Page 20 of Highlander Redeemed (Guardians of the Targe #3)

“Aye, come around and look at this side of it.” He joined her, though his eyes were still clearly focused on the forest. She touched his arm to gain his attention, then she pointed up at the largest of the carvings at the top, the triple swirls within a circle. “Do you recognize that?”

Duncan glanced up at it, then shook his head.

“’Tis carved on the Targe stone, and painted inside the ermine sack.”

That got his attention. He stepped a little closer to her, standing almost shoulder-to-shoulder as he gazed up at it.

“Do you see the symbol below it?” she asked.

“It looks like an arrow broken in two places.” He glanced at Scotia. “Do you recognize it?”

“Aye. ’Tis the third symbol painted around the edge of the ermine sack. Jeanette and Rowan claim the other two are symbols of their gifts. That would make this one—”

“A symbol for another gift? Yours? I dinna ken how a knowing is symbolized by a broken arrow, though.”

“Rowan and Jeanette said if I was a third Guardian I would understand what the symbol meant.”

“And you do not?”

“I do not,” she said, but her mind was busy working on a problem.

When Jeanette had been taken by the power of the Targe stone she had found a large boulder with the swirl symbol incised on it, as well as the mirror that was the symbol of her gift of second sight.

When she had found the two symbols together, in the grotto, her gift had overtaken her as the Targe claimed her.

Would that happen here, to Scotia? If she was a third Guardian and the broken-arrow symbol was meant for her, perhaps indicating some gift beyond her knowing , would she be chosen by the Targe now?

She pressed her hand to the arrow and waited for something similar to what she had seen happen to Rowan, or to what Jeanette had told her about being claimed by the Targe, to happen to her. She closed her eyes and searched within for anything unusual, anything different ...

Nothing.

“Scotia? Is something wrong?” Duncan asked, startling her out of her concentration.

“Wrong?” She let out a shuddering breath.

“Aye. Something is wrong. If I am meant to be a Guardian, finding these symbols here, together like this, should have been ... should have made ...” She shook her head hard, as if that would loosen the words that did not want to leave her mouth.

“’Tis clearly not meant for me. I am not a Guardian. ”

“But your knowing , ’tis a gift.”

“But not a Guardian gift. ’Twill serve me and the clan well in battle, aye? I do not need to be a Guardian to protect the clan. I will be a warrior.” She glared up at the stone as if it had insulted her greatly. “I will be a warrior,” she said as if convincing the stone.

She looked back over the meadow, the battle area notably empty of the early summer wildflowers that dotted the rest of the meadow with blooms of white and yellow and lavender.

If she had harbored any hope of being a Guardian after yesterday’s failure, she harbored it no more.

Oddly, she felt relief at knowing for sure that she was not meant to be a Guardian.

She need not wonder any longer. She need not feel hopeful, nor disappointed, and her decision to become a warrior was made all the stronger for the clarity gained this day.

“We should return to the cover of the wood,” she said just as Duncan asked, “What are these other symbols?” He nodded at the jumbled symbols she had already forgotten about.

“I do not ken exactly. They seem to be a variation of the symbols associated with the Targe, but different, like they were carved one over the other.” It was only then that she realized the circle with three swirls was carved below, but very close to, the superimposed Guardian symbols.

It was much smaller, but clearly meant to be the same as the symbol at the top of the stone.

“Perhaps that is the story the stone is named for? ”

He stared at the symbols, his eyes squinting against the glare of the sun. “Have you ever heard what that story is?”

“Never.”

“Neither have I. We must tell Jeanette of this. If they tell a story of the Guardians they might be important,” Duncan said.

Scotia was about to agree with him when her heart started hammering.

“Nay, we cannot say anything about this to anyone. If we tell her, or anyone, of these symbols they will want to know how we ken this and why we came here today. How can we explain why we were here without giving away our secret? I am not ready to reveal my plans to anyone else.”

Duncan looked back at the stone. “We cannot keep this discovery from the Guardians, Scotia.”

“We can. You promised.”

“I did, but this—”

“We will tell them together, if and when there is reason to,” she said, trying to think quickly. “For now, there is naught good for either of us that will come of telling anyone we were here.”

He considered her words for a moment, and that alone made her feel he was remaining true to his word.

“I would like to tell the Guardians and the chief that I brought you here today to teach you a lesson, to remind you of what can happen when you go off alone.” He turned to face her, capturing her gaze with his.

“’Tis the truth, and it will allow me to report that we have seen no English in the area as of yet, which is important news.

I will not mention the search for a sword that brought us out to the stone, but I think we must tell Jeanette of these symbols.

She might understand what they mean, or at least ’twill give her something else to search for in those Chronicles. ”

Scotia balked at the idea, but deep in her gut she knew he was right. If this new discovery was important, withholding it could bring more harm to the clan, and that she could not do.

“We will tell them only that this was a lesson for you,” he said again, “to remind you of what happens— ”

“The lesson is well taught,” she snapped, then closed her eyes and shook her head at her own temper.

“It is well taught,” she said more calmly.

“I agree that we must tell Nicholas and the Guardians what we have learned and seen.” She looked up at him and found him staring down at her from his greater height.

“’Tis also the truth. I did not realize how much I did not remember until I stood here. ”

“Will you remember all the symbols when we leave?” he asked.

She looked back at the stone, studying each symbol for a long moment until she was sure she could draw them in the dirt or on one of Jeanette’s scrolls if she needed to.

“Aye, I will remember them,” she said, though she did not relish revealing yet another failure on her part to become a Guardian, for both Rowan and Jeanette would recognize the similarities to the grotto stone. At least Duncan did not understand that part of what she had learned this day.

“We should head back to the glen,” he said. As they left the hillock to make their way back to the nearest part of the wood, Duncan shook his head.

“What?” she demanded.

He sighed. “Did you know there was a sword out here? Or did you just hope ’twas so?”

She stopped and realized she had once more forgotten all about finding a sword. “I knew .”

She closed her eyes and concentrated on the knowing .

She turned a little to the left, opened her eyes, and walked away from her companion.

Not ten paces from Duncan, she squatted down and brushed dirt and dead leaves away from something that had caught her eye, glinting in the afternoon sun that was beginning to break through the thinning clouds.

There, lying in wait for her just where she knew it would be, was an English arming sword.