Page 60 of Highlander Redeemed
“As I said, when the Targe claimed me as a Guardian I was filled withknowings, so many I could not tell you what most were. But one of them made itself clear to me just a moment ago as I was talking to Duncan.”
She stepped forward into the center of the gathering and performed what he thought was the blessing that he had heard Elspet make many, many times over the years, but the guttural words were slightly different, and fit flowing hand symbols as they never had before.
“That is the blessing, is it not? And it is in the language you spoke when you tried to tell Nicholas and Malcolm about Duncan!” Rowan said. “I did not recognize it, for you pronounce it differently than Auntie Elspet did, and what you said was not any of the blessings I have learned”—she glanced over at Jeanette and twisted her mouth into a wry smile—“or tried to learn.”
“Did I?” Scotia asked. “I do not remember that.”
“Aye, you did. Can you speak the language now?” Jeanette, the ever-curious, asked.
“I do not ken if I can speak it on my own, but I understand it. I know what the blessings mean, as well as the symbols on the Targe and the other stones.”
Everyone was silent.
“The words of the blessing are ...” Scotia closed her eyes and seemed to be concentrating very hard.
“Mother of all things, hear my prayer.
Mother of the earth, the fire, the water, and the wind, protect us.
Mother of the Guardians of the Shield, protect us and
Fill your vessels with your abundant gifts so that we may protect you.
Oh, Mother of all things, hear my prayer.”
“Guardians,” Jeanette said. “Guardians of the Shield. More than one.” Her curiosity was fully engaged. “It could mean Guardians through time, or it could indicate that having multiple, simultaneous Guardians is not as unusual as we thought. What else can you interpret now?” she asked Scotia.
“The words on the Targe sack,” Scotia said.
“The words?” Jeanette asked as Rowan immediately opened the sack and spread it on the ground in the center of the circle, right at Scotia’s feet where all could see. She set the Targe stone in the center, then stepped back to her place between Jeanette and Nicholas.
“What do they mean?” Duncan asked. Scotia looked down at him with a small smile that settled over her lips even though he could see lines of tension at the corners of her eyes.
Scotia knelt on the opposite side of the sack from Duncan so she was not blocking his view of it and pointed to the mirror. “The mirror is clear seeing, visions of the future, but also clear seeing of distant things, like you”—she nodded at Duncan—“in the present. The other, Rowan’s symbol”—she pointed at the inverted V with three wavy lines beneath it—“it means what Rowan can do, moving things like mountains, the things of the earth, with the energy she draws from the ground”—she touched the three wavy lines—“the same source as the Targe’s energy.”
When Scotia did not continue, Jeanette said, “And the other one? The broken arrow? Is it the twice-broken arrow as you thought?”
Scotia looked up at Jeanette then. “Truly you do not understand the words?”
“Truly, I do not.”
Scotia looked at Rowan but her cousin shook her head.
“It means ...” She closed her eyes again. “It is so clear in my mind, but so difficult to put into words. It means the strength of the twice-broken ...” Her eyes popped open, and she caught Duncan’s gaze in her own. “Warrior.”
A thrill went through Duncan as he realized how well that described her. “That is your symbol,” Duncan said. “You are the twice-broken warrior. But how does that indicate yourknowinggift?”
Scotia stared at him for a long moment while everyone else seemed to hold their breath, waiting for her answer.
“It indicates the wisdom that comes from surviving the breaks and seeing them mended, like a bone broken and reknit. For me, that wisdom comes through strong feelings, I suspect I am too stubborn toknowthings otherwise. Duncan has helped me understand that I must have strong feelings connected to the things and people I know things about—a form of wisdom.” She looked over at her sister. “’Tis likely why the first time you tested me I could not find your healer’s bag. I had no love nor worry for it, nor was I yet worthy of becoming a Guardian.”
“I do not understand,” Kenneth said. “What have I missed? Twice broken?”
Duncan realized that Kenneth had not been there when she had first admitted her mistakes and revealed why she believed the broken arrow was her symbol, that she was meant to be a Guardian.
Quickly, with neither tears nor any defensiveness, Scotia explained what she had learned to her father. She sat tall and she spoke with a quiet surety that held the confidence of the old Scotia and the wisdom of the new.
“I can only say that I will do everything within my power to honor both deaths,” Scotia said, “to be mindful of them when I facea hard decision and unruly emotions, and to keep the good of the clan and my duty as a Guardian foremost in my mind at all times. I am the strength of the twice-broken warrior, gaining wisdom from my unforgivable mistakes and the training that Duncan has given me, to combine the gifts of the Guardians into one.”
