“The autumnal equinox?” Aveline nearly choked as the words left her lips. Did Ronan know that was when she had planned to cast Harley forward to her time?
“Aye,” Ronan nodded, falling into step beside his sister as they made their way back toward the entrance of the Keep. “We’ll have our wedding on the autumnal equinox. The veil of time is thinner then. We’ll be able to project the happiness of our joining to Harley’s family.”
“They won’t know what it is!” Aveline spat, quickening her pace as her mind reeled with Ronan’s news. She had to figure out what to do next. She had to contact Cailleach Bheara and tell her of Ronan’s plans.
Nodding, Ronan easily kept up with his sister, his long legs making a mockery of her scurrying stride. “Aye…that’s true. They willna’ know why they’re feeling a sense of peace. But they’ll know it has something to do with their daughter….and they’ll finally know that she’s truly at ease with her fate.”
Clenching her skirts in her hands, Aveline quickly stepped across the cobblestones, changing course to head for the steps leading to the outer wall.
“I’m happy for ye, Ronan.” She shouted back over her shoulder as she took the steps two at a time. “Tell Mother and Father I’ve gone to the outer wall to try to make peace with the Fates for the error of my ways.”
Shaking his head in bemusement, Ronan laughed as he watched his sister’s disappearing skirts as she scampered up the stairs. Surely the Fates would be lenient with one so young. After all, the lass had meant no harm.
*******
Waiting until she was absolutely positive that all in the castle were asleep, Aveline finally came down from the outer gallery. Pressing the round cobblestone that served as the releasing lever, she tapped her foot impatiently as a secret passage slowly appeared where there was once nothing but a solid stone wall. Grabbing the flickering torch from the iron hook, Aveline sidled her way down the steps blackened with moss and lichens. Pausing to press another releasing stone at the base of the stair, she watched as the entrance to the passage slowly closed.
Carefully making her way down the damp stairway, Aveline did her best to avoid touching the walls. She shivered against the damp chill of the passageway, holding the torch higher to light the way. The farther she went, the deeper she descended into the very bowels of castle MacKay. Pulling her plaid tighter about her shoulders, she consoled herself with the knowledge that she’d be reaching the caverns soon.
Finally reaching the end of the staircase, Aveline scanned the walls for the second torch she knew to be there. Lighting it with the flames from the one she held in her hand, she glanced around the cavernous room opening out into an underground bay. The wise founders of Clan MacKay hadn’t been foolhardy enough to believe their castle impenetrable. Just in case, they’d connected their fortress to a cavern leading to the sea. Several small boats were tied off at the ocean’s edge, kept at the ready if needed for an escape. This was the quickest and the most secretive way Aveline could think of....to contact the Goddess of the Sea.
Pulling a conch shell from the bag hanging at her side, Aveline bent to fill it with sea water. Holding it high overhead, she closed her eyes and silently called to the sea. Just when she’d nearly given up hope that her call would be acknowledged, the waves of the ocean grew in strength as the sea foam stirred at her feet. Soon, the shapely form of a woman appeared, shimmering in the flickering torchlight.
“What’s wrong, child? I heard your cry. Have ye forgotten our plan to make everything right?” Bheara’s voice was soft and soothing, like the sound of water trickling across stones.
“It’s all changed! They’re getting married. We don’t have to do anything after all!” Her head bobbing excitedly the more she spoke, Aveline’s words tumbled out as her voice reached a fevered pitch. “Please forgive me for troubling ye. But all is well. Mistress Harley has found happiness in this time.”
Her silvery brows arching high, Bheara’s stormy eyes drew darker as she gracefully moved along the water’s edge. “And why would ye think that Mistress Harley’s happiness is any concern of mine?”
“What?” Her mouth dropping open, Aveline grew still as she stared at the Goddess in amazement.
Her form growing larger and swirling darker with the deepest colors of the sea, Bheara’s essence completely filled the cave.
“Are ye daft? I said…why would ye think that woman’s happiness is any concern of mine? Nothing has changed…all will proceed as planned. The woman will return from whence she came.”
