“Yer sacrifice is accepted, lad,” she said. “But before ye may go, I need something else.” She smacked her lips a little like a hungry babe. “Traditionally, milk is left for faeries overnight. But I’ll take any food ye have. I’m a wee bit of a glutton.” She giggled. “Consider it a bribe.”
Marjorie chuckled. “What’s a piece of pie for the lifetime of happiness? Colin, please give Sìneag the meat pie.”
Sìneag clapped her hands, and Colin went into his purse and retrieved a piece of pie wrapped in linen. Sìneag quickly unwrapped it and bit into it. She tilted her head back and closed her eyes, chewing.
“Mmmm. Ye mortals dinna ken how good yer food is.”
Marjorie and Colin exchanged a surprised glance and watched her devour the pie in three large gulps. For a seemingly delicate woman, Sìneag ate like a blacksmith after a long day of work.
Finally, a satisfied smile bloomed on her face. Her cheeks looked rosier than before, her lips red. “Aye, that will do, my lovelies. Now ye both may go. But remember, this will be the last time, so think carefully. Ye may still stay.”
Marjorie and Colin looked at each other. “We go,” Marjorie said to Sìneag.
“Good. Then hold hands. Marjorie, think of Konnor and place yer hand in the handprint.”
Marjorie took Colin’s hand and sank to her knees by the rock. She closed her eyes and thought of Konnor, and her whole being felt like she was flying. Joy shone through every little part of her body, radiating warmth and love through her heart. She placed her hand in the handprint, but instead of a cold rock, there was empty air. And suddenly she was falling, face down into waves of pure vibration. She waved her other hand, searching for Colin but not finding him.
With the thought of him and Konnor, she sank into darkness.
She didn’t know how much time passed. It felt like a lifetime later, or mayhap it was just a moment. Marjorie opened her eyes. The painful sensation of being sucked into something and then falling through eternity was dissolving in her body like blood in water.
She wasn’t falling anymore. Hard ground supported her. Her palms leaned on soft grass, and pebbles stuck into her skin. She looked around. There was the ruin and the Pictish rock. The brook burbled nearby. Familiar steep slopes stood on both sides of the crevice.
Colin! She looked around, and there he was, sitting staring at her with an astonished face.
“Are ye whole, lad?” she said.
“Aye.” He stood and looked around. She did the same.
Were they really in the future now? How could Marjorie tell? The woods looked the same. It sounded the same. There was the peaceful chirping of birds, rustling of leaves, and babbling of the water.
The pouch with silver and other things was still on Colin. They needed to be prepared in case the people from the future wanted to take her silver or harm them. Obviously, there were men with bad intentions in all times. Marjorie stood and drew her sword, feeling much less confident than she was trying to look. What was that? She looked around.
Someone moved up the slope between the trees. Alarmed, she put her sword back in the sheath, took her bow and an arrow, and aimed at the figure behind the trees. Her heart drummed in her ears. She followed the dark figure with her arrow pointed at them. Then the bushes moved, and a man stepped out from behind them, his brown hair catching the light, a travel pack on his broad shoulders.
Konnor.
A hot, happy wave rushed through Marjorie. Time stopped. So did her heart. Nothing existed except for the man who was more dear to her than life itself. He stared at her, as still as time was.
“Marjorie?” he said finally. “Is that really you?”
His voice. His dear raspy voice sounded better than the song of the best bard.
“Aye, ‘tis me,” she said and lowered her bow.
“And Colin?” he said.
“Aye!” Colin came to stand next to Marjorie.
Konnor scratched his head. “How did I travel back to you without touching the rock?”
“We traveled to ye,” Marjorie said.
She looked back at Sìneag, but there was no one where the woman had stood. The scent of lavender and freshly cut grass was gone as well.
“You traveled to me?” He shook his head in astonishment.
Marjorie put her bow on her shoulder and her arrow in the quiver. Her hands shook, and her knees wobbled. “Aye, we did. And now it seems there’s just this slope that separates us.”
“Stay there. I’ll help you up.” Konnor removed the big bag on his back.
Marjorie shook her head and chuckled softly. “Isna it how ye injured yerself?” With her stomach both knotting and bubbling with excitement, she walked towards the slope. “Stay there. We’re coming to ye. I’m nae gentle lady who needs rescuing.”
Konnor grinned. “No, you are not.”
The way up was harder than she’d thought. Rocks and pebbles ran from under her shoes. She breathed heavily, and her heart thundered against her ribs. Was it from the climbing, or from seeing Konnor? She grasped branches and roots to keep from falling. She and Colin helped each other get up the hard places.
Finally, they stood before Konnor. Marjorie felt flushed, hot, and sweaty. She took in a lungful of air in an attempt to calm her ragged breathing. There he was, hugging her son with the brightest smile she’d ever seen on his face. The man who’d brought her back to life. The man who understood and cherished her more than anyone in the world. His blue eyes pierced her with the intensity of lightning, like he could look into her soul, like he could see her whole, naked, and vulnerable.
When he let Colin go, he came to stand before her.
“Hi,” Konnor said softly.
She forgot how to speak. His presence melted her like fire malted a wax candle, so sweetly, so deliciously. She remembered his mouth on her lips, his hands making her body sing like a citole. Her mouth went dry, and a new layer of sweat broke out over her skin. Suddenly, she craved something strong to drink.
“Why are ye here?” Marjorie managed. “Isna Los Angeles on the other side of the world?”
“Yes, it is,” he murmured, and his voice stroked her like a gentle hand. “I came to go back through time for you.”
The ground shifted under her feet, and she needed a moment to find her balance again.
“For me?”
“Yes, my Highland queen.” He brushed his knuckles against her cheek.
Highland queen. She let the words wash over her for a moment. They settled in her stomach, instantly setting a whole cloud of butterflies into the sky.
“Did ye change yer mind then?”
“I did. I don’t want to imagine my life without you.”
Those words were like freedom. Like running on the edge of a cliff without a worry in mind, jumping off and being caught by the wind and carried above the sea. She felt weightless. Expanded. Complete.
“And I dinna want a life without ye,” she echoed. She looked at her son. She smiled to him, and he gave her a nod. “And neither does Colin.”
Konnor took a step towards her, a mountain of a male, his scent the sweet mixture of unknown herbs and sea and his own musk.
“Come here.” He took her in his arms and kissed her.
The world around her swam and shifted, and everything around her disappeared but Konnor. Only his lips stayed, the warm, soft bliss of his mouth, the gliding of his tongue against hers, the gentle nibbling of her lip. The iron rods of his arms around her waist was the best confinement in the world.