He widened his stance and clasped his hands behind his back. This reminded him of the time he had been sentenced to hang for piracy and had yet to figure out his escape. The grim sense of doom was the same. “I dinna ken what ye speak of, Mother.I merely stayed out longer than usual this time.”
Lightning splintered the sky and deafening thunder immediately followed. The air crackled with the stinging bite of the storm’s energy.
“Don’t you dare try to dance around the truth with me.It didn’t work when you were a child, and it won’t work now.”She turned from the window, her amethyst eyes flashing. “You know very well I’m not referring to the time you were at sea.If anyone knows you belong there, it is me. I won’t say I like it, but I understand it.”
As soon as he opened his mouth, she cut him off with the sharp glare that he and his brothers had always known better than to test.“Think long and hard before you attempt a poorly crafted lie. I know you’ve been blocking the Mirrors to prevent Aveline from seeing you.She and I both know you’re troubled over—something. I even spoke with the Goddess Clíodhna.” Her disgusted snort flared her delicate nostrils. “That was a waste of time. Now, tell me what is going on with you before I send you outside to cut a switch for me to use on yer backside.”
“We are not back in yer Kentucky, Mother. I am far too old for such a useless scolding.” Ronan powered his own show of lightning, farther to the west of his mother’s and risingup from the sea.
A powerful crash of lightning hit so close; the air stank of sulfur.The castle walls trembled with the force of the blast as thunder exploded, then rolled across the keep as though determined to level it. “You would do well to think twice before battling with me.Where do you think you got yer powers?” His mother’s voice had taken on a lethal tone, clearly warning she would tolerate no level of disrespect.
Ronan bowed his head. “Forgive me.Ye ken I would never disrespect ye—not ever. But I am a man grown and canna be sheltered by ye forever.” The tightness in his chest ached even harder. It was almost as if the strange pain needed him to bare his soul to her as much as she yearned to hear it. But he could not. He was far too old to run to his mother as he had done as a child whenever he was hurt or frightened.
Her head tilting slightly to one side, she released a heavy sigh as she studied him. “Your father says I worry too much. But as long as you live and breathe, you will always be my little boy.” She moved closer and gently lifted his face, forcing him to look her in the eyes.“Let me help you.Tell me what it is that’s clouding those beautiful green eyes.” She touched his chest and frowned. “You are hurting, Ronan. I feel it.”
He covered her hand with his and slowly shook his head.“I dinna ken what it is,” he whispered. “I fear someone has cursed me with some unknown thing that is meant to rip my heart in two.How can ye help with that?”
“Tell me what you feel. Exactly.Maybe if I read your eyes while I listen, I’ll be able to hear what it is and discover what’s eluding you.”She locked gazes with him, willing him to open his heart and soul and allow her to peer within.
The aching throbbed harder, begging him to accept her help. Of course, if he couldn’t trust his mother, who could he trust? He swallowed hard and shook his head again. “I hear an eerie call.A tremendous sorrow. There is a great loneliness out there beseeching me to find it—and help it.But I dinna ken where it is, who it is, or how to help relieve their suffering.” A restlessness churned deep in his gut ashe unburdened his soul. “Someone needs me, Mother, but I canna find them.”
Her brows knotting into a worried frown, she eased back a step.“Do you still feel it here? When you’re ashore?”
He gave over to a heavy sigh and nodded. “Aye. ’Tis even stronger since we reached Scotland.The closer we drew to home, the stronger the feeling became.”
She slowly paced around the room, thoughtfully tapping her chin. “You should be safe from the MacKay curse. As firstborn, Faolan should be the only one to suffer with that.”Her scowl tightened, became more puzzled. “Do you know of anyone who might have cursed you?”
“Nay. I’ve not angered anyone powerful enough to inflict such a misery upon me.” He fidgeted in place, ashamed that he’d been unable to solve this problem without her help. “Now, ye ken why I stayed out so long this time, and why I blocked the Mirrors of Time to prevent Avie from visiting with me overmuch while I was at sea. I dinna ken if whatever this is might be a danger to the clan.” He clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles popped. “I canna stay here long, Mother. I’ll not risk bringing harm upon those I cherish more than life itself.”
“That is not the answer to this, and you know it.” She jabbed the air, pointing at him with a sternness that he remembered well. “You should have come to me immediately. We are more powerful together.”
He scrubbed a hand across the stubble of his jaw. “Then tell me the answer.Who am I supposed to help—and how?”
Tapping her chin once again, she returned to her pacing. “I don’t know. But I will!Give me a little time.”
The cloakedfigure stood in the cave’s mouth, waiting with a flickering torch held high. The steady pounding of thewaves echoed and rumbled up through the maze of caverns lining the rocky shore, sending their song back across the sea.
In her favorite form of a powerful wave, the Goddess Clíodhna rose to meet the figure, the white foam on the water’s crest rising high in the moonlit night. As the water receded, she stepped onto the stone ledge in the shapely form of a mortal woman. Her white hair glistened in the full moon’s light as it poured around her shoulders and swirled down around her feet.
“Ye ken I demand payment for my favors, do ye not?” she said to the hooded figure in front of her.
“I gave ye my oath, and it remains as I stated it before. In return for yer aid, ye will never be forgotten throughout eternity.”
The goddess frowned, still unsure if this alliance was a wise one. She narrowed her eyes as she handed over a small sack cinched tightly with a leather cord. “Powerful words for a mere mortal. What do ye know of eternity?”
“I know more of it than ye might think.”
With a slight nod, Clíodhna turned and faced her beloved sea. “If yer oath be broken, ye will be the one to replace that soul, ye ken? Manannán grows fond of that heartbeat tickling against his chest.”
The hooded figure turned to go, pausing only long enough to say, “I promise, and I never break my oaths.”
CHAPTER 7
Ronan threw his plaid around his shoulders and quietly left his room. He couldn’t sleep. Whether because the castle failed to rock and gently sway like his ship or because the uneasiness that had plagued him for months now seemed stronger and more unnerving than ever before. He scrubbed his knuckles up and down his breastbone, half wishing he could reach inside his chest and rip the unsettling thing out of his body.
He moved quietly down the dimly lit hallway, pausing to peer out an arrow slit facing the sea. With his face pressed to the tall, narrow opening, he sucked in a deep breath of the briny air and held it. Thankfully, the faithful waters always provided what little ease there was to be found since that unknown force had started haunting his every waking hour.
After descending the stairs, he stepped out into the clan’s gathering hall.
