Chapter Thirty-Two #2
“Did he call out? Did you call out? Did he move with the vision?”
“Nay, but it was such a lovely vision. He was laughing and giggling…”
“But not in the cage?” Edan asked.
“Nay. He never moved. This was all in my mind, like one of my visions. And then the cage seemed to melt away, and he looked at me…” Her gaze swept from one person to the next, but no one had any idea what had happened.
Uncle Connor asked, “Did you step in a different spot? Was there something on the ground you triggered? That could be it, and you didn’t notice.”
“It’s possible, I guess.”
“Or did you…”
Ailith held her hand up. “Wait. I have an idea.”
Dyna said, “Do what you must. We’ll continue to come up with ideas.”
She hurried to the other side of the cabin, thinking on what Erena had said about Maddie. She’d called Ailith the stone singer. Tears misted her eyes as she thought about the beloved great-grandmother she’d never met, yet was as close to her heart as her great-grandfather.
Moving along the shoreline, she studied all the stones that looked unusual.
How could she have forgotten? When she was little, her great-grandfather had always told them stories using the storybooks Grandma Maddie had drawn on parchment.
She’d used something special to color the pages.
Grandpapa would tell the most wondrous stories to her and to John for years.
As the number of grandbairns grew, so did the storytelling.
Then one day, Ailith had found the most beautiful stones outside in the forest. Her parents were busy picking apples while she picked stones. Grandda was sitting on a boulder so she’d approached him.
“Grandda, if I tell you a story with my stones, would you tell Grandmama about it when you see her next?” He didn’t hide the fact that Maddie came to him in his dreams, telling him what he needed to do to help their bairns.
Of course he had agreed, so she’d settled on his lap and wove a story about a princess riding her horse across a glen until she found a waterfall full of faeries.
Grandda had patted her back and said, “I’ll tell Grandmama the next time I see her.”
Something caught her eye, pulling her out of her memories.
She stopped and bent over, three rocks under the water with odd etchings on them.
Her mother had told her the rocks gained the etchings from being tossed about by the wind and the weather, but she’d always believed it was her grandmother talking with her.
Ailith had paused for a moment, gripping the stones tightly as she stared up at the clouds overhead. “I miss you, Grandmama.”
Several days later, Grandda had come to her and gave her a message from Grandmama. Though some details had faded from her mind, she’d never forget what he said. “Grandmama says you make the stones sing with the loveliest tales. She’d love to hear another.”
That began many tales from her stones and messages from her grandmother. Whether they were real or not, didn’t matter. She believed them to be real, and she held them close to her heart, especially in the dark of the night.
A large stone caught her eye this time, shades of green and gray, so she bent down to pick it up.
Wiping the sand from it, she studied the etchings, rubbing her fingers across the surface to feel the indentations.
It was quite unique because different stones shimmered inside it, as if they were locked inside.
She gasped. The large rock held the stories of several small pebbles.
Immediately, her mind drifted back to a time when she’d been swimming with her parents on the beach near Duart Castle many years ago.
Her grandparents, all four of them, had visited in a vision, but this time it changed.
Grandma Maddie stepped toward her and whispered, “It’s not your favorite story, lass. It’s all their favorite stories.”
Gasping, she ran to the back of the cottage. “I know what it is!”
The group stopped to stare at her as soon as she burst around the corner to the back. Teary-eyed, she said, “Grandmama just told me.”
Her father said, “We’re listening, daughter. You’ve had a fine relationship with Grandmama over the years.”
That made her cry even more, because she believed her grandmother was with her, standing directly behind her.
The group fell silent, waiting for her next words.
She hiccupped twice, then squared her shoulders.
“It was Milo’s fondest memory. Unlocking their favorite memory sets them free.
The captors hope to make them forget their previous lives.
The fond memory warms their hearts enough to dissolve the cage.
That’s why the warriors were released simultaneously.
I unlocked the secret to the bairns’ freedom, and Gruin wanted me to stop. He dissolved the warriors’ cages.”
“But Gruin wasn’t even there,” John said. “I heard him, but I never saw him after we entered.”
Alasdair laughed, looking to his uncle. “I forgot to tell you, Uncle Connor. Sandor said my father and Grandda went inside with Aunt Gwyneth while Grandmama and my mother were standing near us. They said Grandda kept Gruin back. He stood in front of him while Aunt Gwyneth had her arrow aimed at his throat.”
Ailith jumped off the log. “That’s a perfect description of what I heard! He was moaning but never reappeared. Oh my. Grandda.”
Sandor chimed in, “They said they’ll be there to help you the next time you go in. And they all said to bring more warriors.”
Morgan, hearing this, declared, “And we’re going in this time. Do you not agree, John?”
“I agree. We’ll take six. I didn’t like being the only one in there to fight those warriors. They weren’t that strong, but when the sword disappears, it’s hard to swing against them.”
Edan crossed his arms and offered, “I’d be glad to help.”
Ailith looked at Dyna wide-eyed, shaking her head, but it was Lia who stepped up. “Nay, you cannot go in, Edan. You are both the weapon and the weakness. The hill will destroy you. I think I understand what is happening.”
“Please tell me, because I don’t understand.”
“You saw how Gruin recoiled from just the sight of your blood.”
“I did, but many people are afraid of the sight of blood.”
“It wasn’t the sight of blood. Gruin ran from your blood. I’ve never seen Gruin run from anything or anyone. He called it iron blood once. You must have developed iron in your blood, but I don’t understand why.”
Ailith fell to her knees and held her head. “Oh my.”
Edan rushed over to her, catching her before she collapsed completely. “Ailith, what’s wrong? What is it?”
“I see you as a bairn, Edan.”
She closed her eyes, and Lia’s arm touched his. “Let her see what she needs to see. It could help us find your daughter.”
He moved to Ailith’s side, and she leaned her head on his shoulder. “Go ahead, lass. Let it come to you.”
Ailith cried at what she saw.