“You never change, little brother.” Caden pushed back his chair and stood, shaking his head in disgust.“Always so sure only you have the answers. How quickly you seem to have forgotten all the worldly advice you poured in my ears regarding Ellie. Can you no see yer responsibilities lie not in battle but with this woman you’ve brought to our time?”
“What passed between you and Ellie was an entirely different situation!” The Fae had sent Ellie from the future to this time specifically because she was Caden’s Soulmate. His older brother had simply been too blindly stubborn to see it without trickery on the part of the entire family to force his hand. “Abby’s being here is an accident, no the plan of the Fae. As I explained to you before, it was only a slip of her words that brought her here with me rather than sending her to her own home.”
Caden threw up his hands and stalked to the door. “I’ve no the patience to argue this with you now, Colin. I go to send my Ellie to the woman in yer bedchamber. If anyone can help her accept what’s happening to her, my Ellie’s the one.”
“My thanks, Brother,” Colin offered stiffly, but his words were lost in the slamming of the door.
Just as well. With Caden gone, perhaps he could get on with making his arrangements to set out for Methven. Surely his laird could see beyond all this bickering to recognize the urgency of his mission.
“With yer permission, my laird, I’ll be off for Methven at first light on the morrow. With luck, I’ll find our king and advise him of the treachery awaiting his army, hopefully in time to save Dair and Simeon.”
To his surprise, it was his mother who spoke up first.
“I’m no so sure our laird should agree to that plan.”
Blane nodded thoughtfully, his long fingers stroking his chin as he spoke. “I would hear your reasoning, Aunt.”
“Our family heritage has long presented us with uncommon abilities and challenges. Those carry with them a heavy burden of responsibility, as well. Yer own father, Colin, fashed himself over what harm we could bring this world if we used the Faerie Magic for our own gain. I dinna believe it wise for you to act based on what you learned of our future while you were in that other time. Yer cousin Mairi told me herself the Fae forbade the changing of history.”
Always it came back to the damn Fae.
“And who am I to follow the rules of the Fae after all the harm they’ve brought down on our family? Because of the Fae, our lives have been disrupted time and time again. Two of your own children suffered at their hands and almost died, or did you forget that, my lady mother?” Not to mention his own suffering thanks to the Faerie Queen.
“I’ve forgotten nothing, Colin MacAlister. It’s quick you are to point out the bad. But can you no give equal consideration to the good? Would either of yer brothers be happily wed today if not for the Magic of the Fae? And what of yer sister, Sallie? Had she not gone through such as she did, things might have turned out very differently for her as well.”
Colin ground his teeth but refused to argue any further with his mother. Rosalyn was obviously blinded by the happiness she desired for her children. He, meanwhile, was talking about the fate of the entire country. The knowledge of the future he possessedcould make a difference in obtaining freedom for all of Scotland.
“No to even mention all the problems you could cause in the future,” Rosalyn continued. “There are too many unknown disasters you could bring down on the heads of our own descendants with one careless slip in the here and now. There’s a reason you’re no to tinker with the way things are meant to be.”
Blane nodded and steepled his fingers again. “I’ll take yer words into consideration, Aunt. And as for you, Colin, I’ll have my answer to yer request by the time we sit down for the evening meal.”
A moment of doubt assailed Colin, but he firmly pushed it away. It made no difference that he’d not had the chance to read any further in the wondrous book he’d found in Mairi’s library. He knew as much as he needed. Certainly enough to prevent King Robert’s army from complete destruction at the hands of the MacDougalls after Methven. That was all that mattered.
Colin stood respectfully as his mother and his laird left the room. For now, there was no further discussion to be had. But that didn’t change anything.
At first light on the morrow, he would be on his way to Perthshire to find his king. With or without his laird’s blessing.
Twenty-two
It was the stick prodding at his chest that awoke him. A stick wielded by an oddly costumed young woman.
“You alive?” Another poke accompanied her heavily accented words.
“Of course I’m alive, you silly twit.” Flynn slapped away the offending implement to roll to his side and push himself up to sit. “I’m fine. Where the bloody hell . . .”
He lay in an alleyway, tucked between two low, dirt-covered walls. Taking in his surroundings, the sights, the smells, robbed him of his ability to speak. He recognized this place. Rather, he recognized a thousand sordid places such as this one.Wherewas no longer his concern, so much aswhen.
“You dinna look to be so fine, to me.” The woman stepped closer, tossing her long, red braid over one shoulder before prodding once again.
A fiery trail of pain shot through his leg as the tip of her stick pressed against the wound on his thigh. He grabbed the stick and jerked, dragging the young woman to the ground next to him as he wrenched the implement from her hands.
Before she could draw breath to scream, he captured her gaze and forced his will into her softly yielding mind. The fear coloring her expression a moment before gave way to the blank, emotionless stare of the Compulsion’s entrancement.
“Where am I?” he demanded.
“The village of Dunkiernan.”
It had the sound of Scotland as it rolled from her tongue. The style of dress screamed Middle Ages.
