Legend of the Fae: A Highland Fantasy (The Dark Fae Saga Book 1) (11 page)

~ Chapter 16 ~

The horse trotted gracefully through the heavy snow. Galen saw no need to pick up the pace, which Ella was grateful for. He informed her that they were heading toward the village where he had found her in hopes that she could lead him the rest of the way. But there were two problems with that plan. For starters, she had no idea where the portal was. The second problem with this plan was
him
. She could not very well just walk through a magical portal and hope that he would think nothing of it. She was going to have to find the tree and convince him to trust her enough to leave her. But she knew that was not going to be easy.

Ella had hoped that her anxiety would distract her enough to ignore the fact that Galen had his arm tightly wrapped around her waist, but it was no use. It was pure torture. She wanted nothing more than to have his arms wrapped around her, to feel his lips on hers again. Conflicted by what she wanted to do and what needed to be done tore through her like a dull knife. A part of her wanted to return to her world, yet the other half wanted him as well. She could not have both.

Her anxiety started to build once the village came into view. She felt like bursting into tears.
I must be strong
, she told herself.
It will all be over soon
.

Before Ella knew it, they rode up to Evelyn’s cottage. It had seemed like a lifetime had passed since she had been there.

“There is something I need to take care of before we leave. If ye wish, ye can visit wit’ Evelyn until I return.”

Galen dismounted and led the horse to the stable with Ella still sitting in the saddle. Once inside the barn, he lifted his arms and firmly grabbed onto her waist. Slowly, he lowered her to the ground. For a moment she stood before him, looking up at him in deafening silence. His eyes looked sad, and his face looked tired and forlorn. It made her feel worse.
Senseless wishes
, she thought, as her mind asked a thousand “what if” questions.

If she had her voice and could say anything, she would thank him. Not only had he saved her twice, but had she never come here she would never have experienced such passion, such fervor. He had given her wonderful memories that she would cherish forever. Ella rose to her toes and placed a soft kiss to his cheek. She paused before lowering herself back to the ground. The smell of him drew her in like an aphrodisiac. She trembled, wanting to touch him. The tension between them was almost palpable. Her longing caused a pain in her chest. Ella parted her lips. She leaned toward him and looked into his eyes.

The tension shattered like glass as Evelyn entered the barn. Ella jolted back as if she was afraid of being caught in his arms.

“I thought I saw someone ride up,” she cheerfully said. “Lassie, tis good to see ye. Ye are looking well. Where are ye two headed?”

“I am taking the lass home,” Galen replied.

“I see. Well, if ye have time fer a short visit, I just made some vegetable stew. It will fill yer bellies fer yer journey.”

“Thank ye. Why dinna ye and the lass head inside? I will be in shortly.”

Galen’s voice was gruff with emotion. Evelyn linked her arm through Ella’s and started heading out the door. Ella turned her head back at Galen. Their eyes locked until Ella disappeared through the barn’s door and headed toward the cottage.

Galen sat down on the bench behind him. Not wanting to read too much into the lass’ actions, he assumed the kiss was nothing more than a show of appreciation. The lass had no idea how hard it was for him not to just grab her and ravish her right then and there in the barn. To hell with what Evelyn would have thought if she had caught them together. Riding together on the horse was pure temptation, and he guessed he still had several more days until he returned her to her people. He didn’t know how much more he could take. Perhaps he should ask Warrick to continue the journey the rest of the way.

Taking a deep breath, he stood to gain his bearings. Wiping his hand down his face, he headed toward the cottage. Inside he found Evelyn, Warrick and the lass sitting around the table enjoying a hot meal. Galen sat down with them as Evelyn handed him a bowl of stew. He couldn’t take his eyes off the lass.

Before Evelyn had interrupted had them in the barn he could have sworn something was about to happen between them. The atmosphere had changed, and he’d seen longing in her eyes.

Her belly full, Ella pushed the bowl away and smiled at Evelyn in gratitude for the meal. With her hands resting on her lap, she nervously fidgeted with her fingers. She knew that she and Galen would head out soon, while the sun was still high in the sky. Throughout the meal, she kept taking small glances toward Galen. Each time she looked he seemed to be stealing glances as well, as if the two of them shared a secret.  

Galen, however, seemed to keep himself occupied speaking with Warrick about battle with another clan. Apparently his clan was at war with another. It sounded very much like the conflict in her own world between the two kingdoms. She felt disturbed thinking of Galen heading off to battle, but wasn’t that exactly what she was doing?     

“Come wit’ me, Lassie. Let’s leave these men to their talks of war and self-approbation. Ye and I can have a more lady-like conversation of much more interesting gossip. There is much I wish to share.”

Arm in arm, Ella walked with Evelyn out the back door and through what appeared to be a strange type of building full of plants and herbs. Evelyn spoke of her excitement for her bairn to be born and shared with her the list of names she had picked out if it were a wee lad or a lass.

