A River Enchanted

Torin pounds on the door of Mirin’s croft and asks to see Jack’s back, looking for the wound Sidra gave the man who took Maisie. Despite still feeling the adverse effects of magic use, Jack goes with Torin to search for Maisie and check all the men in the east. Adaira shares with Torin that she and Jack have been summoning spirits to ask them about the missing girls. Torin gives them a list of questions to ask the spirits of the earth and tells them about the flowers he found near where Catriona disappeared. Jack and Adaira return to the castle to get the earth spirit song for Jack to study. Jack asks Adaira about the Breccan letter, and she tells him about the proposed visit to the west. She tells Jack she must go alone, and he tells her that would not be safe. She says that she could get married before she leaves, as two become one in marriage, meaning she could bring her spouse while technically going alone. Jack wonders if it was a marriage proposal and imagines being married to Adaira. He finds it a more enticing idea than he anticipated, but his thoughts are cut short by the entrance of Alastair. He asks to speak to Jack, and they discuss Jack’s use of Lorna’s music. Jack tells Alastair he has hidden the negative effects of magic use from Adaira, which Alastair supports, as he and Lorna did the same thing. He also tells Jack that Lorna would be pleased he is using her music, and that she would want him to compose his own as well. Jack returns to study the Song for Earth and sees a warning to play with extreme caution, which makes him uneasy.

Sidra sneaks away from Graeme to search for Maisie. She remembers the story of Oreanna and decides to eat a petal of the crimson flower. When she does, the world is traced with lines of gold, and Sidra realizes she can see both the mortal world and the spirit world. Her footsteps leave no mark, which is how the man who steals the girls disappears without a trace. She follows the trail of blood left behind by the man and then continues past where the trail ends. She becomes thirsty, and despite her memory of her grandmother telling her not to drink from strange lochs, she does so. She sees Maisie at the bottom of the loch, so she dives for her, going deeper and deeper, never quite reaching her. She then realizes that she’s being tricked by the spirits. She swims to the surface, barely making it. It is evening now, though it was noon when she went into the water. She returns home, drained of energy from eating the flower petal. When she arrives at the croft, Torin questions where she’s been. He is upset that Sidra ate the flower without telling him, but stays the night to keep her company, though they lie side by side in silence. Torin thinks back to when he first met Sidra, after he was tossed from his horse and sought healing from her grandmother, Senga. Sidra was trained by her grandmother, so she was the one to reset Torin’s dislocated shoulder. Torin touches Sidra gently, and she tells him that she is ready for him to bring her a guard dog.

Jack studies the song of earth in his room, perfecting his understanding of the music. Mirin brings him food and encourages him to eat, revealing that she knows that he used magic and is suffering from the symptoms. She encourages him to visit Sidra for a tonic, so Jack goes to Sidra’s house.

Sidra throws herself into work. When Jack arrives, she gets to work on a tonic for his symptoms and a salve for his aching hands. As she works, they discuss the power of music and the demands of different magic uses. Though the magic has taken years from Mirin’s life, she still uses it. Sidra thinks that Jack’s use of magic is also worth it. She rubs the salve on Jack’s hands, and as a gesture of gratitude, he plays a ballad for her. As he finishes the song, Adaira appears in the doorway. Jack leaves. Adaira helps Sidra crush herbs and asks why Jack was there, but Sidra keeps her patients’ secrets close and refuses to say. Adaira then asks for Sidra’s advice on visiting the Breccans; Adaira hesitates to ask them for enchanted items, as they are often used for self-defense. Sidra advises her to encourage the trade but to look into the Oreanna flowers, which according to the story grow in a graveyard that they’ve been unable to find in the east. Perhaps the flowers grow in the west, and someone from the west could be supplying them to the man who is taking the girls. Sidra tells Adaira to meet Moray at the clan line in three days and to bring crops to trade, graciously accepting whatever the Breccans offer in exchange. Afterward, Sidra says Adaira should ask about the flower. When she goes to visit the west, Sidra advises Adaira to bring a husband. She knows Adaira is thinking about marrying Jack.

Later that night, Adaira knocks on Jack’s window and asks to speak with him. She proposes marriage by handfast to Jack for a year and a day, and more if they want to stay married. Jack is shocked by her proposal and tells her that he has nothing to offer her. Adaira disagrees and tells Jack that though people will talk, the talk will fade. Jack asks why she doesn’t choose someone who can better defend her, like a guard, and Adaira tells him that she wants him. Jack accepts, and Adaira insists they sleep in separate beds for now. Jack states that he will become of the East when he and Adaira wed. They agree to play the song for the earth tomorrow and then marry the next day, before meeting Moray at the clan line together as husband and wife.