Page 143 of A Legacy of the Light

I have a couple of hours before training with Reyne. There are a few things I want to look up in the library, despite Finneus telling me I should do something else. The king took away whatever desire I had to explore when he forbade me from building a relationship with Tavish. I trudge out of the stables and through the kitchens, following the familiar path through the halls.

The library is quiet, and Finneus’s absence is noticeable, I’m used to seeing his warm face greet me. Taking a pen from his desk, I walk through the stacks to find the nearest Seòlta. I pull the black-leather-bound guardian from its perch and write my first question in its blank pages:

What does an taggard mean?

Confident my spelling is incorrect, I wait for the ink to disappear and the Seòlta to show the way to a book. I’m surprised when it answers me directly.

If you mean an taghadh, it means ‘the chosen’.

Firstly, I wasn’t expecting to be sassed by a book today. Let’s add that to the list of what the fucks. Secondly, ‘chosen’? Chosen for what?

Not anticipating the book being any help, I write my question anyway.

What is the chosen?

The ink disappears and I stare at the faded pages for longer than normal before receiving a response.

There is no record relating to ‘the chosen’.

Helpful. Figuring I’ll receive no further assistance on that topic, I write my next question.

What are the water horses that live in the lake?

The response this time is instant: the familiar white magic shoots from the page of the Seòlta. I place it back on its stone pillar and follow the thread through the stacks. It stops a few rows away on a very small book with faded green binding. The gold lettering of the title is barely visible: Spirits of Elfayne.

I take the book from the shelf and flick through the pages. When I spot a drawing of a horse made of water, Colpach neatly written underneath, I close the book and take it with me to the nearest chair. The wooden legs scrape along the floor as I pull it out and I settle in to skim through the information.

Colpach inhabit most of the lakes across Elfayne and are shapeshifting water spirits. They can take any form but appear as horses to most.

The next paragraph sends chills running down my spine. The book tells me that Colpach are dangerous, and are known to lure Seelie to the water’s edge before pulling them down to watery deaths. Warnings litter every few sentences not to approach them if they appear to you.

Why then, did the Colpach I see today not attack me? Why did it call me ‘the chosen’?

“All that is, belongs to you.”

Chapter 35

A week passes in the blink of an eye. And another. Tavish is still in Lassodie, dealing with the Dorche. He hasn’t written to me, either. Hector returned last week with an update for the king. Through Reyne’s discreet questioning, she found out that Dorche are attacking the smaller villages around Lassodie almost every other day, and the prince is at the front of it all. There’s no further mention of Callahan, and I don’t know if that brings me relief.

An additional unit of guards have been sent out to help Tavish and the town, but that’s not enough to stop the icy fear in my chest that something might happen to him.

I feel myself slipping back into the darkness of grief.

After my ride with Mabel and my encounter with the Colpach, I haven’t been able to snap back. I suppose closing in on the holidays is surfacing my feelings of loss. As it normally does. The same thing happened last year.

Only this time, I have no Grandpa. No Rach.

I’m alone.

Finneus and Reyne ask me each day if I’m okay. If there is anything they can do. I shake my head every time and pull away from the helplessness I see staring back at me.

Every day, I go to the library to try, and fail, at wielding. Finneus and I continue our research, finding nothing. I have lunch and then train with Reyne. I then seal myself away from everyone and allow my heart to be wrapped in emptiness.

I haven’t been back to the Macleod’s for dinner. I don’t accept Reyne’s invitations to eat with her. Even Finneus asked if I would like to join him. I refuse them all.

I know I’m on the same downward spiral I have been on countless times, but I don’t know how to stop it. I thought being in Elfayne, close to Granny’s history, was bringing some life back into me. But it was only temporary.

Everything always is.