brushed the back of his knuckles along Ciara’s cheek, making her want to lean into this touch. “You do not realize it, but as her princess you were able to reach out to the Chrechte within her in a way no one else could have.”
But in a way he understood.
“Is this true?” she could not help asking.
“It is. Among the Éan, those of my family are charged with training the human offspring of our Chrechte brethren. Not all have equal abilities, but it takes one of the family of the Gra Gealach to draw whatever Chrechte gifts they do have forth.”
“That is amazing.”
“It is. My aunt was charged with it when we lived in the forest. Now that we are spread among the clans, others will have to share the burden.”
“Your aunt came to the Sinclairs?”
“One of them. Fidaich’s mother.”
“Oh.” Ciara still had a difficult time seeing herself as some kind of princess, but she thought her father should be made aware of this practice among the Éan. Perhaps the Faol could emulate it.
“Thank you,” Eirik said when the silence had been stretched between them.
Ciara had been lost in thought, but apparently, he was not finished with their conversation.
“Why?”
“I did not want to engage the enemy. Your safety and that of the human seer are of utmost importance.”
“Because of the Faolchú Chridhe.” Why did part of her wish there was a more personal component to Eirik’s concern?
“We must find it before the MacLeod.”
“Of course.” Ciara should not be disappointed by his answer. She really should not, but her foolish heart ached all the same. “We will.”
“Aye, we will.”
“You are so certain?”
Her words had been spoken more out of hope, but Eirik had sounded like he had seen the future and knew what would come to be. Perhaps as prince of his people, he had.
Though if he saw visions, would he not have told her? “Do you have what Mairi calls the sight as well?”
“Nay, but there is no doubt the Faolchú Chridhe calls to you in a way it does no other.”
“How do you know?” Though she herself was certain he spoke the truth, that knowledge an immovable boulder inside her heart.
“’Twould have been found by now otherwise. You have spent seven years denying its call.”
“I was afraid of what it could do.”
“Because you saw only the selfish lust for power your brother exhibited. You did not understand the gift the sacred stone is and should be to all the Faol.”
“No, I did not.” She swallowed and then admitted, “I did not let myself see the selfishness driving my brother, either. I needed to believe he wanted the best for the Faol as well.”
“He was young and deceived. He might yet have come around to understand the power was not meant for a few, but for all.”
“Thank you for saying that.”
Eirik shrugged and Ciara had to suppress a smile. He was much like her adopted father in some ways.
“We will wait to take to the sky until we see Lais and Mairi safely launched on the water,” Eirik said, clearly done with the other subject.
“All right.”
“You are being very agreeable.”
She shrugged. It was not her way to disagree for the sake of argument; if he thought otherwise, she could not help that.
When they arrived at the water, the eagle shifter was there to greet them. He bowed his head toward Eirik and grasped Lais’s arm in a warrior’s greeting.
“Where are Fidaich and Canaul?” Ciara asked Eirik.
“I sent them back to the Sinclair so they could tell him about the MacLeod soldiers on his land.”
“What will he do?” Mairi asked worriedly, seemingly oblivious to the implication behind Eirik’s claim to have sent the ravens away when they had never come out of the sky.
“He will send Niall and a group of Chrechte soldiers with him to confront the interlopers,” Ciara replied when it became apparent none of the warriors intended to do so.
Her father would not take a rival clan’s trespass on their lands lightly. Niall would be on a mission to teach the foolish soldiers a lesson as well as bring them to heel.
Lais added, “Those who survive the encounter will be taken to the Sinclair.”
Ciara wanted to kick him for his helpfulness. Mairi had gone gray. She might not want to return to her father’s clan, but that did not mean Mairi had no concern for her former clansmen. She understood, as Ciara did, that the soldiers may only be guilty of following their laird’s orders.