"Good to have a project, I guess," Melanie said with a grin. "I don't know what I'm going to do with myself here, honestly."
"You'll find something," Julia promised her. "I thought the same thing, but I keep myself pretty busy these days."
"Just focus on settling in," Helen told her with a smile. "It's — quite a period of adjustment. But the castle's fun to explore… can you ride a horse?"
"Not even slightly," she said drily, shaking her head. "I always wanted to learn, but they kind of freak me out."
"We'll sort that out," Julia promised. "Once you can ride… oh, it's such a beautiful place, Melanie, really. You're going to love it here."
"I heard you didn't arrive alone," Karen said, leaning forward a little with a curious look on her face. "Is that true?"
"I mean, I think I traveled alone," she said with a shrug, her mind straying back to Aelfred. "But there was a man in the Loch with me when I reached the surface. Aelfred Grant, his name is. He should be here somewhere —" But the women were all exchanging meaningful looks, and she sat back in her chair, folding her arms with exasperation. "Here we go. You're all planning our wedding, aren't you?"
"Sorry," Julia said with a rueful grin on her face. "It's just that surname …"
"Yeah, I know, you're all married to Clan members, right?" She sighed, feeling a little perturbed by this subject. "It's just — it's weird, you know? This idea that I'm fated to marry some Scottish guy from hundreds of years ago? I've barely dated, let alone —"
"Don't worry about it," Julia said quickly. "Seriously. Just because all seven of us wound up with Grants, doesn't mean you will. You might marry… someone else entirely. I don't know. You might not even like men!"
"I do," she admitted, wrinkling her nose. "Sometimes I wish I didn't, but… I do."
"I hear you," Julia said drily. "The guys I dated before Galen… don't get me started. So —" She hesitated. "I'm not asking this because I think you're going to get married, okay? But — what's the deal with Aelfred? Who is he? I've gotten to know the family pretty well over the last few months, and I've never heard that name."
"I've heard it a few times today," Helen said with a raised eyebrow. "I heard he was trying to dance with half the servants in the middle of the afternoon."
Melanie's eyes widened. "What? Why?"
"No idea. He seemed to think it was just about as normal as going for a walk. Acted confused when nobody was as interested as we were."
"Blair said he got into a keg of ale she'd been saving and drank half a dozen pints of it like it was soup," Nancy said with a look of amusement on her face. "Drunk as a lord in the middle of the afternoon! Can you imagine?"
Melanie was a little surprised by these tales. Aelfred hadn't seemed that strange when she'd met him… then again, she didn't exactly have a good sense of what was and wasn't strange in this very strange place. "Maybe he's having trouble settling in," she said with a shrug of her shoulders. "I mean — I'm not exactly my best self at the moment. I was barely conscious while Maggie was trying to tell me what was happening to me. I should take her some mead as an apology," she said, shaking her head.
"Once you learn to ride," Helen told her with a smile.
"Once I learn to ride." She sighed. "I don't like horses, that's all. They're so — unpredictable. It's like they're haunted."
Julia burst out laughing. "That's exactly what it's like!"
"That's not reassuring."
"I know," she said, grinning. "Sorry. But you get used to it if that's any consolation."
It wasn't… but Melanie let the conversation move on, amused by how excited the women seemed to hear stories from the future. She found herself working hard to try to remember the news of the last year or so — they'd all been gone for so long that they were very curious about what had been happening in their absence. But when the conversation moved from the future to the present, she found herself sitting quietly, working on her delicious meal as she listened to the woman speak. Strange — the ones who'd been here longer had the slightest hints of Scottish accents beginning to develop, a light touch on a few of the vowels, some of the more commonly-used words. Would that happen to her? she wondered. As the years wore on, would she lose more and more of her voice, of her clothes, of the self that she'd been before she'd come here? She felt a shiver run down her spine and bit her lip, not liking the idea of being transformed into a different person, some Scottish woman, some Grant man's wife…
Speaking of which, just where on Earth was Aelfred? She was very interested to hear how he'd been settling in, especially with the bizarre things the other women had been telling her about him. She scanned the dining hall, searching for his pale blond hair, for those luminous silver-gray eyes… but he was nowhere to be seen. She felt a little disappointed by that. Sleeping off all the ale he'd drunk, perhaps? Or was he outside in the light of the full moon, dancing? She remembered the dream she'd had about dancing with him amid the shining figures of the Sidhe and felt a small smile creep across her face.
