Taming the Highland Beauty (Guardians of the Isles #7)

Chapter Thirteen

“W here have you been?” a familiar voice called from the shadows at the back of Titania’s chamber.

Titania narrowed her gaze, searching for the man who dared to violate her private space. Oberon had promised her ages ago that she could use this room as a refuge. “You should not be here.”

Oberon stepped into the light. His eyes filled with suspicion. “I asked where you have been.”

“When have I needed to account for where I go or what I do in a day to you? You are not my keeper.” He would be even more furious with her if he knew she had visited the MacLeods, had helped Gille regain her strength with a secret brush of Titania’s hand against the girl’s shoulder, that she was the one rejuvenating the cursed fairy’s powers so that she might have a chance of protecting herself against Oberon’s rage.

Aye, Gille, Aria, and Pearl had tried to obliterate him. It was not the first time other fairies had tried such. If Oberon were not so unreasonable, then perhaps his own people might not frequently revolt against him.

His gaze narrowed. “I will remain here until you answer my question.”

“If you must know and spoil the surprise,” Titania said, moving to where she had laid three stems of bluebells. She gathered the delicate bell-shaped flowers in her hands and offered them to her husband. “I went to the human realm to pick these for you.”

The anger fled from his face as he gazed upon his favourite flowers. “You got these for me?” Surprise laced his words.

“Aye, my love.” Satisfaction rode through her. Oberon had been in a foul mood for the past year, ever since he had cursed Gille, and Titania had grown tired of always walking cautiously around him so as not to become the focus of his anger. So, when the veil between the human and fairy realms had started to thin as Beltane neared, she had taken advantage of the distraction.

Oberon suddenly frowned, even as he clung to the precious flowers. “Don’t you ‘my love’ me. You know I dislike you going to the human realm. Doing so could have dire consequences.”

Titania scoffed. “Consequences? Please. I have been going to the human realm for centuries without incident. I know what I am doing.”

Oberon stepped closer, his voice rising. “The human world is a dangerous place. There are forces out there that would do us harm.”

“Enough!” Titania interrupted; her voice filled with frustration. “I shall go to the human realm as I please until the veil closes again. And if you try to stop me, I will leave you and your petty kingdom and stay in the human realm forever.”

Oberon’s face darkened. “You would not dare,” he said, his voice low and menacing.

Titania met his gaze with defiance. “Oh, but I would,” she replied. “I’ve had enough of your controlling ways.” Until that moment, she had not been certain she would help Gille further, but now Titania knew she would. Aiding the poor cursed girl was one thing. Defying her overbearing husband was quite another. Since Oberon did not look like he would soon leave her presence, she turned and left her room.

“Get back here, Titania. We are not done discussing this.”

“Oh, but we are,” she said, striding out into the silver sky speckled with a thousand stars that always bathed Moonstone Castle. She intended to head back to the human realm this moment. Just let him try and stop her.

*

“I will not sacrifice one of my children or any MacLeod to the selkies,” Gwendolyn exclaimed, pacing back and forth in the great hall. “I am sorry, Gille—”

“I would never ask that of you.” Gille’s stomach roiled as she turned to Lottie. “Has this family treated you unkindly in all the years you were with them?”

“Nay,” Lottie said as she clutched her pelt to her chest.

“They have already experienced the loss of a child to the fairies. How can you ask such a horrible boon of them for the selkies?”

“’Tis not me. ’Tis what the selkie queen has said she wanted,” Lottie explained with an apologetic tone in her voice.

“Is there anything else Minerva might want instead? Something else beside the Fairy Flag or one of their kin?” Gille begged.

Lottie considered the question for a moment, as though trying to recall the many conversations she must have had with her people over the years. Finally, her face brightened. “A moonstone. Minerva is convinced that moonstone, a variety of feldspar, can be found on Healabhal Mòr.”

“You know this, how?” Gille asked.

