Chapter Fourteen
An hour later, Brianna sat curled in the chair by the great hall fire, her legs tucked underneath her. She held a steaming mug of something that smelled a lot like weak herbal tea between her cold hands. The steam rose from the cup, curling around her nose and warming her face.
After her second vision, she was inconsolable. Her tears had long since dried but her throat was raw. Mostly, she was embarrassed she had fallen into such distress in front of Jamie. She would never live that down.
Jamie didn’t know what else to do with her, so he scooped her up and carried her to the great hall where the others were having their evening meal.
Evie took one look at her and scurried off to the kitchen. Chloe sat mute and ashen next to Malcolm with her hand on his, peering at her with large, round emerald eyes, as though she hadn’t a clue what to say to her. Truthfully, Brianna wasn’t sure what to say, either.
Callum sat at the head of the table. Calm, quiet, stoic.
They all waited for her to speak with expectant looks on their faces.
“Well?” Chloe finally said. “Are you going to tell us what this is all about? Or is all this drama for nothing?”
“Chlo.” Evie’s tone was one of warning.
Brianna flashed her sister a glare but said nothing.
“She had a second vision,” Jamie said.
He’d parked himself beside her, one hand on her shoulder to comfort her. She liked it there.
“Another vision?” Evie drew her brows together.
“Of the future.” She managed to croak out the words.
“If I dinnae ken any better, I’d say the lass was in her cups,” Malcolm said.
“She wasna drinking the ale,” Jamie said, defending her.
She dropped her feet to the floor and placed her cup on the table with a thump. “I saw the future. In that future, we all die.”
Her tone was matter-of-fact, as though she were reporting on nothing more than the fine weather. Her gaze alighted on each and every face. As she did, she reached for Jamie’s hand, lacing their fingers together. In her weakened state, she drew her strength from him.
“Tell us, Brianna, about your second vision.” Evie was calm, controlled, as she sat next to her husband with her hands folded in her lap.
So she did. She told them everything about how the world seemed to blur around them—the three of them standing on the craggy hill facing the MacDonald’s massive army. When she described the glittering seam in the space in front of them, Chloe snapped to attention.
“That’s what I saw in my vision of the past,” she said. “A temporal rift in space. MacDonald wants to open a portal to the Realm of Chaos.”
“Yes,” Brianna agreed. “And he does. When he does, dark creatures spill into our world. He wants to use them to take over the lands. He wants to control all of the Highlands.”
Callum made a noise of disbelief. “I will be dead before he conquers my lands.”
“And that’s exactly what he wants,” Brianna said, pinning him with her best stern look. “He wants you and your brothers dead. The only thing standing in his way right now are three pieces of stone.”
“You said in your vision the stone was whole again,” Chloe pointed out.
She nodded. “I did. And it was. Which means, we have to find a way to put it back together.”
But she was uncertain what would happen once they did that.
She also didn’t mention to them Athea seemed to think she was the one who had the power to shift the timeline. It was hard to forget those words ringing through her mind. Every time they came back to her, her stomach cramped with a wave of sickness.
She didn’t want to be that person. And though the goddess told her she had the power within her, she hadn’t a clue how to use that power.
“There has to be more to this prophecy than we know,” Evie said. She turned to Callum. “Did Hamish mention anything else about it?”
He shook his head but it was Jamie who spoke next.
“There is more to it, brother,” he said. “Ye dinnae care to remember.” Then he glanced at Malcolm. “But we do.”
Malcolm looked deep in thought as he tried to recall the words. “All I remember is something about a maiden.”
“When the stars align and twilight fades, a maiden from the future comes. Through time’s veil, her path she will find, with heart and courage, to mend all Time.”
As Jamie said it, his gaze met Brianna’s. In that moment, her heart leapt into her throat to beat a wicked beat. He granted her a knee-melting smile. She sank back into the chair by the fire, her strength drained.
“You need to eat something, Brianna,” Evie said in her mothering tone.
“Aye, eat, lass.” Jamie pulled a chair next to her. He handed her the cup.
Taking it, she took a sip, letting it warm her.
“I’ll fetch you some pottage.” Evie started to rise, but Callum put a hand on hers.
“I will,” he said and gave her a stern look that said she’d done enough for one day. He pushed from the table and left them to head to the kitchen.
