next few seconds we took one another’s measure. Dressed in crumpled, overlarge tweeds and woolen cap, the auld man gave the impression of a shrunken version of his former self. His rheumy eyes and the burst capillaries of his sagging face indicated he’d seen the bottom of plenty of cups. Overall, he appeared innocuous. But appearances, especially where known associates of the Witch o’ Doon were concerned, could be misleading.
“What do you know of Doon?” I asked lightly, noting that Eòran had quietly circled round behind the stranger with his dagger at the ready.
“Mayhap more than ye, Yer Highness.” He cleared his throat. “Please call off yer man. I mean ye and yer lassie no harm.”
I signaled for Eòran to pause in his advance but remain at the ready. The man’s face cracked slightly into what I surmised to be a smirk. “Ye see, I’ve been watching you for the past fortnight. And waiting for you much longer, for lifetimes . . .” He shifted his attention over my shoulder, to Mackenna. “When Adelaide first brought you American lassies inta the tavern, I knew it had begun.”
My grip tightened on my dirk. “Explain yourself, sir, and how ye came to be acquainted with the Witch o’ Doon.”
“How did you know Ally was the witch?” Mackenna asked.
The auld man chuckled. “Adelaide Blackmore Cadell has gone by many aliases in her long walk on this earth . . . and I have known them all. Ye see, lassie, I’m the only person who’s been alive as long as she has. Her fate and mine were the same—trapped on the outside, unable to cross the bridge. But tha’s all different now. As yer Obi-Wan Kenobi might say, ‘There’s been a change in the force.’”
As a young lad, I’d heard the stories. An auld wives’ tale of a cowardly man fleeing Doon at the exact moment the miracle happened. The legend went that the man, giving into his fear, had attempted to flee across the Brig o’ Doon as the Protector enacted the blessing. He was then caught between realms and suspended on the bridge. The benevolent Protector appeared to him with a choice to return to Doon or continue his flight into Alloway. But before the foolish man could make up his mind, the witch snatched him into the modern world and Doon was lost to him forever. “You’re the Suspended Man.”
“Worse ‘n that, laddie. I was King Angus Andrew Kellan MacCrae’s only brother and yer kinsman, Alasdair MacCrae.”
Squinting against the rising sun, I tried to picture the auld, blue-eyed man as a strong, ruddy youth. Edging a small step back toward Mackenna, I groped for her hand. Her chilled fingers found mine, intertwining with a reassuring squeeze. “You lie, sir. Besides ruling Doon, the MacCraes are known for two things: siring sons and dark eyes.”
With a fragile, blue-veined hand, Alasdair scratched at the side of his nose. “I suppose tha’s true, laddie. But many generations back, a young lass by the name o’ Shoshanna Haldane became queen by marrying the MacCrae. She was the village Seanachaidh—its storyteller—and she had the same blue-gray eyes ye see before you. She was my mum.”
Now that he spoke thus, I did see the resemblance between Alasdair and Doon’s current Seanachaidh, Calum Haldane. But hailing from Doon did not necessarily make him a friend. Or a MacCrae.
As if the man could read minds, he spread his hands wide, palms up in supplication. “Yer Highness, I have no magick and no allegiance to the Witch o’ Doon, but that doesna mean ye should readily believe me. I have valuable intelligence—information ye need to know.”
Letting go of my hand, Mackenna rushed from my side toward Alasdair before I could stop her. “Please? Do you know how to get back to Doon?”
My heart began to pound as I calculated the likelihood of the auld man doing her violence and whether I could get to her before he did. To my relief, Eòran crept within a pace of them. Without his queen to safeguard, Eòran had decided it was his sacred duty to guard the queen’s best friend. I knew with absolute certainty the good man would protect my love with his life. It’s what Veronica would want.
Alasdair grinned, splitting his leathery face nearly in two. “Aye, lassie. I know how to get back to Doon. And tha’s not all I know.”
“I just want to know how to return to Doon. I don’t care about anything else.”