Maybe she should spend a little time with him… see how he was settling in. Maybe the two of them could help each other out. After all, they were both strangers here, right?
No ulterior motives here, not at all. Just a friend, wanting to help a friend — a handsome, alluring, strange, and very beautiful friend…
Chapter 12
After dinner, she felt a wave of exhaustion crash over her like a wave, and it wasn't long before the other women noticed her hiding her yawns. Karen in particular was firm about sending her straight to bed, ignoring her protests when she said she wanted to stay up later, listening to the conversation.
"You need to rest," she told her firmly. "The stresses on your body of traveling through time are significant, and something we don't fully understand. All of us fell a little sick when we first got here, though, and you're likely to be no exception."
She grimaced. "I've had colds before —"
"I nearly died," Helen said simply. "The sickness I came here with almost killed me. I think it would have, without Maggie's healing poultices. Even a cold can be fatal these days, Melanie — especially with your immune system being used to completely different bugs. You have to take as much care of yourself as you can."
She was going to protest further, point out that sitting at a table wasn't exactly taxing… but a yawn interrupted her again before she could, and the amused looks on the faces of the women made her feel like it would be too childish to keep protesting. "Fine," she said, grimacing a little. "I'll go to bed. But I want to hear more about all of you in the morning!"
They agreed to the deal, amused, and she turned on her heel and trudged out of the dining hall. If she was honest, she'd wanted to stay up later to see if Aelfred turned up… she was very curious about how he'd been getting on. And to be honest, she was a little worried about him. It seemed that he was having some troubles adjusting. She knew the feeling. Why had he been drinking so much ale? Why had he been inviting so many women to dance with him? Well, she'd find him in the morning and find out, perhaps…
But as she was walking across the entrance hall, something told her to turn the opposite direction and head for the great doors. It was dark outside proper now, and the great doors had been almost shut completely, but there was a human-sized space between them, and it was the work of a moment to slip outside. It was dark now, but there was enough light from the lanterns and the moonlight to see by out here in the courtyard… and it wasn't long before she spotted a familiar head of silver-blond hair. The man was standing in the middle of the courtyard, his head tilted up to gaze into the starry sky above them. He hadn't seen her yet, and she took a moment to take him in, his muscular frame, the perfect proportions of his shoulders, his waist, his long, graceful legs… again, she thought of dancing with him, and felt a blush creep across her face, her skin warming in the cool of the night.
But he didn't just look beautiful, out here in the moonlight. There was something about his stance
that made him seen… lost, too. Dejected. As though he was searching the heavens themselves for a clue about his place in all of this. That, more than anything, was relatable… hadn't she been wondering what she was going to do with herself in this strange place? Taking a deep breath, she headed down the stairs, making her way toward him. The courtyard was more or less empty, with most of the men finished with their training for the day, and the majority of the stable workers inside having dinner. The closest people were the guards on the wall, and their attention was outwards, to what lay beyond the walls, not inside them. The thought of being alone with Aelfred under the full moon thrilled her.
He turned as she approached, and those shining silver eyes took her breath away again. Not for the first time, she thought of what the other women had said about fate and destiny, about the way that every single time-lost woman seemed to have ended up married to a member of the Grant family… could Aelfred really be her destiny? It felt a little strange to think like that, almost as though both she and Aelfred didn't have a choice in the matter. But that was ridiculous, wasn't it? It wasn't as though an impressive coincidence could somehow force them together… just because seven other couples had ended up together this way, didn't mean they would, too.
