Stone of Destiny Read online

  "Are there any children’s primers around?" Abbie asked. "Maybe I can study them and pick up a few words on my own."

  Katherine thought for a moment. “Aye, there could be one or two in the library. Mayhap one that belonged to Gavin when he was a lad.”

  “Thank you. I’ll go look around in there.”

  Abbie couldn’t find any books but she did discover some old drawings tucked away in one corner of the bookshelf. They were pictures of the sun and trees, rendered in the style of someone who might have been five or six years old. She smiled as she looked at them, imagining them to be Gavin’s work.

  Curling up in the old leather chair, Abbie sipped her tea and wondered what Gavin was doing at that moment. She hoped he and his men were safe. With any luck, they'd be back soon and she could see for herself.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Shilanna arrived outside the castle but remained hidden until she learned of the Laird’s location. Overhearing a conversation between stable lads, she soon found out that he was gone from the castle. The situation would work to her advantage perfectly.

  A small boy walked by, carrying a bucket of scraps left over from dinner out to the midden. Shilanna grabbed him by the arm and spoke to him in a mesmerizing tone.

  “Did the Laird marry during the Lughnasadh?” If he had, that would ruin her plans. The ceremony within the bonfires would prevent her from further interference. If she had dallied for too long with Midir…

  “No, milady.”

  “Good. I want you to go into the castle and find the Lady Abbie. Tell her that someone is waiting out here with a message from the Laird. Do not mention this to anyone else, just her. Also, tell her not to speak to anyone else about this. Do you understand?”

  He looked uncertain but nodded silently, running back into the kitchen to do her bidding. The boy found Abbie in the library. She looked at him in puzzlement as he spoke. His expressionless little face stared back at her as he recited the words, as if in a trance.

  “Milady, there is a woman outside who says she has a message for ye from the Laird, but that ye must not speak to anyone about it.”

  Mystified by both the oddness in the boy and why Gavin would send a message on ahead, Abbie hesitated for a moment. The need to know what the message contained overrode any logic she might have applied to the situation under other circumstances. She followed the boy outside, anxious to hear word of Gavin’s whereabouts.

  Daniel had been one of the guards to stay behind and keep watch on the castle. He saw the lad run back into the kitchen from the direction of the midden with a vacant look on his usually smiling face. As he started in that direction he spotted a woman who fit the description of the Fae that Thomas had warned them about. His first duty was to prevent the Lady Abbie from coming into contact with her so he walked back to the doorway and remained there in case she came outside.

  A few minutes later the lad stepped back out, leading Abbie in that direction.

  “Milady, please go back inside. There is danger out here.” Daniel bowed to her, effectively blocking her way at the same time.

  “This boy said a woman had a message for me from Gavin.” As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Daniel collapsed on the ground. A sultry voice spoke to her from a short distance away.

  “He’s not dead yet but he will be soon unless you walk over here.”

  Abbie turned around and saw the same woman who had addressed her that day at the hall proceedings, the one that Gavin said was one of the Fae. She shivered and looked back down at Daniel.

  “I’m growing impatient with you.”

  Abbie snapped out of her paralysis and started toward the Fae, determination in her bearing. She wanted Daniel’s health restored and this woman to back off. The Fae needed to go back where she came from.

  “What do you want from me?”

  Shilanna laughed. “Why, it’s not about you at all, my dear. The Laird’s had his fun with you. Now it’s time to send you back home again. You see, I share the Laird’s bed but I had to leave for a while so I brought you here to keep him amused until I could return.”

  “I don’t believe you. Gavin loves me.” Abbie knew that he loved her – but the poison the Fae injected still stung.

  “Believe what you will, it makes no difference to me. The outcome is still the same. I’m sending you back where you belong.”

  ***

  Gavin crested the hill and spotted Abbie in the yard talking to another woman. At first, he couldn’t see the guard that should have been watching over her, but finally located him – lying prostrate on the ground. His heart froze as he realized who the other woman was. He wouldn’t reach her in time.

  Shilanna smiled as she watched the Laird gallop toward them. He would be too late, of course, but she was glad he arrived in time to witness his ladylove leaving him.

  “You will be silent if you wish for him to remain unharmed.”

  The malice of her statement exacted obedience from Abbie. She glanced over at the guard, unable to tell if he still lived or not. Her heart broke as she watched Gavin draw near, knowing that the Fae wouldn’t allow him to reach her. Just as he came within shouting distance, Shilanna spoke in a language that vibrated along Abbie’s spine and she felt herself fading out. A roar of anguish reached her ears before it all went dark.

  “Bring her back!” Gavin leapt off his horse in a rage, intending to kill her with his bare hands.

  Shilanna stopped him with a glance. The awful reality of the situation spread out before him. She had the power to lay waste to the entire village if she chose to do so. He could not forfeit the lives of so many to satisfy his revenge – not that he’d even get the opportunity before she struck him down.

  “I see you understand the implications now, Laird.” The contempt in her tone was palpable.

