“I’m just saying...nice.”

“Fin has a similar look.” Tara cast her a glance.

“Fin’s an ass.”

“He is not.”

“Puleeese. What a chauvinist, telling me how I’m to act and what I’m to say. I tell ya, Tara, I don’t know how you deal with it.”

“There is plenty of chivalry to go around. Aye, I admit some chauvinism, but the price is little when you compare the two. The men here feel a need to protect the women and the children with honor and respect. In turn, the women cater to their men. I have seen very few men who don’t deserve the catering the women give. Of course, I live like a queen, and my husband denies me nothing. I wouldn’t have it any other way, Lizzy. Duncan is the best thing that ever happened to me. Fin’s been there for me as well. When he marries, his wife will be treated with respect and love.”

Liz wanted to correct her sister but instead added, “Then I hope he finds her soon, so she can teach him a thing or two about women.”

“I don’t think Fin spends much time talking to the women.”

“Meaning?” Liz asked.

“His reputation isn’t all that squeaky clean.”

Liz looked down at her skirts. “They never are, Tara. They never are.” Just how soiled was it?

“You might try and get along with him, Lizzy.

He’s the one who will take you back.”

Liz looked up at her sister and asked, “Why not you?”

“I can’t. Not with the baby. I don’t know the effect of time travel on him or her. Besides, the Druid wedding vows Duncan and I exchanged are so binding, we truly can’t be away from each other for long. We can actually speak to one another in our heads.”

“No shit? Like telepathy?”

“Crazy isn’t it? The second we tied our hands together, my thoughts merged with his, and we spoke to one another without moving our lips.”

Shaking her head, Lizzy said, “I don’t think I’d like having someone in my thoughts all the time.

What if you’re mad at him?”

“Well, there are ways of tuning him out, but our emotions are very strong. When Grainna captured me, he found me because of our connection, that and what I told you about Amber.”

“Amber’s an empath?” Liz asked.

Tara nodded. “Finding me had more to do with our blood sister chant than her ability to feel my emotions.”

Liz shook her head. “You really believe that stupid blood sister pledge we did back in Jr. High connected you to Amber and Myra?”

“Do you have a better explanation?”

“It sounds like a bad ‘B’ movie.” If she weren’t living it, Liz wouldn’t believe any of it.

“Call it what you want. When Myra went to the future, I knew she would be back. Amber’s emotions on the subject were even stronger. When Grainna kidnapped me, I was able to send telepathic messages to Amber. That mental link led Duncan straight to me.”

“If Duncan can talk to you in his head, how come he didn’t know what was happening?”

Tara’s gaze grew distant for a brief moment. A glimmer of pain, probably brought on by the memories of her abdication, shown in her eyes.

“When Duncan is too far away, we can’t hear each other. If it weren’t for the connection to Amber, he may not have found me. If I were to travel to the future without him, there is no telling if I would survive the trip. According to Lora, the binding vows we pledged to each other give us the advantage of each other’s thoughts and emotions, but it also leaves us with a gaping hole if something happens to either of us. Most Druids who marry like we did die within days of each other.”

Liz’s gaze shot to the men on field. A chill settled deep in her stomach.

“So you see,” Tara interrupted Lizzy’s thoughts.

“Duncan and I can’t be separated.”

Liz realized she’d asked the impossible. “Of course, I’m sorry I asked.”

“Myra can’t be asked to go again. Besides, Laird Ian wouldn’t allow it.”

“I guess not.”

Several men, including Fin and Duncan, practiced their fighting skills with their swords in the courtyard. Loud clangs and clashes with the occasional grunt mixed in the air. Their shirtless bodies wet with the work of their exercise, muscles bulged with the weight of their weapons. Lizzy licked her dry lips, trying not to look when the kilts rose too high.

“History makes these times out to be full of war and death. Is it?” Liz watched Fin swing a double-edged sword over his head.

“Yes and no. Lora told me battles are fought all the time, that the men are always ready to defend the Keep. In the last five years however, things have been relatively quiet. She thinks the Ancients are keeping away the carnage so the MacCoinnichs have time and manpower to defeat Grainna.”

“Sounds far-fetched to me.”

“You wouldn’t say that if you had come face to face with her.”

“Come on, Tara, one woman against a whole army of men? And an old woman at that.”

“Yeah, a five hundred year old woman. Immortal and full of rage and hatred over everything and everyone.”

“Why don’t the Ancients take her out once and for all?”

“I don’t think they can.” Tara shifted in her chair. “I’ve never had a vision like Lora, but I do have a gut feeling this family will be her demise.”

Tara’s chin lifted when she talked.

“You banished her from here.”

“Yeah, but not for good. She could be anywhere still working on getting her old powers back.” Tara reached over and took her hand. “You have to be careful when you go home.”

A chill went up Lizzy’s arm. “Don’t worry about me. I always land on my feet. You know that.”

“It’s not where you’re landing that concerns me.

It’s where she landed that has me thinking.”

Time flew by too damn fast for all of them. The stones stood in the mist while the travelers said their goodbyes. “I love you,” Tara cried with her final hug to Lizzy.

“Have a wonderful life, Tara. Not a day will go by that I don’t think of you.”

Simon handed Cian his Gameboy. “Here, I can get another one.”

Myra stood back and watched as Fin readied their belongings to leave. He dressed in clothes she and Lizzy had brought back with them, twenty-first century clothes that would allow Fin to fit in. The jeans reminded her of Todd. Would he be waiting in the woods for them? Would he be sorry she didn’t return? Her staying was for the best. If she went, she might never return to her family again. Either way the outcome would leave her empty.