Julia couldn't help but laugh as she took the empty seat beside Anna, who was just about bursting with excitement – a joy that was mirrored in the faces of the five other women who sat at the table. She hadn't realized how much she'd missed hearing her own accent… Anna was unmistakably American, her voice standing out against the soft Scottish lilt of the men and women Julia had been talking to all day. And as she sat down, the woman reached over to clasp her hands tightly in hers, a look of such understanding on her face that Julia felt like she could finally relax.
"Pretty crazy, huh?" Anna said softly, pitching her voice low.
Julia laughed. "You can say that again."
Chapter 12
The rest of the introductions were made while Anna was serving a hearty plate up for Julia's perusal. The table was absolutely bedecked with choices – roast vegetables, steaming plates of roast meat, at least half a dozen potato dishes that set Julia's mouth to watering… it had been a long time since her breakfast, after all, and there was something about the chill in the air that made her hungry. Or maybe that was just the time travel. She had a feeling the trip from the future had taken more out of her than she'd originally thought.
Sitting on Laird Donal's right was Malcolm Grant, who, it was explained, was the castle's second-in-command. He was a bright, cheerful looking man with coppery hair and a short beard. Beside him sat his wife, Nancy, who was a petite blonde with an ebullient demeanor who all but knocked over three flagons of ale as she reached across the table to squeeze Julia's hands in welcome.
"We'll introduce you in order of arrival, well, except for Helen, who's not with us this evening," she promised, grinning widely – and Julia smiled at yet another American accent. She'd found her people that was for sure.
Beside Anna sat a tall woman with a dark red braid pulled severely back behind her ears. She wore a cryptic smile when she looked at Julia, and though there was warmth in that regard there was a distance, too. "Elena Grant," she said softly, putting a hand on the forearm of the man beside her, who was deep in conversation with Galen. "My husband Brendan is captain of the guard."
Interesting – so Galen wasn't even the captain of the watch? He certainly put on airs as though he was the most important man in the castle… but Julia scolded herself for thinking such spiteful thoughts, trying to focus on the new friends she was making.
"Elena was a detective in the future," Anna explained with a smile. "She works closely with Brendan when there are things to investigate."
"Is there a lot of medieval crime?" Julia asked, blinking in confusion. "Is the guard kind of – the local police, or…?"
"We do a little police work, it's true." That was a man she hadn't met yet – he had honey-brown hair tied back simply and a broad smile on his face. "But we mostly take care of more… supernatural concerns."
"Connor's stationed in town," the woman at his side explained. She looked to be about Julia's age, with white-blonde hair pinned up elegantly and a pair of dark blue eyes. "I'm Karen," she added with a smile. "The town doctor… at least, these days I am. I used to be an epidemiologist, but that's not exactly a well-known word around here…"
"Wow," Julia said, her eyes wide. These were accomplished women she was rubbing shoulders with – and it was fascinating to see how they'd adapted their modern careers to this medieval setting. At least medicine didn't rely on technology… she thought of her broken camera upstairs with a sigh. Even if wildlife photography had been a useful skill – which she suspected it wasn't, not around here – how was she supposed to keep practicing it without a camera? She was beginning to feel like she might need to spend some time finding a new purpose if this was her new home.
"Don't worry," Anna said softly, squeezing her hand. "If you're thinking about the future, I'd advise against it."
"I'm not a doctor or a detective or – anything useful, that's all," Julia said, lowering her eyes to her plate. "I don't know what I'm going to do here."
"I've got you beat," Nancy said cheerfully, her eyes shining from across the table. "Guess what I did in the future?"
Julia looked at her but shook her head. "Have no idea."
"I was a scuba instructor."
That did bring a smile to Julia's face. "Oh, wow. I guess that's tough to translate…"
"We do our share of swimming still." Nancy shrugged. "And I'm good friends with the Monster."
