* * * *
Aislyn paused at the entrance to the ballroom, her stomach quivering with the nerves that had grown progressively worse as the day crawled by. Unconsciously, her hands clenched and she winced at the flash of pain. Her scraped hands smarted painfully after the close encounter with the oak tree, but she was going to attend the ball so the battle scars were worth it. Tomorrow was soon enough to battle with her father.
The dramatic ending of a Gaelic reel wafted out to her as she hesitated at the door. Even though a part of her wanted to run and hide, she forced the sniveling coward away, listening instead to the strong go-get-em fairy that occupied her mind most of the time. She drew in a deep breath to settle those nerves and sauntered into the crowded ballroom.
Up on the stage, the latest string band sensation plucked at their instruments while a blue-haired fairy, dressed in a gravity-defying red gown, crooned a sultry ballad. Aislyn gazed at the costumed dancers gliding past, listened to the jocular voices and tinkling feminine laughter. All at once, loneliness assailed her. Longing seeped from her heart. She wanted what these fairies had--a sense of home and someone to come home to--instead of parents who disapproved and friends and neighbors who laughed at her behind her back because she dared to be different. Someone to love her, despite her faults. Aislyn had no idea how it felt to belong. Perhaps she should fall in with her parent’s wishes, settle down with Fergus, and apply her scant knowledge of sewing to produce pretty furnishings. A grimace tightened her mouth. No, she couldn’t do it. She refused to settle for second best. There was only one male for her. Seamus.
Across the crowded ballroom, Aislyn sought the man of her dreams. With her inbuilt antenna, she found him easily. He was dancing with Christel. A handsome goblin and a beautiful white witch, they moved and glided together, dancing as if they were made for each other.
Aislyn glanced at her black witch’s gown then back at Christel, noting in that one despairing look the glaring deficiencies in her costume. Seamus had filled every waking hour with training exercises, then on Monday hell week had commenced. The week had lived up to its reputation. Aislyn had sweated through the various tests, both mental and physical, designed to see if she had the skills required of a fairy force recruit. Hiring a costume had been the last thing on her mind. A big mistake on her part. By the time Aislyn had remembered she needed a costume, the wicked witch variety was all that remained in the costume hire shop. Complete with stick on warts and a hooked nose that fitted over her own more pert model, Aislyn knew she looked ... striking. She grimaced again. Yeah, striking was the right word for her all encompassing black skirts and neon orange warts. Well, too late now.
Aislyn straightened her shoulders, stood as tall as her petite frame allowed and headed into the fray. She skirted the whirling dancers and joined her brothers and their friends. No doubt, her father would learn of her attendance and punish her, but at the moment, it didn’t matter.
Her oldest brother, Duncan recognized her first. "Hey, Aislyn! Looking good."
Aislyn grinned good-naturedly and cuffed him on the shoulder. She caught another glimpse of Seamus and Christel. A sigh escaped. Accept the inevitable. Move onward. But the stubborn part of her insisted on fanning the tiny grain of hope. Aislyn knew she should concentrate on the second part of her dream--to join the fairy force instead of worrying about Seamus. He thought of her as a baby sister. No matter how much she willed otherwise, some things never changed. Someone tapped her shoulder, and she whirled about.
Steve, her brother’s friend, grinned at her. "Wanna dance?"
"Sure." Aislyn stepped onto the dance floor and told herself to enjoy the ball. At midnight, the ten finalists would be announced, and she’d learn her fate. A tremor goose-stepped across her skin. Foretelling of things to come? Waiting was the worst.
Aislyn danced with friends, chatted with acquaintances, filling the long minutes with as much activity as possible. She even danced one dance with Fergus and managed to keep the chatter polite. As midnight neared, the jitters in her stomach intensified. Because she was female, Aislyn knew the odds were against her but she hoped anyway, superstitiously crossing her fingers beneath her voluminous black skirts.
"Aislyn?"
