“Aye.”I sensed great hope in this. “And he’s holding your mother’s ring even as it still graces your finger, so there cannae be any doubt great things are at work because Grant is every bit as kind and good as Adlin.”
“And he’s also dead,”she reminded.“For quite a few years now.”
“Yet in death there is also life, and in life, death, is there not?”I reminded her because spirits were every bit as much a part of the rich tapestry of life as they were in death. Of all to follow and all to come. Endings were always new beginnings, and new beginnings would always have endings.
All those who dealt with magic knew it because it was the circle of life.
“So you always said,”she echoed.“But I’ll admit, having never seen a ghost, it’s a stretch.”
I bit back a smile just as I knew she did because ghosts weren’t a stretch at all in the reality we had lived from the moment she traveled back in time, and we first met in the Morrow, beneath her tree. Since then, she had been very aware that while the world was full of cold, hard reality, it was also full of mystical things and creatures only written about in fairytales.
“I hope ye are pleased with the fare, my King,” Elspet said, drawing us back to the ongoing conversation. “Though ‘twas short notice, we had our verra best cook prepare this meal for ye and will, of course, send wagons of choice meats and vegetables for those fighting on our behalf at the border in guarded carts when ye depart on the morrow.”
“The fare is fine, Lady Sutherland, and yer offer is much appreciated,” Robert said, his gaze skirting over Dugal before he nodded at Elspet, making a point of including Lilias, who had remained mostly silent and subservient through the meal, clearly pinned down under the watchful eye of her husband and mother by marriage. “I am most pleased by the strides ye took to make me feel welcome. ‘Twill not be forgotten.”
“’Twas our pleasure, King Robert,” Lilias said, seeming to find refuge in Robert’s kind eyes because she managed a careful but warm smile in return. “May ye return often as ye’ll always have a warm hearth and good food to enjoy here at Sutherland Castle.”
“Many thanks, Lady Sutherland,” he returned, about to say more when a Sutherland guard rushed in and whispered something in Elspet’s ear rather than Dugal’s, yet again exposing who was really in charge. When her expression hardened and she tensed yet didn’t stand despite it being clear enough she was tempted, Robert addressed it.
“Is everything alright, Lady Sutherland?” he wondered, lowering the piece of succulent meat he was about to eat. “For ye seem most distressed.”
“’Tis nothing to bother yerself with, my liege,” she assured, despite the slight bead of sweat pearled on her brow. “Please, continue to enjoy yer fare. I insist.”
Robert set his food down altogether and eyed her with what I knew to be mock concern, though it seemed genuine enough. “Please. I insist.”
Seeming to sense things had gone astray and unable to practice the same polite discretion and devious forethought as his mother, Dugal cursed under his breath and strode from the chamber, only giving the King of Scotland a passing apology because he was urgently needed below stairs.
“Well, now Iamintrigued,” Robert declared, standing. “And would verra much like to assist if ye would be so kind as to escort me and my guests below stairs, Lady Sutherland.”
Elspet’s jaw grew so tight at her son’s impulsive actions, I swore it might snap off, but she managed a painfully thin-lipped smile regardless and nodded. “Of course, King Robert.” She stood as well and gestured at the door. “It seems we will be returning to the dungeons, but I dinnae think ‘tis necessary we all go.”
“Yet I do as yer dungeons are at the heart of so much fear, aye?” Robert looked from Willow and me, back to her. “And we have the potential culprits here with us now, so it seems more than fitting they witness what is so distressing.”
Although it was clear by the sneer in her obsidian eyes when she glanced our way, Elspet was as cornered now as she had hoped King Robert would be when she spun her lies earlier and had no choice but to comply. And I was more than grateful when we arrived at the dungeons and things truly went awry for her and Dugal.
So awry, the king declared he would be departing that very night.
Better yet, he would be taking me and Willow with him.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
–Willow–
WHILE I KNEW things were getting strange, allowing me to hope Sutherland Castle wouldn’t be my permanent home, especially when the infamous wizard Grant Hamilton appeared under the willow tree in my father’s tapestry holding my mother’s ring, from there things got far more promising.
After all, King Robert had just declared he was leaving with me and Sloan.
How could he not when we returned to the dungeons, only to find it as it should have been, with hardly any damage at all. In fact, there was nothing but a man-sized break in the wall allowing Sloan to exit before he shifted. A man-sized hole, which proved my dragon had been aware of the castle's integrity above, making clear it saved Sloan without risk to anyone else.
If that were not damning enough, everything else had returned to normal, and King Robert could clearly see the horrible conditions Sloan would have been subjected to in the dungeons before undoubtedly dying a slow, horrible death.
“I assure ye, ‘tis Willow’s magic at work, my King,” Elspet tried to tell him as he strode back upstairs with his guards in tow and at arms no less. “Ye must believe me.”
“’Tis hard to believe anything I see or hear right now, Elspet,” he bit out, dishonoring her with the use of her given name rather than her proper title. “Neither ye nor yer son were honest about Lorna and her father from the start, but I forgave ye that as times are trying, but what I just saw with my own two eyes in yer dungeon speaks to trickery even to yer king.”
Though I could tell Sloan was relieved his friend had finally seen the truth of things, I also sensed his distress. Fear now, since the truth about the Sutherlands and their duplicity was out, in full view of the king no less, that it might start not just a clan war but a far larger war, leaving the Scots vulnerable to the English.
Then things only got worse for the Sutherlands when the king stepped outside and found the massive willow tree that had clearly been there when he arrived, gone.
