Chương 57: River Talk

Miriam found Cormac sitting on the small bridge which forded the tiny river in Láthair Maol. He was kicking his feet absently in the air, like a child waiting for his mother to pick him up. When Róise had returned from the jungle one whole Ring higher, he had been the loudest celebrant. Now, though, he seemed to have a wistful air about him that was very unusual for the Bodac.

"Good spot?" Miriam asked, lowering herself down next to him. The town was buzzing, everyone flitting to and fro to prepare for the day they would be leaving. Well, a little more than half of them. A surprising number had decided to stay.

"I like the view," Cormac said, tossing crumbs from a stale piece of bread down to the fish.

"Something on your mind, Captain?" He snorted softly.

"Captain. That was a joke, wasn't it? I just sat in my room, drinking wine and letting Róise do all the work." Miriam shrugged.

"Sounds like a Captain to me."

"Ha! Sure. But that's the problem I'm facing now. Róise put in the work, and now she's leaving me behind." Cormac scowled.

"Why couldn't I just take things a little more seriously? I just waltz through life and expect everything to turn out ok." Miriam rolled her eyes.

"I think that's because with you it often does." He shook his head.

"But that's the problem. There's always a limit to how far you get on a natural talent, or an easy skill. You'll never hold a candle to someone who earns it."

"Hey. We've been training together every day. You've been taking it seriously. I've been impressed." Miriam rubbed his shoulder, trying to reassure him.

"Still not a Fourth, am I?" Cormac sighed.

"Has Róise ever told you about why we're here? About the state of things in Shirren?"

"A little. And I gathered some things from the stories you told on the Líadan. It's being occupied by a foreign country?" Cormac rubbed the back of his head.

"Yeah. It's… well, it's a sore subject for Róise. Shorinu first declared war back before I was born and started off on the Second Ring. That's how my mother's village was destroyed, you remember? Well, they didn't stop there. When Róise was a baby, Shirren was taken. Her family was… not a noble house in origin, but made so after they became too central to the city economy to ignore. A dynasty of wealthy merchants. They had no army, they didn't fight, but they stood in opposition to the occupiers.

That was back when they still let nobles critical to the occupation vote in the House of Lords." Miriam remembered back to what Cormac had told her of Róise's early days in Shirren.

"And her father was a member of that House of Lords, right? He was assassinated?" Cormac nodded.

"It was the day of a religious festival for Pixie. Pixie, the god, not the race. He was stabbed to death on the steps of the House of Lords, still in his ceremonial robes. They didn't stop there. They killed anyone in her family who would ascend to be a candidate for the House of Lords on the previous one's death. Until… they got to her older brother."

"They didn't kill him?" He shook his head, his expression grim.

"Turns out he was in on it. Sold out the Séarlait family so he could take his father's place in the House of Lords. Took over the company too. Now the Séarlait Consortium is the number one backer of the Shorinu occupation. They provide supplies, logistics, favorable trade deals… they're bigger than ever, but working under Shorinu's boot." Miriam sighed. She had known Róise's anger had come from a real place of pain, but this was more complex than she had bargained for.

"And he tried to kill Róise too?" Cormac shrugged.

"Hard to say if she was a real target, or if it was just her parents. Either way, she ended up on the streets with me. Those first few years were hard - we were just kids. I took care of her the best I could, but my luck wasn't as strong back then. One day she got sick - really sick. I didn't know what to do so I found an adult I thought I could trust - Máirín, a bartender at this tavern near where Róise and I were squatting. She was a kind soul. Took Róise in. Not me, though I never blamed her for that.

From that point Róise lived there." He looked at Miriam.

"I couldn't help her. I was lucky enough to find someone who could, but after that - helping Róise was all I really cared about. I didn't know that Máirín was the leader of a secret rebel cell. I didn't realize how much the slogans and rallying and plotting they did would stoke the fire of her anger further."

"How could you have known that?" Miriam asked.

"I should have." Cormac bit his lip and looked around to make sure Róise wasn't in earshot.

"Miriam, the person I stole the Drop of Intent from was her brother." Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

"Oh! She doesn't know that?"

"No. If I had told her that I had found a way to break into Séarlait manor, that I'd had a conversation with him without putting a knife in his throat? I think she'd never forgive me." Cormac shook his head, seeming to shrink into himself.

"I thought the Drop and Cianán's Walk were our way out. Things were building to a head in Shirren in a way that she would have wanted to be a part of. And… she would have died."

"But… now she's a Fourth! Maybe she could actually make more of a difference." Miriam touched his arm reassuringly. He smiled briefly at her trying to reassure him.

"It wasn't until I saw her striding out of that jungle, full of Fourth Ring power, that I realized I had made a terrible mistake. She knew her limits before. She knew she couldn't charge into Séarlait manor and get her brother at the edge of a knife. Now… she just might try. And Fourth or not, no one is invincible." Miriam thought for a moment.