  Victory didn’t taste as sweet as Shilanna thought it would. Gavin didn’t seem to be paying attention to her any longer. Maybe Midir was right after all. The mortals weren’t really worth the effort to even bother with.

  “Why?” Gavin sank to his knees, sorrow replacing his earlier rage.

  “She wished to go back home so I sent her.” Shilanna’s eyes glittered as she spoke.

  “I dinna believe you. Abbie was happy here.”

  “Not after I told her that she was only a substitute to keep you warm in bed until I could return there.”

  Gavin knew Abbie wouldn’t have believed that, but what pain was she enduring right now, knowing that he had shared his bed with such a vile, vindictive creature?

  “Bring her back.”

  “You have the power to bring her back yourself. After all, it is your destiny.”

  “Aye and how would I do that?”

  Shilanna gave him a smile full of malice. “It’s a simple matter – if you had the stone and knew how to use it, neither of which is true.” She laughed and left him to his misery.

  Abbie asked to go home? Gavin couldn’t believe that. The Fae had lied to him, just as she'd lied to Abbie. He walked over to check on Daniel. The guard was still breathing, at least. After a moment his eyes opened and he looked at his Laird in sorrow.

  “I have failed ye, milord.”

  “Nae, Daniel, the failure is mine. I brought this trouble upon myself.”

  Gavin shut himself away in the library for the rest of the evening, looking for any books with references to the Fae. His father had told him that his grandsire had been an avid collector of stories pertaining to the legendary race of the Tuatha Dé Danann.

  Searching through the older tomes, he sat down to read through the long night. Towards dawn he found a notation which furthered the agony laying siege to his heart. He discovered the Fae would have been banned forever from interfering with Abbie if the two of them had married within the bonfires of the Lughnasadh celebration. Why had he waited?

  Laying his head on the cool wood of the desk helped to ease the pain in his head and Gavin fell into an exhausted sleep. Abbie appeared in tha
t transcendental state, watching him with eyes that first spoke of love and then of sorrow. He reached out, knowing that if he could grasp her for just a moment, she could stay. The clarity of the situation passed as his movement knocked the book off the desk and the noise woke him up.

  The dream had been trying to tell him something important but it was now lost in the mist. Sighing, Gavin stood up and prepared to leave. He would do his duty for the sake of the people who depended on him but every waking moment not expended there would be spent on searching for a way to get Abbie back. Having that goal was the only thing that would keep him alive.

  Breakfast was conducted in a somber fashion. Very few words were spoken by anyone. Nobody had gotten the full account of what had transpired yet. From what little they’d been able to piece together from Daniel’s story, they all knew Abbie was missing and perhaps gone for good. Each one there had a special fondness for the lass and had welcomed her into the family. She would be sorely missed. As to the devastation wrought upon the Laird by her absence, the effect was plain to see.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Abbie landed on her behind, amidst a pile of laundry. A glance at the clock told her she’d reappeared within a few minutes from when she’d left – even the date was the same. No time had passed at all on this end. The only way she had of knowing it hadn’t been a dream was the lavender gown she wore and the silver bracelet on her wrist. That, and the pain in her heart as she realized that Gavin was lost to her, almost 400 years in the past. Why had the Fae done this?

  She remained on the floor, numb with shock, for quite some time before the permanence of her situation left its mark. Then the pain set in. A wave of grief unlike anything she’d ever known disabled her as anguish took over.

  The thought of continuing her life in this present time, without Gavin, was too much to bear. Abbie collapsed on the pile of clothes and let the tears flow, finally drifting into the oblivion of an exhausted sleep.

  The phone rang, pulling Abbie back to this unwelcome reality. For one blessed moment she was disoriented by the sound, not understanding the meaning of its intrusion. As her memories snapped back into place the tears started all over again. The noise finally stopped, leaving her alone once more.

  Later that afternoon, Abbie finally picked herself up off of the floor. She was hungry. How banal…my life just ended but my stomach insists I still eat. Walking over to the fridge, Abbie pulled a box out of the freezer and tossed it in the microwave without bothering to look at its contents.

  The phone rang again just as the microwave started beeping. All of these electronic noises were intrusive and jarring now, after having spent the last month in the 1600’s. She unplugged the phone and carried the food over to the table, picking at it until her stomach quit protesting. Then she crawled into bed in the vain hope that this was all a nightmare and she would wake up in Gavin’s arms again.

  A glance at the very modern clock the next morning told Abbie the nightmare was, indeed, very real. There hadn’t been any last minute reprieve during the night. The Fae hadn’t had a change of heart – if she even possessed one. Abbie doubted it.

  She spent the day in bed, switching between crying jags and fits of rage, only stumbling out of it for the occasional trips to the bathroom or half-hearted attempts to eat. Abbie realized she was wallowing in despair but she couldn’t bring herself to care much about that.

  Her dreams that night took her back to Gavin, back to his caring presence as he held her in his arms and told her how much he loved her. His eyes flashed golden in the firelight as he made love to her, caressing her skin with his magical touch. Abbie felt such joy in his arms. But then he faded away, leaving her in devastation.

