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Seamushadlosteverything.His mother and younger brother had died several winters ago from the illness that plagued the village. Nearly everyone lost someone that winter. All except the Walsh women. They had even been to visit each and every one of the sick, but never had a cough to show for it. Seamus’ suspicions were all but confirmed by the Shepherd. He had arrived in their village two summers prior and had begun preaching about the one true God.
The Shepherd listened to Seamus’ concerns about the Walsh women and took him very seriously. He told the Shepherd about all the so-called “healing” they had done over the years, and how they would pick and choose who they were willing to heal. He explained how never once had Seamus’ family benefited from the witches’ choices, even though he had nearly married Etain. The Shepherd explained how witches were the instruments of the Devil and how they were only choosing to save the wicked. Seamus’ family was obviously righteous; the God of Light was testing him with his own mission to bring the Walsh women into the light.
The Shepherd told him about the Beings of Light – winged beings of pureness with white feathers that glowed golden. They lived in a place always awash in the Light of God. If Seamus could bring a woman as sinister as a Walsh to the Light, he would be worthy of joining the beings of this land.
Seamus recalled when he was younger he had been a bit skeptical of such a place. He had even begun to doubt his venom towards the Walsh women, once the winter had gone. All members of the town had banded together to celebrate their lost loved ones. The Walsh women had handmade rings of dried flowers, one for each of the people lost that winter. The rings were sent down the river as a beacon their souls could follow to their final rest. Seamus could not imagine an evil being would ever do such a kind act.
The Shepherd did not agree. He told Seamus a wolf in sheep’s clothing is still a wolf. The Shepherd advised him to stay vigilant, because their evil ways would show again. He considered the Shepherd to be of the highest authority; Seamus was heavily influenced by his wisdom. Seamus continued on with his life, growing from a gangly young man into a strong handsome man. He had most of the unattached women in the village vying for his affection.
Well, all but one. Etain showed no signs of seeing Seamus for the righteous man he had become and how he could be her salvation from evil.
Last summer, when Seamus’ father fell from his horse, Etain arrived as soon as she heard. Seamus was torn between letting God do his will, or allowing Etain to heal him. He chose Etain, and he wondered every day since if he had just left it in God’s hands, perhaps his father would still be alive. Etain claimed he had something go afoul in his inner workings for it was not a simple broken bone nor a strong hit to the head. When she heard the specifics of how his father had fallen off his horse, she surmised it had likely been the cause of his fall to begin with.
With the death of Seamus’ father, he had truly lost every person he had ever loved. He leaned heavily on his friend, the Shepherd. He shared his deepest desires with the Shepherd – to have Etain, even though he blamed her for the loss of his family, and even though he wanted to take from her as she had from him. The Shepherd explained it was not wickedness that led Seamus down these dark thoughts, but the desire to purify Etain from the grasp of the Devil himself. He suggested Seamus begin calling on Etain and preaching the joys of worshiping the one true God for her.
Try as Seamus might, Etain would not entertain his words and had begun to actively avoid him. She’d even began denying him entrance to her home, and therefore access to her. Seamus’ lust for Etain was at an all time high, and he raged to the Shepherd about the willful woman.
The Shepherd suggested taking it further. If Etain would not willingly go to Seamus and the one true God, then he would need to force her. The Shepherd told stories about witches from other towns who continued to worship the old gods and goddesses; they had been purged with flame at the stake to save their villages from evil. These stories had begun to help alienate Etain from the rest of the village as their suspicions grew exponentially towards her. The Shepherd thought her loneliness may be the push she needed to see the light and give into Seamus. Nonetheless, all was for naught, as she grew even more set in her independent ways.
The Shepherd helped Seamus devise a plan on the night of the fall blood moon, for they knew she would venture into the woods. He told Seamus of a way he could physically purge the wickedness from the woman, and Seamus was more than eager to comply, for this aligned perfectly with his own desires. The Shepherd had warned him to be quick about it. Capture her, then bring her back to his home and restrain her.
If only Seamus had heeded the wise words of the Shepherd, he likely would not be in a cage suspended several stories off the ground in the bowels of hell. He was surrounded by demons and the hellish sounds they made. Day in and day out he was witness to all manner of evil creatures coming to inflict their pain on the other demons. He began preaching about the one true God and the land of heavenly light, if only to keep from messing himself anymore than he already had.
