The Legend of a Rogue - Darcy Burke Page 0,29

not?”

“You saw him too?” It was no wonder she’d been concerned.

“Carrie asked me to check on him while she was busy in the common room. He was still sleeping, but I could see the injury to his face.” A shiver ran through her.

Tavish put his hands on her hips and pulled her to him. “I’m fine. I didn’t encounter any trouble at all.”

She smiled. “I’m so glad.”

While he was thoroughly enjoying this moment with Elspeth, he couldn’t ignore the dark sense of failure needling him. “I’m disappointed I wasn’t able to find any clues regarding these men. Or the sword.”

Her entire face lit like fireworks illuminating the night sky. “I found it.”

He stared at her. “You…found it? I don’t understand.”

She lowered her hands from his face and turned from him. As she moved toward the bed, he grew even more perplexed. Then she knelt next to a blanket on the floor. She unwrapped the wool plaid, and there, lying in the middle of it, was Lann Dhearg.

She gave him a beatific smile. “I’d hand it to you, but I can barely lift it.”

“My God. Elspeth, however did you…” He didn’t finish the question as he quickly lowered to his knees on the other side of the sword from her.

“You will never believe it, but it was here the entire time. Well, not the entire time—not since Culloden. Carrie said Neil left it with her a few weeks ago.”

Tavish ran his fingers over the familiar ancient runic symbols on upper and lower guards of the hilt. The weapon hummed beneath his touch, as it always did for him or others in his family. He looked over at her. “Will you start at the beginning, please?”

“Yes, of course.” She blushed and let out a soft laugh. “I’m afraid I was quite thrilled to find it. I was excited to tell you.”

He wrapped his palm around the grip. “I still can’t believe it.”

“When I went to check on Mr. Kerr, he was asleep, so I thought I would investigate Carrie’s room for clues about Neil.” She shrugged. “I honestly didn’t expect to find anything.”

“Yet you did.”

“There was a door, so I opened it. She has a room filled with items collected from Culloden field. Weapons, jewelry, shields. She calls it her Chamber of Sorrow.”

Tavish let go of the sword and sat back on his heels. “That’s…incredible.”

“It was somewhat unsettling, to tell you the truth. It’s a small room, and it was filled with these objects.”

“That’s where you found Lann Dhearg?” At her nod, he asked, “How did you know what it was?”

“It just looked…different from any sword I’ve ever seen. Because of the herringbone pattern and the markings. Are those runes?”

He glanced down at the markings. “Yes. We aren’t exactly sure what they mean, but the upper guard is something like ‘burn bright’ while the lower is akin to ‘flame eternal.’ And the herringbone pattern is due to the manner in which it was forged.”

Her eyes gleamed with wonder. “That’s fascinating. So this isn’t the Cumbric language?”

That she was aware of the dead language of his ancestors was more than impressive. Tavish leaned over the sword and kissed her. “You are brilliant. I can’t say for certain since there are no surviving texts of the Cumbric language. How do you even know about Cumbric?” He sat back, smiling.

She shrugged. “As a writer, I’ve sought to learn about Celtic languages. I don’t know if that makes me brilliant, however. I’m just glad to have found your sword. Except for the part when I had to bring it upstairs.” She made a face.

“It would be quite heavy for you. How did you manage it?”

“Carrie helped me, thank goodness. But we agreed that taking it up to your room was beyond our ability.” She laughed, and he laughed with her, amazed at how joyful he felt. It was more than just finding the sword. That was a relief. It was sharing this moment with her, knowing she’d worked to help him, that without her, he might not have found it.

“Thank you for finding my sword,” he said softly.

“Why is it so bloody heavy?”

Tavish easily picked up the weapon, feeling its vibration through his hand and up into his arm.

She gaped at him. “You’re unfathomably strong.”

He chuckled as he got to his feet. “No, it isn’t heavy for me. It’s part of the magic of the sword. Dyrnwyn is the same, but slightly different. Dyrnwyn is heavy for everyone but those who are worthy. Lann Dhearg is