Roger smiled and nodded to Dyna. “May we visit with your armorer later?”
“Of course. His hut is the first one down the path to the main road to Craignure.”
The two men followed the lass up the staircase and down the passageway, thanking her for her escort before she departed.
Once inside, Edan moved over to the hearth, placing logs inside to start a fire in the cold chamber. He took in everything in the chamber and said to Roger, “’Tis the finest chamber I’ve ever been in.” The cushioned chair, the tapestry on the wall, thelarge bed with a grand selection of furs on it spoke of a wealth he had never seen.
“They have many fine possessions. Linens, tapestries, and a fine ale. I hope they have a fine cook.”
Edan didn’t care about the cook. His thoughts returned, unbidden, to the dark-haired lass, to the brief meeting of their gazes, and the strange sense that something unfinished lingered there. It made little sense. He did not know her, yet the memory of her felt less like chance and more like an interruption.
“I would wager a dark-haired person is on your mind right now. Am I right?”
Edan scowled and said nothing, which was answer enough. He dropped onto the edge of the bed and stared at the floor.
“She has black hair, and I cannot stop thinking about her. My daughter is missing, and my wife is barely cold in the ground. What kind of man does that make me?”
Roger was quiet for a moment. “The kind whose marriage was not his choice.”
A flicker of understanding passed between them, heavy with things unsaid.
“Are you going to keep an open mind if they start speaking of faeries?” Roger asked, dropping onto the other bed.
“Aye. I said I’d listen. I won’t believe anything about faeries, but I’m willing to listen to the seers. ‘Truth is I hope they can see exactly where she is. I’m not sure about the faeries yet, but Dyna’s daughter did just reveal exactly what my thoughts were. I cannot deny the accuracy of her words.” She’d been as accurate as if he’d spoken the words himself. But seers and faeries, he reminded himself, were two different things.
“Then what the hell was that wee lass riding a dolphin if not a faery?”
“I don’t know, Roger. My head hurts from all I’ve heard since we climbed onto that ship.” Edan couldn’t answer that.He’d never witnessed such an oddity. “Did you notice something odd about that?” He turned to his brother and leaned against the mantle while the fire grew.
Roger snorted. “I noticed many things odd about that. Which one in particular?”
He pushed away from the mantle, tension working through his limbs. “The dolphin the lass was riding never went underwater. Whenever they swim, dolphins always go back underwater. She was sailing across the top of the sea like a birlinn.”
“I noticed it. Dolphins don’t swim like that… ever.”
Edan flopped into a chair, reviewing what he remembered about the lass. Green gown, yellow hair, young, smiling, and something around her head. He decided that if he discovered that Heilyn was happily riding the back of a dolphin for the rest of her life, he could accept it.
He saw the dolphin again in his mind’s eye, the child’s golden hair, and something else. A circlet. Not of gold, but of something rough and wild. Thistles. The world narrowed to a single point.
He knew exactly what the golden lass had been wearing on her head.
He bolted up from his chair, staring at Roger wide-eyed. “She wore a crown of thistles.”
Just like the one he’d found in Heilyn’s cradle.
Chapter Nine
Dyna
Dyna stood on the parapets overlooking the sea at Duart Castle, the wind lifting strands of her hair as she studied the restless water below. The door creaked open behind her, and Maitland stepped through, guiding his mother ahead of him.
Avelina entered, lowering herself onto the stool nearest the doorway. “My, but you have everyone here, Dyna. Sylvi, Tora, and me. Between the four of us, we should be able to uncover what happened to the wee lassie.”
“I hope so, Auntie.I would not welcome another storm like the ones we had years ago.That had been no simple rain, but a deluge that seemed intent on tearing Duart from the cliffs.”
Maitland set a hand on Avelina’s shoulder. “I’ll leave you with Dyna. Send for me when you’ve finished. I’ll be at the practice yard with Alasdair.” He squeezed his mother’s shoulder once and stepped back through the door, closing it quietly behind him.
Sylvi leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. “I remember those times. I was able to speak with Lia. Her words would pop in my head, and it was as if I could see her in my chamber.”
