Soul of a Highlander

by Melissa Mayhue

  “I’m glad to see you’ve kept yourself busy, my sweet.”

  Shock coursed through her body at the sound of the deep baritone voice, a voice she had thought never to hear again.

  She turned slowly, afraid it was only her imagination playing tricks on her, that the voice she heard, the face she saw every night in her dreams wouldn’t actually be there when she looked.

  “Ramos,” she breathed. Then, rising unsteadily to her feet, she yelled it. “Ramos!” She could think of nothing but crossing the small length of the garden and getting her hands on him before he disappeared. Her feet tangled in her skirts, pitching her forward over the pile of rocks she’d gathered, but she never touched the ground.

  He was there, catching her before she could fall, pulling her close, kissing the top of her head, her cheek, her lips.

  She leaned back to look up at him, the damnable tears starting again, washing down her face. “You came back to me.”

  “I could do nothing else,” he answered as he gently brushed the tears from her cheeks with his thumbs.

  “And what of yer father? Did you no find him?” Was his return only temporary?

  “I followed Reynard to Cromarty. There he booked passage on a ship.”

  Mairi’s stomach sank. Then he would go again. It was only a matter of time. “So, you lost his trail?”

  “No. I reconsidered my destiny.” He smiled at her, pushing the hair that had come loose from her braid back behind her ear. “He was still in Cromarty when I left, waiting at the inn for his ship’s sailing date.”

  Suddenly she found it hard to slow her breathing. “Then why…? I dinna understand.”

  “I came back to see if you truly meant your words. If you’d honestly rather be with me here in this time than in your own time without me, I think that might not be such a bad thing.”

  Her heart beat so hard, she could hear the pounding inside her head. “What are you saying?”

  “I’m saying”—he took her hand in his and kissed the back of it, dirt and all, then dropped to one knee—“I’d give all I have to spend the rest of my life with you, Mairi, if you’ll have me. I don’t care where or when, I only want to be with you. Will you marry me?”

  “Screaming would be bad, right?” she asked through renewed tears. Dropping to her knees, she threw her arms around his neck, peppering little kisses along his jaw, stopping only long enough to whisper “Yes, oh yes” into his ear.

  “Looks like you’ve got a crier on yer hands, man.”

  Mairi looked up through the blur of her tears to see Caden grinning down at them, his arm around his mother’s shoulders. Sallie and Colin had joined them, smiling as well.

  “Looks like,” Ramos responded, pulling Mairi close to kiss her.

  She closed her eyes and melted in the warmth of his embrace, his kiss taking her completely away from the muddy ground where she knelt.

  Hoots and laughter sounded all around her, and only when they’d grown muffled did she break from the kiss to look up at her relatives.

  Rosalyn laughed and clapped her hands soundlessly, while her children around her appeared to have grown silent. Mairi couldn’t be sure because all sound was cut off by the shimmering green sphere that surrounded her and Ramos.

  Lights sparkled, colors swirled, dancing around them and through them as the sensation of rapid movement overtook them. When the light show reached its peak, Mairi could have sworn she heard Pol’s voice.

  “Bargain struck. Bargain fulfilled.”

  Twenty-eight

  SITHEAN FARDACH

  SCOTLAND

  PRESENT DAY

  Wait, you’ve missed a spot.” Mairi wiped a bead of white fluff from Ramos’s earlobe. “How did you manage to get frosting there?”

  “You’re the one to be answering that question, Mrs. Navarro. As I recall, it was you smushing that cake all over my face.” He grinned wolfishly and pulled her close. “So wouldn’t you prefer to remove that bit as you did the last?”

  “I think that’s perhaps no the best idea right now.”

  After cutting their wedding cake and the ritual of smearing the cake into her groom’s face—which Cate’s brothers had assured her, repeatedly, was mandatory—she and Ramos had gone inside to clean up. One thing had led to another until here it was almost thirty minutes later.

  Holding hands, they strolled out into the garden where their reception guests were gathered.

