Chapter 16

Nimue and the two druids appeared and quickly carried Eoric's limp body from the house. They hustled outside and draped him over a waiting horse. Nimue mounted her own beast and led the second horse behind her as she lost no time in departing Taynuilt.

The two druids slipped off into the darkness before anyone could see that they had been near Eoric's house. Gemma remained standing looking at the door and whispering to herself.

"I've done what you asked, my Lady. He's ready for you to come and get him."

Sarah awoke with the pleasant memory of what had taken place the night before. She had given in to her ghostly visitor and the contrast between their time together and the savage rapes she had suffered at the hands of Anarg was stark indeed. She curled up under her blanket and smiled happily to herself. Her misgivings about sharing herself physically with a spirit had gone and she was even now thinking about a repeat performance, longing for it.

As she lay basking in the afterglow of her lovemaking with Eoric she was unaware of the danger that was beginning to take shape outside her bedchamber. Anarg had heard the cries of passion coming from her the previous evening and his anger was so hot that it overrode his fear of the voice he had been hearing in his head, the force that had flung him across the room.

Anarg was going through the settlement at Dalwhinnie, systematically picking out the gossips amongst the inhabitants of the camp and sharing with them his belief that Sarah was possessed by an evil spirit. It wasn't long before he was aware that the story he had started was being exaggerated and accepted as fact throughout the settlement. He smiled to himself at the growing unrest.

Sarah posed herself over the weaving frame again that night, waiting with anticipation for Eoric to return and pick up where he had left off the night before. Her legs grew tired after several hours of waiting before she gave in and accepted he wasn't coming. She lay down on her bed and began to worry that perhaps he would never return. What if, having had his way with her, he simply abandoned her to her fate once more?

She twisted and turned on the bed, unable to sleep, growing increasingly sure that her ghostly saviour was turning out to be like other men she knew - after only one thing and then uninterested once they had achieved it.

Her concern and fears continued to grow when there was no sign of Eoric the next night either and depression began to set in. She had built the spirit up over the past few weeks, had become almost dependent upon him for her comfort and sanity and now it looked as if she had been abandoned.

Feelings in the camp were running higher and higher about the Saxon witch in their midst. Sarah was seldom seen outside of her bedchamber and somehow this fact had been twisted to suit the belief she was evil. Every aspect of her short time in the settlement was being held up and looked at, with people finding something to point at on the flimsiest of grounds. Anarg subtly fuelled the rising frenzy and was delighted when the first suggestions were made that something needed to be done about the woman.

Sarah lay in her bed for most of the day feeling sorry for herself. What had she done in her life that caused fate to continually frown on her? She had tried calling out to Eoric in the hope that he would hear her somehow and return to her, but she wasn't surprised when there was no response.

As she examined her time with the ghostly Eoric over the past few weeks she became dimly aware of a growing noise outside the house. At first she blocked the noise out, but as it grew louder it intruded more and more on her ability to think about other things. She turned her head to listen and concluded that the men of the camp were having one of their periodic alcohol fuelled brawls.

When the noise grew louder yet and seemed to be getting closer she got up from the bed and stood. It was now clear that the noise was heading in her direction and she began to fear what that meant. Had Anarg summoned up the courage to return to beat her once more?

A mob of about eighteen men burst through the heavy drape that covered the entrance to her bedchamber and she gasped, her hands flying to cover her mouth. For some reason the mob stopped, perhaps because the men had forgotten just how beautiful she was and they now let their eyes run over her greedily. Sarah saw the looks and feared the worst.

"Anarg had put them up to raping me," she thought in panic.

The ringleader of the mob found his voice at last and he snarled at her.

"Witch! We know you are a witch, all of us have seen you practising your evil craft. No wonder the filthy Celts have been victorious these past few weeks with you casting your spells against us I say!" he spat at her.

Sarah was shocked at the allegation. She had done nothing other than enjoy herself with Eoric. Was that it? Had the settlement somehow found out that she had lain with a ghost?

"She doesn't deny it! She is evil and needs to be destroyed. Burn her, burn her I say!" cried another of the mob.

It was almost as if this was a signal for the others, as the entire mob began baying 'burn her' and then they rushed forward to grab her roughly and drag her from the chamber.

Sarah's eyes blinked rapidly as they tried to adjust to the daylight. She had been inside so many days the light of the afternoon hurt in its brightness. She felt herself being dragged across the ground towards the centre of the camp and when her eyes finally grew accustomed to the light she saw a post had been sunk into the ground and firewood was piled up beside it.

Her panic at the thought of being raped was now replaced with terror as she realised what the Picts really had in store for her. She caught sight of Anarg standing to the side of the post, a smile on his face as he prepared to watch her being burned alive.

"Eoric! Eoric, where are you? Eoric, save me, save me Eoric!" she screamed as she was dragged closer to the post.

Nimue rode reasonably hard in her haste to get out of Dalriada. She had stopped once to tie Eoric's hands and feet together, passing a rope under the horse's belly so that he was secure across its back. She knew these first few miles were the most risky and she was keen to put them behind her. Her connection with Gemma had informed her that Merlin was abroad somehow and the most likely place for the wizard to be was close to Eoric.

She ate as she rode, not wanting to stop even for a short time until she was safely away. She rode across country, avoiding the well used paths and eventually cut across Glen Falloch. Continuing southeast, she rode through Strath Gartney and along the side of Loch Katrine. She relaxed when she descended through the Trossachs and negotiated the Pass of Achray, at last deciding to give the horses a break when she entered the Forest of Achray itself.

Nimue untied Eoric and laid his body on its back. She hobbled the horses before opening her little sack and withdrawing a small earthenware bottle. She held Eoric's head up at an angle and let two drops of the liquid in the bottle drip between his lips before lowering his head again.

She gathered wood for a small fire and conjured up a flame out of thin air to light it, then she stood and walked a little way into the trees before lifting her hand and pointing her finger. She mumbled a few words and suddenly two fat wood pigeons came crashing through the branches and leaves of the trees to fall dead at her feet.

As she waited for the birds to roast over her fire, Nimue thought back to how ridiculously easy it had been to capture the boy. The seed she had planted in Gemma's head had let her witness the fight between the two and as soon as Eoric had left the house she had struck.

Focussing on her glass ball she had commanded the seed to grow rapidly, so quickly that Gemma had no conscious thought as her mind had been completely taken over. Nimue had directed the princess to leave the house unseen and to make her way to the druids' house. When she had arrived there, Nimue had given her the potion that would need to be given to Eoric and ordered Gemma to return and serve the boy food and ale. The potion was to be dropped into the ale so that it could do its job.

Nimue was banking on the emotional trauma that was in the air to dull Eoric's senses just enough so that he would accept and drink the ale. Her plan had worked perfectly and it wasn't long before she was rushing to the house to take the boy with her. She had toyed with taking the girl too, but she was clearly in no state to be of any use, the growth of the seed had quite addled her mind. She would have slowed the escape down too, so she was left behind.

Merlin had been trying to connect with Eoric for some hours and was surprised when he found a black nothingness instead of the young man's thoughts. He had been scouring Dalriada for any sign of Nimue, but without success once more. He had heard rumours, rumours about a cloaked rider haunting the woods and forest and he was sure these related to the Lady of the Loch.