Ollie’s words somehow broke through, letting a little crack of light seep into MacKay’s brain. “It’s not right,” he ground out, feeling the battle that had yet to begin as it was already in full blast inside of him. “I can’t do this,” he said, trying to fight it.
Just as they got to the castle, he doubled over, feeling the intense pain in his heart. He fell to his knees and was almost trampled as Ailbert’s army walked over him, trying to beat down the gate with a battering ram.
“Lord MacKay, you need to get out of the way before you’re killed.” Ollie helped him to stand and pulled him out of the direct line of action. Archers from atop the walls shot arrows down at the soldiers. One arrow landed right next to MacKay’s foot.
“I can’t fight,” MacKay said, as he collapsed on the ground behind a tree.
“Nay, you are in no condition to fight,” agreed Ollie.
“That’s not what I mean.” MacKay gritted his teeth, trying not to give in to the pain. Dark thoughts filled his head, but he tried harder than ever to push them aside. “I can’t fight against my wife. I love her. Aaaaaaah,” he screamed when a pain so horrible shot through his head that he thought he’d been hit by an arrow. “I also cannot fight against the darkness anymore. I want to die, Ollie. Kill me, please.”
“Nay. I am here to protect you with my life.”
“Then bring me back into the line of fire and hopefully I’ll be struck down dead by one side or the other. I don’t even care who kills me at this point. It is my fault that the woman I love might end up dead. There is no hope, anymore. It is over.”
“Not yet, it’s not,” came a voice from behind them. Medea stood there, staring down at him with no expression at all on her face.
“God’s eyes, not now, Medea. Have you come to taunt me or help me? Because if you are not helping, I don’t want to see your face.”
“Then mayhap you’ll want to see mine, Son.”
“Father?” MacKay looked up with tears of joy in his eyes, seeing his father, Lucio de Bar, smiling down at him. “How did you know where to find me?”
“Medea came to tell me,” said Lucio. “I am not going to let you fight this battle by yourself.”
“It’s too late, Father,” said MacKay, looking up to see the enemy army breaking through the gate as well as climbing up over the walls. “Because of me, Eira is going to die.”
“Eira?” asked Lucio.
“His wife, the Snow Queen,” explained Ollie.
Lucio chuckled. “I guess Medea didn’t tell me everything after all. But don’t worry, my son, I have brought backup.”
“Unless you brought an entire army with you, it isn’t going to help at this point.” MacKay winced as another pain shot through him. “Ailbert’s men outnumber ours.”
“Ours?” asked Ollie. “Oh, it is good to hear you talking that way again, my lord.”
“I have done better than that,” said Lucio. “Look,” he said, pointing to the sky.
MacKay looked up to see two dragons flying toward the castle. Perhaps all was not lost after all.
“Dragons, my queen!” shouted Angus fighting off a man who had just climbed over the wall.
Eira stood atop the battlements, defending herself from one man after another. She pushed a man atop a ladder. He screamed as he fell to the ground. She looked up to the sky to see a red and a blue dragon circling above the castle. If she hadn’t seen them with her own eyes, she would have never believed it. Two people rode on each dragon and, although she couldn’t see them clearly, she remembered MacKay saying his sister had married a Dragon Lord.
“MacKay must be using the dragons to attack us,” she said through gritted teeth. “I can’t believe he is betraying me this way.” She took out her anger by taking down one man after another.
“Eira,” she heard from behind her. She whirled around, bringing the tip of her sword to the man’s throat.
“MacKay!” Her hand stilled. He stood there next to an older man with dark hair that she had never seen before. “You betrayed me,” she shouted. “I loved you, and you turned against me. How could you?”
He did nothing to defend himself. Instead, he watched her with sunken eyes, gripping his chest with his hand. Pain covered his face.
“It’s the curse,” he told her. “I never wanted to betray you.”
“What is done cannot be undone,” she ground out. “And now you bring dragons to defeat me?”
“The dragons were brought by my father.” He nodded to the man next to him. “They are here to help you.”
