“Aurelia! Wait!” Baird muttered something unflattering under his breath, but Aurelia had no time for his concern now.
Where were the stones?
This could not be! If it was the beginning of the Month of Eostre, then only a year had passed since she had stood on this same spot and watched the midday sun.
But that midday sun had risen above a circle of twelve stones. Though the four that remained were familiar in shape, of the others, there was no sign. They were each taller than her and heavy beyond all. They had stood here since time immemorial.
How could they have been removed without trace in so little time?
The wooden pillar in the middle of the circle was gone as completely as though it had never been. Aurelia crouched and fought back her tears as she ran her hand across the four flat stones arranged in a square in the middle of the circle. The stones were cold with disuse and she guessed no priestess had come this way in many years.
The prophecy could not have come true, it could not have.
Baird crouched by her side, his expression concerned. “What’s the matter?”
“Where are the other stones?” Aurelia heard the breathlessness in her own voice. Her heart was hammering with a vengeance, a wildly ridiculous premise gaining credibility in her mind with every passing moment.
“What other stones?”
“There should be twelve. Twelve!” Aurelia’s vision blurred with tears. “What has happened to them? Where did they go? How could they have been removed?”
Aurelia clutched Baird’s shirt and gave him a shake, hoping that she would find him responsible for this desecration instead of more than a millennium stolen away from her. “Why did you have them taken away?”
Baird lifted her hands gently away. He held her hands and Aurelia exhaled slowly, welcoming his quiet strength despite herself. “I had nothing to do with this,” he murmured, his green gaze boring into her own.
And Aurelia believed him.
But she could not believe the rest.
Baird must have read her thoughts, for he gave her hands a quick squeeze. “Wait right here. We’ll find the answer.” He shoved a hand through his hair and pushed to his feet, and Aurelia hated how relieved she felt to have his aid in this.
Only now, Aurelia noticed that there were others here, oddly dressed people. They stared at her, as though she, a priestess, was the intruder, not all these common people who had no right to be within the circle.
They touched the stones and clicked little black boxes in every direction. What a travesty! This was a sacred place! They had no right to wander here as though it were no more than a patch of earth.
But in her heart, she knew that the common people could not have forgotten the Goddess in a mere year. And Aurelia feared the portent of that.
Baird stepped toward a plump woman in white shoes. “Excuse me, could I borrow your guidebook? For just a second?”
Aurelia refused to watch him work his charm on some hapless female. She watched the sun climb to its zenith and could not swallow the lump in her throat.
Baird hunkered down beside her again and fanned through the book. “Well, let’s see. The Stones of Stemness. Built circa 2500 BC. Yada, yada, yada. Here it is - originally consisting of twelve stones.”
Aurelia looked him in the eye. “I know that. Where are they?”
Baird scanned the text. “Doesn’t say.”
“And the pillar?”
“What pillar?”
“The one in the center, the one that makes the sacred thirteen along with the twelve stones.” Aurelia gritted her teeth. “The one that casts the shadow of the midday sun.”
“Where should it be?”
Aurelia pointed to the middle of the square defined by the four flat stones.
Baird flicked through the book, his brow furrowed in concentration. “Ah! ‘Excavations have shown revealed traces of a wooden pillar that must have stood in the middle of the circle, though its purpose is unknown.’“
“As it should be by those who have not earned the right to know the sacred mysteries.”
Baird looked to her questioningly, but Aurelia shoved to her feet. She backed towards the north side of the circle, her gaze rising again to the sun. She squinted, but could not precisely guess where the shadow would fall if the pillar was still there.
And precision was of import in this.
Baird gave the woman back her book with a smile of thanks and came to Aurelia’s side once more. His voice was low. “What is it?”
She sighed, then frowned and fired a frustrated glance at him. “I can tell nothing without the pillar. I need its shadow.”
“I can cast a shadow as well as any piece of wood.”
Aurelia eyed Baird with suspicion but he did not seem to be mocking her. To have a king lend himself to her service was something she would not have expected, especially this king.
“You would do this?”
“If you explain later what this is about.”
He wanted her to reveal a hidden mystery in exchange for his assistance. Aurelia hesitated, remembering her vow of secrecy only too well.
But if her fears were right, then the priestess to whom she had sworn that oath was long dead and forgotten.
As forgotten as the Goddess they had sworn it before.
Perhaps the mysteries were not as important as once they had been. Every manner of common person was obviously allowed to wander freely amidst these great holy stones. Aurelia rubbed her forehead, feeling that things were moving too quickly for her.
First, she had to know the truth.
And if that required compromise, so be it.
She pointed to the four flat stones before she could change her mind. “Could you stand in the center there?” she asked quietly and Baird quickly complied. “I need only see the line of the midday sun.”
He did as she bade, and though shorter than the great pillar, his shadow stretched a line across the circle. Aurelia was oblivious to the open stares of the passersby as she traced the direction of Baird’s shadow to a stone no longer there.
She did it again and again, she watched the sun crest its zenith and ever so slowly descend towards the earth again. But there was no avoiding the truth.
