Elysia looked ready to shake her head.
“I will be fine. Rannick will come for me,” Bliss whispered. “We have no time to wait with the bairn eager to be born. Cry out in pain and double over.”
Elysia did as her sister told her.
Bliss wasted no time. She leaned down as if helping her sister and grabbed several rocks. “Move as fast as you can when I start throwing.” Bliss sprang up and threw the first rock catching Lady Faline in the shoulder and sending her wavering on her feet. She followed fast with three more throws, then rushed the woman hoping to get hold of her dagger while Lady Faline remained stunned and disoriented.
That’s when she felt a gush of water rush from between her legs.
“Odran!” Annis shouted and he not only came running but Brogan and Rannick did as well. “The bairn!”
Odran hurried after Annis when she turned abruptly, needing to be with his wife and know she was safe. Brogan and Rannick followed as well.
“Bliss should have her close to the keep by now,” Annis said as she ran off, the three men following her.
When Elysia and Bliss were not spotted outside the keep, the small group ran inside. When the two sisters weren’t found there, they all anxiously went to the healing cottage, Lord Lochlann and Lord Balloch joining them.
“Where are they?” Odran demanded, angry with worry when the cottage was found empty.
“Did you talk with anyone on your way here and tell them it was Elysia’s time?” Rannick asked. “And where are the guards?”
Annis cringed at her mistake. “I sent one to get Damia as Bliss wanted and the other I sent in the opposite direction from me to search for Odran. And the only person I spoke to was Brogan’s mum, no one else.”
“Do you know where Mum is?” Brogan asked his father.
His father shook his head. “I have not seen her since breakfast.”
“We need to find her to see if she saw anything,” Odran said, fear that something awful happened to his wife filling his already fearful thoughts.
“She may be with Helice. I will go see,” Lord Lochlann said and hurried to the keep.
Rannick studied the ground in front of the cottage. “There are tracks leading to the woods.”
“We follow them,” Odran demanded and went to do just that when he spotted his wife stumbling out of the woods. “ELYSIA!” He ran to her and scooped her up as she doubled over in pain.
She buried her face in her husband’s neck grateful to be in his arms, then she lifted her head and called out, “Rannick, I must speak with him.”
He was at her side in an instant as was Annis and Brogan. “It was Lady Faline. She is the one behind it all. She threatened us with a dagger, and she was too close not to take her seriously. She intended to see us dead. She believes Brogan is the chosen one and will live forever.” She cringed as another pain hit her. “Please go! Help Bliss. She went after Lady Faline so I could escape. Follow the trail she left for me.” She buried her face in her husband’s neck when another pain hit her.
“I will follow after I see Elysia settled,” Odran said.
“Nay, you will stay with your wife, my friend. This is for me to see to,” Rannick said.
“And for me as well, since it is my mother who has caused all the pain and suffering,” Brogan said, his heart heavy with grief and disbelief.
“I go too, son,” his father said. “Your mother is my responsibility.”
Lady Faline managed to keep on her feet, still wavering a bit and brandishing the dagger wildly in front of her to keep Bliss away.
“It’s over,” Bliss said, keeping her distance, taking no chance that the bairn inside her would suffer harm. “Elysia has probably reached the keep by now and has informed my husband. He will follow the tracks I left and find me soon enough. You are finished.”
“Then he will find you dead,” Lady Faline threatened.
“Touch her and I will rip your heart out.”
Bliss was shocked to see the white-haired woman who had passed by Rannick’s cottage standing just a few feet away swathed in a dark cloak.
Lady Faline looked as if her eyes bulged from her head. “You?” She shook her head. “You are supposed to be dead.”
“As you can see, I’m not. I was just waiting for the right time to return. That time is today. The day when the curse will finally be brought to an end. You waste your time here. Bliss is right. It is over for you.”
Bliss was surprised to see a thick fog creeping along the ground and rising up swiftly. The witch was here.
“If I lose then so does she. I’ll rip that bairn from her stomach,” Lady Faline said, sneering and raised the dagger.