Chapter Nineteen
There was a definite chill in the air. As Elise stood in the damp courtyard, facing Rose and Jenna, she could smell winter on the wind.
It wasn’t far away and Elise knew they had to win back Islay before it set in or they were in serious trouble.
The cold wind lifted the pink ends of her hair as she waited impatiently.
Across from her, Rose was standing with the huge book held open in her arms, peering intently at the page. Jenna stood behind her, reading over her shoulder, one hand fussing with her long braid.
“Right. Page one hundred and seventy-three,” Rose announced, tapping the page lightly. “Defensive shield casting.”
Elise fought the urge to roll her eyes. “I know what it says. I’ve read it about a hundred times. Doesn’t make any difference. It doesn’t bloody work!”
“That’s probably because you have the patience of an angry snake,” Jenna said.
“Are we going to try this or what?” Rose cut in, giving her sister and niece an annoyed look.
Elise rolled her shoulders and sighed. “Fine. One more try.”
She closed her eyes, reaching inward. Her magic always felt like a river in flood—fast, unruly, loud.
If she released her control, it would blast out of her—and into everything in its path.
That day when they’d gone to salvage the Sea Star and she’d defeated those pirate vessels, it had been different.
It had been powerful—far more powerful than anything she’d wielded before—but it had been controlled.
Everyone around her had been unharmed, and the power had struck only those who posed a threat.
But she’d not been able to do that since.
She lifted her hands, palms outward, and pushed her breath out slowly. Her power bucked like it always did, a wild horse refusing the bridle. She gritted her teeth, forcing it lower, tighter, thinner—trying to braid the strands the way her mother had always taught her.
Slowly the air in front of her began to shimmer and thicken, looking like heat haze over a bonfire.
She continued weaving, concentrating so hard that she lost awareness of everything else around her until there was only her and the power at her fingertips.
The air took shape, solidified, until a solid shield stood in front of her, higher and wider than Elise herself.
Beyond it, Jenna and Rose had blurred into indistinct shapes.
A thrill of triumph went through her. Yes! She’d done it! She’d woven a shield!
“Quickly!” Elise cried. “Try to attack me!”
Rose and Jenna shared a look. “Are you sure?”
“Of course, I’m sure! How else will we know if it works if we don’t test it? Throw everything you’ve got at me.”
“All right,” Rose said. “On three. One. Two—”
A hurricane blast hit Elise square in the chest, shredding her shield as though it was wet paper. The shockwave caught her full-force, scooping her off her feet and flinging her backward. She cartwheeled through the air and landed in the grass with a wet thump, the world spinning above her.
For a heartbeat there was only silence. Then Rose’s horrified voice cried, “Oh my God! Elise!”
She heard drumming feet but Elise only stared up at the gray sky above her head—and burst out laughing.
It started as a weak sputter, then grew until her belly ached, until tears leaked from the corners of her eyes.
Because honestly—what else could she do?
She must’ve looked like the world’s least competent spellweaver, tossed about like laundry in a gale.
Jenna appeared in her field of vision, braid falling into her face as she knelt. “Elise? Are you all right? Are you hurt?”
“Only my pride,” Elise wheezed. “That’s taken a bit of a beating. In fact, I’m not sure it will ever recover.”
Rose knelt on her other side. “It’s my fault,” she said urgently. “I shouldn’t have—”
“No,” Elise said, pushing herself up to a sitting position and rubbing at her sore ribs. “It’s me. I’m the problem every time. I can’t…I just can’t do it.” The words tasted bitter and humiliating. “I’m useless. Maybe I’m not meant for this.”
“That’s not true and you know it,” Jenna snapped. “You’re the strongest of us in raw power. You always have been.”
Rose squeezed her shoulder. “We’ve barely even started. We’ll figure it out.”
Elise didn’t answer. She didn’t believe them.
A harsh metallic sound suddenly split the air. Clang. Clang. Clang.
For a heartbeat, the three women froze. Then Rose surged to her feet. “That’s the warning bell!” She snatched up the book and the three of them ran.
They bolted through the infirmary, past startled patients and healers, then out into the keep’s main courtyard where chaos had already erupted. Men were racing towards the outer gates. Archers hurried to the walls.
Elise spotted Jamie immediately. He stood near the armory doors, strapping on his sword while barking orders, his pale hair whipping back from his face. Even in the panic, he moved with absolute purpose, a force the world bent around.
“What’s happened?” Elise cried, running up to him.
