"Aye." Finnian pulled it from the pouch at his waist.
"Mayhap you can look into it and locate Brodie."
Gavin's eyes widened when he saw the object. "How in blazes did you get Wilona MacRae's keek-stane?"
"Cat and I took it from her at the manor house," Torr said.
Gavin still appeared perplexed. "I stole it from her several weeks ago and hid it in a cave near Caithmore. I wonder how she found it."
Torr shrugged. "Somehow she must have, 'haps using magic... unless 'tis a different one."
"It looks the same." Gavin frowned at the object Finnian held. "We must keep an eye out. She may have followed us. Since she can vanish at will now, she could be anywhere."
"'Tis true." Torr glanced at the cave's ceiling, looking for a bat, one of her favorite forms. "I'm certain she will want to prevent us from demolishing the final branch of her curse."
"Can you see her in the keek-stane or determine her whereabouts?" Gavin asked Finnian.
"Thus far—nay. I'm thinking she's using a cloaking spell."
"She considers every detail," Torr muttered.
"If you will give me a few minutes alone here, I'll look into the scrying stone," Finnian said.
Torr and Gavin exited the cave and joined the guards on the blustery shore.
"Where does your chief usually go?" Torr asked Brodie's sword-bearer, Kenneth.
The tall, beefy man scowled, his dark brows lowered. "He will nay tell us and forbids us to follow him. Who kens if he is even safe out there?"
"When we were lads, we heard many stories and rumors about selkies living on the islands," Torr said.
Kenneth nodded. "As did I."
"Have you seen them?"
"No one can tell them apart from the natural seals that lie about on the slippery rocks." He glanced sharply toward the ocean. "The tide's coming in, sir. I'll have the men prepare a birlinn."
"We appreciate the help," Torr said.
"Glad to. We wish our chief to come home." Kenneth strode away toward the bay in the distance where several galleys swayed and bobbed. Brodie's guards followed, leaving Torr and Gavin to gaze at the lonely gray isle in the distance. Two of Gavin's guards waited a few yards away.
"The curse was hellish," Gavin muttered low. "Being a lone animal, feared by your clan."
Torr nodded, hardly able to believe his shapeshifting days were finally over. "Aye, 'twas."
"Brodie must be feeling the same way now."
"Indeed. 'Tis such a blessing to be free of the curse." And a blessing to have Cat's love.
"You said he has yet to read the missive I sent?" Gavin asked.
Torr shook his head. "Cat brought it for me to read. 'Twas before I received mine."
"I cannot wait to tell him there is hope."
"Lads!" Finnian emerged from the cave, a grin almost hidden in his white beard. "He is indeed in a cave on the island, there." He pointed.
"Och. 'Tis good news." Optimism lifted Torr's mood. "Return to the castle, Finnian, and get some rest. We're going out on the galley."
