Chapter 34
Aislinn was caught up in the magic around her. She was barely paying attention to Camdyn. Finding instead a part of her soul had calmed and felt at one with the nature around her. While Cam spoke in a hum around her, the feeling vibrated through her the words like mist in the air. The clearing looked to be on fire as the sun set over the distant mountains. Cam’s last words burst her out of the haze she was in. Those two she caught perfectly.
She knew how she wanted to answer, deep inside, the part of her connected with the earth would let her answer no other way. It recognised Cam on a level she did not even know existed. That was the moment she had her first vision outside of the twilight world. The enchantment around her pulled her under. With no way to stop it she clung to Cam, hoping he caught her. There was a tiny part of her in suspense, she hoped he would not take it as a rejection to his sudden proposal.
Only what she saw was not what she had expected. This was the past, a past connected both to the male who held her tight and the land he brought her to, that called to both their souls.
An early morning mist lay low on the earth. Spreading out with white fingers into the surrounding forest. Dew drops clinging to strands of grass. The feeling in the air was of early spring. The smell of new growth and new life all around. Small buds bursting through the barren winter ground. It was the idyllic scene. The place perfection for a romance tale of old. One the bards would sing of for centuries to come. A place where the gods of the old religion would walk the earth and talk with the mere humans, the ones who still believed.
The ones who believed in magic.
A place where it was not evil. It was not a sin. Someone caught with the skills to perform such feats were celebrated, brought into the fold. Not held in scorn. Tried by those they called friend. Ultimately killed, by the very people who helped bring you up, teach you, laugh and love with you. This place was peace. It was all good. The only evil here was brought by those with evil in their hearts.
Aislinn had never felt such a part of a vision before. So welcomed, so in control. She could move freely. Alone, there was no Camdyn here…or at least the Camdyn she knew. She felt his presence. The part that called to her as this place had. She felt it here, but different, there was a coating of innocence that he no longer held.
She could not see him.
Moving forward, they appeared out of the mist. It reminded her of the twilight world, the way they appeared, but she felt the solid ground beneath her feet, all her sense alive in a way they never had been before. She heard the chanting then, sensed the emotions, expectation, hope, desperation and utter heartbreak. It was a confusing mixture. She could not put them all together in such a way as to work out what was happening. How could someone be so happy while feeling such sorrow?
Holding back to the outer edges of the group before her, she felt compelled to move left. Heading towards a couple, they were slightly separated from the main group. Their attention on each other, rather than the chanting man, who stood before the standing stones. Every other person looked to him, their attention rapt.
As she approached them she saw the woman’s shoulders stiffen. As if she had sensed her. That had never happened before. But as the woman carried on her hushed conversation, she put it down to the topic rather than anyone sensing her…That just was not possible. Was it?
Cam was here. She could not see him. The man held his frame and he had similar features, but it most definitely was not her Camdyn. Her head was telling her she was being silly, her gut was telling her this couple was important. They were the reason she was here. She had to understand…something.
So she listened. She had never been taught the ancient language of the Druids, but she could understand them. She wondered if this was a part of her vision, or the magic held within the clearing itself, giving her an ability she would find nowhere else. As she stepped closer one more time, to hear more clearly the whispers, she was sure she felt the woman tense once more.
“Camdin, this is tearing my heart apart. But it is his only chance. The only way we can be sure he will live. You know I can’t tell you his future proper. As I cannot see ours. The other children though. They live. How can our son not get the same? Some have wonderful lives Camdin, work with tools we could only dream of.” She went to touch his face, only to have her shoulders taken unexpectedly, though extremely gently in large warrior’s hands.
“Catriona, we can defeat them. Only the council will not see. We have the strength of our warriors and the magic of our gods. How can we lose? We do this and win...” This strong warrior took a steadying breath, the glimmer of tears touched his eyes with a sheen, “we do this, and we lose our son forever. You cannot want that? Catri, all we ever wanted was peace, to build a family of our own. We have the family. One more battle and they could leave us be. Hide behind that wall they are building. They are scared of us, Catri, and I will not lose out son over the possibility of defeat. When we do not know for sure what his future will be. You cannot see him.”
She was shaking her head already, hearing him, Aislinn almost heard the weariness in that shake. She knew this was an ongoing argument, the same information being dragged up one last time. Only this time the winner would have the final say.
Tear streamed in a silent vigil down Catriona’s face. Her grief unquantifiable. She knew that it would be the hardest decision of her life. But she could live with it if it meant her son lived.
