Highland Games (10 page)

With his words still ringing in the
night, Donald pulled his sword from the sheath on his back and
waited.

“
What’s he waiting for?”
Piper whispered.

“
Shh, love.”

“
But what’s he waiting
for?”

Caelen’s voice carried, commanding and
sure, “Would you be looking for your men, Grant?”

Donald’s eyes were shifting around,
darting between each man. All three were younger than he, all three
trained warriors…and all three men with their swords
out.

She felt Colm’s body vibrate as he
sounded out an owl call. Noiselessly, all of the MacRobert men
stepped from the shadows, many with hostages. Piper suddenly
understood that these men were far more trained than she’d
realized. With the simple hoot of an owl, Caelen and Colm had known
Donald was here, and that his men were taken care of. Shaking her
head, Piper relaxed thinking that he’d scurry back under whatever
rock he came from now.

She was wrong.

When he realized he’d been outsmarted,
Donald flung a knife at Ian before he charged at Colm and Caelen.
Piper was shoved roughly away from the fight and, as much as she
wanted to check on her new-found brother, she couldn’t see a way to
him that wouldn’t take her too close to the swords clashing in the
moonlight. But she needn’t have worried, when she finally caught a
glimpse of him, her brother was still standing, pulling the knife
out of his shoulder. The meaty part of it, she thought, but it was
hard for her to tell in the dark.

Ian took up position behind Donald,
his back to the hut, his sword held straight up on his left side,
one arm across his body. He looked ready to rush in at any moment,
yet he waited.

Focusing back on the three fighting,
Piper realized that Caelen had Donald down on one knee at sword
point, the tip digging into the soft flesh of his neck. Donald was
panting, yet neither Colm nor Caelen looked winded.

“
Swear your fealty to the
new laird of clan Grant, Ian Alexander Grant.”

Donald’s response was to spit on
Caelen’s boot.

Never taking his eyes from the fallen
Grant laird, Colm’s voice rang clear and strong throughout the
clearing. “Grant men. Your chief has fallen. Will you swear fealty
to Ian, son of Ian, your laird before Donald?”

In the silence, only one man spoke.
“Aye.”

It was slowly echoed by half a dozen
“ayes,” but Piper thought it was too easy.

She was right. While down on one knee,
Donald had slipped a dagger from his boot. He sprang forward,
shoving it up and under Caelen’s ribcage. Both Ian and Colm were on
Donald in an instant. Ian’s swords pierced him through the heart in
the same moment Colm’s blade lopped his head off in one
blow.

Piper watched Donald’s head roll
across the grass, coming to rest near her feet. The mouth was
opening and closing before her in gruesome last words. She promptly
leaned over and threw up.

Colm’s large, warm hands were on her,
rubbing her back, soothing her. When she turned around, tears in
her eyes, he passed her a flask. She gulped it greedily, not caring
if she coughed and sputtered from the burn.

“
Caelen?” she rasped
out.

“
He’s all right.
The
sgian dubh
merely grazed him.” True to his word, Caelen was pressing his
plaid against his ribs, but was otherwise walking and seemed
fine.

“
And my brother? Will I
see him again?”

“
Aye, he’s well enough.
I’ve a feeling he’ll want to see you.” Her eyes sought out Ian, and
he was covered in blood.

Following her line of sight, Colm
hushed her, and let her know that it wasn’t her brother’s
blood.

“
Why did they all agree so
quickly to Ian? Was it just to save their own skins?”

“
Mayhap. But I’ve heard
tell Donald was a cruel laird, and I’ve a feeling they were happy
to embrace anyone else. With Ian being the son of a favored chief,
it suits the clan to have him back.”

Piper could understand that, but her
brain was too tired to thing any farther of clan politics. She
couldn’t get the image of the dismembered head rolling across the
grass out of her mind. Sensing this, Colm retrieved his horse, then
mounted first, helping her up to sit in front of him sidesaddle
once more. She leaned her head back against his solid shoulder, and
let him lead.

“
I’m still not completely
sure why my parents sent me to the future, or how that is even
possible, but I’m too overwhelmed with everything to even try to
think about it.”

She felt Colm’s voice as much as heard
it, “Aye, you’ve been through much. Once you’re feeling better, I’d
like to speak with Grissall about this. I ken she does aught for
free, nor out of the goodness of her black heart. I want to ken
what she received from this bargain.”

Piper nodded in agreement, and they
lapsed into silence for a while before something occurred to her.
“You wouldn’t have let me go back, would you?”

“
Nay, love. I
wouldna.”

Chapter Nine

Colm woke to the sunlight streaming in
through the window. Piper was silently staring out the window, but
something in the way she stood made Colm think she was weeping. He
slid out of bed as quietly as he could, and slipping his arms
around her, held her as tightly as he could.

Piper stiffened at first, then relaxed
into his body. Colm could wait.

Piper took a deep, shuddering breath.
“I think I should go back to my life. To my time.”

Colm turned her in his arms until he
could see her face. “You can’t mean that.”

Piper shrugged. “Thanks to you, I know
where I’m from, and I love that add- I] have that answer now, but I
don’t fit in here.” When Colm would have argued, Piper cut him off.
“You know I don’t fit in here.”

“
You’ll learn. Stay with
me.”

The tears fell once more, unchecked.
Piper whispered, “I can’t.”

“
You can.” Colm was
firm.

Piper stepped out of his arms, and
said brokenly, “Why?”

“
Pardon?”

“
Why would you want
me?”

