Chapter Nine
Dyna
Dyna stood on the parapets overlooking the sea at Duart Castle, the wind lifting strands of her hair as she studied the restless water below. The door creaked open behind her, and Maitland stepped through, guiding his mother ahead of him.
Avelina entered, lowering herself onto the stool nearest the doorway. “My, but you have everyone here, Dyna. Sylvi, Tora, and me. Between the four of us, we should be able to uncover what happened to the wee lassie.”
“I hope so, Auntie. I would not welcome another storm like the ones we had years ago. That had been no simple rain, but a deluge that seemed intent on tearing Duart from the cliffs.”
Maitland set a hand on Avelina’s shoulder. “I’ll leave you with Dyna. Send for me when you’ve finished. I’ll be at the practice yard with Alasdair.” He squeezed his mother’s shoulder once and stepped back through the door, closing it quietly behind him.
Sylvi leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. “I remember those times. I was able to speak with Lia. Her words would pop in my head, and it was as if I could see her in my chamber.”
“Do you recall anything, Tora?”
Tora shook her head, her golden plait sliding over her shoulder. “I was there?”
Avelina squeezed her hand before drawing her in for a quick embrace. “You were just a wee thing, but you knew when your grandda was hurt. You told us all he was coming and that he would need Aunt Brenna. Grandmama calmed because you could see Grandda on his way.”
Sylvi shrugged. “Mama, I don’t know how we can help. I don’t see things much these days.”
“Yet you saw what was in Edan’s mind…”
“I know. It just popped in my head. All of this is changing again, like something powerful is coming.” She sighed and sat on a stool. “Poor Edan. Losing a daughter must be devastating.”
“If we put our efforts together, I think we might be able to help him.” Dyna reached into her pouch and drew out the ring of thistles. “Hold it in your hands. Let your fingers trace it. It may stir something.”
Avelina extended her hand. “Hold my hand, Tora.”
Dyna moved forward, drawing them into a circle as best she could in their limited area. “Now close your eyes and focus on wee lassies in a land far away. Think of Edan in his cottage and a wee lassie in her cradle.”
Avelina began to hum, the low, steady cadence filling the air between them.
A few moments later, Sylvi spoke, her voice distant, “I hear bairns crying, Mama.”
“Keep listening. If you stay focused, you can hone in on the sounds. They’ll come to you.” Dyna rubbed Sylvi’s arm, hoping she could get her to find out more.
Avelina’s voice guided her along. “What do you hear, lass?”
“Children. Their thoughts are jumbled. One is calling for her father over and over. Another is so cold he can scarcely shape the word. They’re frightened. But they aren’t hurt.” Sylvi’s brow tightened. “Not yet.”
“Can you hear where they are?”
“Nay. Only what they feel.”
“I’m seeing something in the dark. Like a cave or a cellar.” Tora drew in a slow breath, then smiled. “There they are. Oh, Mama. The youngest one is so cute. She has red curls and a blue night rail on. She’s happy mostly, but a wee bit sad.”
“Tell us, Tora,” Avelina urged.
“They’re huddled together. The smallest two are in front.
The wee lassie with red curls and a laddie in a green tunic.
Or mayhap brown. I’m not sure. It’s dark there.
Behind them are others, older. They aren’t crying.
It’s as if they’ve been there longer.” She squeezed her eyes shut.
“There’s a fog all around them. I can’t see past it. I can’t tell where they are.”
She opened her eyes. “I see them, but no farther.”
Dyna and Avelina deepened the rhythm of their voices, doing what they could to guide the girls, yet the vision refused to sharpen. Sylvi opened her eyes and said, “I can’t hear past it either. They’re frightened. That’s all.”
Tora let go of her mother’s hand and sat on the stone. “Naught more. The fog will not lift.”
Dyna looked to the older woman for guidance. “They haven’t used their gifts much of late. Do you think that has aught to do with it?”
Avelina sighed. “I don’t know.”
Dyna dropped her hands and crossed her arms against the chill. “We’re missing something. I can’t explain it, but I feel like we aren’t whole. It is as though the veil we look through is torn. It’s hard to explain.”
Avelina said, “We’re missing someone. There is another soul here who can help us. She’s new to it. Look for someone. I think she’s near the hearth, Dyna. Go find out who it is.”
Dyna got up and headed to the door. “I’ll be right back.” She headed down the staircase as quietly as she could. Her mother was asleep in her chamber, and she didn’t wish to awaken her.
She tiptoed down the passageway and into the great hall. A few chatted around a table, but that wasn’t what pulled to her. Quiet sobs came from someone near the hearth.
“Ailith? What’s wrong?” She sat down on a stool near her.
“I don’t know,” she whispered, glancing at the ones behind her. It was three serving lasses and one of the housekeepers eating. “I had another nightmare, and now I’m afraid to sleep.”
Was Ailith a seer? Alasdair wouldn’t like it, but she didn’t care what her cousin thought if this lass could help them find the bairns. “What do you see exactly?”
“Bairns inside a cave. Huddled together in the dark. They aren’t hurt but afraid. I have no idea where they are.”
Dyna had a sudden revelation. “Come with me. I think I know what you need.” She led Ailith up the stairs and to the parapets.
The door opened and Ailith stepped just inside the threshold.
Dyna said, “I think I found someone who can help us.
Avelina waved to her. “Of course, Ailith. Grab one of the stools.”
“What are you doing?”
Avelina explained, “We are trying to see if we can uncover where Heilyn is being held. I was hoping the seers would be able to find them. Right now, we don’t even know what isle they are on. Do you think you can help, Ailith?”