“What if this was the life fate meant for him? What if the strength you passed down to him is needed in the time he ends up? He will not be the only one not to survive. Camdin, when it comes down to it, you are his father, that means the ultimately he will be too stubborn not to survive. He will be true to himself. You know this. Our boy is the best of both of us, and if we can survive here, he will be our best, our brightest future. He will survive, we have to believe that. Because if we do not believe in him, then what chance will he have?” She looked down towards something cradled in her left arm.
Aislinn moved for a clearer view. She could have sworn the woman moved as she did letting her see what she held. The shock ran through Aislinn’s system. The link she had with Cam’s soul, for that has to be what it was. It originated from the bairn held in this woman’s arms. Looking between the three of them. She knew, she knew but did not fully understand. Seeing Catriona for the first time full she realised. All the features that were so wrong in Camdin, that made her so sure earlier he was not her Cam, were in fact found in the beauty before her. The hair, the eyes, Cam was both of these people, and he never truly knew them. Of that she was certain.
These two people gave up the best of themselves. Gave it up to the unknown. All in hope that a better life would be held. When it was a possibility that if he stayed with them he would not survive much longer.
He looked a healthy bairn, fast asleep in the comfort and safety of his mother’s arms. The conversation/argument had carried on without Aislinn as she tried to understand the ramifications of the situation before her. This child was one of the most important people to her now. And he did not know who he truly was. The sacrifice that his parents had made so that he could have the life he lived now.
Tuning back into the couple, they had come to their decision. The expressions of deep despair etched onto both faces. Neither wanted to accept what they were about to do, but both knew for the love of their son, there was no other way. Both leant down to place soft kisses upon his brow, as the man behind them chanted, Aislinn felt like a voyeur. Camdin crushed Catriona to him, and their son held close between them, as they both wept over the loss they would suffer.
Aislinn stepped back, allowing them their private moment, as if she was actually there with them, not seeing the phantom of their essence left behind in time. She let her attention wander to the other people, each held a child, most under the age of around five. Mother’s tried to stop bairns from crying. Fathers held toddlers close as they slept. There was a finality falling over the clearing as all stared at the bearded, withered man before the standing stone.
White light, pure light. The entire clearing was lit with it. Aislinn could not see, the sound taken, absorbed into the light. Though it was not painful. Then she realised it for what it was. It was not this extreme in the twilight world, but it lapsed time. A secret not to be shared was taking place, she could not see it. Could only know what came next.
As the light receded, she saw what was left of the group. Utter despair coated the very air she inhaled. Women collapsed against their warriors. Tears upon nearly every cheek, even as the men went inside a shell that helped them to carry on as the world around them shook.
Aislinn wanted to find one couple. She knew they had gone through with the loss in the end. She would not know the strong, kind man that held her heart if not. She, however, needed them to know he was safe. Only she had no idea how to do that. She had never interacted with anyone in a vision before. Only being swept along with the story itself.
She blinked and the world shifted. There before her, where she had found them before, stood what seemed to her the loneliest people around. She approached, not truly knowing what she was doing, only going with the feeling deep inside.
When she stood directly in front of them Catriona turned in her husband’s arms and looked directly at her. Not through her, but at her. In barely a whisper she spoke. If anyone around had heard the murmur. They would have assumed the couple talked quietly together. Only Catriona could see her. Camdin showed his faith in his wife, by following her lead.
“You are the woman who holds our sons heart. For that to happen, he had to have survived and flourished. And for one with your heart, he has to be the best of men, for your heart now belongs to him as well.” She took a glance over her shoulder, gave the most painful of smiles to her husband. Knowing definitely know that they had made the right decision. “The gods have blessed us. Our son has found someone worthy of him. We ask you take care of him as we could not, love him as we wish too, and hold him to you as we will never be able to.”
Camdin’s arms tightened, looking where his wife had, hoping that his message got through with hers. For though he could not see the woman his wife could. He believed her wholly, and knew this was the true fate the gods had planned for their son. “We wish for you to give him a message from us…”
Camdyn had poured out as much of his heart as he could. In this his most private of places and instead of an answer. His woman had given him the worst of shocks and collapsed on him. He had caught her, held her tight. He wanted to fetch her help, but his ‘feelings’ held him still. Instead he hunkered down on the grass of the clearing and sat her securely in his lap.
He kept watch over her as night fell. Soft moonlight touching her face, making her seem as if in a peaceful sleep. His heart had settled into a normal rhythm hours ago. He had a feeling she had to do something. Only he had no idea what, or how to help her. So he stayed with her. As he had before.
It was around the midnight hour, when he felt her stir. Her smile beatific as she blinker herself awake. He knew someone would be worrying at the Keep over their loss, may even be searching for them. But at this moment he was hers, completely.
Staring straight into his eyes, she raised her hand and placed her palm upon his cheek. He felt such peace fall upon him. She slowly leant up and into his ear whispered one word. “Yes.”