by Dawn Brower
Ailis didn’t move. She pursed her lips together in displeasure. “They’ve had a long day and must rest for the night.”
He didn’t have time for this. He had to make them move. The mob would be there soon, and when they arrived... Niall shook his head. He didn’t want to think about what might happen if they made it through the doors of Dalais. Ailis and the bairns had to be safe. They were all that mattered.
“I ken they’re tired, love,” he said softly. “But I wouldn’t be dragging ye or them away if it wasn’t necessary.”
Niall didn’t wait for her to reply. He walked over to one of the beds and scooped Moire and Lili into his arms. Ailis reluctantly lifted Lachlan up and followed him out the door. He led them down to the servants’ stairs and to the kitchen, then pushed open the door to the cool pantry. In the far back, there was a brass ring that opened a cellar door. They didn’t use this part of the house much. Niall couldn’t afford to hire servants full time. A maid came three times a week to help Ailis with the cleaning, but the house was taken care of, in large, by his wife.
He set the wee lasses down and lifted the brass ring. “Ye must climb inside,” he insisted.
“Why?” Ailis asked. Her hands shook, and she started to fidget. She glanced around the room as if trying to figure out what could possibly be so urgent. His wife wasn’t a fool and had to realize there’d be a good reason his sisters had left their children in her care. It wasn’t the first time they’d done so, but not without giving her some notice. Niall hadn’t expected to find them there, and they certainly didn’t spend the night often. Caitrìona and Sorcha both hated being separated from their children. They wouldn’t have left them at Dalais if they weren’t in trouble, and that same danger had found its way to his doorstep. “What is it?”
“There be an angry mob heading toward the house. I don’t ken yet what they be wanting, but I won’t put ye or the wee ones at risk.”
She clutched on to his shirt, terror filling her features. “Sorcha came by to ask me to watch Lachlan. She was going to help the vicar’s wife deliver her bairn.”
Niall understood her meaning immediately. If Sorcha used any of her special gifts, it would have immediately outed her as a witch in the eyes of those who believed in such things. “How long ago was that?
“Early afternoon,” she said. “Not long after Caitrìona came by. She asked me tae look after the twins. She had a vision.”
He cursed under his breath. That was not a good sign at all. She must have had an idea of what was to come. “Did she tell ye anything?”
Ailis shook her head. “She dinna say she had a vision. I could tell by the look of her. She was in a might hurry to be somewhere, and I ken she would explain when she could. Ye ken how her visions are.”
Pounding on the door reverberated through the manor. The irate group of people had arrived. The time to discuss things had ended. Niall kissed his wife quickly and pulled away from her. He would deal with the mob and then figure out what happened with his sisters. He couldn’t handle more than one thing at a time, and at that moment, it was more important to see to Ailis and the wee ones. “Quick, crawl down inside. When it’s safe, I’ll open the latch and let ye out.”
Ailis didn’t argue this time. She slid down into the cellar and reached up to help the wee ones down. First, he handed her Moire, then her twin sister, Lili. When the girls were settled, he handed her Lachlan. Then he closed the lid to the cellar and placed a nearby rug over it. If, for some reason, the house was searched, they wouldn’t think to look for them down there. Ailis could escape it after a time if necessary, but she’d wait until she had no choice. Niall hated leaving her down there; however, if it saved her life along with the bairns, he’d be glad for it.
He left the cellar and headed toward the front of the house. When he reached the parlor, the door swung open and Tamhas Gall walked through the entrance. Several men came in behind him. They glowed red, and their fury almost knocked Niall over. So much hatred permeated these men’s souls. How could they live with themselves?
“Do ye walk in uninvited often?” Niall raised a brow. “What can I do for ye?”
“Where is ye lady wife?” Tamhas asked.
“She’s not here at present,” Niall lied. He hated lying, but he’d do anything for his love. “She’s gone tae visit family in Edinburgh. What do ye need her for?”
“We need tae speak with her,” Tamhas said. “Fetch her now. We mean her no harm. She was here earlier when I visited. It is of great import.”