"And her skills helped us turn back a goblin invasion that was threatening the lives of everyone in the county," Laird Donal broke in pointedly. "Nobody else could have done what Nancy did for us. The Sidhe know what they're about. Never think that your skills aren't useful."
"And Kay's a vet," Anna said, pointing to a woman down the end of the table who seemed to be in deep conversation with the man at her side, though she spared a smile and a wave for Julia at the other end of the table. "That's her husband, Liam Grant – the castle's stablemaster."
"Good match," Julia said drily. "So, who's my husband going to be, then?"
Anna laughed. "So, they've told you about that, huh?"
"I mean, if they hadn't, I might've figured it out myself," Julia pointed out, gesturing to the table full of happily married women. There were even a few children running around the table, laughing and playing together in that way that cousins had – she'd recognized little Gwyneth among the toddlers, and even received a shy smile and a little wave from the girl.
"I don't know how to explain it." Anna shrugged. "Supernatural matchmakers, I suppose. But we're all happier than we were in the future."
"Even though you can't go home?" Julia asked, tilting her head. "Even though we're stuck here, before our families and friends were even born?"
"That's the hardest part," Nancy nodded. "I still wish I could talk to my dad every day. But… I've got friends here, and family. This is home now, more than the future ever was… and honestly, if the Sidhe appeared to me in a dream tonight and told me I could go back, I wouldn't take them up on it. And I don't think anyone else here would, either."
Julia smiled. "That's good to hear. I felt a bit selfish for being… well, excited."
Elena raised an eyebrow, leaning forward, her cool gray eyes suddenly inquisitive. "Excited?"
"I mean – I now have categorical proof that not only is time travel real and possible, but so are faeries!" She grinned, a little abashed by her enthusiasm, but was encouraged by the broad smile dancing across Nancy's face. Elena looked less convinced. "I can't wait to learn more about them."
"Careful," Elena said softly, her eyes shadowed. "The Fair Folk are glamorous and interesting, yes, but… well, there's more to them than you'd think."
Her husband looked up, his eyes a little shadowed, and took her hand in his for a brief moment with a soft smile before returning to his conversation with Galen. Julia tilted her head, a little confused… but it was clear that Elena didn't want to say any more about whatever experience she'd had with the so-called Fair Folk. But Julia couldn't help thinking of the blond man that Galen had been fighting with that morning. She was itching to get another opportunity to talk to him about everything that had happened that morning – to find out once and for all why he'd been trying to kill that beautiful, gallant man in his fine silks…
But the conversation at the table quickly distracted her. It was wonderful to hear about all the women who'd come before her to this strange place. Anna had been a solider and a military instructor before she'd been snatched out of her own time – saved by the Sidhe from an abusive, psychotic ex-boyfriend who'd come to her house with a gun.
Julia shivered. Joseph had been a scumbag, but he hadn't been that bad. Nancy, it seemed, had been doing an underwater cave dive with some friends when a cave-in had trapped her hopelessly in the deep cave they were exploring in North Carolina. She must have drowned in the cave, or close to it – the Sidhe pulled her through into the depths of the Loch, where she'd continued to explore. It took her a long time to realize that she wasn't in North Carolina any longer
.
As for Elena – she'd been investigating a murderer when some stairs had given way on the outskirts of Baltimore, where she worked as a homicide detective. Her skills had immediately come in handy at Castle Urquhart, where men were dying mysteriously at the hands of some force that she didn't elaborate on. Kay had been driving home from helping a cow give birth when her car had gone off the road, and Karen had wasted away in a hospital in Northern Africa of a disease that she and her team of epidemiologists from the Center for Disease Control had been investigating. That one, at least, Julia had some connection to – she remembered reading an article about a mysterious epidemic in Tunisia a few years ago.
Karen was fascinated. "Do you remember what it said about the disease?"
"It said that an American doctor had died of the illness –"
"Not me, the disease," Karen said impatiently, her eyes alight. "Did they end up containing it?"