  Ramos tugged her hand and nodded toward one little group. “Dallyn certainly seems to be enjoying himself.”

  The Fae General leaned toward his female counterpart, Darnee, laughing at some remark she had made. As he lifted his head, he turned and the sun etched his features in sharp profile, the light glinting off his long, golden hair.

  “Oh!” Mairi gasped, lifting a hand to her chest. For an instant, she could have sworn he was someone else. But that was ridiculous.

  “What? What is it?” Ramos stiffened, instantly alert.

  “Nothing, really. It’s just…I finally realized who it was he reminded me of.”

  “Who are you talking about?”

  “Wyn Servans. Remember, I told you he reminded me of someone. When Dallyn looked up just then, for a second I thought it was Wyn.”

  Ramos stared at the small group, a frown creasing his brow. “I don’t see it, my sweet. Come on, let’s go get a piece of our cake to actually eat before it’s time to open gifts.” He grinned and kissed her cheek. “We certainly don’t want to be late for that event.”

  Allowing Ramos to pull her along with him, Mairi took one last look back at the two Fae. She didn’t see it now either. But for a moment there…

  “It’s about time the two of you returned. I was beginning to fear I’d have to come searching for you.” Connor MacKiernan gave her a pointed look as he passed her a small plate and fork.

  Mairi grinned at her older brother, who stood beside his wife, Cate, helping to serve slices of wedding cake. “Wasn’t that the whole point of yer giving me away today? So that yer no longer the one to look after me?”

  “So long as he remembers to do a proper job of it,” Connor growled, tipping his head toward Mairi’s new husband.

  “She’s home safe and sound, isn’t she?” Ramos asked before biting into the cake he now held.

  “Aye, well. If she’d done a better job of her homework in the first place, she’d no have had to go.”

  “I’m not so sure about that,” Ramos disagreed. “On the surface it might appear that Mairi, not Sallie, was the daughter of the House of MacKiernan who mysteriously disappeared around the time the Duke was there. Clan stories passed from one generation to the next could well account for his being blamed for some part in her ‘death.’ But had Mairi not gone back…who knows? It could well have been Sallie.”

  Mairi and Ramos had gone over her research repeatedly, trying to analyze exactly that situation. They’d already put together bits and pieces of the puzzle, but there were still so many questions.

  Fortunately they had found at least one answer in the course of investigating her initial work. She’d finally realized that the reason she hadn’t found any trace of Sallie after the Duke’s visit was that she’d been hunting for Marsali MacAlister, not Sallie MacPherson.

  She smiled thinking of her impetuous little cousin. Sallie and Ran probably had descendants roaming all through those highlands, a detail she planned to follow up on.

  One thing she hadn’t been able to determine was what other losses the family had mourned through that season. Perhaps Ramos’s disappearance or the abrupt end to Caden’s betrothal was the missing answer, but whatever it was, she was determined to find out eventually. Her analysis of the scraps of evidence she’d collected would continue until she was satisfied she and Ramos hadn’t done anything to substantially change history.

  If anything, she had even more searching to do now. It would take quite some effort to resolve the one major loose end that had been nagging at her for the last couple o
f days.

  Ramos set down his plate and lifted a finger to her forehead, stroking the furrow between her eyes. “What? What is it? You’re doing that frown thing again. After all the time we spent going over and over those documents, you can’t possibly have any concerns left about our having changed history.”

  It wasn’t actually history bothering her this time. It was the future. But this wasn’t the time to go into her new anxieties. This was their wedding day, not a time to be borrowing worries.

  “Later,” she murmured, pulling his hand down, kissing the fingertip that had trailed over her face.

  His brilliant smile was her reward.

  “Come get your cake, sweetie.” Cate beckoned to her small daughter, beaming as Rosie skipped over to the table. The child still wore the lovely lilac gown she’d chosen as her flower girl’s dress.

  “Here you go, baby girl.” Her mother handed over the paper plate bearing a large piece of cake. “It’s your favorite. Chocolate.” Cate wiggled her eyebrows and winked, earning a giggle from Rose.

