It struck her, then, how much the older woman reminded her of her own mother. It made the sting of loss surface with a fierceness she hadn’t expected. Maybe that was why Evie liked spending so much time with her in the kitchen—because she reminded her of their mother, too.
Roslyn helped her dress, taking care with her healing shoulder. Chloe stuck the piece of her keystone in her pocket, determined to keep the thing on her from now on. The woman gathered up the rest of her clothes for washing and headed for the door.
“Roslyn, has there been any news of Jamie?”
She stopped and turned to face her, the sorrow creasing her face. “Not a word. His lordship sent several of his men back toMacDonald keep, but it was deserted. Apparently, there was a fire that destroyed most of the castle.”
More guilt. It was going to take some time for her to get over that. “No word on where they went?”
She shook her head. “None. I pray he returns to us soon, though.”
“I pray for that, too,” she said and meant it.
She wondered if the stronghold was too damaged for them to stay. She hadn’t meant to burn it down—it truly was an accident. And, as a historian, it pained her to see the fortress go up in flames by her own hand. If they did flee to someplace else, maybe they took Jamie with them as their prisoner.
Roslyn turned back to the door and opened it. When she did, Evie was on the other side. Her face was alight with excitement, her cheeks flushed pink.
“Chlo! You won’t believe it. You have to come to the tapestry room!”
She rushed in and grabbed her by the hand, tugging her toward the door. She gave an apologetic glance at Roslyn as they both rushed out of the room. The woman merely grinned and gave a low chuckle as if the occurrence was not out of the ordinary.
She followed her sister’s hurried steps down the stairs, through the great hall, and finally to the room they were calling the tapestry room. The door stood open. Candles blazed brightly in their holders. Evie tugged her inside and paused in front of the wall hangings.
All the images were the same as the last time she was here, but there was one in particular that was different. Previously, it had had nothing more than a faint image of a woman’s silhouette, faceless with the wind blowing her hair to one side.
Now, this tapestry clearly showed the woman’s face with eyes the color of a winter morning, long sun-kissed auburn hair,and golden skin showing hours of sun worship. She was tall, thin, curvy. She was beautiful with high cheekbones, pointed chin, full lips. Freckles dotted the bridge of her nose. She wore a white gown that billowed around her. Her feet were bare. She stood on the edge of a craggy hill with one hand clenched by her side.
Chloe stared at it a long moment and then sucked in a breath.
“Brianna?” she asked.
“Yes! Can you believe it?”
“No,” Chloe said, and meant it. “Do you think this is right?”
“It’s never been wrong.” She marched to the wall of tapestries. “Before you arrived, this image appeared.” She pointed to the one of her falling through time with Bruce behind her. “And this one showed me falling from the sky to the ground after I arrived.”
Chloe moved toward the wall hangings to get a closer look. She glanced from the one of Brianna to the one with the Triple Goddess. The one with the three of them standing on the craggy hill with Moira’s hand glowing.
“It looks like she’s standing in the same place as they are.” She motioned to the first tapestry. “Her hand is clenched by her side. Do you think she’s holding her piece of the keystone?”
“She’d have to be, don’t you think?” Evie examined the first tapestry Chloe indicated. “You’re right. It looks like she’s standing in the same place as the Triple Goddess.”
Chloe looked closer at the one with Brianna. She thought she saw new images bleeding into the fabric next to her. As though ink had been spilled and it was slowly spreading along the textile.
“Look at this.” She pointed to the smear. “What do you suppose that is?”
Evie narrowed her gaze as she stared hard at it. She shook her head. “I don’t know. It looks like new images are appearing next to Brianna.”
Chloe didn’t want to say it but she suspected those new images next to their sister were them. Brianna represented the future. If what they were looking at was the future, then wasn’t it plausible she and Chloe would be standing there with her?
“Maybe we wait and see what comes of that,” Evie suggested.
“Yes,” Chloe agreed. She made a mental note to return later to look at the tapestries to see if they had changed.
She decided now was as good a time as any to tell her sister her news. She reached for her hand, grasping it in hers.
“There’s something I want to tell you, Eve.”
