“And I’ll think about it for another month if needed!” Jamie snapped. “And I will consider yer proposal too, Albie.”
“But, my lord—” Albie began.
“Ye both have yer answers!” he snarled, slamming his fist onto the table and making his empty cup jump. “Now, if there is no more business for today?” He glared around at his advisors. When nobody spoke, he nodded. “Good. Then I bid ye good day.”
His men recognized a dismissal when they heard one. They climbed to their feet and filed out, but not without a good deal of grumbling and muttering under their breath—especially fromAlbie. On his way out, Phillip paused and placed the scroll on the table.
“I’ll leave that with ye, my lord,” he said. “So ye can give it some more…thought.”
Jamie looked up at his counselor and forced himself to smile. “I’ll do that. My thanks, Phillip.”
The man nodded and left, pulling the door closed behind him. Jamie was left alone in the council chamber, only his turbulent thoughts keeping him company.
There had to be a way out of this. But for the life of him, he couldn’t think of one.
*
“My help?” Elisesaid, scrambling to her feet and backing away. She looked around but saw nobody else. Where had this woman come from? Had she just appeared out of thin air?
That was entirely possible if what Elise suspected was true. As soon as the woman had introduced herself, a shiver of recognition had gone through Elise. Lir. Someone whom both Rose and Jenna had met before. Someone who wasn’t human.
“My help?” she said again. “Why would you needmyhelp? You’re…you’re a goddess, aren’t you?”
The woman regarded her with those disconcerting silver eyes. “Aye. The sea is my domain.”
Elise glanced around at the rolling hills marching off in all directions. “So what are you doing here? We’re nowhere near the sea!”
Lir shrugged, then pointed into the distance. Elise squinted in that direction and spotted a stream winding its way through the scrubby plateau before pouring over the cliff in a silvery cascade. A stream that would, in time, lead to the sea.
“I am far from my element and at the limits of my power,” Lir said. “And I wouldnae have risked it had my need not been pressing. But my needispressing. Or rather, the need of Islay is pressing.”
“Islay? What’s that?”
“It is part of the Kingdom of the Isles in western Scotland.”
Elise’s eyes narrowed. She’d heard that title before. Both Barra and Skye, the places where Rose and Jenna now lived, formed part of that kingdom. A suspicion began to form in the back of Elise’s mind. One she didn’t like at all.
“Oh no, you don’t,” she said, wagging a finger at Lir and backing off. “I’m not falling for that! You might have tricked my sister and niece into your schemes, but I’m not stupid. Let me guess: I agree to go with you and then I find myself back in the Dark Ages. Is that right?”
“The Dark Ages?”
Elise waved her hands. “You know. The past. Before they had running water or the internet.” She shuddered at the thought.
Lir raised an eyebrow. “Oh? I was led to believe that those kinds of things wouldnae bother ye. That ye were the brave and adventurous one of the family.”
“Who told you that?”
“Yer sister and niece.”
They did? Is that how Rose and Jenna saw her? Brave and adventurous, rather than irresponsible and reckless? Really?
Lir let out a long sigh. “But it seems they were wrong, and I’ve had a wasted journey.” She began to turn away.
“Hang on,” Elise said quickly. “I didn’t say Iwouldn’tcome, did I? I just need a little more…information. What exactly am I going to be doing? And who is it that needs my help?”
Elise thought she saw a glimmer of satisfaction in the goddess’s silver eyes. “That’s more like the Elise MacFinnan I’ve heard about. The people of Islay face a threat that only aMacFinnan spellweaver can meet. And the person who needs yer help more than any other is someone ye know.”
Elise frowned. “Oh?”
