Deaglan's Deception

by Belinda M Gordon

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Newsletter

  Dedication

  Quote

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  DEAGLAN'S DECEPTION

  Belinda M Gordon

  Copyright © 2017 Belinda M Gordon

  www.belinda-gordon.com

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof

  may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever

  without the express written permission of the publisher

  except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Printed in the United States of America

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses,

  places, events and incidents are either the products of the

  author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any

  resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual

  events is purely coincidental.

  Cover Design by Wesley Goulart

  Publisher:

  Shaggy Dog Productions

  221 Skyline Dr., ste 208-228

  East Stroudsburg, PA 18301

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  For my Parents

  Francis and Maureen

  Happy is the bride that rain falls on…

  .

  (A traditional Irish Blessing)

  CHAPTER ONE

  TRESSA

  I stared out the window of my bedroom suite, brooding over the two hundred or so fae encamped in the woods around Pine Ridge Estate.

  Children played in the labyrinth my grandmother had planted there years ago, back when she was still new to the Human World. Spring hadn't yet taken hold, and the evergreen labyrinth stood out in stark contrast to the brown grass surrounding it. The children giggled and shouted to one another as they searched for the right path to reach the center. Their sweet voices reached me even through the window pane.

  A few of the adults supervised the children, however most of them were still asleep in the fae encampment recently established in the forest behind the labyrinth. The Sidhe, who love the frivolity of late nights of music and dancing, rarely rise before mid-morning.

  I had returned home from my most recent visit to the Otherworld officially engaged to my Anam Cara, my soul mate, and dreaming of a small, intimate wedding. That hope had died when we discovered a small group of my brethren, already on our doorstep. They had set up tents in the forest just outside the estate, and their small camp had quickly grown into the large settlement that was now established there.

  Word of my upcoming marriage had spread at lightning speed and the fae continued to arrive, intent on attending the wedding. The number of Sidhe in the camp grew daily, along with my apprehension.

  I was jarred from my thoughts by the sound of footsteps approaching from the hallway. The door opened and dishes clanked as someone placed a tray on the table in the sitting area. I didn't turn around, assuming the butler had brought in my breakfast.

  "Shamus, I told you not to bother. I'll wait and eat with the twins." I expected a humph of disapproval; instead, a deep throaty voice responded.

  "Tressa, don't you know by now? You can't tell that old Brounie what to do."

  I grinned as I turned to greet Alexander. He hugged me, pulling me close and kissing the top of my head. His woodsy scent enveloped and soothed me. The edges of our auras rolled and twisted as they danced together. He gave me a reassuring squeeze.

  "You worry too much. Every night I hear music, singing and the sounds of people having fun coming from the camp. They must be doing okay. Once the wedding is over, they'll go on their merry way back to wherever they came from."

  "I'm not so sure, Xander. I catch conversations on the wind, and they're less and less about the wedding. They're talking about the Treasures being found, and the King's Jewel marrying Nuada's Heir.

  "Aye, they're jubilant; they think their prayers will soon be answered. They're here because they believe that the prophecy will be fulfilled, and the gates of heaven will open again to the Sidhe. I wish it were just about you and me," I said.

  "Come," he said, leading me over to the settee near the table of food. "What you need is something warm in your stomach." He handed me a mug of coffee before taking one for himself. I snuggled closer to him, curling my legs onto the cushioned seat and resting my head on his shoulder.

  "You need to stop worrying over every little thing," he repeated.

  "I just want our wedding to be perfect. Is that too much to ask?" I grabbed a triangle of toast from the tea tray and took a bite.

  "At the end of the day, all that really matters is that we get married."

  "Sure, and you aren't helping," I said. He laughed and helped himself to a blueberry muffin.

  "By the way, the twins are awake and have eaten already. In fact, the day's drama has already started."

  "Maybe holding the wedding on the estate is a mistake," I said as Alexander and I walked downstairs. "If we were to hold the ceremony in The Otherworld, we wouldn't need to hide a camp full of fae."

  "Your Uncle Lomán made himself pretty clear when he said you would be safer here. You wouldn't want to go against the King's wishes, would you?"

  I shook my head. I couldn't defy my Uncle Lomán. Not because he was the king, but because he was family, and I loved and respected him.

  "Besides, I agree with him," Alexander continued. "There's more security here. And anyway, at Tir na nÓg there would be thousands of fae."

  He kissed me goodbye before grabbing his keys and rushing off to work. I watched him go, admiring everything about him. It didn't matter where we got married, I told myself. It couldn't happen soon enough.

  Pleased with this new perspective, I followed the sound of my cousins' bickering voices to the library. Rosheen had turned the space into her workroom, leaving textiles, sketches and sewing equipment scattered around the leather and wood furniture.

  "Listen, I'm the designer," Rosheen was saying as I peeked in on the scene. "I get the final say." She flicked her long metallic blue hair over her shoulder and turned away from her sister.

