“Yes. But different. This time, I was looking through someone else’s eyes. Someone named Alexander.”
His eyes widened a bit. “MacLeod?”
“Yes.”
“My ancestor.” He said with a sort of reverence she had never heard before. “What was this vision?”
“There were two other men. One named Padrig. One named Brodie. The man named Brodie had a great axe. It was—” She halted, unsure of her next words because it sounded crazy to her own ears. “The great axe was glowing.”
“Is this the same great axe in the tapestry?”
“I think so.”
He made a low noise deep in his throat. “That is Brodie MacDonald. Our clans have been sworn enemies for hundreds of years.”
“Alexander said something about being betrayed. I didn’t understand, but I had the sense the feeling of betrayal was strong.”
It was more than that, though. Chloe downplayed it because she didn’t want to alarm him to how much shefeltwhile being in that vision. She sensed the sting of perfidy running deep within Alexandar when Brodie broke their truce—a truce to keep their lands safe from the northern invaders. She assumed he referred to the Vikings who had raided the shores of England and Scotland for hundreds of years.
“Aye, there was that. The MacDonald turned the Sinclairs against us. Padrig was the clan leader of the Sinclairs, asAlexander was the clan leader of the MacLeods. That was over five hundred years ago, though.”
Confusion skipped through her. How could she have seen something from so long ago? Why? What did it mean?
“Was there a battle?” she asked.
“Och, aye. A bloody one at that. And if what yer telling me is true, then this battle is the one that happened around the same time as the Shattering.”
That got her attention. She managed to sit up, pushing out of his arms and blinking owlish eyes at him.
“The same Shattering that’s depicted in the tapestries?”
“Aye, the verra one.”
She pressed cold, shaking fingertips to her lips. She was convinced the vision meant something. She had to find Evie and tell her everything. Maybe she would have answers as to why she had had the vision. Unlikely, but she needed her sister.
Flushing hot, she realized she was still naked. And so was he.
Quickly, she gathered up her clothes and started to dress. She placed the keystone on the edge of the bed to pull her shift on over her head, keeping an eye on the offending stone the entire time.
“I’ve kept you long enough from your duties. I’m sorry about that.”
“I’m not.”
She glanced at him to see a smirk on his face. He had already donned his tunic. He tugged on his plaid, securing it around his waist, and then pulled the remaining material up and over his shoulder.
“If yer hungry, see Roslyn in the kitchen.” He kissed her cheek. “I hope yer here when I return.”
“I’d like to be.”
With one last longing look, he left her alone in the chamber. She glanced down at her hand with the bandage. It no longertingled or seemed to bother her. She unwound the gauzy material to check the wound.
There was nothing left of the cut except a pink silvery line where it had healed.
CHAPTER 20
Bruce MacDonald sat at the great hall table with a tankard of ale in his hand listening to the arguments of the men around him. One of them was his ancestor, Rory MacDonald, known as Rory the Fierce. They were arguing about how to best their archenemy and get their hands on the pieces of the keystone. They’d been searching for it for over five hundred years, ever since that fateful night when the Triple Goddess destroyed it, then hid it across the far reaches of Scotland, only to be found when it was time for the Final Convergence.
That time was nearly upon them.