“Pardon my intrusion, but I must thank ye. I have never seen my cousin as happy as he is today. He had hardened over the years, and for the first time in what has seemed like forever he has no’ been able to stop smiling. Something tells me that ye might have something to do with that. Tis quite obvious ye share his feelings as well.”

Ella felt her cheek blush with embarrassment. Was it that obvious?

“Dinna be ashamed. I think it is positively wonderful. I dinna want to overstep my place, but I do hope that ye consider my cousin a good mon. He may be a bit hard-headed and arrogant at times, but he is a good mon. Just… sometimes, he dinna always let people in. Come, I want to show ye something.”

Ella followed Evelyn outside down a beaten path, listening to the constant prattle of Evelyn’s interesting stories. Evelyn explained that her child was the first bairn to be born within the village after almost a decade. The wee town of Ferryden feared for their children after a terrible tragedy.

Evelyn directed her to a small fenced-in cemetery with a cluster of headstones. Evelyn opened the gate and the two of them walked through the row of gravestones.

“These are the graves of the children who used to live in the village. Ten years ago there was a wicked storm, but the truth behind what happened is still not known. Everyone in the village said that the children got caught out in the storm and died. But they ne’er found the bodies. The graves themselves are empty, but it dinna feel right no’ to have a place of mourning. Galen, on the other hand, believes something quite different. The night of the storm, he went on some crazy rant about the children. He claimed that a woman took them. Of course, as ye can imagine, the elders in the village thought him mad. When Galen refused to stop his allegations they banished him. He left fer a good six years before returning. He refuses to talk about it, but I know that he still believes what he saw. He was convinced that a witch took them; a Fae witch, of all things. Just between ye and I, there have no’ been stories of the Fae on Scottish soil for hundreds of years, and there has no’ been a sighting in over a century. If ye ask me, they are no more real than a mon who could predict the rain,” Evelyn confessed.

At the mention of the Fae, Ella’s eyes shot wide open. The allegation of a Fae kidnapping human children seemed absurd. Why would someone do such a thing? As they reached the last grave marker, Evelyn crouched down.

“This last one was my cousin’s childhood friend. He will no’ admit it, but I know he misses her verra much. After all, she was his first love. Her name was LuElla but he called her Ella,” she said, as she wiped the snow off the face of the gravestone, exposing the name.

LUELLA DUMONT 1391-1403

At the sight of the name etched in stone, it was as if an arrow pierced Ella’s heart and then ripped back out. She felt as if the arrow left a tiny crevice, which widened, breaking her heart in two. Though the written word was still fairly new to her, she was very familiar with the spelling of her own name. Though Luella was her given name, she had always been known as just plain Ella. The only person who ever referred to her as Luella was Alaris.

Ella’s mouth fell open. With a catch in her breath, she gasped. In utter shock, she scanned the grave markers once more. There were thirteen stones total. Each one had a familiar name, all members of the Order. Ella became agitated. Her hands became sweaty despite the cold, and her pulse quickened. Why was her name on that stone? On a gravestone, of all things! Searching her memory, the timeline Evelyn described would have been the same time she had joined the Order, ten years ago.
Nay! It can’t be true!
But looking at her name upon the grave marker, she knew it was. Was this it? Was this the reason the stones had sent her here, to discover the truth about who she was?

None of this made sense. If her name was on that stone, that meant...

Ella felt a bout of nausea rise in the back of her throat.  She needed answers, but she was not going to find them here. She had to go back, to return to her realm. If what she believed was true, Alaris had known all along. Alaris must have been the witch Galen saw when he was a lad. Alaris had deceived her.

Without a moment of hesitation, Ella dashed out of the cemetery and up the hill before vanishinginto the darkness of the barn
.
After a quick survey, she noticed two horses; a beautiful buckskin-colored stallion and a chestnut-colored mare, both locked in their stall. Galen’s horse, however, stood before her already saddled and ready to go. Mounting the large beast, she smacked its backside hard, urging it to go. The horse bucked and pushed open the barn door. Ella jerked the reins toward the trees from which she had come, and without further encouragement the horse took off in a fast sprint. Ella needed to find the portal before it was too late.

“Lassie, lassie!” Evelyn cried out as Ella bolted passed her.

Ella could hear Evelyn calling out for her as the distance between them increased, but she could not turn back. Time was not on her side.

Galen and Warrick ran out to the cemetery when they heard Evelyn crying out. Worry kept him at a hasty speed. As he ran toward her, he saw Evelyn standing alone.

“Evelyn, was it is? Where is the lassie?”

“Gone!”

“What do ye mean, gone?”

“I dinna know. We were just walking through the graves, and when I told her the story about the children, she became increasingly agitated and took off in a sprint.”

“Where did she go?”

“She took yer horse and ran off into the woods.”

“No’ again!”

Without another word, Galen ran to the barn, mounted a horse, and took off after her.

