Dierdra looped a silvery blonde tress behind one ear as she sadly smiled down into the gurgling water. “My mother was a witch who was determined to bring me into the reality of her physical world. She met me when she conjured me in a vision and knew I was her chosen child. She couldn’t bear our separation and longed to cradle me in her arms. Our energies were as one while she traveled through the cosmos and she knew I’d be lost to her upon her awakening. She didn’t realize some wouldna be able to accept me when they saw me for what I truly was. My father had her killed when she laid me in his arms and he saw I was one of the touched.”
Ciara’s reflexive thirst for vengeance tightened in her throat as she remembered the starkness of the innocent girl’s existence. She struggled to tamp down her protective rage and her desire to strike down the cruel Sinclair. She had to concentrate on remaining in Dierdra’s mind. Negative energy would only confuse Dierdra’s thoughts and flush her out of the girl’s consciousness. She reached out to smooth her fingers through the girl’s silvery hair as she ground her teeth and steadied her temper. “I’m so sorry, Dierdra. I’m so sorry you had to suffer the loss of your mother and grow up in the household of such a cruel and vicious man.”
A serene smile lit Dierdra’s face as she gave Ciara a reassuring shrug and tucked a flower into Ciara’s dark hair. “Don’t be troubled, my brave new friend. My mother’s soul is now free to travel where it will. Nothing can ever harm her again. As for my father, I feel nothing but pity for the man for he will never know true peace in his heart. His soul will soon arrive in the depths of the abyss. That place is far worse than anything he could ever do to me.”
Ciara’s heart caught at Dierdra’s benevolence. So mistreated and yet still so pure. Ciara took a deep breath. She covered Dierdra’s fragile hand with her own as Dierdra trailed a willow branch in the stream. “Dierdra, would you like to spend a little while in the Land Beyond the Mists? Would you like to visit the land known only to the immortals?”
Dierdra dropped her stick and clapped her hands as she bounced up and down beside the spring. “Oh yes! I’ve been longing to know more of that place since I was just a wee bairn. Before my mother’s soul left me, she sang a lullaby to me of the Land Beyond the Mists. I never dreamed I’d live to see it. Only the immortals live beyond those gates. My mother’s lullaby is the only song I’ve ever heard and I’ve always kept it in my heart.”
Again, Ciara swallowed hard at the lump of emotions aching in her throat. How could one who had only known suffering still be at peace with such a cold cruel world? “Dierdra, I need to explain to you exactly what will be done. While you’re spending a bit of time away from this world, I’ll be here making people believe that you’ve never left. I’ll be the one to marry the MacKay chieftain and I’m going to bear him a child. Then no one can ever say you’re not really his wife and force you to leave the safety of the MacKay keep. When you return, they might think you’re not well. However, they’ll never doubt you’re truly his wife. You’ll never be locked away for being different or treated unfairly ever again.”
Ciara watched Dierdra’s face to see if she understood. She needed Dierdra to understand and remember the truth. While Dierdra appeared quite lucid in her current state, Ciara knew Dierdra would revert to her usual state of confusion as soon as she awoke from the dream.
Dierdra hummed to herself and ran her fingertips across the petals of an oversized rose she held to her nose. “Ciara, ye know it doesna matter how they treat my body. Ye know they can never touch my soul.”
Ciara took a deep breath. She’d never been the patient sort but she didn’t dare get flustered. She didn’t have the time to argue with such philosophical logic but she wanted to be sure the information seeded somewhere in Dierdra’s subconscious mind. The girl would need to have the basic knowledge of what had happened to be able to cope with life when she returned to the harsh reality of the world. It would be eight odd mortal years later. It would be difficult enough for Dierdra to adapt. Somehow, Ciara had to seed what was going to happen deep within Dierdra’s mind.
With a placating nod, she eased the rose out of Dierdra’s hands and leaned forward until she was almost nose-to-nose with Dierdra. “You are absolutely right. They can never touch your soul, but if we’re able to outsmart them, then getting through this life won’t be such a trial. Wouldn’t it be much more pleasant to be physically comfortable until it’s time to move on to the next plane and the newest adventure?”
Dierdra’s clear gray eyes darted about the forest of her mind as though searching among the swaying trees for an answer. At last, as though a ray of sunlight settled upon her face, she gifted Ciara with a smile. “I agree with ye completely, my new friend Ciara. We will play our game of hide-and-switch to trick those who don’t understand me. When do we get to start our game? When do I get to pass to the land of the immortals?”
Finally. Exhaling as though she’d been holding her breath, Ciara raised one hand to summon Alec from just beyond the other side. “My friend Alec the raven is here to guide you. He will take you through the mists and get you settled. First, could you please stand and let me have a good look at you? I need to make sure we’re able to look just alike whenever it’s time for us to return to our own lives.
Dierdra jumped up from her seat on the mossy bank and raised her arms in the air. As she spun around, she lifted her face so Ciara could study her appearance.