His lies tinged the red around him a bright yellow. If he found Ailis, he would definitely hurt her. Niall would die before he told him where to find his beloved. They would not find her, and she would be long gone before they had a chance to ken she’d been at Dalais Manor all along.
“As I told ye,” he said calmly. “She’s visiting family and left some time ago. It must have been after you called.” He hoped the vicar believed him. Ailis and the bairns’s lives depended upon it. “Ye may leave the way ye came.”
Tamhas glanced around him and then smiled evilly at Niall. “We’ll catch up with her later. She can’t have gone far.” Tamhas replied with contempt. His lips turned up into an evil smile as he met Niall’s gaze. “Ye’ll be coming with us.”
Niall lifted a brow mockingly. “By who’s authority? I’m the highest-ranking peer in this county. I dinna have tae answer tae ye.”
It wouldn’t matter in the end. He might be the baron, but this crowd wouldn’t care. He could see it in their eyes, and even without his special gifts. They were bloodthirsty, and they’d see him dead. They probably already had both of his sisters. Why the family was targeted as a whole, he couldn’t be sure. If Sorcha had used her healing gifts on the vicar’s wife...
The vicar didn’t like him or his sisters and took every opportunity to tell anyone who’d listen. Something must have happened to give him the leverage he’d been craving to act against them. Niall couldn’t be sure what the vicar had discovered. Either way, it wasn’t good, and his family would pay the price. He couldn’t help thinking Tamhas had somehow planned it. The vicar was malicious to the depths of his soul, and Niall had known it since the first time he’d met him. He’d warned his sisters about Tamhas’s treachery and told them to avoid the man. Sorcha and her kind heart believed the man could be saved. But there was no helping a man like the vicar; he was beyond redemption.
“I answer to a higher authority than ye,” the vicar said, then sneered. “By the king’s decree, anyone suspected of witchcraft is to be brought to trial, and if so judged a witch, sentenced to death.”
Niall almost snorted at his speech. For a moment, he thought the man would bring God down as his higher authority. He was supposed to speak for the higher being, after all. Alas, nay, this man was using the king’s superstitions for his own evil plans. It didn’t surprise Niall at all. “Ye suspect me of this witch nonsense? What evidence are ye charging me with?”
He’d done nothing to give this man, or anyone, any indication he had a special gift. Their family was careful and didn’t let any outsiders know of what their family bloodline carried inside of it. The wee ones were already starting to show signs that they had gifts of their own. It was why Caitrìona and Sorcha had decided they would not attend the village school until they could be tutored to hide what made them special.
“Yer sisters are already in custody and soon they will confess their sins,” Tamhas declared. “We only need one thing to prove yer a witch. If ye carry the mark of the devil, it will damn ye.”
What the bloody hell was he going on about now? There was no such thing as a mark... Then he remembered. They all had a birthmark. They were each unique and similar at the same time. It was a strawberry mark, the shape of a complete circle. There was a pointed tip on one side of each one. His was at the very top of the circle, Sorcha’s on the left bottom corner, and Caitrìona’s the right bottom corner. If they were to be placed on top of each other the marks would almost look
like a triangle intertwined with a circle. They were three parts making up the whole...
“We already saw it on Sorcha’s left shoulder,” Tamhas boasted. “Ellair Friseal is bringing in Caitrìona. He’ll find her mark before he brings her in. Do ye want to make it easy on yerself and show us yer mark now?”
Caitrìona’s mark was on her ankle. Niall’s was on his thigh. He wasn’t about to strip in front of these men and show it to them. “I must decline yer ridiculous offer.”
“Have it yer way,” Tamhas said. “Ye will be showing it to us soon enough.”
“It's a sair fecht,” Niall whispered under his breath, accepting his fate.
The men descended on Dalais Manor and tore at Niall’s clothing. He was helpless to stop them. They carried him near naked across the fields of his home and didn’t stop until they reached the village church. There, they deposited him into a room with a dirt floor. He glanced up and into the eyes of his two sisters.
