“Milo,” he mumbled.
Catrina caught up. “Is it my son?”
“The lass has red curls, holding a wee lad’s hand with brown hair. They are cuddled together in front of many bairns, all sound asleep. Guards stand before their cage. They’re holding hands like they know each other, like they belong together.”
Catrina fell to her knees, Roger helping her back up. “We know they’re alive, Catrina. You have to think on that.”
She let out a wail as she fell against her brother, one that nearly drove a knife into Ailith’s heart. “My sweet bairn. Oh please help us. Bring my laddie back to me.” She clutched her brother and sobbed into his shoulder, her entire body trembling.
“They’re caged?” Edan asked. “How do we get in? Just tell me, Ailith, and I’ll bring them out.”
Lia said, “Stand back. All of you. I’ll speak with Ailith. You need to listen unless you know how to deal with faeries.”
“I’ll figure it out,” Edan declared. “My daughter is in there!”
“Do you even know how to get inside? She’s the only one who can tell us that. You need to give her a chance to settle. She’s in shock from everything she’s seeing in her mind.” Lia approached the group but jumped back when she nearly ran into Edan. “What in blazes? Who are you?”
“Edan MacRuari. Why do you keep asking me that and no one else?”
“Something about you. Stand back. You carry a power that is unknown, unbidden. Who knows what is affecting her vision?”
“That is preposterous.”
He reached for Ailith, but she held her hands up to him, grabbing her head again. “Nay, I have to see. Please just leave me be. Everyone, leave me alone.”
Lia said, “Dyna, push him back.”
Dyna did as she asked, though Edan stepped back on his own. “Ailith? Is she telling the truth?”
Ailith didn’t know what to think. “Something powerful is nearby, causing problems with the hill. It’s shaking. It’s angry. I have to see why.” Visions of hundreds of blades, blood spilling on the hill, dead bodies, red streams running down the grass, a woman’s scream clouded her mind.
“It’s the hill making it worse. Whatever he carries, the hill is amplifying it through you,” Lia explained.
Maitland approached Ailith and said, “Come with me.” He led her a distance away from Edan. “I’ll help you figure this out. We’ll all help you. Don’t panic, Ailith. Lia will help you too.”
Maitland’s voice calmed her, so she moved with him, surprised that Lia was right. The visions in her head slowedwhen she walked away from Edan. Or was it because she was walking away from the hill? How she hoped that Edan was not the source of her troubles.
“Maitland, it can’t be so. Edan is not causing my problems, but something is inflaming the hill. Why won’t it open?”
Maitland said, “Close your eyes and see what you see.”
She did, but the vision of the bairns she’d had before was gone. Instead, she saw a man kneeling in front of an evil creature, holding an infant in his arms. Then the man turned and ran. And a mountain behind them spewed an odd liquid. It ran down the side of the mountain, covering it in what looked like blood. The evil creature shouted, “You’ll regret this, Reginald. You’ll pay with the blood of your loved ones.”
“Who is it?” Maitland asked, ushering her farther away from Edan. Her visions disappeared.
She whirled around.
“What happened, Ailith?” Dyna asked.
“Someone was kneeling in front of an evil creature. He had a bairn, but the vision disappeared as I walked away.”
They both turned to stare at Edan.
Lia whispered, “What exactly is he?”
Ailith strode boldly toward him, her gaze locked on his. Slowly she approached, and the closer she came to Edan, the more visions appeared in her mind. “His name is Reginald. The man holds a bairn.” A sharp pain shot through her head and she cried out.
“Nay, don’t go any farther. Please,” Edan cried out, holding his hands up.
