Chapter Seventeen #2
Elise winced. Of course he had. Jamie had been trying to spare everyone—right up until everything exploded around him.
“So Lir strikes again, eh?” Rose continued. “She’s uprooted your life just like she did with Jenna and me.”
Elise shrugged. “At least she’s consistent.”
Rose snorted at that. “I suppose so.” She cocked her head, regarding Elise with a shrewd expression. “So,” she said. “Jamie Donald.”
Elise took a sip of tea and tried to put on an innocent expression. “What about him?”
Rose rolled her eyes. “Elise, I saw the pair of you at my wedding. I’d never seen you flirt so much in my entire life. Are you telling me it’s pure coincidence that it was you Lir asked to go help him?”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“Oh yes, you do. If Lir needed a MacFinnan spellweaver, it would have been far easier for her to call on me or Jenna. We do live in this time now, after all. But she didn’t need just any MacFinnan spellweaver, did she? She needed you. Why do you suppose that is?”
Elise shifted uncomfortably. Rose had always had the uncanny knack of seeing right through her. Damn it. Was there nothing she could keep from her sister? She felt a hot blush creep across her cheeks and took another sip of tea to hide it.
But Rose wasn’t fooled. “I knew it! I know that look! There is something between you and Jamie, isn’t there?”
Elise sighed, putting her cup down on the little table. “Oh God, Rose,” she sighed. “What am I going to do? I didn’t mean for it to happen, honestly, I didn’t.”
“Are you in love with him?”
Elise opened her mouth to deny it. Closed it. Tried again. Failed again. “Yes,” she finally croaked. “Yes, I’m in love with him. God help me.”
A wide grin broke over Rose’s face. She clapped her hands once, delighted. “I knew it!”
“You did?”
Rose nodded. “Yes, because despite everything, despite the danger and the politics and the insanity of it all…you’re glowing. Elise, I haven’t seen you look like this…ever. Whatever happened to the woman determined never to get tangled up with anyone?”
“She met Jamie Donald and it all went to hell. Oh God, Rose. What am I going to do? It’s crazy. Impossible.”
Rose cocked her head. “How so?”
Elise threw up her hands in frustration. “Because…because of everything. How can I even be thinking like this when Islay is in such trouble? When all the people that live there are in such danger? Lir sent me here to save them, and so far I’ve failed miserably!”
Rose’s eyes narrowed. “Failed? Elise, you still talk crap, you know that? I wouldn’t call fighting off two enemy ships, rescuing three men, uncovering a conspiracy, and then ensuring you and Jamie got away safely a failure.
” She whistled under her breath. “I’m not sure I could have managed as much. You’ve always been the bravest of us.”
Elise didn’t feel brave. She felt like she was in way over her head. She felt like she’d been winging it since the moment she’d arrived here.
She steeled herself and asked the question she’d wanted to ask since the moment they arrived. “Rose… what do you know about War Weavers?”
“War Weavers?”
“Yes.” Elise leaned forward, lowering her voice. “On Islay an old man told me stories his grandfather used to tell—stories about the MacFinnan War Weavers. He said they were powerful spellweavers who fought in battles.”
Rose set her cup down. “I’ve never heard that phrase in my life.”
“Not even from Mother? Or any of the old family stories?”
“No.” Rose frowned. “But that doesn’t mean it’s not real. We MacFinnans have always had strange gaps in our history. And one thing I’ve learned since coming here is that the old tales and myths often have a grain of truth in them.”
Elise wasn’t sure how to respond. Neil’s story of the War Weavers called to her, but it scared her too.
As if sensing her disquiet, Rose reached over and clasped her hand. “Don’t worry. If there’s truth to these stories, we’ll discover it. And together with Cailean and Jamie, we’ll find a way to drive these invaders from the Kingdom of the Isles.”
Elise felt strength pour into her from Rose’s grip. Her big sister always did have a way of making everything seem better. “The two MacFinnan spellweavers together again, eh?”
“Two?” Rose replied, raising an eyebrow. “Don’t you mean three? Jenna will kill us both if we don’t involve her in this.”
“You can get word to her over on Skye?”
“Already done. She’s on her way here as we speak.”
A flush of elation washed through Elise. Her sister and her niece! Her family was going to be back together again!
“Phillip and King James better watch out,” she said with a fierce grin. “Three MacFinnan spellweavers together? Those bastards aren’t going to know what’s hit them!”
*
Jamie sat at the polished oaken table opposite Cailean MacNeil, Laird of Barra. Sunlight pouring through the high windows cast light across the older man’s face, accentuating the deep, penetrating quality of his dark eyes.
