Page 18 of The Crown of Moonlight
“It’s not myself I’m worrying over.Aye, well.”Catriona gives a small shrug, then shakes her head, and her expression softens.“I’ll speak with the others while you’re up with your mam, and don’t give me any of your arguments about trying to protect them.Any of us would give our lives to keep you safe, same as you would for us.The bodies in the Wood will need burying, and Padraig’s house will need cleaning once you’re done fixing him up.”
“Are you sure?”
“Do you think we don’t see that you barely sleep with all the extra work you’re doing?I hate to say it, but if you’re determined to help the Ever, you’d best bring him here.You won’t need to wear yourself out flying back and forth to watch over him, and we’ll all be here to do whatever you want done to tend him.”
I shake my head because that’s not an option.“That’s too much risk.”
“No more than if he’s found at Padraig’s or anywhere else on Domhnall land.And don’t you dare feel guilty.”Catriona follows me out of the room.“You did what you thought was right, my lamb.That’s no more than I’d expect from you.”
I blink at her and swallow past a tightening in my throat.Catriona’s always been more likely to fuss at me than to show affection.I don’t know what to do with this version of her, and that says more about how frightened she must be than anything else.
I’d love nothing better than to retreat somewhere out of sight and fall apart, but I can’t.Not while people are counting on me.
“I won’t let the Ever be our downfall.I swear that on my life,” I say.
“Then let us choose which burdens we want to carry and what price we’re willing to pay.”Catriona reaches down and tucks a damp curl of hair behind my ear.
Rab comes to rub his head against my hip and whines softly in his throat until I scratch him behind the ears.I turn and walk away with guilt clawing at my stomach.
With Rab at my heels, I emerge from the shadowed stairwell and step into the solar that my father renovated for my mother when he first brought her to Dunhaelic.Reluctantly, I have to admit that Catriona’s right.The Ever might be an even bigger danger to us at Padraig’s house or any of the outbuildings than he would be here.
Not that the keep is safe, either.Despite its size, the keep has few places where we could hide him.The buildings could all be searched, and the more unlikely places would all require strength or stamina that the Ever doesn’t have.
My mother will be the biggest hurdle.At the moment, she’s seated in the pool of silvered light beneath the large, round window, working her embroidery.But there’s no predicting her moods, where she’ll go, or who she’ll speak to.The priests come with no warning, not to mention smiths, tradesmen, messengers…There are no safeguards on my mother’s tongue, so one wrong word could raise suspicion.
“There you are,” she says, patting the bench beside her.“Did you need to bring that filthy beast in with you?”
I shoo Rab out to the landing with a murmured apology, and he lies down with his muzzle across the threshold.
My mother sets the embroidery hoop aside.“Come talk with me, child.You know how I hate my own company, and you’re always flitting here and there these days.”
The idea hits me then, a reckless but possible solution for the Ever.I turn it over in my mind as I sit with my mother, examining it from every angle.The scheme is so foolish that no one would suspect it.Which is why there’s a slim chance it could work.Provided the Ever will play along.
“How would you like to have a visitor, Mother?”I venture cautiously.
She claps her hands together.“I adore visitors.Who is it?”
I press a finger to my lips and start to lay the groundwork.“That you will have to wait and see.You know how difficult travelling all this distance to Dunhaelic can be.”
“Is it your father who’s coming?”Her eyes glow at the thought, and her cheeks go pink with hope.
And I could kick myself, because I should have seen that coming.“I’m sorry, darling.No.It’s not father, and not the boys.”
“Your father and Rory should have been home ages ago.Oh, and the twins!I long to see them.I wish they wouldn’t take so long coming back.”
My heart wants to crack into dust behind my ribs.No matter how often I explain that they’re all dead, no matter that she was there when I brought home what remained of the bodies and we laid them to their rest, she can’t accept their loss.Her mind refuses to retain the information.
“Your embroidery is beautiful today,” I say, changing the subject.“Is this something new you’ve started?”
“Oh, do you like it?”She beams at me brightly.“It’s a cloth for the high table.We’ll have such a banquet as has never been seen when your father comes home!Hundreds of our people will want to attend.And we should commission new hangings as well, don’t you think?The old ones have become so dreary.”
“New hangings would be lovely.”
I listen with half an ear while she chatters about parties and embroidered cloths.Meanwhile, I turn the ruse over in my mind until I’ve found solutions for nearly every potential problem.
After leaving my mother, I search out Catriona and find her in the courtyard speaking to Morag.After I explain what I have in mind, they both laugh until tears pour down their cheeks, but they agree the scheme might work.
They run off to gather the clothes and accessories we’ll need if we’re to have any hope of pulling it off, and they’re back before I’ve saddled my favourite mare to ride back to Padraig’s house.I hate involving the household to this extent, and for even more reasons, I hate to involve my mother.Yet whether they’re conspirators or innocent bystanders, no one will be safe until the Ever leaves.For now, he is still the enemy, and it’s better to keep him close.