“
You canna leave. We are
connected, you and I. My heart is chained to yours, and I canna
break free. I doona
care
to break free. If you leave me, I canna
follow-the hag won’t help me again. Doona leave me, Piper.” Colm
gripped both her hands so tightly it hurt, but that small pain was
nothing compared to what was in his eyes. “Please.
Please
doona do this.
Without you I’m nothing. Doona doom me to that existence,
Piper.”

Her eyes had widened, her eyebrows
shot to her hairline. “What?”

“
I love you.” Colm
couldn’t take the words back, but once out, he realized he didn’t
want to take them back.

“
You love me?”

He nodded.

“
Really?”

He nodded once more.

Piper threw herself at him, pressing
kisses to lips, cheeks, chin, any place she could reach.

“
I love you too. Oh Colm I
really do. I thought you just wanted me for the whole claim to
Grant lands thing, but you really do love me.” Piper pulled away
from him. “Now that it’s settled, you have to take me to see
Grissall. Today.”

“
Nay, Piper. She is evil,
and I doona care to have you near her.”

“
How can she be evil? She
brought us together.”

“
Aye, but it wasna for us,
Piper. She’s no selfless martyr. She’s a witch, through and
through.”

“
Either way, I still want
to see her. I need to know Colm. Why did she cast me into the
future?”

He hadn’t wanted to let
Piper anywhere near the witch, but Piper was adamant. She
had
to know. With a
heavy sigh, Colm agreed to take her out to the hag’s
cave.

The air felt heavy, the fresh breeze
had gone leaving a dank and oppressive chill in the atmosphere.
Piper leaned back against Colm, at the same time second-guessing
her decision to see this so-called witch.

Once Colm had dismounted and helped
Piper off Sonny, he wrapped the reins around a sturdy branch.
Grissall’s voice echoed out from the gaping maw of the
cave.

“
Come in.”

Glancing at each other, Piper and Colm
entered the dark cavern.

“
I see ye’ve brought the
lassie wi’ ye.” Piper watched as a small, hunch-backed woman
shuffled into view. There was nothing but a dark wall behind her,
yet Piper knew not everything was as it seemed.

“
She wants to ken about
her parents.”

“
Och, that’s no’ why ye’ve
come, now is it?”

Piper had the unsettling feeling that
those milky, faded blue eyes saw far more about her than she’d like
known.

“
I want to know why you
sent me to the future. Why didn’t you just send me to another
family, or to my brother?”

“
That’s no’ so simple to
answer.”

“
Try.” Colm’s voice was
flat and he crossed his arms across his chest.

Placing a hand on his arm, Piper tried
to calm him. “Please, Grissall, tell me why you did it.”

“
I needed ye two to meet.
That ne’r would have happened if you had been sent to foster with
another family. He had to bring ye here. Ye had to rely on him, to
trust him, or ye wouldna come with him. Ye wouldna stayed with him.
Only when the time was right, could ye two souls meet.”

“
Why would you do that for
us? I ken your ways, witch, and ye are no saint.”

Grissall’s cackle raised the hair on
the back of Piper’s neck. She barely suppressed a
shudder.

“
Aye, I may have enjoyed
sending the wee bairn to another time, another Grant family.” She
cackled once more, and this time Piper wasn’t able to stop the
shiver that ran down her back.

“
What is it you get in
return, old woman?”

“
Now that is the question,
is it no’?” Grissall mused.

“
You’re not getting our
firstborn” Piper was firm.

“
Och, lassie, what use
have I for a wee bairn? Nay, ye’ll promise me protection, and I’ll
live with your clan.”

“
So you can cause trouble
amongst the Grants? Grissall, I’ll no’ have you stirring up trouble
with this new clan.” Piper was grateful Colm thought of her
brother’s people.
Her
people.

“
I merely ask for a warm
hut, it can be far from the village, but winters are harder and me
bones are achin’ more and more each year. This cave be too damp and
cold for the likes o’ me. All I want be a warm home where I can
grow old. Surely ‘tis no’ too much to ask after bringing ye
together?”

Colm muttered, “Sly old bat.” Piper
placed her hand against his arm, to soothe him.

“
I’ll have to speak with
the MacRobert afore I can give you an answer.”

“
Surely ye need no’ ask
his lairdship about this? This deal remains between us. The laird
and I have our own agreement. I want your word, no’ his, that I’ll
have a home.”

Colm was silent for a long moment,
before nodding slowly. “We can give you a home, Grissall, but it is
conditional. If you harm anyone in my clan, you leave. Swear
it.”

Grissall grinned a wide, toothless
grin that had Piper mentally shuddering. She no longer felt as if
it were a good idea to keep Grissall around at all, but the witch
had brought Colm to her, and now Piper had a place where she
finally felt she belonged. All of that was worth a little
discomfort, and a small hut at the edge of the village. The far
edge of the village.

After they left the dank cave, Colm
helped Piper mount his horse. She was getting better at riding, but
she still liked having him sit behind her. She always felt so
secure in his arms, especially today as a shiver ran down her
spine.

“
Why do I feel as if we
were duped?”

Colm was grim. “Aye, she’s no’ as
innocent as she wants us to believe. We’ll keep an eye on
her.”

Piper leaned back against her
soon-to-be husband and let him lead. “Right now I want to stop
stressing and worrying over her. Let’s go home.”

“
Aye, m’lady. Home
‘tis.”

* * * *

Grissall’s cackle echoed in her cave.
Her powers were growing stronger, even now. She looked into the
future, into a castle that stood both now and then. And she
laughed. There was a mirror there, a mirror that was not supposed
to exist. A mirror that held more power than Grissall had ever
commanded. However, she now held the secret of harnessing the
magic.

The End