Page 12 of The Return of the Heir

Alastair turned to his sister and offered her his arm. “Shall we, Rowena?”

She accepted his arm and allowed him to escort her to her place beside him at the head table. Callum sat on the other side. Alastair relaxed into his chair and served first Rowena, then himself from the platter of meat and vegetables that had been set before them. Callum served himself next.

“Has anything strange been happening around the castle since I left?” he asked his brother and sister.

“Such as?” Rowena asked, forking a piece of roasted mutton into her mouth.

“Strange noises? New apparitions?”

“Old castles are filled with strange noises,” Callum said.

Rowena set her fork down as she tipped her head to the side, thinking. “I’ve only seen Mother’s ghost on occasion in the window of the Fairy Tower. But she’s been very active these past five years.”

“How so?” Alastair asked.

Rowena met his gaze. “Everyone here has heard the rattling of chains and odd knocking sounds coming from the tower all times of the day and night.”

“Do you ever hear screaming coming from the tower?”

Rowena shrugged. “At times. That and crying, but we all assumed it was the Grey Lady.”

Alastair stiffened. “Do you ever go to see her?”

Rowena frowned. “Nay, never. Father forbad us from doing so.”

“Father died over a year ago.”

Rowena flinched at the force behind the words. Callum’s featured hardened.

“You’ve never been tempted?” he asked the two of them in a softer tone.

“We never thought about it, even after Father died. He was adamant that no one should release Mother,” Callum said.

Rowena looked away. “I am not so brave as you, Alastair.”

He took her face in his hands and turned her gaze back to his. “You are braver than you think. Aren’t you the one who thinks you fancy a MacDonald?”

A hint of a smile pulled up the corner of her mouth.

He released her. “Have you ever seen the ghost of Gwendolyn roaming the castle grounds?”

“Nay.” Rowena’s smile vanished. “Nor along the shoreline.” She moved closer. “Why, have you seen her?”

“I thought so, in the window of the Fairy Tower when I arrived and not long ago in the front courtyard.”

Rowena’s eyes went wide. “Perhaps her spirit needed you to be here for it to materialise. You left right after she fell to her—” Rowena stopped abruptly. “I’m sorry, Alastair. I did not mean to upset you.”

“You didn’t,” he lied, trying to stem the pain rising in him. “I can’t bring her back, and I’ve stopped punishing myself for something that feels like it happened half a lifetime ago.”

Rowena brought her cool hand to cover his. “It would be understandable if it took some time to set her from your thoughts now that you are home.”

Alastair pushed his chair back from the table and stood. “I am not going to live in the past,” he said more forcefully than he intended. At his outburst, a hush came over the chamber as all eyes turned to him. Irritated with himself, he turned to his sister. “Let’s start by opening the Fairy Tower once more.”

“Are you serious?” Callum asked as he stood.

“But Father forbad it,” Rowena said again and stood as the blood drained from her face.

“Father is no longer laird. I am. If I want the Fairy Tower opened, it shall be opened. For I have no fear of ghosts.” Even as he said the words, a chill rippled down his spine. He had a healthy respect for otherworldly beings, but he would not allow them to stop him from doing what needed to be done.