Long blonde hair the color of spun silver framed her small oval face. Spidery blue veins traced just beneath her skin, which was as translucent as the finest bone china. Her tiny frame danced as delicately as an elfin maiden. She reached just above Ciara’s waist. She had nary a curve. She could barely make a shadow so slight was her tiny body. Dierdra seemed almost ethereal in her appearance so fragile and wispy was her form.
Ciara circled the tiny maid, her fingers tapping out her thoughts against her chin. She bit her lip and turned to Alec waiting on a branch in one of Dierdra’s imaginary trees. “The goddesses were right. She will have to be the one hidden by a glamour. I was going to try to assume her form but I don’t think I can make it work. I don’t think I’d be able to contain my energy within such a fragile form for such an extended period. She is so tiny, soairy. Since I’m a Fury, I don’t think there is any way I could maintain such a level of tight control over all my conflicting energies.”
“Don’t worry, Ciara. No one has seen me but Father and it’s been years since he set foot in my rooms.” Dierdra bent to pick a handful of flowers from a nearby bank, skipping away as she pulled the petals from the stems.
“What?” Ciara blinked at Dierdra then hurried to follow the maid deeper into her mind. “What do you mean no one’s seen you? Are you telling me, he’s kept you locked away your entire life? How did you receive your food? Clothing? How have you survived?”
Dierdra spun in a circle, skipping along the path. She laughed as she let the flowers flutter to the ground. “The doors to my chambers are usually kept locked from the outside. Sometimes the servants forget and I wander the hallways until someone happens to hear me. The servants always leave the food tray in an anteroom and my seamstress is a deaf-mute who lives in fear of my father’s wrath. My father forbade anyone to ever look upon me or allow any around me who can speak. He told them my beauty was too great to behold but I know ’twas because I am simple. I once had a servant who could actually speak, but I havena seen her in several years.”
Ciara’s frustration mounted as though she were about to burst into a lightning storm. If not for the fact she’d given her mothers her word, she’d hunt down Gordon Sinclair this very night and rip his soul from his body. Ciara promised herself when this current task was over, she’d be having a word or two with the cruel Sinclair. She eased her anger by thinking of several choice ways she’d torment the man before he died.
However, that still didn’t solve the problem of what form she should take since at some point in time Dierdra would have to return. As an experiment, she passed her hands over Dierdra’s body, then stood back to survey the results.
With a croaking screech of approval, Alec cawed from the tree. “Well done! The lass looks just like ye.” Hopping farther down the branch, he cocked his sleek black head and peered closer into Dierdra’s face. “But the eyes aren’t right. Her eyes are still gray, they’re no’ the golden color like yours. Other than that, ye look quite the same. Wave your hand again over her eyes.”
Ciara shook her head and stroked her chin as she circled the smiling Dierdra who could now pass as her twin. “I can’t change the eyes. The eyes are the reflection of her soul. I can no more change her eyes then I can my own.”
“Are we ready now? Can we go to the other side? Are ye ready to take my place?” Dierdra hopped up and down on each foot as though she were a child begging to go to the fair.
Ciara motioned Alec over and gently took Dierdra’s hand. “If you’re ready, Alec will be your guide. Take care, my innocent, we will return to fetch you soon.”
Dierdra gave Ciara an affectionate peck on the cheek. “Goodbye, brave Ciara! I shall see ye soon!”
ChapterThree
With a thunderous scowl, Faolan glowered at his reflection in the polished shields lining the room. He had not been so dressed since his parent’s burial. He wore the regal splendor befitting the laird of a powerful Highland clan. His family tartan hung low about his hips; his dress sporran rested to the side. The well-oiled ceremonial dirk was tucked into its band. Rather than the usual snow-white tunic, his was a rich black silk given to him by his seafaring brother. His sleek black hair was restrained back into a warrior’s braid, secured tightly with a silver band. The MacKay crest pinned his plaid to his shoulder. He supposed his colors served him well.
Faolan drummed his fingers on the arm of his chair. The chair. The seat of authority, where every MacKay chieftain had listened to arguments between his people, elicited judgments, and where every MacKay laird had greeted his bride upon her arrival at the betrothal feast. He sucked in a deep breath and glared around the room.
Faolan wished for the hundredth time he was somewhere else. If not for the fact that the girl would suffer, he’d have slipped away and disappeared into the Highland wilderness. As far as he was concerned, his yammering advisors could all go straight to hell. However, he wouldn’t do that to the poor innocent lass. His well-paid spies had confirmed the reports. Dierdra Sinclair was a child trapped in a woman’s body.
The Sinclair clan would arrive soon and with them, his future bride. Faolan had overheard the chambermaids guess at Dierdra Sinclair’s appearance. No one could recall ever seeing the lass in the twenty-odd years that she’d been alive. Her father claimed he kept her locked away due to her unbelievable beauty. But the rumors of her clouded mind had been impossible to squelch. Even though the man had executed the poor child’s mother and any servant heard speaking of the child, Gordon Sinclair had been unable to keep her affliction as hidden as he’d kept her face.
