyone would miss her but me,” Ciara said.
	Between them, Niamh and Fiachra led Ciara out of the clearing.  She turned back once, when she remembered her promise to Crovan, but Nessa and her followers had already begun to pile the bodies of the slain up to be burned.  Deirdre, who had followed behind them, gave Ciara a sympathetic smile.
	“He'll know you thought of him.  In the end, that's all any of us can hope for,” Deirdre said.
	They went back to Blackpool.