Binding Vows (26 page)

“Time for what?” Myra asked.

“Time to prepare you for the twenty-first century.” Tara stated as if the answer were obvious.

“Lucky for you, I know all there is to know about my time. You’re going to love it.” As her words came out, she knew they were true.

Myra let a small grin break through as she wiped her eyes dry. “You jest.”

“I’m not joking. And that is the word by the way,
joke
. If you go around saying words like
jest
you’ll stick out like a sore thumb.”

“I don’t know.”

“No, you don’t. But you will, and I’ll teach you.”

Tara turned to Lora. “She has to go with all her gifts. Nothing can be stripped.”

“Of course she will,” Ian proclaimed.

“She will need every possible weapon against Grainna,” Duncan said.

“You mustn’t go near Grainna,” Lora’s command was direct. “My vision told me of your death if you stayed here, and safety for you in Tara’s time. But that doesn’t mean Grainna isn’t a threat. We all know if she finds you, she could...”

Myra put a hand up. “I won’t go near her. I have no wish to die.”

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“But how are we to stop her from finding another virgin to end her curse?”

“We don’t have to concern ourselves with that now. It may be I’ll have another vision showing me the path to stop her. It’s hard to say what the future holds. No one saw this change in events.”

Tara took Myra’s hand. “We need to get started.

Lora, we need your help.”

“With what?”

“Making clothes.” Tara spun her newest sister around, giving Myra’s skirts a bit of wind. “Beautiful as it is, this simply won’t do.”

Tara placed a quick kiss on Duncan’s lips and smiled.
Everything is going to be fine.
“Don’t wait up.” The women left the room in search of material and thread.

The men poured large amounts of ale, seeking another plan.

****

Dressed in what looked like Capri pants and a young man’s tunic shortened and taken in, Myra looked more the part of a modern day woman.

To make her feel more comfortable, Tara put on her own shorts and t-shirt for the training session.

Tara sent for Duncan who had yet to arrive.

“Self-defense is essential for a woman to know in L.A. There are no knights who will come to your rescue if you’re in a bad situation.”

“You mean if someone wants to harm me?”

“There are bad guys in every time. Knowing how to get away from them can save your life, and your virtue. Unless he’s cute, then maybe you won’t mind getting rid of your virtue,” Tara teased.

Myra blushed.

“And none of that. Talk about a dead giveaway.

Twenty-one year old virgins are few and far between. If you go around turning red at every crass 224

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remark, Grainna will smell you a mile away. Say the word sex,” Tara coached.

“Nay, I couldn’t.” Myra giggled and turned away.

“Sex, sex, sex.” Tara bombarded her. “Making love, doing it, horizontal bop. Come on, the more you hear it, say it, etcetera the better.”

“Sex,” Myra whispered.

“Louder.”

“Sex!”

“Better. Look, the blush is starting to fade.”

A knock on the door signaled Duncan’s arrival.

“Now, don’t say a thing. Surprise is essential for over powering someone bigger and stronger than you.”

Tara opened the door enough to see if Duncan came alone. She ushered him inside and slid a chair under the door knob to keep out curious eyes.

Instantly, Duncan’s eyes went to his sister. “I hardly recognize you in those.”

Myra turned to the mirror and slid her hands over her hips, smiling. “The clothes do allow more freedom. I see why women would want to wear them.”

“They do reveal more.” Duncan skirted his eyes away. Tara took pity on him. It was as if he was noticing his sister as a woman for the first time in his life. And he didn’t like the feeling. Tara didn’t need their special connection to see that.

Myra’s hair was tucked back in a ponytail. Her arms were bare as were her feet and ankles.

Will she be safe in your future? None of us will be
there to protect her.

Instead of answering him, Tara moved to the center of the room, which had been cleared of furniture and extra rugs were tossed on the floor.

“Duncan my love, come here. I have a surprise for you.” Tara pointed to the space beside her.

“I do like a surprise.” He shot a glance at his 225

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sister who watched and grinned.

