Chapter 16 #3
“Sir Alexander has little liking for me,” she said, aware this woman’s beliefs could only have come from him.
Sadness settled upon the elder’s face, aged lines that hinted she’d braved many challenges throughout the years. “Alexander is a lad who bears the hard weight of youth as guilt.” She paused. “As do you.”
Shaken, Emma stepped back. What was going on? This woman could know nothing about her. “It is late.”
“For some the hour grows long,” the woman said, “but the gift of time remains if you so choose.”
If only the choice was so simple. Her time for truths had long since passed. “I am indeed tired,” Emma said. “I am sorry to disturb you.”
“You did not disturb me.” She picked up the embroidery, and Emma caught the outline of wings upon the delicate cloth. The woman smiled. “This was but a task to entertain me until your arrival.”
Shaken, Emma took another step back. “How did you know I would—”
“God’s teeth, what are you doing here?”
At Sir Alexander’s furious voice, Emma spun. Heart pounding, she faced the warrior. “I was looking for Patrik.”
The scar across his left cheek jumped. “Were you?” He scanned the chamber and his scowl deepened.
“I was speaking with . . .” Heat stung her cheeks. She’d forgotten to ask the elderly woman her name. Emma turned. Stilled.
“Who?” Suspicion carved Alexander’s voice.
“An elderly woman. She was sitting before the fire with her embroidery when you arrived.” Emma stared at the empty chamber, her panic growing. Where was she?
Anger tightened his face. “There is not a stick of wood within the hearth.”
As if she could not see that? God in heaven, where had the woman gone? “There was a fire. I swear it.”
Sir Alexander snorted in disbelief. “Truth, you were outside your room. When you heard me coming up the turret, you ran and hid in this chamber believing you were safe.”
“ No.”
“Why do I find myself not believing you?” His gaze cut past her, widened. “By my sword!” He strode past her.
Emma turned.
Near the bed, Sir Alexander stared at a bowl.
Inside, sat two halved gemstones. Framed within the rough exterior of one half, she recognized the pale green sweep of color, a shade that darkened to a deep, tumultuous olive hue at its center.
A gemstone identical to the one Patrik wore around his neck; a gemstone that had warmed within her hand when she’d touched it.
The stone was a potent reminder of the love she and Patrik had made.
On unsteady legs, she moved closer, studied the other halved gem at its side. Though similar in size, this gemstone held a mixture of gray and stark yellow. Never had she seen such an unusual mix.
Sir Alexander whirled, his face pale. “I will take you to your chamber.”
With cold silence he guided her from the chamber, but his emotional turmoil was clear. Before she stepped from the room, a flicker of light from the ceiling had her glancing up. Sadness creased the fairies’ faces that had shimmered with happiness moments before.
Sir Alexander wanted her away from this chamber, and she was not about to object. As she started to walk through the entry, Emma glanced at where the mate to Patrik’s halved gem lay. She stumbled. It was glowing!
As if the hounds of hell chased her, she hurried through the door. Sir Alexander need not escort her out of this room. Never had she been so afraid in all of her life.
His mind still racing from finding Cristina in his grandmother’s chamber, Alexander strode along the wall walk, too upset to go to his bed. As he passed a crenellation he paused, staring past the granite that framed the moonlit view beyond.
The image of the second halved stone within the bowl scraped through his mind as well as Cristina’s claim to have seen an elderly woman. The lass knew not who had lived there, but he did—his grandmother. By God’s eyes, it could not be.
“Alexander?”
At his wife’s concerned voice, he turned. Nichola walked toward him, their son cradled in her arms, his eyes wide and wondrous. A sense of completeness infused him. He walked over, laid his hand upon his son.
Soft, tiny fingers clasped his thumb. A smile wobbled upon chubby cheeks along with a bright-eyed smile.
“A fine son you have given me.”
Love caressed her face. “A son who now has cousins to play with.”
Alexander shrugged. “With twin daughters, ’tis a good thing Duncan was always won over by the lasses.”
She chuckled. “And they have stolen your heart as well.”
Alexander shrugged. “Mayhap.”
The smile in Nichola’s eyes faded. “What is wrong, my husband?”
He withdrew his hand from his son’s hold, turned to stare across the moonlit loch.
Alexander was struck by the memory of he and his brothers lying upon the distant shores after Duncan and Patrik had stolen his garb.
The chase, Duncan’s cries as he’d fetched Alexander’s clothes from the brush, and then the wine they’d drunk as they lay upon the bank.
“Alexander?”
“There is another halved stone in my grandmother’s bowl.”
“What? Why would you go up to your grandmother’s chamber?”
He turned. “As I was heading to bed, I saw a light in the turret.”
“No one has been in the chamber?”
The nerves in her voice left him further on edge. “Aye, after Linet’s foray into the room a few months ago, the chamber was left with the door shut and barred.”
“But you said you entered the tower chamber?”
He blew out a deep breath. “Aye, the door was open. When I entered, I found Mistress Cristina standing before an empty chair, talking.”