  Sophia, Alexander's five-year-old daughter, was ignoring the twins as she danced around the room with a white chiffon fabric draped over her shoulders. She held the cloth out as she twirled, practicing her ballet steps. She looked like an angel with the breezy material swirling and flowing around her.

  "I'm just saying, white is for funerals. You can't make Tressa's wedding dress look like she's going to a funeral," Keelin argued from where she lay curled up on a sofa, nearly asleep. "People will think she's dreading the marriage."

  "White may be for funerals in the Otherworld, but here it's the traditional bridal color. Do I need to remind you where the wedding is being held?"

  "Oh, come on," Keelin said. "Most of the attendees will be fae. You've seen the crowd out there." She tur
ned her sparkling blue eyes in my direction. "Here's the bride; let's ask her. Tressa, what do you think?"

  "Before I get into this, tell me: why are you both awake before noon?"

  "Shamus," they said together, shaking their heads. Carbon copies of each other except for Rosheen's one gray eye, they wore identical expressions of exasperation.

  "He's worse than Mummy, you know," Keelin added. "Who gets up at this ungodly hour?"

  "Me and almost everyone in the Human World," I said, amused.

  Sophia ran to hug me, white chiffon billowing behind her. She looked up at me with the dark, intense brown eyes she'd inherited from her father.

  "Watch me dance, Tressa!"

  "Of course, a leanbh." I settled into a brown leather chair as she pirouetted away.

  "Come on, Tressa, you must agree with me," Keelin said, looking to me for support. I smiled encouragingly at Sophia before turning to my cousins.

  "Remember: I want the wedding to combine human and Sidhe traditions. My only specific requirement is that we have the ceremony on Pine Ridge in one of Mamó's gardens."

  "But—"

  "Keelin, I finished the wedding dress days ago," Rosheen interrupted before her sister could argue further. "And before you ask: no, you can't see it." She laughed at the surprise on her sister's face. "There is no wedding without the wedding gown. Of course I finished it first."

  "Keelin, tell me about the party. What have you been able to finalize?" I asked, changing the subject to end the argument over the dress. I hadn't even seen the finished dress myself; only elements of the design.

  Keelin picked up a notebook that lay on a table in front of her.

  "I put in the order for the cake from the bakery next to your shop, as you requested. She seemed a bit flustered when I told her how many people we needed to serve and that we need it in two weeks."

  "How big is the guest list?" I sighed, knowing I wouldn't like the answer.

  "Two hundred and fifty, so far."

  "Two hundred and fifty!" I repeated. "How can it possibly be so many? We talked about keeping it small."

  "We couldn't leave out the Sidhe in the camp," Rosheen reasoned. "They've come a long way, and they're excited to witness the marriage of the King's Jewel."

  "And then there's your list of people from the town to invite…"

  It was true. We had to include the fae, and it would hurt my friends' feelings if they weren't invited. However, I dreaded the big affair. I would have preferred a simple ceremony in one of the estate's gardens, surrounded by the memory of my grandmother and with just my closest loved ones in attendance. I sighed again as I accepted what had to be.

  "Aye, I guess you're right. I'm simply grateful it's coming soon. The longer such a large group of fae are around, the more chance we have of being exposed."

  Sophia suddenly stopped playing with the chiffon.

  "Are you going to invite me?" she asked, her voice full of concern.

  "A leanbh, your father and I wouldn't dream of getting married without you by our side. You're the most important guest of all. Rosheen will make a beautiful dress for you to wear."

  "And I'm planning something special for the reception," Keelin said. "But we'll talk about it later. It's a surprise." She wiggled her eyebrows and Sophia laughed.

  "Did you invite Gobban?" I asked, suddenly remembering the ornery Leprechaun. The twins made identical disgruntled faces, crinkling their noses at the suggestion. "We must include him. He's my friend."

  "Oh, come on. He only tolerates you, and he straight out dislikes the rest of us," Rosheen protested. Keelin nodded, for once agreeing with her sister.

  "He'll drain out all the happy energy if he's there."

  "He likes me," Sophia said with confidence.

  "Of course he does, my love. Everybody likes you," Keelin reassured her. She shook her head as she turned back to me. "He wouldn't come, even if we did invite him."

  "All these things may well be true, but I still want to invite him." I raised my hand to stop them from protesting further. "I'll ask him myself to be sure it gets done. Sophia, would you like to go with me to visit him this afternoon?"

  My phone rang. I dug it out of my pocket and answered it as Sophia readily agreed to visit the old Leprechaun with me. It was Holly, my friend and the manager of my store in town, Tressa's Treasures.

  "Hi! Sorry to bother you, but Tom Lynch is here—in a professional capacity," she told me. "He's asking when you're expected. I told him you'd be here any minute." Her voice expressed what her words had left out: I know you didn't intend to come in today, but I think you should.

