Chapter 4
Chapter
Four
Mairwen refused to hold the tablet, wouldn’t even touch the untrustworthy thing, as she prepared to contact Keeva with what Lilias, owner of the Seven Cairns’ pub, The Fearless Scottie, had called the FaceTime.
Magic was trustworthy. These contraptions that the younger Weavers had adopted from the twenty-first century, even adapting one of them to hold the goddess’s Ledger of Infinity, were not. The old ways were the best.
Lilias stood there, more than a little peeved, holding the vile apparatus in front of Mairwen at eye level.
“It’ll not bite ye, Master Mairwen,” she said, then nudged it closer.
“Take it, tap on Keeva’s number right there, then hold it closer to yer face.
Ye’ll see her when she answers. I need to get back to the pub.
Lyal has been flirting entirely too much with those mortals who arrived yesterday. ’Tis unwise, I tell ye.”
“I dinna fear the thing, child. I simply dinna like it.” Mairwen caught hold of Lilias’s wrist. “And I want ye to stay. Yer brother knows what I’ll do if he oversteps his bounds with a mortal.
I need ye here to help me with this fitful thing.
A message appeared on it that Keeva needed to speak with me, and she says she canna do so any other way than using this cold bit of slate.
She’s never been able to master communicating through the waters or with an orb when not in Seven Cairns.
Says it’s not convenient if she’s out amongst the mortals.
” Mairwen snorted. “’Tis my hope she is headed our way with Ms. Ibrams, and that this thing can reach her. ”
Lilias rolled her eyes. “Fine. Tap on her number there. If she’s able, I’m sure she’ll answer.”
“Why would she not be able? She requested that I contact her.”
“Signal strength wherever she is. Whether or not she has any privacy and feels she can speak openly with you. When you call, she can tell it’s you because your name pops up requesting that she accept the connection.”
“I see,” Mairwen said, even though she really didn’t. She hated these mortal things. Magic was so much more effective—and comfortable. Gingerly, she tapped the number. Nothing happened.
“You have to tap it hard enough that it can feel you touching it.” Lilias released a groaning sigh and tapped it for her. “There. See? It’s ringing.”
“I hear no bells.”
“I promise,” Lilias said. “It’s ringing on her side.”
Keeva’s wide-eyed image blipped into view, filling the screen. “He was able to speak to her across the realms!”
“What?” Mairwen leaned closer, concern for the distraught apprentice surging through her. “Calm yerself. What are ye saying?”
“The chief used his magic to speak with her. She heard him in the pub. The first night I was with her. I didn’t hear him, but she did.
” Keeva shook her head, then shuddered. “Ye should have seen her. Turned white as fresh cream in a saucer. I thought she was about to fall off her chair. I didn’t know what the matter was till she told me.
She said that he told her she would like it where he was, and that he called her Lady Lyla.
He’s also been speaking to her in her dreams.”
“Has she changed her mind, then, and refused to come to Scotland?” Mairwen cringed, dreading the answer.
“She thinks it was the drink she’d had that night that made her hear things, and stress that makes her keep dreaming about it. I told her it was the magic of Scotland calling out to her.”
“And she accepted that?” Mairwen feared Keeva might have overplayed her hand, speaking about magic to a twenty-first century mortal. Few of them believed in the old ways anymore.
Keeva glanced at something off-screen, then lowered her voice.
“She finds the old ways interesting, but I dinna think she truly believes in them. It’s more a matter of enjoying the myths and legends.
” She clamped her mouth shut, smiled and nodded at something, then leaned in close and returned her focus to Mairwen.
“Tell him not to contact her anymore. He could ruin everything. She’s still coming to Seven Cairns, but she’s as skittish as a wee moggy. ”
Mairwen reared back as if Keeva had tried to reach through the thing and slap her. “I can do no such thing. The Chief MacRaith already possesses the greatest contempt for us, much as the dragons do.”
“At least warn him then. Surely, a warning wouldn’t insult him.”
“Just get her here. I shall have Ishbel cast a protection spell around her. Hopefully, that will block any further contact until the appropriate time.” But Mairwen had her doubts.
