Awakening

Dorcha stood at her husband and lord's side. Together they stared out through the open window into a sky that was vast and beautiful. Stars, thousands of stars, dotted the indigo darkness like so many pinpoints of crystal light. The woman smiled. To be here at her lover's side in the castle that was so newly their own filled her with serene joy. Nothing could have made the evening more perfect.

"I love you," Dorcha whispered to her love as she reached up to touch his cheek in gentle salute.

Paidrach smiled in return, the curving of his full lips creating those much-loved tiny creases to form at the corners of his eyes. "I love you too, sweet mistress … Would you care to go back downstairs now? … Tis starting to cool up here!"

Paidrach was right. It was starting to get cold even within the shelter of the tower room.

"What is that?"

"What?" Dorcha asked, startled by the sudden question.

"Out there … Look! Just above the horizon … Is that a storm?"

A frown marred the strong face; Lord Paidrach's green eyes were filled with curiosity, and something else. Fear? Dorcha pulled her eyes away from his, and looked to where he pointed.

"Goddess!" Dorcha breathed in awe. "If that is a storm then it is moving awfully fast!"

Across the grassy flatlands, just above the western horizon the sky swirled with clouds and light. Brilliant flashes of blue and violet streaked through clouds that tumbled over each other like waves coming in on an empty beach. At the speed it was travelling, the storm would be upon them within a handful of minutes. Already the wind was starting to pick up and the giant oak trees below were starting to tap a rhythm upon the stone walls of the keep.

"Let's go below … " Dorcha said softly as she started to turn away from the window. She might be warrior trained, but truth be known, she was rather terrified of storms. This one looked like it would be nothing less than wild.

Wait!

The hair on the nape of Dorcha's neck went up at the whispered word. It had not been Paidrach that spoke.

Slowly she turned back to her husband, her eyes widened with shock and dismay as she discovered him still standing, but with eyes closed as if in slumber.

"Paidrach?" Dorcha queried and reached out to shake him.

Her lord did not answer. Her husband simply swayed gently, his eyes remaining closed, his breathing slow and steady.

The storm was now directly above the keep. The sky roiled and swirled in chaotic light and sound.

Do not be afraid … we do not mean harm … No harm!

"Who is there? Who speaks?" No matter how hard Dorcha tried, she could not keep the edge of fear from creeping into her voice.

All at once the sky flared even brighter. The colors began to take on form. They began to coalesce before her wide and frightened eyes. Still spinning and tumbling, the light started to look more like … more like men and women on horseback?

The lights looked like large transparent warriors, a score of them that danced among the clouds, and watched her with stern regard.

"Who are you? What have you done to my husband? What do you want of me?" The questions rushed out one after the other, despite the terror Dorcha felt within.

"We are the Sidhe … And we come to test you!"

Test? The question echoed in Dorcha's mind as everything around her faded to black.

*

Dorcha awakened to find herself alone in her bedroom. Everything was in its proper place, yet there were startling differences that warned her something was not quite right. Instead of hard fluorescent lights, the room was bathed in the gentle glow of many candles and filled with tinkling laughter.