Galen searched well into the night, but she was nowhere to be found. By morning, he returned to Dunquest to send men out to search for her. Throughout the day, he was given reports of their status, but they still couldn’t find her.

Galen prayed she was safe. He had to trust that she knew what she was doing; otherwise it would drive him mad. The only comfort he had was that she had his horse and all of the provisions he had packed stuffed inside the saddlebags. At least she wouldn’t go hungry.

~ Chapter 17 ~

After riding for hours, Ella finally came upon the withering oak. The portal was hidden to the human eye. Sliding off the horse, she walked toward the tree. Not knowing how to open the gateway from this side, she took the runes out of the satchel, hoping they would guide her. Dumping them into her hand, the stones did indeed tell her how to open it. As she smoothed her hands down the bark of the tree the vortex of light appeared. Without hesitation, Ella stepped into the light.

Within a blink of an eye, she was back in her own realm. She sighed with relief. Hiking up the skirt of her dress, she ran back up the path towards the iron gates of Lochmoor. As she approached the gate, she was grabbed from behind. It was Baudi.

“No! Please, Baudi, let me go,” she pleaded as he began dragging her toward the gate.

She felt as if a heavy weight had been lifted when she realized her voice had been restored. A sudden burst of excitement shot through her like a bolt of energy.

“I know you have your orders, but you must listen. I need to stop this war; Baudi but I need your help.”

Baudi stopped. His eyes narrowed. Reluctantly, he released her.

“Stop the war?” he asked in a gritty tone.

“You of all people know the casualties and aftermath of war,” she reminded him, as she glanced down at his broken tattered wings. “I know crossing through the portal was forbidden, but I have learned a great deal. We are fighting on the wrong side, Baudi. Alaris has us all bewitched and me more than anyone. I must get to Greylyn. I must speak to the Queen. I cannot explain it now, but you must let me go.”

Baudi looked to her as if he himself had hope. War had destroyed him once; who knew if he could survive another? Releasing his breath slowly, he firmly placed his hands upon her shoulders.

“If what you say is true and you can stop this war, then go. Do what you must.”

Ella’s lips curled in a small smile.

“Thank you, Baudi.”

Ella placed her fingers to her lips, and in a loud, high-pitched whistle she called for her horse. Within moments, her demon black stallion rode to her side. The horse bowed his head, allowing her easy access to mount. As she swung her leg over its neck, the horse lifted its head, raising her up onto its back.

“Go!” she called out as the horse bolted up the steep hill toward Greylyn.

Once they reached the top of the hill, the flat terrain was draped in a white curtain of snow. What was once a beautiful, lush forest was now a barren flatland, made so by war. Along the outskirts of Lochmoor, Queen Talara had ordered the trees and brush to be cut down to prevent anyone from hiding from her guards. It became a fine dividing line between the dark lands Alaris controlled and those of Talara’s. Fear of being caught did not once cross Ella’s mind. Demon was faster than any horse in the realm.

If her calculations were correct, the royal babe’s celebration was a little more than a week away, just enough time for her to reach Greylyn and return to the citadel of the Order, that’s of course if she could convince Talara of her plan. At this rate it would take three full days alone to reach the walls of Greylyn. Kicking the horse’s flank, Demon picked up speed.

Heavy precipitation blurred their visibility and caused them to slow their pace. Surrounded by falling white snow with no visible landmarks to follow, she let Demon use his instincts to guide them. A fitful breeze of blowing snow continued to sweep across the frozen terrain, making it appear as if she rode the clouds among the Gods.

~ ♥ ~

It had been days since Galen sent out his best men to search for the lass. There hadn’t been one trace or clue as to where she could have gone. The last report he received was that they had lost her trail days ago headed north in the direction of the nearest port. They believed she had boarded a vessel and left Scottish soil.

From across the table, Alex watched Galen as he picked at his meal like a bird.

“My Laird, I do no’ mean to interrupt ye, but I have word. The horse has returned riderless. As for the lass, we have searched everywhere to no avail. Messengers and scouts have been sent to the nearby clans, but nay one has seen her. It’s likely she has either headed south toward England or boarded a vessel towards France. Tis been almost a week, my Laird. I think that if the lass wanted to be found, we would have found her.”

That was the last thing Galen wanted to hear. Picking up his mug of whiskey, he smiled as he remembered the lass’s reaction the first time she tasted it. It was a fond memory.

“Yer right, Alex. Call off the search. Starting tomorrow we will focus all of our attention on the security of this castle and surrounding villages. I am to travel to Inveraray next week to meet with Laird Campbell and the Duke of Argyll. We will need their support. The discovery of the lass interrupted my plans for the campaign. Neville Campbell has proposed a treaty with Arthur McGregor, and I have agreed to sign the contract to end this war.  My uncle started this dispute, but as of today, I am going to end it. Whatever the cost!”

“Tis a bold move.”

“Aye, and one long overdue. We need to be one step in front of our enemies. Tis time for change, my friend.”