The Banished Bandraoi

Take Two

My kind, for as long as we have existed, has been persecuted for just existing. Females who possessed any mastery of the magical arts were dimmed evil and a bad omen in society. It was worse if the woman was a descendant of a deity connected with death. Having been born of the Phantom Queen's dark magic, I was a huge target for the patriarchy. 

I walked into the Ó Ceallaigh Manor still in shock. Lord Ó Ceallaigh accepted me into his home, despite knowing what I was. He trusted me to be a good magic-wielder. And it baffled me. 

Needless to say, the manor was humungous. Large steps lead to a large mahogany door that stretched nearly 15 feet high. The door opened into a large hallway with winding stairs and giant crystal chandeliers. I had been given a second chance to survive the impending doom that my mother would release on the earth. And possibly, a chance to give myself a purpose in this lifetime. 

I walked in behind the lord and his daughter. He turned around to face me as a petite lady in a beige uniform rushed up to his side to pick his daughter. 

"Miss Byrne, this is Alva. She will take you to your room and help you freshen up," he said to me, and then to Alva, "Ensure that Miss Byrne receives proper treatment and hospitality. "

He bowed slightly at me and said, "I hope you find the place satisfactory. Dinner is at the top of the third hour of the night. Punctuality is recommended. "

I courtesied and bowed my head saying, "this is more than enough for me, my lord. I am in your debt for your hospitality."

He walked away as another maid came and picked up the girl calling her Miss Emma. Alva took my hand and guided me to my quarters. It was a room bigger than my entire house altogether. And to make it worse, that was minus the ensuite washing room connected to it. Alva walked into the washing room and fetched water from a steaming pot and poured it into a wooden trough. She mixed it with some cold water and called me in. She wanted to take my clothes off for me, but I refused, choosing to do it myself. I got into the trough of water and, by the stars, it was heavenly. The water soothed my muscles, which I hadn't even noticed were sore. 

Alva moved behind my head and I half expected her to strangle me. Instead, she started washing my hair gently with soap that had a smell! That was not something easily acquired. It smelled like jasmine and I loved it. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the soothing feeling of her hands going through my hair. Not long after, I dozed off. I was woken by her gently shaking me awake. 

"I have finished bathing you, my lady. You may leave the water whenever you wish. Your new clothes are on the bed, laid out for you. I am to help you dress. Your other clothes will be taken to the wash under your instruction, my lady," Alva said once I opened my eyes. True to her words, I was clean. The dirt and grime I had seen on my legs and arms were gone. I got out of the bath, quite confident about my nakedness, and waited for Alva to get a rag so she could dry me off. 

On the bed was the most beautiful red and gold silk dress I had ever seen. There were more than necessary undergarments but Alva helped me through them. She then sat me down at a small table and started brushing my hair. Using a metal rod with a wooden handle that had been sitting in hot coal, she created beautiful curls in my auburn hair. It was safe to say that I had never looked so good. 

I got to the feasting room just before the lord came in with his daughter in tow. I could only take a sit after he and his daughter had taken theirs. Dinner was served shortly after. A large variety of the food served was alien to me and I had to look at the lord to get an idea of what I should do. I saw the faintest hint of a smile on his face when he saw my confusion, and it warmed my heart, to say the least. 

Dinner went by uneventfully and quietly, and only once the table had been cleared did the lord speak.

"How did you like the food, Miss Byrne?" he inquired as his squire poured him a goblet of wine. 

"It was most satisfactory, my lord. Thank you."

"The dress... it fits well?"

"It is perfect, my lord. It is like it was made for me," I added with a smile, only to receive a scowl from the lord. Emma chirped up and said, "It was my mom's! But it looks very pretty on you miss!"

I bowed my head at my ignorance and said, "Forgive me, my lord. I did not know."

He sighed and looked away, "It was never really announced to the public of matters concerning her death. So I can not blame you for not knowing. The dress does look like it was made for you. You can keep it."

My face filled with color and I looked up at him," My lord! I couldn't! I am not worthy to wear the garments of your wife. She must have been very lovely for you to have this made for her. I could never try to take her place in such a manner, my lord."

