by Donna Grant
“Do you think I like knowing I’m to walk this earth alone?” he asked her. “Do you think I want to push you way instead of holding you in my arms? Do you think I
could ever experience what we had last night with another woman?”
“Then why can't we be together?”
“Because it is my curse to be alone.” He sighed and dropped his hands from her arms. “Nothing will change what I am, Moira.”
“And what are you?”
“A man with no past and no future.”
“Maybe we could change that,” she said hopefully. “Trust me enough to tell me your secrets.”
He looked deep into her Druid green eyes. “I cannot.”
“What are you afraid of?”
“Your reaction.”
She rolled her eyes and snorted. “Of all the things for you to say.” She stared at him a moment. “There is no hope for us then. If there isn’t trust, there is nothing.”
He knew his one chance to tell her had slipped by, but it was for the best. After the prophecy was complete, he would leave the Druid’s Glen. Nothing Frang could say to him would change his mind.
The High Priest had kept him there for three hundred years with no answers to his questions. It was time he set out on his own.
And he had found the place on the Isle of Skye. The isle called to his soul. It would be his new home.
“The hares are burning.”
He spun around and looked at their meal to find them indeed burning. With a curse he quickly took them off the fire. He pulled off part of a hare and handed it to Moira.
They ate their meal in silence. Once the hares were gone, he quickly rose to his feet. “I’ll be keeping watch if you need me,” he told her.
He walked around their camp once and was headed back toward Moira. When the camp came into view he saw her huddled by the fire. He began to run towards her when the unmistakable sounds of tears reached his ears.
As quiet as a cat he slipped out of the camp. She needed time alone just as he did. He couldn’t explain why, but he was saddened to the depths of his soul.
Chapter Ten
The bright sun beat its heat down on Moira. She fanned her face and wished for some trees to lounge under but all there was around her were rocky hills and the sea.
Once again she and Dartayous weren’t speaking. This time because there was nothing left to say. She had confessed her love, a love that she had kept hidden even from herself until last night. It had come out of her mouth before she knew what she was saying.
But it had been the truth. She couldn’t deny the feelings within her.
She lengthened her strides to try and keep pace with Dartayous. He had set out at a brisk walk at dawn and hadn’t let up. Several times she’d heard him mutter about horses and she could only guess he wished for some. In truth, she wouldn’t mind one herself. She wondered if there would ever be a time that her feet would quit aching.
They had kept along the loch’s edge just as Frang had instructed, but she was beginning to doubt his directions with each hour that passed. They should have reached the stones by now.
She noticed that Dartayous had crested a hill and stood waiting for her. It was getting close to noon by the height of the sun, and she supposed he wanted to stop for food.
“Can't he find a shadier spot,” she mumbled as she drew closer to him.
Then she crested the hill.
There in front of her at the water’s edge were two giant stones. “Finally,” she said as relief surged through her.
They were about to embark on the last leg of their journey and it couldn’t begin fast enough for her. With a deep breath she silently thanked Frang and adjusted her bag. The stones called to her as always, but these two were different and she wanted a closer look.
She began her decent down the hill until she realized Dartayous wasn’t with her. She turned and found him still standing atop the hill. He was a striking figure with his dark brown hair flying in the breeze and the mountains of Skye behind him.
But it was his hand on the pommel of his sword that alerted her. “What is it?”
He shook his head and slowly lifted his hand from his sword. “Just being prepared.”
This time she waited until he was even with her before she began to walk towards the stones. The closer she got, the more she wanted to see them. They stood as tall as the stones that made her home in the Druid’s Glen, but they were also different somehow.
She reached the one on the right and put her hand on it. Magic pulsed fierce and true beneath her head. To her left, about fifty paces away was the other stone. Dartayous looked over that stone with a careful eye. She turned back to her stone and noticed markings so faded they were barely readable.
“Dartayous,” she called. “I think I’ve found something.”
He hurried to her side and looked to where she pointed. “I can barely make it out, but it looks to be a form of ancient Celtic markings.”
“Can you read it?”
He nodded and leaned closer to get a better look. Moira stepped out of his way and watched and he traced his finger over the markings, whispering under his breath.
Once he had read both stones he came to stand beside her. “Well, it looks as though the old crone was wrong.”
“The stones said something about the key?” she asked.
“The key is a Fae. Without one we cannot open the portal.”
She couldn’t believe their luck. “I wonder why the crone told us that we had the key then. I didn’t figure her to give out such lies.”
It was the fact that Dartayous hadn’t said anything that drew her attention. She turned to find him staring out at the loch a pensive expression on his face.
She went to her bag that she had sat down beside the stone and drew out their last two apples. After dusting it off with her sleeve she bit into it, yet Dartayous still didn’t turn towards her.
His eyes were distant. As if he was recalling a very old memory. She knew it had something to do with his many secrets. She tried to tell herself that it didn’t matter that he didn’t wish to share them with her, but the simple truth was she was wounded.
