Page 112 of The Splendor of Fire
Hector took the correspondence, eyes moving over her words. His voice wavered. “Good morning, dolphin…” A look of astonishment moved over his features, and then desperation as he continued to read. He shot to his feet. “Murdoch, Calum!” The same terror Léo felt shattered in Hector’s voice.
Steps thundered up the dock and hit the deck of the bìrlinn. Thunder and Lightning, Sea, and Rock. His heart crumpled as he looked at them, her childlike sign names screaming at him.
Calum looked at him and then Hector. “What’s happened?”
Angus stepped forward. “It’s Moira. Léo tried to convince her to come home last night but she refused to go. Seems she saw some information in Niall’s solar indicating there was a catapult and one hundred enemy caterans waiting on Scalpay. She tried to get Léo to go with her to destroy it before our attack, but he refused. He made her promise not to take the risk. She agreed, but Léo discovered she snuck out a short time later.”
David shook his head. “Léo was right. We shouldnae have let her go back to Dun Ringill two weeks ago.”
Angus nodded. “He came to Breacais and got Eoghan and I, and wewent after her. We almost made it in time…” He cleared his throat. “But the caterans saw Léo. There was only six of them, and Niall MacKinnon. No catapult. It was an ambush. Moira could see it from the trees, but we couldn’t. He tried to duck out of sight, but it was too late. She—she jumped down and ran into the clearing. She gave herself up in his place.”
Murdoch made a sound of disbelief.
Angus continued. “It gets worse. She left a letter for Léo and told him who she really is.”
Iain’s eyes grew wide. “What do you mean? Who is she?”
Hector finished reading, folded the letter and handed it to them. “Aileen. My sister. She doesnae know it. She only knows her name is Aileen.”
The three men crowded together, reading her words.
Hector’s voice spoke with a measured decisiveness. “Iain, I want you to take Murdoch and Calum to Duart immediately. Tell my brother he is needed for the assault on Dun Ringill after all. Give him the letter. Then get him back here as fast as you can. How long do you think it will take?”
Iain looked at the position of the sun and held his hand up to the wind. “Twenty-four hours of sailing. Plus the amount it takes him to be ready.”
“That puts him here a day before the uprising,” said David.
Hector nodded. “Gather what you need and go quickly. Let Calum sail some of it. You’ll need your rest.”
The three men acknowledged the order, and Hector put an arm around Léo, lifting him to his feet. “Come on, we need to get you off the bìrlinn.”
Dazed, Léo allowed them to walk him from the dock into Dunvegan. Vaguely, he recognized the sound of Eilidh crying. He remembered climbing upstairs, and being pushed into a bed.
Hector drew the curtains around the bed, speaking to him in his native tongue. “Sleep. You need to sleep. I’m here this time, and I’m not going anywhere. I’ll take care of everything. Close your eyes. When you wake, we’re going to get her.”
Léo’s whiskered cheek scratched against the velvet coverlet as henodded. He wasn’t alone. Hector would handle the burden.Sleep. Then they would get her back.
Fatigue pulled him under.
Fire and flameleapt and Léo found himself on top of Dun Ringill. Niall ran toward him with his sword and Léo ran through the garret, racing to the solid stone parapet. A hand slid into his own, and he found Aileen next to him. Face shadowed with bruise, lip cut, nose and jaw swollen. Fear seized him, but her thoughts were audible to his heart.
“I’m here Léo. You’re not alone.”
He turned and watched the familiar scene as Dun Ringill crumbled, sending Niall into the leaping flames below. He turned back to her. “Are you alive, Aileen? Or am I supposed to say goodbye to you?”
She squeezed his hand and then signed.I love you, Lion.
Turning, she ran down the parapet, toward the leaping flames.
“No Aileen, no!”
Launching into the air, she tumbled, turning over and over, descending into the holocaust.
“NO!”
Léo sat up in bed,sweat drenching his tunic. Room closing in on him, he ripped open the curtains surrounding the bed and saw the sun breaking over the horizon. He wandered to the window and sucked fresh air into his heaving lungs. Looking below, he saw Iain’s bìrlinn docked in the loch below. How long had he slept for?
Racing down the stairs in his bare feet, he sprinted down the corridors, looking for his team. Wrenching the door open to Iain’s solar, he found Lachlan and Hector sitting in front of the fire. They startled as he burst into the room, and he knew he must look mad.
