by Donna Grant
“Why were you afraid of the storm?” he asked.
She let out a breath she hadn’t realized she held. For a moment she had been afraid he was going to ask her about the kiss.
“Everyone has a fear,” she said hoping he would drop the subject.
“You said something about sea monsters.”
St. Bernard’s hairy eyebrows.
He wasn’t going to let it go until she told him.
“Since you are determined to know, I will share it with you,” she said and leaned her elbows on the side of the boat. “When I was but seven and still learning my way around the Druids, I became friends with a small group of girls. It was from them that I learned of the monsters that live in the sea. I’m surprised you don’t know of them.”
His usual emotionless eyes showed a hint of sadness. She was about to ask him when he began to speak.
“As I said last night, ’tis true that there are many things in the deep waters of any loch, but no sea monsters that will rise up and take you.”
Moira’s stomach began to churn painfully. “They said that was how old Murdoch died. He ventured out for a swim and the monster sucked him down into the water.”
When Dartayous sighed, she knew something was wrong. “All these years you have had a fear of the water?”
“Not of streams, but large bodies, aye.”
“Moira, old Murdoch died of a fever. Those lasses played you false.”
She looked away from the pity in his eyes as the realization sank in that he was right.
“Did you never ask anyone about the tales they had told you?”
“I wanted to fit in. I had lost everything. How was I to know that because of my powers I would be feared?”
She didn’t wish him to know how deep her pain went. She kept her head averted from him hoping he would leave her alone with her thoughts.
It hurt her still to know that those girls hadn’t wanted to be her friend. She had been alone for so long. Would there ever come a time when she could share her life with someone special?
She chanced a glance out of the corner of her eye and found herself alone. She didn’t even have Jamie to hold now. He would become attached to Rebecca. Moira might have failed in that, but she wouldn’t fail in releasing the Fae. She would do whatever it took. * * * * Dartayous watched from the shadows as Moira struggled with her emotions. It seemed he always watched her, had always watched her. He didn’t like the fact that he wanted to comfort her. After all he had been through he thought he would know to stay away from her.
But he knew Frang had something up his sleeve when he had sent him with Moira. The Druid High Priest had always had him as Moira’s guardian even though he knew they would rather not be together.
Dartayous decided then that once they released the Fae and the prophecy was complete it was time he sought those answers he needed. He had stayed near Moira far too long. He couldn’t chance being around her much longer.
She had turned his world upside down with a mere glance from those Druid green eyes of hers. In those depths he saw passion, promise and pleasure but he refused to seek any of it. He had lost so much, as had Moira. She deserved to have a man who would grow old with her. Not live on as she grew old.
He grunted. It was most definitely time to move on.
* * * *
The boat docked on the shores of the small village of Kensaleyre. Moira couldn’t wait to get off the boat and plant her feet on solid ground. Regardless of what Dartayous had told her, it was hard to put old fears to rest.
The warm bundle in her arms let out a small cry. She had managed to hold Jamie for the past few hours, but it was time for him to feed again.
Dartayous was always near, but she glanced over her shoulder to find him anyway. She stopped and looked around the bustling village.
“Where do we go from here?” she asked him.
“Why don’t you come to me cottage, m’lady,” Rebecca said as she walked up. “Wee Jamie will need to be feed soon, and you can ready for your journey.”
Moira’s head jerked to Dartayous. Just how much had he told Rebecca.
Rebecca must have saw the look Moira gave him because the buxom woman said, “I overheard you telling Dartayous that you were on a journey. I assumed it didn’t end here.”
Moira wanted to crawl in a hole. She had never hastily judged people before. She was known for her control over her emotions. But recently that had begun to change.
“Forgive me, Rebecca. We would appreciate your hospitality,” Moira said.
Rebecca smiled and chatted the entire way to her cottage on the outskirts of the village. By the time they reached the cottage, Jamie was crying, but he was soon drowned out by the eight children that ran out to greet their mother.
Moira and Dartayous stood back with Jamie as Rebecca greeted her family. After she had kissed, hugged and asked after each one, she turned and reached for Jamie.
“Come, m’lady and master,” she said and entered the cottage.
The scent of baking bread filled Moira’s nose as she stepped inside. The oldest child, near twelve by the looks of her, sliced the fresh baked bread.
She and Dartayous sat at the table while Rebecca began to nurse Jamie, and the other children ran to get Rebecca’s husband.
“Is there anything you need for your journey?” Rebecca asked. “I’m sure I have just about anything you would need.”
Moira looked to Dartayous. She had made a decision while on the boat, a decision that was going to be hard to go through with.
“Rebecca, I can see that you have your hands full with your children, but where we are going isn’t a place for Jamie.”
Rebecca stopped rocking and stared at Moira.
Moira continued before she lost her nerve. “I would pay you to watch him. I have no idea how long we will be gone, but I assure you that someone will come for him if I am unable.”
“He isn’t yours is he?”
The question surprised Moira. “How did you know?”
