Whenever his laird sensed trouble, trouble came. He watched the hillsides with a keen eye, and investigated every noise.
He noticed the farmer long before the farmer saw him. He was running fast for a man his age, as if the Devil himself was on his heels.
As much as he would have liked to meet him half way, Gregor knew better than to leave his post and waited for the man to flag his attention.
Gasping for air, the man opened his mouth to speak. It took him several minutes to tell him what he found.
The nature of his tale had the hair on Gregor’s neck standing on end. He hurried the man into the courtyard and bid him water from one of the maids, and then told his squire to ready a second horse.
The commotion in the courtyard brought Ian and Fin at a run. Gregor jumped off his horse before it came to a stop. His quick bow to Laird Ian was brushed aside, he kept his voice low. “The body of a young woman from town has been found by the edge of the village.” He pointed to the farmer who was still catching his breath. “He found her, and begs that we come.”
Ian and Fin exchanged looks. “Could he determine the cause of death?”
Gregor visibly swallowed. “Her neck was cut.”
“A murder,” Fin said aloud.
“And something else. Her blood was used to circle her body. The villagers will think demons are amongst us if they find her. The man was sensible enough to come here first.”
Ian looked up at the walls of his home, several men were poised on the lookouts, and no alarm was being raised. “Quickly, Fin, and only us four.” He nodded to Gregor as Fin ran off to get their mounts.
“Is this the trouble ye thought was coming?”
“I hoped to avoid any trouble.”
Tara slept in late. Again. Pleased she wasn’t suffering with morning sickness, she took her time getting ready. When she made it downstairs to the main hall it was all but abandoned.
“Where is everyone?” Tara asked the kitchen maid Alice.
“Laird Ian and Lord Fin rode off in a hurry, a problem methinks. Young Amber is out with the kittens. Lady Lora is in her chambers, mournin’ her daughter’s departure still. I’m not sure where Lord Cian is.”
Tara tensed with Alice’s words. The blank stare the woman wore on her face had goose flesh rising on her arms. Reading people was easier for Tara these days and Alice seemed scared. “Do you know what the problem is?”
“Nay, my lady. They don’t tell me these things.
I’m sure ’tis nothing ye can do. Sit, sit.” Alice shuffled her to a chair. “Let me feed ye and the wee lass or lad ye’re carrying.”
Dutifully, Tara sat.
Alice hurried off to the kitchen and returned with a plate full of food.
Eating it proved difficult, despite her hunger.
Something was wrong. She could feel it.
They smelled the scene long before they came upon it. Over the scent of rain soaked trees, surrounding the clearing in the woods, fresh blood and the stench of death penetrated the air. “Who would do such a thing?” Ian absorbed the pathetic waste of life spread out before him.
“I know not, my Lord. Whoever did this must be mad.” Gregor held back a gag.
She had been dead for at least a day, no more or the animals in the woods would have found her. Her limbs were stiff and grey as the clouds above.
All three men had seen their share of death, on the battlefield and in life. But what lay before them was beyond any carnage they had experienced.
The young woman’s hands were bound. A dark cloth concealed her face and eyes. Bruising was evident on her exposed legs and arms. Her ripped and bloody clothing lay in shreds. Her neck had been slit exactly as the farmer had said. But the blood did not pool where she lay.
Instead, it had been used.
A circle had been carved in the soil. The woman’s blood filled the groove. The points of a star jutted from beneath her corpse. The smell of sulfur choked the air.
It was the scene of a ritual, a horror not seen in this land for decades.
Fin noticed the small chain on the woman’s neck and felt the fleeting sickness of recognition.
Behind them, the young squire accompanying them made sounds of fear.
The old farmer diverted his eyes. He jumped at the sound of a squirrel in a tree.
The wind rustled leaves from the forest floor.
Their eyes shot in every direction and both appeared ready to flee at the first sign of trouble.
“Gregor, go.” Ian nodded to the boy and farmer.
“Calm their fears while I consult with my son.”
“Aye, my lord.”
Fin took off the dark cloth covering the lass’s face. He closed his eyes and swallowed hard.
Alyssa.
“Father,” he said in hushed tones. “I know this girl.” “Aye, I recognize her.” Ian clicked his tongue.
“Her grandfather was one of us.”
They spoke her name together as soon as the thought emerged. “Grainna.”
“It has to be, but how?” Fin stood and removed his cloak.
“I know not. But this is exactly what’s described when stories of Grainna are told. If Grainna is here, then your mother’s vision and Myra’s need to leave all makes sense.”
Fin glanced at his father. “Thank God, Myra’s safe!”
“Do you think Grainna broke her curse?” Ian asked.
Fin remembered the last time he had been with Alyssa, her smile. “Nay, if the curse is broken, ‘twas not done with this lass.”
“How can you be sure?” Ian glanced at him.
Loss punched Fin hard in the gut. “She was no virgin.” He turned from his father, strode to his horse, removed the blanket, and laid it on her. “I will tell her parents.”
Ian put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “I can see this done, Fin.”
“I have to do this.”
His father didn’t ask questions or press for information.
“We should clean this up. We don’t want folk to panic.”
Ian instructed Gregor to escort the farmer back to his home, then return with his squire so a grave could be dug.
Finlay and Ian set fire to the grass once the others had gone, burning all evidence of the ritual away.
Unwilling to let Alyssa’s parents witness the violence of her death, Fin removed her necklace to give to them. Once Gregor had returned, and her grave was dug, he set out to deliver the shocking news.
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.