“It’s sure to be the rose-petal soap I create.”
“The soap is lovely, but no, it is just the natural scent of you that appeals to me. I’m well pleased to be capable of sensing that again. Ever since that deplorable night, I have been unable to sense anything but her. Now it’s back to how it was before, it is you who fills my senses, my mind, and my soul. I am well aware some type of powerful magic was performed here within this room.”
She only smiled and nodded, pleased with Aine’s enchanted healing for they were now able to discuss this when it had seemed an impossible consideration. That would also allow them to move forward and to share the painful memories instead of keeping it within.
“And your heart?” she whispered with a smile.
“You always filled my heart, Alainn, every moment. Even with all of Ebrill’s wickedness, she could never take that away.”
“Perhaps that is what drove her to such lengths because she knew your heart belonged to me.”
“Always, my Lainna.”
“And always you will be my only love, my husband.” He nuzzled in close and she caressed the stubble on his jaw. “I do not and never have bewitched you, Killian O’Brien!” she said with mild indignation.
“I previously believed you could not clearly hear my thoughts?” He grinned.
“At times I can, when it is peaceful between us, they come to me.”
He tenderly kissed her lips and then his stomach rumbled. “Sure you’ll not be needing to hear my thoughts to learn I am entirely famished for the first time in a goodly while.”
“Aye, I am in need of sustenance as well.”
“And do you have a sense of where we might find Conner and Mary?”
“I had thought they might go to Mary’s parents for assistance, but it isn’t likely for Mary is still wed to Riley and by how Mary described her parents, especially her mother, she isn’t likely to be offered sanction or acceptance by them.”
“I agree, and many Scots see Conner simply as a wanted man who killed people for coin.”
“He is so much more than that. He is a kind and loving man, and a loyal friend.”
“Aye, I might not have thought so in the beginning, but as usual, your assessment of him was most accurate.”
“I am not certain where they might go. I doubt they would head back to Ireland or anywhere near Riley. I told Conner he should take Mary to the Americas, but that may have been a bit rash for it’s a long difficult crossing. And with the baby soon to arrive, they will need to find a safe place for Mary to birth the baby.”
“Well perhaps we can go to the docks to see if anyone remembers a big burly man with a woman heavily laden with child asking about ships heading to America.”
“Or a church?” Alainn moved from the bed and began to don her garments.
“You’ve had a vision or a premonition?” Killian questioned as he, too, moved and searched for his clothes.
“Aye, and I also sense Riley hunts for them as well… and…”
“And,” Killian asked when she didn’t finish speaking.
“And Ciara is with him,” she declared and her eyes filled with dread.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Alainn waited by the churchyard as she saw Killian heading toward her. “Has anyone seen them?”
“Not Conner and Mary, but you were correct for sure. Riley has been seen at the port. Apparently an Irishman and woman both with dark hair arrived at the port yesterday.”
“It might not be them.” Alainn didn’t sound hopeful.
“Aye, I’d like to believe it isn’t, but since you already suspected they would be following Mary, it’s likely you were correct.” He took her hand as they walked together. “You spoke to the priest?”
“He hasn’t seen anyone who matches Mary and Conner’s description, yet every time I dwell on them I see a cross and them within a church or a holy structure of some type.”
“And you’re certain it is here in this part of Scotland?”
“Well I did sense it to be accurate, and it is where Aine sent us.”
“Sure, that’s true.”
Alainn glanced at Killian and was pleased to see he now walked entirely without pain. It appeared all of his physical injuries along with much of his emotional pain had been healed. She smiled at the sight and he noticed.
“You are a very able healer, my lovely witch.”
She narrowed her eyes in distaste at that comment for apparently even with the memories distanced she held some bitterness in that term.
“You are a witch, you told me so on the first day we spoke when we were children. We will not allow what happened with the evil witch change the fact you are a witch also. Because many men do evil deeds does not change the fact I am a man.”
“You are wise, husband, and handsome and entirely appealing to me.” She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him there in the middle of the crowded street.
“And when we locate my cousin or his wife, and preferably not together, I will take you back to the inn and show you once more how appealing you are to me as well,” he announced as he returned the affectionate embrace.
“Aye, but I am uncertain where to go now for I have spoken to the priest and to his curate. It appears there is only one church in this small village.”
“Then perhaps we must go to the next village. I’ll maybe locate some horses for us at any rate and then we will be capable of riding to the next few villages if it is necessary.”
Alainn turned quickly for she felt an unmistakable prickle down her back and the tiny hairs on her neck stood on end not unlike how she’d reacted when the demon was near. She had another distinct vision which left her grateful it wasn’t a demon they would need to contend with, but she wasn’t entirely more certain she cared to confront this maleficent woman either.
“Ciara is nearby!” she proclaimed.
“Shite, well sure Riley won’t be far off then either.”
Alainn stood in the middle of the cobblestone street and closed her eyes. She attempted to sense where Ciara was for she couldn’t be far away.
