How it all tied in with the history of Scotland.
Normally she would have found this nonsensical, yet, she didn’t doubt it, just believed. His words spun a faerytale that was as real to her as here and now, and she had no idea why. All she knew was that he told the truth.
Scotland was in trouble, and it lay in their hands to save it.
She leaned against a tree, letting everything sink in. From Robert the Bruce’s son, King David needing her help to Balliol’s disinherited nobles being possessed by evil monks. Monsters that were not only determined to kill little David but wanted to end Clan MacLomain before their conception. If all that weren't enough, Julie was a Guardian Witch who saw helpful ley-lines, and not just the Stone of Destiny was aiding in their cause but an actualunicorn.
“Yet it all comes down to this somehow,” she said softly, eyeing her Claddagh ring. More so, the colorless stone at its heart’s center. She forced herself to meet Aidan's eyes. Forced herself to see the love he felt for Maeve. “It all comes down to the stone in my ring shining the color of your eyes when...” Just say it no matter how crazy it sounds. Because you know it’s true. “When you and I connect the waydestinysays we’re supposed to.”
“Fate,” he corrected. “But aye, only true love can ignite the power of the Claddagh ring.”
“Right,” she whispered. “And I'll know I'm with the right person because it’ll eventually shine the color of the wizard’s eyes I'm meant for.”
“Aye,” he said so softly the words nearly vanished on the wind. Though his eyes remained with hers, she got the sense he wasn’t really looking at her. That he was seeing someone else. A ghost from the past.
Maeve.
“How is this ever going to happen if,” she started to say but trailed off before finishing her sentence. Whatever was destined to happen between them, she wasn’t interested in trying to push aside or overcome the love he felt for Maeve. She certainly wasn’t in the market for a man anyway. So perhaps there was a way around the Claddagh ring.
Either way, right now, she was more worried about what he'd shared in regards to King David. What a sad life the eight-year old had lived. No kid, let alone one with his backstory, deserved everything coming at him.
So she pushed the words past her lips no matter how strange they sounded.
“You’re right, Aidan, we do need to go back.” She set aside fear even as it bubbled up. “We need to—”
That’s all she got out before fog swept in out of nowhere, and everything shifted.
Changed.
Morphed around her.
Yet she was only aware of one thing.
Aidan had pulled her into his arms.