“I don’t believe you,” she spat, pushing the tip of her sword closer, almost drawing blood.
“Don’t harm my son,” said the man next to him, raising his hand in the air.
“Nay, Father,” said MacKay. “I want Eira to kill me. I deserve it. Besides, I don’t want to live this way anymore.” He clenched his hands and gritted his teeth as if he were trying to fight the darkness within him and it was taking all his might.
An enemy soldier came up behind her with his weapon drawn, but she didn’t know it until MacKay raised his hand and a beam of power shot out of it, knocking the man dead to the ground. Then his father did the same thing, bringing down several more of the attackers.
She lowered the tip of her sword and threw herself into MacKay’s embrace. “You weren’t lying,” she said, surprised to see he had powers but not wanting to take time to ask him about them now.
Chaos grew as the enemy army continued to invade. Swords clashed and men screamed as dead bodies from both sides fell around them.
“I could never kill you, MacKay,” she told him with tears in her eyes. “You are my husband, and I love you.”
“I love you, too, Eira,” he said in a hoarse voice, holding back his pain. “I am so sorry the darkness within me did anything to hurt you. It was never my intent.”
“MacKay, I think it’s time,” his father interrupted.
“Give Marco and the others the signal,” said MacKay.
His father waved his hand in the air, and the dragons overhead swooped down, breathing fire on the enemy army. Cries were heard, and the attacking soldiers retreated, running back to their ships in fear.
“They did it, my lord,” cried Ollie, running across the battlements. “The dragons helped! The enemy army is retreating.” He gave a whoop of joy.
“Aye, my queen,” shouted Angus, running to join them. “I think we have won the battle.”
“Angus, get down to the courtyard and see if you can help any of our wounded,” commanded Eira.
“Ollie, go with them,” said MacKay.
As soon as the words left MacKay’s mouth, he felt the darkness trying to retake control of his body. Bloodlust flowed through him stronger than ever. As he held Eira in his arms, he felt like he needed to release her before the powers of evil convinced him to hurt her. He fought the dark forces with his mind, but his resolve weakened, causing his knees to buckle. He fell to the ground, holding his chest, curling into the fetal position wanting the curse to be over.
“Son, what can I do to help?” asked Lucio, bending down and putting his hand on MacKay’s shoulder.
“F-find Medea,” he said through chattering teeth. The battle around them might have subsided, but the battle of good and evil inside of MacKay was still in full swing.
“I will be back, Son.” Lucio dissipated, leaving MacKay alone with Eira.
She hunkered down, holding her hand on his back. “I feel so helpless, MacKay. There must be something I can do.”
“Th-this curse cannot be b-broken by true love,” he told her, feeling as if his insides were ripping apart.
“Nay, it can’t,” said Hecuba, emerging through the crowd. “The only way to release the curse is if you die.”
“My husband will not die!” Eira stood up, her sword in her hand pointed at Hecuba. “But you will, old woman.” She thrust the sword toward Hecuba, but with a swipe of the witch’s hand, the weapon sailed through the air and
disappeared over the wall.
“Eira, y-you can’t fight her,” said MacKay. “S-she is using magic.”
MacKay looked up to see Ailbert climbing over the wall and raising his sword to Eira.
“Eira, watch out!” shouted MacKay.
Eira turned to face her nemesis, the man she was once supposed to marry.
“Ailbert,” she said in surprise. “I had hoped never to see you again.”
“Kill her, Ailbert,” commanded Hecuba.
“What is this?” asked Eira. “Hecuba, you betrayed me by joining the other side?”
“That is right,” said Hecuba. “Just like your husband did to you as well. Now prepare to die.”
Ailbert swung his sword, meaning to sink it into Eira’s chest. Being unarmed, she couldn’t defend herself.
“Nay!” shouted MacKay, pushing through his problems to protect the woman he loved. He raised his hand and sent all his anger into the stream that hit Ailbert in the chest. MacKay let out his frustrations, anger and hatred, continuing to blast the man until he went up in flames and burned to dust at Eira’s feet. Eira’s eyes opened wide. She backed away from MacKay in fear.
