Ciara—The Siege of Blackpool

	Ciara slept all day and woke at dusk.  She sneezed twice and had to clutch the sides of the cot until her head stopped spinning.  Her nose was so clogged with the smell of cat that her tongue tasted like greasy fur.  Her eyes were bleary and hard to keep open and she felt drunk with sleep.  She forced herself up into a sitting position but the cot sagged so badly that it didn’t make much of a difference.  She wondered, briefly, if Alana had drugged her.  After the way the girl had opened up to her last night it didn't seem very likely.  Just for the moment, at least, they had been on the same side.
	She sneezed again, wiped her nose on the tail of her shirt and decided to try standing up.  This worked, until she tried walking, too, and then she was overcome by a second wave of dizziness that was much stronger than the first.  She had to sit down on a box until she felt better, but at least she was out of bed.
	While she waited, she tore the top off a box, in hopes of finding something for breakfast.  All she found was dust and rolls of blood-stained linen bandages.  She tried a second box and found books and a few sheets of lined paper.  Wherever Alana might spend her life it was plain that the girl only came here to sleep.
	She had just finished re-packing her fifth box when someone knocked on the door.  She froze in a kind of half-crouch that kept her below the window, out of sight, and she tried to think what to do.  The knock was repeated, a little more urgently this time, and she crept, creak-kneed, behind a stack of boxes.  She made it just as whoever was outside hit the door as hard as they could.  The flimsy lock snapped, one of the hinges tore out of the wood and a strange lynx stumbled into the house.  Ciara crouched even lower so he wouldn’t see her and groped on the floor for a weapon.  He wasn't armed, as far as she could see, but he was dressed like a soldier and there was no point in taking chances.
	She stopped looking when Deirdre came in.  Her mother was carrying a sword, which she kept pointed at the cat's chest.
	“It’s just a warehouse.  Nobody lives here, and I don’t like being lied to,” said Deirdre.
	“Alana's busy during the day.  What did you expect?  But she’ll come back, if you wait,” the lynx said.
	“I don’t like waiting,” said Deirdre.
	“That's because you fail so miserably at it,” said Ciara.
	Deirdre half turned, her tail bristling with her surprise, but her sword didn't waiver.  Ciara left her hiding place and her fear turned to anger.  As relieved as she was to see her mother again, it was embarrassing to see Deirdre standing there with her sword out like that was ever the answer to anything.
	“There's no need for you to act like this,” said Ciara.
	“I was worried about you,” said Deirdre.
	“Were you?  You’re the one who brought me here.  You all but dragged me to this miserable city when I didn’t want to come,” said Ciara.
	“Things are different now,” said Deirdre.
	“No, things are the same as they have always been, it’s just that you’ve never stopped to think about it before,” said Ciara.
	Deirdre waved her sword at the door, which made the lynx cringe.
	“I’m not the only one who was worried about you,” said Deirdre.
	Ciara turned towards the door and was hit in the chest by a streak of brown fur.  Niamh’s embrace threw them both back against the wall and banged Ciara's head against the window frame, but she didn't care.  She held on to Niamh while the girl's breath warmed her, and she wished she never had to let go again.
	“Embarr's outside, waiting for you.  He's probably chewed through my belt by now,” said Niamh.
	“You tied him up?” said Ciara.
	“Just a little hobble.  I didn't want him to get stolen,” said Niamh.
	“And he let you?  He must be worried sick,” said Ciara.
	Fiachra was there, too, but he hung back until Niamh reached back and pulled him in.  He gave Ciara a kiss on the cheek, which made her blush.
	“Embarr isn't the only one.  You stupid girl, I thought we'd never see you again,” he said.
	“I was coming back, but somebody had a bright idea,” said Ciara.
	“I did what I had to.  Be mad at me if you like, but I'm not sorry,” said Deirdre.
	Deirdre dragged the door closed and propped it up with boxes.. With one hinge missing it sagged inward and they couldn’t lock it, but it would hide them from anyone out on the street and that made Ciara feel a little better.
	“Take a few more minutes to hug and cry, but remember what you promised me,” said Deirdre.
	“That depends on what Ciara wants,” said Niamh.
	“What did they promise?  You never kept any promise you made in your life,” said Ciara.
	“It was nothing,” said Niamh.
	She petted Ciara’s neck to soothe her and frowned when her fingers brushed the bandage on Ciara’s shoulder.
	“You said you’d get her out of here.  I thought that’s what you wanted,” said Deirdre.
	“It is,” said Niamh.