  When Abbie woke the following day, her pillow was wet from tears shed during the night. I can’t live the rest of my life in this bed, crying. Well, that was a first step, anyway. Where did she go from here though?

  After forcing herself into the shower, Abbie felt a bit calmer. She needed to sit down and think about a few things, like a direction for her life to take. She wasn’t a quitter. If this was the life she was meant to live, then she would manage it to the best of her ability.

  Mapping out her life was too big a task right now in her present state of mind though. One day at a time was probably the most she could stand at the moment. She’d only been back in the present for three days now – she had both work and classes today. Did she even care?

  No, she decided. The idea of going to medical school hadn’t ever really been her idea anyway, if she was honest with herself. It had been the dream of her parents and she’d felt obligated to continue that course after their deaths. What about her job? Without having to pay for school, she had plenty of money saved up, so she didn’t need it, either. She couldn’t just sit here and stare at the four walls though.

  The doorbell rang. Another intrusive electronic sound, but Abbie plodded over to the door to answer it. Kristen stood there, concern written all over her face.

  “You’re alive! I’ve been so worried about you! You haven’t been answering the phone or returning any messages.”

  Kristen could be a little melodramatic, but Abbie was touched by the concern she showed.

  “I’ve been ill, sorry. Come in.”

  “It looks like a cave in here. You’ll feel better if you let in some light.”

  Light? There was only darkness in her life now, but Abbie didn’t object as the girl walked around flinging open blinds.

  “There, that’s better.” Kristen peered more closely at Abbie’s face. “You’re not sick, you’ve been crying. Talk to me.”

  Abbie studied her for a moment. Why not? Maybe she could gain some perspective by talking. The worse that could happen would be that Kristen thought she was having a nervous breakdown. A slightly hysterical giggle escaped from her lips. Perhaps she was.

  Haltingly at first, but with added momentum when Kristen didn’t interrupt, Abbie told her of how she’d spent the last month – crazy as it sounded. When she was finished, Kristen looked at her in awe.

  “How romantic…and tragic.”

  Kristen threw her arms around Abbie and hugged her. The open acceptance started the tears flowing again, but there was a healing quality to them this time. At least she had someone to talk to now, someone who would understand the pain she held inside.

  “What are you going to do now? The old bastard at work won’t fire you if you just tell him you’ve been sick. You’re too good a waitress for him to get rid of.”

  “I’m not sure about anything yet. I will need to work, if only to get me out of the house, but I’m not ready to go back so soon. Another job will come along.”

  “Well, speaking of jobs, I’ve got to leave if I’m going to be on time. Tonight I’m coming back over with dinner. No arguments accepted. Do you like Chinese?”

  Abbie felt like a tornado had just blown through the house but she smiled in gratitude at Kristen’s cheerfulness. “Chinese would be great. Thank you for being such a good friend.”

  After Kristen’s departure, the walls started closing in on her again. She struggled to force them back, even more thankful that Kristen had come by. Abbie wasn’t sure now if she’d have been able to make the transition alone. It really did help to talk about it.

  She slowly rotated the bracelet from Gavin around her wrist, studying the designs on it. He hadn’t ever told her what the words meant. The importance of knowing what it said assumed a high priority for her now. It was the only link she had to him; the only communication left.

  Turning on her computer, Abbie went online and contacted one of the translation services she found there. She painstakingly keyed in the words through the blur of her tears. They responded, promising to get back to her within a few days.

  Kristen kept in contact with her throughout the rest of the week, either by phone or coming by with food in hand. The daily pep talks helped strengthen Abbie’s resolve to pick up the pieces of her life and move on.

&nbs
p; Before moving on with her life though, she needed to be able to step out of the house. A trip to the grocery story had become a dire necessity. Conquering her fear of breaking down in public, Abbie went shopping.

  The act of doing something so mundane bolstered her self-confidence and being out in the fresh air actually made her feel better. Nothing out there even remotely resembled anything about the highlands. She realized she was in more danger from random thoughts coming from her own mind, in terms of breaking down, than by outside triggers.

  I’ve been stuck in neutral for a lot longer than just one week she thought, looking at her surroundings with a fresh eye. She’d been living alone, in her parents’ house, for the past six years. At the time, she’d rationalized it as a smart thing to do, but now it felt like a weight dragging her down. The thought of selling it made her cringe; it was too soon to think in such broad terms. The seed had been planted though, and Abbie knew she would get used to the idea before too long.

  She walked over to her computer and checked her email. The translation company had sent a reply. She opened it with trepidation. Reading the message made it seem as if Gavin had somehow pushed through the years to contact her directly.

  Abbie, whom my soul loved, through the mists of time.

  Oh, Gavin. Did you realize what was to come when you wrote this? She closed the browser, unable to look at it any longer, but the words were seared in her mind.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  When Kristen came over that evening she found Abbie in tears.

  “What’s wrong?”

  Abbie showed her the bracelet and told her what the inscription meant.

  “That’s a beautiful sentiment. Why are you crying?”

  “I love the sentiment. It’s just that it drove home the point that now it’s the only way we can love each other – through time.”