They had been talking in low voices, Jamie telling Cailean all that had transpired on Islay. Now, as he finished his tale, Cailean growled deep in his throat, his grip tightening around the cup of whisky he held in one hand.
“Has King James lost his mind?” he snapped. “To seize the keep, imprison our men, and send his dogs into our lands? It’s not just an insult—it’s treason against the Isles!”
“Aye, but King James fears Ulster more than he fears us. And he’ll do whatever it takes to turn the Isles into a bastion against an attack Ulster might make against Scotland.”
“Doesnae fear us?” Cailean growled. “Then we’ll teach him to fear us! Barra’s fleet stands with ye. Ten longships ready to sail within the day.”
At Cailean’s words, Jamie felt some of his tension ease a little. Barra was under his overlordship and Cailean was one of his vassals—more than that, he was a friend—but even so, he’d been a little apprehensive about turning up here unannounced with his tale of woe.
Cailean had his own people to think of and would have been forgiven for looking to the defense of his own island first. But Jamie had underestimated his old friend and mentor, it seemed. Fire burned in Cailean’s eyes, anger and determination in equal measure.
Jamie nodded. “Perhaps, but it willnae be easy. Philip holds my home. He has the king’s men, the harbor, the keep…and Albie and my warriors in chains.” His chest tightened at that. He should have listened to Albie rather than letting himself be duped by Phillip’s lies.
“Any crew from the Isles is worth ten of these mainland dogs,” Cailean replied. “And word has been sent to Skye. They’ll come.”
The knot in Jamie’s chest loosened a fraction. “Aye. They will. And then we’ll teach Phillip and his masters to fear the Kingdom of the Isles.”
Cailean chuckled, leaning back. “That sounds more like the lad I remember. Full of fire and temper.”
Jamie smiled, remembering. As a youth, he’d spent time fostering on Barra when Cailean’s father had been laird. Cailean was a few years older than Jamie and during that time he’d become the older brother that Jamie had never had.
“I was a menace. All fire and spit and not a lot to back it up.”
“Aye, that ye were.” Cailean’s eyes warmed with the memory. “But a quick study. My father had half a mind to keep ye here. Ye were more Barra than Islay back then.”
Jamie’s mouth tipped into a smile. “Aye, I was.” He glanced around at the high walls of the great hall.
He had fond memories of this place, memories of stories during the long winter nights and dancing in the summer.
He’d been happy here. “Ye made certain I could wield more than a sword. Tactics, diplomacy, seamanship. I dinna think my father recognized me when I returned home.”
Cailean leaned forward. “The youth I trained…he was bold, stubborn, reckless. The man sitting before me is a chieftain worthy of the Isles. They’ll follow ye gladly. I’ll follow ye gladly.”
Jamie swallowed hard. The words meant more coming from Cailean than they would from almost anyone else.
“And what of Lady Elise?” Cailean added suddenly.
The abrupt change of topic caught Jamie off guard. “What of her?”
A smile quirked Cailean’s lips. “One thing that hasnae changed is that ye are not a very good liar, my friend. Yer feelings are written all over yer face. I saw how the two of ye were when Rose and I wed. I saw how ye were down at the harbor just now. I canna even begin to fathom the ins and outs of another MacFinnan coming to the Isles, but I canna believe it is just coincidence.”
Jamie scrubbed a hand through his hair. He hesitated, then gave up any attempt at caution. “I canna say why Lir brought Elise specifically either. I can only be grateful.” He met Cailean’s eyes. “Because I love her. Gods help me, I love her.”
Cailean’s expression softened into something unexpectedly gentle. “Good.”
Jamie blinked. “Good?”
“Aye.” Cailean leaned forward, elbows on the table.
“Enough of this shite about marrying for political alliance. I dinna care if ye are Lord of the Isles or some lowly fisherman. Life’s too damn short to waste.
I learned that the hard way when I buried my first wife.
Ye never ken how many days the gods give ye.
” His smile went lopsided. “For too long I was lost in darkness. It took Rose to pull me out of that. And I’m a better father, a better laird, a better man, for loving her. ”
Jamie thought of Elise—her strength, her stubbornness, her laughter. His chest throbbed with something fierce and tender.
Cailean clapped him on the shoulder. “So if Elise MacFinnan’s the woman who’s set yer blood alight, then hold on to her. Dinna blink. Dinna hesitate. Just hold on.”
Jamie nodded, the truth settling deep in his bones. He couldn’t let Elise go now. It would be the end of him. But war was coming and the future was uncertain.
He glanced at Cailean, thought of Elise and Rose. Aye, war was coming, but he wasn’t facing it alone.