by Katie M John
“Wow, you’ve given this a lot of thought.”
“There’s not a lot else to do here but think, is there?”
“Right, now what about you and Glen McGarrick. I think you’re the handsomest couple I have ever seen.”
We laughed and spent the next hour talking about all of Glen’s various attractions, which even though Aileen had her eyes and heart very firmly fixed on someone else, she could still appreciate.
When the fire grew small and the bottle of whisky lower, I asked her, “Are you going to the ritual?” I asked, my mind unable to leave the damned thing alone.
She nodded. “It’s expected. All of the village folk go.”
“But not Meg?”
“Old Meg?” Aileen said stretching her arms and yawning. “Old Meg lives a different way to us. She probably is the Dorcha Sìthiche,” she said letting out a little laugh.
At some point, we must have fallen asleep as I woke in the middle of the night, freezing cold, to see Aileen curled up on the sheepskin rug in front of the burned out fire. I took one of the soft tartan blankets from the back of the sofa and laid it over her, causing her to stir and let out a little murmur.
I wondered if her father had returned from Lady McGarricks and whether he was used to his daughter’s unladylike behaviour—maybe he encouraged her free spirited nature, although that seemed a little cruel when Aileen would soon be married and expected to conform, or else live a life on the fringes like Meg.
I stretched. My limbs heavy and painful from the awkward sleep. I let out a gasp as my shoulder still made a demand for attention, I realised it hurt a little more than it had done for a couple of days. It was hard to make an assessment in the cool blue light, but when I placed my cold hand against it, it felt slightly warm. I sighed, pushing the fear that it might be an infection as far away as I could. An infection in these times might be a death sentence.
I made my way through the cottage, hoping to find Aileen’s bed so I could try and get some more sleep before day break. As I passed the master suite even in the gloom, I could see it was empty and I smiled. Lady McGarrick probably hadn’t even noticed I hadn’t come home yet.
I found Aileen’s room, her bed still unmade and the floor littered with books. I crept in under the covers and fell fast asleep with dreams of Glen.
CHAPTER TWELVE
I pulled the door of the cottage to, not wanting to wake Aileen from her sleep. Across the way, on the small patch of grass beside the loch which was now filled with animal pens, a small gathering of men were busy.
I walked over to them, ignoring their slightly hostile looks and saw that several of the cages now held rabbits, song birds and one of the pens held a young deer, whose leg was chewed up. It had clearly been caught in a trap. My heart felt a moment of pity for the all the wild creatures who now faced such a violent blood end.
All of our attention was pulled towards a group of men heading back into the village. They were jubilant and shouting, not caring about the hour of the morning and who they might wake. As they approached, I saw they were each carrying grain sacks that moved and fluttered as creatures tried to fight their entrapment. Between them, they carried several dead creatures tied to a long pole. A badger and another young deer amongst other creatures. I frowned. All this death just to keep a fabled fairy happy.
I sighed and headed off in the direction of the McGarrick’s house, hoping Fi would already be cooking breakfast because I was famished. I passed Aileen’s father on my travels, and he tipped his cloth cap at me in greeting, showing no sign of any kind of guilt. I guessed that was one of the privileges of age, you didn’t have to justify yourself anymore.
The fires were already lit and the house smelled of cooking bacon. I could have kissed Fi but instead, I placed an order for double bacon and scrambled eggs. Fi frowned at me and muttered something about eating Lady McGarrick out of house and home before setting to her task. Fi’s words cut deep even though I knew she didn’t mean them. She was right. I was staying in their home, eating their food and living off their hospitality and what was I putting back into the household? I had no money, nowhere to turn should they decide they’d had enough of me. Another wave of homesickness swept over me.
“Fi?” I asked, turning at the door way.
She looked up from her task and swiped a piece of hair from her forehead.
“Yes?”
“Is there anything I can do?”
Fi’s eyes nearly fell out of her head before she smiled and shook her head. “You want to put one of the girls out of paid work, lassie?”
“No! No, not at all… it’s just, I’m not used to people doing everything for me and I’d like to pull my weight if I’m going to be here for a little while?”
Fi nodded. “Okay. After breakfast, I could do with you heading into the village to the McDonald’s household to see if they have any eggs they can trade. For some reason, our girls haven’t laid for a couple of days.”
I nodded and smiled, pleased to have some purpose at last. “Okey dokie,” I said, with more of a spring in my step.
Fi yelled after me. “Remember I don’t speak French, lassie.”
I rolled my eyes as I headed back to the dining room, where Lady McGarrick was sat reading through a stack of papers as she waited for her breakfast.
“Morning, Skye,” she said, raising her eyes from her task and smiling.
“Lady McGarrick.”
“You had fun with Aileen yesterday. I noted you didn’t come home?”
“We got talking.”
