Woken By The Highlander: A Scottish Time Travel Romance-Highlander Forever Book 7

by Preston, Rebecca

  "There must be a way," she said firmly. "They're all Fae, right? And Fae have certain weaknesses to things like promises… if we could just trick him into making a promise –"

  "Again, I admire your dedication to keeping this monster alive," Galen said drily, "but I don't think –"

  "He'll talk to me," she said firmly. "I saved his life that day. He owes me something, right?" She didn't mention him saving her life and the fact that that had made their debt square – and Galen didn't bring it up even though she'd mentioned it before. Probably didn't want to think too much about it. "So maybe I can use that to get him to leave."

  Galen frowned, clearly not thrilled with the idea. "You're proposing you spend more time with him?"

  "If that's what's necessary to get him to go." She sighed. "Galen, you want the attacks to stop, right? And you think Glimmerbright's to blame. You've tried and failed to hunt him down. Why not try another tactic?"

  "Send him away," Galen murmured, clearly thinking about it. "It would certainly stop the attacks without antagonizing the Fae courts unnecessarily…"

  And, Julia thought to herself with a thrill of electricity running down her spine, maybe Glimmerbright might see fit to take her with him…

  Chapter 39

  They talked long into the evening, in the end. She was delighted that the discussion hadn't evolved into a full-fledged argument – there was still some heat in their voices when they spoke, especially when it came to Julia's refusal to acknowledge that the problems in the area were definitely a result of Glimmerbright's malicious activities, but overall, they were able to conduct a civil conversation.

  Not that they had many action items at the end of their meeting, Julia thought drily as she headed upstairs to bed, utterly exhausted both from the day's training and from the long, rather intense conversation with Galen. They'd said goodnight on good terms, but nothing had really been concluded on the subject of dealing with Glimmerbright. She wanted to go and speak to him, to get more information from him about what was causing the issues in the area – maybe it was some other force that he could help them combat. Galen, for his part, was convinced that it was Glimmerbright, and any inquiries would only give the Sidhe opportunities to lie and manipulate the situation to his own advantage… possibly doing more harm in the process.

  But he had admitted, at least, that having her on their side was a useful insight. The Sidhe hadn't expressed any interest in any other mortal in the area – she remained the only human being he'd been known to speak to — his murder victims notwithstanding – alleged victims, Julia insisted. And as far as she was concerned, that was as good as permission to conduct her own inquiries… though she'd have to be careful about choosing her moment.

  But as the nights wore on and the moon waned, no moment presented itself. She'd been hoping to hear that unearthly music again, to follow its call out to the forest and speak with Glimmerbright again, now that she knew what she wanted to ask… but the nights wore on and remained stubbornly silent. She began to worry a little that she'd offended him somehow, by not going to him the night of the full moon when he'd called to her. Was he giving her the cold shoulder, like her ex had always done whenever she didn't drop everything to leap to his every call? Surely not, she consoled herself, biting her lip. He was just… far away. Perhaps he was only strong enough to reach out to her like that on the full moon. Surely he'd understand that she'd been stopped, that she was being prevented from going to him…

  She kept training with Galen during the days, but he was aware of her distraction. Still, they didn't revisit their conversation from the other night, both of them clearly unwilling to risk an explosive argument. She couldn't help but feel restless, though. The attacks were continuing, the crops were continuing to fail, the cattle were continuing to sicken and die… the people of the castle and the village were all worried about not being able to survive the winter if this continued. There were emergency stores, true, but not enough to survive a complete crop failure… nor did they have the money necessary to simply buy excess from neighboring counties.

  And the attacks were ramping up in volume, too. One night after dinner with the other women, Julia was disturbed on her way out of the dining hall by a commotion in the courtyard. She headed out onto the steps, the cool night air embracing her – only to see a dozen or so men moving swiftly through the gate, shouting at each other. She could see the source of their concerns immediately – there, supported by a man on each side, was a guard she recognized, limping, a pained expression on his face as his friends helped him through the gate. She couldn't resist joining the crowd that surrounded the man… and horror struck her heart. He was all but lying on his friends, half of his face frozen in a grim rictus, one hand curled into a claw… she remembered doing a first-aid course years ago and being taught to recognize the signs of stroke. That was how this man looked… and her heart dropped. How did you treat a stroke in the medieval era? You didn't, she supposed bleakly.

