Why are ye reaching out to me?Are ye in England?In her previous dreams, Ailith had the sense that her dream Romani woman was nearer than the European continent.In her dream, she was sure she had seen the woman walking along the beach in England.
I am coming.But if you want to meet me, you must survive.Do as I say, and you will win the battle.Don’t fight.
Then the woman’s image thinned, becoming transparent before the figure, like her voice, and faded into nothing more than a wisp on the wind.
Ailith’s last thought before full sleep claimed her was the advice the Romani woman Eladon had given her before Ailith voyaged here.
Your dreams will speak to you, guide you, and lead you.Pay attention to them.
As much as the advice of the dream Romani made no sense, Ailith swore to herself she would do as the woman commanded.
For once in her life, she would not fight.
Chapter Seventeen
Ailithawakenedshiveringtoa narrow shaft of sallow light.It was daybreak.The drizzly mist from the night before had ceased, and now a pale sun strained to breach the clouds.
At least I won’t have to face all this in the rain,she thought as she blinked her eyes.
Whateverthiswas.
As she stretched and tried to work out the kinks in her neck and shoulders from shivering and sleeping in a loathsome pit, she had concluded that listening to her dream woman seemed the most prudent course of action.The dream Romani had not led her astray yet, and Ailith vowed to follow her sage advice again.
But if she wasn’t to fight, whatwasshe supposed to do?
She got to her feet and stretched again.Two heads appeared above the grate, blocking the weak sunlight.
“Ailith!”Seocan called.“How do ye fare?”
Maybe her brother had a plan for the morning.She twisted her neck from one side to the other.
“As well as can be expected for sleeping in a hole.”She glanced down at the plaid wrapped around her.Mairi’s fine weaving was a filthy mess, caked with mud on both sides and rumpled beyond measure.“I canna say the same for Mairi’s plaid, however.”
Seocan clicked his tongue.“A problem easily resolved with soap and laundering.Ye, on the other hand –”
Daniel tapped Seocan on the shoulder as he gazed past his chieftain.Seocan turned his head to see what caught Daniel’s attention.Seocan’s face tightened as a dark mask overtook his bright features.With his damp, unruly russet hair and narrow eyes, he reminded Ailith of the photos of devils and demons in old artwork from her history texts.
She easily guessed who had their attention.
Seocan turned his gaze back to her.“The abbot comes with William’s kin.A small crowd follows, but no’ nearly as large as I had worried about.If I dinna miss my mark, this is the work of a few errant fools, no’ the clan and no’ James Grant.”
That news relieved her a bit.The last thing she wanted to be was the cause of more divisive strife among the clans – she had already done enough of that when besting the Keith man.And she still had no idea what the consequences of that combat would be.
In truth, Ailith had presumed that the Kieths had a vengeful hand in Eoghan dragging her to the village, yet she had not heard an inkling of such conspiracy.She craned her neck to look above, trying to see what was going on.
Eoghan and another man shoved Seocan aside to unlock the grate as Seocan unleashed his fury on him and the abbot.
“What in God’s kingdom do ye think ye are doing with my sister?The sister of a chieftain and the wife of a MacDougal?Your accusations are weak and misguided.When have clans or the church taken such harsh actions against an innocent lass?”
“Innocent?”the abbot shouted back above her.“She has been accused of being a pagan, a witch using her powers against those in the Highlands.Most pagans keep to themselves and their kind, yet your sister has the gall to rise above her station and use her position to ensorcell the Gordons, the MacDougals, and the other clans!”
Ailith cringed at the wordensorcell.That word again.How could one stupid verb cause her so much grief?
The grate lifted open, and Eoghan’s irate face pressed into the pit as he lowered a knotted rope.“Grasp it.‘Tis time to face your judgment.Ye’ve done enough to tempt William and risk his blessed soul.I’ll no’ let his soul be damned because of ye.”
The man wasn’t making sense to Ailith.A damned soul?
“Ye can try,” she snapped back as she grabbed the rope.Eoghan easily dragged her upward and out of the pit.