The sun - and its shadow - were in the wrong place.
When Aurelia last celebrated the rebirth of the sun, a mere year before in her mind, the shadow of the pillar had fallen on the next stone. That stone still stood and was both so large and so well anchored that it could not have moved.
Even in a millennium. Aurelia swallowed carefully.
But the sun would take at least a thousand years to change its shadow so much.
Just as she had known, the stones told no lies. With a pounding heart, Aurelia turned her palm up and examined her left thumb beneath the golden light of Eostre’s sun.
Right in the middle of the whorl was a minute scar.
Her breath caught in her throat.
The prophecy had come true! She had fallen into a slumber that lasted nigh on twelve hundred years. Even with all the evidence before her, Aurelia’s reason fought against the conclusion.
It could not be true!
But it was.
Her pulse rose in her ears to the roar of thunder, the sun shone on her brow with a savage heat.
It had all come true.
Aurelia could not tear her gaze away from the scar on her thumb though the world danced around her in a mad swirl. A thousand years had come and gone while she slept. Aurelia felt her knees crumple as a terrible numbness seized her body.
The last thing she heard was Baird calling her name.
*
Aurelia awakened in her chamber at Dunhelm. Judging by the angle of the light slanting through the window, it was late afternoon, though she had no recollection of leaving the circle of stones.
She propped herself up on her elbows, then froze when she met Baird’s steady green gaze. He was sitting against the far wall, his long legs stretched ou
t in front of him, watching her over the tent of his strong fingertips.
His face was drawn as though he was concerned for her. Aurelia knew that Baird who had killed her brother would never have been troubled about her fate.
But then, the Baird that sat before her had surprised her in many ways already. He was gentle with her, and generous with his purse. He had neither raped nor killed her, nor cast her to his men for their amusement. He had carried her to safety when she was overcome. He had loved her with a passion and tenderness that belied his reputation.
And he had given her his word.
Twice.
Aurelia frowned. But if twelve hundred years had passed, then this man could not be Bard, son of Erc.
Which explained a great deal.
Except for who he actually was.
“What in the hell was that all about?” he demanded in a low voice. “You scared me half to death.”
Aurelia thought furiously as she stared back at her benefactor. One thing she had noticed was that he was a man of good sense - and no one of good sense would believe the tale she now knew to be true.
Twelve hundred years! The idea made her own gut clench.
“I do not know,” she lied uneasily. “Perhaps it was the sun.”
And in a way, it had been.
He rolled his eyes and sat forward to brace his elbows on his knees, apparently reassured by her awakening if not her explanation. The corner of his mouth tugged in that smile that made everything within her melt. “After the brunch you put away, I wouldn’t be surprised if your stomach had something to say.”
“I was hungry.” And no wonder, after over a thousand years with an empty stomach!
“Obviously.” Though his tone was light, his gaze still danced over her with concern. “Feeling better now?”
“Much better, thank you.”
“I’m sorry we had no luck finding your father in Kirkwall.”
Aurelia tried to swallow the lump that rose in her throat and failed. Her father was long dead! There was no point in searching for him now, and as wave of loss swept over her, she could not summon any pretence to lie.
Her father was gone. Her Viking relations were gone. The seamstress, the ostler, the cook and all the others in her father’s household were lost to her forever.
Everyone Aurelia had ever known was so long departed from this world that they were completely forgotten. She was alone in a new world, in a new time, rootless as she had never been in all her life.
“We do not have to look for him any longer,” she managed to choke out before her eyes blurred with tears. “I understand now that it is futile to seek him.”
“What do you mean?”
“He is truly gone,” Aurelia said softly. “He is dead and lost to me for all time.” She felt one heavy tear slide free.
“Hey!” Baird crossed to her side with one long stride, sat on the edge of the bed and gathered her into his arms. Aurelia, helpless to do anything else, crumpled against him and wept like a baby for all she had lost.
“Go ahead and cry, princess,” he whispered into her hair. “It’s all right. Everything will be all right. This is good, even though it hurts. It’s good that you remember the truth.”
Aurelia could not imagine what was good about this truth. She was alone. An ache of loneliness she had never expected to feel cast a shadow over her heart.
Aurelia became aware of the strong arms encircling her, the heady musk of masculinity rising from the chest she leaned against. The weight of a warrior’s hand rested gently on her nape and she felt as though she had found safe haven in a storm.
It was tempting to remain in the circle of this man’s arms, to rely upon his strength, but Aurelia knew she had already taken too much from him. He was a stranger, he owed her nothing, yet he had taken her in, garbed her, fed her and shown her kindness.
What if the rest of the prophecy was true? Aurelia blinked in astonishment.
Could Baird be her one true love?
Aurelia pulled back and eyed at the sodden mess she had made of Baird’s plaid chemise, well aware of his gaze fixed upon her. Her heart skipped a beat. “I have ruined your chemise,” she tried to jest.
He pretended to examine the dampness, then flicked a twinkling glance to her. “I’m not made of sugar - I won’t melt.”
