Highland Mist

by Donna Grant

  “I didn’t think you accepted the Druid’s help,” Gregor said, his arms crossed over his chest.

  “I haven’t. Many centuries ago the Druids and the MacInnes clan made a pact. Nothing can destroy that pact, no matter how much I’d like to.”

  For long moments Gregor looked at him before giving him a curt nod and walking away. Conall sighed. He prayed he wasn’t wrong about Gregor.

  He had just emerged from dunking his head in a vat of water when he heard a sentry call that riders had been spotted. Conall wiped the water from his face and grabbed his sword and bow before running to the gatehouse tower.

  Once he reached the top, he searched the land but saw nothing. He was about to ask the sentry if had indeed seen a rider when thunder rumbled in the distance. Except it wasn’t thunder.

  It was an army.

  “The MacNeil has arrived.” He turned to his soldiers. “Ready yourselves, men. The devil has come to MacInnes Castle.”

  * * * * *

  Glenna bent next to the river outside the circle and washed her face and arms. Moira had accompanied her and they laughed at the antics of a baby bird learning to fly.

  Suddenly she stood. “Moira.”

  “I know,” her sister replied, and rose. “MacNeil has come.”

  Glenna ran to the cliff that overlooked the valley. She watched, horrified, as line after line of MacNeil soldiers came into view. “There’s so many.”

  “We can handle them,” Frang said as he came to stand beside her and Moira.

  She couldn’t hide her surprise. “You’re going to help Conall?”

  “Of course, child. The Druids and MacInnes made a pact long centuries ago.”

  Moira laughed. “So whether Conall wants our help or not, he’s going to get it.”

  Relief filled Glenna until she thought of her vision of Conall’s death. “I just hope it’s enough.”

  “You’ve had a vision,” Moira said, her eyes gazing intently at her.

  “Of Conall’s death.”

  Frang hung his head. “We need him to fulfill the prophecy, so we must make sure to keep him safe.”

  Glenna spotted Effie riding next to the MacNeil. “The traitor has returned.”

  “And she holds Ailsa,” Moira said.

  “Then it begins.”

  Moira grabbed hold of her arm before she could turn away. “Be careful. We need you yet.”

  “The MacNeil won’t kill me. He has use of me, remember?”

  “Please. Just be careful. We aren’t immortal.”

  * * * * *

  “St. Brigit,” Angus whispered.

  Conall quite agreed when he saw the amount of men the MacNeil had brought with him. Fury erupted when he spotted Ailsa sitting in front of Effie with her hands tied together.

  The MacNeil broke away and walked his horse closer to the gate. Two burly men flanked him on either side. “Well, Conall, I told you I’d return. Are you willing to trade?”

  “Not until I see Iona.”

  MacNeil snickered. “Are you telling me you think I have her?”

  “Don’t you? She would’ve returned home if you didn’t hold her against her will.”

  “Maybe. But the truth is I don’t have her.”

  Rage ripped its way through Conall’s body until the only thing he saw was MacNeil’s death. “Show her or die.”

  MacNeil shared a laugh with the soldiers beside him. “It would be very difficult for me to give her back to you. I suppose I could, but I don’t think you’d recognize her.”

  With teeth clenched tightly together Conall struggled for control. “Why’s that?”

  “She’s been in the ground for quite some time after I slit her throat.”

  Conall’s wrath erupted, but before he opened his mouth to answer, a commotion to his left halted him.

  His heart stopped and fell to his feet when he caught sight of Glenna.

  * * * * *

  Glenna wanted to run and hide the instant MacNeil’s evil eyes alighted on her. Instead her gaze sought Conall. He stood in the tower above the gatehouse, his black hair cascading around him. His steady gaze gave her strength.

  “Come, Glenna.”

  She looked to the man who had killed her parents and separated her from her sisters and began to tremble. She couldn’t do this. She wasn’t ready to face him. Her powers couldn’t be controlled and one move on his part would prove it.

