Adwen’s voice pulled me from my thoughts. For the first time in a good many miles, I truly took in the road ahead of me, finding us much closer to Cagair Castle than I thought.
“Sorry, my mind is rather tired.” I pulled over on the side of the road, just before the bridge leading to the castle. It was a cold, rainy day, and we’d not passed another car since leaving Morna’s. Unless Cagair Castle’s newest residents were outside, we would likely be able to walk the length of the bridge and go around the back to the portal completely unnoticed.
“Should we change here, Aunt Jane? I don’t think we should go back in this stuff. Isobel and Gregor won’t get it.”
Cooper had noticed my quiet demeanor after meeting with Morna. I knew by the way he stayed so close, reaching for my hand and giving it a gentle squeeze on and off throughout the day. Still, he asked nothing about Morna and whether or not she’d given Isobel the help we came looking for. I knew that for him to avoid the question meant that he was scared to hear the answer. Which truthfully, was just as well; I didn’t have one to give him anyway.
“Yes, unfortunately I think we should. You guys change outside, and I’ll do so in the car.”
All three groaned as they stepped out into the rain but did as I asked so quickly that I’d only just slipped out of my socks and pants when Adwen stuck his head back into the car.
“Hey, I’m not finished. Get out of here.”
He rolled his eyes and shook his head without budging from the doorway.
“Jane, I’ve seen more of ye than ’tis showing now. Cooper’s growing restless from the long day of travel. I think I’ll chase him to the portal. Orick will wait for ye here, and ye can meet us. We willna go through without ye. Do ye mind, lass?”
“No. He’ll love that. Go.”
He leaned in and kissed me before standing to holler after Cooper to tell him to run.
Knowing that Orick stood waiting for me hurried me up quite a lot, and I was able to push Isobel from my mind long enough to squirm back into my seventeenth century clothes and join Orick outside.
“Sorry, that was a little bit tricky in the car.”
“Aye, I believe it. I couldna have done it, myself.”
The rain didn’t bother me. It fit my pensive mood, and Orick didn’t seem to mind getting soaked through as we walked down the bridge rather slowly together.
“What is it that eats at ye so, Jane? Ye’ve usually a light about ye, unlike most. That light is dimmer since yesterday.”
“It’s nothing.”
“’Tis no nothing, lass. Is it Adwen? Do I need to knock him about for ye? I told him that if he hurt ye, I’d see him unable to walk for a full moon at least.”
I laughed, thinking of Cooper. “You’re not the only one that told him something like that.”
“Ah, I see my young friend has done the same, then?”
“Yes, but it’s not Adwen. It’s Isobel…”
I told him everything. All the while, he walked next to me listening intently. I was crying by the time I finished. Over the course of our walk, the rain had picked up its pace so that I couldn’t tell the difference between the raindrops and the tears that ran down my face.
“I don’t know what to do. How can I let her die? But then, who am I to change the way things are supposed to be? Do you believe in fate, Orick?”
We reached the end of the bridge, and Orick took my hand as we stepped onto the grass. He held onto me, helping me trudge through the rain-soaked lawn as we made our way around to the side. We were only fifty yards away from the portal when Orick stopped dead in his tracks, staring up to the light-filled window as he placed his right hand over his heart.
“No, lass, though if there was one that could make me believe in fate, I believe ’twould be her.”
I looked up to see a cascade of red fill the window as the woman Orick spoke of let loose her hair. It was his “ghost” in the flesh.
“What I wouldna give to hold those fiery locks in my hands, Jane.”
I smiled as I turned to look at him, my sadness melting away as I looked at the adoration in his eyes. Any woman to gain Orick’s affections was luckier than she knew.
“You could always try to, I guess. Just go on and knock on the door and speak to her. I’ll wait for you if you like.”
Orick pulled his gaze from the window, his cheeks blushing in spite of the rain. “No, lass. I couldna do that. Even if I had the courage, ’twould be to no end. My place is next to Adwen until the day I die.”
“Why?” My head reared back in surprise. It was such an extreme statement, I had difficulty fathoming it. “Adwen is a grown man. Don’t you deserve your own happiness?”
“I am happy. Verra. But I wasna always that way. Has Adwen told ye how I came to be with him and his family?”
“No, he hasn’t. How?” I’d wondered about his history from the first moment I met him.
“I was no more than twelve and, while I know my size now, I was no so large when Adwen found me. He was only six and had more meat on his bones than I. I’d lived in silence, all alone and near starved for many moons when he saved me.”