“It is Minerva who swears moonstone can be found at the flat-topped edge of the taller of the two peaks. She claims to have witnessed a shimmering, iridescent flare that can only be produced by moonstone.”

“Why moonstone?” Callum asked as his gaze narrowed.

“One moonstone can protect an entire pod of selkies from those who would steal their skins and hold them hostage. Our family group would be protected from travellers to the shores of the loch, villagers, even the MacLeods. That would make the selkie queen very happy, indeed.”

Callum turned to Gille. “The MacLeod’s Tables are less than a day’s ride from here. We could retrieve the moonstone and return here before the sun sets tomorrow.”

“That would leave one day to discover the missing words of the song,” she said, swallowing roughly.

Callum took her icy hands in his. “One day can be enough for us to retrieve the moonstone and return to break your curse.”

“Far better to sacrifice a stone than a child,” Gille agreed, nodding her approval.

“Agreed,” Alastair, Gwendolyn and Callum chimed in. Even Lottie looked pleased with the decision.

Gille was relieved they had come to an agreement, but she knew she would bear the brunt of the consequences if they failed.

The guardsmen returned to their meal while those on the dais abandoned their half-finished food and looked to Lottie. “Are you ready to return home?” Alastair asked.

Lottie nodded, her features a mix of fear and hope. “It has been so long. I hope my children remember me.”

“You would be difficult to forget, my dear friend.” Callum moved to the healer’s side and drew her into a loving embrace. “Thank you for everything you did for me over the years. I stand here today because of your sacrifices. I will never forget all you have done. And I promise that the MacLeods, now and in the future, will protect the selkies from both human encroachment of your underwater realm and anything mankind might do to threaten your habitat.”

“Thank you, Callum. That means everything to me,” Lottie said, tears in her eyes.

In silence, Alastair and Gwendolyn led Gille, Callum, Tormod, Lottie, and Lady Janet down to the edge of the water. The setting sun painted the loch in hues of gold and orange, its surface rippling like a mirror shattered into a thousand pieces. Gille thought it was a perfect reflection of her own emotions. Lottie’s torment had come to an end, while Gille’s continued, her hope of success fading with each passing moment.

The MacLeods stood at the water’s edge. Lottie’s eyes filled with a mix of determination and trepidation. She was about to become a selkie once more, returning to her true family.

Gille, Callum, Alastair, and Gwendolyn watched as Lottie shed her human clothes and slipped into the selkie pelt she had worn as a young woman. The transformation was swift, her human form fading as her selkie form took hold. Her hands changed to flippers. Her feet into a tail. Her body now encased in the silvery-grey pelt, she waddled into the water. A heartbeat later she vanished beneath the waves.

“She is gone,” Gille whispered, her voice barely audible. With Lottie’s departure, her own chances of reclaiming the words to the song lessened, that was, unless Minerva accepted the moonstone as compensation for Lady Janet’s misdeeds.

“We have done the right thing, haven’t we?” Callum asked, his eyes filled with uncertainty.

“I hope so,” Alastair replied, his voice barely a whisper.

Gwendolyn turned to Lady Janet, who hovered at the water’s edge. “You must feel a sense of relief to see Lottie returned to her people.”

“I never meant for Lottie to stay with the MacLeods for so long. Had I not died, I hope I would have released her once I remembered where I stowed her pelt.”

Gwendolyn’s gaze shifted to Gille. “Perhaps that is why all this is happening now. So that Gille could help you remember and so that we had some way to retrieve what we need to break Gille’s curse.”

Lady Janet nodded, her ethereal form shimmering in the twilight. Instead of a reply, she lifted a ghostly arm, pointing to the water. The loch began to churn as a pod of silver-skinned seals emerged from the depths, their eyes intelligent and curious, fixed on the MacLeods.

The largest of the seals came towards them, her big body half in the surf, half out. There was no forgiveness in her wide eyes, only anger. I am grateful you sent Lottie home, but one kind deed does not undo the years of anguish you have caused.