Besides, Aelfred wasn't the only Grant in the area. She'd chatted with Karen, who lived with her husband in the village and heard a lot of local news — it seemed there were cousins of the Grants in the nearby village as well as one a few miles away. If she was destined to marry a Grant, it may well be one of those, not the gorgeous man smiling down at her now.
"I was wondering where you'd gotten to, Melanie," he said softly. "Have you been settling in well?"
"I've mostly been asleep," she admitted with a grin. "They showed me my room and I just conked out and slept til dinner."
"This suits you," he said, gesturing to the gown.
She'd almost forgotten she was wearing it — it had taken her less time than she'd thought to get used to the skirts and the bustle, and she smiled modestly, looking down at the gown, pretending she wasn't checking her figure to make sure she was presenting the most appealing angle to him…
"Though your other clothes suited you, too."
"They need a wash," she said, wrinkling her nose. "They smell of lake."
He chuckled. "So did mine, I'm afraid. I'm not sure about this new outfit," he added, gesturing down at himself. He was clad in what she now recognized as Grant tartan, and a white tunic that looked, if she was honest, absolutely great.
"You look like a Grant," she said with a smile.
He nodded, but his expression was troubled. "Aye, I hope so. I seem to be having trouble acting like one."
This was the subject she was interested in… but he seemed a little embarrassed, and she didn't want to make that feeling worse, so she pretended that she hadn't heard stories already about what he'd been getting up to. "What makes you say that?"
"It's just…" He sighed. "I suspect it has something to do with time. The way things operated in the Fae… I mean, there was no sense of what time of day it was, when things were appropriate. If you felt like dancing, it was time to dance. If you felt like drinking, it was time for a flagon of ale."
She tried to hide a smile. It sounded like he'd been living his life on holiday. But the smile faded a little as she considered what a difficult adjustment he was in for. No wonder he'd been confusing the locals… they weren't used to drinking and dancing at any time of the day or night, she supposed. If she was honest, she found it a little bit charming… but then again, she was beginning to suspect she was biased when it came to this particular member of the Grant family. "It's going to be hard on both of us, adjusting, I think," she said softly. "I miss home."
"You do?" He looked saddened by that. "I wish I could help, Melanie. Is there anything I can do? Any distraction I could offer?"
His silver eyes gleamed, and she kept her face deliberately still as her mind provided a series of very inappropriate responses to that particular question. She took a deep breath, willing herself to just be normal for five goddamn minutes. "Nothing in particular," she said with a smile. "I guess… it's nice to know I'm not alone in this. I'm not the only newcomer, you know? From what the other women said, when they got here they felt completely alone. Like everyone else knew what was going on, and they didn't."
"That's how I feel," Aelfred said, shaking his head. "How long did it take them to adjust?"
"Months," she said, shrugging her shoulders. "If not years. And they still feel… well, different. But …" She shrugged her shoulders. "Well, we helped each other in the lake, didn't we? Maybe we can help each other here."
He nodded, looking down at her thoughtfully. "A good idea. Though I'm not sure what help I can offer you," he added, his eyes downcast. "You seem to be a natural fit here."
She couldn't help but laugh at that. "Well, I'm glad I'm doing such a good job of faking it," she said with a shake of her head. "Honestly, I have no idea what I'm doing here, Aelfred. But — I think it would help me to help you."
He looked at her for a long moment, a pleased smile crinkling the corners of his eyes as he considered this. "A riddle," he said finally, eyes twinkling. "I can see why the Sidhe liked you so much."
"Tell me about them," she said softly, turning her gaze to the stars.
