Gift of the Realm (16 page)

“You
are justified in your anger, Halfling, but by her father’s word, she is my
mate. I can’t let you touch her.”

“I
am not your mate,” Fiona spat. “You refused me!”

“You
have my apologies,” Brogan continued, ignoring Fiona’s outburst. “And my
promise she will not interfere in your life, or your mate’s, again.”

“Take
her from my sight, Brogan,” King Cael said, weariness softening the boom of his
voice. “Accept your common destiny at last. And see if you can keep her from
mischief.”

“Wait!
Father,” Fiona wailed.

“With
all due respect, King Cael,” Colin began, watching Brogan drag a struggling
Fiona from the hall. Frustration welled in Colin as Cael held up a hand to halt
his demand that Fiona divulge Keely’s whereabouts.

“Leave
us,” Cael commanded. The hall emptied as the court fairies vanished without a
sound.

“I
won’t be leaving without my mate,” Colin growled when they were alone. “Nor
will I return to Owein empty handed. Do you assist me in finding their
location, or must I fight for the right to search for them myself?”

“’Tis
a bold one you are, Halfling,” Cael said, his voice full of humor while his
lips curved up in a condescending smile. “Making threats and demands of me in
my own hall.”

Colin
met and held his gaze unflinchingly. “I mean to see your daughter’s influence
in so many lives ended this day.”

The
smile slid from Cael’s face. “As do I.” Without looking away from Colin, Cael
spoke loudly. “Enter, King Owein the Fine, the
bacainn
is lifted.”

Colin
wasn’t surprised to see Owein immediately appear several feet away.

“It
has been a long time,
cara duinn
,” Cael said, returning Owein’s bow.

“Too
long, my friend,” Owein replied.

Cael
grinned and shook his head. “A human mate, Owein? I heard the rumors, but gave
them no heed.”

“Would
that you had heard the rumors of Fiona’s curse,” Owein said frowning.

“Ah,”
Cael sighed. “It appears I owe you an apology,
and
a boon. Your loyal
Halfling here,” he nodded his head in Colin’s direction, “has shared the
details of my daughter’s mischief.”

“No
apology or boon is necessary, Cael. I seek only Saraid’s return.” Cael nodded
and Owein turned to Colin. “Loyal?” he questioned, laughter glinting in his
eyes.

“My
only loyalty is to Keely,” Colin answered dryly.

“That
is how it should be for one’s mate,” Cael agreed.

Owein
burst into pleased laughter when Colin scowled. At Cael’s raised brow, he
explained. “The Halfling came late to accepting his destiny, causing us all
unnecessary grief. He’ll be doing some groveling at the lass’s feet, if he
hopes to win her forgiveness.”

“No
doubt my daughter now faces the same problem with her mate, Brogan,” Cael
replied with a laugh.

Colin
rolled his eyes. “If you two don’t mind,” he said stiffly, “I’d like to collect
my
mate
, and get to that groveling.”

The
hall rang with the laughter of two fairie kings.

****

“It’s
no use, Keely,” Saraid said, watching as Keely bent to examine the lock on the
door. “In three hundred years, I’ve found no way to escape this prison.”

“If
we can’t zap out of here, we’ll just have to find another way,” Keely insisted.

Though
she’d told Owein time spent in the fairie realm would be an improvement over
the confusion of the dreams, she did not intend to let her foolish comment
become a reality. She straightened and her gaze scanned Saraid’s well-appointed
prison.

“Ah!”
she said, spotting a scattering of hairpins on a mirrored dressing table. She
rushed to it, scooping up a pin, and hurrying back to the door.

“What
are you about?” Saraid asked.

Keely
crouched to tuck the pin into the keyhole, blindly working it against the
lock’s tumblers. “I’m picking the lock.”

“Have
you done this before?”

“No,
but I’ve seen it done in movies.” Keely gave a frustrated growl. “Damn. They
make it look so easy.”

“Movies?”

Keely
glanced over her shoulder at the confused expression on Saraid’s face. “Hmm.”
She shook her head. “Never mind. You’ve missed a lot in the last three hundred
years and it would take too long to explain.” She turned back, pressing her
face close to the keyhole. “If I could just,” she muttered, twisting the pin.