	She slid her hand down the back of Ciara's shirt, and ran her fingers over the bandage, feeling the shape of the wound.  Ciara gritted her teeth, and tried not to squirm despite the pain.  Niamh's touch was gentle and Cullen had done his best with the bandage, but she was certain the cut was getting infected.  Adrenaline had washed the dregs of sleep away but she still felt woozy and light-headed.
	“I could have you thrown out.  I’m sure I could find someone who will still listen to me,” said Deirdre.
	“Then you'd be all alone,” said Fiachra.
	Deirdre snarled at him and Ciara saw her ears go flat with fear.
	“What are you going to do instead?” said Deirdre.
	“I want to try talking to Sabia again,” said Ciara.
	“Absolutely not.  I brought you here because Sabia ordered me to and I thought I was doing the right thing, but I was wrong.  She wants to kill me,” said Deirdre.
	“She wants to kill everyone.  I don't think it's personal,” said Ciara.
	“I agree with your mother.  It’s too dangerous, and you’ve done enough already,” said Fiachra.
	“Running away would be worse,” said Ciara.
	The lynx, whom they’d all forgotten about, got up from the floor.  He didn’t have a sword but he did have a knife.  He pulled the short blade out of his belt and pointed it at Deirdre.  It had a long, thin blade and it looked more like a kitchen knife than a proper weapon but in such close quarters it wouldn’t take much.
	“I understand now.  You attacked me because you’re afraid of getting what you deserve.  You’ve been a traitor all along and you thought we’d found out,” he said.
	“I've never taken a job under a false contract.  This is all Sabia's fault,” said Deirdre.
	“I said all along it was a mistake to trust a fox.  I'm not the only one, either.  Don't think you're going to get out of here alive,” said the lynx.
	Deirdre turned to face him and raised her sword again.  Ciara tore herself out of Niamh's arms and made a grab for the weapon, but she was too slow.  Her fingers only grazed her mother's sleeve and then Deirdre was across the room, with rows of boxes between them.
	“You don't need to do that.  If Sabia wanted to hurt me, she already could have,” said Ciara.
	“There's still your father to think about.  Sabia knows who you are.  How long do you think you have until she decides to use you against him?” said Deirdre.
	The lynx, meanwhile, advanced on Deirdre, waving his knife in the air in front of him.  His teeth were bared and he wanted to kill her mother, but Ciara felt a kind of sympathy for him.  He was young and he didn't have Deirdre's instincts.
	“No one is leaving.  You’re all under arrest for treason,” said the cat.
	Niamh's arms went tight around Ciara's chest as the rabbit pulled her in close.  She could feel the girl's heartbeat against her and Niamh's breath was loud in her ear.  Fiachra was there, too, and he put his arms around both of them.
	“You don’t know anything, do you?  It can’t be treason if the old whore was planning to kill me from the start,” said Deirdre.
	The lynx snarled and slashed wildly at Deirdre with his dagger.  Ciara yelped and lunged at them, meaning to pull her mother out of the way, but the rabbits held her tight.  Deirdre leaned away from the sloppy attack and kicked the lynx in his stomach.  As he doubled over with the pain, Deirdre put the tip of her sword against the back of his neck.
	“To hell with what Ciara wants.  You gave me your word and I expect you to keep it.  Take her away before something happens to her,” said Deirdre.
	Fiachra gave Ciara’s arm a sympathetic squeeze.
	“We really should go.  Cities can be rebuilt, vixens can't.  There’s no point in getting yourself killed,” he said.
	Ciara wanted to argue but Niamh kissed her before she could..  Fiachra let them go and went to the door.  As he pulled it open the one remaining hinge tore out of the frame and the door crashed to the ground.  The noise made the lynx jump.  He slapped Deirdre's sword out of her hand and ran.  Niamh yanked Ciara out of the way as he plunged through the door.  Deirdre was back on her feet a heartbeat later.  She ran after her prey, but Fiachra caught her before she could get out the door.  She bit his arm hard enough to draw blood, but he pushed her up against the wall.
	“I think we had all better go.  You, too,” he said.
	“For once in your life, don't argue, please?  I won’t leave you here by yourself,” said Ciara.
	“I’m not afraid of this place,” said Deirdre.
	“I am,” said Ciara.
	They all went outside together.  Deirdre took the lead and skulked around with a sullen look on her face.  It was colder now than it had been the day before and with the sun down it was pitch dark.  Ciara shivered and kept her back to the wall while she waited for her vision to adjust and she tried to listen to both ends of the alley at once.  She caught the sound of footsteps close by and was about to scold her mother for pacing when Deirdre's hand landed on her shoulder.
