“What is it, man? What did ye find at Donal’s?” Eoin ushered Ramsay over to the staircase in the center of the room, and they both collapsed onto the stone steps next to one another.
“The MacChristys will no be coming to our aide. They’re all gone, Eoin. The clan MacChristy has been completely wiped out. Women, children, livestock, all. Laird MacLyrron left nothing alive. And now he’s headed in our direction.”
Bile rose in Eoin’s throat. If what Ramsay said was true, their hopes of surviving the attack were greatly diminished. “Do ye think with our combined men we can stand against them?”
Eoin took in Ramsay’s pained expression and knew his response before he spoke.
“Nay. I doona believe we can. He has three times the number of men we do. The best we can hope for is to hide our women and children as long as we can, and nay let them take us without a fight.”
“How far away are they? Do we have time to prepare at all?”
“Aye. A group of my men were scouting their location. Tis how we were warned they were headed our way. They are reconvening to gather after splitting directions. They’ve camped for the night in between my castle and what was the MacChristy’s keep. They canna make it here before tomorrow night.”
“A small mercy, but at least yer men shall be able to get a short time of rest before we prepare for battle and hide the women tomorrow. We shall all need our strength. While I know sleep is likely to escape us all tonight, I think we should all try. Tell yer men they are welcome to set camp anywhere on castle grounds. I will show ye to yer chamber. Yer daughter may stay in my mother’s old room. Blaire resides with me.”
“Thank ye, Eoin. It calms an old man’s heart to know he will die beside such a fine laird and ally. Let us reconvene in the morning.”
*
Eoin opened the door to his bedchamber as quietly as he could, although he knew Bri would still be awake waiting for him. He kept his back to her as he blew out the candles next to the bed. Then he undressed and crawled in beside her.
If he let her see his face, she would know something was wrong, and he couldn’t bear for her to know just yet. He wanted one last night, as sleepless as it would be for him, to hold her in his arms and thank the heavens for sending the lass throughout time to find him.
He finally knew the love that his own father had shared with his mother. When his mother had died, it had taken every fiber of strength his father possessed to keep on living. His love for her never ceased, and Eoin had known it had been her name on his father’s mind and heart as he’d watched his father take his last breath.
He’d never understood how a lass could have such a hold on someone’s heart. Eoin grew up wondering why his father never remarried; he would’ve if it had been he who’d lost his wife. It was unnatural for a man to live alone so long, and how many years did it take for a heart to heal anyways? Surely not a lifetime.
But all of that was before Bri. And now, as he held her in his arms, feeling the warmth of her skin so vibrant and alive against him, he knew exactly the power a woman could wield over a man’s soul.
He loved her beyond reason, beyond hope, beyond time.
Her voice in the darkness, rattled him from his thoughts and he pulled her in closely against him, kissing her hair.
“Did they finally arrive? What kept them so long?”
“Aye, lass. Only some bad weather slowed them. All is well.”
It was the only lie he would tell her, but he would allow himself to be selfish, just this night. For Eoin loved the lass too much to watch her die. And after sunrise, although it pained him more than the thought of his own death, he would take the lass down into the spell room one last time. And whether she wanted to or no, she would do the spell and return home.
Chapter 37
MacChristy Castle
Donal MacChristy found himself unable to sit still. He felt an unexplainable sense of unease as he paced back and forth down the halls of his castle. He suspected this was what life felt like for the many ghosts that roamed the halls of the ancient castle, and when he unexpectedly collided with a figure around the corner he thought momentarily that perhaps he’d run into a real one.
He started at the sight of his most trusted housekeeper, Blaire’s old maid and tutor, reeling back from the impact. “What are ye doing awake at this time o’ night, lass? Ye should have been away long before now.”
The elderly woman nodded and extended a plaid cloth in his direction, nearly screaming to accommodate the laird’s bad ear. “Aye, perhaps. I’ve no been sure whether I should show ye something, but I’ve decided tis best that I do.”
Donal took the strip torn from the bottom of a kilt into his hands and turned it over as the sense of unease crept back into his mind. “Where did ye find this?”
“It was in the bedchamber of the lad that came from Conall Castle.”
“Aye?” The colors on the tartan were not the same as the Conall colors.
“Aye, sir. And there is something else as well, sir.”