The sparkle in his eye was nearly her undoing and Aurelia caught her breath. She dropped her gaze and saw that her hand had somehow been captured by his own.
He stroked his thumb across the back of her hand as though he was unaware of the caress he made. “Better?” he asked, his voice a soft rumble in her ear.
Aurelia tingled from head to toe. She blinked the last of her tears back and nodded vigorously, not trusting herself to speak.
It was not enough for her companion. Gentle fingers tipped up her chin until she was forced to meet the compassion in his eyes. “I understand that it must be hard to lose your father.”
If he was not Bard, then his father had not been Erc, and his father had not been drowned leaving Dunhelm. When Aurelia stripped away all of her assumptions, she realized that she knew very little about the man before her.
“You said you never had a father.”
Baird shook his head, his gaze flicking away for only a moment. “But I always imagined what it would be like to have one.” His thumb moved across her hand once more and his smile was thin. “Kids have such active imaginations.”
And Aurelia caught a glimpse of pain in his eyes.
“You must have been very close to your father to be so affected by losing him,” he said quickly.
Aurelia’s gaze misted with tears again. “I was.” Her voice broke. “Oh, yes, I was.” A lone tear fell and splashed against his hand. “We had only each other after my mother and brother died.”
Baird touched her cheek. “It’s all right if you need to cry.”
“No.” Aurelia straightened and wiped away an errant tear. She eyed her companion, seizing on the tale of his own misfortune to forget her own. “If you had no sire, then you must have known your mother?”
Baird’s expression turned sad and his voice hardened. “No. Neither of them stayed around any longer than they needed to.” He flicked a bright glance to her, then his gaze skittered away. “Apparently, she didn’t even know his name.”
“And you did not ask her?”
Baird shrugged with indifference, though Aurelia knew he cared deeply about this matter. “I never knew her. She delivered me, then left the hospital without a word. They tried to hunt her down to have her sign the forms. I sure as hell wasn’t going to go looking for her.”
“She abandoned you!”
Baird’s green eyes were sober. “That’s one way of putting it.”
Aurelia was outraged that any woman would treat her child so poorly. “Then who saw you raised?”
His lips twisted. “The good state of New Mexico.”
“A state cannot raise a child!”
“A state has no choice when the mother has not released her child for adoption.” His expression turned grim. “It’s the law.”
“Well, it certainly is a poor one. You should demand the king change it.”
“Well,” Baird shrugged again. “They had lots of foster parents to take me in. I went from one to the next and the next.”
Fourteen foster parents he had claimed the other day. This was unheard of! “Did none of them permit you to stay? Were you not entrusted to their care?”
“Oh, they were good to me in their own way.” He looked to their entangled hands. “But most of them wanted to foster a child they could ultimately adopt and that wasn’t me.” He grimaced. “Courtesy of my mother.”
“Your dame served you poorly,” Aurelia said tightly. “And your sire no better. You should hunt them down and force a reckoning for their misdeeds.”
Baird’s gaze blazed into hers for a long moment and Aurelia could not draw a breath into her lungs.
Then he pushed to his f
eet and shoved his hands into his pockets. “Well, I turned out all right, I guess, so it’s all water under the bridge.” He shrugged. “Being alone isn’t so bad. You get used to it after a while.”
It was so obviously a lie he made to himself that Aurelia did not know what to say.
Baird cleared his throat and Aurelia guessed that he was not a man who easily talked of matters so close to the heart. “I’m glad you’re feeling better.” He turned and might have left, but Aurelia bounced to her feet. She felt even more guilty about how poorly she had treated him after hearing this tale.
“Wait!”
Baird pivoted slowly and Aurelia suddenly felt very nervous.
“I owe you an apology,” she admitted softly, holding up her hand when he might have interrupted her. “I have had harsh words - and even harsher thoughts - for you when you did not deserve them.”
Baird said nothing.
Aurelia took a deep shuddering breath and forced herself to continue, though it was not easy. “My only excuse is that I believed you to be another man, a man who committed grave wrongs against my family.”
Baird arched a dark brow. “The notorious Bard, son of Erc the Destroyer.”
Aurelia sighed and rubbed her temple. “Yes. You must understand that he is most evil, and when I though you were he, I - I…”
Her words faltered, but Baird stepped back to her side. “It’s all right. It was an honest mistake.” The heat of his finger landed against her lips. “You don’t have to say any more.”
Indeed, what she desired needed no words. And if he was not Bard, son of Erc, then there was no reason to deny this man’s powerful effect upon her.
This was the man who had awakened her.
This was the man destined to take her to wife. He had come for her exactly as had been decreed. Aurelia felt as though she was seeing the man before her clearly for the first time.
Baird might not be a warrior in the way Aurelia knew, but he was a man she was proud to take to husband all the same. He was honorable and clever, gallant to a fault, both tender and strong. He made her laugh and held her when she cried, she felt safe in his presence and cherished beneath his caress.
Time Travel Romances Boxed Set Page 25
