****
Tara, acting as lady of the house, consulted with Alice about preparations for dinner. She spent a good portion of her day directing servants. They needed to remove tapestries and take them outside for winter cleaning before bad weather set in. Once everyone was busy with her instructions she tried her hand at knitting to keep busy. She was all too happy to put it down when young Jacob, Duncan’s squire, announced a visitor.
“Lady MacCoinnich, sorry to barge in on ye.”
Behind him stood Matthew of Lancaster.
“That’s quite all right, Jacob. Sir Matthew, what can I do for you? Were we expecting you?” Tara hadn’t been told he was coming. A silent alarm went off in her head.
“Nay, my lady, I was traveling this way when I ran into Lords Ian and Fin. ’Tis a problem.” He looked around the room, lowered his voice. “A problem they need ye for.”
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Her unease from earlier returned. “What kind of problem?”
“I was asked to bring ye to them. They didn’t want me to announce what I’ve seen. They said ’tis a private family matter. ” His eyes shifted to the door.
“We should hurry.”
“Of course. Jacob, have my horse readied.” She turned to Lancaster. “I’ll grab my cloak.”
Outside Jacob held her horse with a nervous hand.
She pulled herself into the saddle.
“My lady,” Jacob said, looking up at her with worry etched on his features. “Lord Duncan asked that ye not leave the Keep.”
Tara smiled to give him some ease. Ease she didn’t feel. “I’m on my way to Laird Ian now. Don’t fret. I’m safe with Sir Lancaster.”
“Mayhap another knight should also escort ye, my lady?”
Tara considered the lad’s suggestion, then remembered the words ‘family matter,’ and thought twice about bringing more people to witness the problem.
“I won’t be long, Jacob.” She didn’t give him more time to talk or question. She turned her horse and followed Lancaster. Worry and fear filled her.
Duncan was so far away she couldn’t sense him, let alone speak to him with her mind. She cursed their decision to send him away.
They set out toward the village. Once under the cover of woods, Lancaster changed direction to one she wasn’t familiar with.
So many things raced through her head. She pleaded in her mind for Duncan to return. She couldn’t tell if her thoughts reached him. “What did you see?”
Matthew looked at her and speeded up his mount, making talk impossible. “We should hurry,”
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he told her again.
They journeyed deeper into the forest.
****
Duncan and Lora moved daily to keep anyone who might notice off their track. Not that they thought anyone watched. If anything, all had been quiet. Too quiet. Lora fretted within.
Neither of them was able to talk with their spouses because of the distance. And on this day, they moved well beyond emotions, as well.
They both felt the pull to go back, yet neither acted on it. Instead, they made camp by a stream and waited another day before they started home.
Duncan fished by the stream while Lora dozed.
A dream swept her away until it erupted into a vision.
In her head, she saw Tara riding into the woods.
Above her, faces of the Ancients floated, all of them yelling warnings.
Warnings Tara didn’t hear.
A cabin emerged. Inside was a presence Lora instantly knew was Grainna. A darkened mass threw its shadow over Grainna’s evil form and choked off her vision. But not before she saw Tara in the woman’s clutches.
Lora woke screaming, shivering in a sweat.
Panicked, she jumped to her feet and ran to her son.
****
Duncan turned in alarm at the sound crashing through the brush. His mother ran to him, out of breath and collapsed at his feet. She warned him, “We have to return. I had a vision.”
Alarm slithered through him like a snake in tall grass. In an instant, he knew his mother was about to reveal his worst nightmare. “What is it? Is Myra returning?”
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She shook her head. “Nay, ’tis Tara. Duncan...”
A sob burst forth. “Grainna has Tara!”
Duncan grabbed hold of his mother’s shoulders, his eyes searching hers. “Are you sure?” His jaw clenched on the emotion and bile bubbling in his throat.
She nodded, tears streaming down her face.
He should never have left. They knew there was danger and still they acted though there was none.
Primal rage and terror broiled within. It left cold emptiness in his soul. He cursed his foolishness and prayed Tara’s life would be spared.
Wasting little time, they mounted their horses, leaving most of their provisions behind in their haste.