“Put your arm over my shoulders.” Tara instructed. “Good, now tell me, Duncan. Are you bigger than me?”

He looked at his playful wife, confused by her question. “Of course.”

“Are you stronger than me?” She reached up, traced his chin with her finger.

“What are you getting at?”

“Do you think there is any way I, your weaker, smaller wife, could best you in hand to hand combat or even get you to the floor?”

He laughed at the thought. “I’m sorry, love. But there is no way...”

Tara’s leg shot out and at the same time she brought up both of her hands and grabbed his free arm. Surprise and momentum was her weapon. He tripped across her leg and found himself flat on his back, with the wind knocked out of his lungs. “God’s teeth!” he hissed between breaths.

“Sorry, love.” Her smile was less than sincere. “I had to prove my point.” She reached out a hand to help him to his feet.

He took it, but instead of hoisting himself up, he quickly maneuvered himself and Tara to where she was now on her back, he above her.

“Touché.” Tara glanced at Myra. “The moral to this is, once you have your opponent on the ground, run like hell. Surprise only works once, unless they’re really stupid.”

Duncan kissed her before releasing her.

Tara demonstrated how to get out of a chokehold, how to remove a vice grip, and most important, exactly where to place her knee on a man if he got too close. “...and once you’ve done that, he won’t be able to do anything with it. Right, honey?”

Duncan turned a bit green at the thought. “Aye.”

“You can always use your powers, but it’ll call 226

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attention to you. If your life is in jeopardy don’t hesitate. It won’t matter if someone finds out you’re a Druid if you’re dead.”

Duncan played the guinea pig as they practiced their maneuvers. He gave his own tips along the way, most required more strength than either of them could muster. But a few they managed to maneuver with some skill after a fair amount of practice.

****

An hour later, Duncan left to fetch the unsuspecting Fin. It was Myra’s turn to practice on fresh prey. He rubbed his slightly bruised ego and instructed his brother to join the women.

Duncan took great pleasure in escorting Fin to Tara’s room. Shortly after the door closed behind him, a loud curse, one similar to what Duncan had used, came through the walls.

He laughed all the way down the stairs.

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Chapter 20

Grainna kept constant surveillance on the Keep.

She hoped to find a weak-minded servant working there, someone she could obtain information from about what transpired inside. But her
luck
wavered.

As was her ability to read people as easily as she had in the future. Not practicing her magic daily cost her. She kept her short visits to the village very quiet and only when other strangers passed through.

She wore pauper’s clothing and leaned heavily on a cane although her bones had completely mended.

She seldom saw the same people of the village twice, but had managed to watch the Druid girl, Alyssa. To her complete surprise, Matthew of Lancaster started making regular visits.

Grainna prided herself on changing strategies when the need arose. And it was time she started procuring help in her quest. The winter solstice was coming fast, but she wouldn’t wait until then if a Druid virgin crossed her path again. She had learned her lesson with Tara.

Alyssa could be a virgin. Although not as powerful as the MacCoinnich’s, she was more accessible than the daughter, Myra. Lancaster’s attention would make getting her blood effortless.

She staged herself outside the girl’s home and waited for Lancaster to emerge.

Leaning on her cane, she walked directly in his path. “I’m so sorry,” she pleaded when he tripped over her frame. “I’ve barely the sight to see, forgive 228

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me, sir.”

“’Tis quite all right, no harm done.” Matthew dusted off his shirt.

“Ye’re so kind, Sir Knight, so very kind.”

Grainna waved her hand in front of his eyes, catching his gaze and settling it on her ruby necklace.

Slowly, she moved the pendent until she saw his eyes flicker. “Yes, ye are so kind, Sir Lancaster.

Would ye help a poor woman such as me to my home? ‘Tisn’t far.” She slipped a smile, innocent and pure onto her face, his mind opened for her to possess.

“Ahhh yes, there are many beautiful birds near my home. So many different species. Ye could watch them all day and never see the same two twice.”

“Oh, how wonderful. I do like our feathered friends.”

She took his arm as he led her to his horse.

