Lia said, “Why don’t you gather in your circle, close your eyes, and I’ll chant?”
The group settled, and a few moments later, Tora was the first to speak. “I can see something odd, nothing I’ve seen before. It might be the banshee or it could be anyone. Long white or golden hair, waving about as if she’s crying.”
Sylvi fell back, keeping her hands in her lap, but her eyes stared at the sky. “Oh, Mama. This is so painful. I don’t like being able to feel for others.”
“Sylvi, forget your mother and tell us what you’re feeling.”
“She lost her bairn at a young age. Her heart aches and she withdraws from everyone else, moaning. She spends all her time seeking comfort. And she sobs uncontrollably, wailing so loud.”
Lia’s voice was as calm and quiet as ever. “Ailith, tell me everything you see. We need to learn more about her past. Look around her.”
“Stones. Standing stones, a few of them. A man stands before her, begging her to free his son. He’s been missing for a few moons. The man thinks she’s hiding him.”
“What is the banshee doing?” Lia strolled a path behind the circle, speaking as she moved.
“She’s getting mad, but so is he.”
Sylvi said, “I don’t see or sense anything different. Sadness, desperation.”
“Ailith?”
“Many stand before her. They call the place the standing stones.”
“What does she look like to you, Ailith?”
“She’s dressed in blue, tall, white-haired, with a long, sad face. She holds her own bairn, a dead bairn, and cries. A lassie with fine golden hair. She’s cried so many tears that the bairn’s garment is drenched.”
“Please tell me that’s not Heilyn,” Dyna burst out.
“Nay, it’s her bairn. It happened long ago,” Lia said. “That’s right, Ailith. You are seeing her past, and she is the one we are seeking—Bean Sídhe. Many think she is the harbinger of death and can be a bad omen, but mostly she cries over her lost bairn. Now, Tora, I wish to see her in the present before we go. Tora, you see standing stones. How many?”
“Three or four. She’s inside a circle of stones, but most are flat. I only see three standing. Oh, she’s yelling at him to go away. She says she does not have the bairns, that she would never hurt a wee bairn. But the man is getting really angry, swinging his fist. He pulls out his sword and threatens her with it. And now she’s… Oh my… oh… no…”
Sylvi squealed. “I can feel how upset he is. He’s planning to kill her if he doesn’t get his bairn. She’s furious and she wants him gone.”
“What is it, Tora? She can’t hurt you from here. Just wait and see what happens.” Lia stepped closer, leaning toward the girl lost in a vision.
“She’s tipping her head back, and he’s running toward her, and she’s opening her mouth, and…”
Sylvi covered her ears. “What a horrific sound. She’s screaming, and ravens are everywhere. Now the birds are pecking at him, and she’s screaming, and he’s fallen to the ground. He’s…”
Tora broke the circle, bolting to her feet. “He’s dead.”
Ailith shivered, glad she couldn’t see it all, yet she still had to ask. “It’s not Edan, is it?”
“Nay. He was asking for his son, Hector. He said his wife won’t stop crying. What an awful way to die. I’m sorry. I couldn’t watch anymore.”
Dyna clasped her shoulder. “You did well. She’s a woman who lost her infant long ago. She has white hair, her child has golden locks, and she still grieves heavily for her. If anyone threatens her, she has the power to hurt them, and she will use it if she must. She can kill, maim, or take your hearing away. We know never to threaten her. Anything else? We still need to know where she is.”
Tora closed her eyes and shook her head. “Naught.”
Ailith closed her eyes again. Voices, faint, layered over each other, a group of men on horseback, complaining as they rode. One said something about the stones. The standing stones at Cultoon.
“I know,” she whispered. “Cultoon. The standing stones at Cultoon. Does that mean anything?”
Lia clapped her hands. “I know exactly where that is, about three hours from here.”
“Can I go inside with Grandda, Mama?” Sylvi stood up, crossing her arms.
