Chapter Twenty-Eight #5
“If they’re anything like my old eyes, you’re lucky you can see anything at all.”
Logan snorted and said, “True. I couldn’t make her face out clearly, but I’d have to be totally blind to miss the mass of butterflies that surrounded her one moment and disappeared the next. And her voice was as clear as a hooting owl in the quiet of dawn.”
“Mayhap you blinked?” Alex suggested, a smirk on his face.
“You always were a wise arse.” Humor creased his face but faded quickly. “It actually gave me a little faith in the hereafter. There’s more to this existence than we know.”
“Say I believe you. What were her exact instructions?”
“Lina was told to bring the sapphire sword to you. You’re the one who must decide who is to receive it next.”
“And how am I to know?” Alex flashed to what Maddie had told him in the vision. She’d told him the choice was his alone. This was the kind of decision he hadn’t made since he was laird of the clan—it had the ability to save or ruin lives.
Logan shrugged his shoulders. “She said you just would.”
Alex looked across the desk at his old friend, still fine looking and fitter than he had any right to be at his age. Nothing had slowed him down other than a few fists in his younger years. His mind was as keen as ever, and he pitied the man foolish enough to underestimate Logan Ramsay, at any age.
“Such is my challenge.”
A knock sounded at the door, so Alex bid the person to enter. Avelina peeked around the corner. “I think I belong in this meeting, do I not, Logan?”
He pursed his lips and nodded, waving her inside. Once the door closed behind her, he said, “The Queen of the Fae apparently only trusts you, Lina.”
His sister’s eyes twinkled. “You’re upset that a woman has control of something you don’t, are you not?”
Alex chuckled. “The queen chose a strong-minded, intelligent Ramsay. The only way she could have chosen better is if she’d given the sword to a Grant.”
Logan cast him a glare, accompanied by a harrumph that could likely be heard in the hall. “It clearly belonged with a Ramsay, and I’ll admit she did a fine job. She held on to it without any fuss, and we’ve had many years of peace. Still, it could have been me.”
“Logan, you’ve always ridden your horse around Scotland with a target firmly square on your back. I don’t think you would qualify for what they needed.”
Another glare, although there was an edge of humor to it. Shaking her head slightly, Avelina pulled a package swathed in a plaid out of her bag. She carefully unwrapped it and presented it to Alex, handing it to him across the desk. “Erena, Queen of the Fae, said you will know who to give it to.”
They all stared at the small sword, which was a thing of beauty with its inset gemstones and the strange sheen that could be seen in any lighting. It looked as if it belonged in a case somewhere.
“’Tis not the least bit dull after all the years,” Alex remarked.
“Nay, it looks the same to me,” Lina said, leaning over to run her hand down the hilt. “I expect its power to vanquish evil remains unchanged too.”
“Can it be used against a king?” Alex asked.
“I would say if it’s a king with a truly evil heart, then aye. ’Tis Scottish, so the meaning of it is to save the people of its land from whatever evil befalls us.”
“Have you any advice as the previous guardian of the sword?”
“There must be someone in your clan who is special. I think I was chosen for my restraint. I suspect it should go to someone in the younger generation, under four decades. Someone you would trust to guard it well and use it for the good of the people of Scotland.”
Alex said, “That thought is helpful. It eliminates all my bairns.”
“Aye, they’re too old.”
He held it out to look at it. “My mother would have loved to see this. She believed in it whole-heartedly, although I’m not sure my sire did. Did Erena offer any other advice?”
“Nay, not a word,” Logan blurted out.
Avelina shook her head slightly again, her lips tipping up at her brother’s hasty reply. “The person who finds it must marry within two moons in order to keep it. Otherwise their family or clan will suffer.”
“So it must be someone unmarried.”
“Aye. I asked her if I was to tell you about the legend, and she said the one who is to receive the sword is too young to marry but has already chosen his or her mate. So the rule does not apply this time.”
Logan snapped his fingers. “How could I forget that?”
“I told you, you’re getting old,” Alex said. “And this is yet another reason Erena chose the right protector for the sword.” He fidgeted at the desk, thinking. “Too young to marry. Already chosen their mate.”
Logan grumbled a bit, but he ignored his friend, lost in thought. The answer came to him in a flash, so obvious he wondered why it had taken him so long.
Because you’re getting old too, a voice supplied.
