“I am.”
“How did you end up being trapped here?” Donnan didn’t hide the notes of fear or suspicion in his voice.
“Those with power,” the Baukan stared out to sea, “will always seek to punish those who oppose them.”
“You were cursed?” suggested Kaetha. “By another or your kind?” The Baukan said nothing so she focussed her mind, using Air magic to reach for his name and sense his thoughts as a breeze feels the shape of the land over which it blows. But all she felt was resistance, unyielding as a shield.
“What’s your name?” she asked.
Silence.
“I’m Kaetha and this is Donnan.”
“You can call me Tam, if you like. Tam Wildshore.”
She squinted at him. “Is that your name?”
“Shh—” Kaetha felt the tension in Donnan’s arm as he gripped her more tightly. “Someone’s out there,” he whispered.
There was a blur of movement in the distance. “Let’s go,” she said. “If we go this way, they might not see us.” She jumped from the rocks into the water which had risen so that it reached her knees and she trudged up the beach, wishing their splashing through the water was not so loud.
“Go swift as the deer of the forest,” said Tam when they reached the steep cliff path. “Thank you, Kaetha. Donnan.”
“Tam?”
“Where did he go?”
“I don’t know,” she said. She couldn’t see him and neither did she hear his footsteps. “Come on. We can’t waste time.”
“I can’t see anyone,” said Donnan when they reached the top.
“Shh.”
They stole across the exposed clifftop and ran through the streets of the town without looking back. “Are you alright, Donnan?” she asked when they got to the house.
“I haven’t decided yet.”
She smiled and squeezed his arm. “We did it.”
“You did.”
The tapping of footsteps down the ladder from the mezzanine woke her up. By the bluish light coming through the shutters, it had to be early in the morning.
“Your business with Dermid won’t take all day, will it?” said Mairi.
Kaetha sat up on her pallet bed and looked around for Kintail. He’d taken to sleeping beside her but he was nowhere to be seen. Her father and Mairi were standing by the front door. His hands on her waist, hers resting on his shoulders.
“I’ll return as soon as I can,” said Aedan.
“You’d better.”
While Aedan gave Mairi a lingering kiss, Kaetha investigated all the corners and nooks where Kintail might be but to no avail. When Aedan left, Mairi, bright eyed and somewhat pink in the cheeks, came over to the hearth and pulled up a stool to sit by Kaetha.
“I didn’t hear you come in last night,” said Mairi.
“Donnan and I were out walking.”
“Whereabouts?”
“Just around.” Kaetha wondered if Kintail was off hunting. Mairi’s dog, Bairn, had probably eaten the food she’d given him yesterday.
“I’m very proud of you for what you did at the Morays by the way, Kaetha.”
She stared at the floor.
“And your Pa’s proud too of course.”
She acknowledged Mairi’s words with a nod, then slipped into the pantry to change her clothes. She couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face. They were proud of what she’d done. She’d been needed, appreciated and they were proud of her. She thought of telling Mairi about her magic and that it was only because of it that she had known Jean needed help. It might enlighten Mairi, helping her to change her mind about magic and accept those who used it.
Kaetha returned and sat herself beside the hearth.
Mairi coughed. “While it’s just the two of us here—”
“Where is Donnan anyway?”
“Fishing I assume.” Mairi ladled Kaetha some porridge.
“Thank you.”
“While it’s just the two of us here,” Mairi repeated, “I wanted to ask you how you— feel— about Donnan.”
“What do you mean?” At Mairi’s knowing look, her gaze dropped to the floor.
“It’s just that you’re both, what, sixteen? Perhaps you don’t understand the sorts of things that go through a sixteen year old boy’s head.”
Kaetha frowned. “You don’t understand. We’re friends.”
“Please. There’s no need to be offended. I just thought I’d suggest, particularly as the two of you sleep under the same roof, that you think about how your closeness might be interpreted if you’re not careful.”
Kaetha set down the bowl of porridge, untouched, and pulled on her boots.
“Don’t you want breakfast?”
“Not particularly,” she said, hoping that Mairi couldn’t hear the sounds her stomach was making.
“Where are you going?”
“Out.”
“What for?”
“I don’t know,” she snatched up her cloak, “to offer my services to a brothel maybe.”
“There’s no need to be crude or to use that tone with me.”
“What ‘tone’ would you expect me to use when you’ve just painted my friendship with Donnan as something to be ashamed of?”
“That wasn’t my intent.”
“No? Then why are you interfering? It’s my life and I’ll be friends with whomever I want.”
“I didn’t mean for you not to be friends, I only wanted to recommend caution and for you to be a little more aware—”
“Aware?” Kaetha laughed derisively. “And how aware are you, Mairi? Do you think Pa hides nothing from you?” She turned away from Mairi’s confused expression.
“What are you talking about?” There was pain in Mairi’s voice.
Kaetha bit her lip. “Nothing. I didn’t mean anything,” she said as she fastened her cloak.
“I know . . . I know you don’t like me, Kaetha.” There was a quaver in Mairi’s voice. “But I’ve done nothing to hurt you. I wish I knew where your animosity comes from.”
“You don’t understand,” Kaetha muttered under her breath as she left the house, closing the door with a sharp thud. She leant against the door, straining to stop herself from crying. She didn’t even know what exactly had upset