  But the men around the injured man were just shaking their heads. "Third one this week," one said heavily to the other. "Elf shot."

  The injured man's mouth was twisting and working – it was clear he was trying to speak, but the paralysis was making it impossible. One of his friends patted him gently on the shoulder. "It's alright, now. You just need to rest. It'll ease up in a few days and you'll be back on your feet, alright?"

  Galen was among the crowd of men – she blinked in surprise when she heard his voice. "I'll cover your shifts, Mac. Don't worry yourself."

  "You're already covering for Davey, Galen." That was Brendan – he was one of the men supporting the injured man, his face drawn. "You'll have no time to sleep at that rate."

  "We're all pulling extra and covering for the injured," Galen argued, shaking his head. "I'll do my duty as long as there's breath in my body, Brendan."

  The injured man was escorted toward the guardhouse, Brendan calling for healers as the crowd slowly dispersed. Galen came to her side, looking exhausted and worried, deep lines in his forehead as he frowned after his friend.

  "We're losing men faster than they can heal up," he said heavily, shaking his head. "Mac's been on day shifts mostly. I'm afraid we'll have to postpone our lessons, Julia. I'm sorry."

  "It's alright," she said softly, waving a hand. "Won't hurt me to practice on my own for a while. But are you going to be alright, covering an extra set of shifts? You're already so exhausted –"

  But he just shrugged his broad shoulders, giving her a wan little smile. "I'll do what I have to do. I just hope we catch this bastard sooner rather than later."

  She bit her tongue on her usual rejoinder about not knowing that Glimmerbright was necessarily responsible for anything going on… and from the look of gratitude that Galen shot her, he appreciated the sacrifice. Still, she worried as she headed back into the castle after saying goodnight to Galen. Could it be that the charming man she'd met in the woods was responsible for this – the pain that poor man had been in, the terrifying experience of losing control of half of his body… could Glimmerbright really be capable of such a thing?

  And if it turned out that he was… what did that mean for how she felt about him? Because she hadn't stopped nursing her secret infatuation with him… hadn't stopped dreaming about him at night — although none of her dreams had quite matched the passion of that full moon night… Sometimes the dreams were murky and confusing, and she couldn't tell whether it was Galen or Glimmerbright who held her tight in his strong arms. But still… she felt something, that was for sure. And to complicate matters, she felt something for both men – the charming stranger, and the guardsman who wanted him dead.

  And she was beginning to worry that that just might be a better course of action than she'd thought…

  No, she thought firmly as she prepared for bed, shaking her head then feeling a little silly about making such a gesture in the privacy of her own room. Killing someone was never the answer, no matter what they'd done. And anyway �
� they didn't have the complete story. What if Glimmerbright had been paralyzing the men as a kindness? After all, though elf shot was inconvenient and probably very frightening, it did go away – half a dozen of the guardsmen had experienced it and made a full recovery. Maybe Glimmerbright was using the paralyzing shot instead of doing permanent harm to the guards. Maybe he was just scared – just wanting to defend himself in as non-lethal a way as possible.

  One way or the other, she needed to talk to him. Needed to sit down with him and ask him some very serious questions… if she could manage to avoid being distracted by his good looks for long enough, that was. And it seemed that with Galen on patrol most of the time, now, he wouldn't be there to stop her from slipping out the next time she heard the music…

  She just had to bide her time.

  Chapter 40

  It felt a little lonely, not having her regular training appointment with Galen to look forward to. She headed into the courtyard each day regardless, determined to keep up her drills and practices so that when he did come back to teach her, he'd be impressed with the progress she made. She indulged in a few silly little fantasies of actually besting him in combat as a result of her practicing – very unlikely to actually happen, of course, but it wouldn't hurt to dream, would it? It felt good to train. Exercise was good for the mind, kept her calm, kept her functioning well… but when she finished up her training and headed inside for a drink and a meal that was when the loneliness hit. She missed eating with Galen, missed talking about training, and guard work, and every little thing.