Aislyn whirled so quickly the sparkling, purple-colored punch slopped over the top of her goblet, splashing her skirts. Rat’s tails. She didn’t have money to spare for dry cleaning. Her chin shot out and she inserted attitude in her glare.
"Dance with me?"
Aislyn gulped. Her outrage popped like a burst balloon as Seamus removed the goblet from her trembling hand. He led her on to the crowded dance floor and gathered her close. Two rats and a mouse! She wasn’t much of dancer. There had been no time to learn so she hoped she didn’t mangle his feet too much.
"I thought you’d want to dance the midnight hour dance with Christel," she blurted, unsettled by his proximity, his seductive scent. Part of her wanted to edge away while her more adventurous self, shouted to stay put and enjoy the moment.
His gray eyes twinkled, almost as if he could read her mind. "No."
Aislyn’s heart pounded. No? Exactly what did that mean? Was he not going to explain? Her eyes narrowed at his enigmatic expression then another thought occurred. He was a member of the fairy force. Did he know who the successful candidates were? Her mouth opened, ready to demand the all-important information.
"Watch out," Seamus warned, a fraction too late.
A couple doing an energetic salsa jolted Aislyn, knocking her against Seamus’s chest. Hard muscles flattened her softer curves and warmth suffused her whole body, from the tip of her nose to the end of her big toes. Closer. She wanted to move closer and nibble at the soft skin below his jawbone.
The very idea stole her breath but jolted her brain into gear. She stiffened and attempted to move away before his citrus aftershave swamped her senses and she did something outrageously stupid, even for her. That adventurous self had drunk too much purple punch. Way too much, she thought as she attempted to censor the thoughts that ricocheted around inside her head.
"Stay, Aislyn," he murmured, pressing a soft kiss to the top of her head.
"Seamus?" Her pulse thundered and she couldn’t prevent the quaver in her voice.
Before Seamus replied, the music ceased and a drum roll sounded, rippling dramatically through the expectant hush. Aislyn trembled. Seamus brushed a soft kiss across her lips. She stared up at him in stupefied surprise. Had he been drinking the punch as well?
Aislyn was dimly aware of the fairy force commander starting his spiel, but she remained frozen in shock.
Seamus had kissed her.
On the lips.
"Aislyn, we’ll talk later."
Her brows puckered and he must have seen because he chuckled.
"Later, sweetheart."
Sweet ... sweetheart? Aislyn’s heart flip-flopped as he tugged her to his side. She leaned against his hard chest and attempted to make sense of the commander’s words.
"Without further ado, the trainees for this year are...."
Aislyn tensed, then tightened up even more when Seamus gripped her shoulders with his hands. All the training, she thought, her heart thumping so loudly she was positive everyone would hear. All the hard work and it came down to this announcement. Aislyn counted off the names as they were announced. Five, six, seven ...
Loud cheers broke out from different parts of the ballroom as the successful trainees ran up to receive their wings. The beaming recruits stood up on stage beside the commander. The recruits greeted each new one with an enthusiastic pounding on the back.
Two more names to go. Aislyn swallowed in an attempt to dislodge the lump of tension in her throat. Two more. There was still a chance.
" ... Cameron Cassidy, Sean Riley."
A roaring sound rushed through her head; her body slumped.
She hadn’t made the cut.
She’d failed!
Aislyn bit her lip, fighting waves of nausea sweeping th
rough her belly. What would she do now? She hadn’t envisaged failure. Not once. All her determination and energy had been focused on this one goal. She stared at the ten males standing beside the commander, their ceremonial wings shining under the lights, wide smiles of triumph on their faces. Acute envy sliced through her, piercing and painful. A body blow.
All her hopes, her dreams ... felled in one swoop.
"Seamus," the commander’s voice boomed over the loud applause and excited chatter. "Are you ready?"
