It was her own guilt-ridden blue eyes staring back at her that sent her running from the Norns screaming, their cackling laughter following her in her frenzied escape.
CHRISTIANA’S SCREAM SPIKEDfear in Chase’s chest and had him on his feet, headed for her door.
“No need to get yerself all in a tizzy,” Orabilis assured him from the pot where she stood stirring. “Naught but a bad dream. The dwale does that now and again.”
Bad dream or no, Chase wasn’t taking any chances. Not with the potent combination of drugs she had flowing in her system.
“I think I’ll go check, all the same.”
“Do as you like. I canna leave the elixir I’m working on. No at this stage of boil.”
Chase pushed open the door and hurried to Christiana’s bedside. She lay on her back, the light of the fireplace glinting off the side of her face.
He dropped to his knees and, without thought, reached out to run his thumb over the shiny spot on her cheek.
Wet with tears.
She turned toward him, her eyes wide open.
“You screamed. Are you in pain?” The idea of her lying here in the dark, alone, hurting, was almost more than he could stand. “I can go get you some more of the dwale that Orabilis gave you before.”
“No.” She placed a restraining hand on his forearm. “It’s no my leg but my Visions that trouble me now.”
“Visions?”
She tightened her grip on his arm. “I have little hope you’ll accept what I say. It’s a leap of faith for any man. But you must hear the truth, whether or no you believe me.”
“I’m all ears.” At her frown, he tried again. “I meant to say, I’m listening. Tell me whatever you need to.”
She scooted up to sit on the bed, her expression serious in the faint flicker of firelight, her arms crossed protectively in front of her.
“I’ve the gift of prophecy, come to me through my father’s bloodline. I have Visions of what’s to come. At least, I do when Skuld permits it.”
“Who is Skuld?”
“One of the Norns, the three goddesses who weave the tapestry of our fates. Skuld determines what it is to be, and it is within her world that I travel the Visions to see what is to come.”
Chase’s first instinct was disbelief. But he, the son of a Faerie, living seven hundred years out of hisown time, knew better. The world was filled with Magic beyond mere man’s ability to imagine. And only accepting that fact saved his sanity.
“So it was one of those visions, something you saw happening in the future, that frightened you as you slept?”
Christiana shook her head. “I’m no sure whether what I saw was Vision or merely a phantom brought on by a nightmare. Traveling to Skuld’s world has been difficult since...” Her words stopped as if she changed her mind partway through the thought. “It’s why I came to see Orabilis. I needed the herbal elixir she prepares for me in order to control the Visions. I canna seem to manage them on my own anymore.”
“Maybe it’s whatever is in that elixir that makes it difficult for you to concentrate.”
Again she shook her head. “It’s no a matter of concentration. It’s much larger than that. And as to whether or not it was a true Vision that awoke me, it’s of no import to what I must say to you. Although, that which I just experienced did confirm that I canna in good conscience hold my tongue any longer.”
He waited, allowing her the time she needed to collect her thoughts.
“Yer in danger here.”
“In danger? From what? That little old woman in the other room?” He seriously doubted that.
“No, I dinna mean here in Orabilis’s home. Fora fact, this is the safest place for you to be in all the land.” Her hands tightened around her upper arms, her fingers visibly biting into the tender flesh there. “It’s yer presence at Tordenet of which I speak. Yer in danger as long as you remain there. You and yer brother both. Yer in danger, and it’s my fault for bringing you there in the first place.”
She looked close to tears and she shivered as if she were freezing.
“Listen to me. You just had a bad dream.” He rose to his feet and pushed her gently back down onto the bed, pulling the covers up to her chin. “What you need right now is to sleep to allow your body time to heal.”
