Highland Bear (Book 4)

Chapter 15

Chapter 15

               

                A blanket of white. Blinding in the weak winter sunlight. A soft glow in the darkest night. A comfort for those looking out from safety, and yet a bitter chilling death to any caught alone within it. The wind had a frosty bite as the world was lit with a soft cloudy sunset, the light not lasting enough hours in the day. A bracing breath led to a mist of swirling air as it was released once more to the wild beauty beyond. The winter may be harsh, and death was always a breath away, but there was such a glorious magnificence to behold every morn that the very power of God himself could be seen by the insignificance of man…or so Aislinn thought as she looked out over the top of the curtain wall. Taking cleansing breaths as she tried to clear her mind of all that was clogging it with the wool, able to finally make her thoughts unravel to be understandable.

               

                Her eyes wandered over the village only a short walk from the Keep itself, the path cleared through the very feet that traversed the distance daily. The joy of the MacKay people effervescent and tangible. A people who were once more prospering, new life continuously being celebrated and welcomed into the tight knit clan they were. Each and every life valued for the very fact they were alive and a part of the very fabric that kept them all safe together.

               

                With a small smile, she folded her arms and leant against the rough stone of the parapet. Her nose tingling in the cold, as she saw the tiny, perfect snowflakes fall once more from the thick blanket of clouds which had covered the sky above her, slowly making its ways towards the fading light, hoping to block out that light before it left the world naturally.

               

                This was home. The place she could call her own, and know that she belonged on an intrinsic level. Her husband was the Laird, and the two bairns they had were the centre of her whole life. The only mar was the loss of their second daughter, her death an extra wrench, especially as she had never had a chance to live before her life had been taken from them. Never forgotten, but life had to move on, no matter how hard life was at times. Her Azzarra was watching over them all now, gone too soon to join a maker who could not give her up for long.

               

                It was that loss which had added wool to her mind over the knowledge she had gained. It was also such knowledge which needed to be pushed aside for a moment, her dreams were back with a vengeance, and this time she was most definitely at a loss as to what they all meant. Her temples began to throb once more and lowering her head, she brought her fingers up to rub at her temples once more.

               

                At times like this she felt so utterly alone.

               

                Though she should have lost that feeling by now surely. How many times had she tried to go it alone over the years since Camdyn had found her? And how many ties had someone found her and let her know that no one in the MacKay clan did anything alone. Never again would she traverse the wild with no end in sight. The end would always be this lonely structure that had a heart of pure light.