"Yeah, I think so," she said, feeling guilty for skim-reading the article. "I mean, it didn't turn into a big outbreak, obviously, or I'd have heard more about it."
"That's good," Karen said, sitting back in her seat with clear satisfaction. "I didn't die in vain, then."
"We didn't die at all," Anna said firmly, raising her tankard. "And that's something to drink to, I think."
Chapter 13
The meal was delicious, and the conversation was exciting. It wasn't long before the band struck up a tune, and a few of the women got up to dance with their husbands, leaving Julia sitting at the table with Elena, who seemed disinterested in the merriment, and with Galen, who was still chatting with Brendan about something or other – she caught isolated fragments about attacks, but nothing coherent, and she didn't want to eavesdrop. Galen kept shooting her looks every few minutes, as though checking she was still there, and she realized he felt that he had to keep an eye on her when she got up.
"Where are you going?" he asked immediately, suspicion flaring in his eyes.
"I'm going to the bathroom," she snapped, drawing a faint smile from Elena. "Is that alright with you?"
"I'll come with you," Elena said gently, getting to her feet and following her across the crowded hall. Once they were through the doors and in the relevant peace and quiet of the entrance hall, Julia took a deep breath.
"I lied. I don't need the bathroom. Just needed some fresh air."
"Me too," Elena said with a wry smile. "You and Galen seem to be getting on like a house on fire. Lots of screaming, people fleeing the carnage –"
She couldn't help but laugh at that. "That obvious, huh? He's the one who brought me to the castle, so I guess I owe him, but he's being absolutely insufferable. It's like he thinks he needs to protect me? It's ridiculous."
Elena smiled a little. "There are dangers here, Julia. Don't underestimate them."
"Dangers that are going to reach out and grab me on my way to the bathroom?" she countered, irritated.
Elena just shrugged her shoulders, a slightly distant look in her eye – Julia got the impression she was trying to decide whether to tell her something, and quieted her voice, very interested in what the quiet detective might have to say.
"It's been a rough few weeks for the Watch," Elena confided softly, a look of worry in her cool gray eyes. "There has been some kind of… event, in the court of the Seelie Fae. We're not sure what, exactly, as they're not the most communicative folk at the best of times, but … well, there's been an uptick in attacks, in Fae creeping through the barrier and wreaking havoc."
"Attacks?" She blinked, thinking back to the man that Galen had been fighting in the woods.
"Yes. The Fae are very beautiful, but very dangerous. And the Watch has sustained heavy losses in the last few weeks – including Galen's own brother Eamon."
She took a deep breath, feeling sudden sympathy bursting in her chest. To lose a brother… she thought of James, thought of how she'd feel if a beautiful, unearthly blond man killed him… suddenly, a lot of Galen's terseness made sense. It was understandable to be grumpy when you were grieving. But it was no excuse to treat her so poorly. "I just – would prefer not to be treated like shit," she said, wrinkling her nose. "You know? I haven't done anything wrong. All I did was stop him stabbing an unarmed man to death –"
Elena's eyes widened. "An unarmed man?" she asked, her voice suddenly taut and full of energy. "What man? Who?"
"I don't know! He was tall and blond and when I found Galen he was trying to stab him with some rusty knife. I called out and the man got away. He didn't look like a faerie, though," she added, frowning. "Don't they have pointed ears or something?"
"Only some," Elena breathed, her eyes cloudy – she was clearly thinking hard. "Julia – I need you to know that the Fae are very dangerous. Even the good ones. Especially the good ones," she added, shaking her heard. "Seelie or Unseelie –"
"What do those words mean?"
"It's complicated," Elena said – but before she could continue, the doors slammed open. Galen stood there, an angry expression on his face – behind him stood Brendan, looking a little chagrined. He offered Julia a helpless little shrug, which didn't exactly make her feel less annoyed that she'd been hunted down like a stray sheep.
"What are you doing out here?"
