Aine shook her head, her wraithlike hair floating up and down. “She saw a vision where you led to her death, but had she kept you, loved you—if you’d known she was your mother—you would never have harmed her, Gerard. Aoibheann misused and misunderstood her sight and it caused grief for everyone that she touched. You have the same gift. An even stronger one, and it will be amplified by the seer stone, but you must not make the same mistakes as your mother. You must not allow your fear of the future to dictate your present.”
“Is the future set in stone?”
“The only thing set in stone is the past,” she whispered. “It cannot be changed, but the present and the future can be altered by picking a different path. By choosing to save a spoiled princess. By rescuing an old woman. One act of nobleness can change the path of the entire world.”
Gerard grabbed the sides of his face, shaking his head. “I am a monster. I murdered my own mother.”
He felt her ghostly hands cover his. He looked up into her face.
“Aoibheann killed both her grandmother and her mother so that she could take the gift of sight,” Aine explained. “Only on the death of their mother can an heir of Eleanora come into their gift. Nora received her gift of strength as a day-old infant when her mother died from the wounds given to her by her husband. Nora’s strength was the reason that she lived, even though she was two months early and too small. Any other babe would have died. Elea didn’t have the gift of discernment until after her mother was poisoned by her father when she was twelve.”
“That’s awful.”
Aine shook her head and he felt a cool breeze brush over his face. “It does not need to be. I did not receive my gift until my mother was taken back to the realms of the Eternal Kingdom; by then I should have been old enough to understand my gift and to use it properly. Gifts do not have to be transferred by murder; they should be given by natural death. A family inheritance to be passed down like any other.”
“Did you not use your gift properly?”
“No,” Aine said, her voice echoing against the rocks. “I sold my fortunes to the highest bidder. I misused my gift, like your mother did. Seership should never be sold for money or favors. The sight is a gift to the children of Màthair. With it, you have the power to restore not only Elea to her throne but to find your true self. Gerard, you could change the world for the better. You could be greater than you ever imagined.”
Her words filled him with hope, but his own insecurities clawed up his throat. “But what if I fail?”
Aine touched his cheek with her icy hand. “You have not failed until you have stopped trying.” With her other hand, she pressed the part of his chest that held the letters from Alexandre. “A paper does not change who you are, my unwanted child. Although, it might change how others see you. What is most important is how you see yourself. I thank you for your sacrifice, for your blood that has given me freedom from these stones. Because of the goodness of your heart, my mountain has fallen. I can leave this earth and see my sisters once again.”
“Will you be able to see your mother and father too?”
The wraith floated a few feet above him until her head brushed the ceiling of the mound. “Only Màthair knows, for I am an oath-breaker. . . . Gerard, you must keep your blood oaths, and whenever death comes for you, you will always be with the ones that you love. For all eternity.”
He touched the drying blood on his palm. His oath to Elea. Glancing up at Aine, he saw her pass through the ceiling and out of the cairn.
She had been smiling.
Aine was finally free.
35
NORA
Blood trickled down her palm and onto her wrist. She cast one last glance back at Matteo, and he gave her a small smile of encouragement. She felt his soul strengthen hers from within. In only a short time, he’d learned how to use their bond to help her carry the burdens she was born to. She turned the handle to Orla’s cairn and walked through the door. The sight that met her eyes was a stone coffin, like the ones in the family crypt. Sitting on top of the lid was the most exquisite armor that she’d ever seen. She loved it instantly. The armor appeared to be made of gold and the breastplate was contoured to a woman’s frame. The hilt was covered in jewels, as well as the helmet and the shield. Countless trigons were etched into it. The armor was a thing of beauty, carved by a master blacksmith.
Nora stepped closer and held out her hand to touch the armor. A drop of blood fell from her wrist and onto the stone slab.
A creaking sound filled the circular room, and the sarcophagus lid was opening on its own. There was a blinding light and Nora blinked, trying to understand what she was seeing. It was a ghost. One that looked like she could have been Nora’s sister. Their features were so similar.
She knew that this must be the soul of Orla.
Clad in light, Orla’s soul wore ghostly armor identical to the physical one that still lay on the sarcophagus. She looked more magnificent than Nora had ever imagined her to be.
Nora kneeled and bowed her head. “Your Majesty.”
The specter laughed and it was like the sound of thunder. “I see that you like my armor. It was once my mother’s and then it came to me. It is not made from gold but from ether. A mineral only found in Dhachaigh, the highest of the three heavens. You will not find a stronger, more impenetrable material in all of the earth.”
“Then, how did you die?”
“Why don’t we start with names?” she said with a thunderous laugh. “I am Orla, daughter of Queen Eleanora.”
Blinking again as she got to her feet, Nora asked, “Then, you don’t know who I am?”
The wraith shook her head. “Only my sister Aine had the sight. I was given the strength from our mother.”