“I see you, Nessa.”
“Did you see as I saw? Isla has compelled Finlay and his brothers. I didnae know Finlay and Arabel were mated until this moment, although I have no’ seen my granddaughter’s death occur at the coming battle as Isla mentioned was recorded in history. Of course I dinnae always see all.”
“I never saw my wife’s passing either.” And for that he’d been most grateful. It would have been sheer hell to know the day and time he would have lost her. “We won’t let Arabel die. She’s the first with her skill to mate with a shifter and that gives me hope a resolution might be found.”
“Aye, and the mated bond wouldn’t have formed between Finlay and Arabel unless they were a match in every way. I agree. There is still hope.”
“Together, we’ll watch over them both.”
“We shall. I certainly willnae allow my granddaughter to lose her mated one.” A spark of determination flickered in her eyes. “Until the next time, my friend.”
“Aye, the next time.”
Nessa’s image fluttered away, lost to him through the ages, but not the knowledge Nessa would ensure all remained on the right path. She wouldn’t fail her people, just as he wouldn’t fail them either.
Breathing deep, he cast his gaze out the window. Beyond the breakers, a seagull screeched then circled the foaming waves and dived within. Moments later, it heaved itself out of the water, a flapping fish within its beak as it rejoiced in its victory. It soared along the loch toward the sacred site of the lost village of the fae.
So many lives had been so recklessly lost over eight-hundred years ago, the village leaders so certain they’d never come under attack, but the MacKenzie had wanted it all, and if he couldn’t take the House of Clan Matheson and the prized location Gilleoin held at the tip of Loch Alsh, then he’d slaughter them all. Their future had to change.
“Chief.” A knock sounded. “It’s Daniel.”
“Come in.” He shook his despondency off as Daniel, his right hand man, walked in and shut the door. “Take a seat.”
“Have you seen anything more?” In beige pants and a cream muscle t-shirt, Daniel perched on the forest-green couch underneath a wall-hanging of a stunning black and white drawing of Matheson Castle as it had stood in the twelfth century, an image he’d drawn himself from a vision years ago, from the time when he’d first spoken to Nessa through a joint vision.
“Finlay’s found his mate, but hit a snag. His chosen one is a woman by the name of Arabel, a woman who also holds the fae skill of fire.”
“Ah hell, please tell me you’re not serious.” Daniel clasped his hands, elbows pressed to his knees. “Being bound to a fire-wielder is a death sentence, for both of them.”
“As Arabel is aware. She asked Isla to compel Finlay and his brothers, to ensure that from this moment forth it would be as if she and Finlay had never met. Arabel gave them all very little choice but to agree to her request. If they didn’t, she had no intention of tending to her cold-fire that had arisen. She is feisty and strong, and the bond between her and Finlay had clearly taken ahold for her to make such a demand. She desires his protection, even though that means their separation.”
“Then all is not lost if they both live.” Daniel nodded. “A bond also wouldn’t have formed between them unless it was meant to be.”
“I agree.”
Hope was all their kind needed to survive. Hope brought courage and desire to the forefront, and allowed their people to be all that they could be. Everything happened within its own time for a reason, and he too would hold hope for Finlay and Arabel. An answer had to be sought. There had to be a way for a fire-wielder to join with their one and only, and if anyone could find it, it would be the ‘power of three.’
Chapter 7
Three endlessly long days later, Arabel sat next to Julia at a table at the rear of the great hall to break her fast. She’d been late down to eat, wanting to miss the busy hour following dawn when Finlay and his brothers ate with the other men. Gilleoin, Nessa and Sorcha still remained at the village although Kenneth had returned to oversee the warriors and ensure the teams of men patrolling their borders and the ridge of coastline in and around the keep and the village, were at their most alert.
Julia squeezed her hand, her unwavering presence at her side resolute and unending. Her sister had cried with her when she’d told her of all that had unfolded between her and Finlay, and she’d listened as Julia had told her of her conversation with Nessa. Their grandmother had seen her flares and agreed the four elements had been upset by the arrival of those from the future. Usually realignment was needed, and that occurred when fire, water, air and earth once again joined together as one, something she’d said nature itself had to bring about.
“How is my aura, this morn?” she asked Julia.