Total pages in book: 43
Estimated words: 39004 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 195(@200wpm)___ 156(@250wpm)___ 130(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 39004 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 195(@200wpm)___ 156(@250wpm)___ 130(@300wpm)
“Please help us,” Elysia pleaded softly. “Or Annis will go off alone in search of the witch in the hills and I worry she will never return.”
“You will do no such thing,” Brogan warned with a snip of anger. “I have told you that I have searched endlessly for a way to end the curse to no avail. And you will only waste time in chasing the myth of the witch in the hills.”
His reminder of what he once told her, reminded her of something else he had said. “What did you mean when you told me the curse could not be broken that it had to be fulfilled, but it was impossible to do?”
Brogan shook his head at Annis. “You are not going to give up, are you?”
She mimicked him, crossing her arms over her chest to show her determination and her chin went up a notch. “No. I am going to save my sister no matter what it takes and I intend to do it with or without your help.”
Brogan kept his arms crossed over his chest, afraid he’d reach out and try to shake some sense into her. “Then let me explain to you, as it was explained to me by endless wise women, why your quest will fail. The strongest of curses is the one cast by a dying person. Lady Aila of the Clan MacWilliam cursed three clan leaders before she died, my father, Lord Balloch of the Clan MacRae, Lord Fergus of the Clan MacBridan, and Rannick’s father, Lord Lochlann of Clan MacClaren. Lord Lochlann was cursed to suffer the most since he had been good friends to Lord Brochan, Lady Aila’s husband. The task of the three men was to see that the Clan MacWilliam bloodline never continued. They battled with the Clan MacWilliam to wipe it out, make sure not a single MacWilliam lived. There was only one left to be killed, Wynda, the two-day-old daughter of Lady Aila and Lord Brochan.”
Elysia gasped. “To kill an innocent bairn is reprehensible.”
“I agree,” Brogan said. “Wisely, Lady Aila managed to get her daughter to safety. Unfortunately, not for long. The daughter was found and killed. To break the curse, the wrong that had been done to the Clan MacWilliam, had to be made right and that could only have been done through the only living MacWilliam heir—the daughter. So you see, the curse will continue through generations unless Rannick, Odran, and myself produce no heirs and let the curse die along with our bloodlines. Otherwise any heir to be born to any of us is doomed to a life of eternal hell.”
“How do you know the daughter was killed?” Annis asked, having always been skeptical of tales by boasting men and those who accomplished the feat of wiping out the Clan MacWilliam surely would have made sure it was known they succeeded where others had failed.
“My father was there to witness it,” Brogan said.
Annis had more questions for him. “How did your father know it was the MacWilliam daughter? And how could he be sure it was the right bairn? Did she have any specific marks on her that could attest to her identity?”
“From what my father said, they tracked down the faithful servant, Gunna, that Lady Aila had entrusted her daughter with and she confirmed it was the MacWilliam bairn.”
“So in the end, this faithful servant betrayed Lady Aila?” Annis asked.
“She was left no choice. It was her or the bairn’s life.”
Annis still wasn’t finished. “How many people witnessed this?”
“My father and Lord Lochlann. They believed by seeing the infant lass dead that the curse would be no more or at least lose some of its power.” Brogan shook his head. “They were wrong.”
“What if the faithful servant lied?” Annis asked.
“Her life was at stake and enough questions. This is done and you will go on no foolish quest,” Brogan ordered, having hoped to discourage her with the truth, but he could see from the determined look on Annis’s face that she had no intention of obeying him. “You may be stubborn, Annis, but you are no fool. Think of the risk… alone and vulnerable, no horse to carry you, the unpredictable weather to battle and in the end no way to see the curse broken.”
“Is that what you truly believe or are you afraid I will do what you could not? Succeed!”
Brogan’s eyes narrowed as he stepped closer to Annis. “You will not do this, Annis. I will make sure of it.”
Her chin went up high. “Hasn’t your clan and the two other clans brought enough suffering and pain to people.”
Elysia tugged at her sister’s arm. “We should go. Lord Brogan is right. It is too dangerous a journey for you to make alone.”
“At least one sister is wise enough to do the right thing,” Brogan said.