She had somehow thought their night together would draw them closer when all it seemed to do was tear them further apart. All she wanted was to get away from him so her heart could heal, but that wasn’t possible. It probably wouldn’t be for many weeks yet.
If they were even able to get through the portal.
“We need a Fae.”
“I know,” she said around a bite of apple. “Here,” she said and threw him the other apple. “Since all of the Fae are being held prisoner it doesn’t look as though we are going to be able to get through.”
He sank to the ground but kept his gaze on the stones. After a while Moira rose to her feet.
“Maybe it doesn’t take a Fae. Maybe things have changed since the markings were etched into the stone and the crone was right. We do have the key.”
A raised brow met her words. She rolled her eyes. “Just tell me what the marking say.”
“That the Fae are the keys. Without them the portal won’t open.”
“I know that,” she retorted as her anger grew. “Does the Fae need to walk in a certain direction around the stones?”
“Nay,” he said slowly. He leaned to the side and supported himself with one arm while he had the other elbow propped on his bent knee.
For the first time in her life she felt like stamping her foot. “Dartayous. Please.”
His eyes snapped to her face. “Sorry. My mind is wandering.”
“Obviously,” she muttered under her breath.
“The markings say that the Fae needs to walk between the stones.”
“’Tis too simple.”
“Not when you don’t have a Fae with you,” he pointed out.
She took a deep breath and walked between the stones. Nothing happened. She whirled around and looked at Dartayous.
He raised a hand
and waved at her. “You’re still here,” he remarked.
She bit back her retort and walked toward him. “Have any ideas?”
“Not a one.”
“Great. I suppose we’ll just wait here then,” she said.
He rose to his feet and tossed aside the apple. He walked until he was almost even with the stones. She watched him curiously because the fear in his eyes surprised her. What had he to be fearful of? She’d never known him to fear anything or anyone for that matter.
With a glance over his shoulder at her he walked through the stones. She gasped as lightening came from each stone and pierced him. She ran toward him, but stopped when a bright light surrounded him and blinded her. She covered her eyes with her arm and fell to her knees.
Her heart hammered furiously in her chest. Dartayous stood between the stones with his arms stretched wide as the lightening continued to strike him. Then, as suddenly as it began it ended.
She lowered her arm as the white light around him vanished. Slowly, she stood and noticed it wasn’t the loch she looked at through the stones but another world.
Until Dartayous turned to her.
Glowing blue eyes stared at her. Fae eyes. “You’re Fae. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t know until just now.”
“I find that hard to believe with all the times you have been around the Fae. Are you telling me that Aimery never knew?”
“If he did, he didn’t share it with me. I told you there were many secrets to me. One is my immortality. I’ve been seeking the answer to it for five hundred years. I finally have that answer.”
She blinked. “Five...hundred? You’re five hundred years old?” Whatever she had thought, it hadn’t been that. She didn’t know how many more surprises she could take.
He nodded and held out his hand. “Come. I have no idea how long this portal will stay open.”
Never once did she think to refuse him. After retrieving their bags she took his hand and crossed over into the land of the Fae. As soon as both her feet were through the stones, the portal closed.
“Do you know how to return?” she asked him.
“I’m sure we’ll figure it out.”
They both turned and looked at the world before them. They saw a world filled with stunning beauty. A cloudless blue sky was above, grass as green as if it was always Spring below their feet, and temperature so mild, it was like a dream. Butterflies of all different colors, shapes and sizes flew around them with flowers that had fallen from trees. Moira closed her eyes as the many sounds of birds singing filled her ears.
She opened her eyes and found a waterfall far off into the horizon. A bridge connected a mountain and what looked like a city. It was paradise.
“Do you know where to go?” Dartayous asked.
“I wish I did. I guess we could try the city,” she said and pointed toward the bridge.
“Looks like a good place to start.”
The fact that they were the only living souls walking the land of the Fae brought chills of apprehension down her back. So far they hadn’t encountered the great evil that had taken over the Fae, but she was sure that was about to change.
Dartayous kept his eyes roaming around them and his ears open to any odd sound.
They walked a trail that led through the thick fern covered forest to the mountain side. The trail became a little steep and there were times he had to aid Moira in her climb because of her skirts. When they reached the bridge they looked down to find a river below them with dark blue waters running smoothly.
“’Tis beautiful,” Moira said and peered over the side.
“Keep close,” Dartayous said as he began to walk the long bridge.
The bridge itself was made of a substance that he had never seen before, yet he didn’t doubt its sturdiness. They were over half way across when a roar reached his ears. His eyes went to the sky and what he saw made him doubt his eyesight.
“Is that what I think it is?” Moira asked as she gripped his arm.
“I think so.” He stared at the massive creature for a moment then pushed Moira ahead of him. “Run,” he shouted.
