Maisie nodded. “I have something for you.” Her little hand shot out to Torin, and he set a battered, coverless book on her palm.
“What’s this?” Adaira asked in a hushed tone.
“Stories,” Maisie said. “About the spirits.”
“Did you write them, Maisie?”
“It was Joan Tamerlaine’s book,” Torin said, drawing Adaira’s eyes. “My father gave it to me, and we thought … we want to give it to you. He claims the other half is in the west. Perhaps you will find it there?”
Adaira nodded, suddenly overcome. She hugged Maisie close and kissed her cheeks. “Thank you for the book. I will read it every night.”
“Elspeth will like the stories too,” Maisie said, wiggling.
Adaira released her, wondering who Elspeth was. But she didn’t ask, and Sidra stepped forward next with a handful of vials.
“For wounds,” she began, holding up a glass brimming with dried herbs. “For sleep.” Sidra held up another. “For your headaches. And for cramps.”
Adaira smiled, accepting all four. “Thank you, Sid.”
“If there’s anything else you need while you’re there,” Sidra said, “let me know and I’ll send it to you.”
“I will.”
Sidra embraced her, just as fiercely as Maisie had, and it was all Adaira could do not to cry.
“The clan is gathering in the hall for the announcement,” Torin said, clearing his throat. “I’ll wait for you there.”
Adaira nodded as Sidra released her to gather Maisie in her arms. The girl waved to Adaira just before they slipped out the door, and Adaira was thankful for the silence again. Holding the broken book and the herbs, she cried.
She was wiping her tears, setting the gifts into her bag, when she heard the unmistakable click of a wall panel opening. She stiffened. She had left Jack at Mirin’s, thinking he needed to be with his mother and sister in the wake of the Breccans’ invasion of their home.
“Jack?” she said, afraid to turn and see that it might not be him.
“Should I bring the old, twisted harp or not?” his voice sounded, wryly.
Adaira spun to see him holding a bag. “What are you doing?”
Jack stepped into her room, shutting the secret door behind him. “What does it look like I’m doing? I’m coming with you.”
“You don’t have to do that,” she protested, even as her heart softened in relief.
He walked across the floor to reach her, eventually coming to a stop when only a breath was between them. “But I want to, Adaira.”
“What of your mother? What of Frae?” she whispered.
“They’re both strong and shrewd and have lived a number of years just fine without me,” he said, holding her gaze. “I’ll miss them while we’re away, but I’m not bound to them. I belong to you.”
Adaira sighed. She wanted him to come with her, but she also had a strange, restless feeling about it. Something she couldn’t name, echoing like a warning in her mind.
“You think you’re dragging me away from a life here,” he said, tracing her jaw with his fingertips, “but you forget that the west is also mine by half.”
His father was there, Adaira reminded herself. Jack had roots on the other side of the clan line, just as she did. Of course, he would want to explore them.
“All right,” she breathed. “You can come.”
Jack’s smile crinkled the corners of his eyes, and she thought he had never seemed brighter. She saw a flicker of light in him, like a flame burning in a dark night, just as his lips found hers.
The hall was overflowing, waiting for her.
Adaira didn’t want to draw this out. She wanted to say her piece and leave, and she hoped the Tamerlaines would listen to her now that the girls had been safely returned and Moray Breccan was shackled beneath their feet.
Torin waited for her on the dais. She walked to her cousin, Jack close behind her. She stood at Torin’s side and surveyed the sea of faces who watched her.
“My good people of the east,” Adaira began in a wavering tone. “The story you heard on the wind is true. I was born to the Laird of the West but was brought in secret to the east as a bairn. Alastair and Lorna raised me as their own, and I didn’t know the truth of my heritage until Moray Breccan revealed it to me yesterday.
“As such, I am no longer fit to lead you, and I pass the lairdship to one who is worthy of you. Torin has proven himself as an exceptional leader and will guide you now. I have all faith that he will continue to lead the clan to better days.