To Liora.
“Liora. Do you swear to read the patterns of possibility?To guide those who stand at crossroads? To weave fate without forcing it?”
“I swear it. By star and moon, I swear it.”
And then Hilda turned to me.
“Agnes Wright, Bookkeeper of the Order.”
The title settled on my shoulders like a warm shawl.
“Do you swear to witness oaths and keep records? To maintain the connection between all branches? To speak truth even when truth is dangerous? To complete the promise your ancestor made three hundred years ago?”
Isobel had written a diary entry with her dying hands, hoping someone would someday find it. She deserved that I see this through. No matter what may come.
“I swear it,” I said. “By word and memory, I swear it.”
The rowan tree shuddered again. This time, a single leaf drifted down from its branches, and instinctively, I reached out to catch it in my palm.
It was gold.
Pure, shimmering gold, and the leaf was warm against my skin.
I gaped at it, holding it up for the others to see.
“What does it mean?” I looked up at Hilda.
“It’s a gift. From the rowan tree to you, Agnes. It’s marked you,” Hilda said.
“A gift.” Archie’s voice was soft.
“The oaths have been spoken,” Hilda said, her voice taking on that formal cadence again. “The Order of Caledonia is now complete. Nine women, bound by blood and promise to the service of truth. The Kelpies may now rest.”
She lifted the silver bowl again, but this time she carriedit to the edge of the walled garden, where a small gate opened onto the path down to the loch.
“Now we complete the binding,” Hilda explained. “We return the water to its source, and we tell the loch that its guardians are restored.”
I curled my fingers around the gold leaf in my palm. It felt significant, like I was being told there was so much more that I needed to do, even though I was as exhausted as if I’d just climbed a mountain.
“I can make a necklace for you, for that,” Kaia said, falling in step next to me. She nodded at my palm. “It seems significant, eh?”
“Aye, it does. That would be grand, thanks.”
“Do you think there’s more for you, then? After this?” Kaia nodded toward the loch. “Something with The Three Queens?”
“I think so. I think … I think I might be meant to find them. I’m not sure if I’m meant to bring them home or protect them or warn the others. But now, at least, I know there are others. There are more of us. Out there, somewhere. And I think it’s on me to find them.”
“No big deal, right?” Kaia laughed.
“Aye, maybe that’s a thought for another day. I have to admit, I’d like a week or a hundred to simply breathe without the threat of the Kelpies hanging over our head.”
“Speaking of…” Sophie leaned in and bumped my shoulder, pointing to the loch.
Dark shapes rippled the surface of the water, slowly emerging as we drew close, and even though I’d been assured several times that they were now friendly and wanted to claim their roots to Loren Brae, I still justcouldn’t quite shake the fear that clenched my heart when they raised their heads from the water.
The Kelpies.
They didn’t rise out of the water. Instead, they circled gently, just their heads out of the surface, and waited for our approach. There were no blood-curdling shrieks or glowing red eyes, instead, they were about as placid as ancient mythological water horses could be.
