She’d been like gunpowder exploding into his life. She was confident, bold, and not in the least cowed by his rank, and he’d spent the evening verbally sparring with her and found her company and conversation refreshing in the extreme. Since that evening he’d found himself thinking about her all the time andhad even sent word to Barra to discover where she might be. The message he’d received back saying she’d gone home and was no longer on the island had been like a punch to the gut.
Elise MacFinnan. Even thinking her name sent a shiver right through him.
With an effort, he dragged his thoughts back and focused on the words written on the scroll. They were plain and simple: setting out his obligations as part of the marriage contract along with the obligations of the king of Scotland.
It was a business transaction. He doubted Lady Margaret had even been consulted. As with all noblewomen, she would have little say in her marriage, and it would be decided for her by her male relatives. Such was the way of things.
If hedidmarry her, would she grow to like him? Perhaps even love him? He doubted it. His mother’s feelings for his father had never softened beyond open hostility. It had not made for a happy household or a happy childhood.
His grip tightened, scrunching the parchment in his hand. No. He could not do it. Not to his people. Not to himself.
Tossing the parchment across the table, he hunched forward and clasped his hands together. He wasn’t normally one for praying, but he had few options left.
“Help us,” he whispered. “Help me keep my people safe. I beg of ye.”
He didn’t know who he was praying to, nor did he expect an answer. So he jumped in startlement when a sudden wind whipped through the room as if the window had been thrown wide open. The wind carried the smell of the sea and the sound of crashing waves as it tossed the parchment onto the floor and whipped Jamie’s hair around his face.
Then it was gone.
Jamie looked up to find a woman standing before him. Tall, slender, with long hair past her waist, she wore an opalescent gown that reminded Jamie of the inside of a seashell.
His hand flew to his dagger, and he bolted from his chair, sending it toppling over backwards. “What in Heaven’s name?”
The woman cocked her head as she regarded him. Her eyes, he saw, were orbs of purest silver with no iris or pupil to speak of. A tremor of fear slid down his spine.
“Heaven’s name?” she said lightly, with a hint of amusement in her voice. “Hardly. I come in my own name.”
“Who…who are ye?” he stammered. “Where did ye come from?”
She arched an eyebrow. “I would have thought that was obvious, seeing as how ye just called me.”
Jamie blinked. His brain seemed to be struggling to work. Had this woman truly appeared from nowhere? “Called ye? I didnae call ye!”
The eyebrow rose further. “Did ye not? I could have sworn I heard ye asking for help to save yer people.”
Jamie froze. Slowly, he released his grip on his dagger and let out a long, slow breath. He studied the woman. The opalescent gown. The long, wet hair, the silver eyes. He’d heard tell of a being just like that over on Barra and Skye, a being who was said to appear when things were at their most dire. He’d only half believed the tales, and yet here he was, confronted by such a one. Those tales had whispered a name.
“Lir,” he breathed. “Ye are the goddess Lir.”
A pleased expression softened her features, and she smiled. “Ah, so ye havnae completely forgotten the old ways? Aye, I am Lir. And I’ve come in answer to yer call.”
Jamie felt a faint stirring of something like hope deep in his gut. “Ye have? Ye can help us? Ye will drive the pirates away?” Sudden excitement warmed his blood. “Ye could stir the sea todestroy their ships! Or call up a storm to blow them back to whatever hell they came from, or—”
But Lir was shaking her head. “That isnae how these things work. I canna interfere in worldly events. Not directly.”
He blinked in confusion. “What? But ye are a goddess! Ye can do whatever ye wish.”
A faint, ironic smile curled her lips. “Do ye think so? It might seem that way to mortal kind, but it isnae the truth.” She held up a hand to forestall any further protest. “My kind are bound by rules, and one of those rules states that we canna interfere directly with the human world. Can ye imagine the chaos if we did? No, instead we can only act indirectly: a word here, a nudge there. And by bringing people together who might help each other.”
Jamie eyed her dubiously. “And who is it that could help me?”
Lir’s mouth quirked in a small smile, such an oddly human gesture on her inhuman face. “That is for ye to discover, my laird. To find yer answer, ye must return to where it all began.”
Suddenly, the wind whipped up again, so strongly that Jamie had to shield his eyes with his arm. When it faded, Lir was gone. He was alone in the room with nothing to indicate that the goddess had ever been there. Had he dreamt the whole thing? But no, the room was still in disarray from the unnatural wind, and the back of his neck still tingled from the oddness of the encounter.
He strode to the window and looked out, not quite sure what he was expecting to see. The sea stretched to the horizon, the sounds of the keep echoing up from below. There was nothing to indicate he’d just had a conversation with a goddess.
He stooped and picked up the marriage contract from where it had fallen to the floor.
