“What?” he asked, leaning closer to Lenora.
“Lillith made her own wish,” she whispered.
“What did she wish?” Lady Marion demanded.
“Grandmama!” Lenora cried out. “’Tis a secret.”
“It’s a secret you’ll be telling all of us,” Lady Marion replied, her tone stern, “so we can help your sister and truly understand what’s occurring.”
Lenora nodded. “Lillith made a wish when we were eight summers, and Da would nae dance with us at the Summer Solstice Feast, and he growled at Lillith when she asked him to dance with us, and—”
“Lenora!” Rory interrupted, his patience snapping. “What was the wish?”
Lenora blurted, “She wished to nae ever have her heart broken! And then the seer Eolande appeared out of thin air, and she told Lillith that if that was her wish, she needed to guard her heart and nae ever give it to a man.”
The women all groaned in unison, and Rory cursed.
“Such careless words!” Marion hissed, shaking her head, “but this explains much.” She looked to Rory. “Do ye want one of us to go with you?”
“Nay,” he said, turning and heading toward the door. “This is between Lillith and me. Nae all of ye, and nae the king.”
Lillith stumbled over a root hidden by the deep snow, fell to her knees, and dragged herself back to her feet to continue up the hill. Masie barked, and Lillith nodded. “I see the Wishing Tree, too, girl.” She heaved a tired sigh but kept going. Her toes had gone numb quite a while ago, which was odd, because she was dripping sweat from running to the tree. Her lungs burned, her side pinched, and her head pounded, but she welcomed the pain. She deserved no less. The most significant pain, however, was in her heart. The shattered pieces of it ached.
Tears blurred her eyes once more as she saw Rory lying unmoving on the ground by the watering hole.
She’d killed him with her stupid challenge! She’d killed the man she loved! Black fright swept over her once more, and she raced the remaining distance to the tree, falling before it to the frozen ground. Her knees immediately began to throb from the hard hit, but she ignored the fierce ache and pressed her hands to the tree, squeezing her eyes shut. Beside her, Masie snuggled close.
“Eolande!” she called out. “Eolande, hear my wish, please, please. My deepest fear is nae any longer having my heart broken, it’s losing the man I love, Rory Matheson. He’s dead! I killed him, but I did nae mean to. Please, please,” she sobbed, pressing her forehead to the cold bark of the tree as well as her hands. “Please grant me this wish. I wish ye to bring him back to me. I wish to experience the joy of love. I want to take the heartache that comes with it, if only ye will hear me and grant my wish!”
When no answer came, she repeated her wish. She repeated it until her voice was gone from crying and bellowing her wish. She began to hit the tree until her hands ached, as Masie whined, but no response came. She shook with fear and sadness, and a grief so strong, so deep, she was certain she might die. She shoved herself to her feet, stinging with cold, and turned,looking almost blindly around her. What could she do? Eolande was not answering. What could she do?
She had no notion. She’d not wanted to love him, and now she did, and he was gone. She’d not wanted to love and have her heart broken, but by the gods, she wished she’d just loved so that she could have that joy, those memories, that time with him, as well as this sorrow. She turned toward home, not knowing what else to do, and took tentative steps at first, but then found herself running with Masie yapping at her heels. She needed to see Rory. To say goodbye. She pushed herself faster down the hill, and then she hit ice. Screaming in terror, she slid for one moment before her feet flew out from under her, and she fell. Her head met rock, and darkness consumed her.
Marion sat by the fire with Lenora, Eve, Sebillie, Elena, and now Rolland, Caleb, and Brus. The women had talked a bit at first, but as the hours dragged on, silence fell, and each time one of the men returned, driven home by the winter storm, the mood grew a bit more somber. The door to the solar opened once more, and Iain and Royce walked in, and they cursed in unison when their gazes fell on the other men here, but no Lillith.
Lenora burst out crying, as did Eve.
Elena reached out and took Rolland’s hand in hers, and Sebille went to Brus, leaned over him, and hugged him.
Marion rose as Iain came to stand before her. Without a word, they hugged and, in unison, said, “I’m sorry.” Marion quickly told Iain what she’d already told the other men who had returned, about the wish Lillith had made long ago and how Rory had gone to the Wishing Tree to see if she was there.
“And he’s nae returned?” Royce asked, unshed tears in his eyes. Marion’s heart twisted for her son. She knew from the raw pain on his face that he blamed himself.
She shook her head. “Nay,” she finally managed to say, past the lump in her throat.
“He’ll find her,” Iain said, his tone confident. “He’ll find her and keep them both safe until the storm passes.
Marion squeezed Iain’s hand. “I hope so.”
Iain pressed a kiss to her forehead. “He will, and when he brings her back to us, we’ll tell her then what I’ve nae had time to tell ye until now.”
“What?” she asked.
“We signed a treaty with Rory for peace.”
“I do not understand,” she said, frowning.
Iain gave a small smile. “That man has more sense than we MacLeod men,” Iain said, and to Marion’s surprise, her sons and son-in-law all nodded. “Rory will take the peace treaty to the king if Lillith declines to wed him, and he has offered to take all the blame himself.”
