Page 19 of The Archer’s Wish

Still, uncertainty bit at him like the morning cold. What did a man do when the world he’d built around himself shifted under his feet? What did he become?

As he reached for his cane, his thoughts drifted, unbidden, but welcome, to Beitris.

To the feel of her lips, soft and surprised. To the way she had stood impossibly still, as though rooted by something beyond her control. To the flicker of magic he’d felt in the air that night, subtle as a heartbeat.

He wasn’t fool enough to believe the kiss had changed anything between them. Or maybe, just maybe, it had changed everything.

Beitris saw his weakness but never his defeat. She tended his wounds but never stripped him of his dignity. When she looked at him, she saw the man he had been and perhaps the man he could become.

Ambrose lifted his head and gave a low woof, nudging Liam’s knee as if urging him onward.

“Aye, I ken,” Liam muttered, rubbing the dog’s scruffy ear. “Time to face the day.”

He stood slowly, testing his weight. The pain flared, then settled. Manageable. Familiar. He could live with familiar.

As he opened the shutters, pale gold light spilled into the room. The sky was washed in soft colors of peach, lavender, and the faintest brush of rose. A morning that whispered possibility.

His father’s words lingered. Beitris’s memory warmed him. And somewhere deep in his chest, a spark kindled. Small and stubborn, but unmistakably alive.

Perhaps the stone wasn’t the only magic stirring on the isle.

By the time Liam made his way to the kitchen, leaning only lightly on his cane, the morning bustle had begun in earnest. His mother moved swiftly between table and hearth, slicing bread, stirring porridge, humming a tune that was older than the keep itself. The scent of oats and honey mingled with woodsmoke. Home, in all its comforting simplicity.

Effie was already seated, legs tucked beneath her, happily devouring a piece of fresh Bannock bread as if it were the finest feast ever served. Her eyes sparkled with mirth the moment she saw him.

“Well, well,” she drawled, leaning back in her chair. “Look who survived a night in the haunted woods and lived to see the sun rise.”

Liam lifted a brow. “They’re nae haunted.”

Effie pointed her spoon at him. “Aye, says the man who caught up to me so fast, as if being chased by a wee beast.”

He sat with a careful exhale, ignoring her smirk. “I walked normally.”

Effie’s grin widened. “Of course. Ye always flee from enchanted stones at that speed?”

He gave her a flat look. “We didnae see anything.”

“No,” she agreed, lifting her chin with dramatic solemness. “But something saw us. I felt it.”

His stomach tightened, not with fear, but with the memory of that strange flash of light he’d seen.

Effie leaned closer, lowering her voice. “Did ye not sense it? That moment when the forest went quiet. When the lantern flame bent, though there was no wind?”

Liam hesitated. He had noticed the flame bowing.

But Effie didn’t wait for an answer. She tapped the table with triumph.

“I knew it. The miracle stone is listening.”

“Effie,” he muttered, rubbing his brow. “Stones dinnae listen.”

“Magical ones do,” she countered sweetly.

Before he could reply, she fixed him with a look so sly it nearly slid off her face. The lass was teasing him mercilessly, and he’d fallen for it. And yet, he was sure to have seen the flash of light. Something like lightning from the sky but contained.

After finishing his meal, Liam returned to the stretch of woods where Effie had dragged him the night before. He told himself it was practical to learn the terrain, should his relentless, stone-obsessed sister badger him into another nighttime search. But a quieter truth tugged at him: curiosity. Something about this place had felt different.

The morning was washed in silver light. A crisp breeze swept through the trees, carrying the scent of damp leaves and earth. Sunbeams pierced through drifting clouds, catching on the dew-laden grass until the clearing glittered like someone had scattered handfuls of tiny jewels across the ground. Birds trilled loudly, the cheerful chorus bouncing through the trees as if celebrating the new day.