Chrissi wanted to reply. Truly, she did.
Something pithy and witty like, “Oh yes, well, I understand a chilly mud bath is excellent to invigorate circulation. ’Tis all the rage in Paris.”
Nothing came out but a wail.
She expected him to ask the meaning of her tears. To berate her or...something.
Instead, Alis’s expression turned soft and . . . and loving.
He pulled her into his broad chest, a large hand coming to cover the back of her head.
“Hush now, lass,” he whispered.
Chrissi melted into him, drenching his shirt with her grief and hopelessness. And, truth be told, a goodly bit of mud.
Unconcerned, his arms held her tightly and she felt him press a kiss to her sodden hair.
“Ah, Chris,” he murmured. “Could ye not have had a goodgreitin your bedchamber? The bog seems a wee bitty dramatic.”
His teasing words simply made her cry harder.
How she had missed him . . . missed this sense of closeness.
She had longed to be in his arms once more. To feel thethump of his heartbeat under her cheek, to burrow into the warmth of his body.
They stood for a long while, emotion pouring from Chrissi as the sky lightened around them.
“Oh!” She pushed off his chest with a start. “The sunrise. We can’t miss it!”
Hurriedly, she wiped at her tears and looked toward the eastern horizon and the light swelling there.
“Sunrise?” Alis asked.
“Yes!” Somehow, a warbling half laugh made it past her tears. “It’s why...” She reached for his hand. “It’s why I’m here. I promise; I am not entirely mad yet.”
He wrapped his strong fingers around hers.
“The stone.” She pulled him forward. “Hurry.”
Hand in hand, Alis steadying her, they reached the small island of sturdy ground where the solitary stone stood.
He scrambled onto the mound first, extending a hand to help her up.
Chrissi reached the stone just as the first rays of dawn streaked across the landscape. Standing beside the granite slab, she sighted along it back toward the chambered cairn and stone circle below the castle.
“Oh!” She clasped her hands to her chest.
Alis followed her gaze.
“Bloody hell,” he whispered in awe.
From their vantage point beside thegowk stane, the gleam of the rising sun threaded precisely between two of the standing stones and illuminated the center monolith, turning it into a pillar of fire rising above the rest.
“The summer solstice sun,” Chrissi said quietly, reaching for his hand once more. “A symbol of life and renewal. Of course thegowk stanewould help light the way.”
Alis looked around them. “The celebrations must have been enormous, eons past. An entire population gathered towitness this single, miraculous moment.” He shifted, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her tight against him once more. “How did ye know?”
“A hunch. Other similar sites align to the winter or summer solstices, so it seemed probable that this one did, too. The lone stone out here felt key.”