“I’m not sure, but I had another nightmare about bairns in a cave.”
“Then join us. Mayhap we can help you to see more, to bring that dream into the light, so to speak.”
Ailith sat down next to them, watching as Avelina encouraged them to repeat what they’d just done to see if they could get any more clues as to where the bairns could be. The clouds had formed, moving quickly across the sky, casting odd shadows across the castle and Mull.
Ailith’s gaze lifted with the others, unease settling low in her chest.
Without warning, her thoughts turned to Edan.
The steadiness in his voice despite the grief he carried, the quiet strength in him when he spoke of his daughter.
She barely knew the man, yet something in her stilled when she thought of him, as though a thread had been drawn tight between them, and she had not noticed until now.
Dyna moved into a circle again, taking both of her daughter’s hands in hers. “Let’s try one more time. If someone is holding bairns and we can help, we need to do whatever we can.”
“But what if we can’t see anything?” Sylvi asked, fidgeting from one foot to the other.
Tora rolled her eyes. “Sylvi, it’s not difficult. Just close your eyes. If it’s there, it’s there. If not, we’ll try something else.”
“But I don’t want to fail those children.” Sylvi stared directly at her mother.
Dyna squeezed her worrier daughter’s hand and said, “We’ll try again.”
“All right,” Sylvi said.
“We can’t give up so easily. I believe in our skills.
Something was off before. I’m not sure what, but mayhap it has something to do with the sky.
Mayhap we’ll have to try again at night.
” Dyna paused for a moment then nodded to Avelina to start her chanting and humming.
“Ailith had a dream too, so we’ll see if she sees anything. Do you understand, Ailith?”
She nodded, but then whispered, “I can see it happening. It was a long time ago.” Ailith had stayed silent until then, the blanket forgotten in her lap. Now her hand rose without her bidding it. Her gaze fixed on nothing.
“It happened in a storm,” she said, low. “A bolt of lightning. The hill opened from the inside. Something was waiting.”
The other three turned to look at her.
“Where, Ailith?” Avelina asked, careful.
“On Islay. A hill near the western shore.” Ailith’s voice steadied as the vision pulled her deeper.
“It’s been opened before. A long time ago someone made a promise and broke it.
The spirit that lives there is angry. He’s owed something.
He says if the debt is paid, he’ll let the bairns go.
” She blinked. The parapets came back to her in pieces—the stone, the wind, Avelina’s hand on her shoulder. “I saw them carried in.”
Dyna sat up straight. “Aye. You are seeing what happened long ago, and Tora is seeing them now. You are seeing why it happened, and Sylvi can hear them, can feel exactly what they are feeling. You are each seeing visions differently.”
“Oh, my word in Heaven,” Avelina whispered, the other three staring at her first, then at Ailith. “You are the fourth piece.”
“What are you talking about, Avelina?” Dyna asked.
Avelina stood and drew Ailith to her feet, then set her between Sylvi and Tora.
“Take their hands.”
Ailith did.
“You see what was,” Avelina said softly. “Tora sees what is. Sylvi hears what cannot be spoken. And your mother sees what is to come and weaves us all together. The Woven Circle is whole.”
The words settled deep within Ailith, not as something new, but as something remembered.
“I’ve heard of such groupings. Someday I’ll tell you what I’ve heard, but I’ll save it for another day. We need your help now, Ailith. You must go deep and see if you can find where that hill is and how we can free them.”
Ailith did as Avelina suggested and the older woman began to hum. Dyna said, “Close your eyes and see what appears to you, Ailith.”
The lasses all closed their eyes.
Sylvi spoke first, her voice low. “I feel a sadness from a wee bairn. She’s calling for her father. She misses him so, but she doesn’t understand why he hasn’t come, and she’s too young to put it into words.”
Tora drew in a breath. “The laddie carries a piece of plaid. The wee one in front. The lass with the red curls. The laddie next to her, he’s small and quiet.”
Ailith spoke without opening her eyes. “Heilyn. Her name is Heilyn. Edan said it in the hall. The laddie is Milo.” A pause. “They were the last to be taken. The hill opened wider for them. The spirit wanted them.”
Avelina stilled. “Wanted them, lass?”
“Aye. Not the others. Them.”
Dyna’s voice came low. “And it will want them again. I see what comes if we delay. The hill is closing soon. We have until the next moon.”
Tora’s eyes opened. “Mama. Oh! Guess who I see.” She sat up and grabbed her mother’s hand. “Lia’s on the water. She’ll be here this eve.”
Sylvi held her hands up and settled them on her chin, her gaze going to each one of them. “What does all this mean?”
Dyna declared, “It means we’re going to Islay. Avelina will stay here but we’re going. Ailith, will you come?”
She nodded, unable to speak because of the thoughts clamoring in her mind.
Edan’s face rose again, his quiet strength, the way his voice had steadied when speaking of his daughter despite the grief beneath it.
The pull returned, faint but undeniable, as though the same unseen thread had tightened once more.
“Good. Because you complete our circle. We need you.” Dyna hugged her and smiled.
Ailith nodded, though a strange certainty settled within her. Not only that she must go, but that her path and Edan’s had already begun to weave together in ways she did not yet understand.
Avelina squeezed Dyna’s hand. “And I have news for you.”
“What?”
“Erena is coming too. She wishes to speak with the four of you.”
Dyna tried not to show any emotion over that. Erena was a queen of the faeries.
So what exactly did this all mean?