  Maybe she was closer with him than she thought. That sent a prickle of guilt running through her. Maybe she should give up on her infatuation with Glimmerbright… maybe she should block her ears next time she heard that beautiful music… but no, she thought firmly. She needed to talk to Glimmerbright to help deal with what was going on around here. Her own feelings for him… well, she'd cross that bridge when she came to it.

  She carried her own plates into the kitchen after lunch. She'd been in that habit for a while, an impulsive desire to lighten the load on the servants, though they never seemed to mind much. And when she headed into the kitchen, she discovered Maeve, humming to herself as she kneaded a ball of dough. The older woman looked up as Julia moved past her and smiled broadly, those silver eyes shining.

  "Good afternoon, Julia. Haven't seen you in a while. Too busy playing with knives?"

  She grinned. She'd seen Maeve a few times, observing her training with Galen. "Something like that, yes. Sorry to have left you lonely."

  "Oh, that's alright. It's good for a girl to know how to defend herself," Maeve said with satisfaction. "The number of times I've been spared considerable unpleasantness by a blade stashed in my bodice… well, that's a story for another time."

  Julia raised an eyebrow. "Yes please."

  Maeve laughed, dusting her hands off and reaching for a rolling pin. "And how is young Galen Grant?"

  "Overworked," Julia said softly, shaking her head.

  A somber look came into Maeve's eyes as she nodded. "Aye, I've heard about the goings on. They brought three guards in last night, all of them elf shot. The injuries are getting worse," she said, worry glowing in her silver eyes now. "The first man who came in simply lost the use of his left hand for a few days. Last night… well, poor Mac can't even lift his head from his pillow. We're having to spoon-feed him day and night."

  "He'll recover though, won't he?" Julia bit her lip. She didn't know much about paralysis, but she knew there were certain non-negotiable muscles that you couldn't safely lose control of. Muscles to do with breathing… muscles like the heart… was it possible that Glimmerbright's non-fatal option might just be about to turn a distinctly dangerous corner?

  "Aye, we hope so. Though the paralysis is likely to fade slower, given the extent of it."

  "Did you ever encounter this kind of injury in the Fae?"

  "Oh, yes. It's a classic weapon of the Sidhe," Maeve said softly, shaking her head. "I'm not surprised our uninvited guest has plentiful stores of the poison with him."

  "I've been trying to learn more about the Sidhe," Julia said, settling onto a low stool as she watched Maeve work. She knew better than to offer help when Maeve was rolling the dough out – this was too important a stage in the process to risk the involvement of unskilled hands. Not that Maeve had put it so bluntly… but Julia was getting good at reading between the lines. "Galen was telling me that that the Unseelie are – well, unreasonable, irredeemable monsters. Is that true?"

  Maeve tilted her head thoughtfully. "What do you think?"

  She hesitated for a moment. "I think… that you might as well say that some humans are irredeemable monsters."

  The faintest smile of approval from Maeve. Julia hid her grin. "Aye, well, the Unseelie certainly are responsible for a great deal of harm and suffering, I won't pretend that's not the case. And our Galen has every reason to nurse a grudge against them. You do know about dear Eamon."

  "He told me." She nodded, biting her lip. "I know he bears them a grudge."

  "But even the Unseelie Fae aren't without a kind of moral code… though it bears no resemblance to any in the human world."

  "What kind of code?" She leaned forward, fascinated by this and regretting not talking to Maeve earlier. She was much more informed than Galen when it came to Glimmerbright… and it was good to have her suspicions confirmed that he wasn't just some monster.

  "It's difficult to describe, and quite alien to us," Maeve said softly. "I'll admit I never gleaned much of an understanding… Old Maggie would be a much better source of knowledge, but she's not been seen in quite some time. It has to do with words and language. For the Fae, language isn't simply a means of communication… it forms a contract, too."

  "They're men of their word, hey?"