No matter. He knew who the new guardian of the sapphire sword would be.
Chapter Sixteen
Alex meets with the group to make plans to save Chrissa, Astra, Drostan, and Hendrie…
Alex didn’t like that they’d heard nothing about Chrissa yet.
No ransom request had arrived, and none of the patrols had found any evidence of Chrissa or Drostan.
Kyla was sick with worry, and Alex feared she’d go out on her own to find her daughter.
The two were more alike than they cared to admit.
Alex cleared his throat to silence everyone in the solar.
Jamie and Connor were there in their capacity as co-lairds of Clan Grant, and Logan represented the Ramsay clan.
The cousins were also there: Alasdair, Alick, Els, and Dyna, along with their spouses.
Alex had invited John to join them, and the lad sat quietly next to his sire.
He wasn’t usually involved in these kinds of meetings, but Alex knew it was time, even though the lad was only a decade old.
Finlay and Kyla were also there, of course, along with Avelina.
“We have two serious tasks ahead of us,” Alex said.
“My sons have asked me to speak today as the issues we face are of such grave importance. First, we have a group of warriors we wish to send to King Robert. This group will leave in two days. Magnus and Jamie will lead them, while Ashlyn and Isbeil will lead our archers. Torrian will be leading the Ramsay warriors, who will be joining King Robert. The Ramsay and Grant warriors will meet at Gallow Hill and camp together. Maggie will be leading the Ramsay archers with Gavin, Merewen, and Gregor. Do you not agree, Logan?”
“Aye, Molly will not fight. She trains. Torrian will lead with his son, Lachlan. Kyle Maule will be with them.”
Connor nodded, then continued, “The force King Robert has gathered is so large, possibly between six and eight thousand, that we wish to be able to keep track of our men and women. Godspeed to this group.
“The second group will go off in search of Chrissa and Drostan, Astra and Hendrie. We still do not know their location, but I think this group, working together with their special strengths, will be able to determine where they are being held. Hopefully, they’ll find Astra looking for Chrissa.
The group of cousins—Alasdair, Emmalin, Els, Alick, Dyna, and Derric—will travel together. ”
“What do you think it means that you’ve heard naught?” Alasdair asked. “The other times the English kidnapped Grants, it was for a purpose. What is their purpose this time?”
Alex shook his head, uncertain of the answer to this question.
“My guess is they are looking for information and they think they can get it from one of them. Although I have no idea what information they seek. The English know when the battle will be, where, they know who they’re fighting.
What else could they be looking for? And I think their numbers are such that they’re underestimating our ability to defeat them, but I could be wrong about that. ”
“Neither of them would know the answer to that question either,” Alasdair said. Then, as if noticing Alex’s disquiet, he added, “Don’t worry, Grandsire. We’ll find them.”
“What about me, Seanair?” John asked. Already a tall lad, he looked much like his father and grandsire. Long dark locks surrounded a strong jawline, though he showed no signs of a beard yet. His blue eyes took in everything they could, and he had a memory unlike anyone else Alex had ever met.
“I have not decided that yet, lad. I’m waiting for more patrols to return. Once I receive this information, I’ll decide where you are to go, John. Probably with your sire.”
Chapter Eighteen
Two great minds on the parapets one last time…
Alex leaned over the parapets, smiling at the glorious day. The door banged open, disturbing his peace.
“Ramsay,” he greeted. He didn’t need to look to know who’d joined him.
“How’d you know ’twas me?”
Alex arched a brow at his friend and said, “’Truly you ask that question? No one else has taken so many doors off their hinges over the years.”
Logan laughed heartily. “I hear you’ve received word that Astra and her friend have been found.”
“Aye, and the wee troublemaker managed to find the castle where Chrissa and Drostan were being held. The Highland Swords team found them, but by the time they moved into the castle where they were being held, Chrissa and Drostan were gone. But there’s every indication they’re still alive.”
“Good news. I hope your grandbairns can locate them.”
“Astra and Hendrie should return soon. Connor will have a few things to say to the two of them.”
“I would wager he will,” Logan said. He leaned over the parapets next to him and said, “Recall you the day I stole your dear sister away to tend my sickly brother? I find myself thinking about it of late.”
Alex chortled, staring at him. “You mean the day I allowed you to think you stole her away? My men had come back to tell me you were looking for her. I knew you needed her quickly so I allowed it.”