Page 41 of Time of the Warlord (Stones of Scotland #5)

“ A letter?” Sadie asked, confused. She reached out for the piece of parchment in the man’s hands. Dal Riada was a surprisingly literate society, for its time, but using parchment to send a private letter was an unheard-of extravagance.

“Yes, my lady,” the man said, handing it over. “Sent with speed from Dunadd.”

“I hope it’s not bad news,” Sadie said, casting a nervous glance at her husband.

After nearly four years here in Dal Riada, completely immersed in its culture, she spoke Gaelic fairly well. And that was a good thing - her language chip had recently stopped working. She could only guess they weren’t meant to last that long.

“What is it, mama?” a little voice asked. Their twin boys, Oisin and Niall, toddled over to her. The boys had recently embraced talking, and it was now very difficult to make them stop. The boys knew that something was strange about their Mama - and they’d even once traveled through time, to meet their doting grandparents - but they had no idea of the true story.

“I don’t know what it is yet,” Sadie said. “I have to read it.”

She glanced at Ciaran once again. His brow was creased in a frown that matched her own.

Opening the letter, she scanned the first few lines. It was in English, a language she barely even spoke these days, let alone read.

“It’s from Bethany,” she said, looking up at Ciaran with wide eyes. “She says… she says they’ve found Norah and Matthew.”