  "In a way, yes. Quite literally. They are their word – and to break a promise, for example, would be inherently self-destructive. If a man goes back on his word, he lacks honor. If a Fae goes back on his word… well, depending on the importance of the promise, it could destroy him utterly."

  "Wow," Julia said, thinking back to the careful way Glimmerbright had spoken, how it seemed that he'd been choosing his words with extreme caution. At the time, she'd found it charming… now, she realized that it had to do with self-defense. "Is that why he won't speak to anyone from the Watch?"

  "Aye, that's part of it," Maeve said with a faint smile. "To speak with someone, for any reason, is to risk giving them power over you. Sharing your words with a person, for the Fae, is… well, more intimate than it is for us."

  Julia fought the blush that threatened to spread over her face. Intimate was certainly one word for it. "I've been talking with Galen a lot about it all," she admitted, troubled by her memory of the conversation. "He's determined to kill Glimmerbright outright, but I can't help but think that there's a better solution."

  Maeve nodded. "Killing is always best avoided or left as a last resort. Especially when it comes to dealings with the Sidhe. Their politics are… well, complicated is the best word I have for it. They are very easy to offend… and we've been on thin ice with them for a while."

  "But Glimmerbright isn't part of the group who own the Burgh, is he?"

  "He's still one of them." Maeve shrugged. "Violence against him wouldn't reflect well on us, that's for sure."

  "All the more reason to make sure we don't do him any harm," Julia muttered, irritated that Galen couldn't see what Maeve saw so clearly and immediately. "But Galen's convinced he's the source of all the problems around here. I suggested we find a way to trick him into leaving."

  Maeve laughed, a silvery sound. "A battle of wits with a Sidhe… you're a brave one, Julia Andersen."

  "Maybe," she admitted with a rueful smile. "Brave and stupid are kind of the same thing sometimes, hey?"

  "I don't think you're stupid," Maeve said firmly. "Stupid would be rushing out into the night to try something. Instead, you're talking about it wit
h me. And with Galen."

  "Is it possible, then?" Julia asked, buoyed by Maeve's encouragement. "If words are so important to the Sidhe… maybe there's a way of… I don't know. Tricking him into making a promise, or something? Making it so that his honor or his word or whatever would be destroyed if he stayed here? At least if he left, he'd be safe," she said softly.

  "Aye, perhaps," Maeve said. "Or he might be in even more danger in the world of the Fae. There must be a reason he fled here, after all. At any rate… it's worth thinking about."

  "I seem to have… a kind of friendship with him," she said hesitantly, wanting Maeve's advice. "Is that… safe?"

  Maeve tilted her head to the side and looked at her for a long time, her flattened dough forgotten as she gave the matter thought. Finally, she sighed. "No, Julia, it isn't safe. Any kind of friendship with the Fae is by its very nature unsafe. They're wild creatures, capricious, difficult to understand and even more difficult to trust… they're so very different from us. But at the same time… I wouldn't discourage you. It's possible that this bond you share with him, whatever its nature, may be instrumental in helping us out of this disaster we're facing. And as always… if you want to stop something, first you must find out why it's happening."

  Julia nodded, even more conflicted than she had been before. So Glimmerbright was dangerous, she thought as she headed up to her room, body sore from training, mind full of worries about the danger she was facing. But that didn't mean she shouldn't continue her friendship with him… to try to get answers, to try to find a solution that didn't involve killing anyone.

  The Fae might be frustrating and confusing, she thought with some amusement. But Maeve was certainly giving them a run for their money.

  Chapter 41

  She spent a restless night tossing and turning, eventually getting some strained sleep in the wee hours of the morning. But when she woke up, she felt oddly peaceful. Her restless night had been productive – she'd come up with a plan, a course of action that she believed was going to help get to the bottom of what was going on. It did involve going to see Glimmerbright, so Galen was likely to be furious with her… but he wasn't here, was he? She grinned to herself as she headed downstairs for breakfast, feeling a thrilling mixture of elation and guilt. It was decided. She was going to see Glimmerbright again at the earliest opportunity… and this time, she was going to get some answers.