If the MacRaith had used blood magic, and if his kindred brother Talon had joined him, that was powerful energy indeed. “Are ye there at the airport now?”
“Aye. We board soon.” Keeva stiffened, sitting ramrod straight. “I must go now. She’s returning with our water.” She offered a quick nod. “I’ll text ye soon as we land. Hurry and speak with Ishbel.”
“I will, child. Never ye fear.” The tablet’s screen went black. Mairwen stared at it long after Keeva’s image was gone. “She has done well. Keeva is coming into her own.”
“But ye’ll not step down, aye?” With a worried look, Lilias set the tablet aside and took a seat beside Mairwen. “We need yer leadership. The Veil needs ye.”
Mairwen smiled at the feisty pub owner, the impetuous child of a Tranquility Weaver and a sprite who had dedicated her immortality to serving the Highland Veil and brought along her twin brother Lyal to serve with her.
“I am here for as long as the powers deem it shall be so.” She pulled her deck of worn tarot cards from the pocket within her sleeve and started shuffling.
“Now, let us get Seven Cairns ready for our new music therapist. We must ensure she falls in love with Scotland—so much so that it strengthens her confidence and resolve when we send her to the Thirteenth Realm.”
Lyla emerged from the small rental car, feeling as though she’d crawled out of an extra small shipping container.
She rolled her shoulders and leaned from side to side, trying to rid herself of the travel soreness.
A twelve-plus-hour flight from the U.S., the three-hour train ride from Glasgow to Inverness, and then a forty-five-minute drive from Inverness to Seven Cairns had turned her muscles into one big, cranky knot.
“I must be getting old,” she muttered while rubbing her lower back and high stepping to get the blood flowing in her hips and thighs.
“What was that?” Keeva sang out from the other side of the car.
“I said I’m getting old and out of shape. Last time I traveled for hours, I don’t remember feeling like someone had worked me over with a bar of soap in a tube sock.”
“A bar of soap in a tube sock?” Arching both brows higher, Keeva eyed her as if she’d forgotten to bring her sanity to Scotland.
“Never mind.” Lyla windmilled her arms and sucked in a lungful of crisp, clean air, immediately feeling refreshed. This trip had been exactly what she needed—maybe. She still felt a little queasy about it now and then. Turning in a slow circle, she took in the inviting quaintness of the village.
The main route of asphalt heading into town had become a picturesque cobblestone roadway of multi-colored stones at the Welcome to Seven Cairns sign.
The narrow lane circled an ancient oak tree sprawling at the center of the town’s square.
Cozy little shops, their wide display windows aglow with warm, flickering gaslights, made Lyla feel as if she’d stepped back in time.
But the village’s most impressive feature was the largest structure of them all.
Shaped like a fortress or an abbey of stone, its blocks a faded gray weathered by eons of sun, wind, and whatever else the Highlands had thrown at it, the impressive building ruled the settlement.
Its tall, arched, cathedral windows stared back at Lyla, leaving her with the distinct impression that it was older than time itself.
The shops snuggled up to either side of it, making it appear as though the building had been assigned the task of watching over Seven Cairns.
Lyla nodded at it. “Is that the village church?” She thought that was a bell tower toward the back.
“That’s the assembly hall where the Council meets, and any village gatherings are held.
” Keeva pulled Lyla's bags out of the car and slung the ones she could over her shoulder. “And it’s also yer new home.” She tipped a nod at the warm, yellow glow coming from a window on an upper floor in the tower.
“Yer apartment is just there. The stairs at the back of the practice rooms lead up to it. Ye’ll merely have to go down a few flights of stairs to meet with yer clients. ”
“That’ll be handy.” Lyla picked up the bags Keeva couldn’t carry.
It was better to keep moving. Once she became idle, her worries and insecurities caught up with her and tried to turn her into a wreck.
As she had become more and more travel-weary, the bouts of second-guessing this life choice had gotten stronger.
“Lead the way. I can’t wait to see it.” And she couldn’t.
She was excited about this new adventure.
It was just the length of the visit that kept gnawing at her.
She’d always adapted to travel when on tour, but this was different.
For some strange reason, she felt as though she had bid farewell to Cincinnati forever.