Wringing her plaid nervously between her hands, Aveline cautiously drew closer to the water’s edge. “Please forgive me. But Ronan and Harley have found love. To separate them now….would be truly wrong.”
Her menacing laugh echoing thru the cave, the Sea Goddess laid a chilling hand against Aveline’s cheek. “Since when are ye concerned with what is right and what is wrong? It didna’ stop ye from meddling with the fabric of time in the first place to change another’s fate.”
“I…I…was wrong,” Aveline stammered, forcing herself not to close her eyes as Bheara’s cold angry face hovered barely inches from her own.
“Then we must make it right. Don’t ye agree? We must return everything to the way it was before.” Her eyes narrowing into malicious slits, Bheara smiled as Aveline stood shaking before her. “The woman goes back and Ronan returns to me. At the Autumnal Equinox, ye will cast the spell as planned.”
“Please don’t make me do this. Please…I didn’t mean any harm.” Aveline dropped to her knees as she stared up into Bheara’s disdainful gaze. “Ronan loves her so much. He will truly hate me if I tear her from his side.”
Turning her back to the pleading girl, Bheara slowly receded with the ebbing waves. “It is to be done as we agreed. Call to me no more with your troubles. The woman goes back to her time.”
Covering her face with her hands, Aveline’s shoulders shook as her sobs echoed thru the cave. Ronan would truly hate her now….and her family would never forgive her.
*******
“Ye were quite cruel to my little one. I was tempted to strike ye down when her sobs filled the air.” The deep voice washed thru the cave as though the sea were speaking to the stones.
“Now…now…ye know ‘tis all part of the plan. We must make her seek ye out…to stop me from my evil ways.” Bheara’s laughter bubbled up thru the stone formations sprouting from the base of the cave.
A deep sigh blew thru the darkness, rippling the top of the water into white caps washing up on the shore. “This mortal is special. Her powers are great….I want her to willingly choose to sit at my side.”
“Aye…not to mention the fact that Brid willna’ allow ye to take her….unless she chooses to go. The MacKay’s are protected and even though the child overstepped her bounds, Brid willna’ allow the family to suffer o’er much for those deeds.” Bheara’s current form of bubbling sea foam danced on the crests of the waves.
“Brid knows what I feel for this mortal. She is nay against my joining with one so strong in the ways.” A deep tidal pool swirled thru the cavern, dispersing the foam from the surface of the sea. “But what do ye gain from this, my love? The mortal ye cherish will no longer consider ye his only love.”
As sea spray dancing thru the air, Bheara chided her consort of the salty waves. “A mortal’s love only lasts as long as the beating of his heart. Once his soul escapes its fragile body, his memory of me is lost. But if Ronan and his wife remember me to their children and sing tales of me down thru the generations their love will create, then I will truly be adored forever as his Goddess of the Sea.”
The tidal pool once more swelled as the rich voice echoed out of the darkness. “Then let us hope these mortals play out this game as we planned. So, the both of us find the love that we seek.”
CHAPTER NINE
Carefully spooning the soup into his mouth, Harley watched closely to ensure Emrys didn’t choke on the hearty broth. He’d taken a chill a few days back and his old body
just couldn’t quite seem to shake it. From working in nursing homes for several years, Harley feared the worst for the white-haired old man. Rachel had told her Emrys was ancient when he’d take Caelan forward in time over twenty eight years ago. Although how old exactly, she couldn’t fathom a guess. Harley figured he must be at least in his seventies…and for this century, that was a feat in itself.
“I’m seven hundred and seventy-seven,” Emrys snorted, his eyes narrowing beneath his bushy brows.
Pausing with the spoon in mid-air, Harley’s eyes widened in disbelief. “That’s impossible! And stop reading my mind! You know how rude that is.”
Slumping farther back into the pillows, Emrys reprovingly clucked his tongue. “Ye should know by now that nothing is impossible. I’m a Master Druid. We’re excellent cheaters of time.”
Returning the spoon to the bowl, Harley set it on the table beside the bed. Tossing her heavy braid behind one shoulder, she stared in amazement at the ancient man lying in the bed. “Why would anyone want to live that long? Didn’t it break your heart to watch everyone you loved…pass on?”