  And with that fear her eyes again found Conall. His willingness to give everything for the return of his family touched her deep inside. If he could face a monster, knowing he might die, then she could face the devil and vanquish her demons.

  She took a deep, calming breath and folded her hands together. “You will return Ailsa. Now.”

  “Not until you come with me.” He nudged his horse and rode closer to her.

  Contempt ran rampant through her. After everything he had done to her, she wouldn’t back down from him. Not now. Not ever. She wanted answers and she would get them. “Tell me, MacNeil. Why did you kill Iona?”

  He placed a hand on his hip and laughed. “She got in the way. She would’ve filled your head with nonsense, just as these people have.”

  “All they’ve done is give me the answers I’ve needed for years.”

  “Enough talk. The past can’t be changed. Now come down from there and we’ll go home.”

  “Not until you return Ailsa to Conall.”

  Indignation twisted MacNeil’s face. “Fine,” he spat, and motioned for a soldier to get Ailsa.

  “One other request,” she said. She almost laughed aloud at the incredulous expression on his face.

  “What?” he asked between teeth clenched tightly together.

  “The MacInnes clan wants revenge. Give them Effie.”

  The MacNeil mulled this over for a moment. Effie began calling out to him. With a small wave of his hand another soldier grabbed Effie.

  “Nay, MacNeil,” Effie screamed. “You canna do this to me. I was to give you sons.”

  The soldier roughly hauled her facedown over his horse as MacNeil’s words reached Glenna. “You might have given me sons, Effie, but with Glenna I’ll have the world and sons. All you could give me would be your little black heart.”

  Glenna should feel pity for Effie, but no such emotion could be found. Effie had sealed her own fate when she took Ailsa. Glenna waited until Ailsa and Effie were safely inside the gates before she turned her attention back to MacNeil.

  “You surprise me,” she told him.

  “Really? Then that means you don’t really know me.”

  “Not true,” she countered. “I know a great deal. I know you killed my parents.”

  “Lies. All lies. Why are you listening to these people? You’re a MacNeil, lass.”

  Finally she would be able to do what she had wanted for a long time. She brought around the MacNeil plaid she had hid behind her back. “I was never a MacNeil,” she said and set it afire.

  She was glad he was too far away to see the surprise on her face that her powers had actually obeyed her. MacNeil let out a roar but stopped his soldiers when they would have attacked her. This time Glenna did laugh.

  “Find something amusing, lass? You’d be dead now if I hadn’t stopped my soldiers.”

  “I think not. After all I am a Druid, and just who do you think inhabits this forest?”

  The amicable expression faded from his face. “So you think you know everything now?”

  “She knows enough,” Moira said, and came to stand beside her.

  MacNeil narrowed his eyes. “Who are you?”

  “Don’t you know?” Moira asked. “I would think you’d know me upon sight since it was my cousins you killed that night.”

  He clenched his hand into a fist and stared at his clan’s plaid burning to ash.

  Moira raised her hands above her head. “The prophecy is about to come to pass. You managed to slay our parents but all three of us escaped.”

  * * * * *


  Conall yearned to listen to all Glenna said to MacNeil, but the moment Effie rode through the gates his clan erupted in violence. They screamed for her death as he pushed through his soldiers to get to Ailsa. Not until she was safely in his arms did he allow himself to believe she was home.

  “I’ve got you, love. You’re home now,” he said as he crushed her to him.

  “I never doubted it, Da.”

  He squeezed his eyes shut and buried his face in her neck. She had so much faith in him, and it reminded him of someone else who had that much faith in him. Glenna.

  “Ailsa,” he said as he set her on her feet. “I need you to go to your chamber and stay there until I come for you.”

  “Are you going to bring Glenna back?”

  “Aye, love, I am.”

  She leaned over and kissed his cheek. “Good luck, Da.” With that she ran between people’s legs and then through the castle door.

  He might have lost a sister, but he had gotten his daughter returned, thanks to Glenna, and he would be damn sure to get Glenna back as well. But first he had to calm his clan before they killed Effie.

