The next morning broke with clear skies. Alanna had woken Eden with a pleading smile and only one word:
"Beach?"
They'd decided that a picnic lunch near the ruins would be ideal for a day on the coast. Fredric had carried a massive quilt down to the beach and everyone else had carried the food.
Darin and Alanna has finished their sandwiches in record time, eager to get to the water. Fredric and Merida sat on the quilt, still eating.
Darin bent down and swatted the water. Alanna squealed as the salty drops of water sprayed her face. The weather was finally behaving well enough for the children to play, and they were relishing every moment.
Eden and Aidan sat making small talk on the wall of the ruined house that overlooked Murlough Bay. Eden laughed and said "mhmm" at the appropriate moments, but her mind was back in her upstairs bathroom, helping Alanna clean under her fingernails.
"Do you think Aidan would ever be a soldier?" she had asked.
So innocent. So hopeful.
Eden repeated Alanna's question over and over in her mind, and each time she answered her back, her answer changed.
Would he?
Of course not.
Would he?
Surely not...He couldn't.
Would he?
...I don't know.
The trouble was that deep down, she knew that going off to war to save his countrymen and complete strangers from toil and death was exactly something that Aidan would do. Eden didn't think that it was in his character to do anything else.
But that didn't mean she liked the idea.
"I could sit here and watch the waves forever," she heard him say, drawing her attention back to him. He took a bite out of his sandwich and tapped his heels against the wall as he chewed, watching the sea with jovial fascination.
Eden didn't feel the same joy. She hesitated, staring at her own half-eaten sandwich. She drew in a long, deep breath, and let it out slowly. "Could you, though? Could you be content to do that?"
Aidan swallowed and frowned. "What do you mean?"
Eden straightened her back and lift her chin. "It's just that Alanna thinks you're going off to war." She tried to be lighthearted about it, but she could tell that Aidan could see right through the façade.
Aidan placed his sandwich on his napkin and set it aside before bracing his palms on the edge of the wall. He sighed. "I didn't want to talk to you about it yet because I still don't know what I'm going to do."
Eden looked at him in bewilderment. His confirmation both shocked her and piled dread unto her shoulders.
"Aidan!" she exclaimed. "Ireland's not involved. How--"
"Some men are joining up with the British Army," he said with caution.
"Well," Eden scoffed. "That's not exactly treason, but it isn't wise, either."
Aidan was silent for a moment, gathering his thoughts. He remembered the conversation he had overheard on the dock.
"You know how Gavin and Declan were trying to enlist?"
Eden looked at him from the corner of her eye. "Mhmm."
"It's just -- you know how they are. And if they were willing to go, there's no reason I shouldn't--"
"There are plenty of reasons why you shouldn't!" Eden shifted to face him.
"And there are just as many reasons why I should," he countered.
"But who would you be serving by running off to war? Your conscience, or your family who needs you?
Aidan exhaled with a hint of frustration. "It's not just my conscience telling me to do something nice, Eden. So many innocent people have died, and maybe -- maybe I could help stop it."
"That's noble, Aidan -- but what if you get stuck in a mess hall far away from the battle, serving soldiers their food on plastic trays, hmm? Or even worse -- if you're placed on the front lines and get yourself killed? How will you be helping anyone, then? Look, I know that what Alanna said about you was true: you want to make everyone safe." She scaled back to a soft plea. "But you can't protect the whole world."
"Do you think I don't know that? Of course I know that! But I can't do nothing."
Eden looked away with a huff. For a while, she said nothing.
"I know you can't," she said finally, forcing a smile in his direction before looking up at the horizon. "That's part of what makes you, you."
They sat silently, each enveloped in their own thoughts.
"It is striking, isn't it?" she said, picking up their conversation where it had diverged with a nod toward the ocean.
"Mmm," Aidan agreed. Now he was the one answering absently. His feet were braced against the wall, now still, and his elbows rested on his knees. He stared, unseeing, down at his hands, lacing and unlacing them.
Eden watched the clouds, following the undulating edges of white mist with her eyes until her head was tilted back and all she could see was the never-ending sky. She stared at the shifting shadows of the clouds, keeping a tight grip on the wall as she leaned back. The farther she looked back, the more she realized that the sky in front of them was becoming darker -- much darker than it had been moments before.