As the seal spoke, Gille turned to glance at the MacLeods along the shore. Could they hear what Minerva said? None of them seemed to hear anything other than barking.

Gille looked back at the seal. “Will the gift of a moonstone help you to see past your feelings about the MacLeods, help Lady Janet find eternal rest, and help me to remember the lyrics of the song of the selkies?”

I cannot know until I see the moonstone and feel its power , Minerva replied, her eyes growing darker in the fading light.

The selkie was being secretive. Before they wasted time searching in vain, Gille wanted to know exactly what they could expect from such a stone. “How will this moonstone help Lady Janet pass on to her final reward?”

The selkie queen waddled closer. The ghost is already halfway there with you weaving her memories together so that she could recall where Lottie’s pelt was hidden, then returning it to her.

“Halfway does not get Lady Janet where she needs to go,” Gille argued.

Minerva’s gaze narrowed. Lady Janet’s fate is coiled with yours and mine, Gille. Finding a moonstone is the only way to help us all get what we want.

Gille bit down on her lip, trying to conceal her growing desperation from the selkie queen. “If that is the solution, then we shall bring you a stone you cannot resist.”

You can try ...she said before waddling backwards until she was engulfed by the water and vanished.

“That seal was talking to you, was it not?” Callum asked.

“Aye,” Gille said. “She said she is not certain the moonstone will be enough compensation for her to reveal the song we need.” Gille’s vision blurred as she watched Minerva and the other seals depart. She tilted up her chin and kept her back straight, refusing to give in to her tears. She would not shed a single tear for her fate that was entirely in the hands of others.

It took only a moment for her vision to clear. When it did, her gaze connected with Callum’s, and she swallowed roughly. He saw all the emotions she struggled to hide: fear, desperation, sadness, and hopelessness. Instead of coming to her side, he turned to his brother Alastair.

“If Minerva does not accept the gift of the moonstone, I want to use the last magic of the Fairy Flag to break Gille’s curse.”

“It is up to me to decide how the Fairy Flag is used to aid our clan. Besides, the flag can only be used to call forth the fairy legions to aid the MacLeods in a time of great need,” Alastair said, his tone sympathetic. “I doubt it would work to break a curse. If we used the flag, we would be wasting the last magic the cloth contains.”

“Alastair—” Callum implored.

“Nay, Callum. We will not discuss this further. We need to place our hopes that Healabhal Mòr will provide us what we need.”

Her throat tight, Gille turned her gaze back to the water of the loch as the last vestiges of yellow and gold on the horizon vanished, giving way to the silvery grey of night. The wind ruffled through her hair, sending it into wild disarray around her face. She reached up to tuck the errant strands behind her ears. With this sunset only two more days remained. She drew a breath and let it slide out like a whisper of promise that they would succeed. And if not, then she would slow down and take time to enjoy every sensation left to her until sunrise on the third day.

Transfixed by the deepening darkness and the twinkling stars overhead, it was a moment before she realised Callum was talking to her. She shook her head, clearing her thoughts.

Callum took two steps closer, and she swayed towards him. He reached for her hand, his touch a caress. “Do not give up.”

Instead of a response, a soft whisper of breath escaped her as she stared up into his eyes. She wanted to kiss him here along the water’s edge. To let their breath mingle with the softness of the night. Yet she knew she could not kiss him here, not in front of the others no matter how desperately she longed for the comfort it might bring.

“I will never give up,” she finally replied. “We must succeed in our goal to break my curse, despite the obstacles of time, a moonstone Minerva would accept, and Oberon.”

They had to succeed, or she would die trying. For death would be a more welcome end than an existence on the edge of life as a tree in the forest that could only observe and never participate in lives moving on around her. She had done this in the forest over the past year. A century or more in such a state would be a nightmare more horrific than anything she had suffered in the shadow realm. Aye, death would be a welcome choice if it came to that.