Chapter Twenty-Two #6
“And I still miss my grandmama.” He looked at Grandpapa sheepishly, hating to bring up a painful memory, but he’d loved Grandmama Maddie, too. “Aye, it was five years ago, Grandpapa, but she was my only grandmother.” He’d never known his mother’s parents.
“Any time you have questions or would like to talk—about anything—you can come to me,” Uncle Jamie said. “Jake was my twin brother. I knew him better than anyone, and I’m pretty sure if you ask me something, I’ll know how he would answer.”
Uncle Connor said, “And he was my dear brother. I always looked up to him. I’m here for you whenever you want.”
Alasdair hung his shoulders. He hated to complain, hated to let anyone know how much it hurt. After all, they’d suffered their own losses. But he realized now how much he’d needed to hear this from them. “My thanks to both of you.” He noticed his grandfather give a nod to his uncles.
They came over and clasped his shoulder, one at a time, then left him alone with his grandfather.
“He left me alone, Grandpapa. He died of a broken heart, they say. Why couldn’t he have waited another year or two for me? I don’t have anyone else.”
“Son, and I call you that because you remind me so much of my dear son. Aunt Jennie said his heart gave out. In fact, she thinks his heart was too big. She always felt there was something wrong there. His heartbeat didn’t sound the way it should.
In the end, working in the lists all the time and going to battle was too much for his heart.
He didn’t leave you on purpose, and if he’d been given the choice, he would have stayed, just for you. ”
This time, he couldn’t stop the tears from flooding his cheeks. He sobbed, moaning at the pain of losing both his mother and father. He had loved them both so much, and the hurt of losing them was nearly unbearable.
He grabbed himself around the waist and shouted, “Grandsire, if Papa were here, what would he tell me to do? I just don’t know. I don’t know how to move forward.”
His grandfather thought for a long time.
Finally, he said, “Jake would tell you not to be afraid to live your life. Not once did he ever regret marrying your mother or having you. You brought them both so much joy. He would want you to marry, love someone, and find someone who could love you back…though that may not always be easy.”
Alasdair laughed at the jest, finally smiling. “Grandpapa, I wish I could make you stay with us for many more years.”
Alexander Grant leaned over the parapets and said, “As long as I’m still needed here, I’m not going to rush off. Aye, I’m an old man, but I have much to do. And Maddie keeps telling me I must stay for a few more years and a few more reasons.”
“What? Grandmama talks to you?”
He shrugged his shoulders. “I’ve told you about the dreams before, when she warns me of things to come.
But she also comes just to visit, on occasion.
When I wake from those dreams, I can still feel her in my arms…
” He paused to gather his composure, clearing his throat.
“’Tis wonderful to feel as one with a woman, but ’tis how I always felt with her.
She was a special woman, and I like to think she’s become a special angel.
It may sound foolish to others, but ’tis how I continue on.
I know not if it’s true, or if it’s just my way of keeping her near.
Either way, I listen to her. And if you marry someday, you’ll listen to your wife, too. ”
“Why would Grandmama want you to stay?”
“I’ll tell you one reason. It’s to meet our great-grandbairns and read them her storybooks.”
“My bairns?”
“And Els and Alick and Dyna’s. All of them. You must remember the picture books your grandmama drew for the young ones. She loved spending time with the young lads and lasses in our clan, just as she did with her bairns and her grandbairns. She always considered herself the protector of bairns.”
He couldn’t help but smile. He had many loving memories of sitting on his grandmother’s lap and listening to her stories. The grandbairns had often fought for the right to be the lucky one allowed to sit on her lap. “I miss her.”
“I do, too. But she came to me again a sennight ago and said that one of our grandbairns needed help and I needed to assist.”
He turned his head to stare at his beloved grandsire, unable to believe what he had just told him, and then the scent of mint leaves floated to him again, as if his father were attempting to tell him something.
Listen.
Don’t be afraid to love.
“She told me I needed to be here for you. I didn’t understand why, but now I do.” He grasped Alasdair’s shoulder and said, “Follow your heart, son.”
The two leaned over the parapets, staring out over Grant land in silence, except for a few sniffles left over from Alasdair’s bout of tears. “I think I’d like to ask Emmalin to marry me,” he said at last.