“Just a guess really.”
“We found him. Someone had left him to die.”
“Because of his foot,” Rebecca finished. “A child is a blessing from God regardless if they are perfectly formed or not.”
Moira held her breath, waiting for Rebecca’s decision.
“I would watch him without your coin, m’lady, but the truth is, we need it.”
“There is no need to explain,” Moira hastened to tell her. “I know ‘tis a lot we ask.”
It was just a short hour later that she and Dartayous said their good-byes. She had found it more difficult than she had imagined saying farewell to Jamie.
Rebecca stopped her before she walked from the cottage. “’Tis a dangerous journey you go on, m’lady?”
“Very.”
“If something happens and you...you don’t make it back, I want you to know that we will raise Jamie as our own.”
Tears gathered in Moira’s eyes. “You have been a blessing to me and Jamie. Thank you.”
“Godspeed, m'lady.”
Moira quickly walked to Dartayous who waited for her outside.
“Ready?” he asked, his ice blue eyes searching hers.
She nodded, not sure of her voice. With one last look at Rebecca holding Jamie, Moira turned and followed Dartayous.
“You made the right decision.”
His comment warmed her. “I know. I couldn’t ask for better people to look after him.”
“Do you plan on returning?”
“A little while ago I would have said aye, but now, seeing Rebecca and her children, I think he will have a better life here.”
Dartayous came to a stop suddenly and turned to face her. “You don’t think you would make a good mother?”
She shrugged. “Children do better when they are around other children. I know I will never marry, never have children. So why condemn him to a life where he is alone.”
“He would have you.”
She
raised her eyes to his. “That is true.”
“You would make a good mother,” he said before he turned and resumed walking.
Moira shook her head and followed him. Would there ever come a time when she understood the warrior before her? Maybe he wasn’t meant to be understood.
* * * *
Dartayous looked around the slopes of Loch Eyre, his sharp eyes missing nothing. They weren’t being followed, but his instincts continued to tell him that something was wrong. Dreadfully wrong.
“Is everything all right?”
Moira’s sweet voice reached him. He had kept a steady pace to stifle the urge he had to converse with her. He had always held respect for her, but the sacrifice she made with Jamie made that respect grow.
If this continued he would never be able to leave Moira.
Until she left me in death.
He shut out the voice in his head and went back to looking at the land. If Frang’s directions were right, all they had to do was continue to follow the land around the loch and they would find the stones.
“Oh, how beautiful.”
Dartayous fisted his hands as Moira came to stand beside him.
“I thought you were looking for something when all this time you have been looking at the landscape,” she said.
“Something isn’t right.”
She laughed a light musical sound that eased his mood. “What could be wrong with the scene before you? ‘Tis breathtaking.”
“I’m not referring to the landscape.”
Her startled green gaze met his. “It isn’t...”
“Nay. I don’t smell his stench,” he said. He was glad it wasn’t the Fae who had pretended to be a Druid in order to get close to Moira. They had yet to figure out his name, but it was only a matter of time. It still gnawed at Dartayous that the evil vermin had managed to snag Moira from him.
“I will smell him once we get into the land of the Fae,” Dartayous continued. “Until then I’m enjoying the fresh air.”
“You saved me as well as both of my sisters because you were able to smell him despite the fact he used Fae magic to cloak himself,” she said and placed a hand on his arm. “I have never thanked you for that.”
He stared down at the hand on his arm. Moira usually went out of her way not to touch him. “There is no need to say anything. ‘Tis my duty to protect you.”
She smiled and nodded. “Even so. I owe you a debt of gratitude that I may never repay.”
“There’s no need to repay me.” He tried to step back but she held him.
“When William--”
“Who is William?” he asked more sharply than he had intended. The thought of her with another man wasn’t a good one. He had the urge to kill.
“That’s who the Druid’s knew him as.”
Dartayous bowed his head and let loose a string of curses. “That mousey man who always shied away from the Druid Warriors?”
“The one and the same.”
“All this time, he was with us. I should have realized something was odd when he wouldn’t come around the Warriors.”
“When he took me and my sight, I thought I was going to die. The only person I thought about was you.”
Dartayous went still at her words. He prayed she wasn’t going to say something about her tender feelings for him. He couldn’t deal with that now, not when so much more was at stake.
“I knew I had been unnecessarily cruel to you,” she continued. “Never saying thank you for all that you had done for me and my sisters.”
He had never felt so empty than at that moment. He hadn’t wanted tender words from her, yet when she hadn’t given them, he found himself craving them. And when she released her hold on his arm, he wanted to stop her.
“Now we must battle a Fae that has been in our midst for years,” she said and looked back at the loch. “The fact that he has captured all the Fae, including the king, queen and Aimery says how powerful he is.”
“We will find him.”
“I’m sure you are right. So, what do you think is out there?”
He scanned the area again. “Danger. Death.”
“To us?”
“Not if I can help it,” he vowed. “Come. We need to get moving.”
