Once Upon A Highland Legend by Tanya Anne Crosby Page B

Pechts. Now they were the Guardians of clach-na-cinneamhain —the true Stone of Destiny, which was now hidden in the belly of the ben.
    The lass picked up her crystal. The instant she touched it, the color changed.
    “What does it mean when it turns green?”
    She peered up at him in surprise, her eyes widening a bit.

Chapter Six

     
    He could see it?
    Still Annie didn’t know how to respond, because she didn’t really understand the crystal’s properties. So far, she had only seen it turn that particular color in the hands of only two people…hers and the shopkeeper’s so she took a wild guess. “It knows when it’s in the hands of its keeper.”
    At her words, the crystal’s ribbons shifted to a rosy hue.
    It chooses ye, she recalled the shopkeeper’s saying.
    Callum seemed to be watching the crystal as well. Annie spared him but a glance, but her eyes returned to the crystal with sudden realization, “Of course,” she said. “I am the keeper.”
    What else did the colors mean?
    Truth, lies…and the destinies of men.
    The old woman’s words had been very specific, Annie believed. There were only two colors she had witnessed thus far, and all things might be determined through truth and lies. If green meant that a connection with the crystal had been forged, could red be truth instead of anger or passion? The crystal’s rosy color intensified, even as she experienced the thought, and she marveled at it. It seemed to respond directly to all things connected to her.
    Fae magic, the woman had claimed.
    Could it be true?
    What might be the color of a lie?
    Lifting the crystal, she held it in front of her, peering into its depths. “I’m from another time and place,” she enunciated clearly, without sparing a glance toward Callum, despite that the statement was as much for his benefit. The last of the green dissipated from the crystal so that it was permeated with threads of all shades of red.
     
    Callum watched closely as her crystal seemed to react to her words. For an instant, he thought he detected a measure of surprise in her gaze, but she was looking at him now with something more akin to conviction.
    “Are ye a spy for King Giric?” he asked directly.
    She gave him her full attention then, and shook her head somberly, seeming to realize the import of his question. The stone’s colors remained rosy and Callum thought she must be speaking truth. He decided to test her…and the crystal as well. “D’ ye find me appealing, Annie Ross?”
    Her gaze skidded toward his. “I…uh…haven’t…thought about it,” she stammered, and the crystal’s color faded to a dirty brown, while her cheeks turned a lovely a shade of crimson.
    The blood warmed in Callum’s veins at the thought of her ardor—no matter that she denied it. God’s teeth, even without the crystal’s confirmation, he recognized desire in those clear green eyes—eyes that were far more knowing than any woman he had ever encountered.
    Or any man for that matter.
    For a moment, no words were spoken between them, and the breath of the world seemed to falter.
    “D’ ye wish to kiss me, lass?” he asked, no longer testing her. Nor did he any longer care whether his kinsmen were watching. Let them watch if they must. If she said yes, he would take her sweet bonny mouth right here and now.
    “No!” she said too quickly. In her hands, the crystal darkened and then extinguished like a gutted torch.
    Callum grinned at the sight of it. She was lying, and that pleased him inordinately.
    It took the lass a full moment to realize her stone had betrayed her, and once she did, he laughed low. “Seems your keek stane does indeed reveal truth and lies, Annie Ross. I’ll be watching what ye say from here forth.” And then, having imparted as much, he stood. “I dinna wish to kiss ye either,” he lied. “An’ I dinna like ye at all,” he declared before walking away—before she could note the darkened color of her keek stane.
    As he made