“Leave me. I am in mourning and I do not need anyone here. Go away or pay with your life.”
“My daughter was stolen from me,” Edan said, “right from my home. I need her back. Can you tell me where she is? Please, help me find her.”
The banshee, now giant-sized, shrank to their height, then grew tall again, swaying in the breeze, her unending whine altering with the wind’s shifts. “I don’t have your bairn. I would never steal a helpless child. Go away or bear the consequences. Leave. Now!”
He’d accepted he was in their world now. That didn’t mean he’d be polite about it. “Nay,” he retorted. “Gruin said he needs three of your hairs, and in return, he’ll give her back to me. I respectfully request three hairs from your head.”
“My beautiful hair? Gruin wantsmyhair? He’ll use it for some twisted reason, not to retrieve your daughter. Gruin lies so. Go away. I’m keeping my hair.” She began to shrink in front of them, but Edan wouldn’t have it.
“Nay, I’ll take the hairs myself!” He took out his sword and ran directly at the creature as it gyrated and swirled in front of him.
“Your blood sings of iron and broken oaths. You shall pay with your life!” Her arms swept toward the sky and hundreds of ravens materialized in the treetops, coming straight for Edan.
“Nay!” Ailith screamed as the birds bombarded him, an endless line of them dropping out of the sky pecking at his head until he fell to the ground, bleeding from his scalp and his ears. Lia began to chant, Alasdair took out his sword, and Dyna held her bow in hand.
But Ailith’s quick actions stopped everything. “Bean Sídhe, your daughter was beautiful.”
The ravens disappeared and Edan lay on the ground, gasping as Ailith approached the wicked banshee.
“You saw my daughter?” The banshee came down to Ailith’s level and stood a horse length away from her.
Ailith nodded. “I did. She had the most beautiful golden hair, fine as silk. There was a wee lock that curled at the nape ofher neck, like spun gold.” She tapped the back of her neck. “In this spot here, I saw it. She was the image of you.”
The banshee took a step closer. “You never saw her. You’re lying.”
“I did see her. I am a seer, I can see into the past. She was as delicate as any child I’ve ever seen. Her skin was the color of a dove’s feather. I’m sorry you lost her.”
The banshee tipped her head back and moaned, then flung her arms over her head, swaying them back and forth. “She was the most beautiful babe in all the world.” The ravens turned into doves, flying overhead.
The creature’s eyes flooded with tears, her hands dropping to clutch her waist as though she still held her bairn. “I had her for three days until she took her last breath.” Her wail carried across the wind.
“What was her name?”
The banshee stopped her movement to stare at Ailith, cocking her head, her reply careful and quiet. “Isolda. I held her for three days until she passed peacefully.”
“What a perfect name for her. What color were her eyes? I thought they were blue.”
“They were the color of a robin’s egg in summer. You did see her.” She reached toward Ailith, a brief smile crossing her face before her arms crossed over her chest. “I miss Isolda so much.” Her wail carried across the region, sending the tree branches shuddering.
“She adored you. I could see it in her gaze when she looked up at you, her loving mother.”
“Aye, she did love me.” Her eyes closed, and she clasped her hands in front of her face as if in prayer. “And I loved her so. I was a good mother to my sweet lass. Oh, why did she leave me?”
Edan stood next to Ailith, so proud of her strength, for how she was able to connect with this odd creature in front of them.And she’d done it for him, for Heilyn and Milo. There was naught she could gain from this interaction, proving she acted selflessly.
To his surprise, Ailith reached for his hand. “Just as my friend Edan loves his daughter,” she said, clasping his hand tightly. “Will you help us? Heilyn has blue eyes too, and she needs her father.”
“Are you her mother?”
“Nay. Sadly, her mother died, but I would love to get the chance to hold her. Will you help us?”
The banshee shed several tears, then reached up to pluck three hairs from her head. “Cherish these. I’ll not give you any others.” She set them in Ailith’s hand.
With a whoosh, the banshee disappeared.
Ailith held up the three hairs with glee.
“Well done, lass!” Dyna said, coming up to hug her.