“Then you need to do it soon, and I’m here to help you do it right. I doubt Edward will bother her again—from what I’ve heard, he has other issues to settle—but that could certainly change. She’s a beautiful, talented Scottish lass. She belongs with a strong Highlander, in my opinion.”
He stood up, helped his grandsire do the same, and then hugged the old man, wrapping his arms around him as tightly as he dared. “I love you, Grandpapa. I’m glad you’re still here with me. Don’t ever leave me.”
Alex Grant looked at him and said, “I will someday, but not until you’re ready.”
Epilogue
The beginning of the Highland Swords…
The dream had come to him a sennight ago, but he remembered it as if he’d lived it yester eve. Maddie had come to him first and said, “You remember how I told you there are things you must do before you may leave? Here is the primary reason you must stay. This man will explain everything to you.”
A strange man in long robes had stepped out from behind his dear wife and said, “You were the finest swordsman of the Highlands. Your country is in a state of turmoil. We sent you your grandsons on the same night, at the same time. You will guide them on how to help the Scots, and we grant them spectral swords. Help them learn how to use them.”
“But I cannot travel with them, so how can I guide them?” Alex had asked.
“Through your granddaughter. You will have the ability to communicate with her directly, no matter where she goes. Do not doubt her power. There will be others to assist your quest, one who can use daggers, one expert with horses, an expert at spying, another archer. Your granddaughter’s skills you shall learn eventually, if she can develop them properly.
And her mate is completely secret. You’ll know them by their strengths.
Each strength will be necessary and obvious.
The group, together, will be indestructible, if they choose to handle their strengths properly together. ”
He’d thought about the strange man’s claims many times, along with what he’d seen his grandbairns do in the past, and while his mind doubted, the only way to be certain was to test it.
“Alick, Elshander, Alasdair, arrange yourselves in a triangle facing each other, your swords in front of you, pointed toward the ground.”
They did as he asked and stood in the formation he’d suggested. “Step back three steps each.”
Again the three followed his instructions. “Now hold your swords over your heads, pointed toward the sky,” he directed. “Make sure you have a solid grip on your weapons.”
The lads exchanged looks, but they did as he suggested.
As soon as their swords were lifted over their heads, a bright streak of lightning shot across the sky, followed by the rumble of thunder.
The longer they held them up, the more the lightning fired across the night sky, beginning to fire with a fury so powerful the three had trouble hanging on to their swords.
“Grandsire, I cannot hold it any longer,” Els said, gasping. He dropped the sword tip to the ground, his two cousins following him.
“What does this mean?” Alasdair asked with awe, glancing over his shoulder at Emmalin.
He held his hand up to all and said, “Patience.” He gave them a few moment’s rest and then said, “Do it again please, one more step back.”
They did as he asked and the same lightning show dominated the dark sky, illuminating the entire area.
“Dyna, step in the middle, and bring your bow with you, please.”
She stared up at her grandfather, wide-eyed, moving closer but clearly hesitant to do as he asked. Sela clutched Connor’s arm, waiting to see what would happen.
When Dyna stepped inside, the lightning moved a bit closer, focused more above the four of them instead of into the distance, but still not harnessed. For some reason, he knew this wasn’t right.
“Emmalin. Do you have your dagger?”
“Aye,” she said, pulling it out of her pocket to show him.
“Stand next to Alasdair with your weapon in your hand, please.”
She did as he asked, and the lightning emanating from the lads’ swords changed to a golden glow, an aura that shrunk until it settled around the five young people. But it wasn’t quite what he’d seen before in a dream.
The energy bursting from the five young people in front of him held the promise of even more power.
“We have much to learn, but I’m certain you can see why this is worth pursuing.” Alex paced in a circle around the group, watching and feeling the raw power emitted by the group.
Dyna smiled. Elshander seemed less pleased, but he gave a short nod.
His three children stared at him, and he shrugged.
“I dreamed of the forthcoming turmoil in Scotland. We were blessed with the three lads for a reason. But they need more guidance than mine alone. Dyna will be their center of reason, and a few others will be brought into the group to assist them. ’Tis what I was told, and what we will do. ”
Alex said, “I give you the Highland Swords. We have a duty to save the Scots from the English wherever we can.”