Something weighed heavily on her, like the air had grown more dense around her.
She flicked her eyes back down to the sea and tried to pull herself forward. "Aidan, look at-- agh!"
Her hand had slipped and she fell backwards, her hip colliding with the rocky platform of the ruined staircase behind them.
"Eden!" Aidan shouted. He turned and stumbled down the few steps, kneeling beside her. With a gentle hand he helped her sit up.
"Ow," she said with a pained laugh, resting her head on the wall behind her with her eyes closed.
Aidan said nothing in response, prompting Eden to open her eyes.
She looked down and gasped.
Her leg bore a small cut halfway between her knee and her ankle. A thin stripe of blood surfaced and swelled over the edge of the cut, soaking into her ripped stockings. Aidan dabbed at it. His touch was warm and stinging, but Eden barely noticed. She stared at Aidan's finger, smudged with her blood.
It was blue-green. The color of the sea washing upon the shore.
"Ah...Eden?" Aidan looked at her with widened eyes.
Eden raised her gaze to meet his. "I don't know," she said, trying to keep the panic out of her voice. She looked at her hands. Nothing was out of the ordinary there, except that they were shaking. Her eyes misted and her tone took on a desperate plea. "What's going on -- what's happening to me?"
Aidan, unable to answer, stared at the cut on her leg and ran a hand through his wind-blown hair. Eden's heart raced, and her fingers began to tingle. The world was starting to spin with every blink. She pressed her eyes shut, but the darkness offered no solace.
"Hey, don't pass out on me," Aidan said with sudden calm. He cradled her head in his hands. "Breathe deeply. And slowly."
Eden braced her hand on his arm and nodded, taking a deep but shaky breath. A tear peeked out from the corner of her eye and Aidan wiped it away with his thumb.
"That's it. Just keep doing that." He stood and leaned out over the wall, looking to where Merida and Fredric sat on a blanket, watching the children play. None of them had noticed Eden's fall.
He kneeled back down in front of Eden. "Hey," he said, getting her attention. His eyes were full of concern. "Can you walk?"
Eden nodded. "It doesn't hurt too bad. It's not deep. I'm mostly bruised, and... confused."
"I'm sure there's an explanation," he assured her. "We just need to get to Merida and your father, and we'll sort this all out, okay?"
"Okay."
Aidan helped her to her feet. The dizziness and tingling had begun to fade. Her chest still felt heavy, but she was breathing normally again. Aidan offered her his arm for support and led her down the stairs, their half-eaten lunch forgotten on the ruined wall.
Merida's back was turned to them as they approached. Her brown hair was pulled loosely into a bun at the nape of her neck, and a few rebellious strands danced in the wind. Fredric sat with his ankles crossed and his knees cradled in the crooks of his elbows. Half of a smile teased his lips as he watched Darin and Alanna play in the shallow water.
Eden noted the amusement in his eyes and felt a twinge of regret at the thought of interrupting him.
"Madam Clarke?" Aidan called when they were close.
Both Merida and Fredric turned at the sound of his voice. Fredric's eyes flicked downward to the cut on Eden's leg and widened in surprise.
"What happened?" Merida asked with concern in her voice. She moved over on the blanket to make room for her. "Here, dearie, sit down."
"I fell, is all." Eden sat down, arranging her pleated skirt around her legs so that the cut was visible. "But my blood--"
"It's blue," Fredric said, gently pulling on the gaping hole in her stockings to see the cut more clearly. He looked up at her, calculating. "Your mother's blood--it was this color."
Eden exchanged a puzzled glance with Aidan.
"You've never noticed this before, have you?" Fredric asked.
Eden gave an unamused chuckle. "I think I would remember if my blood had ever changed colors."
Fredric shook his head. "I just don't understand. Merida?"
Merida was gazing at the cut, her brows burrowed. "Caitlin's blood was similar--true--but it didn't change. Her blood was blue because of her DNA. Yours....this should be impossible. I've never seen anything like this before."
Eden wondered how much like this anyone could have seen before if they had lived only on this island for as long as Merida had. Why did Fredric expect her to know what was going on? Sure, she knew something about the Leabhar and the Scáth. But surely that was the extent of it?
"Have you noticed anything else out of the ordinary, recently?" Merida asked. "Other than the book, of course."
