Morgan bent, picked up a rock, and hurled it toward the tree. “I saw her too. It was Lia.”
A part of him wished to jump for joy, while the other part wished to run and hide. But the lass he’d missed so much had already vanished. His chest tightened because he knew what it meant.
Lia had not stayed, she never did. But she never came without a reason.
Trouble was coming.
And it would involve the wee ones among them.
Chapter Six
Edan
Edan listened to the two men on the Mull Cog arguing about the lasses they were interested in.
He hadn’t had the chance to speak with the man named Magni MacQuarie yet. He was too busy chattering on about lasses named Lia, Sylvi, and Tora. Edan’s sister had decided not to travel because they all thought it best to have someone home in case the bairns returned, so his brother Roger had agreed to come with him.
Roger was busy studying the ship. He spent his time talking to the ship lads who were taking care of the cargo while Magni and Cormac argued.
Magni spoke first, “I’m sorry, I think Sylvi is the strongest of the seers. When she tells what she sees or feels, she gives details. Tora just tosses it off like it’s something to be thrown away. ‘Grandda coming’ was one she predicted correctly. But she never gave any details. Connor was nearly dead. Sylvi was totally destroyed, running in circles. To Tora, it meant naught.”
“Don’t mess with Tora,” Cormac warned. “She can use a dagger as good as her bow. Tristan thinks her skills are the strongest.”
Edan held his tongue, though it was difficult. The two chattered on about daft things like seers and magic. He wished to yell on a hilltop that there were no seers in the world, no faeries, and no changelings. His daughter was not with the faeries and his faith in the world dropped a wee bit further every time someone mentioned it.
It was time to interrupt their foolish discussion. “Have you seen any odd ships about?”
Magni turned to him, pity in his gaze. “We patrolled last eve. I looked, checked for any new ships, any unusual captains. Any new crates. Naught. We saw nothing unusual.”
Roger joined him at the railing, overlooking the calm sea. “I thought you might back out, Edan.”
“Why would I do that?”
“Because you don’t believe in seers. So why visit them other than to make our sister happy?”
“Aye, you’ve the right of it.” He didn’t bother explaining to his brother that there was mention of the existence of mercenaries stealing bairns a while ago. That was the information he needed. What had they planned to do with bairns?
Edan thought on how much he missed Florie. He remembered their betrothal. It had been arranged by his and Florie’s fathers many years ago. In fact, he’d forgotten about Florie until he moved back to Islay.
His father had moved them to Jura shortly after Edan had been born and apparently he’d forgotten of the betrothal too. But a couple of years after he’d returned to Islay, her father had appeared at their door, declaring it was time for Edan to take Florie as his wife. He didn’t even remember Florie at the time, but she was a pretty lass with a warm smile and loved bairns. She would have been a wonderful mother to Heilyn.
They’d married soon after and made a life together in theirclachan. Florie had a heart of gold, and he’d become fond of her only to watch her die in front of him. The midwife had called him in to hold her when she took her last breaths.
As devastated as he’d been to lose his wife, he’d been blessed to have Heilyn. Not knowing how to handle an infant, his sister had helped him, and his sweet lassie became the light of his life. A reason to go on, to toil from dawn to dusk. He hadn’t lost the sick feeling in his gut since she’d disappeared. The emptinesshad settled into his bones, as though something had been torn free and left him hollow.
Roger asked, “Are you going to keep an open mind, Edan?”
“About what?”
“You know of what I speak. Faeries. Our sire believed in them and you never did. Nearly all the Scots believe in faeries. Why you don’t is beyond my understanding.”
Because their father’s foolish belief made them live on Jura. They’d have been better off if they’d lived on Islay all along.
Because their father had some odd notion that they were cursed by the faeries.
Utterly ridiculous.
Edan didn’t know how to tell the truth of it. He couldn’t believe in faeries. If they existed, it would be too painful. He’d have to accept the truth of something he would deny until the day he died.