  “Da’s favorite, you mean.” Rosie laughed at her father’s exaggerated look of innocence. All of them knew Connor could ferret out chocolate hidden anywhere in his house.

  Cate smiled and held out another piece. “Do you think you could manage to take Will’s plate over as well?”

  Will Stroud and his parents had come to the wedding with Sarah and Ian McCullough, Ramos’s best man.

  “I’ll carry that.” Pol’s large hand swept up the plate. “Lead the way, fair princess.”

  The two of them made their way over to where Will waited, Rosie’s laughter a musical tinkling that filled the air.

  “They’ve certainly hit it off,” Mairi mused, watching her Faerie ancestor sit down under a large tree with the two children.

  “Aye, they have,” Connor agreed. “But I’m no sure I like it.”

  “It’ll be okay.” Cate patted her husband’s arm. “Maybe it’s a good thing for them both. It’s about time he finally ventured out of his Glen.”

  “Perhaps,” Connor muttered, continuing to watch the little group closely.

  Mairi understood his reluctance completely. Her older brother was in full protection mode when it came to his only daughter. Not that she blamed him.

  As a full Fae, Pol’s individual powers might be thought to be restricted on the Mortal Plain, but Mairi had seen firsthand what he had been able to do for her.

  She glanced over at her brother as he put his arm around his wife, hugging her close.

  Cate stretched up to kiss his chin. “Don’t worry, Connor. Look at him. He looks as much a child as they do sitting there on the ground. Besides, it looks as though his friend is getting ready to join them now, see?”

  Mairi looked over to where Dallyn approached Pol. Perhaps it was only the Fae beauty of the man that had reminded her of Wyn Servans.

  Then again…The thought fled her mind as Ramos stepped behind her, pulling her close to nibble at her ear.

  “We have to leave soon, my sweet.”

  It was something to worry over another day. For now, she had a honeymoon flight to catch.

  “Begging your pardon, your highness.”

  Pol looked up to see Dallyn standing over him, bowing from the waist in formal greeting as the occasion required.

  Just as well. He had hoped to speak to the General at some point today. He rose from his seat on the grass where he’d been chatting with Rosie and Will.

  “Dallyn Ál Lyre.” He nodded an acknowledgment, addressing the great general in the ancient way, using his full name. “I want to thank you for your excellent choice of a Guardian for my Mairi Rose. She appears most pleased.”

  Dallyn shrugged. “It does seem to have worked out.” He grinned as Darnee joined them. “All’s well that stops well.”

  “Ends, Dallyn,” she corrected with a sigh. “All’s well that ends well.”

  Pol smiled down at Rosie. Though he hated to leave this most interesting discussion with the children, his current concerns took precedence. “If you will excuse us, I have some boring details to discuss with the General.”

  “Bye, Grandpapa.”

  He turned, bidding Rosie good-bye with a wave. Her happy little face made him chuckle in spite of himself. That one would be a power to reckon with one day.

  “My apologies, your highness. I had no intention to draw you away from your conversation.”

  “No, General, I am pleased to have this opportunity to speak with you. I had hoped to meet with you privately before you returned home.”

  Pol glanced at Darnee and the woman’s steps slowed.

  “Gentlemen, if you will excuse me, I wish to pay my respects to the bride and groom before they leave.”

  Pol watched her retreating figure, the shadow of a smile tugging at his lips. “She’s very intelligent, that one. Good thing she’s on our side, is it not?” It wasn’t that he didn’t trust her. Only that he trusted Dallyn more.

  Dallyn merely nodded his agreement. “Is there something in particular you wanted to talk to me about, your highness?”

  “There is.”

  But where to start? How to admit that he, the infallible Hereditary High Prince of the Fae, might have made a rather unforgivable error.

  Might have? There was no might to it. He had made errors compounding errors, all caused by his arrogant assumption that he was infallible.