He smiled lightly and said, "I insist. She never got the chance to wear it and it was a good choice on Alva's part to get it out for you. It complements your hair."

Our eyes met and seemingly locked on each other. And for that brief moment, it was like I could see into his soul and feel his pain from the loss of his wife and having to raise their only child alone, and he could see into mine and feel the uncertainty and fear of rejection and execution. The moment did not last long and it was gone as soon as it came, but the aura in the room definitely shifted. You didn't have to have magic to feel it. 

The lord left the table and headed up the stairs into his chambers. That seemed to be it for the night. 

I went back into my chambers and decided to have a look around before I retired to bed. There was a small bookshelf in the corner and the books were highly valued manuscripts on the gods and goddesses of Ireland. He knew that women were not allowed to read yet he gave me a room with so many books? There was something very different about this man. He was very accepting of behaviors that were not the norm. And I felt like that was worth saving from the coming apocalypse. 

I walked out of my room and started for the stairs when someone grabbed my arm. 

"Do not bother the master while he is in distress," a worried Alva warned. 

"I do not wish to bother him. Just to convert some important information to him," I explained. She sighed. 

"Maybe he will listen. Come." She took my hand and lead me up the stairs, round a few too many corners, and finally stopped at a large dark door. 

"May the Mother Danu be with you," she whispered as she gave me a small short hug. She quickly scurried away as I knocked on the door. 

"Leave me!" a voice boomed from the other side of the door.

"My lord, I need to speak with you concerning urgent matters. Kindly allow me," I pressed. I didn't get a response and decided to go with my gut. I pushed the door and it opened inwards, exposing a dimly lit room. The lord sat at a working desk, his back to the fire that crackled softly in the corner of the room. 

"My lord, if I may?" I asked, so I could tell him what had brought me there. He nodded his head slightly and had I not been looking at him, I would have missed it. 

"Thank you, my lord. I am the daughter of the Phantom Queen and I have information that would greatly help. The king, in the next few weeks, will destroy one of the Phantom Queen's temples; the Macha Temple. And in a rage, she will send a terrible series of disasters that will destroy the world and everything in it. I was to have died, but for some reason, I was brought back by Mother Danu to yesterday, a month to the start of the apocalypse. I know this sounds like madness but I swear, my lord, it is nothing but the truth."

I stood for a moment in silence, trying to catch any emotion on his face in the dim lighting, to no avail. He was expressionless as a rock. He then shifted in his seat and then beckoned me to approach his desk. I cautiously moved toward him, trying to think of every possible way this could go wrong and I could end up being killed before my time. Once I got to his desk, he took me hand and pulled me to sit on the table. 

He looked up at me, deep into my eyes for a long minute, without saying a single word. Time seemed to slow as he stared at me.

"I see some of her in you. She was a worshiper of the Phantom Queen. She used to say that if you could please death, it would spare you. Ironic that she was the first of us all to die," he started, with a pained emotionless laugh. "It might sound crazy, what you are saying, but I can attest to the truth of the king's future actions. He proposed the demolition of the temple yesterday and the council has agreed to it. The Phantom Queen has 3 temples." He paused for a moment, thinking of what to say next. "Miss Byrne, I believe you. The Phantom Queen has been known for her wrath and her immovable verdicts concerning the death of mortals. If you are who you say you are, then I believe what you say is true. An apocalypse could start because of those actions. I hate to say that I was one of the members of the council to agree to the proposal. I will try to convince them against it. You have my word. And I will protect you as well."

He kissed the back of my hand and walked me to the door.

"Have a pleasant night, filled with rest Miss Byrne," he said, with a soft smile.

"May Mother Danu watch you and keep you, my lord," I responded with a bow. I turned to head back to my chambers and I could feel the lord's eyes lingering on me. I smiled to myself thinking, I might have a chance to fix things after all...

*******

As the master went to sleep, he had no night terrors for the first time since his wife's death. And he knew, at the back of his mind, that it had something to do with the bandraoi asleep in his house.