Caitrìona and Sorcha were wearing torn clothing as well and each had a bruised face. They cried when they saw him, and he pulled them into his arms. Sorrow clamored through his whole body as he realized how doomed the three of them were. Niall didn’t understand why they had been thrust into such a terrible fate; however, he was certain of one thing. His sisters needed him and he would have to find strength somehow to see them through the impending disaster. For this was only the beginning, and he feared the worst was yet to come.
CHAPTER FOUR
NIGHT HAD FALLEN SHORTLY after he left the blacksmith shop and headed toward Dalais Manor. Daniel Guaire strolled at an even pace, unsure if he should hurry or not. Caitrìona’s visions were nothing to be trifled with. She’d saved his life once because of her gift. If anyone found out about what made her special though—he’d not think of it. If she told him to do something because of her visions, he did without question—even if everything inside of him screamed something wasn’t right.
His wife was beautiful and kind—Daniel fell in love with her the moment he met her and not just because of her appearance. Though that didn’t hurt... Caitrìona had dark blue eyes, white blonde hair, and lush curves. He’d never tire of gazing upon her fair visage. His wife was beautiful inside and out. It had been her fair beauty that had first caught his attention, but her innate goodness had captured his heart.
All of the Dalais siblings had a special gift. It was their family secret, and once he’d become a part of their family, it’d become his to keep as well. He understood why it had to be that way. The king had come back from his travels extra superstitious, believing witchcraft responsible for the storms on his voyage. That erroneous conclusion spread wide through Scotland and beyond. But in Scotland, it was illegal to practice the dark arts.
None of the Dalais siblings were actual witches. They didn’t worship any dark being, and they had no actual magical abilities. If they were a coven, then by proxy, so was he, along with Ailis and Brian. If they stretched their superstitions far enough, the witch hunters might even include the wee ones. They were the true innocents in it all. They’d not asked to be born. They were already showing signs of having a gift of their own. Little Moire, his dear wee one, had the sight, and Lili was too sensitive for her own good.
Caitrìona believed Lili was developing an empathy gift similar to Sorcha’s. She was too attuned to the feelings of everyone around her. She often started crying without reason and hugged her mother. Lachlan, the poor wee lad, had energy to burn. They couldn’t be certain, but he might carry more than one of the abilities. After much discussion, they’d agreed to keep a close eye on him. One gift was hard enough, but all of them?
Daniel walked over a hill and stopped suddenly. In the distance, he could see torchlight glittering in the night sky. Shouts echoed though the wind, chilling his bones. Was this why Caitrìona had sent him? She’d said he’d ken it when he arrived. His children, his sweet wee lasses, were inside Dalais Manor. That mob didn’t appear to be the friendly sort. If they harmed them...
He didn’t ken what kind of man would harm a small child, but he believed to his very soul those men would kill anyone in their path. If he stormed to the manor, they’d trample over him, and then what good would he be? Caitrìona had asked him to save the wee ones and Ailis. She hadn’t mentioned her brother.
A ruckus riled the crowd, and they stormed the manor. Daniel couldn’t drag his gaze away from the horror. They shouted with maddening glee as they destroyed anything they could lift or smash. He feared they might take the torches to the manor and burn it to the ground. Daniel prayed they would not take it that far. He had to hope that Caitrìona would have warned him of that possibility. Another set of movements caught his attention. He turned his head back to the entrance to the manor. The vicar was at the head of it, shouting at the other men. They had another male in their possession. At first, they carried him outside, then they began to drag him along the ground. His clothes were torn and his face was almost unrecognizable, but to Daniel it was clear who they hauled along the ground.
Daniel sucked in a sickened breath. His stomach rolled inside of him, and he finally understood why Caitrìona wasn’t with him. Their secret was out somehow, and they were being brought in as witches. His dear sweet wife had thought to protect him instead of saving herself. She didn’t run away. God, he wished she had... Instead, she’d run to him and did everything she could to save the children. Ailis... She was pregnant with her first child. That bairn was to be the heir to Dalais. Sadly, there might not be much for him to inherit after the witch trials concluded. If they kept to their pattern, they would arrest everyone in the family that was close to the accused. No one was safe, and he suspected Caitrìona feared they’d harm him, or the bairns. They certainly wouldn’t have held back where Ailis was concerned, pregnant or not.
