Keepers of the Moon

Chapter 10. Mo Bhean (2)

Careful not to make things worse I pulled at her blanket. There were smears of blood on her collarbone, though nothing that indicated an injury. The others however now also noted that there was something distinctly wrong with her and Sir Macintosh sat next to us. With trembling hands he also pulled at the blanket until her arms were visible.

They were covered in red, bloody streaks.

‘What is that?’ Domhnall’s voice was quiet and mournful. He suddenly realised that his yelling was inappropriate and wrong.

‘It’s blood. Soairse, my love, can you tell us what happened?’ Sir Macintosh cupped her face in his hands and forced her to look at him. But she was completely catatonic, though the overwhelming pain and sadness were still hanging in the air. None of the others however seemed to notice this.

‘It looks like a lightning strike.’ They all looked at me in surprise. Macintosh now put her hand in his. Tiny bloody streaks branched out from her fingers towards her upper arms, it looked like she had had an electrical current running through her arms.

‘Someone from the market got hit with lightning once, he seemed fine at first but about an hour later his body was covered in burns that had the shape of a lightning bold. It was scary, he nearly died and was in so much pain.’

‘Was she struck by lightning?’ Sir Macintosh sounded incredulous. There was so much fear in his eyes that I had to look away, but looking at Mo Bhean didn’t make me feel any better. She looked so small and helpless. Almost like a sick child.

‘I did hear some thunder this morning, maybe she was hit when she was out?’ The Lady was right, I had seen the lightning, I had to deal with Abi’s fears. But somehow I knew that Mo Bhean was not struck by this.

‘Maybe, but I am pretty sure that she didn’t leave the room today. She is still wearing her formal attire. Normally she would’ve lost the make-up as soon as she could. Something has gone wrong at the party. This is most likely also the reason that she didn’t join up with you, my King.’ Domhnall nodded in silence, I felt the guilt radiating from him. He should feel guilty, though I couldn’t really fuel my anger at him anymore.

‘Then this might be a problem caused by Einar. He needed a way to get close to you, King Domhnall.’

‘With her out of the way, there is so much more he could do.’ The Lady sounded scared and here face betrayed more than just worry. 'He knows,' she added softly.

‘Question remains… What happened to her? We are talking about Saoirse here, she should heal.’

I wasn’t sure what to think of his words. I just knew that there was more to this girl than the eye could meet. I decided to remain silent and pretend I didn’t hear it. An odd feeling came over me, like we shared something no-one else could imagine.

‘I…’ Words wouldn’t come, but it felt important to share something. Maybe it could help her.

‘Spit it out lassie, did you see something last night?’ I shook my head, the lady looked at me with apprehension and I could barely deal with all the eyes focussed on me.

‘I don’t know. I felt something when I walked in, it was strong, it nearly knocked me out.’ This resulted in some very surprised looks, but Sir Macintosh didn’t seem to doubt my story. Like he knew something.

‘Sometimes Mo Bhean can project her feelings, though if she was doing it now we all would’ve felt it.’ I shook my head again. This was something else, I was sure of it.

‘No, trust me, you would know if you felt it… I feel so much pain and sadness. I know these aren’t my feelings, they are hers. I don’t know why I am feeling it, I just do.’ I could almost hear Sir Macintosh thinking. King Domhnall looked at me with empty eyes, his mind already on something else. The lady still looked worried, but also slightly curious.

‘Some people are more perceptive than others maybe?’ She said, though she didn’t believe her own words. So apparently Mo Bhean could physically share her feelings and no one seemed to be surprised about it. They were just surprised that I was the only one who felt it.

‘Annie, could you get Ben for me? Maybe he knows what happened, I think he’s in Meav’s room.’

‘No he’s not anymore, he went into his own room when Erin came to clean.’ Under normal circumstances this would’ve resulted in a few snorts. But we were all on edge. When the lady left Sir Macintosh slowly picked up Saoirse and sat her down on the bed. She was still shivering uncontrollably and bleeding from several wounds.