There was a creature that appeared to be of pure light in a cage near him, suspended the same way he was when he’d first arrived. He thought perhaps she was one of the creatures of pureness the Shepherd had told him about. When he called to ask if she was one, she looked upon him with disgust and annoyance. She told him to give her just one moment of peace from his lunacy, as if he were the craziest thing in this hellhole.
She was evil in the way Etain was. Using their beauty and womanly wiles to enthrall men to do their devilish acts. No, Seamus knew he was righteous; the Shepherd had told him as much. He now knew what he must do. Etain was lost to him in her wickedness, and he would leave her to it. As soon as he gained the opportunity, he would escape this hell and find the Land of Light. He would then gain his God’s favor and help destroy the wickedness surrounding him, even if that included Etain.
As if testing his resolve to his new mission in life, the Devil from the woods once again appeared in front of him. He used his wings to stay level with the cage Seamus resided in and said, “I see my mere presence does not incite screaming from you anymore, vile human. Let us see if we can rectify that.”
Seamus’ cage began to lower and the righteous resolve he had just felt, slowly began to dissipate in the face of true terror.
Fourteen
Ciaranfoundhimselfinneed of violence to release the anger he’d concealed at the council meeting, so he decided to pay a visit to the dungeons. He’d known immediately what had truly angered Etain earlier – the memory of her being at the mercy of a man who intended to take what he pleased. He wished he could remove the memory from his little witch. He did not normally involve himself with the violence of the human race. He and Kes had, on occasion, excitedly witnessed all manner of depravity committed by humans. Men against men, women against women, men against women, and sometimes even women against men. It had all been entertainment to them.
He had never felt connected in any way to humans, though now he was unquestionably connected tohishuman. He could not possibly care any less for the rest of them, and he desired to make the man he still had hanging in a cage pay for his crimes against his witch. He wanted to break his body everywhere Etain’s had been broken. Then he wanted to become the Devil the man raved about from his cage, to give him something to truly fear.
Ciaran was mildly disappointed the man had lost some of his fear of him. At the same time, he was overjoyed at the prospect of bringing him to new levels of fear; perhaps he would not pass out so soon this time. Ciaran began lowering the cage and took note of any other eyes which may be watching them, spies for other members of the court.
Once the cage finished its slow descent to the ground, he slowly opened the cage and made the man walk out of it. It was unnecessary, of course; he could have easily snapped his fingers and had the man already restrained on his table in his personal torture room. It had been a few weeks since he had last needed to show a being the true meaning of pain and fear, but he also wished to put on a show for those watching, giving them a wicked report for their masters.
The last time he had visited his playroom, one of the high fae in his court thought to sow dissent within Ciaran’s ranks. After months of what Ciaran liked to call “exploration,” the high fae had finally admitted to being in league with the Day Court. They had promised him a place of higher status once the Day Court took over the Night Court.
Foolish boggart. His ancestor had raised his family’s rank from lesser fae to one of the high fae of the Night Court, for of all things, loyalty to Ciaran’s own father centuries ago. Apparently loyalty was not a family trait.
The cage finally halted on the ground; Ciaran made it move as slowly as possible to build anticipation for both himself and the man in the cage. By the time it touched down on the ground, the man was back to palpable fear that was visibly wracking his body.
“What say you, man? Will you be brave enough to step out of the cage on your own, or will I have need to forcibly remove you?” Ciaran would give credit where credit was due, the man was brave enough to glare at Ciaran and step out of the cage at the same time. Brave, yet foolish.
The second the man stepped from the cage, Ciaran was upon him. He grabbed him around his neck and lifted the large man as if he were nothing but a child, porting them to his playroom. Ciaran crowded the man’s face with his elongated teeth in his extra wide mouth. He wanted to remind the man he was not dealing with an ordinary being.
“I will make you feel all the pain you made my tiny witch feel. You are a disgusting specimen of your realm. Not even my kind take without consent. What a lowly creature must you be, stooping to such behavior.” Ciaran growled at the man who wet himself again. Great, he was sure the spluttering would come next.
“I…I…am righteous! I was trying to…to…save Etain…”
The man was tripping over his words in an attempt to justify his actions. Ciaran interrupted him to roar into his face.
“You will not say her name ever again! If you need to refer to her, you will call her “Master’s witch,” “Master’s human,” or “Master’s Pet.” You will pay in pain for anything else, Etain ismine.”
