This is the true start of the fae in my books. Avelina, the first seer.
Chapter Twenty
Alex, leading his family to Ramsay land to support Brenna,
sees the truth of what is about to happen.
Laird Alex Grant led his guards across the valley. When they made it to the other side, he held his hands up to signal for those in the front to wait for the rest to gather. They all knew this was the toughest area to traverse in all of the Highlands. Trekking down this next mountain was slow going. Rocks and pebbles and steep drops that could catch the horses’ hooves threatened to slow their progress. But at least it wasn’t winter.
This was a rare journey for them, one they had never made before as a family, which was why Alex was taking such care. He had two hundred guards with him, but he needed them all. His dear wife, Maddie, rode in a cart behind them with Celestina and the Grant bairns.
After receiving the message about his sister Brenna’s loss, he’d made the decision they would go as a family to offer their support to the Ramsays. Most of his clan had traveled out of the Highlands at some time or another except for Maddie, and she had asked him if he would take her to see dear Brenna.
The entire world knew he was unable to turn his wife down. He still adored her as much as the day they’d married, nay, evenmore. He glanced over his shoulder at the cart. There she sat with their youngest, Eliza, in her lap, next to Celestina, who was cuddling her newest daughter, Catriona, on her lap. Maddie had been telling the little ones stories, but she had stopped short.
Alex didn’t like this one bit. He had never seen such a sight. His mother had always sworn that the land was controlled by the fae, who would come out every so often to shake up the land. He hadn’t seen it happen yet. But this vision in front of him had him wondering whether this was exactly what his mother had warned them about. The fae came when there was trouble, she had said, and they would help a worthy human, a chosen one, lead the land in the direction they desired, in the direction of good.
He recalled Brenna’s question to their mother at the time. “What do you mean, direction of good? Where else would we go?”
They’d waited patiently for their mother to answer. “Sometimes there are evil souls who try to wrest power for themselves,” she had said, smoothing back Brenna’s hair. “But remember that the fae are always watching us. You will know when they step in to provide us with their protection.”
“How?” Alex had asked.
“There will be a strange cast over the land. At first, you’ll just think the day is different, yet you’ll know not why. You will continue, and you’ll feel as though something is there over your shoulder watching you, but there’ll be naught there. Even the clouds and the rain will be different—darker and heavier. You’ll know it when you feel it. Trust me.”
His mother was right. He could feel it.
His gaze narrowed as he searched for any clues, but there were none. They were more than halfway to the Ramsays. His gut told him not to turn back. His sister and her bairns were near the Lowlands.
His decision finally made, he gave crisp instructions. “Once we get to the bottom of the next mountain, Brodie, you’ll take the cart, all the bairns, and one hundred guards. You are to head to Ramsay land using the peripheral route that curves away from Cameron land. Robbie, you’ll come with me and we’ll take the rest of the guards to Cameron land to see if Jennie is safe.”
He didn’t like it. There had been many skirmishes in the Cameron’s land not long ago, right before Jennie and Aedan married. Lochluin Abbey, full of riches, sat near the keep. Apparently, the skirmishes were not over.
Loki, Brodie’s eldest son, rode up behind Alex. “My laird, I’d like to request to travel with you to fight. I think my skills would benefit you.”
Alex turned slowly to address him. Aye, Loki was a clever, cheeky lad, but he lacked good judgment as of yet. And Alex did not like being questioned.
Brodie barked, “Loki, apologize to your laird.”
Alex’s hand came up to stop him. He turned his attention to his nephew. “Loki, are you telling me that the job of protecting my bairns and my wife is not important enough for you?”
Loki paled and stuttered, “N-nay, my laird. Forgive me.”
“You’ll follow the cart and the horses, watching the rear for any threats. I have five bairns that need protecting, and many nieces and nephews.”
Jake and Jamie, his twin lads, growing up so fast it frightened him, spoke up. “Da, we can protect…”
“Silence!” His stare raked across the group. “I know not what we are up against, and you are all to do what I say without question. And when I am not with you, you will do as Robbie or Brodie instruct you. Understood?”
A sea of heads nodded, but Alex’s youngest, golden-haired Eliza, just a wean, began to cry. “Papa, up?” she asked, outstretching her arms to him from the cart.
Alex turned and gave directions to Robbie and Brodie before they all continued on down the mountain. He couldn’t look at his daughter right now. The thought of anything happening to her made him not furious, but ill, quite ill.
He didn’t like this one bit. The tales his mother and father had told him of the fae had conveyed one lesson.
Visits from the good fae came when evil threatened to overtake part of the land.
And what he saw in front of him looked purely evil.