“Alainn, you appear to be attracting a bit of a crowd,” Killian whispered and when she opened her eyes she saw there were indeed many people who stood staring at the peculiar woman with her eyes closed and her hands outstretched.
“Her grandmother is blind and she is attempting to sense what it would be like to walk in her shoes,” Killian blurted in a halfhearted attempt to explain her actions to the suspicious crowd.
Alainn glanced at him and gave him an odd look.
“Well, you should have seen how they were lookin’ at you, Alainn,” he whispered. “Sure you know they’re bound to be a superstitious lot.”
“Aye,” she said, but her face filled with seriousness. “I fear Ciara may have created a warding spell so I cannot accurately sense or locate her.”
“That is unnerving. Did you say you could only locate whiskey yesterday?”
“Aye.”
“Well did that not strike you as odd there was no ale to be found?”
“Sure, it is a small village. Perhaps the alewife does not produce so much or maybe it’s not a preferred brew.”
“But even still. You know Riley only drinks whiskey if he plans on getting’ falling down drunk, otherwise he drinks ale, and often in excess.”
“You’re saying he maybe drank the village dry of ale?” she said with some doubtfulness.
“Well it wouldn’t be the first time,” he admitted. “Though I was probably with him on the other occasions when we were on friendlier terms and may have lent him a hand at that.”
“So we should locate the alewife then and find out who has been consuming her entire supply.”
“I agree.”
Alainn glanced down the street and she nudged Killian who was looking toward the stables with intention of first finding horses for them.
“There he is,” Alainn whispered and they watched as Riley half walked, half staggered against th
e row of shops along the way.
“I see the time we’ve been away from Ireland has changed our cousin in absolutely no manner at all.” Killian observed in disapproval.
“Well, if he’s drunk, sure it will hamper his ability to locate Conner and Mary.”
“Aye, that is true, since we can’t even locate them with considerably clearer minds.”
“You might ask the local villagers if they know where there might be an old church, an abbey or perhaps a chapel. I keep sensing a round tower. I know some churches do claim round towers.”
He nodded in agreement as he listened to her reasoning.
“You’ll remember how Diadra found comfort in something familiar and wanted to go back to a round tower. Mary grew very fond of the round tower as well when she spent time there. Perhaps she felt some security in finding a tower. You’ll ask them, no?” Alainn suggested.
He glanced at her as if to ask why she wouldn’t be doing the asking.
“Sure, I’m after goin’ to care for my blind grandmother.” She smiled.
“Aye, well, give her my best, and it’s to be hoped you don’t meet Ciara along the way.”
“I don’t sense the coven is with her, and although I know she has some abilities, without her coven, I don’t believe she’ll be capable of creating much havoc, although after how gravely I underestimated the eternal witch, perhaps I cannot know for certain.”
“Well, she and Riley are enough to contend with I would suggest. Still, I want you to stay by my side. I will feel better not having to be parted from you.”
“I agree,” she replied and her eyes skirted the cobblestone street and the tiny shops and cottages along the way.
They turned as they heard an unsettled crowd coming toward them and in the center of it was the dark-haired Ciara McCree.
“What fresh hell is she bringing?” Killian wondered aloud.
“It is her. She is the one I warned you about.” Ciara pointed toward Alainn and the villagers seemed to hang on her every word.
“She’s a witch, you say?” One man questioned.
“Aye, the most powerful witch I have ever seen? She turned people against me and stole my child from me. She caused a sickness that reached nearly every castle and chiefdom in Ireland and killed not a few.”
By now surely the entire village had come to see what was transpiring.
“Ciara, what madness is this?” Killian raged as he stared angrily at the woman and her wild accusations.
“Is this your wife?” a villager asked Killian.
“Aye, I am Chieftain Killian O’Brien of the Irish O’Donnel clan, and this is Lady Alainn O’Brien, she has done none of what this embittered woman has suggested.”
“You didn’t take her child away from her?”
“She abandoned her wee child of her own accord. After the boy’s father was killed, as chieftain, I declared her son would live in the care of the woman’s father and his wife. My wife had nothing to do with any of it.”
“But she created many falsehoods and made it impossible to stay with such cruel and vicious accusations placed upon me.” Ciara elaborated and pretended to be in tears.
“What do you have to say about your wife causing a sickness that spread across your entire land?” One of the villagers inquired.
Killian stared at Ciara at the disturbance she was causing and was infuriated.
“My wife did not cause any damnable sickness; in truth, she saved many lives. She is a healer.”
There were many muffled sounds at this and much discussion amongst the crowd.
“Witches often use the guise of being healers,” one man declared.
“That’s absurd.” Killian shook his head.
“She will surely have herbs in the very bag she carries now.” Ciara pointed once more to the tiny satchel Alainn carried over her shoulder.
A man hastily grabbed it from Alainn and dumped out the contents.
There was much commotion when the many herbs scattered to the wind and the container holding the ointment she’d created the previous night, fell and smashed upon the cobblestones.
“Of course she had herbs you asinine dim-witted lot, she is a healer. We have told you such,” Killian blared.