Smiling beneath his unkempt mustache, Emrys heaved a great sigh. “Thank goodness Aveline chose a woman with some sense to bring love to her brother’s life. Most people think they want to live forever simply because they fear what’s on the other side.”
Her eyes narrowing, Harley leaned forward grasping Emrys’ hand in her own. “Why do I get the feeling that you know what’s on the other side? Can you tell me what you’ve seen?”
With a wink, Emrys brought a shaking finger to his lips. “Some knowledge is never meant to be shared for it can never be understood unless it is experienced firsthand. Why do ye think religion spawns such terrible wars? ‘Tis because it’s so grossly misunderstood.”
Chewing her lower lip, Harley slowly nodded as she gently squeezed his hand. “What I do understand is that you need to get better. Ronan and I want you to perform our wedding rites.”
“If the Goddess wills it, then it will be so. We will just have to wait and see.” Emrys’ voice grew weaker as his eyelids grew heavy and he struggled to stay awake. “Tell Rachel to stop doctoring my broth with herbs. I’ll sleep when I damn….well…..please.” His statement lost its strength as it ended with a snore and a wheezing sigh from his chest.
Gently placing his hand under the covers, Harley tucked the blankets up under his chin. She truly hoped the old man would somehow conquer this ailment in time to properly bless the wedding ceremony. She knew there was a priest from a nearby village who would gladly perform the wedding for the son of his Laird. But Ronan wanted the rites performed by the cantankerous old man he’d known all his life. The one he loved as a grandfather.
Harley glanced around the room, grimacing at the contents of some of the jars lining the shelves. Some of Emrys’ bottles and crocks reminded her of the science lab she’d avoided back at college. Wrinkling her nose, she wondered what they were for as she pondered the words scrawled in Latin on the labels.
Rising to wander about the room, Harley glanced back making sure Emrys was still asleep. He might be weaker in his current state but Harley had no doubt he’d find the strength to scold her for snooping about his library. Making her way back to the farthest alcove, she soon found herself standing in front of three of the largest mirrors she’d ever seen. At least, she thought they were mirrors. The surfaces were darkest obsidian, polished and smoothed to a glossy shine. But whenever she passed in front of any of the three surfaces, no reflection appeared within the ancient frames.
Admiring the intricately carved frame of the mirror farthest to the right, Harley barely traced her fingertips along the unending knots. As soon as she touched the ornately decorated frame, the surface of the mirror sprang to life. She watched in amazement as faces appeared. She leaned closer, trying to make out exactly who the people might be. Her hand fluttered to her throat as she finally recognized Aveline as one of the figures at the center of the scene. Her eyes narrowed as she watched Aveline place herself between what appeared to be a very angry woman and a couple standing too far back for Harley to make out who they were. Aveline seemed to be trying to shield them from some sort of harm. She watched in horror as the angry woman changed into a dark shrouded figure pointing an accusing hand first at the couple and then at the weeping Aveline.
“Stay away from those mirrors!” Emrys coughed and sputtered as he struggled to push himself up from the bed.
Jumping back as though she’d been burnt, Harley whirled around to face him. “Dammit, Emrys! Don’t scare me like that!”
Finally making his way to a sitting position, Emrys leaned back into the pillows as he shook his head. “Ye have no training. The Mirrors of Time are not…let’s see…how would ye put it in your time? They’re not some cheap parlor trick….to be toyed with for your own amusement.”
Her hands flying to her flaming cheeks, Harley wrinkled her nose as she nodded toward the once more blank surfaces. “I wasn’t toying with them. I was just….looking at them. I thought they were just old mirrors.”
Rolling his eyes, Emrys shook his head as he folded his spindly arms across his chest. “Nothing in this room is quite as it seems. Ye would do well to keep that in mind.”
Pulling up a chair closer to the edge of the bed, Harley shook her finger in the old man’s face. “Tell me what those images were…was it the future that I was seeing?”
