Fallon.
“Morning, brother,” Lucan greeted him.
Fallon stopped in the corridor. “Morning. How is Malcolm faring?”
“Well. Larena is with him now. I’ve taken Cara to bed. She’s exhausted.”
“Good,” Fallon said. “I’m glad to hear he’s mending well. Have you seen Sonya this morn?”
“Aye. She’s on the battlements. Is something wrong?”
Fallon hesitated. He saw the question in his brother’s sea-green eyes. “I don’t know yet. She reacted at the mention of Broc’s name.”
“And you want to see if there is a connection,” Lucan finished. “Aye, I would as well. Do you think she knows him?”
“Could be. Anything is possible. We know nothing of Broc other than what Ramsey has shared with us.”
Lucan leaned a shoulder against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest, his gaze thoughtful. “Broc is a mystery. I’d like to talk to him myself.”
“Stand in line, brother.”
Lucan chuckled before he dropped his arms and pushed off the wall. “I expect a full report later.”
Fallon shook his head as his brother walked away. Gone was the bleakness that had lurked in Lucan’s eyes for too many years. Lucan was once more the man Fallon had known before the murder of their clan. Now, if only everything else could be as it once was.
When Fallon walked onto the battlements he found Sonya, just as Lucan had said. She stood with her back to the sea. Her hands gripped the stones tightly, her concentration palpable.
“Are you listening to the trees?”
She turned her head to glance at him. “I can barely hear them. I’m too far away. Every once in a while I will catch a word, but not enough to make sense.”
“Have you always lived in the forest?”
“For as long as I can remember.”
Fallon kept his gaze on her as he leaned an elbow on the stones. “What of your family?”
“My parents are dead and have been for many years. All I have left is an elder sister who likes to spend her days picking wildflowers.”
“Were you born with the Druids?”
She shook her head. “Nay. From what little I was told when I questioned the Druids, we were brought to them when I was just walking and my sister barely older.”
“Interesting. What do you know of Broc?”
Finally, she turned to face him. Her amber gaze was steady as she met his eyes. “What makes you think I know anything?”
“You flinched yesterday when his name was spoken.”
Sonya sighed and looked down at her hands, but not before he saw a flicker of emotion. “My sister spoke of a Broc, a man who would visit her on occasion. She would often speak of their future together, but when I questioned her about him she wouldn’t tell me more. After a while, she quit talking about him altogether.”
“Do you think it’s the same Broc?”
She shrugged and looked into his face. “Fallon, my sister is a gentle soul. She is a good person, but the evil in the world does not trouble her. Anice thinks she can stay in the protected grove and keep away from Deirdre and any wickedness that could threaten her.”
“But you don’t?”
“Nay,” she admitted softly. “I don’t. I tried to convince the other Druids to leave, but the grove has been their home for too long. They feel safe there.”
Fallon blew out a breath. He was troubled by what he had learned. “Can you convince the Druids to come here?”
“I doubt it. I told them of the warning the trees had given me, but they held firm to staying in the grove. I tried to get Anice to come with me, but she said she couldn’t leave. For all I know Broc is someone she made up. She was always going out into the forest alone. I would see her talking to herself, carrying on conversations with people that weren’t there.”
“I’m sorry, Sonya.”
She waved away his words. “There’s nothing to be sorry for. I gave them the warning.”
“Surely you don’t want your sister in Deirdre’s hands.”
Sonya’s gaze burned him. “Of course not. But I cannot force the Druids to leave. I told them where I was and begged them to come here should something happen.”
“Let me send Warriors to them.”
“You would never find them.”
Fallon straightened and reined in his growing ire. “Then you take a couple of Warriors and find them.”
“I wish I could, Fallon, but I cannot leave. It’s not just Malcolm that needs me. The trees told me I had to come here and stay, that if I leave MacLeod Castle, Deirdre will find me. And before you think me a coward, know that if I end up in Deirdre’s hands, the location to Druids that have evaded her will be known.”
“I would never think you a coward, Sonya. You forget I’ve been in Deirdre’s mountain. I’ve seen what she can do. You are right to want to stay away from her, but we need to get the Druids here before she does find them. And she will eventually.”
She sighed and nodded. “I will try to send a message through the trees if I can.”
Fallon covered her hand that still held the stones in a death grip. “You did all you could. Let me and the others help you for once.”
“Thank you.” Her lips quivered as she smiled.
Fallon left her on the battlements and walked to the hall. He glanced at Ramsey and Hayden who sat at the other table looking over the fake scroll. Fallon slid into his seat by his brother and blew out a breath.
“That bad?” Lucan asked around his mouthful of food.
Fallon was glad the other Warriors weren’t in the hall. He was still sorting out all Sonya had told him. “The group of Druids Sonya lived with are in danger.” He reached for some food and began telling Lucan everything he’d learned.
When he was finished Lucan whistled long and low. “I hope she can send the message. I cannot believe the Druids would think they were safe in the forest. No one is safe from Deirdre, not even here, but at least with us they stand a chance.”
“The grove is known to them. I can understand not wanting to leave a magical and protected place.”
“And Broc?” Lucan prodded.
Fallon tore off another piece of bread and rested his forearms on the table. “Sonya doesn’t know if he’s real or not.”
“Is there something wrong with her sister mentally?”
“Sonya didn’t say as much, but I think there might be.”
Lucan drained his goblet and set it on the table. “I guess we’ll have to wait and see about Broc then.”
“I suppose so. I was hoping to learn something about him, but I know less than yesterday.”
“By the way,” Lucan said, and leaned close to Fallon. “I found your and Larena’s clothes this morning in the village. I folded them and put them in her chamber.”
Fallon inwardly cursed. He had forgotten all about their clothing. “I appreciate it.”
“Have you two resolved anything?”
Fallon shook his head. “I don’t know that we ever will, Lucan. I would give her anything she wanted, but each morning, she leaves my bed with the sun.”
“Give it time. I see the way she looks at you. There is something there, Fallon.”
Larena wiped Malcolm’s brow and silently willed her cousin to wake. She worried about his arm and how it would affect his future, but deep inside she knew she was running from the memories of her night with Fallon. She had stared at her neck in the mirror for a long time that morning still surprised to see his mark on her.
Her hand went to her neck and the bite that was now covered by her tunic. She wondered if Fallon was angry to find her gone once more that morning. How could she explain that staying to see him wake up was a step she couldn’t take? Not yet anyway.