“Eira, I’m sorry if I frightened you,” MacKay managed to say.
“MacKay, I love you, but I admit I am frightened by you and your newfound powers. I have never seen such a dark side of you before now.”
“You will see a much darker side emerge from now on,” cackled Hecuba as Lucio and Medea materialized atop the battlements.
“What’s happening?” asked Medea.
“Y-your mother tried to have Eira k-killed,” said MacKay, trying to push up to his knees, barely having the strength to speak.
“Nay,” said Medea.
“It’s true,” Eira told her. “Medea, you need to stop her. Hecuba will keep going until I am dead as well as MacKay.”
“Hecuba, leave here now,” Lucio warned her.
“Stay out of this, Lucio. It doesn’t concern you.” Hecuba seemed to be gaining strength as MacKay lost his.
Lucio shook his head in anger. “You have cursed my son, and now he is dying. So you see, it does concern me, you old hag.” He blasted her with a beam of light, but Hecuba matched it, and the sparks met in the air.
“Stop it,” said MacKay, barely able to speak, but they didn’t heed his warning. “Stop it!” He pushed up to a standing position, holding both his hands to his sides, pushing Lucio and Hecuba to the ground.
“Son. What are you doing?” asked Lucio.
“I can’t live this way anymore,” he cried out. “If I must die to be free of this curse, then so be it.”
“Nay,” cried Eira, running to MacKay, wrapping her arms around him. “I love you. I don’t want you to die.” Tears fell from her eyes. “Please, don’t leave me. I don’t want to be alone.”
“I – I love you, too, Eira. But I feel as if it is time for me to go.” MacKay collapsed in her arms, taking Eira to the ground with him. His eyes were closed, and his chest glowed – but with a black aura now. There was no doubt he was dying. She looked up to Medea who stood watching, and cried out for her help. “Medea, do something,” Eira begged. “He is your brother, and you are the only one who can help him.”
“She isn’t going to help you, Snow Queen,” said Hecuba. “Medea, kill her. This will be our demesne from now on.”
“She is my friend, Mother. I can’t kill her,” Medea answered.
“You are weak, Medea. Do it!”
“Nay,” Medea shouted. “I won’t.”
“Then get out of the way. I will do it myself.” Hecuba’s hands lifted. Eira closed her eyes, lying atop MacKay’s chest, ready to die along with him.
“You won’t touch my son’s wife as long as I am here.” Lucio once again fought with Hecuba and the beams of energy buzzed in the air.
“Go away, Lucio,” warned Hecuba. “If you don’t stop meddling, Medea and I will do something to stop you permanently.”
“Medea is my daughter,” said Lucio. “Don’t ask her to go against me.”
Eira opened her eyes to see Medea looking very confused. The girl bent down and ran her hand over MacKay’s hair. Eira could see the tears in her eyes.
“Medea, please help me,” Eira begged her in a whisper. “Help MacKay. He is near death. You are the only one who can save his life.”
“Don’t do it,” cried Hecuba, still fighting with Lucio. “If you do, I will die, Medea. You would not kill your own mother.”
“Why should she listen to you?” yelled Lucio. “After all, you have killed the mother of the rest of my children. Plus, you have put my family through hell with your little games. No more curses, Hecuba. This has gone on long enough and today is the day it ends.”
MacKay’s eyes fluttered open. He looked weak and drained and near to death. “Take care of Eira for me, Sister.” He lifted his hands holding on to Eira as well as Medea. “I d-don’t want either of t-the two women I love to ever b-be lonely again. G-goodbye.” His eyes closed and Eira saw the black fog encompassing his body as his life left him.
“Good, he’s dead,” said Hecuba, still fighting with Lucio. “Help me get rid of the rest of these thorns in our sides, Medea. We have work to do.”
“Nay, Mother,” said Medea. “I can’t let you do this.” Medea held her hands over MacKay’s chest, and a buzzing noise was heard.
“Medea, what are you doing?” screamed Hecuba.
