The Promise (Highland Lairds of the Crest #4)

Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

With Lachlan’s declaration of Brianna’s O’Roarke-ness, it seemed that everything was put to rights. Like Brianna was accepted as family or near-to. Whatever that meant, the effect was instant. The tension, worry even, that Dar and Celeste had been exhibiting vanished in a blink.

In a flurry of apologies, warm welcomes, and formal introductions, Brianna’s bags were collected from her car, and she was escorted upstairs. It all happened so quickly, and although she insisted (more than a few times) that she’d be quite fine with the room she’d booked at the B and the Montgomerys, not Alex or Amanda, but their relatives—Dar was vague on just how they were related—Gavin and Isabelle. Then there was a mention of their dear friend, Aidan Sinclair, who had apparently worked with them on the castle. Curious about what part they’d last remodeled, Brianna was about to ask when Dar jumped in with a story about another of his childhood friends, Ronan. Her question was forgotten when Lachlan started to speak about the O’Roarkes he knew. Brianna wasn’t sure she’d ever met or even heard about that part of the family, and she would have remembered since they shared the names of her favorite ancestors, Callum and Margret. It was a wonderful, intimate glimpse into the lives of the MacTavishes as they laughed, shed a tear or two, and toasted to cherished memories .

Feeling the warmth around the table, Brianna envied the connection this family clearly had with their fold. She could feel how much these people meant to them—even though their friends and other family weren’t there physically, their love and affection filled the room. It was a sensation that, for Brianna, had lain dormant for years, and feeling that re-emerging magical glow was a bit overwhelming.

There was another welcome pause when Dar rose to fetch a new bottle of wine from the kitchen. Once he returned and began refilling everyone’s glasses, Brianna took a deep breath, feeling like the time was finally right to turn the conversation toward the sword, the reason she was even there.

“I’m not sure how to broach the subject,” she said, feeling her cheeks warm. “But can we talk about the sword?” Suddenly overcome with emotion again, Brianna felt her eyes well up, a few tears spilling over. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, as she wiped away her tears, embarrassed. Lachlan and Celeste, who were sitting closest to her, each reached out to offer a comforting touch. “It’s just that everything I’ve ever held dear, all my cherished family legacies—it all keeps disappearing. And the sword…that sword means everything to me. It’s the oldest piece of our history. Name what you want in exchange. You can have the dresses, and the bag, too if you want! I’m prepared to pay whatever price yo?—”

Brianna stopped short for a moment at the gasps, wide eyes, and frantic hands waving her off around the table. Still, she had to say her piece—she’d practiced it so many times on the drive up that the well-rehearsed words fell from her lips anyway. “I’m prepared to pay whatever price you wish to see it returned to our family.”

She looked up and was met with three stunned faces, mouths agape, all looking like they were waiting for the floor to swallow them whole. In the silence, the staff reappeared with dinner and the room remained eerily quiet, aside from murmurs of thanks as their entrees were served—steak frites, but a play on the frites, made from a variety of root vegetables instead of traditional potatoes. All the while, Brianna was trying to gather the courage to ask what was wrong.

“Sorry, Brianna,” Celeste said first, having shared another look with the men. “For a moment, I think we were all concerned that…well, we thought…” her words suddenly failed her.

“What my wife is trying to say, is…” Dar cut in but seemed equally flummoxed. “Well, you see, we’ve all been in some rather … encountered some …”.

“Och, the both of you,” Lachlan spat, “If there’s anything to be gleaned from our experience, and what we know, it’s this, Breagha—that sword is not your legacy, lass. No, let me finish,” Lachlan said, no doubt reacting to the confusion and offense that had surely crossed Brianna’s face at those words. “The sword itself is not your legacy, though it is part of it. Magic is your legacy, Breagha, my dear.”

“Da!” Celeste and Dar cried at once.

“ What? She’s an O’Roarke, and as close to the tree as they come. Magic must run through the very heart of her. It would be unthinkable for her to not have known even a wee bit of it.”

They all turned to look at her expectantly, and even though she was open to it, and truly she was , open to it, after years of pushing even the idea of the family magic away, her doubt must have shown.

“ Breagha!—Girl! ” Lachlan exclaimed after seeing the doubt on her face. “ALL O’Roarkes believe!”

Brianna shrugged, wishing she could force true belief. Dar and Celeste told Lachlan to ease up a bit, clearly worried his tone may have offended her. It was really kind of them, but honestly, Brianna read Lachlan’s words as filled only with affection. It was clear he was passionate about the subject.

“It’s okay,” she said, “It’s just… well, after my parents died, any of that wee bit of magic seemed to go with them.”

Lachlan nodded, then closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, he was looking at her intently. “Do you know the history of your family’s sword?” he asked.

Brianna shook her head slowly. “Beyond what we know from carbon dating, it’s the one piece that’s shrouded in mystery.” Buoyed by the gleam in Lachlan’s eyes, and the grin spreading slowly across his face, Brianna’s heartbeat ticked up a notch as she leaned forward and reached for his hand. “You know it, don’t you?” she asked, tears suddenly pricking at her eyes as that hopeful feeling danced through her again .

“Oh aye, lass. There’s good reason it’s shrouded in mystery.”

The air nearly crackled in the room with his statement, and as he paused, whether for dramatics or not, Brianna was grateful for the breather, as suddenly her brain was nearly bursting from this new information pinging in her head. While she tried to absorb what Lachlan was implying, Dar and Celeste were doing their best to caution him from saying more—which of course only made Brianna want to know even more. Luckily, Lachlan wasn’t dissuaded.

“She has every right to know—especially if it was Esmerelda who bestowed those gifts upon her right ahead of her visiting Abersoch, no less!” His hand hit the table. “And it’s our duty to tell her.” He fixed his son and daughter-in-law with a stare so intense Brianna almost started to second-guess whether she did want to know. That hesitation lasted only a millisecond though, because there was that name again, Esmeralda, and somehow, she was connected to the sword and to the O’Roarkes. It was all too perfect to be a coincidence, and based on the look that Dar and his wife were sharing, Brianna knew the stakes were high.

“We’re in agreement, then?” Lachlan asked when neither Dar nor Celeste said anything. The two paused a moment longer, then seemed to come to a silent consensus. With one more look at Brianna, they turned back to Lachlan and nodded, then Lachlan turned to Brianna and patted her hand. “Sit back, love. We’re in for a long night. ”

Brianna accepted the fresh glass of wine that Dar was handing her and, God help her, she sat there for hours, eating up every single word.

As Lachlan told her about the O’Roarkes of centuries ago, Fergus and Isabeau, Callum and Margret, she listened, rapt. After a little while, it became harder and harder to ignore that Lachlan wasn’t talking about these people as historical figures, but as contemporaries, and when Celeste stepped in to explain how the sword had come into their possession—how her sister-in-law, a woman named Maggie had found it after her brother Derek, who had gotten it from Brianna’s grandfather, passed away—well, Brianna needed to top off her wine to take it all in. If what these people were saying was true, there was more than just a wee bit of magic imbued in her family’s artifact, nay , her family’s entire history—and apparently, it was all magic.

So too, the land of Castle Abersoch that they now sat upon.