Yes, we should go back. Wait! What was happening? Kenna wanting to go back to Castle MacCrae? Duncan and Fergus meekly accepting the inevitable destruction of their kingdom? And Fiona’s reaction was most telling of all. She wanted to give up? She was the most tenacious person I’d ever met, besides myself.
With a sinking feeling I shouted for everyone to get off the bridge. Despite some grumbling, my friends complied. When we reconvened about thirty feet away, I asked, “Everybody still want to give up?”
Overlapping exclamations of disgust and determination punctuated the quiet.
“Give up?”
“Never!”
“Death first!”
Only Fiona remained silent. After a moment she announced gravely, “It was an attack. I should have sensed it. Despair is the Deceiver’s weapon.”
I opened my mouth to ask the group what we should do next, but before I could speak Muir Lea filled my senses. A flash of snowy peaks, a sandy beach, and an ocean crashing against rock told me the impossible. “I know how we get to Alloway.”
Like a good lieutenant, Duncan was instantly alert and at my side. “How, Veronica?”
“Through the mountains.”
Fergus spoke first. “You’ve gone daft!”
Duncan’s face mirrored the other boy’s skepticism, and with good reason. The first time I’d tried it, I’d nearly destroyed Doon … but that still, small voice that had been guiding me since Bainbridge insisted that this time was different. Unfortunately, persuading Fergus and Duncan would waste valuable time—time we didn’t have. Turning to my best ally in the group, I said to Fiona, “With every fiber of my being, I know this will work—that the portal will be open for us.”
Fiona voiced her agreement. “Veronica speaks the truth. We must cross through the mountains.”
Kenna reached for Duncan’s hand. “We’re in.”
“Me as well. With one condition.” Fergus’s gaze moved across our faces before looking up into the sky. “Fiona stays here. I’ll not risk her life on the chance the mountain border is passable.”
Spinning the giant around to face her, Fiona cried, “Ye don’t get ta decide for me, Fergus Lockhart. If the mountain pass doesn’t work, we’re all goners anyway.”
She gave him a shove but he captured her hands and held them over his heart. “Please, Fee. I will follow Veronica, but I need ta know yer safe.” His eyes softened as his voice dropped. “I know I’m not the manliest of lads, but I still need ta protect my own. If anything happened ta you, I’d never be able ta live wi’ myself.”
As I watched, the girl’s resolve melted. All her tumultuous affection poured from her hazel eyes, causing the object of her feelings to turn forty shades of pink.
Sensibly, Duncan added, “With Jamie and me gone, the people will be afraid and lookin’ for someone to blame. We need someone who can speak the voice o’ reason. And we’ll be needin’ a welcome party for the Destined who cross when we restore the bridge. We’re depending on you, Fiona.”
Tearing her eyes away from her love, Fiona gave Duncan a curt nod. “Dinna worry m’ laird. I’ll see ta the people.”
She hugged him and then Kenna. As they parted, Fiona pressed Cameron’s ring, the emerald one, into Kenna palm. The look on my BFF’s face told me she didn’t want it, until Fiona slipped it on her finger and lightly admonished, “You didna choose the ring, it chose you. And it continues to have need o’ you.”
Next Fiona turned to me. “I know this has been hard for you, but when the time comes ye must be willing to sacrifice … for Jamie’s sake.” As she hugged me good-bye she whispered, “Pure, unselfish love can break any spell.”
While I appreciated the sentiment, I had no idea how it could apply to saving Jamie. This wasn’t like one of those fairy tale movies where Love’s True Kiss could break any curse. But since she’d never steered me wrong before, I tucked the information away.
Fergus, still mottled from their last encounter, cleared his throat shyly. “We may never see each other again. Won’t ye kiss me, Fee?”