“I’ll always be here, m’Lady.”
She nodded and choked back more tears. Then more and more, missing Cian so much it physically hurt. Her bones ached. Every last muscle. Even her flesh. She curled onto her side and gave in to the tears. In to a heartache so deep, she wondered if she would ever find her way out of it.
“Ye will come back to me, ta?” Cian’s young voice whispered into her mind as she floated in and out of dreams. “Ye will not forget me?”
“How could I ever forget you?” she had teased as they strolled through the sunlit forest. He couldn’t have been more than twelve or thirteen. “You’re my best friend.” She held up her ring finger. “Plus, we’re engaged.”
He met her smile and nodded. “We are, and ye best not forget it.”
How could she ever forget it? Him? The ring? She twirled it on her finger as more dreams came and went. Their many years together. Some young, some older, until they shifted and changed. The language they spoke grew ancient.
“Do not go to them.” Though he sounded different than Cian, she knew it was him. “Do not forfeit what we have for this.”
“This?” She clasped his hands, wishing she could see him more clearly. “This is everything, mo grá. This is the future of our beloved Éire. A chance not only to redeem myself but to save all that matters to me beyond ye.” She cupped his cheek. “I will find ye again. If ‘tis the last thing I do.”
“How?” he wondered, fearful. “How when they mean to end ye? Mean to rip ye away from me for all time?”
“Not all time.” She shook her head. “I am certain of it.”
Cian replied, but she couldn’t hear what he said. He vanished, and time sped by until she felt warmth on top of her head. Confused, she jolted awake to find her sister Constance sitting on the edge of her bed, her long flaming red hair caught in the moonlight. The warmth she had felt was Luna’s brother, Zeke, resting his chin on top of her head. He had done it since he was a pup, and while odd, she found it comforting as she stared into her sister’s eyes.
“Constance.” She went to sit up, but her sister rested a hand on her shoulder and shook her head.
“No, you need rest,” she said softly. Her expression remained eerily unchanged. Yet her gaze was as wise as Zeke’s, who now sat beside her and watched Madison in that old man, almost human, way of his.
“Did everyone catch you up on what’s going on?” Madison asked. “Because it’s a lot. I should get up.”
She tried again, but Constance shook her head. “No. Rest.” Her eyes flared golden. “Because you’re not alone, sister.”
“Of course, I’m not,” she agreed. “You and Zeke are here.”
“Sleep.” Constance kissed her forehead and headed for the door. “Then wake and remember, you’re not alone.”
She sat up, determined to go hang with her, only to jolt awake to early morning sunlight streaming through the window. What just happened? She frowned in confusion. Constance hadjustbeen here.
“Constance?” she called out, but no one answered.
Yet shehadbeen here.
She smelled coffee brewing and muffins baking, so Riona was up. Maybe Constance, too, despite how late she got in.
While tempted to put on the medieval dress she had been wearing yesterday, it was too painful, so she donned her usual sweats, grabbed her dagger, and headed downstairs. She yanked her hair into a ponytail on the way down, only to find Riona alone in the kitchen scribbling in her sketchbook. When she spied Madison, she shut it and set it aside.
“Hey, there!” Where moments before it had seemed like she was in a daze, somewhere else entirely, Riona’s eyes lit up when Madison joined her. “How are you doing, beautiful?”
“Hanging in there,” she managed.
“Good.” Riona urged her to sit, poured her a cup of coffee then plopped a buttered muffin down in front of her. “You didn’t eat last night, so you better eat now. I made your favorite again.”
She nodded, hungry despite her despair. The warm cinnamon blueberry muffin made her groan in bliss. In fact, every last bite did until she realized how quiet her sister had grown.
“What?” she said around the last swallow when she saw how wide Riona’s eyes had grown. “It’s good.Reallygood.”
Luna wagged her tail in agreement, no doubt hoping for a scrap so she could offer her opinion as well.
“Nice,” Riona stuttered before she smiled. “Unexpected considering your appetite lately and all you’ve gone through, butgood.” She eyed the plate of muffins she had already baked. “Have another.” She buttered one and set it in front of Madison. “I know Liam’s appetite, so I’m gonna bake another batch.”
Madison had no chance to tell her she didn’t need to do that before Riona flew out of the room on a quest for ingredients from the pantry because God forbid she bake out of the box. The moment she was gone, Luna thumped her tail a little harder.