Eden raised her eyebrows. "You have no idea."
The corner of Merida's mouth twitched in amusement. "Try me."
Eden glanced at Aidan and then her father. Sitting and talking with them as if her blue blood was nothing to be concerned about almost made her believe it.
"Well," she said at last, "there was the fish tank at the manor store--it exploded and the fish stared at me; I also caused a wave to crash over the ferry dock...."
She left out the part about Aidan's fight and the teenagers' plunge into the water.
"You caused a wave?" Fredric's eyes glinted with curiosity. "That's a story I can't wait to hear."
Eden smiled softly, even though she didn't feel like it. Her father's lighthearted countenance was both foreign and contagious.
"Here, dearie," Merida said, reaching into her sweater pocket and pulling out her handkerchief. "Let's bandage that cut."
"Oh -- no," Eden raised her hand in protest. "No need to ruin your--"
"I've more where this came from," Merida said kindly. "This old thing needed replacing anyway."
Eden winced as Merida tied the handkerchief around her leg, but it shielded the cut from the salty air and for that she was thankful.
Aidan settled down on the blanket across from her, but she hardly noticed. Her gaze was drawn to the sea, where the waves were becoming darker with each lap against the shore.
"Dad..." Eden mumbled, still watching the sea, "I think it's going to storm--"
A raindrop splattered against her forehead. Fredric turned his attention quickly to Darin and Alanna, who had stopped playing and were staring up at the sky.
"Children!" he shouted. "Time to go inside!"
Merida stood and ushered them closer. "Quickly, now!"
Darin grasped Alanna's hand and pulled her along beside them, splashing through the shallow water and stumbling over the shifting sand.
Eden and Aidan hurried to return the plates and cups to the basket they'd carried them in. The rain was falling gently and steadily, now, spotting her sleeves and the sand and the makeshift bandage on her leg.
"Darin," Fredric said, lifting the basket, "could you help me with this?"
Eden knew her dad didn't actually need help carrying the basket, but when she looked over at Darin, he looked a little uncomfortable, just standing there holding Alanna's hand while everyone else helped clean up. He brightened at Fredric's request.
"Yes, sir." Eagerly, he stepped forward and grasped one side of the basket with both hands.
"Here, Alanna, you can take my other hand," Fredric said with a smile, offering her his hand.
Alanna hurried to his side, smiling shyly up at him. They started off for the house, and Merida turned to Eden and Aidan.
Aidan stood. "We'll take care of the quilt. You go on ahead."
Merida nodded her thanks and hurried after Fredric and the children.
Eden rose to her feet to help Aidan, but her eyes kept sliding back to the shore, and the vast ocean beyond. The fog had become so dense that she could no longer see the looming cliffs of Fair Head on the Irish mainland.
That weight that she had felt earlier—she'd thought it was just her bad feelings about Aidan going off to war. But now, it was heavier. Now, that weight carried purpose.
The rain fell heavier now. Any notion she might have had of getting inside without being soaked to the bone had vanished. Her attention was held captive by the din of undulating waves, waxing and waning against the rocky sand. Even the breeze seemed to be drawn toward the gray ocean, stirring up her hair in its wake.
She picked up two corners of the blanket and clumsily matched them to Aidan's.
"You okay?" he asked.
"Hmm?" Eden snapped out of her daze. "Yes, I--I'm fine."
Aidan gathered the folded blanket into his arms and started for the house. "Hurry! It won't let up anytime soon!"
Eden nodded and hurried along beside him, trying to shake off the heavy feeling that kept her mind fixated on the ocean.
The weight wouldn't go away. She felt it in her chest, her bones, her feet. Her stomach turned, and she slowed to a stop. Aidan hadn't noticed.
"Eden," a steely voice whispered.
Eden froze. She'd heard this voice in countless nightmares. She took a deep breath to brace herself, squeezing her eyes shut and then opening them again.
Slowly, she turned around to face the sea. Nothing was visible but the sand, the sea, and the storm.
But it was her. She was out there. Eden knew it.
She glanced back at Aidan, who had stopped and turned around, puzzled. Then her eyes flicked to the lighthouse.
The moonstone. The telescope. The light.
Eden lurched forward, adrenaline erasing reason, and ran for the lighthouse.
Sincerely,