Episode 2: Already So Far From Home

* * *

On the other side of the room, Narine sat by the fire doing needlepoint.

"How long have you been married?" Isobel asked her.

Narine smiled. "Nearly three weeks, now. Well, not officially, I suppose..." She looked sheepish. "There was no one in town to do the ceremony and--" She looked up from her needlework at Isobel, and noticed the glowing halo of light that surrounded her head, more sharply visible now that the moon had passed high overhead. "You're an Avatar!" she exclaimed suddenly. "You could--"

Isobel smiled and nodded. "I could perform the ceremony for you, if you would like."

"Sam, did you hear that? Sam!"

"Hmm?"

"Would you like me to perform the ritual of marriage for you and Narine, Sam?"

Sam's eyes went wide, and then so did his smile. He leapt out of his chair and bounded over to Isobel and Narine. "Would I? Of course I would!" He kissed and hugged Narine, and grabbed her hands and danced a little jig, laughing. "My dear, my dear, we're going to be married! Everyone, everyone, we're going to be married!"

"Well, if there's going to be a marriage tomorrow," began Abigail, getting to her feet, "then we should probably get some sleep."

"Good idea," said Rikkard.

"Narine will show you to your rooms, won't you dear?" asked Sam.

Narine leaned in to her husband and kissed him at length. "Don't stay up too late, Sam," she said in a whisper.

Narine led the way to one of the three towers that leaned out over the edge of the building. Abigail excused herself and said that she wanted to give her horse an apple before retiring.

Uther sat, gingerly finishing the last of his barrel.

"Your name is Uther, right?" asked Sam, who was finishing with his tumbler of spirits.

"Yep."

"Allen spoke very highly of you, you know," Sam said.

Uther looked at the little man. "You knew Allen?" he asked.

"Yes, I've known many of the O'Malley's, Uther. Allen was one of the most fun, however... A great storyteller, he used to thrill the ladies with his tales of great deeds, his and those of his ancestors."

"Allen was a good man," agreed Uther.

They sat in silence for a time, enjoying the sensations of the alcohol.

"If you like that ale, I can arrange for a couple of barrels to be put into your wagon before you leave..."

Uther smiled. "You're a good man, Sam."

"So my wife tells me!" He smiled.

"I was surprised that you have a human wife," commented Uther. "Especially at your age."

"At my age? Yeah, I suppose you would understand, wouldn't you... How old are you?"

"A little over three hundred."

Sam sighed. "Yes, it becomes difficult to watch them grow old, time after time... But I enjoy their company; these humans have a spirit that most of my kind lose after a few hundred years, and I am drawn to that like a moth to a flame..."

"Yep," agreed Uther. "Been there. Done that. Don't do it anymore."

"I'm going to have to find a nice gnome lass to introduce to you, aren't I?"

* * *

Abigail stroked Milton's head and fed him the apple. The horse crunched the apple down happily, and nudged her head with his own, sensing her unhappiness. Tears dripped down her cheeks as she quietly cried.

"M'lady?" MacGregor's voice startled Abigail -- she thought she would be alone. She quickly wiped her eyes before turning around.

"Hello, Wish."

MacGregor looked at her glistening cheeks and her reddened eyes. "Don't worry, Abby, he'll be fine," he said gently, grabbing her upper arm comfortingly.

"He will?" she asked uncertainly.

"Of course, Abby. We'll find David, don't you worry!"

Abigail began to cry a bit more. He doesn't know, he doesn't understand. MacGregor held her close, consoling her.

"It's alright, Abby," he spoke in a whisper. "We'll get him back."

I know we'll find David, she thought. But what about Aiden?

* * *

Isobel felt restless. The way those poor people had been corrupted at the hanging tree was disturbing. Some force was behind, something powerful and incomprehensible. She had touched it when she had bid the possessed to flee. It was strong and fought hard to control its servants.

She wandered through the halls of this strange castle in a tree. Most of the rooms were guest rooms, many of them very dusty and seemingly unused for years -- perhaps centuries, she mused.

She ran across a couple of servants moving here and there, and they always stopped and asked her if there was anything that she needed, and always she needed nothing. Nothing that they would be able to find her would help solve this problem, anyway.

Some rooms were locked, but they also seemed to be undisturbed for a great period of time. After several minutes, she found a door to one room unlocked, and opened the door. The room was empty and dusty, but had an enormous balcony, with a spectacular view Eastward -- the way that they had come. Most of the ground was covered by dark, swirling clouds -- a storm, although she had never seen one from above before.

Lightning danced between the clouds, and she wondered if that creature they had encountered was in there, somewhere. "Are you there?" she asked the cloud.

As if in answer, a beam of lightning streaked toward her. Isobel stepped back in surprise, but noticed that while it had come for her, it was stopped abruptly by an unseen wall of protection. The lightning thrashed around the balcony, but could not come so near as to even touch the stone. Finally, it seemed to give up and dive back down to the clouds.

So this castle is protected, she thought. What else has Sam not said to us?

* * *