Around them, fairies turned to stare. Aislyn heard their whispers and cringed under the weight of embarrassment. Her chin shot up, and she heard a masculine chuckle right before Seamus whispered in her ear, "Wait there. Don’t you dare move."
Disconcerted, she froze. Seamus squeezed her shoulders for a second time then strode for the stage. Aislyn inched toward the door, determined to leave before her emotions overtook her. Already, she felt a pressure building behind her eyes. She could see the approval on Fergus’s face as he stared across the dance floor. No doubt her downfall had already caused a few titters tonight. Aislyn could count on one hand, the number of fairies who had offered encouragement. Most were aghast at her cheek. Questioning the rules--it just wasn’t done. Debate had run hot on the local talkback radio for weeks, ever since she’d announced her application. She had given up reading the newspaper, sick of the letters to the editor lambasting her impudence for challenging the rules.
"Good evening, fairies," Seamus said, his pleasing baritone finding each corner of the room. "Is everyone having a good time?"
"Yes!" the crowd roared.
Aislyn crept a little closer to the door, craving privacy in the worst possible way.
Up on the stage, Seamus laughed. "That’s good, then. I have a quick announcement to make before the band starts up again."
"Well get on with it then, man!" one of Aislyn’s brothers hollered.
The crowd erupted in laughter. Seamus grinned, pausing for the noise to subside once again. From the corner of his eye, he watched Aislyn. She had edged toward the door. He wished that for once, the female would do as she was told. Better talk quick. One look at her wart-covered face told him she was bitterly disappointed. He wished he could tell her how close she had come, but the final scores were never disclosed.
"Okay, I’ll make this brief," he said.
"Brief would be good."
Aislyn had picked up the pace. He was never going to get out his congratulations speech before she left. Drastic action required. "Aislyn O’Sullivan! I told you not to move. Stop right where you are." The female froze like an animal under a bright light. "Don’t let her move," he said over the microphone to the people standing in her vicinity. The look of outrage on her face made his lips twitch. "Now where was I?"
"Being brief!" his heckler shouted.
Seamus allowed a grin before he commenced his speech, congratulating the successful recruits. "So there you have it, fairies. I give you the ten successful candidates. Trainees--choose your partners!"
As one, the beaming trainees stepped from the podium. The music started with a flourish, the beginning notes of a ballad rippled from the singer’s throat and the trainees grabbed their partners of choice for the supper waltz. Seamus looked for Aislyn, but he couldn’t see her. He saw Aislyn’s brothers and headed in that direction. They would know where Aislyn had disappeared.
"Where’s Aislyn?" he asked.
"She was here a minute ago," Duncan said. "What did you want her for?"
Seamus paused. A lot of things that he wasn’t quite comfortable discussing with Duncan, even if Duncan was his best friend here in the colony. Seamus cleared his throat and his thoughts. "I wanted to offer her a job," he said with sudden inspiration.
"What sort of a job?" Duncan asked, a trace of suspicion coloring both his face and voice.
Duncan’s wife, Julie, speared him with a militant look. "That’s what I would like to know. Why did you embarrass Aislyn like that in front of everyone?" she demanded, a strident look on her normally tranquil face. "Hasn’t she been through enough public humiliation without you drawing attention to her tonight?"
The couple glared at him, united in their displeasure. Seamus felt like the biggest heel out. The thing was, he couldn’t have explained his feelings for Aislyn if he tried. "I ... ah ... Look, I’ve tried to help Aislyn, I really have. I told her right at the start the odds were against success but you know your sibling. I’ve never met anyone so stubborn and pig-headed in my life. I know she’s unhappy here in the colony, that she’s having a tough time finding another job. I wanted to help." As Seamus stopped speaking, he noticed the way Duncan held Julie to his side, protective yet proud. The facts clicked, finally making sense. "You’re pregnant," he blurted.
Duncan grinned, and Seamus could see the pride as well as love on his tanned face. "To be sure, we are indeed pregnant."