He looked up, too, and they considered the heavens for a long moment, a comfortable silence between them. "They were very beautiful," he said softly. "I remember that most of all. So graceful, so elegant… they were always where they wanted to be. Nothing was ever awkward, or gauche, or wrong in any way… and their laughter. Their laughter was the most beautiful of all. I used to do everything I could to make them laugh, when I was a child, and as I grew. They were fascinated by the way I grew," he added with a smile. "I don't think elves change much, and I was changing every day, as you can imagine."
She nodded, fascinated by this take on the glowing figures of light she'd met so briefly, and failed so completely to understand. "They were beautiful," she agreed with a smile. "And kind. I got the strongest sense that they were kind."
"They are," he agreed firmly. "Though I think… sometimes they understand us even less than we understand them. They took me from my family," he said, shaking his head. "I've been trying to remember… trying to work through what I remember of this world now that I've returned. It feels like waking up from a dream," he added softly. "Or coming up out of the water."
She grinned, thinking back to the moment her head had broken the surface of the Loch and she'd taken her first deep, gasping breath of the air of Scotland. "I know exactly what you mean."
He smiled warmly at her, reaching out to take her hand in his with a gesture that felt utterly natural — for a moment, she thought she knew what he meant when he said that it was impossible for the Sidhe to do anything gauche or clumsy. Maybe he'd learned that particular trick from them… maybe that was why he was so charismatic. "I'm glad to have your understanding, Melanie."
"What do you remember about your parents?" she prompted him gently, trying not to feel too distracted by the warmth of her hand in his, the tingling feeling of electricity that seemed to be building between them. He sighed.
"Not enough, I'm afraid," he said softly. "I remember that I was frightened of my father. He was… I can't picture him well. I know he was tall, much taller than me… but adults are always taller than children, aren't they? I remember hiding from him, but it wasn't a game. And I remember being worried for my mother, frightened for her, for some reason. I wanted to protect her, to keep her safe… I had a stick I used to fancy was a sword. I think it's why the Fae taught me to fight," he added with a smile. "Fencing lessons just about every … well, the concept of a 'day' isn't quite accurate, but something like every day."
Fencing and dancing, she thought with a smile. Quite the renaissance man, this Aelfred Grant. "What happened?" she said curiously. "When the Sidhe took you?"
"Now, that I can't remember," he
said heavily, shaking his head. "Though they must have had their reasons. They always do. Sometimes they act mysteriously, but there's always motivation behind their actions."
"That's why they took me," she agreed, nodding her head. "Because I was about to die, in my own time. So, they brought me here, to live instead." She didn't mention that she still wanted to go back home. It didn't feel appropriate, right now… and besides, part of her was worried that he'd confirm how impossible a task it truly was.
"Was I in danger?" he wondered aloud. "Is that why they collected me, took me in, raised me as their own?"
"Maybe," she said with a shrug. The story didn't sound great… a frightening father figure, fear for his mother… it sounded like an abusive home, as far as she could tell. From the sound of it, he'd been very small indeed when he'd been taken, and children had notoriously bad memories, and a lot of difficulties having an accurate sense of what was going on. She felt a pang of grief for the child he'd been, confused and frightened… and gratitude for the Sidhe, who'd taken him away from all that and given him a happier childhood, if a much stranger one. Still, he was confused again now, wasn't he? "Whatever it is, Aelfred, I'll help you figure it out," she promised, squeezing his hand a little in hers. "We're in this together, alright? And if I can help you fit in here, adjust back to life in the human world…" She chuckled. "Well, I'm not exactly the best teacher when it comes to the time period we're in, but I've spent my whole life around humans, at least. So, I've got that going for me."
"I'd be more than grateful for your expertise, Melanie Orwell, and any time you can spare to teach me," he said formally, sketching her a little bow. "I'm afraid I'll be well and truly in your debt."
"Not at all," she said dismissively — but he looked serious, for all the world as though they were discussing an important financial transaction, and not just the terms of a friendship. "Seriously. It's fine."
Trusted By The Highlander: A Scottish Time Travel Romance Page 10