“Talking? To whom?”
Alexander gave a gruff laugh. “No one.”
“My husband, you are making little sense.”
“A fact I well realize. When I asked the lass who she was speaking with, she said to an elderly woman.”
Nichola stilled. “Your grandmother appeared?”
“I did not see her.”
“Do you believe Mistress Cristina did?”
“I believe the lass was outside her chamber, heard me coming and when confronted, crafted a tale.”
“But you are not sure.”
He muttered a curse. “Nae, which helps naught. Mistress Cristina’s surprise at seeing me seemed real; she seemed startled when she turned and found no woman sitting before the hearth.”
Nichola laid her son upon her shoulder, rubbed the middle of his back in a slow sweep, but Alexander saw a slight nervous tremble.
“What do you think your grandmother appearing before Mistress Cristina means?”
“It means the lass was where she shouldna be.”
Silence.
“Alexander?”
“Aye?”
“When the malachite appeared before . . . It was your grandmother’s way of letting us know Patrik lived.” Their son burped, and with shaky movements, Nichola tucked him within the swaddling cloth, then laid him against her chest. “Was Patrik’s halved stone still within the bowl?”
“Aye,” he said, irritated he’d mentioned his brother’s name.
She inhaled, released a shaky breath. “Do you think . . .”
“That the lass is the woman meant for Patrik?” He shrugged. “She did not take the stone.”
“But?”
“Blast it. I do not wish to speak of this. ’Tis foolery. The story of the stones is a myth, a fable crafted by my brothers to tease me when I abducted you.”
“Mayhap.” A smile wobbled on her mouth. “But do you not find it odd that every woman who has married a MacGruder brother has taken the halved stone of her mate?”
He scowled. “Patrik’s stone remains.”
“But, you said Mistress Cristina saw your grandmother ?”
“The lass stated that she spoke with an elderly woman, if I am to believe that.” Alexander drew his wife and child within his arms.
She laid her cheek against his shoulder. “What will you tell your brothers?”
“I know not. ’Tis a bloody mess.”
“Alexander?”
He met her gaze. “Aye?”
“You said there was another stone?”
“Aye. Never have I seen it before.”
“What do you think it means?”
“I do not know, but I assure you, I will speak with my brothers at first light. Exactly what I will tell them is another matter.”
Anger sparked in Seathan’s eyes as he stood in Patrik’s chamber by the window. “What was Mistress Cristina doing in our grandmother’s chamber?”
In complete detail, Alexander explained to his brothers and Griffin last night’s events.
“And when you arrived within your grandmother’s chamber, no one else was within the room?” Griffin asked, clearly intrigued by the new twist in the MacGruder family mystery.
“Nay.” Alexander thrummed his fingers upon the hilt of his dagger. “But from the shock on Mistress Cristina’s face as she turned and found no one there, ’tis hard to discount her claim as a lie.”
Duncan shook his head. “It had to be our grandmother.”
Alexander eyed his younger brother. “I do not want to believe it. I fought throughout the night to find another reason, yet nothing else makes sense.” He muttered a curse. “The lass knows not ’twas our grandmother’s chamber, nor has she ever met her. Yet, she described her in exact detail.”
“So, it seems our grandmother’s spirit indeed visits the chamber,” Seathan said, his voice raw with wonder. “And it would explain the reappearance of Patrik’s stone months ago.”
“It was your grandmother’s way of revealing Patrik lived,” Griffin said. “But why would his gemstone have disappeared to begin with?”
“At this moment,” Seathan replied, “the only one who knows that is our grandmother.”
Silence filled the chamber as the brothers shared a look of agreement as to what their grandmother’s appearance to Mistress Cristina meant.
Alexander frowned, not liking the mystery. Was Cristina indeed meant for Patrik? Nay, had she taken the stone, then he would be convinced.
“But,” Alexander said, “it does nae explain the appearance of the other halved stone within the bowl, a gem I have never seen before.”
Duncan frowned. “A second stone? Sword’s wrath, ’tis a muddle.”
“Think you I do not know that?” Alexander said. “I had barred the bloody chamber myself.”
“It would seem barriers matter not when our grandmother is involved,” Seathan said.
“Do you think there are more halved stones to appear?” At Alexander’s scowl, Duncan raised his hands. “Do nae give me that look.”
“At this moment,” Seathan broke in, “our most pressing need is to figure out how to free Bishop Wishart, not the stones or their importance.”
Griffin rubbed the back of his neck.
His brother-in-law’s nervous action caught Alexander’s attention. “What is wrong?”
A hesitant look crossed Griffin’s face. “What did the stone look like?”
Alexander crossed his arms. “Why?”
“On my many trips to Lochshire Castle over the years,” Griffin replied, “I had the pleasure of meeting your grandmother.”
Seathan’s gaze narrowed. “You would.”
“On one such visit, she requested my presence in private. And,” Griffin said as he withdrew the chain from around his neck, “gave me this halved magnesite.”
Alexander gasped, his gut dropping to his toes, “’Tis a bloody perfect match!”