  When Mairi had confronted him in his Glen, she had rattled him to his core. The woman had stood toe to toe with him, living, breathing evidence of his fallibility. In his embarrassment, he’d freely granted her request. Without thought.

  And now he needed the General’s help to clean up the mess he’d made.

  Pol started to explain but paused as Rosie and Will dashed past them, laughing. “On reflection, this is not the best place for our discussion. In two days I will return to my quarters in the Hall of the High Council. Perhaps, if you find yourself with some free time, you could come to me there.”

  “Of course, your highness. I will be there.”

  Pol nodded and turned away. Two days would give him time to plan. Time to decide how to ask for the help he needed. It was so important to contain this information. To minimize the damage he had caused. No one else must know of all the Mortal women who had, in the blink of an eye, with no preparation, no understanding, suddenly received the powers of the Fae. All because he had spoken the words without thought. Once again, he had allowed emotion to overtake him. Had simply reacted.

  And now, instead of a number of his own descendants paying the price for his arrogant mistake, it could be the entire World of Mortals who paid.

  He stopped and looked back at the General, who stared into the sky, lost in thought. “And, Dallyn?”

  Dallyn’s head jerked his direction.

  “Three knocks will gain you entrance to my quarters. Tell no one of our meeting. And make sure you’re not followed.”

  “Certainly, your highness.”

  Pol turned, crossing the lawn toward Mairi and her Guardian. It was good he’d decided to accept her invitation to come here. Good he’d finally ventured into the World of Mortals. He’d wasted more than enough time mourning in his Glen. Through the millennia he’d allowed his mind to dull, allowed himself to grow sloppy and careless.

  He’d abdicated his responsibilities as the hereditary leader of his people for far too long.

  In two days’ time he would confront his mistakes. He only hoped it wouldn’t be too late.

  Epilogue

  Mairi floated. Floated in the most perfect blue-green water. Floated like a leaf, her body rising and falling as the waves washed past and up onto a fine white sandy shore.

  “Hey!”

  She pulled herself upright, treading water, as she turned toward the beach.

  “They don’t make an SPF high enough to keep you from burning if you don’t get out of that water right now.”

  Ramos stood on the beach looking like some sexy ad for
men’s swimwear, with his baggy beach shorts hanging low on his hips and his long shiny hair blowing in the light breeze. He pushed his sunglasses down to the end of his nose, frowning at her over the rims.

  “I’m serious, Mairi. I don’t want you getting sunburned. I have big plans for all that gorgeous white skin. Don’t make me come out there to get you again.”

  She laughed, her face turning red at the memory of what had happened last night when he’d come out into the water to “get her.” She was just thankful no one else was staying on this end of the island!

  “Hold on, I’m coming,” she called, smiling as he picked up a large beach towel and held it out to wrap her in when she arrived.

  “Enjoying your honeymoon, Mrs. Navarro?” he asked once he had her covered and snug under his arm. They strolled back to their own private palm-thatched bungalow.

  “Completely.” She swept back his hair and nuzzled his jawline as they walked.

  Not long after they’d returned home, she’d finally admitted her fascination with his eyes and how they reminded her of the photograph she’d kept for so many years. She hadn’t realized he’d paid much attention to her babbling until he’d surprised her with his gift at their reception. A honeymoon in the Maldives.

  They’d flown to Malé and thirty minutes later, from the tiny window of the seaplane, she’d looked down on a coral island fringed with white sand set in a turquoise sea. It could have been the very spot from her photograph.

  She laughed out loud, joyful in the knowledge she’d finally found her courage, her path, her place in life.

  “Come on,” he encouraged her, breaking into a run. “Get dressed so we can go up to the main house for dinner. I’m starved.”

  Things couldn’t be any better, she’d never been happier. And yet…

  One small worry wouldn’t let her be.

  Ramos waited for her at the door, his sunglasses pushed up on his forehead.

  “I know that look. So what tiny little detail is still rattling around in that overdeveloped brain of yours, my sweet?”