“Mistress Harley Trent, these two are my brothers, Faolan and Latharn.We three entered this world just minutes apart.Faolan is the eldest, and Latharn is the youngest.”
She noticed Ronan narrowed his eyes at his brothers, glaring at them as if warning them to behave.
“Welcome to our home, Mistress Harley,”Faolan said with apolite bow before shooting a bored scowl at Ronan. “Calm yourself, brother. She has not been in my dreams.”
“In his dreams?” Harley repeated to Ronan. “What does he mean by that?”
Before he could answer, Latharn seated himself on her other side. “’Tis good to meet ye, lass. Mayhap ye can tell us of the future?”
“Latharn!”
Latharn rolled his eyes and turned to the older man who had entered the room with them. “Mistress Harley, allow me to introduce ye to Laird Caelan MacKay—our father.”
Harley once again caught her bottom lip between her teeth. Now she knew where Ronan and his brothers had gotten their size. Taller than his sons but not quite as muscular, Laird Caelan MacKay cut a striking figure with his sandy blond hair whitened even more with streaks of silver.
“It’s an honor to meet you, Mr. MacKay.”Her voice trembled and cracked, no matter how hard she tried to sound braver than she felt.
“LairdMacKay, lass, if any of the clan is about. But when it’s just family, ye may call me Caelan.”He settled a stern glare on his youngest son as he seated himself at the head of the table.“And please, Mistress Harley, it would be best for all concerned, if ye refrained from telling anyone specific details about the future.The tapestry of time is a delicate thing, indeed.The slightest meddling could be disastrous.”
“I understand.” Or she would when she had time to think about it. Currently, her thoughts were muddled enough, trying to sort out how to adapt to the current dilemma that was her life. She glanced at Latharn and noticed his eyes glinted with mischief. That one was trouble. She’d bet her camper on it. She bit her lip and bowed her head. Her poor little camper. It wasn’t much, but it was hers, and now it was gone.
Determined not to cry in front of Ronan’s family, she lifted her head and nodded at Caelan. “Don’t worry about me meddling with?—”
“The tapestry oftime,” he prompted.
“Yes. The tapestry of time. I don’t know any secrets that might change the course of the world.”
“You never know,” Rachel said as she shook out the cloth beside her plate and placed it in her lap.“Changing the most innocent of details might prevent you from ever existing.”
Harley frowned, pondering the possibilities.“Like—if while I’m in the past, I kill one of my ancestors, then I might never be born?”
“Ahh…wise as she is beautiful.” An elderly man who epitomized every long-haired, long-bearded wizard Harley had ever seen in the movies hobbled up to the table, leaned his cane against it, then sat in the seat across from her. “I am Emrys, master druid of the clans.”He nodded his snowy white head at her, and the tips of his mustache twitched upward in what she assumed was a smile.
“Master druid of the clans?”Harley’s mind spun with all the intricacies of the world as she now knew it—or as she didn’t know it. Now, she had to make sure she didn’t alter history. Wasn’t her mere presence here altering history? What about that? Didn’t she hear a joke about this once? If you traveled to the past and killed your grandfather, how could you ever be born to travel to the past to kill him? She pressed a hand to her chest, not feeling well at all and praying she wouldn’t embarrass herself by getting sick at the table. She didn’t even know where to run to if she needed to throw up. No indoor plumbing or a nice, quiet porcelain bathroom in which to hide.
Emrys leaned forward and squinted at her.“Try not to think about it o’er much, lass. ’Twill only make yer head pound.”
“Dinna fash yourself, Harley.Soon ye will feel right at home, and I promise to help ye any way I can.”A young woman joined them and slid into the vacant chair between Rachel and Caelan.
“Mistress Harley, this is Aveline, our youngest, who often takes her time when it comes to getting to where she is supposed to be.”Caelan glared at his daughter, then returned his attention to Harley.“We will all do our best to help ye adjust to being here, and I promise ye the protection of Clan MacKay.”
“But ye will soon find that Ronan is yer greatest protector,” Aveline said. “After all, ’twas him who freed ye from the locket.”Shewinced and twisted away from her mother as if she had just been kicked under the table.
“Freed me from what?”The hairs on the back of Harley’s neck stood on end as she searched everyone’s faces for more information. An eerie chill tingled across her, and her stomach churned. “What did you mean by that?”
“Aveline, you will go to my solar and wait,”Rachel said through clenched teeth while scowling at her daughter.
“But Mama, she needed to?—”
“Now!”Rachel rose, caught Aveline by the arm, and walked her to the archway.
Aveline disappeared into the stairwell but sent her frustrated wail echoing back to them as Rachel returned to the table.
“What did Aveline mean?” Harley asked, determined to get an answer.
Rachel stared at her, clearly not comfortable with the subject. “Are you familiar with any ancient Celtic lore? Tales of the gods and goddesses?”
Harley blinked, confused by the shift in the conversation. “A little. Maybe.I was always more interested in tales about the sea. Mermaids and sea monsters and such.”
