Read Online Once Upon A Highland Legend by Tanya Anne Crosby - Free Book Online Page B

highlighting the red in his beard. He took another swig from his flask, nodding. And he must have decided he believed her, because he waved a hand over the entire expanse and said, “’Tis a sacred vale…MacAilpín himself brought together seven kings here to sup as friends.” His voice took on a somber tone. “Black Tolargg, Drust, all of them…slaughtered like lambs upon an altar.”
    He tossed his stick into the fire and watched it burn. Intense sadness entered his eyes, revealed by the flickering of the flames. Lost in thoughts she could not glean, he drank more of his whisky, his tongue loosening a bit as he continued. He said the words as though he had held them in far too long. “The bastard said his minny was a Pecht,” he recounted bitterly. “Though he was naught but a wolf in sheep’s clothing—a faithless Gael…”
    “Who?”
    “MacAilpín—the bastard.”
    Annie suddenly remembered Callum’s words:… there’s no’ a one of us who would benefit by siding with the sons of MacAilpín. Her heart tripped a little. The possibility that she might be sharing the same air as the Father of Scotland made her feel lightheaded, but apparently neither Dunneld nor Callum held him in high regard. “Where is he now?” she asked, and held her breath for his answer.
    “Who?”
    “Kenneth MacAilpín.”
    He gave her an incredulous look. “Ach! Dead now—for twenty years or more!”
    Disappointment sidled through her. “Oh. I didn’t realize.”
    He arched a brow. “Mayhap then ye be a faerie, in truth, because I dinna ken how any mon or woman wadna know. That liar died with a lump in his throat the size o’ my fist—cursed by the gods, yet buried in Iona as befits a saint. ’Tis true enough only his Gael brothers mourn him now for my kin willna so easily forget ’twas Kenneth MacAilpín who murdered our sires…”
    “Twenty years?” Annie sighed with disappointment. But there was still the stone…and she had lived her entire academic life for this question, so she had to know. “What about the stone…the one you brought from Scone?”
    Momentarily caught off guard by the question, Dunneld peered up at her through dark lashes. “Seems I’ve said too much already, Annie Ross. Dinna fash yersel’ o’er it. Get some rest now afore auld Morag returns an’ ye find yersel’ squirming beneath an droch-shùil !” The evil eye.
    Annie laughed softly. She lay her head back upon the ground and peered up at the black sky, listening to the endless echo of hammers in the distance.
    Until ye appeared, Callum was all set to go…
    Callum likes Annie Ross.
    Yes, he did and she was going to prove it, she vowed—if it was the last thing she did before she left here. A feeling like butterflies flittered somewhere down deep in her belly, and her heart tripped again. If she was dead, in fact…or dreaming…if this was heaven…at least God had gotten her version of heaven exactly right—surrounded by the history she loved…
    Unconsciously pulling Callum’s cloak to her nostrils, Annie breathed deeply of his male scent and studied the night sky. These were all the same stars—exactly where they belonged. Even the North Star, bright as it was, was in plain sight. If she was dreaming…then she was doing it in amazing detail. High above, stars twinkled like faerie dust, lulling her into closing her eyes. And somehow she fell into a deep, weary sleep, despite a growing sense of anticipation she attributed to the fantastic possibility of setting eyes upon the Stone of Destiny…but it was much, much more than that, she knew.
    She didn’t stir at the changing of her guard.

Chapter Seven

     
    Higher on the hill, guards changed there as well.
    The caves, naturally formed and full of mist, descended deep into the bowels of the ben. That’s where they had vaulted the stone. But this was as close as any need come, for the cold mist was enough to put an ague in the bones. There was no other way in, so the guards