“An attack. The king’s men have just landed at a fishing village in the east. Phillip knows we’re here and he’s trying to draw us out.”
“Then you’d be stupid to fall for it!” Elise snapped, panic making her voice sharp. “If he’s trying to lure you out, then you should stay right here!”
“How can I do that?” he replied, his eyes glinting with fury.
“How can I sit here safe behind these walls while asking my people to risk themselves for me? How can I let the people of that fishing village bear the brunt of the king’s fury when it’s me they are really after?
What kind of chieftain would I be then?”
He was right and Elise knew it, but that didn’t stop a cold, sick fear curdling in her stomach. How had Phillip discovered where they were? Were his powers more extensive than she’d thought? Had he managed to scry Jamie even across this distance?
“Then I’m coming with you,” she announced.
Jamie shook his head. “No, lass. Ye are not.” She opened her mouth for an angry retort but he held up a hand to stop her. “Please. Dinna argue with me for once. I need ye to remain here. I need to know ye are safe. Can ye do that for me?”
Elise swallowed. No, she wanted to shout. I can’t! I can’t sit here and do nothing while you ride into danger! But the look in his eyes stopped her. His gaze was full of pleading.
“All right,” she breathed. “I’ll stay. But you be careful, you hear? I expect you back here unscathed and whole, otherwise you’ll have me to answer to!”
He gave a crooked smile. “Aye, my lady. Cailean and I are riding out with his warriors, but Arran will remain here to command the castle defense in Cailean’s absence.
” He reached out and gently cupped her face.
“This is only a raid to test us. They will likely flee when they see us coming. I’ll be back before ye know it. ”
“You’d better be.”
She went up on tiptoes and kissed him. He returned the kiss with a passion that spoke of need and longing. But it lasted only an instant before he was turning away, mounting his horse, and galloping out of the gates towards the harbor where a ship waited to carry Cailean’s men around the coastline.
The gate slammed shut behind them and Elise felt a sudden coldness that had nothing to do with the wind. Was this how Jenna and Rose felt every time Arran and Cailean rode into danger? How did they stand it?
She turned away, refusing to stare at the closed gates, and walked over to a secluded spot at the far end of the courtyard. There she closed her eyes and began practicing again, determined to get the shield magic to work.
It was perhaps half an hour later when Rose’s voice cut through her concentration.
“Elise! Have you seen Catriona?”
Elise’s eyes popped open. Rose was hurrying towards her, looking worried. “Not since breakfast. Why?”
Rose was a little pale. “I canna find her anywhere.”
“I’m sure she’ll turn up. Look, Patch is still here so she can’t be far away.”
The little black-and-white dog that was always at Catriona’s heels was sitting by the gate, where Jenna and her husband, Arran, were discussing Dun Mallach’s defense with the guards.
“That’s what worries me,” Rose replied. “She never goes anywhere without Patch, so where the hell is she?”
Suddenly Patch sprang to his feet and began barking frantically at the gate. Elise and Rose hurried over just as Arran ordered the guards to open it. The big double doors swung open to reveal Catriona standing outside. She was soaked to the skin with her hair plastered to her cheeks.
The girl squirmed through the gates the instant the gap was wide enough. “Rose!” she cried. “Uncle Arran! They’re coming!”
“Who is coming? Cat, what happened?” Rose demanded, putting her hands on her stepdaughter’s shoulders. “Where have you been?”
Catriona gulped in air, voice trembling. “I went to watch Father’s ships sail out.” She swallowed. “He forbade me to leave the castle so I…I snuck out. I took the cliff path down to the cove. But there were men down there. At the base of the cliff. Hiding.”
A cold spike of dread slid down Elise’s spine.
“How many?” Jenna asked sharply.
“I dinna know. A lot. They waited until Father and the others had sailed away. Then they started climbing up towards the castle. I ran back as fast I could. I dinna think they saw me.”
Men in hiding. An attack on a village down the coast. Elise felt the pieces fall into place with awful clarity. The attack was just a distraction. The real attack was coming here.
Arran reached the same conclusion. He turned and began bellowing orders. “Close the gates! Archers to the walls! Move!”
Heart racing, Elise sped up the steps to the battlements and peered out. Dark shapes were swarming through the brush and scrub below. Men—dozens of them—racing towards the keep. Then something else on the road caught her eye and her breath caught.
A small group of Cailean’s guards were racing towards the castle—being chased by attackers.