	“Someone’s coming.  Maybe it’s your little friend coming to see us at last,” said Deirdre.
	As soon as she finished speaking someone came around the corner carrying a dim lantern ahead of them.  From the way they moved Ciara guessed that it was Alana and she was so relieved that she ran out into the middle of the alley to meet the girl.  When she was close enough to see the little lynx clearly Alana smiled, but didn’t look directly at her.
	“Awake at last, I see.  I looked in at noon and you had me kind of worried.  I guess I can’t blame you for catching up on your sleep, but try to remember to breathe while you do, okay?” said Alana.
	“I was beginning to wonder if you’d ever come back,” said Ciara.
	“I told you I'd be busy.  You promised to stay inside,” said Alana.
	“I’m going home,” said Ciara.
	She regretted blurting it out, but there was no time left for tact.  Alana’s smile faltered and now she looked up.  In the light of the lantern, she looked gaunt and frightened.
	“You can’t,” said Alana.
	There was something in her tone that made Ciara feel sick with fear.
	“I have to.  I’m grateful to you for your help, and I don’t mean to be rude, but I don’t have a choice,” said Ciara.
	“You don’t have anywhere left to go,” said Alana.
	Alana put the lantern on the ground and slumped against the wall of her house with her hand over her eyes.
	“Connor hit our soldiers with everything he had.  He even brought a trebuchet, or so the scouts have said.  It was too much and the officers in charge decided to fall back,” said Alana.
	“So Connor took Oseille away from you, so what?  He isn’t fighting us,” said Fiachra.
	“No, listen.  Connor didn’t capture your city, he destroyed it.  He burned it to the ground,” said Alana.
	Ciara heard Niamh sob and she reached out to put an arm around the girl's shoulders.  But she couldn't look away from Alana's face.
	“I was coming to tell you, but I didn’t know how,” said Alana.
	“We’re going home anyway.  They need us,” said Fiachra.
	“You don't have time.  Connor is on his way and there’s going to be a siege.  No one can leave,” Alana said.
	Deirdre leaned her sword against the wall and walked across the alley with her hands behind her back.  The calm, blank expression on her mother’s face made the fear in Ciara’s stomach grow, but when she opened her mouth she couldn't speak. Deirdre grabbed Alana by the throat, and her expression didn’t change even when she slammed the little lynx against the wall and started to choke her.
	“You’re a lying little bitch, just like your mother,” said Deirdre.
	Alana clawed at Deirdre's arms, leaving deep scratches all the way up, but Deirdre didn’t let go.
	“Hate me all you want, try to kill me if you can.  But I’m not going to listen to you tell lies about my Connor right to my face, right to my daughter’s face,” she said.
	It took Ciara and Fiachra both to pull Deirdre off of Alana.  She fought and bit Ciara on the arm when Ciara broke her hold on Alana’s throat, and they had to pick her up off her feet to get her away.  They finally got Deirdre pinned against the opposite wall, though it took Fiachra and Niamh both to hold her there.  Alana dropped to her knees, gasping for breath.
	“Has what’s left of your brain finally rotted away?  What good would killing her do?  None of this is her fault,” said Ciara.
	“No, it isn’t.  But it would hurt Sabia and that’s the least she deserves,” said Deirdre.
	“I never thought you were a murderer.  Don't start today.  Please?  Alana's been kind to me,” said Ciara.
	She left the rabbits holding Deirdre and squatted beside Alana, who was coughing and rubbing her throat.  There were cuts on her neck where Deirdre’s claws had dug in.  Blood stained her hands and speckled the collar of her shirt.  Despite the dampness around her eyes, she was grinning.
	“You still love him, don’t you?” said Alana.
	“So what if I do?” said Deirdre.
	“Then you should go back to him.  Even Mom couldn't blame you for that,” said Alana.
	Ciara took the hand Alana raised to her, and helped the girl up.  Alana was unsteady on her feet and Ciara worried that she'd been badly hurt, but Alana kept smiling as she wiped the blood on the tail of her shirt.
	“You think I'm a traitor, too,” said Deirdre.
	“I know you are.  I also think you're doing the right thing, for the first time in your life,” said Alana.
	“You can think what you like.  I’m not telling you anything,” said Deirdre, and she looked away down the alley with a childish toss of her head.
	Niamh slid up behind Ciara and put her muzzle next to Ciara’s ear.
	“Listen,” she said.
	Ciara swiveled her ears back and forth, listening, but she couldn’t hear much over Niamh’s breathing.  Her hearing had never been as sharp as Niamh’s was.  When she shut her eyes and leaned forward she caught a small sound that could have been the creaking of leather and boots hitting the ground.
