Annis kept focused the whole time on Bliss, her heart beating wildly worried how she would take the news that they were not truly sisters.
“Are you saying that Annis is the MacWilliam bairn?” Rannick asked.
“We are saying that Annis, Elysia, or Bliss could be the MacWilliam bairn,” Brogan said.
Rannick was struck silent for a moment, before stating the obvious. “That would mean the three are not sisters and that any of us three, you, Odran, or I could be wed to the MacWilliam bairn.”
“Aye, that is right,” Brogan confirmed.
The shock had a gasp caught somewhere inside Bliss and she was glad her husband still held tight to her hand and that he squeezed it, letting her know she was not in this alone. Never would she have suspected such startling news. It also made more real the secret her mum had divulged to her on her deathbed. But this—this unbelievable news—was difficult to comprehend let alone accept.
The silence, hanging heavily in the room, was finally broken by Annis. “This revelation changes nothing for me, Bliss. To me, we are sisters and always will be.”
Bliss shook her head, seeing Annis close to tears, and she reached across the table to take hold of her hand and give it a loving squeeze. “I should have told you, but I gave Mum my word to say nothing.”
Annis held tight to Bliss’s hand. “You knew all this time we were not sisters?”
“I only learned it when Mum confessed it on her deathbed. She had me swear I would tell no one and I have kept my word. It was a shock to learn it, but it mattered little to me. You and Elysia are my sisters, and nothing would have changed that then nor does it now. Mum never told me of each of our true parents nor did she mention the MacWilliam bairn.”
“That must have been a heavy burden to carry,” Annis said.
“For Mum, but not for me,” Bliss confessed. “We were and still are sisters and I was not going to let anything change that.”
“I am glad you didn’t, and I am grateful you kept the family together,” Annis said. “But there is more you must know. It seems that though we are not sisters, we are related. We are cousins.” She took a breath before delivering more surprising news. “Gunna was Aila’s sister and had a daughter of her own. Fearing what might happen to the bairn if discovered she was her child, she gave her daughter to the childless couple along with the MacWilliam bairn.”
“And the third bairn? Who did she belong to?” Bliss asked.
“Aila and Gunna’s sister—Verbena,” Annis said.
“That name is familiar to me,” Bliss said and quickly recalled. “Lady Faline spoke that name today. She was a peasant Lord Balloch had once loved and his father refused to allow him to wed her. Where is she now?”
“That we have not been able to find out,” Brogan said. “She disappeared years ago and has never been heard from since.”
“The witch had told me to find the MacWilliam lass and all would come to pass,” Annis said. “I thought she meant I was to find the lass, but Brogan and I realized I was meant to find the woman who was to find the MacWilliam lass—Gunna. All has been set in motion to end the curse. We have tossed around everything we learned, thinking perhaps Bliss is the MacWilliam bairn and if you found love with Rannick the curse would be broken and eventually the MacWilliam bloodline continued.”
Rannick tightened his hold on his wife’s hand. “If that is so, I give you my word that I will let nothing happen to you or our bairn.”
Bliss smiled softly. “I have no doubt of that.” But she could not help but think of Lord Brochan who must have pledged similar words to his wife only to find the pledge impossible to keep. And fear raced through her knowing Rannick would give his life as Lord Brochan had done twenty years ago, for the woman he loved and the daughter he never got to know.
“Troy warned us against telling anyone so that we did not interfere with the curse being made right.” Brogan turned his head to glare at his wife. “But someone changed her mind.”
“They had enough time together to fall in love or hate each other. I had to know. We could not continue to sit back and do nothing,” Annis said. “At least we know that Elysia and Odran are in love, which leaves the three of us in love, so why hasn’t the curse been broken? Or does it have nothing to do with love?”
“How do you know the curse hasn’t been broken?” Bliss asked.
“Attempts have been made on all our lives,” Annis said.
“That may not have anything to do with the curse,” Bliss said. “Someone has convinced a group of people that Brogan, Odran, and Rannick must die for the curse to end and now us wives as well since we can bear children who in their eyes will continue the curse. But hasn’t life been good for us all recently? Haven’t we all been happy?”