become a believer. And his brother Dougald's wife, he truly believed could commune with ghosts. So mayhap if they had special abilities, Edana had them also.
Yet, he still had a difficult time imagining she could experience such a thing as this.
" Where were your brothers going when they were captured?" he asked, as if he thought the scenario might be true, not humoring her, but thinking they might check into the matter—after they left her with her father—to set her mind at ease.
The relief and thanks in Edana's expression surprised him. No matter what was going on, she truly believed in what she had told them.
She quickly sat down at the table again. "They were to return in a fortnight after seeing our McEwan cousin. But somewhere along the way, they crossed paths with someone who took them prisoner. I only know my brothers wouldna have done anything wrong to have deserved such treatment. They have to have been mistaken for some others."
" I dinna understand how you can know this," Angus said.
Sounding vexed—though whether with him or w ith herself, he wasn't certain—she let out her breath. "I…I dinna know how I can only capture some words and not others. Or how I can discern who has spoken them as if every thought had a voice of its own. But I know they were not said aloud. They were willed to me when the person in trouble thought them…breathed emotion into them…focused on the words and called out in distress. My brothers are in trouble."
Angus and his companions didn 't say a word. He wasn't sure what to believe.
She folded her arms and looked absolutely cross at him. "Not even my brothers had wanted to trust in my abilities, even scoffed at them, although I suspect they did so in part to assure our clan that I am no' touched by the fae. That I am a great storyteller, naught more. Except for one thing. What I warn my clansmen of always is the truth and comes to pass. And no one can explain that away. For years though, I have kept my abilities to myself and attempted to help people without revealing how I knew they needed it. No' that they didn't suspect the truth."
She expelled her breath. "But now, my own brothers are desperately seeking my help. At least I believe they are and not that they are just thinking the thoughts and I am receiving them not due to their own attempts to reach me."
" Your da asked us to find you. Did you tell him what you had heard?" Angus asked.
" He doesna like it when I discern things I couldna possibly know. And he ignores them for the most part. He worries about my revelations, but he doesna give into them. I had no intention of remaining at the keep while the clan believes my brothers will return in a fortnight when I know better. I will locate them on my own if I have to. The closer I am to where they are incarcerated, the better I can hear their pleas, and I will finally be able to isolate their location. Once I do, I can tell my father exactly where my brothers are being held prisoner, and then he can send men in to free them." She waited for Angus to agree or disagree.
W hat bothered Angus most was that he was certain she had not talked to her father about this or he might have posted a guard to ensure she did not run off on her own.
" You didna tell him what you had witnessed, did you, lass?"
She pulled her hands into her lap, tilted her chin up , giving a haughty and stubborn look that was utterly appealing, and said, "He wasna interested in what I had to say."
He studied her—the determination in her expression, no hint of dishonesty. She wasn 't lying, yet something wasn't being said. He wasn't sure what, but he wanted to know.
" You tried to talk to him."
" Aye," she said quickly as if she didn't wish to discuss the matter further.
" And he wouldna listen to you."
" Nay."
Angus rubbed his chin, the stubble softer now. Then he folded his arms. "You tried more than once? When he wouldna listen?"
" He was more concerned about other matters," she said,
Yet, he still had a difficult time imagining she could experience such a thing as this.
" Where were your brothers going when they were captured?" he asked, as if he thought the scenario might be true, not humoring her, but thinking they might check into the matter—after they left her with her father—to set her mind at ease.
The relief and thanks in Edana's expression surprised him. No matter what was going on, she truly believed in what she had told them.
She quickly sat down at the table again. "They were to return in a fortnight after seeing our McEwan cousin. But somewhere along the way, they crossed paths with someone who took them prisoner. I only know my brothers wouldna have done anything wrong to have deserved such treatment. They have to have been mistaken for some others."
" I dinna understand how you can know this," Angus said.
Sounding vexed—though whether with him or w ith herself, he wasn't certain—she let out her breath. "I…I dinna know how I can only capture some words and not others. Or how I can discern who has spoken them as if every thought had a voice of its own. But I know they were not said aloud. They were willed to me when the person in trouble thought them…breathed emotion into them…focused on the words and called out in distress. My brothers are in trouble."
Angus and his companions didn 't say a word. He wasn't sure what to believe.
She folded her arms and looked absolutely cross at him. "Not even my brothers had wanted to trust in my abilities, even scoffed at them, although I suspect they did so in part to assure our clan that I am no' touched by the fae. That I am a great storyteller, naught more. Except for one thing. What I warn my clansmen of always is the truth and comes to pass. And no one can explain that away. For years though, I have kept my abilities to myself and attempted to help people without revealing how I knew they needed it. No' that they didn't suspect the truth."
She expelled her breath. "But now, my own brothers are desperately seeking my help. At least I believe they are and not that they are just thinking the thoughts and I am receiving them not due to their own attempts to reach me."
" Your da asked us to find you. Did you tell him what you had heard?" Angus asked.
" He doesna like it when I discern things I couldna possibly know. And he ignores them for the most part. He worries about my revelations, but he doesna give into them. I had no intention of remaining at the keep while the clan believes my brothers will return in a fortnight when I know better. I will locate them on my own if I have to. The closer I am to where they are incarcerated, the better I can hear their pleas, and I will finally be able to isolate their location. Once I do, I can tell my father exactly where my brothers are being held prisoner, and then he can send men in to free them." She waited for Angus to agree or disagree.
W hat bothered Angus most was that he was certain she had not talked to her father about this or he might have posted a guard to ensure she did not run off on her own.
" You didna tell him what you had witnessed, did you, lass?"
She pulled her hands into her lap, tilted her chin up , giving a haughty and stubborn look that was utterly appealing, and said, "He wasna interested in what I had to say."
He studied her—the determination in her expression, no hint of dishonesty. She wasn 't lying, yet something wasn't being said. He wasn't sure what, but he wanted to know.
" You tried to talk to him."
" Aye," she said quickly as if she didn't wish to discuss the matter further.
" And he wouldna listen to you."
" Nay."
Angus rubbed his chin, the stubble softer now. Then he folded his arms. "You tried more than once? When he wouldna listen?"
" He was more concerned about other matters," she said,
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