"Of course 'tis me. Who else would I be?"
Rupert hesitated. "But—but last night..."
"Never mind that. I'm a man again. 'Tis all that matters."
"Thanks be to God."
"Indeed." And Torr prayed he wouldn't turn into that beast again.
Rupert disappeared inside the tower, his footsteps thudding on the steps.
A minute or two later, he returned and shoved a plaid, belt, and shirt through a small opening in the portcullis. "'Tis the clothing you dropped last night."
"I appreciate it." Torr yanked the shirt over his head, then carelessly belted the plaid into place. As long as he was covered, he didn't care about tidiness.
The guard unlocked the lesser gate beside the portcullis and allowed Torr inside.
Rupert must have sent one of the lads for Angus, for his brother now hastened down the outside steps from the great hall.
"What the devil happened last night?" Angus met Torr in the middle of the bailey, his reddish-brown beard stark against his pale skin. His troubled gaze scanned over Torr.
"It had to be the witch's curse I told you about."
"Saints. I had nay inkling such wizardry existed," Angus hissed.
"Nor did I."
"Do you think 'tis over?"
"I pray it is."
Finnian, an ancient man with a long white beard and a dark cloak, approached, then stopped beside them. He narrowed his perceptive gaze upon Torr as if analyzing him. Their grandfather's cousin was a physician and inventor.
"Finnian has agreed to help you if this shift should happen again," Angus said.
"Do you know of curses?" Torr asked the elder.
Finnian lifted a bushy white brow. "My mother had the sight."
Torr wondered how that would help him. "And?"
"'Haps I can figure out how to undo the curse, lad. That is, if you turn into a beast again."
'Twas highly probable he would. Why would the witch curse him for only one night?
Torr found his suspicions correct. Every evening at sunset, he shifted into kelpie form, then back into a man at dawn. He sent missives to his friends and learned that, because of the curse, Gavin transformed into a hawk at daybreak, then back into a man at sunset. Brodie, on the other hand, was cursed into the form of a selkie and stayed out at sea most of the time. Would the three of them be able to remain friends and visit again?
