Emmalin said, “Alasdair, she has some strength we know little of. She’s gained the power of sight, and we have to allow her to develop that strength. It could be of such use to her as she grows older.”
She would not allow this to go on without having a say in what she was to do, of what she was to become. “Da, I’m here. Please don’t act as if I’m not. This sight, this new skill is part of me. I don’t know how to explain it, but I cannot turn away from it.” Her father stilled, studying her more closely than before.
Her thoughts drifted, unbidden, to a man carrying grief without letting it break him. To a truth she didn’t understand yet. This man named Edan called to her, yet she knew not why. This truth she could not share with either her mother or father yet.
Dyna whispered, “Alasdair. Your daughter has a voice in this. Do not deny her.”
“I won’t. I’ll see what she thinks after her mother and I discuss it.” He moved over and patted Ailith’s shoulder, kissing her forehead before facing her mother again. “Emmalin, we need horses, allies. We’d be walking into the area blind. That didn’t happen when we came to Mull. Dyna and Maitland were already here. Eli and Alaric had made allies with the MacVey’s and MacQuaries. We know no one on Islay. We have no idea what we’re walking into there. We have no ready access to a line of Grant warriors, and that makes me a wee bit unsettled.”
Dyna said, “Actually, my brother is there with Magni. They own the shipping fleet with Cormac MacLean, who is a cousin to Tristan MacClane, who is married to Mora MacQuarie. Tristan’s sister is married to Broc Grant, and they live with Tristan, so they aren’t far away. There are many ties.”
“How long is the voyage to Islay from MacClane’s?” Alasdair asked.
Nearly a day’s travel,” Ailith answered.
Her father spun around. “How do you know?”
She held his gaze. “I know. That’s all I can tell you.”
He turned back to Emmalin and Dyna. “So we can’t call any allies up quickly. She should not go on this journey without many to support her, and we’ll need horses too.”
Emmalin crossed her arms and said, “Then we all go.”
“Why?” Alasdair asked.
Ailith had listened to enough of the argument. “Am I allowed to have any part in this conversation?”
Alasdair turned around and nodded. “Go ahead. Tell us your thoughts and we’ll consider them.”
She knew this wasn’t going to go over well, but she gritted her teeth, took a deep breath, and spoke her mind. “I’m going, Da, whether you want me to or not. I’m six and twenty. John went to battle when he was three and ten and you thought little of it. I’m old enough to make my own decisions. I’ll go with Dyna. Everyone does not have to go with us.” She caught the smirks and looks of approval from her mother and her aunt before her father began to speak, but she held the palm of her hand up to him. “Please allow me to finish.”
Her father crossed his arms and said, “Please do.”
“This is about bairns being taken by some evil soul.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do, Da. I do know that. I’ve seen it, and I can feel it to the verra depth of my soul. If harm comes to them and I did nothing, it will break me.” And beneath the truth, she knew she would not leave Edan to face that loss alone. “I will help him find his daughter and his nephew. I hope you will come along, but I’ll understand if you don’t.”
For a long moment, her father did not answer. He stood with his arms crossed, his jaw set in the way that meant he was no longer arguing. He was looking. At her. As if he had not seen her in years and was only now catching up.
Emmalin’s hand found his.
The door opened and Uncle Connor broke in with a grin. “Well said, Ailith. You’re going to Islay, Alasdair.”
John snuck in behind his uncle. “Grant and I both wish to go with you, Ailith. Even if Da does not. We’ll escort you.”
“My family is going, Alasdair. What say you?” Dyna asked.
He glanced over at Emmalin who was now wearing a grin the size of a crescent moon. “I’m coming with you, daughter.”
“I guess I am too. Uncle Connor? Since you stuck your nose in, I’d say you’re coming as well.”
“We’ve already discussed it, and Sela told me I have to go along. She’s staying back here with Eli, Astra, and Alaric to watch over Logan. Halli is staying back with Grandmama. It’s your decision about Daran, but I’ve wanted to see Morgan. We’ll stop and see Hagen and Brynja at MacClane Castle before we board the ship for Islay.”
The decision made, everyone filed out of the solar, though Emmalin pushed Alasdair back inside when he tried to leave. “Nay, you need to speak with your daughter. And you need to stop thinking of her as a child, Alasdair. She’s a woman grown, and she’s found her purpose. She needs your support too.”
Ailith stood and folded her hands in front because she didn’t know what else to do with them. Her mother left and closed the door.