	“I think it’s a group of soldiers.  They sound like they’re right across the street,” said Niamh.
	“It might not have anything to do with us.  If they’re expecting a siege, they’re bound to have patrols out,” said Ciara.
	Niamh gave her a doubtful look, and Ciara didn’t really believe what she’d just said, either.  Her mother had made too much trouble, and the lynx who had gotten away from her had probably reached his friends by now.  She coughed quietly, to get everyone's attention, and found that she didn’t need to.  Even Alana was listening intently with her hands clenched into fists.  Deirdre took advantage of the fact that Fiachra was distracted to pick her sword up.
	“I can see how much you want to help,” said Deirdre.
	“Don’t be stupid.  I didn’t even know you were in the city,” said Alana.
	Deirdre lunged at her and, except for the fact that Fiachra was between them, she would have run the little lynx through.  Fiachra caught her again, lifted her up, and slammed her against the wall.
	“This is your fault.  What did you think would happen when you attacked the first two people we met?  If you had used your brain instead of your sword we might have been okay,” he said.
	The soldiers poured in through both ends of the alley at the same time, spreading out to stop them from running.  Deirdre wriggled out of Fiachra's grasp and put herself between him and the newcomers.  Ciara and Niamh stayed in the middle of the alley, since nothing they could do would make any of them any safer.
	 There was a stir among the lynxes at the head of the alley and Sabia herself came out from the middle of them.  She wore a light leather cuirass and a long black cloak, but she wasn't armed.
	“You owe me an explanation,” said Sabia.
	“I don’t owe you anything.  But, if you promise to let my daughter leave the city, I’ll give you what you want,” said Deirdre.
	“This is my city, and I don’t have to promise you anything,” said Sabia.
	“But you will.  Because I don’t think I’m the only one who wants to keep her safe, and because Ciara hasn’t done anything to hurt you,” said Deirdre.
	Sabia’s ears went down, and her lips curled back from her teeth, but before should could say anything, Alana came over to stand next to Ciara.
	“Give her your word, mother.  We’re not the kind of people who hurt the innocent, are we?” she said.
	“We’ll see.  You will all be safe here, until I’ve decided what to do with you,” said Sabia.

	They were taken back to the castle and locked up to wait for Sabia to make her decision.  The room they were put in was nearly twice as large as Alana’s house and much more comfortable.  The floor was covered with a thick purple carpet and one end of the room was dominated by a large brick fireplace.  There was a bed at the back of the room that was big enough for three people.  Extra pallets had been stacked around the fireplace for anybody who didn’t want to share.
	It was still a cell.  The one window next to the bed was blocked off with steel bars, and the door was a slab of metal with a heavy lock.  They’d been fed, and Alana had slipped them a bottle of good white wine to go with the meal.  But she had turned the key in the lock herself.
	“What did you expect?  You can’t really have thought that Sabia’s kitten would be any different than the old bitch herself?” said Deirdre.
	She was sitting cross legged on a pallet she’d dragged too close to the fire.  She’d wrapped herself up in a blanket against the cold and had drunk most of the wine after Ciara had refused to touch it.
	“Not after the way you treated her.  She’s not as bad as you think she is.  I think she actually liked me, before you tried to kill her,” said Ciara.
	“It’s just as well, you’ll see.  You’re better off without friends like that.”
	Deirdre poured herself another mug of wine and drained it in one long swallow.  Ciara hated to see her mother drunk.  It reminded her too much of her childhood, when Deirdre had come in cut to pieces after some fight and drowned herself in alcohol to make the pain stop.
	“She could have let Niamh and Fiachra go.  They deserve a chance to go home,” said Ciara.
	The rabbits were asleep in the bed, curled around each other like they were kittens again.  Ciara's whole body felt heavy and wanted to join them, but her mind wouldn’t let her sleep.
	“On the bright side, we’re safer here.  We’re high up off the ground and behind good thick walls.  That's more than they would have in Oseille,” said Deirdre.
	“Do you really think so?” said Ciara.
	Deirdre drained her mug and picked up the bottle again.  She poured out the last of the wine with exaggerated care and licked the neck of the bottle to catch the dribble of wine that had escaped.  Ciara snatched the mug out of Deirdre’s hand, splashing wine down the front of her shirt.
	“Look at you.  Is this how a soldier is supposed to behave?” she said.
	“What does that matter any more?  You keep telling me everything I’ve done with my life has been wrong, so what difference does it make?” asked Deirdre.
