Not sure what to do, she very hesitantly touched Saerla’s cheek and watched her sister come out of the trance, as if awakening.
Saerla’s knees gave out, and she stumbled. Rhian led her to Da’s cairn, and they sat with their backs against the warm stones.
The mist continued to flow out from the stone circle as if following the young woman whose hands trembled in Rhian’s.
“Saerla, wha’ ha’ ye Seen?”
“I canna tell. I canna tell!”
Could not, or would not? Whatever it was, it had frightened Saerla badly.
“You can tell me.”
“Strife. Darkness. The very fabric o’ us torn asunder.” Only Saerla’s lips moved. The mist swirled in her eyes.
“War? Are ye saying we face outright war wi’ MacLeod?” Against all likelihood, Rhian had hoped otherwise. The desperate love in her heart wanted peace.
“Aye. But worse. Worse than that.”
What could be worse? To Rhian’s mind, war appeared a terrible gulf, with Leith on one side and her on the other. And their child here with her.
The unborn heir to MacLeod.
“Will he attack us again? Rory MacLeod?”
“Rory MacLeod,” Saerla repeated woodenly.
“When? How much time do we have?” If Alasdair learned of this, she would never keep him in his bed. And aye, if he went to battle, he would quite likely die.
“Soon.” The word, sibilant from Saerla’s lips, lifted the tiny hairs all over Rhian’s body. “Soon.”
“Ye maun tell Moira. She maun prepare.”
The three of them, MacBeith’s daughters, must be together. They were always stronger so. And yet, and yet…
She could not stay here and continue to try to live without her heart.
The knowledge came to her all of a piece, filtered through her like the soft kiss of the mist that now surrounded them. Perhaps it came from the mist. Mayhap this was how it felt to receive a Vision.
She could not live without Leith MacLeod. She would wither and die, and the child within her. If he could not come to her, she must go to him.
But it was impossible.Impossible.She could not leave this place that was part and parcel of her, blood and bone. She could not leave her sisters.
Saerla looked at her as if she heard those thoughts. Gladness and sorrow moved together in her eyes before she reached out and captured Rhian’s face between her hands.
“Why did ye no’ tell me? Why did ye no’ tell me ye carry Leith MacLeod’s bairn?”
“Och!” Rhian caught her breath. All her agony rose inside her as she stared into Saerla’s face. “I could no’.”
All at once, she began to weep. Saerla gathered her close into the shelter of her arms and let Rhian sob against her shoulder. It felt almost as if Ma’s arms encircled her in warmth and love.
“There. There now, let it all out.”
They remained so, with their backs against the stones, while the mist swirled around them. Rhian wept until she could weep no more.
Only then did she draw away and mop at her face with the hem of her dress. “I could tell no one. No one except him.”
“He knows?”
