“Don’t laugh or deny what ye have no way of knowing.” This warning came from the only man of the cloth in the room. The priest went on. “Does the Bible not speak of witches?”
“Forgive me, Father, but we are not speaking of biblical times. We are discussing what is happening now.”
“Where is it written that there are no witches now? Mayhap they are better hidden among us, but there is no reason to believe they are not here.”
Several men dismissed the priest’s ramblings while others seemed to take in his words a little too close.
“Do not suffer a witch to live. If evil resides inside a person, ’tis our duty to God to remove the spirit.” The priest eyed the men in the room daring them to say anything.
Fin noted several reactions, from dismissive to serious. Some lairds in the room started each day in prayer with a man of the cloth. Several didn’t have the luxury nor the desire to spend such time in prayer. A few would think nothing of what the man said and think only of how to fix their problems with war and bloodshed. Fin didn’t worry about the men of war. ’Twas the others that bothered him. Letting loose those men on Grainna would suit all their needs. But exposing her would most likely expose them. And that simply wouldn’t do.
“Witches and spirits,” Logan said beside him.
“Methinks the man has been spending too much time in his cups.”
Fin forced a laugh and a quick agreement, but said little else.
Before the gathering adjourned, several men from distant clans agreed to scout the area for a cause of the bleeding of Brisbane’s men. They would comb the area during the wedding festivities and report back before the lairds and their ladies returned to their own homes.
****
Tara sat holding her son while whispering her warnings to the rest of them. “Duncan says the men are talking about witches and evil spirits. Apparently Lancaster isn’t as blind to Grainna’s antics as we’d have liked.”
“Aye,” Lora chimed in. “Ian tells me to forbid the use of the simplest of our gifts while we’re here.”
“I guess that means I won’t be trying to be a wolf anytime soon.”
Liz didn’t mind that.
“I get the feeling that coming here was a bad idea,” Tara said. “If Grainna walked in here right now, we’d be forced to ward her off and be exposed in front of all these people.”
Rubbing her nervous stomach, Liz added,
“There’s got to be something we can do, some way to keep who we are away from everyone out there.”
Outside their tent were too many people to count. Granted, Liz and the others had charmed the material covering them in a way to keep their words only for the ears of those inside. No one could lurk outside and overhear anything they said. But they didn’t spend all their time inside the tent.
“I wouldn’t mind a premonition either.” Lora rubbed the back of her neck while she spoke. “I’ve not had one in months.”
“I wish we could summon Elise.” Elise was one of the Ancients, the only one who’d manifested for them to see. She appeared preceding their last showdown with Grainna, warning them of their impending battle. Even if she didn’t have all the answers, she’d given them enough advice to keep them alive and safe.
Not knowing what to expect weighed on Liz more than she’d like to admit. In her other life, the one back in the twenty-first century, there where very few things left to chance. Her bills were always paid on time, her car’s maintenance always up to date. Everything was in control. Completely the opposite of how she lived her life now.
“Even if we could call the Ancients to us, how would we explain a flying ghost in our tent if she were seen?”
Amber was right. Having the Ancients hanging around could be nearly as dangerous as Grainna.
The crowd of people would turn into a riot against them if they thought the MacCoinnichs were possessed, or somehow responsible for their problems.
“What if the Ancients approached everyone here and told them to band together in unity?”
“I don’t foresee that happening,” said Lora. “’Tis never happened in the past.”
“Yeah, but if it did, we wouldn’t be singled out.”
At least that’s what Liz thought. She really wanted the Ancients to step up to the plate and help a little more than they were. Seemed to her, the Elders screwed up by not making Grainna’s curse more difficult to break.
“Careful, Mom,” Simon warned, obviously hearing her inner thoughts.
“You know, buddy, peeking inside my head without my permission is going to bring on some serious consequences if you’re not careful.”
Simon smirked. “What are you going to do, take away video games for the week?”
Liz reached over, grabbed a pillow, and tossed it at her son. “I mean it, Simon.”
“Okay,” he mumbled.
****
Tatiana hid her shaking hands in the fold of her dress. Her eyes shot to her feet anytime someone glanced her way. Grainna had sent her there as a test. Her loyalty and usefulness needed to be proven in order for her to survive.
Although Tatiana dressed in a gown befitting the station of one of the guests, she knew she didn’t belong. Surely everyone around her could smell out an imposter such as she.
The wedding was two days away according to the conversations she’d overheard when she’d arrived in the makeshift village. Tatiana needed to find one of the youngest MacCoinnichs. Cian, Amber, or even Simon would do. She needed to befriend them and then wait for further instructions.
She knew she’d find one of the MacCoinnichs.
That much she had seen in her own future. What frightened her most was her inability to discern what Grainna would ask of her.
The woman’s hatred of this particular clan blackened her eyes every time she spoke of them.
Would she ask Tatiana to kill for her? More importantly, could she consider doing such a thing?
Tatiana’s gaze swept over the crowd searching for her goal. The descriptions Grainna gave her painted a picture in her mind, but she didn’t know exactly what the MacCoinnichs looked like. With her jaw clenched in desperation, her eyes searched the people for any familiar sign.
Behind her, a commotion forced her attention. A group of young men boasted over the horde of people.
“My aim is better than any Scot’s.”
A handsome dark haired young man with about as many years as she, stepped forward. “Is that a challenge?”