Mairiana bit her lip. She could not admit to such a thing before she had even told Darack. He should be the first to know.
"You don't have to say so, but I ken you do." She patted Mairiana's hand.
***
Darack lay in bed for ten days, his fever worsening each day. Mairiana prayed and cried until her eyes were swollen and scratchy.
Three of the clan elders, the healer, his mother, and a priest stood around his bed.
"You ken what we are going to have to do, don't you?" Osgar, one of the elders with a long white beard, said.
Mairiana's stomach knotted as she awaited the answer.
"Nay, what?" Nora asked.
"Immerse him into the waters of Loch Gheasaibh. 'Tis the wee enchanted loch up in the hills."
Father Bhradain stiffened as he swiveled his head toward the man who had spoken. "What?" he snapped.
"Aye, 'haps you have nay heard of it, Father, since you're new here. Legend says 'tis enchanted by the fairies. My grandfather told me that, long ago… before my time, the first chief was near mortally wounded in battle near there. He begged them to put him into the water at the loch's edge. When they did, he was miraculously healed."
"'Tis the work of the devil," the priest said.
"Nay," Osgar said, his dark eyes widening. "The Almighty created the loch and the water in it, so it must be His own work."
"You already said 'twas a fairy loch. That means 'tis heathen."
"Whatever works," another elder named Reas said.
"I will not risk the lad's immortal soul because of your heathen customs," Father Bhradain griped.
Mairiana looked to the healer who stood nearby. Would she be the voice of reason?
Gertie finally said, "I agree with you, Father. Taking him outside and putting him into ice cold water could kill him in this state. He is burning up. Surely, it would be too much of a shock to his system."
"I have heard of someone else being healed in the loch," Nora said.
Mairiana rose to stand with them. "You have? Who was it?"
"A friend of mine," she said vaguely, "from the next village."
"Anything is worth a try, is it not?" Mairiana asked.
"Who are you?" Father Bhradain asked in a stern tone, surprising her. She'd met him days ago. Did he not remember her?
"Mairiana MacKerrick, Father." She curtsied. "My brother is chief of the MacKerricks."
"Well, I suppose that makes you an expert on matters of healing the body and preserving the spirit."
Mairiana felt as if she'd been slapped. Bitter cold mortification ran through her. She had never run afoul of a man of the church. She always did what she was supposed to, but the life of the man she loved hung in the balance.
"I agree with Osgar," Mairiana said firmly. "God created the loch and filled it with water. There is no such thing as fairies. 'Tis only a legend of the old ones."
"I believe it could work," Nora said.
"You're all mad! And I forbid it!" The priest stormed out.
Mairiana searched the stunned faces of those around her. She could not believe Father Bhradain had just forbidden them to take Darack to the healing loch. Well… on second thought, aye, she could believe it.