  “Conall,” Angus yelled above the shouts of the clan. “We have a wee problem.”

  * * * * *

  MacNeil lifted his sword as a signal to his men. The entire army raised their bows, crossbows and swords, but Glenna wasn’t worried. There was nothing they could do with the MacInnes clan safely inside the walls.

  A shout from a MacInnes soldier alerted her that something wasn’t right. She turned and saw buildings ablaze within the bailey.

  “Now, Glenna,” Moira said urgently.

  Glenna concentrated all of her energy but couldn’t put out the fires. “I can’t,” she whispered as fear overtook her.

  “Don’t let him win,” Moira urged as she took hold of Glenna’s hands. “You can do this. I believe in you.”

  Glenna gazed into her sister’s green eyes, eyes that she somehow knew looked just as their mother’s had. She nodded and searched her mind for a way to combat the fires. If she couldn’t put them out herself, then she would find something that could.

  She concentrated on the blaze sweeping rapidly toward the barn. “Moira, stop the wind,” she called.

  Please let this work.

  Her eyes focused on the barn as she waited for the men to get all the animals out. When the last animal ran from the building she focused her powers, and to her amazement the barn caught fire.

  “Moira, push the fire.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Conall emerged from the barn to see the fire closing in. It would soon reach the castle. His clan was no longer safe here. “Angus, get them to the caves.”

  But the clan had stayed focused on Effie even while the fire burned. When the flames had started, he had glanced at Gregor, thinking he had betrayed him, but Gregor had stayed by his side.

  Whoever set the fire was Glenna’s attacker, and the only one who could give him those answers was Effie. If the clan didn’t kill her first. Before he reached Effie, a loud explosion sounded behind him. He turned to find the barn ablaze, but the original fire had yet to reach it.

  “There,” Angus shouted, and pointed to the cliff.

  Glenna had saved them. He and his clan watched as the two fires melded and fought for control until there was nothing left to burn. He wanted to go to her, to thank her, but his clan had turned back to Effie.

  He reached Effie to see her huddled in a ball as his clan threw anything at her they could get their hands on. “Enough,” he bellowed to gain their attention.

  They looked at him, the violence still in their eyes. “She betrayed the clan,” someone yelled.

  “Aye, she did. But Ailsa is returned home thanks to Glenna.”

  “Banish her,” a woman hollered.

  Conall looked down at the once-proud Effie. Her red hair and face splattered with mud and rotten food, her gown torn, shoes missing, and defeat shown in her eyes.

  He knelt beside her. “You’ve got one chance to answer me or I’ll let them finish you off.”

  She swallowed and nodded.

  “Why do you hate Ailsa?”

  “She prevented you from marrying me.”

  Conall jerked he was so surprised. “Explain yourself.”

  “I’m the one who convinced Mary not to tell you of the babe. I knew if you found out you’d marry her.”

  “You’ve already told me this.” He sighed and waited for the rest.

  “I thought I had everything under control until she looked at the brat and said she wanted you to know.”

  “So you killed her,” he deduced.

  Effie nodded though no tears were on her face. “It was easy to convince Mary’s mother to keep Ailsa from you.”

  Conall sighed at her words. How an innocent child could do this to a person appalled him. “And Glenna?”

  Effie raised her eyes to his and hatred burned there. “When I saw the way you looked at her I knew I had to get rid of her.”

  “I know you didn’t try to kill her. Who did?”

  She cackled. “You’d like to know, wouldn’t you?”

  “We know he’s a Druid. Tell me his name.”

  “Even if I did you’d never be able to hurt him. He’s too powerful.”

  “We’ll find him. Give the clan a reason not to want your banishment. Give me his name,” he tried again.

  Effie’s eyes burned bright with her secret. “I’ll die before I betray him.”

  Conall knew his time was short, and he needed as many answers as he could get. “How do you know MacNeil?”

  “I was but a child when I came to this clan. We lied about where we came from.”