He traveled fast, but not as fast as he would have were he alone. He had to slow himself several times so Moira could keep up. The urgency to leave the area was great, and no matter how much distance he put between them and the village it didn’t dissipate.
It was nearing dusk when he found a secluded spot for them to spend the night. The many boulders on the isle had formed a shelter of sorts with almost a cave-like appearance.
Moira looked over the place Dartayous had selected and found it more than adequate. They would be covered for the night, yet it allowed them a good view of the surrounding area.
She wanted to collapse onto the ground, but instead put down her small bag and began to gather as much wood as she could find for a fire.
“I’m going to get us our dinner,” he said. “I will be close enough to hear you if you yell.”
She nodded and stacked the wood for the fire. Once he had left, she sank to the ground and rubbed her tired feet. On their journey from the Druid’s Glen to the west side of Scotland, they had traveled by horse. Not so this time, and she missed her four-legged friends.
Her eyes became heavy but she kept them open. She would not have Dartayous come back and find her asleep. He would not think her weak she vowed and began to start the fire.
He wasn’t long in returning with a large pheasant in hand. By the time they cleaned the bird the fire was roaring.
Dartayous put the pheasant on to cook. “Have you figured out what the key is yet?”
“Nay. We have looked through my things. Maybe we should look through yours. Do you have anything that might be used as a key?”
“Nay.”
“How do you know? We haven’t looked?”
“I just know,” he said his blue eyes flashing.
Moira didn’t believe him. “What about your tattoos?”
“What about them?”
She looked at the intricate knotwork that circled his upper right arm. “It could be one of them.”
“It isn’t.”
“I didn’t realize you were all knowing,” she snapped. “’Tis good that I found out now. It will aid us once we are in the land of the Fae. If we ever get there.”
“So, we are back to this are we?” he asked, his face lit by the fire.
She studied him for one heartbeat, then two. “Back to what? This is how we have always been, or have you forgotten?”
“You don’t allow me to forget.”
She laughed and turned her head away. A fool she had been to think the kiss might have changed anything. Despite the fact he had kissed her, he still acted as though she was an unimportant as a flea. Well, this was her mission and she would succeed in it. Alone.
“Eat,” he said and handed her a piece of the pheasant.
She took the meat and bit into it. Her anger only grew at the good taste of the meat. Didn’t he ever do anything wrong? Was he as perfect as he always seemed to be?
It tasted even better since their lunch had been eaten while they walked. Even though the bread Rebecca had given them was delicious, it wasn’t near the mouthwatering meal she was dining on right then.
She had just taken a bite when Dartayous stood. “I’m going out to keep watch. Don’t leave,” he said.
Moira watched him fade into the growing darkness. Her appetite vanished as quickly as Dartayous had, yet she made herself eat. She would need every ounce of strength she had.
Chapter Six
“Hold on,” Lugus said before he grasped MacNeil by the arm.
MacNeil opened his mouth to ask what he was talking about when a buzzing noise filled his ears. He blinked and found himself standing in an elaborate palace of silver and white. His jaw dropped at the treasure that surrounded him.
The floor
was a mosaic of pure white marble and some royal blue stone that seemed as if it glowed. The walls were adorned with paintings of some battle scene.
“Where are we?” he asked Lugus.
“You are in my world now.”
MacNeil jerked his head around looking for other Faeries. “Where is the rest of your kind?”
Lugus laughed. “I will show you. Come.”
MacNeil followed him as he was led from one room to another, each more elaborate than the last. The one thing that stayed the same was the floor. In each room, there were still paintings on the walls, but each was different, as though a different time.
The eerie silence unsettled him. It was as if everyone had vanished.
“Not vanished,” Lugus said suddenly. “I imprisoned them.”
The knowledge that Lugus could read him thoughts did little to stifle the urge to run and hide. Lugus’ chuckle made chills race across MacNeil’s spine.
Just what had he gotten himself into?
Lugus stopped suddenly and whirled around to face him. “You shall know momentarily.” He walked a few paces then looked up at the ceiling.
MacNeil followed his gaze and found the ceiling to be painted to look like a summer’s day. Even a perfect rainbow showed through the clouds.
“Do you know that I’m brother to the king?”
MacNeil returned his gaze to Lugus. “You hadn’t mentioned that before.”
“Ah,” Lugus murmured and clasped his hands behind his back. “I was banished from this land after being accused of murdering my father. I was heir to the thrown, yet it is my younger brother, Theron, that took the crown.”
MacNeil thought over his words for a moment. “You killed your father because you wanted the power.”
“That is what they say,” Lugus said as he spun around to face him. “Just like you, I couldn’t wait for my father to give me my rightful power.”
“I thought you were immortal?”
“We are, yet we can still be killed. But don’t get any of those thoughts in your head, MacNeil. I’m much too powerful to be killed so easily.”
MacNeil bowed his head slightly in understanding. There was no doubt that Lugus was indeed very powerful.