Staring at the ceiling, Emrys stubbornly jutted his chin in the air. He wasn’t about to decipher what Harley had just seen. He’d barely survived training the three MacKay sons and their headstrong sister. He’d be damned if he had to begin training the boy’s wives.
“Emrys! Tell me! It looked like Aveline might be in trouble. If there’s some way we can figure out when this was happening…and what it was…then we might be able to….I don’t know….change it or something.” Harley leaned closer, pleading to the stubborn old man.
“Oh no! What ye saw was a mere snippet of time and those snippets are often easily misread.” Now it was Emrys shaking a warning finger in Harley’s face, his tired blue eyes snapping with renewed vigor. “Tampering with events when ye don’t fully understand them, ALWAYS makes things worse.”
With a frustrated growl, Harley jumped up from the chair, pacing back and forth in front of the bed. “Well then...I could at least tell Ronan. He’s trained…and powerful. Maybe he could figure out what we should do.”
Cocking one eyebrow, Emrys fixed Harley with a sardonic glare. “So ye’d endanger your betrothed by enmeshing him in a vision ye dinna understand? I’m tellin’ ye….leave the Mirrors alone.”
Harley’s face fell at this latest revelation. What if what Emrys was saying was true? After all, the harder she thought about the vision, the more confused she became about exactly what she had seen.
“All right. I’ll leave it alone. But I can’t help but feel that it was a warning…something’s about to go very wrong.”
Watching her as her shoulders slumped in defeat, Emrys exhaled with relief. He wasn’t about to tell her that it probably was a warning or that the Mirrors never responded to an untrained touch unless it was of the most dire of situations. Once he was stronger, he would search them himself. He just prayed that he had enough time.
*******
Standing at the bow, looking out to the horizon, Harley smiled as she breathed in the scents of the sea. Gulls cried out overhead as they circled the masts, soaring ever higher thru the crisp winds tugging at the sails. She loved the sounds and the scents of the ocean. She’d dreamt all her life of sailing across the sea. Snorting softly to herself, she found it rather ironic that she’d had to travel back in time to realize her dream.
Coming up behind her, Ronan encircled her with his arms, pulling her back against his chest. Propping his chin on top of her head, he couldn’t remember when he’d been so content. Whenever he was with Harley, he felt complete. There was nothing in the world that he couldn’t conquer. He knew Aveline had ig
nored the rules of time, but he couldn’t say he was sorry. His sister had given him the greatest gift of all. She had gifted him with the other half of his soul.
“Will we live on your ship? Or will we live at the castle?” Harley leaned back against his chest, shivering in delight at his hard body snuggled against hers.
Cradling her even closer into his arms, Ronan rubbed his cheek against her hair. “Wherever ye wish to live, my love. As long as I have ye by my side, I care not where I’m standing.”
Remembering how wickedly passionate they had just been in the lush captain’s quarters, Harley wriggled her backside against his thighs as she stretched to gift him with a kiss. “Then I choose the sea. The rocking of the ship on the waves definitely adds to the…..rhythm….of things.”
Ronan groaned as he deepened the kiss. Silently thinking to himself, they’d left their secluded bed too soon. Finally raising his head, he gazed into her eyes, losing himself in their whiskey colored depths.
“Thank the Goddess that I’ve Dagun as my first mate. For I think we’ll not be spending much time out on deck.”
Pressing a restraining finger against his lips, Harley struggled for restraint as she shook her head. “Before we…well…just…before…there’s something I need to tell you.”
At the tremor of uncertainty he heard in Harley’s voice, Ronan immediately stopped his unbuttoning of her tunic. “What is it? What’s wrong, Love?”
Frowning as she worriedly ran her fingers up and down a fold of his shirt, Harley wrestled with her conscience. Wasn’t it wrong to keep secrets from Ronan? Especially one that might involve his sister’s safety? Aveline still wasn’t her favorite person in the world, but for the good of the family, Harley was trying her best to put the past aside. So, even though Emrys had warned her against it…shouldn’t she tell Ronan what she’d seen in the mirror?
A Heartbeat Back to the Highlands Page 12