  Tom was a friend, but he was also a police officer. If Holly thought it was important, the sooner I got there the better.

  "Tell him I'll be there in five minutes."

  CHAPTER TWO

  I wouldn't normally flit into town during broad daylight; the chances of being seen were too great. I explained this to Sophia as I held her hand, and we flitted to the alley behind the store.

  We hadn't yet figured out why Sophia could travel on the wind when other humans couldn't, but it did come in handy at times. Holly's call had demanded expedience. Bringing Sophia along meant I wouldn't need to return for her before visiting Gobban.

  We entered Tressa's Treasures through the back door, making our way through the large storage room where we kept our supplies, seasonal decorations, and extra merchandise. Holly had outfitted one corner with a mini nursery for her son, Trayce, with a workstation next to it where she made her designer purses.

  We found Holly sitting at her worktable and watching as Tom bounced her six-month-old son on his leg. Trayce giggled with delight, his bright eyes twinkling.

  "Good morning, Tommy," I said. The police officer quickly handed Trayce to his mother and stood to greet me. Holly leaned over to place Trayce in his playpen. With an approving nod from his mother, Sophia climbed in with him.

  I hadn't seen Tom in weeks. His blond hair had gotten long and was beginning to curl around his ears, and his navy uniform was roomier than I remembered.

  "Good morning, Tressa. Sorry to bring you in on your day off," he said, taking in my jeans and T-shirt.

  "Don't worry about it," I replied with a dismissive wave. "Sophia and I were on our way into town anyway."

  "We're going to visit Mr. Gobban," Sophia informed him while shaking a set of toy keys in front of the baby. Tom looked puzzled for a minute as he tried to place the name.

  "That grouchy Little Person with the furniture store on Second Avenue?" he asked.

  "The very one. What can I do for you, Tommy?" He pressed his lips together, clearly uncomfortable.

  "What in the heck is going on out at your place?" he blurted. His bewildered expression would have made me laugh if his words didn't frighten me so much. I worked to keep my face relaxed so my nervousness wouldn't show.

  "I'm not sure what you mean."

  "Dispatch has received complaints about loud music and partying every night for the last week. Multiple complaints. I've been brushing them off and claiming the callers are exaggerating; I know you and Alexander aren't partiers. But I can't keep it up. Not when we have mothers complaining about babies being woken up at three in the morning."

  I suppressed a shudder as I pictured the flashing lights of police cars arriving at the estate to find several hundred fae camping in the woods.

  "Next time I'll have to shut it down and give you at least a formal warning." He raised his hand to stop me from responding. "I don't want to do that, which is why I'm telling you this now. I assume you have guests staying with you, what with the wedding coming up?"

  "We do have family visiting. My cousins and a few others," I said, choosing my words carefully.

  "The twins?" he asked, momentarily distracted by the mention of my beautiful, flirtatious cousins. I met Holly's gaze over his shoulder and she rolled her eyes. Tom stuttered a moment, embarrassed, before getting himself back on track. "I hate to put a damper on the festivi
ties, but I have to ask you to tone it down."

  "That's no problem at all, Tommy," I said, my mind racing as I thought about what we could do to block the noise. I doubted I could squelch habits generations in the making.

  "One other thing. I know this will sound crazy, but I need to ask… Do you have people camping in your woods?"

  "Camping in the woods?" I echoed, stalling.

  "Yeah. It's crazy, but one of the area resorts filed a complaint. If anyone's camping out for more than a day or two, they need to have a permit. If it's more than a handful of people… well, hospitality regulations might come into play." Tom grimaced with discomfort. "Rumors about the music coming from the woods have gotten all of the resorts up in arms. They think you're trying to compete with them off the books."

  I stared at him, wide-eyed, caught completely off-guard by the mention of the resorts.

  "I'm speechless," I said at last. He shook his head and smiled grimly.

  "I apologize, but I had to investigate the complaint. Stop the late-night noise and I'll tell them it was just a party getting a little rowdy."

  "Thank you, Tommy." I smiled, keeping my tone congenial as we said our goodbyes despite my pounding heart.

  Holly and I exchanged a worried look after he left. Holly was one of the few humans who saw past fae glamour; she knew that I was one of the Tuatha dé Danann—a Sidhe from the Otherworld. She had seen for herself the increasing number of visitors amassing around Pine Ridge.

  "The noise from the camp does travel pretty far. I heard the music myself last night," she said. "When I opened my bedroom window for some fresh air."

  The jangle of the bell over the showroom door announced a new arrival. Holly glanced at Trayce, who looked content in his playpen as he basked in Sophia's attention, before going into the showroom.

  A curvy, dark-skinned woman browsed our collection of Belleek china, her straight black hair cropped short in a fashionable bob. She looked up and smiled as Holly entered the room.