“I love you, Mother,” said Medea with tears in her eyes. “But I can’t let you hurt the people I care about. Father is right. This has to end now.”
Hecuba and Lucio stopped fighting and watched with wide eyes as Medea put her hands on MacKay’s chest and seemed to reach inside his body, yanking out what looked like a black shard of glass. She held it up high for all to see.
MacKay gasped for breath and sat up coughing.
“You did it, Medea,” gasped Eira. “You pulled the shard of darkness and evil from MacKay’s heart. You saved his life.”
“Naaaaay,” screamed Hecuba. “Medea, how could you? Don’t you realize what you’ve done? You have . . . killed . . . me.”
The black shard of glass turned to ash in Medea’s fingers. And when it did, Hecuba fell to the ground.
“Mother,” Medea shouted, running to the old woman, and throwing herself down, crying and laying her body atop her mother’s much the same way as Eira had done to MacKay. “I am sorry, Mother. Please don’t die.”
“It’s over,” said Lucio, walking over and putting his hand on Medea’s shoulder. “Hecuba has died for all the horrible things she’s done.”
“Nay! I killed her. I killed my mother,” cried Medea, looking up to the rest of them with eyes that turned black as a midnight sky. As Hecuba’s life force left her body, Eira could see the magic leaving her and seeping into Medea instead. “It is your fault, all of you. You tricked me into helping you, and now I killed my own mother.”
“Nay, we didn’t trick you,” said MacKay. “Medea, I thank you for saving my life. The light within you chose to do what was right. I can see that now that the curse is gone.”
“I never want to see any of you again,” cried Medea.
“Daughter, please. Come back to live with your siblings and me in Tavistock,” Lucio told her.
“Medea, you are my friend,” said Eira. “You are welcome to live with us as well.” Eira held on to MacKay, never wanting to let him go.
“That is right, Sister,” agreed MacKay “You are welcome to live with us so you will never have to be alone.”
“Nay. I don’t want any of you. I don’t want or need a family. I never want to see any of you again.” Medea collected her mother’s dead body in her arms and disappeared in a fog of black smoke.
“What will happen to Medea?” asked Eira, staring at the spot the witch had just vacated.
“Hecuba’s dark magic entered her,” explained Lucio. “That is not good.”
“But she used the light within her to save my life,”
added MacKay.
“I’ll miss her,” said Eira.
“She has a lot of choices to make,” said Lucio. “She will have to come to terms with what she did in time and, hopefully, she will see that she made the right decision.”
“Eira,” said MacKay, looking up at her and smiling. “You are my wife. I am your husband. If you want to stay here, I will stay with you.”
“Nay, MacKay, I won’t ask you to do that.” Eira smiled at her husband. “I think I am ready to give up my reign as queen and my throne and lands as well. When you almost died, I realized that nothing really matters if I am not surrounded by the people I love. I spent all my life feeling lonely and thinking that the more power and belongings I had the better I would feel. But it wasn’t true. I still felt a deep, dark loneliness inside here,” she said, touching her hand to her heart. “That loneliness has left now that you are back in my life, MacKay. I want to start a new life as an Englishwoman – as your wife back in England. I will stay at your side and support you from now on.”
“Are you sure?” asked MacKay, kissing her on the head.
“I have never been more certain. I want to meet the rest of your siblings – your family.”
“Our family,” he said, smiling and kissing her on the nose.
“Welcome to the de Bar family, Lady Eira,” said Lucio. “I think you are going to fit in quite nicely.”
“So do I,” she said, feeling happier and more alive than she ever had before. Never would she be lonely again.
Epilogue
Nine months later
Push, my lady, push,” said the midwife, urging Eira to give birth to her first child. One more push and the baby was born. MacKay squeezed Eira’s hand and then took the baby from the midwife, looking like a very proud father.
“It’s a girl,” he told her.
Eira’s heart was filled with love. Ever since she’d come back to England to be Lady Wickhambreaux at Sineint Castle, she had felt as if her life was once again complete. Once loneliness had ruled her life, but with all of MacKay’s siblings around her, she would never feel lonely again.
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