“You heard me, Alana—you will not leave this room until you are summoned.” He was savagely satisfied.
“Am I to be imprisoned here?” Alana was in disbelief. She could feel the glass bowl of water behind her—as if the water had a life of its own.
It beckoned.
“Come, old woman,” Duncan ordered.
Alana seized her grandmother’s hand. “Gran!”
“I will be fine, Alana. And so will you.”
She was to be locked in her room with water. How could she be fine? Her visions were never pleasant ones. She had spent her life avoiding them—avoiding water. Dear God!
“You will help him, if you can see the future of Buchan,” Eleanor said. “And then maybe he will help us.”
Somehow, Alana nodded. Duncan snorted and took her grandmother’s arm, guiding her rudely from the room. He did not look back as the knight who had brought the glass bowl to her room closed her door. Stunned, Alana sank down on the bed closest to the door.
Behind her, she felt the bowl of water, a forbidding and omniscient presence.
She heard two pairs of steps departing. She stood and went to the door, taking up the latch. As she did, she heard a movement outside. The knight remained in the hall.
Tears arose and flooded her eyes. She walked back to the bed and sat down on its end. She folded her hands in her lap. She did not turn her gaze to the glass bowl.
Was she a prisoner? How could that be? Perhaps the knight was there to protect her, but from what, she could not say.
She wiped the moisture from her lids. There were secrets in the room now, and they felt heavy. They felt dark. She refused to look up.
She recalled Iain of Islay, as he was about to break down the door of the burning manor, as he turned and gazed across the battle at her. She closed her eyes in despair.
This was not the time of think of Iain. She must think about her uncle, her father, her Comyn relations—and the earldom. She must have the courage to seek a vision, instead of dreading one.
Slowly, Alana turned around until she could see the glass bowl of water.
It seemed to stare back at her, cool and clear.
Her heart was rioting in her breast.
The water was still. Silent.
Alana stared, the bowl blurring, but not from any vision. She could not see through her tears.
* * *
“GOODMORNING, MISTRESSALANA,” Buchan said the next morning, his smile pleasant.
Alana stood on the threshold of the great hall, a knight with her. She had been summoned by her uncle, and the knight had retrieved her from her chamber and escorted her downstairs.
Alana managed to reply. “Good morning.” But she was filled with trepidation. She had not slept at all last night. And she had not had a single vision, either.
Buchan gestured her inside. Several knights sat with him at the table, as did Duncan, staring hatefully at her. Her grandmother was not present.
Alana walked to the table, and took the seat indicated by Buchan. “Did you pass a pleasant night?” he asked.
Would he be angry when she revealed that she had not had a vision? Or would he be reasonable? This far, he had not been ruthless or unkind, although she could not decide if she was being kept a prisoner. “I am unaccustomed to sleeping alone. My grandmother has shared my chamber since I was born. I did not sleep well, my lord.”
“I am sorry to hear it.”
“Will I be allowed to see my grandmother today?”