Unease shifted through her as she was aware of all eyes on her, as though waiting for her to say something profound.
“I’m too tired to eat,” she said. She reached a hand for Jamie.
He took the signal and helped her to her feet.
“Bri—” Evie objected.
“Later,” she snapped.
Jamie led her back up the stairs and to his bedchamber, where he closed the door with a snap. He helped her to the chair by the fire, stoking it to make it come alive once again.
“Yer sister is right, lass. Ye need to eat to keep yer strength.”
He bent to pick up the mess she’d left behind when she had her second vision. He righted the table between them and slid the tray back on top of it.
“I know, but I…I needed away from all those prying, expectant eyes. I should help you clean that up.”
“Nay.” He scooped up the discarded food and dropped it on the tray.
It appeared he or someone had already cleaned up the spilled ale. When he stood straight again, there was concern deep in his eyes.
“I’ll fetch ye the food. Then we can talk more.”
He picked up the tray with the old food and slipped out of the room and closed the door behind him, not waiting for her reply.
She expelled a breath, the energy leaving her as she gazed into the fire.
She didn’t want to talk about the visions anymore.
She didn’t want to talk about the damn keystone anymore. All she wanted was to be left alone.
And truly, she wanted to return to her life in the Caribbean. She was not cut out to carry such weight. She was not the one to alter destinies or shift timelines. As these thoughts consumed her, she realized with some discomfort she had left her piece of the keystone behind once again.
Jamie returned and placed fresh food on the table in front of her. It was a steaming bread bowl of something that smelled delicious. Next to it, fresh baked bread. He poured two tankards of ale and took the chair opposite her.
“Eat,” he insisted.
“I can take care of myself.” She frowned, pouting into her bread bowl.
“Aye, I ken that. Now, eat.” There was the glint of annoyance in his eyes. “Or I’ll feed ye myself.”
She took that for the threat it was and scooted to the edge of the chair. Taking up the wooden spoon, she ate. She hadn’t realized how ravenous she was until she had that first taste.
“I think we should visit the tapestry room to see if anything has changed,” he said.
Brianna didn’t want to see if anything had changed. She didn’t want to see if something was foretold in the woven fabric of the tapestries. The thought of walking into that room sent fear skipping through her. She clutched her spoon, her muscles tight as she peered at him.
“And then what?”
“And then we strategize.”
But Brianna had another idea. “I think the three of us need to put the keystone back together.”
Alarm crossed his features. “’Tis a dangerous idea.”
“And the only idea that may give us the answers we need. We’ll have to activate it with the blood magic, of course.” Even as she said it, her bandaged hand throbbed.
“No,” he said firmly. “I will no allow it.”
Surprise flickered though her. His features were hard and unyielding. “But if it’s the only way, then we should at least try.”
He clenched his jaw, the muscles ticking along the edge as he considered her words. “Mayhap when yer stronger.”
He was right about that. The two visions had left her in a weakened state. She polished off the rest of the bread bowl, her stomach full for the first time in days. There was something endearing about the way he fussed over her. She liked it far too much.
He was still too young for her.
She rose on unsteady legs, intending to return to the tapestry room to sleep and rest. But when she did, he got to his feet, too.
“Just where do ye think yer going, lass?”
“To my room.”
She took one step toward the door and immediately crumpled to the floor with her utter exhaustion. He was there in a flash, though, his arm around her.
“Ye’ll sleep here,” he said.
“But—”
“I’ll hear no more.”
He swept her up, once again carrying her to the bed. When she was settled, she waved him off and kicked off her shoes.
“I don’t suppose you have something I can sleep in besides my clothes.”
She still wore her jeans and sweater from her world.
Jamie rummaged through an oversized chest at the foot of the bed and came up with one of his tunics. He offered it to her.
A strange sensation tingled through her as she looked at it, wondering if it would fit her. He was, after all, quite tall and broad.
“Thanks.” She took it from him, clutching the material against her chest.
“I’ll leave ye be while ye change, then.” He started for the door, then paused and turned back. He pulled something out of his sporran. It was her piece of the stone. Once again, he’d picked it up for her. “Ye might want to look after this better, lass.”
He winked as he said it. She plucked it from his hand and nodded. He was right, of course. Moira had told her to keep it safe and never let it out of her sight. So far, she’d left it behind twice. He left her alone so she could change.