They reached the other side and ducked behind a tree. He continued to watch the sky unable to believe what he saw.
“Those are dragons, Dartayous. Dragons.”
The dragon flew by them slowly. “Aye. They sure are.”
He couldn’t take his eyes off the dragon whose scales were the color of valuable emeralds. It had an elegant body with a long tail that had what looked like a stinger on the end. It had short limbs with four splayed digits on each foot. Small wings ran from its shoulder to the middle of its tail while a row of bony plates ran from the base of the skull down its back to the tip of the tail.
The dragon circled back around and came towards them giving him a front view. The dragon’s head was blocky and its mouth ran most of the length of its face while a single horn projected above its nose. Round nostrils were located close together, as wide eyes the color of a blazing sunset looked down at him.
“Fiona told me of Gregor’s dream before we left the glen, but I didn’t take it to mean anything,” she said as the dragon passed over them.
He shot her a glance and found her green eyes wide with fright. They needed to get somewhere safe. “So far they don’t look like they are attacking.”
“They?”
The rise in her voice told him all he needed to know. “Come,” he ordered and marched her toward the gates of the city before she spotted the other dragons.
She refused to release his hand as they walked into the city. He kept one eye on the sky and the dragons and another looking for any signs that there might be trouble.
He looked in the first structure they came to, but found it empty. It was the same throughout the city. When they reached one of the last structures he pulled Moira in with him.
“We’ll stay here the rest of the day and night. Maybe we’ll find something that will tell us how to get to the king’s castle,” he told her.
He shut the door behind him and looked around. The complexity of the structure amazed him. It also affected Moira for she was running her hands over the intricate knot work that graced everything in the city.
“I wish I had come before now,” she said. “I would have liked to see the Fae as they really are.”
He smiled and thought how easily she would fit in with the Fae. She was ethereal in her beauty, just as the Fae were.
That thought brought another. The fact that he was Fae. It answered so many things but one. How was he Fae?
“Dartayous?”
He turned to find Moira staring at him. “Is something wrong?”
She shook her head and walked towards him. “I just wondered how you were doing? You look as though you are searching for something.”
“Answers.”
“You don’t know how you came to be Fae?”
He ran a hand down his face and sank into a chair. “Nay. I’ve asked Frang about my immortality more times than I can count. He’s never been able to give me an answer.”
“Do you think he knew?”
“Nay, I don’t.”
“Are either of your parents Fae?”
“I don’t have any parents,” he said. “I was found abandoned.”
Soft hands touched his arm as she fell to her knees beside him. “Like Jamie.”
He nodded. “Like Jamie. The only thing I have is this ring,” he said and showed it to her. “I was told it was left in the basket with me.”
Moira looked down at the ring. It was twin dragons with rubies for eyes. One was devouring the other’s tail while the other held a crown in its mouth.
“Where were you found?” she asked.
“No one seems to remember.”
Her heart ached for him for she knew what it was like to have unanswered questions in her life. “If you’re Fae then one of your parents must be.”
“Fae and mortal cannot reproduce. Or at least that is wha
t I’ve been told.”
“I cannot imagine why your parents would have left you. Maybe something happened to them and they just weren’t able to come back for you.”
A small smile pulled at his lips. “I’ve been over every scenario there is. I may never know what became of my parents, and I should come to terms with that.”
“Enough of this dreary talk,” she said with a smile and rose to her feet. “We made it into the land of the Fae. Let us have a look around this fine place and see what we can find.”
She pulled him to his feet. The first room they entered was what must have been a solar. A table was set before a window with what looked like a chess game in progress.
They found the bedchambers next. One was obviously the master chamber because of the giant bed and the size of the chamber itself. The bed had an elaborate headboard with more of the lovely knot work around the edges and a tree carved in the middle. The other two chambers were smaller versions of the master.
Next they found the kitchen. Moira hurried over to a bowl of fruit and took out an apple.
“I’m about tired of these,” Dartayous teased as he sank his teeth into it.
Moira laughed, but agreed. While they snacked on the apple she looked around and found some cheese and cold meat. She also found some flour and set out to bake some bread.
While she worked, Dartayous left the kitchen and returned with some parchment. He sat at the table and began to leaf through the pages.
“What is that?”
“I think it just may lead us to the king’s castle,” he said as he read the page. “I went back into the solar and searched the small desk that was there. Whoever lived in this dwelling was a very important person based on the surroundings.”
“This is a more opulent dwelling than some of the others,” she agreed.
She let him read and began to knead the dough. It wasn’t until she left the bread to bake that she realized the sky had darkened with the lowering of the sun. She glanced out of the open window behind Dartayous and saw the sky streaked with various colors of pink and purple and blue.
“This world isn’t too different from ours,” she said. “Except for the fact that the Fae are immortal.”
She smiled and took the chair opposite him. “Have you found anything yet?”