Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 91636 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 458(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91636 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 458(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
“You think harm was meant us?” Fiona asked.
“We do not know.”
“No harm will come to them now,” Tarr stated boldly. “They are under my protection.”
Raynor made no comment, though his eyes narrowed.
“If Shona meant to protect us, would she not have separated us for safety reasons?” Aliss asked.
“Shona often made mention of a prophetess’s words that the twins should never be separated. That could be the reason she kept you together.”
Aliss turned to Fiona. “Mother repeatedly warned us that we were always to remain together.”
Fiona agreed with a firm nod. “She was adamant about it.”
“Tell us about your parents,” Tarr said.
Aliss spoke up with a soft smile lighting her lovely face. “They were good people. I still find it hard to believe they were not our true parents.”
“I am glad you had a good couple to look after you,” Raynor said, “and while it dulls the pain of your absence, it does not make up for the years I have missed being with you.”
Aliss reached out and took her brother’s hand. “I can only imagine the pain you and our parents of our birth suffered, and I can understand your joy in this reunion, but it is different for me and Fiona.”
“We knew only our adopted parents, and their love,” Fiona said. “Then ten years ago on our mother’s deathbed she confessed the truth. We were not hers or our father’s daughters. She had little breath left in her, her body ravaged by disease, so her words were sparse. She told us that if anyone learned the truth, we would be in danger. She warned that we were always to remain together.”
“The slave must have confided in her,” Tarr said. “And with her dying breath, she continued protecting you.”
Fiona looked at him confused. “What do you mean?”
“She chose carefully what she told you, knowing she had little time left. In keeping you ignorant of your plight, she thought to keep you safe. She gave you just enough to warn.”
“What were your thoughts when you heard this news?” Raynor asked.
“It frightened us,” Fiona admitted, recalling how Aliss had huddled in her arms and cried. She had not; she knew at that moment she would protect them both for as long as they lived.
“But it sent Fiona into action,” Aliss said with pride. “She sent a message with a passing cleric to our uncle Tavish, our mother’s brother. While we waited for him to come get us, she took care of all the outside chores, splitting wood, harvesting the last of the plants, tending the animals, repairing the thatching on the roof, and hunting small animals for food while I tended to the cooking and mending. She intended that we be prepared if our uncle did not arrive before winter set in.”
“We discussed what mother had told us,” Fiona said, “and agreed to keep it our secret as mother had warned. It felt strange for us to think that the two people we loved so dearly and believed we were a part of were not truly our parents.”
“And we wondered who our parents were and if they did not want us,” Aliss said.
Raynor was quick to speak up. “Now you know the truth. Your parents loved you with all their hearts and were devastated by their loss.”
“It is good to know that,” Aliss said.
“And it was good to know that our uncle Tavish wanted us,” Fiona said. “Of course he believed us his nieces. He welcomed us wholeheartedly into his clan, announcing to all we were his sister’s daughters, which made us MacElders. We knew we could never confide our secret to him in chance of losing our only home.”
Memories of those first few nights with the MacElder clan were the catalyst for Fiona’s determination to be independent and self-sufficient. Each night Aliss would cry in her sister’s arms, afraid that their uncle would discover the truth and cast them out of the clan. And each night Fiona would grow more determined in protecting her. She started adding to her already learned skills on their second day with the clan, insisting that her uncle teach her all he could. He had obliged and not dismissed the young girl with the willful spirit.
“Did not your true identity haunt you?” Raynor asked.
“When we grew older we discussed it more,” Aliss admitted. “But where was there for us to start? We knew so little and we were warned of danger.”
“It was better left alone for the moment,” Fiona said, and smiled. “Besides we now have the truth and need not worry about searching.”
“You have finally come home,” Raynor said. “And I will not lose you again.”
“Fiona is mine,” Tarr declared. “Aliss may remain with her family.”
Raynor disagreed. “Whatever arrangements you made with the MacElder clan concerning Fiona, is no longer valid. She is as free as Aliss in her choices.”