"Why is it any of your damn business?" Julia snapped. She knew she should be kinder, knew she should be taking into account what Elena had said about the man losing his brother… but she wasn't going to accept this kind of treatment from someone she'd only just met. Joseph had been condescending and monstrous their entire relationship, and she'd just put up with it, hoping that if she proved herself, he'd eventually treat her like an intelligent woman and an equal. But he hadn't. That was the thing – you had to teach people how to treat you, not just cave to their whims and hope that they'd eventually change their mind about treating you like shit.
"Because this place is dangerous," he snapped, "and it's pretty clear from your conversations in there that you're not taking it seriously. Faeries and magic aren't fun little toys for you to play with, lass."
"So, you were eavesdropping on my conversations?" she snapped, her eyes blazing with fury. Even Elena took a step back. "Have you considered that I might be having a little trouble adjusting to a whole new world? Have you considered that focusing on the positives and the bright side of all of this might be the best way I have of making myself feel okay with all of this? Have you considered that I'm smart enough to know that beautiful things can be dangerous without you beating me over the head with it? No! No, because despite barely knowing me, you still seem determined to treat me like a child. I'm a complete stranger, Galen. Back the hell off."
In the ringing silence that followed that proclamation, Galen's face didn't shift an inch. He just stared at her coldly for a long moment – long enough that her burning, triumphant anger subsided a little, leaving just a touch of embarrassment behind it. She hadn't meant to explode like that. But he'd driven her to it. She couldn't keep tolerating his condescension for the rest of her life here.
Without a word, Galen turned on his heel and stomped away toward the spiral staircase. Brendan took a few steps after him, calling his name – but Elena stepped forward, stilling the captain by placing her hand gently on his forearm. The look they exchanged was complicated, and Julia bit her lip.
"That might have been a bit much," she said softly.
But Elena shook her head. "You stood up for yourself, that's all."
"Yeah, but –"
"He's tough as nails," Brendan cut in, shaking his head firmly as he looked at her. "And he's dished out far worse to other people – I've heard it. About time he got a taste of his own medicine."
"I didn't mean for him to storm off," she said, biting her lip.
But Elena crossed to take her hand in hers, an unexpectedly beautiful smile wreathing her features. "Come on," she said softly. "Come back inside. There's still a whole night of dancing to enjoy."
Julia tried to smile, and followed her new frie
nd into the noisy hall, which suddenly felt twice as loud as it had before the confrontation with Galen. But as much as she tried to focus on having a good time with her new friends, she couldn't help but feel guilty about shouting at him like that. He was having a bad time, he'd lost his brother, he was only trying to keep her safe… her mind kept racing, trying to justify what she'd said, torn between anger with him for not just apologizing and clearing the air, and annoyance with herself for not just shutting up and taking the mistreatment. No, she told herself firmly as she took a deep draft of the delicious spiced ale that was being served at the feast. That kind of thinking was what had gotten her into such a terrible relationship with Joseph in the first place… the thinking that everything was her fault, that it was up to her to just tolerate poor treatment. She wasn't having it any more.
If Galen wanted a friendship with her – or wanted her to take what he said seriously – he was damn well going to have to treat her with respect, like an equal. She was done accepting poor treatment from men. New world, new era, new Julia. And with that determination blazing in her chest, she spent the rest of the night dancing and laughing with her new friends.
Chapter 14
In the end, she fell into bed well past midnight, grinning to herself as it occurred to her that this time twenty-four hours ago, she'd probably been submerged in the Loch. Strange, to think of that… she flopped over on her bed, wriggling over until she could peer through her window. She could only see a tiny sliver of the Loch from here – the majority of her view was of the forest and the courtyard. Still, some of the waves were visible. Was the Monster out there? she wondered. God, what she wouldn't give to take a photo of it… but her poor old camera was beyond repair. Besides, it was digital – which meant even if she could fix it, she had no way of charging its lithium batteries – or of printing any of the shots she got.
Woken By The Highlander: A Scottish Time Travel Romance-Highlander Forever Book 7 Page 6