Page 78 of The Guardian's Bride
“What is it?”
“Come with me and you will see.” He left the bed and reached for the shirt he had discarded earlier, climbed back into his trews, and pulled on a long tunic and low-slung belt. Rowena slid off the bed and tugged her gown over her head, while Aedan draped a plaid over his shoulder, then turned to help her tie the side lacings of her gown. She sat to fasten her boots, kicked off in a hurry when the candle still burned high.
“How is your ankle? Can you walk down to the beach?”
“I can.” She flexed her foot. “The bandage and boot lacing help.”
“We need to be quiet and quick. I do not want to wake anyone here.”
“You do not want to answer questions,” she guessed.
“Aye.” He took up a metal lantern of pierced metal with a sturdy wooden side handle, inserted a new candle taper lit from the spent candle, and turned.
“But your questions, love, I will answer. It is past time I showed you what is kept here. This way.” He indicated the door to the hidden stair.
Chapter Twenty-One
In the darkof the staircase, he opened a door she had not noticed before, hidden in a corner. This led down a steep winding stair. She followed, grateful for the light of the lantern. When Aedan opened a door at the bottom of the steps, she stepped with him into a tunnel of earth and rock so narrow, she could touch both sides at once, where tree roots curved out of the rough earthen walls.
“Does this go under the hill to the beach?”
“And out to one of the caves. MacDuffs built this tunnel long ago.”
They came to an arched opening in the rock and when Aedan bent to pass through, Rowena did too, stepping into a cavern lit only by the faint glow of the candle in the lantern. She saw a rough-textured dome of a large cave like the inside of an inverted bowl. From somewhere she heard the distant rush of the sea, and closer, a burble of water.
The dome swept down to an uneven floor with two exits, natural arches in the rock, at opposite ends of the space, one leading toward the beach. At the center of the cave, several rocks formed a circle around a small pool where water bubbled.
“A natural spring?” She looked at Aedan, delighted.
He held the lantern high. “It comes up from below. They call this Saint Margaret’s Well—a healing spring, supposedly blessed by the sainted queen over two hundred years ago. The water is very pure and is believed to have curative powers. People comefrom all over Fife to drink the water and take some away in jugs and buckets. I thought you would want to see it.”
Thrilled, she sank to her knees, dipped her hand in the shallow pool, and poured the water back. “Is this what you wanted to show me?”
“This, and something else. Stay by the pool while I make sure the way is clear. Dip your foot and have a drink of the water.”
“Do you drink the water?”
“Oh aye, we have always done that. My aunt stores this water to dilute the wine, but today there was none left in the cupboard.”
“And you had the headache,” she noted.
He shrugged, assent or doubt, and went over to a niche in the wall, reaching in and returning with a small bottle of green glass, plugged with wax. “We keep containers here for folks who want to take some of the water.” He winked, then left through the outermost exit.
Sitting beside the pool, Rowena removed her boot, stocking, and the bandages around her ankle, then dipped her foot into the cool water, swished it about, then dried it with the hem of her gown. Cupping some of the water in her palm, she drank, finding it chilled and clear.
Rewrapping the bandage and lacing her boot, she filled the little green bottle with water, plugged it, and fit it into her belt purse. Then she removed the Rhymer’s crystal from its silk wrapping to dip it in the water and set it on a rock ledge below the surface to let it absorb whatever power the pool might hold. The stone sparkled as if it was filled with stars.
Aedan came back, calling softly to her, and she scooped up the stone and followed him along a short passageway in the rock to a wide outer exit.
Outside on the shingled beach, moonlight reflected in the dark waves of the firth. As a breeze fluttered through her hair, she realized she had left her veil in Aedan’s bed chamber.
But she knew then she no longer needed it as she once did. She felt new somehow, hopeful. Shivering, she wrapped her arms around herself and felt eager, suddenly, about the changes shifting through her life so quickly now.
Aedan took her hand and indicated the stretch of the beach. “Can you walk far enough to visit the other caves? I need to look at some things.”
She flexed her ankle. “My foot truly feels better. Lead on, sir.”
Moving across the beach, he ushered her inside a wide cave entrance where she heard birds rustling and cooing. As Aedan swept the lantern light around, she saw neat rows of niches cut into the stone walls, and inside the small crevices, birds bobbing and fluttering.