The
door swung open without warning. Crouched as she was, she lost her balance and
ended up sprawled on her backside, staring up at the open portal.

“Colin!”
she yelped, doubting her own eyes.

Colin
Quinn all but filled the doorway, his narrowed gaze roaming her face and body
as though looking for signs of abuse.

“What?
How?” she stumbled over her words.

“Your
mate, I presume,” said a laughing voice from behind him.

She
hadn’t noticed the others crowding the open door. She did now. Behind Colin
stood a large, pale-haired fairie, a grin splitting his handsome face. Behind
the unknown fairie, was Owein, his anxious eyes scanning the room over the
fairie’s shoulder.

Colin
stepped forward and held out a hand. Stunned at his unexpected appearance, she
placed her hand in his, and he pulled her to her feet.

“May
I present Keely O’Brian, King Cael.”

Keely’s
eyes widened as her mind registered the fairie king’s words, but before she
could ask what he’d meant when he’d called her Colin’s mate, a gasp was heard
from behind her.

“Owein.”
Saraid’s whispered plea was loud in the silence of the room.

Owein
pushed his way into the room, crossed the floor to stand before his bride, and
without a word, dropped to his knees. Wrapping his arms about her waist, he
pressed his face to her belly. Saraid buried her hands in his thick blond hair,
dropping her head until her forehead rested against his skull.

Keely
felt the sting of tears even as she grew uncomfortable at intruding on their
long awaited reunion.

King
Cael must have agreed, for he cleared his throat. “Brogan has removed my
daughter to his dwelling, King Owein. You and your mate are welcome to remain
here in this chamber as long as you wish.”

Owein
stayed as he was for a long moment before rising to his feet. With a gentle
hand, he brushed at the tears streaking Saraid’s face before drawing her into
his arms. With her face buried in his chest, he met Cael’s gaze over one
shoulder.

“I
appreciate your offer, my friend, but Saraid has been here long enough.” He
turned to Colin. “The same vow I have given Keely is yours, young Quinn. I am
in your debt, and pledge my assistance should you need it. Beginning now. If
you are ready, I will return you to your world.”

“That
won’t be necessary, King Owein the Fine,” Colin replied, giving Owein the
respect of his throne. “Take your wife home at last. Keely and I have some
unfinished business to settle.”

Owein
nodded, smiled at Keely, and he and Saraid disappeared.

Keely
spun about, unsure of what business she had left with Colin, but sure she would
rather discuss it somewhere other than Fiona’s realm. She met Colin’s watchful
gaze.

“I’m
ready to go as well, Colin. If you need to discuss something with me, you’ll
find me at the cottage.”

She
stuck out her arms and whispered, “
Baille
.” Nothing happened.

She
narrowed her gaze on Colin, but he looked innocent enough. “I’m new to
this...zapping stuff. I guess it doesn’t work here?”

“It
works here,” Colin said calmly.

“You
stopped me?” she asked, just to make sure.

He
nodded.

“I
told you not to do that again,” she complained through gritted teeth. She
turned to Cael, who seemed to be well amused at the situation. “It appears I
will need your assistance to return to my world, King Cael.”

“There
is another way, Keely,” Colin declared before King Cael could respond. He held
out his hand to her. “You need only stand with me.”

You
need only stand together as one unit for your will to be done.

Fiona’s
words from the day at the Door echoed in her mind. But standing together as a
unit would mean he would have to accept her as his mate, as his destiny. She
knew only too well,
that
wouldn’t be happening.

“I’d
rather not,” she told him.

“Then
we have a problem, darlin’” Colin said, crossing his arms over his chest in
that stubborn stance she was beginning to dislike intensely. “Because
you
aren’t going anywhere without
me
.”

Her
heart jerked and began to race at his use of the endearment as well as the rest
of his words. He couldn’t possibly have meant them the way she wanted to take
them, and she knew she would only be prolonging the pain of losing him if she
continued to hope for something that wasn’t to be.

The
curse was undoubtedly broken, the dreams at an end. Though it appeared he
wasn’t quite ready to bring their short affair to its inevitable end, she was.
Her time with Colin was done, and the sooner she got on with her life, the
sooner she would begin the process of getting over him.