	“That’s just an excuse.  We need you,” said Ciara.
	“No you don’t.  I’m finished with it, like you always wanted me to be.  Go to bed and leave me alone.”
	Ciara drank the wine and threw the empty mug into the back of the fireplace.  Then she went and pried at the bars in the window.  They weren’t set very well and the one in the middle moved slightly when she tugged at it.  The room was only two stories above the ground and if she could break enough of the bars they might be able to get out.  She yanked on the loose bar and powdered mortar drifted over her arms.  Deirdre got up as far as her knees.
	“You can’t stop this.  I wanted you to, but nobody else does.  Nothing ever changes,” said Deirdre.
	Ciara twisted the bar again and she felt it give a little.  Deirdre shuffled forward and hung on Ciara's waist to stay up.  Ciara braced her feet against the wall and leaned all of her weight on the bar.
	“If you go back out there you’ll get killed.  Your friends came all the way up here to help you, to keep you safe.  Think about how they’ll feel if you throw all of that away,” said Deirdre.
	She pulled back hard on Ciara's waist and didn’t let go when she fell. Ciara lost her grip on the window and landed on top of her mother with a yelp.  Behind her Ciara heard Niamh growl and roll over in her sleep.
	“You'd better forget it.  You aren’t going to get out that way, and you’d break your legs falling from this height,” said Deirdre.
	“At least I’m doing something. If you aren’t going to help me then go away,” said Ciara.
	“I’m not going to let you hurt yourself.  I’m still your mother and I’m going to keep you safe, even if you hate me for it,” said Deirdre.
	“I've never heard you talk like this before.  What happened to you?” she asked.
	“I lost,” said Deirdre.
	Deirdre held her arms up for Ciara to help her and together they were just able to get her over to her pallet.  Ciara tucked the covers around her mother as Deirdre curled up into a ball and kissed her on the cheek.
	“You're still alive,” said Ciara.  But her mother was already asleep.
	Ciara went back to the window, but didn’t touch the bars.  Instead, she leaned on the sill and looked down at darkened city.  She could see dim lights moving in the distance, outside the city walls.  They seemed to all be centered around one of the larger clusters of trees she’d seen on the way in.  They were too far away for her to be sure, but she suspected they were her father's soldiers.  The bulk of his army would still be some distance away even if they had left right after Blackpool’s retreat, but there were still enough outside to cause trouble.
	A pair of arms slid around her from behind, and Niamh nipped her on the ear.
	“I don’t want you to go, either.  Deirdre’s right, people never change.  Those people out there, and the ones in here, they all want this war to happen.  You’re not going to talk them out of it,” said Niamh.
	“I can’t just give up.  I’ve made too many promises,” said Ciara.
	“You made one to me, too,” said Niamh.
	“I know.”
	Ciara tugged halfheartedly at the bar but it wouldn’t shift any more than it already had.
	“Some of Connor’s army is already here.  The rest of it could arrive before dawn.  I have to break one of the promises I made and it has to be the one I gave to you.  Otherwise, too many people will die.”
	“They aren’t your responsibility.  I don’t want anybody to die, either, but it isn’t up to you to save them.”
	“My father is going to kill innocent people.  My mother already has.  Whose responsibility is it, then?” said Ciara.
	“Its theirs.  I know I’m being selfish, but I’ve already lost my home.  Isn’t that enough?” said Niamh.
	“I'm not going anywhere,” said Ciara.
	“I wonder sometimes.  You’ve been running away from me since you left Cearnach.  I don’t know what I’m supposed to think,” said Niamh.
	Ciara closed her eyes and leaned back against Niamh, who stroked her muzzle and rocked her back and forth.  She still felt heavy and slow with exhaustion, and it was a struggled to keep her head up.  Niamh’s claws teased the fur of her throat, moving downward, and Ciara decided that a few more hours couldn’t hurt.  Sabia would be too busy to think about them until the siege was over and Connor’s officers weren’t likely to listen to her, anyway.  She twined her fingers through Niamh’s and guided the rabbit’s hands up under her shirt.
	“I’m only running from the past.  I lost everything once, and I don’t want that to happen again,” she said.
	“It won’t, I’m not going to let it,” said Niamh.
	Together, they dragged a spare pallet to a dark corner on the other side of the room where they would be out of the way.  There was a set of folding panels in the same corner, and they set these around the bed, in case someone woke up.  The pallet was thin and lumpy, and it made Ciara miss the bed she’d had at her house.  But she was too tired to care much, and she could have fallen asleep as soon as she lay down, until Niamh kissed her.