Alainn looked around at the crowd that was becoming frenzied and she touched Killian’s arm. He glanced at her and obviously saw the fear in her eyes.
“Killian, these people are a superstitious lot and so skewed in their thinking they believe in many nonsensical beliefs. Mary once told me there are village folk in these parts who believe if you throw someone down a waterfall the devil will catch them. Nothing you can say will sway these people now. Take a look at them.”
He did as she had instructed and it was obvious she was correct. Their faces had all become filled with mistrust and suspicious hatred.
“We saw her standing in the middle of the street with her eyes closed and her hands outstretched. She was surely summoning the devil,” one villager spoke.
“Aye and she practically forced me to locate a tub for her so that she might take a bath when they arrived at my inn… in the middle of the day yesterday.”
“Och, she’s inviting the devil in for sure,” a woman said as she crossed herself.
“And she came looking for whiskey last night,” another man revealed.
“And drinking whiskey makes a person a witch then, does it?” Killian scowled. “Then my cousin Riley must be the most powerful witch I know.” He glowered at Ciara as he spoke.
“But she was speaking to the priest. I saw it with my own eyes and on the steps of the church. I dinna think she can be evil or she wouldna be allowed on holy ground, else she would burst into flames for certain.” One tiny old woman reasoned.
“Perhaps we might tie her to a stake and set her aflame to be safe.” Ciara’s eyes filled with satisfaction as she spoke the words that terrified Alainn, but she soon retaliated.
“Perhaps you might ask this woman what she and her evil coven have done to her grandmother? For sure they tortured her and used her to create dark spells, her very own grandmother.” Alainn was planting the seeds of suspicion in the villagers’ minds for at this point she wasn’t about to be persecuted without taking Ciara with her.
Many of the people appeared aghast at this suggestion and some of the parents covered the children’s ears and hurried off to the safety of their homes.
They heard a male voice from beyond the crowd approaching and calling out. “What, by God’s bones, is happening? Ciara, what melee have you caused now?”
When he came to stand by Ciara, Alainn and Killian stared into the face of their cousin, Riley.
“Killian, Alainn, what are you doing here?”
“Sure, you’re aware we’ve been in Scotland searching for Alainn’s father,” Killian reminded his clearly inebriated cousin.
“Aye, I recall you’re off on a half-cocked wild goose chase, lookin’ for my uncle who’s surely been dead these two decades.”
Killian just nodded at his cousin, for the crowd had turned some of the attention to him. They were no longer all staring at Alainn with such dubiousness.
“Why are you here in Scotland, Riley? Have you come to assist in our search?” Killian baited him.
“No, I have simply come to find my wife. Evidently, by the damnable note she left me, the wench has decided to bear our child in Scotland so that she can keep him on Scottish soil and raise him as a Scot. I say to hell with that!” He bellowed in a loud drunken voice.
Alainn and Killian glanced at each other and at the crowd. It was clear the entire lot of them were frightened or intrigued by the uncommon happenings in their usually quiet village this day.
“Where is the Scotsman you took with you on this search, the man who was to aid you on this monumental quest in searching for Alainn’s long-dead father?” Riley sarcastically blurted with a lopsided grin on his face.
“She searches for spirits?” A villager whispered to another and that one to another
all down the line.
“Aye, then she must be a witch, it’s true.”
“Alainn is no witch. She’s my cousin and a healer, but she’s not a witch. If anyone standing here is a witch, it would be this wild dark-haired beauty.” He pointed to Ciara, and swatted her on the backside. Her dark eyes filled with humiliated enragement though Riley seemed either not to notice or not to care.
“You never told me where that damn Scot went, where is he? Where is Conner MacLain?”
“Conner MacLain?” This time several more of the villagers set out for their cottages in haste. A few others stood looking at the four odd Irishmen and women and shook their heads not knowing what or who to believe.
“Is someone looking for me, then?” They heard the familiar loud gruff voice behind them and they all turned to see Conner standing behind them. “Are you causing some trouble for my friends then?” Conner bellowed at the villagers and those remaining took one look at Conner and then scurried away, leaving only the strangers to the town standing there in the street.
“I’ve located some fresh horses, Killian,” Conner spoke as though he’d never been parted from Killian and the search for Alainn’s father. “They are waiting in the stable as you requested. They’ll be there for when we set out for home then by morning’s first light?” Conner related.
“Aye, that was what we had decided, for sure there’s no point in spendin’ even another day searchin’ for a man we’re never going to find.” He winked at Alainn as he said it.
“I found a lovely dark filly that Alainn will surely want to see. She’ll maybe need to spend a wee bit of time with her for she’s more than a bit skittish at the moment. I’m certain, with Alainn’s gift, she’ll be able to calm her straightaway. The groom said there’s an ample riding area out by the old ruins of the abbey north of the village. Would the two of you care to come with me to check out the horse, or are you tired and wanting to settle in for the night?”
“The day is not late.” Alainn knowingly glanced at Conner. “Sure I’d be pleased to come see to the horse, Conner. Are you coming with us as well, Killian?”
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