The men cheered as they neared him. He waited in silence as the group started to pass. He kept hidden behind a nearby tree and tried to calm his rapid heartbeat. His stomach pained him as it filled with dread. Why hadn’t his dear wife told him what would happen? Probably because she’d known he would not have left her behind. He didn’t believe for a moment that she was safe. They were attacking Dalais—the highest-ranking lord in the county. That meant no one was safe and the whole family faced unimaginable danger. He didn’t have time to mourn his fate or go back for his wife. She’d given him one task—save the children. He wouldn’t fail her or them. Later, he’d allow himself the time to grieve what he’d lost. Until then, he had to stay focused.
He stared at the men as they walked by him. Their angry shouts echoed around him. The rotten bastards should be the ones punished for their decrepit souls. Caitrìona, Sorcha, and Niall were good, honest people. How could they not see that? They would claim the three siblings had bespelled him with their magic to believe they were not witches, but they hadn’t. Daniel dinna ken how these men could be so evil. He wasn’t sure he wanted to.
After several excruciating minutes, the last of the mob passed by. Daniel crept forward, trying his best to remain silent in his movements. He made his way to the manor door. It was still wide open, and the foyer had been ripped to shreds. Someone had even slashed through a painting, and a few vases had been smashed on the floor. It was a wonder they hadn’t thought to set fire to the manor itself. Daniel was grateful they hadn’t.
He walked through the main rooms and checked everywhere he thought Ailis and the wee ones might be. The men must’ve had a similar thought. Not one room in the manor had gone untouched by their invasion. It wasn’t until he reached the bottom of the stairs that he remembered the last thing Caitrìona had said to him.
Daniel ran to the kitchen and into the pantry, then scanned the floor. A rug he wasn’t used to seeing at the end caught his attention. It had been kicked a little as the mob searched the house, but it had hidden what it was intended to. They hadn’t kicked it enough... He yanked the rug away from the cellar door and lifted the latch. Inside he found Ailis, the twins, and Lachlan. Ailis’s fa
ce was tear stained, her midnight tresses falling down her back in tangles, she rubbed her belly with one hand, and the other rested over her chest.
“Och, Daniel,” she said surprised. “Ye nearly had my heart beating out of my chest.”
“Ye have had a scare this day,” he said. “It’s not over yet. Hand me a wee one so we can make haste.” Daniel reached down and Ailis gave him one of the twins. He set her down and lifted the other out. After all the wee ones were safe, Daniel reached to help Ailis out too. The kids were quiet and stared at him for a long while. He didn’t question their behavior. They had gifts like their mothers’ and had probably discerned in some way the gravity of their situation. It made him sick that they understood, even remotely, that danger lurked around them. Children should only know happy things and play safe in their own homes. But these wee ones had a lifetime of hurt to endure.
“Where’s Niall?” Ailis asked.
He didn’t want to tell her what happened to her husband. As they had passed, he was able to get a better look at him, and it hadn’t been pretty. His face had been black and blue, and not all of that was from the dirt he collected as they dragged his limp body. Daniel wasn’t even sure the man had still been breathing. In some ways, it would’ve been a relief for him to already be dead. What they had in store for him would be far worse in the end.
Deep down he realized Caitrìona had a similar fate, and he’d have to explain it to his daughters some day. He didn’t want to think about his future or what was probably already happening to his wife. His mind would retreat to a dark place, and he wouldn’t be able to help what remained of his family. As much as it hurt him to shove those feelings aside—Daniel understood his role and played it through.
Daniel shook his head. “It’s not good.”
Tears fell over her cheeks once again. She hiccupped as she fought to catch her breath. “Is he...”
“I ken not,” he said. “But we canna stay here tae find out. They’ll be looking for ye and the bairns. We must get ye to a safe place.”