“I
love you, Colin,” she admitted, pleased at how calm her voice sounded. “I think
you’ve always known that. I can never repay you for helping to free me from the
dreams, but it’s done now. It’s time for both of us to get on with our lives.”

“
Our
life
, Keely.
Ours
.”

She
shook her head and fought the tears that wanted to come. “You said once you
were afraid you would hurt me. You’re hurting me now. Release me and let me go
home.”

“I
could do that,” he said and closed the small distance between them. “I could
release the gentle
bacainn
holding you here, but without the heart, the
soul is nothing.” As Owein had with Saraid, Colin dropped to his knees in front
of her. His eyes were so blue she felt seared by them. “You are my destiny,
Keely O’Brian, and I am yours. What kind of man would I be if I were to let the
woman I love zap from realm to realm on her own, leaving me behind to follow? A
mate belongs with his mate.”

He
loved her? She had to take a deep breath before the argument would leave her
mouth. “You don’t believe in destiny, Colin.”

His
reply was a quiet pledge. “I believe in you, Keely. I believe in
us
.”

Her
breath caught in her throat as she studied his eyes and read the truth of his
words shining there. As impossible as it seemed, he loved her as she loved him.
The clearing of a deep throat didn’t tear her gaze from Colin’s.

“Perhaps
my daughter had the right of it,” Cael said into the stretching silence. “A few
years locked in here and the two of you might come to an agreement.”

“That
won’t be necessary, King Cael.” Keely felt the smile spread across her face.

Colin
was right. A mate belonged with her mate. She placed her hand in the one Colin
held out to her. “Take us home, Colin.”

Epilogue

“You’ve
been digging in the new lilac beds again, you naughty beast,” Eileen scolded
then slipped the corner of a scone to Donovan where he sat, tail wagging beside
her at the counter. “I saw the holes myself. Two of them!” She patted his head before
turning back to the sink. “It looked as if you’d been waging war with all that
dirt slung about. If the gardener catches you, it’ll be the dog house for
sure.”

Keely
looked up from her laptop to eye her husband of two months.

He
hid his unapologetic grin behind the coffee cup held to his lips. In a silent
reprimand, Keely lifted a brow as she glanced at the hand holding the cup. It
was clean now, though it had been filthy just an hour earlier, the dark dirt of
the garden blackening his short nails.

“The
dog house sounds like a good place for a beast who can’t refrain from digging
up my lilacs.”

Colin
chuckled and sent her a wink.

Kathleen
had been right. His fairie blood was as strong as hers, and since their return
from Cael’s raft, he’d taken delight in instructing her in her fairie gifts.
Wondrous gifts she’d never even considered.

She’d
learned a thing or two about his gifts as well.

It
had surprised and amused her to learn of Colin’s nightly travels in the form of
a beast. He’d been holding out on her, the rat. The townspeople had been abuzz
a month earlier, full of tales claiming Keely Quinn’s wolfhound had taken to
cavorting about the village with a large black wolf. She’d finally put her foot
down, and now her wolf and her dog kept their sport to the fields beyond Quinn
Manor—with too-frequent stops in the manor’s garden.

The
dreams still came, but they were easy now, with none of the urgency and
confusion of the past. Colin continued to join her there, and she reveled in
their nightly adventures, exploring both the human and fairie worlds.

They
visited Owein and Saraid often. Saraid seemed to be putting the trauma of her
time in Fiona’s raft behind her. Nothing could replace the time she’d missed
with her twins, but Keely hoped the pregnancy she’d announced just last night
would begin to heal her of that loss. Owein hadn’t let her out of his sight
since her return.

Like
a benevolent grandfather, Owein had taken to showering her and Colin with gifts
each time they visited. Finally, Colin threatened never to step foot in his
raft again if he didn’t stop.

Keely,
although relieved to see the end of the extravagant riches, would always
cherish his wedding gift, the magical unicorn ride over the shores of her
beloved Ireland.

No
one had seen Fiona since that day in Cael’s raft, but apparently, Brogan had
delivered her apology in person, not long after Saraid’s release. Keely had no
idea what her note said and didn’t care.