His wife cuffed him over the shoulder. "Quiet." She turned to Seamus. "We haven’t told anyone yet."
"But this is marvelous! There hasn’t been a fairling born in the colony for going on six years," Seamus said. "This is cause for celebration."
"And that’s exactly the reason we don’t want to tell anyone. I’m not past the danger time for miscarriage yet." At Seamus’s look of dismay, she hurried to reassure. "I’m fit as a horse. Duncan and I want to be sure everything is all right before we make the announcement. Besides, I’m not ready to be wrapped in cotton wool and treated like a prize cow at the Glenveagh agricultural show. I still remember the Geraghty fairy and the time she had. I’m not surprised the poor fairy miscarried. I don’t want the paparazzi camped on my doorstep, thank you very much!"
"I agree with Julie, which is why we’re heading for the beach colony early next week. I’ve applied for a month off and by the time we return, Julie will be four months along," Duncan said. "We’re off on the honeymoon we never had time for when we were first married."
The couple exchanged a gaze that made Seamus feel like an uncomfortable peeping Tom. He studied Julie carefully in the light of the new knowledge, searching her face for signs of illness, but her face sparkled with vitality. Julie was right. She looked as fit as a racehorse in training. Now, if only she could carry the fairling full term then the colony would have a chance of survival.
He thought of the fortune the colony spent researching the low birth rates. Scientists spouted about global warming. The fact that cats, stoats, and weasels were attracted to the fairy women. The human population faced the same problem with their native birds and so far, neither humans nor fairies had found a suitable deterrent. Seamus imagined Aislyn out loose in the human world with all the inherent dangers and shuddered. Cat food in the first five minutes. Stubborn and determined as she was, the thought didn’t bear thinking about. "I’m pleased for you. Is this the new business that you’re telling all the family about?"
"We had to tell them something," Duncan said.
Seamus reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small pager. "Take this," he said, pressing the pager into Julie’s hand. "Day or night, if you have a problem, call me and I’ll come."
Duncan pulled him into a bear hug. "Thanks. That means a lot to both of us."
Julie kissed him on the cheek. She searched his face in the scant light given off by the chandeliers then gave a slight nod. "Aislyn has probably gone for a walk down by the river. It’s where she goes to think. You shouldn’t have that much trouble finding her."
Seamus nodded. "Call me. I want weekly reports." With a wave, he ambled from the ballroom, not wanting to attract undue attention. The second he was around the corner, he picked up the speed and jogged in the direction of the river and the Guardian’s house. Aislyn would come this way. Hell, she better not think of trying to leave the colony. He ran faster. Given her current mood, he wouldn’t put it past her.
Where was she? As he approached the river, he heard the rush and thunder of the water as it poured over the falls. If it were day, he would see the m
ist and spray rising from the water, but at night he could see no further than a foot either side of the path that wound through the trees.
She wouldn’t do anything stupid, would she? Seamus recalled the disappointment he had seen on her face. "Aislyn!" he hollered. His voice echoed and bounced back at him, her name repeating three times before silence fell again. Impatience rippled through him. Where the hell was she? He’d told her to wait. "Aislyn!" This time the echo rang with annoyance.
"I’m over here." The faint voice stopped him dead in his tracks.
"Where?"
"Over here."
He saw a faint shimmer over to his right and when he squinted, the gleam formed into an object of substance. Aislyn. She stepped onto a spot of moonlit path. "I can hardly see you in that stupid outfit," he snapped, his temper surging now he’d found her unharmed. "Why didn’t you wait?"
"So you could make an even bigger fool of me?"
"I intended to offer you a job, but if you’re not interested, I’m sure I can find someone else to fill the position." Seamus paused, giving his hasty words time to coalesce in his mind. A job wasn’t such a bad idea--a good excuse to cover his temporary lapse of sanity. At least she would be occupied and out of mischief. But what sort of job?
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