Page 28 of Queen of the Shadow

“Yes, Queen of Shadow,” Uathach said.

“Queen Scáthach! Queen Scáthach!” The bard jogged across the practice field to her and bowed quickly. “Might I accompany you today? I have heard of your chariot feat and I would very much like to witness it.”

Scáthach scowled at him. “You will be in the way.”

“Mother, as I will not be practicing today he can ride with me,” said Uathach, her eyes sparkling mischievously.

Scáthach sighed. “You are responsible for him,” she told her daughter. “And that means keep him out of the way.” Then she rounded on the bard. “Sechan, if you sing of today’s feat, I expect you to be accurate,unlikeyou were in your retelling of the ambush yesterday.” She’d heard the bard singing parts of the new ballad as he composed it, greatly exaggerating Cuchulainn’s part in the battle. “Cuchulainn did not fight as the berserker.”

Tabiti snorted. “Nor did he kill fifty men.”

“That is why I wish to watch the feat,” Sechan insisted. “So that I can be accurate.”

“See that you are,” grumbled Scáthach.

“Yes, Queen of Shadow! Thank you, Queen of Shadow!” Sechan bowed with a flourish as Scáthach shook her head and whistled for Leannan.

* * *

Because of the ambush, the number of students had dropped from twenty to seventeen. For the feat they began with one-horse chariots. In each cart one student would drive and one would perform the feat, and then they would exchange places and continue the drill. Tabiti drove Scáthach’s chariot and Sechan rode with Uathach. Scáthach led the students down the hard-packed road to where a long length of it stretched straight along the shore. Two huge rock walls jutting out into the sea created a sheltered beach that was unusually flat and easily accessible to chariots. Scáthach motioned for her students to circle around her on the road that paralleled the sheltered section of the shoreline.

“We begin the feat with one-horse chariots at a standstill.” Scáthach explained as her students listened intently. “But you will eventually be able to perform it with a two-horse team at a run. The feat takes strength, balance, and nerve. Inspect the leather strap attached to the front inside of your cart. Be sure your foot fits within the loop and can be easily extracted. Uathach will show you how to alter it if the fit is awkward.

“After the midday meal the second half of your chariot drill will be conducted back at the castle, where you will strip your horse of all tack except for a bridle and practice riding bareback—and I donotmean at a trot. You will race each other across the horses’ enclosed pasture.”

Fergal, who was known as an excellent horseman, smiled and asked, “What does the winner get?”

“A one-on-one training session with Tabiti,” said Scáthach. “She will drive the chariot and give the winner specialized attention while the rest of you swim laps in the sea to build up your stamina.”

Several students shifted uncomfortably and Tabiti laughed sardonically. “Oh, the swim will be good for you. And know this—you cannot always depend on your saddle. Whether you ride a horse or drive a chariot into battle, your seat should be sure with or without a saddle.”

“True. Tabiti and I will demonstrate why,” said Scáthach. “Clear the road.”

The students and Uathach drove the chariots off the road and then halted, facing Tabiti as she guided Scáthach’s chariot down the road. She stopped when they were the correct distance away.

“How fast?” Tabiti asked her queen.

Scáthach’s grin was fierce. “As fast as Uathach would want her team driven for the feat, were she not injured.”

Tabiti lifted the reins as Scáthach stretched and jumped several times to warm her muscles. “Then you’d better not fall. It’ll hurt.”

“I don’t fall,” Scáthach said.

“Ha! I seem to remember—”

Still grinning, Scáthach interrupted her. “Go!”

“Hup!” Tabiti shouted, snapping the leather reins on the horse’s back.

The well-trained horse surged forward and in just a few strides was flying along the road at a full gallop. As they drew near the student group, Scáthach grasped the top lip of the cart and put her right foot in the leather strap that was looped and attached to the inside of the cart. In a breathtaking display of strength and balance, Scáthach leaped up. Her left foot balanced for an instant on the lip of the racing chariot before her right foot joined it and she sprang onto the back of the galloping horse. Astride, she thundered past her cheering students.

Tabiti eased the horse into a gentle trot and then circled back to the group of students. Scáthach slid from the horse’s back, stroking the stallion’s side fondly before she faced her students.

“Balance.” She raised one finger. “Strength.” A second finger joined the first before she lifted a third, saying, “Courage.” Scáthach smiled. “It’s normal to be afraid to leap from a chariot onto the back of the horse that drives it. But as you observed, it can be done, so have courage and throw yourself fully into the attempt.”

Behind her, Tabiti said, “And if you do not throw yourself fully into the attempt, youshould beafraid.”

“Very good advice,” said Scáthach before she raised a fourth and final finger. “And you must have a steady seatwithout a saddle. Those four things are key to successfully completing this feat.” She dropped her hand and continued. “The chariot feat is an excellent skill to master for battle. Consider how often a wheel is damaged suddenly in battle, or you need a swifter escape than a horse pulling a chariot can attain.”