  “And what clan was that? MacNeil’s?”

  “Nay.”

  “Tell me,” he threatened. He had grown weary of her vague answers. He needed truth, and with his power gone, he didn’t have that assurance.

  “Nay,” she yelled, and scrambled to her feet. “You’ll never find that out, or the man who tried to kill Glenna. He’ll get her yet, you know.”

  Conall stood and spotted the dirk in her hand. He didn’t know how she had gotten it, and it didn’t matter. He just wanted her to drop it so they could continue to talk.

  “Put it down, Effie.”

  “I’m fulfilling my family obligation.”

  “And that is?” he asked as he took a step toward her.

  “To make sure no Sinclairs ever live again.”

  Conall rushed toward her, but she had already buried the dirk in her stomach. She crumpled to the earth, her lifeless eyes open to the sky.

  * * * * *

  The Shadow ducked behind a tree. He had been curious to see how Effie handled herself. He had been more than a little surprised when she had ended her own life. He had never held much respect for her until that moment.

  Things hadn’t gone to plan. Whenever MacNeil was involved, things never went as planned, he thought to himself. He would have to give MacNeil more incentive to go according to plan.

  How many times had he told MacNeil he should have checked those girls at the Sinclairs? Countless, in fact. But MacNeil had assured him they were the older sisters. Even then he had known MacNeil had erred. Now MacNeil would learn just how much his error had cost him. Not all the Sinclair sisters had to die.

  In fact, only one needed to give up her life, and he had already decided Glenna would be that sister.

  He sighed. He had thought killing her would be easy, but she had fought like a she-cat. The only saving grace is that she hadn’t seen his face and given him away.

  Although the fact they knew he was a Druid disturbed him. He would have to rethink staying by Moira. Maybe it would be better if he went away for a little while.

  Voices brought him back to the present. He looked to find some men carting Effie’s body away. He needed to get back to the circle and begin planning the next stage, and he needed to check on Moira. He wouldn’t put it past MacNeil to disobey him yet again and kil
l Moira instead of Glenna.

  MacNeil would survive this day, so he didn’t waste any thought on him. Nay, his mind turned to keeping Moira for himself and making sure one of the sisters died.

  Together he and Moira could rule Scotland like the sidhe once did before they left this earth. Once more magic would reign supreme in this land. No more hiding what they were. The power of the Fae would push aside kings and rule people’s tiny minds. It would be so very easy, and since he had found a way to block himself from the Fae he could move around freely.

  He would just have to stay away from Dartayous. That warrior saw through his shield and could very well ruin all his carefully laid plans.

  * * * * *

  Glenna rounded on MacNeil once the fire was safely out. “You of all people should know my abilities.”

  “Your kind all deserve to die. I kept you alive,” he spat. “And look at the thanks I get in return.”

  “You killed my parents,” she yelled, barely controlling her fury. “The prophecy will come to pass. Your days are numbered.”

  He laughed, the sinister sound as black as the devil’s heart. “You can’t fool me. You don’t have the other sister. And I’d wager you don’t even know where she is.”

  “I don’t think you’d care to gamble on that,” Moira said, a haunty blonde brow raised.

  MacNeil’s lip curled in a sneer. “Oh, I can assure you, wench, I’ll find her faster than you.”

  “I doubt that.”

  MacNeil shrugged nonchalantly. “I have an ally you’ll never find, an ally who’s already tried to kill Glenna. He’ll succeed next time. That I promise you.”

  Glenna had had enough. Her confidence in her powers gave her self-assurance she had never had. With just a simple thought she erupted a fire around MacNeil and his men. Moira brought a gust of wind into play and the flames danced around the horses’ hooves.

  The men hired by MacNeil began to yell to each other to flee. MacNeil saw the confusion and sought to gain their allegiance. “I’ll give you another bag of gold each if you stay and fight.”

  “Ye didna say nothing of the Druids,” a voice called out.

  “They’re nothing. We outnumber them. It’s two wenches against an army,” he argued.