So easy, she smiled. So very easy.

In the thick of the woods they took to a faster speed. By nightfall, she had him sitting in the one room cottage abandoned long ago. It was deep in the forest where few traveled, making discovery nearly impossible.

With a small amount of her magical potion, she liquefied his mind, molding him to her needs. Once sleep took over, she finished what she had started, and by morning, he was like the men of the future.

She circled the small hobble with the same protective spell she used in her youth. Only this time she placed the same protection around several other dwellings she had come across in an effort to keep her identity secret from the Ancients.

As much as she hated her weakness, she jumped at any noise, big or small which came in the night.

Now that she had someone to do her bidding, she wouldn’t have to leave as often.

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Victory was close and tasted bittersweet. The Ancients had cursed her once, and according to Druid law, could not do so twice.

Without the threat of them descending on her again, she would wreak havoc over the land, relishing with great pleasure in the revenge she would take on the MacCoinnich’s…starting with Tara. No, she wouldn’t kill her. She’d keep her alive long enough to witness her husband’s death. Even then, she might let her live so she could feel the grief of a Druid wed woman left without her love.

A vindictive grin in the form of a thin line pulled at her lips. With her powers restored, Grainna would end them all.

****

Myra’s planned departure was less than a week away. Nerves were jumbled and everyone was ill-tempered.

Because of the unknown threat, no one outside the family had been told Myra was leaving. A plan was in place to keep her absence undetected until long after the winter solstice. By then, with any luck, Lora would know when she was coming back.

And the charade could be dropped.

Tara coached Myra about how to approach her sister. She gave her intimate details of their youth so Lizzy would believe her enough to listen to her story.

Tara had written a very long letter to Lizzy explaining where she was and how she had gotten there. Hopefully, it would open the door for Myra.

“Her biggest concern will be for Simon. She’ll need to trust you, or she’ll never let you in.”

“How will I get to your sister?”

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wasn’t an exact science. It was impossible to know exactly where Myra would end up.

Tara walked with Myra outside the Keep walls and over the hills. The sun shone, but the air held the chill of the coming winter. Both women wore heavy cloaks over their wool gowns.

“The only thing I think will work is finding help from someone of authority, the police, hospital, something. You need to fake amnesia.” Tara reached down, picked up a flat rock from the ground.

“What is amnesia?”

“Pretend you have no memory.”

“No memory? How could I do that?”

“Well, if the police pick you up, tell them you don’t remember anything except waking up wherever it is you end up.” Tara went on. “Tell them your head hurts and that you think you fell. They’ll probably take you to a hospital, run tests.”

“A hospital is where they treat the sick?”

“Right.”

“But I won’t be sick. Won’t they be able to tell?”

“Maybe.” Tara tossed the stone, reached for another.

“I don’t like to lie.”

Tara laughed. “Well, get use to it, sister. You’ll be lying through your teeth the whole time your there.”

“Couldn’t I tell the truth?”

“They’d lock you up so fast your head would spin clean off your shoulders. Or worse, someone would believe you and use the stones for something horrible. Then how would you get back?”

Myra let out a long sigh. “I’m so worried. I’m trying to be brave on the outside so everyone will think I’m strong.” A sob tore from the back of her throat. “But I’m not, Tara. I’m not strong like you.”

Tara reached for her and let the tears come.

When Myra cried out in anguish Tara pulled away.

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“Now you listen here. You’re one of the strongest women I know. You have learned so much about my time in only a few short weeks. You’re ready for this, Myra, ready to go to the future, meet my sister, and stay long enough for the danger to pass.” Tara wiped her cheeks with her hand. “And you’re going to eat great food and meet so many types of people your head will want to explode.” Her nervous laugh suffered a smile from Myra. “And the technology will make you crazy! You’ll love it.”

“Are you sure?”

“I am, Myra. Everything will work out. Tell whoever finds you Lizzy’s name. Once they find my sister, the rest will be easy. Make sure Lizzy tells Cassy everything. I don’t want Cassy spending her life thinking she caused my death.”