Read Highland Fire (Guardians of the Stone) Online
Authors: Tanya Anne Crosby
Tags: #Historical Romance
Highland Fire (Guardians of the Stone) (39 page)
“Lìli?” Glenna prodded.
The work was nearly done for the day anyway. Lìli was just about to agree to go lie down, lest she tax herself and bring upon her labor too soon, and then her gaze lifted toward the tabled stone and her heart leaped against her ribs. She cried in relief and buckled to her knees that very moment. “Oh!” she exclaimed, and clutched her belly.
The babe was coming.
Now.
And just in time, because Una started down the hillside in their direction, with her white hair blowing in the breeze like billowing clouds, and her staff winking under the noonday sun.
“Oh, my!” she cried again, this time over a new pain that shot through her pelvis. Whether her excitement had brought on her labor, or Una had simply given the babe permission to be born would never be known, but Lìli felt a sudden wave of pain that felt as though someone had dropped Una’s
keek stane
straight over her pelvis. “Oh!” she cried again, nearly fainting as she felt the child’s head beginning to crown.
Girl or boy? In either case, the babe was as impatient as his father!
Glenna screamed and caught Lìli as she stumbled and Lael went screaming up the hillside, calling for her brother.
They barely had time to carry Lìli into the
crannóg
.
Their daughter was born on the eve of Beltane. Her hair, black as raven’s wings, was so long that Cailin tried to braid it. Surrounded by the ones she loved, Lìli knew beyond a doubt that she was not cursed at all… nay, for she was blessed.
With tears in his eyes, her husband ushered everyone out of their chamber and came to Lìli’s side, falling to one knee.
“
Sùilean geala,
” he whispered to their daughter—
Bright Eyes
—for her eyes were a rare color for an infant—more green than blue, and unnaturally bright—like Aidan’s mother’s and his father’s. It was the birthmark of the guardians, Una claimed, although it was not telling in of itself, for there was much else that must be true in order for a true guardian to arise. Lìli’s eyes were violet and yet Una claimed she would someday inherit Una’s staff. Still, it was clear that their child was a daughter of Aidan's noble blood.
And Aidan suddenly understood, and he swallowed the lump that appeared in his throat as he realized what Una had been trying to tell him on that night so long ago… the night she had bade him to look to the stars to sustain his faith.
Aidan stared down into the eyes of his nameless child, and knew he would never again doubt his wife… or his faith. Before that night upon the ridge, Lìli had confessed everything to him, trusting him to protect her and her son—his son now. And now they had two precious children… and the one squirming before him was the star Una wanted him to see with his heart.
“I’d like to name her Ria,” he told his wife, his throat almost too thick to speak. “
Riannag
, after my mother. It means star.”
Tears swam in Lìli’s eyes as Aidan reached out to trace the fine raised scar that encircled her neck, the scar Rogan had given her before his death. That was all that remained to remind him how close he’d come to losing everything.
“Nothing would please me more,” she said.
“Ach...” His voice was thick with emotion. “I will never give you a stone castle to buttress the sky,” he whispered. “Nor will I rule nations. I am but a mon, a guardian of the stone—can ye love a simple mon without aspirations to greatness, Lìli?”
“With all my heart,” she swore, and he believed her, for her heart was there in her eyes. “But I disagree, my love. My daughter’s father is the greatest among men!”
His own eyes swam with tears as he smoothed the sweat soaked hair from his wife's brow and whispered back, “I love you, Lìli,” he said.
“
Tha gaol agam ort-fhèin,
” she replied.
I love you too.
Their child gurgled between them and in the shadow of the hall, Una lingered. But when Lìli met her gaze, she smiled and hobbled away.
F
irst I'd like to note that I took liberties with the geography a bit. The valley I chose for the setting of this story was inspired by the setting of Loch Einich, and is in the general vicinity, but I purposely wanted to keep the location a bit of a mystery. Also to be noted is that the first accounts of whiskey brewing didn't come until much later, though I must believe the practice came long before the writing about it. Likewise kilts, plaids and tartans, as well as the Picts themselves. By most accounts the Picts were gone by the Ninth Century.
As for
An Lia Fàil,
otherwise known as the Stone of Destiny, or the Stone of Scone, and by some as
clach-na-cinneamhain,
there are many legends surrounding it. Throughout history it's been stolen, hidden, absconded with, placed under thrones, and still to this day no one can tell you with absolute certainty where/which is the real stone.
One account tells us the true stone was hidden somewhere in the mountains near Scone, secreted away by monks in 1296, sometime before the Hammer of the Scots, a.k.a. King Edward of England could take it and use it to subdue the Highlanders. Pointing to that theory, there's a Nineteenth Century story about two boys who had been exploring a landslide on Dunsinane Hill, near the site of an ancient hill fort, known as Macbeth’s Castle. There the boys found a fissure and a hidden cave, where they also discovered a mysteriously carved black stone. Later, going by the boys' accounts, the cave was relocated and there they discovered not just the stone in question, but two plaque-like tablets. Amidst much excitement, the stone was sent to London for examination and was never seen again. But, of course, knowing this really engaged this writer's mind.
What if
–
that magical question
–
the Stone of Destiny were in fact hidden, but not in 1296, when the chroniclers would have us believe? What if it were hidden
much
earlier... say, at a time when Scotland's history was in its infancy? And what if the guardians of the true stone had been disappointed by the warring of Alba's noble tribes. What if after Kenneth MacAilpín's treason, where he murdered seven rivals for the Pictish throne, that real stone were cursed by the last of the Picts? And what if then, after Kenneth's son Aed was murdered by coup, what if the guardians of the stone feared their sacred relic had fallen into the wrong hands? What if they stole that stone
–
the real stone
–
and hid it away in a cave and what if it remains hidden to this very day deep in the hills of Scotland? This would be the story of the Guardians of the Stone.
The truth is that the Picts pretty much disappeared from Scotland's history, with no one the wiser about where they went or why, but I'd like to re-imagine them this way, as a people who clung to their heritage until the very end... and who lent us their traditions through their tenacity to survive.
This one's for all those who, like me, even now don't want to let these people fade completely from the annals of history.
Slàinte mhòr agad!
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Married at Midnight
About the Author
Tanya has written twenty novels, all of which have graced numerous bestseller lists including the
New York Times
and
USA Today
. Best known for stories charged with emotion and humor, and filled with flawed characters, her novels have garnered reader praise and glowing critical reviews. She lives with her husband, two dogs and two moody cats in northern Michigan.
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