"Cormac, you can't stop people from fighting for what they believe in. Even the people you love." Cormac sighed.

"I know. Now I'm just worried that it'll be like that time when we were kids. I couldn't help her then. And I'm afraid if I can't make it to Fourth I won't be able to help her now. She'll charge in without me. And believe me, if there's anyone who needs luck on their side, it's her." Miriam made a decision.

"Well, you'll have me too. If you'll allow me, I'd like to go with you both back to Shirren. I may not know anything about the local politics, but I've felt what living under tyranny can be like. And you two are my friends. I'm with you… provided I can rise to Third!" Cormac wrapped her in a hug.

"Aww, Miriam. I knew you were a good one. Best thing I ever fished out of the sea, I can tell you that."

"Róise told me you've never been able to catch a fish in your life."

"Weird, isn't it? Maybe fish are somehow immune to Luck fórsa!" Cormac let her go, studying her face.

"Well, if I can't help her, maybe I can help you. Still no luck getting an Adept Class?"

"No. I think there are just too many choices." Miriam dipped one toe into the river, scattering some curious fish.

"Cian said you can pick one and work towards it, but I don't know which."

"Both Róise and I came by ours sort of naturally. We were just doing something until one day we realized it was our specialization. Or, in my case, when a sentient island told me." Cormac's fingers twitched, the surefire sign that he was weaving luck threads.

"What choices are you thinking about?"

"For Water, maybe Morning Dew? It seems like it gives you broad control over water droplets, which Cian says can be really handy for things like shield techniques. He also told me he thought Eoin was a Mist Adept, which was all about illusions and trickery. That also seems useful…"

"But?" Miriam shrugged.

"Neither of them really seem like me."

"What does? When you think about your relationship to water, what do you first think of?" She thought for a moment.

"A lot of things, really. One of the most influential parts of my life started with a sea voyage, so I think of it as sort of a conduit for change. I also think about the well behind my house - the one I fell in when I came here. It provided sustenance for my family and even the rest of the town sometimes, so I suppose I think of it as a nurturer and sustainer." Cormac studied her face closely. His fingers danced against his leg.

"I'm not buying those. I think you feel like those are the most rational and relevant answers that might get you an Adept class that you'll find the most useful. What else do you have?" Miriam scowled.

"That isn't true at all. I'm trying to answer your question. Am I supposed to just have the perfect answer that would let you magically help me at the tip of my tongue?"

"Ideally, yes." She snorted.

"Thanks. Anyway, I'm going to go find some food. Don't be so down. I'm sure you'll think of just the absolute right thing to say or do and we'll both achieve our goals." He grinned at her.

"There's no need to get snippy about it!" Miriam rolled her eyes and pulled herself to her feet at the edge of the bridge. Right at that moment a wagon full of wrapped food supplies for the villagers' trip trundled past, on a structure only meant to handle a wagons-width of traffic at a time. The man pushing the cart had been distracted by the wave of a girl he'd had a crush on all his life, but who had decided to stay in Láthair Maol.

He was briefly torn about whether he was making the right decision to leave, and so at that moment didn't really notice the two people sitting at the edge. The wagon slammed into Miriam's backside at just the right time to launch her face-first into the river. As she fell through the air, Miriam had enough time to think - did that idiot black-thread me? - before hitting the water. The river was deceptively deep, but not dangerously so.

"Sorry!" Cormac yelled after her. After only a moment's struggle she found herself drifting down the current, staring up at the blue sky. She let herself relax. There was no danger here. She didn't have to be so on edge. This is kind of nice, she thought to herself. When she was a little girl she and her friend Rue had splashed in the thin rivers and creeks around Willowcrest.

Sometimes it was boisterous battles with splashing and mud-throwing, but just as often it was a lazy afternoon being carried by the current to parts and adventures unknown. It felt carefree. A sensation decades of adulthood and responsibility had made all too fleeting. A river could be either one, she mused. A raging torrent, or a calm afternoon. Something in her chest clicked and Miriam lost her balance, dipping under the water a moment.

When she surfaced, sputtering, she grabbed hold of the nearest bank and pulled herself up. She closed her eyes and felt the change. Miriam glowered at the bridge in the distance.

"That really is such a bullshit power." When she made her way back to the bridge, trying to decide what she was going to hit Cormac with, she was concerned to see him huddled by the wagon, eyes closed and shaking. Cian was there, talking calmly into his ear. Miriam rushed up to the bridge.

"What's happening? Is he all right?" Cian smiled.

"He's literally never been better." Cormac opened his eyes and grinned big.

"I guess I really did just need to help someone!" Cian gestured as if to present Cormac to the world.

"Behold, our newest Fourth! And, if I'm not mistaken…" he squinted at her.

"Our first River Adept!" Miriam scowled.

"I still reserve the right to hit him with something."