Something which became more apparent when everyone finished dining, and she said the last thing I wanted to hear, but knew I had no choice. None of us did.
“You promised me a normal evening, and you delivered, because it was lovely,” Ellie said, smiling warmly at everyone before her smile faded. “And I promised to tell you everything I know, so it’s probably best if we head to the War Chamber, where there’s no risk of being overheard.”
And so we did, despite my wishing this dinner could go on for hours and I could avoid whatever truths she was about to share. All I knew was it would lead to the same outcome.
She was determined to go to Dugal Sutherland.
I could feel it deep inside her like a festering wound of inevitability I couldn’t fight, nor should I want to, given she was doing it for the good of our clan. For the good of Scotland and its people.
Yet I had no idea how much more specific it would become. Not until everyone settled in the War Chamber with its crackling fire, and she shared how much more intricate her life had been.
It was safe to say it shocked everyone, including her sisters.
“It’s difficult to know where to begin,” she said, looking at her sisters, “other than to say, as I’m sure you’ve gathered, it began with our father, Malcolm Sutherland, who had five daughters. One in this century and four in the twenty-first century, Lilias being the firstborn and me, the secondborn, then onward.” She hesitated as if trying to gather herself before continuing. “What you don’t know is all five of us have the same mother.”
Not surprisingly, her sisters made audible sounds of disbelief before Ellie went on, remorseful she hadn’t been able to tell them sooner, but strong as she met each of them in the eyes.
“DNA testing wasn’t able to get around our parents' magic, so no one knew we were full siblings.” She shook her head, and her voice softened. “Even us. And that was what they wanted, for us to stay hidden in the twenty-first century. To remain our parents’ best-kept secret from the likes of Elspet Sutherland and her son.”
“Because they knew the time of the pact was coming,” my mother said softly, her eyes flaring gold with her inner magic as Ellie’s secrets started to unravel to us all via her inner beast. “’Tis why they were determined to banish Malcolm so he couldnae possibly harness the power of the pact not only as laird but as one of the most powerful dragons ever born to them.”
“Yet they didn’t realize the strongest of them, the one who would ignite the pact, was already living among them,” Broderick exclaimed, from where he sat behind his desk withAspen on his lap, seeing it as clearly as the rest of us. “She was just a mere lass without much to her name, born in their village.”
“Och, ‘twas nothingmereabout her,” came a disembodied voice before Grant Hamilton appeared by the hearth in all his ethereal glory. He wore a whimsical expression, not phased in the least by almost everyone’s surprise at his sudden, otherworldly appearance. “Despite her quiet, subtle beauty and unassuming, bashful ways, Marjorie Sutherland, whom her granddaughter was eventually named for, was the diamond the evil and sinister clan members were seeking, because she descended from the sorcerer.” He shook his head. “But nobody knew it, not even her.”
“Yet Malcolm must have,” Adlin theorized, from where he stood beside Grant, despite no doubt already knowing the answer. “Given all that has happened since.”
“He did not,” Grant returned, issuing a soft smile that bespoke a romantic nature, but then, once upon a time, and undoubtedly in the Hereafter, he was still desperately in love with his twenty-first-century time traveler, Sheila. “Rather, they fell in love over time like any two people might. With passing looks and growing attraction despite her lowly standing within the clan. Yet we all know when it comes to true love, societal standing verra seldom plays a role.”
“And they married and had a child together,” Aspen murmured, seeming to see what Grant saw. “Lilias.”
“They did.” Grant’s smile warmed all the more. “And they loved wee Lilias for she was as kind and good as her simple-born mother.”
“That’s when it began,” Willow realized, her eyes widening from where she sat tucked against Sloan's side on the settee, peering at the antique ring she wore. “That’s when the simple iron ring she had worn that had been handed down over the generations by her modest, farming family, transformed intowhat it is today, masked by the immense magic lying dormant inside her.”
“Aye,” Grant confirmed. “When that happened, her beloved husband, who should have become laird and ruler of his kingdom, realized the pact of old betwixt the MacLeods and Sutherlands was finally upon them. So it would only be a matter of time before Elspet and her kin imprisoned Marjorie and did whatever it took to remain in control of how the pact unfolded. It would ensure they captured the lass with a gem over her dragon’s heart, using the powers they harnessed from her and one of their own, not for good but to do harm.” Grant shook his head. “And mark my words, the harm they intended goes far beyond Scotland’s shores and into the future.”
“But not if our father got out ahead of it,” Hazel deduced, as astounded as the rest of us by the lengths Malcolm and Marjorie Sutherland had gone to protect so many. Yet there was sadness in her voice, and with good reason. “But it came at a tremendous cost.”
“It did,” Ellie said softly, looking at her sisters with her heart in her eyes. “Their firstborn daughter, our sister, Lilias.”
“They had no choice but to leave her behind to protect her the only way they knew how, from the unraveling spell and because she wasn't destined for a MacLeod nor would she ever be found among them,” Hazel said on a sad sigh, giving Evan’s hand a supportive squeeze. “I remember her being sad when we were teenagers because she was an orphan, but I never knew the details.”
“Nor I,” Evan said, his eyes pained for what the woman he loved had suffered. “One day her parents were there and the next they were just gone, her father banished and her mother killed, or so I thought, given she has a grave Lilias has long mourned over.”
“Graves can be deceiving,” Adlin said, staring out the window at Aspen, Hazel, and Willow’s trees in the distance. “As can witches like Marjorie and dragons such as Malcolm, for they were verra powerful indeed.” His gaze returned to Ellie and her sisters. “Just look at all they accomplished for you four, from your trees to the Morrow, even influencing the Hereafter, I suspect.”
“And all for the sake of keeping their lineage out of Dugal and Elspet’s power-hungry evil hands,” Lucas said.
“Better still, right under their nose,” Ellie said softly, sharing another piece of the puzzle, speaking to the extraordinary lengths they had actually gone to.
Chapter Thirteen
–Ellie–
WHILE I expected sharing what I knew with everyone in the War Chamber would be difficult, I was surprised by how relieved I felt when I finally opened up. How it felt like a crushing weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I no longer had to lie to my sisters or punish myself because I was unable to warn them about what was coming. Yet as I opened my mind bit by bit and let them see the truth, I took a deep soul-cleansing breath, it felt like a great burden lifted.
I still had to sacrifice myself to Dugal Sutherland, but at least now my sisters and their mates knew the truth. And could recognize where the help had come from and how at least some of the victories were achieved.