She nodded. “She’s a good girl. A little wild but she has a good heart. I’m glad you’ve found a friend. The village can be a little… well understandably, strangers aren’t always to be trusted.”
“I understand,” I said, smiling at Fi as she placed the platter of eggs and bacon in front of me. “And thank you for taking me in and being so kind.”
She waved my thanks aside. “It’s what any good Christian would do.”
We ate our breakfast in silence after that. It was clear Lady McGarrick was very pre-occupied by her papers. After breakfast, I took my own plate to the kitchen, much to Fi’s eyebrow raising, and asked her for a basket so I could fulfil my task of gathering eggs.
Since I’d passed that morning, the collection of animals, dead and alive had grown. The men must have been out hunting all the hours of the day and night to gather such a collection. It was evident they were all very frightened of the Dark Fairy.
My heart stopped when I saw a stag tied to a pole, bucking and thrashing against his captivity. There were several men trying to placate it but it was in a frenzy. I told myself to stop panicking, that there were thousands of stags in the highlands, that Glen was too smart to find himself in such a predicament.
“Careful lassie. Stay back,” one of the men shouted at me as I neared.
The stag turned in my direction and I knew immediately, my fear had been right. It was Glen. I could see Glen’s eyes full of panic, pleading with me to recognise him. He stamped his feet, let out a mournful bellow and began thrashing against the rope again.
“Ssh,” I called out, ignoring the warnings of several of the men. “I see you,” I said, hoping that he would understand what I meant. “I see you.” I reached out my hand slowly towards him, and placed it on the space between his eyes. He stilled immediately and a low chatter of appreciation travelled through the group.
“Well, I never lassie. You have a way with the animals, that’s for sure.”
“What’s going on here?” a deep, entitled English voice barrelled towards us. I glanced back to Duke Gifford striding towards us.
“Lady Lennox,” he said, shifting his demeanour immediately.
“Sir?” I replied as I returned my attention to Glen who was still trembling under my touch.
“I missed you at coffee the other morning.”
“I had errands to run.”
“Never mind. Perhaps you and the Lady McGarrick would do me the ho
nour of joining me for supper?”
I pressed my lips together. “I’m not sure, but I think Lady McGarrick’s diary is quite full for a couple of weeks.”
The Duke sidled up to me and placed his arm around my waist, his hand resting on the front of my skirt inappropriately. The stag stamped his feet and gave the rope a thrash, giving me an opportunity to snake out of the duke’s clutch and turn my back more to him.
“Then perhaps you could come on your own. I have a very fine house and it would give me a great pleasure to show you around.”
“That’s a very kind offer,” I replied, flashing him a tight smile before returning to my task. “but I’m not sure Lady McGarrick likes me going places unchaperoned.”
His body moved close behind me again and I could feel the full heat of him across the whole of my back. I glanced to the other men who had all slowly scattered, not wanting to be involved in any of the Duke’s personal business.
“What do I have to do to get you on my own?” the Duke whispered low in my ear. “I’ll give you anything you want for an evening of your company, you pretty little peach.”
I jumped away from him as his tongue licked my neck.
“Sir! Please, don’t.”
His hand lashed out and grabbed me by the wrist, his voice lowered to a growl. “Lady Lennox, here I am King, remember that—and kings get what they want.”
I shook my head. Hot tears filled my eyes but I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing me cry. He was a bully and he’d probably get off on such a thing. Thankfully, one of the men approached us, breaking into the Duke’s unwanted attention.
“Sir, you saw we got the stag you requested?”
“Yes, a fine specimen,” the Duke said, slapping the stag on the rear and causing it to erupt with distress. “We shall make this the last of the sacrifices to the dark bitch,” he muttered under his breath. “Surely that satisfy her.”
Of course, it was the Duke’s child who was last to be born of the year. It would be his son who the Dark Fairy would come for should the offerings not be enough.
“I’m sure of it, Sir,” the man replied. “It’s the finest offering the village have ever made.”
“Yes. You’ve done well,” the Duke said, surveying the collection of offerings. “Very well.”
“On that note, Sir, the men were wondering when you might settle their pay. They’re wanting to stockpile for the winter.”
The Duke half-ignored the man’s request, brushing it aside. “In a few days,” he replied, walking around the pens and peering in.
“So what day should I tell the men to gather at the inn?”
Suddenly, the Duke erupted with rage. “When I tell you. Let’s see if this damned sacrifice works first, shall we?”
I laid my head against Glen’s bucking head and whispered low into his ear. “I’ll save you,” I promised. “I’ll come back and get you.”
I took the Duke’s temper tantrum as an opportunity to get as far away from his as possible and head back to Lady McGarrick. She knew of Glen’s curse and she needed to know the Duke had him in mind for the ultimate sacrifice. She was a powerful woman and I knew she would be able to do more for Glen than I could.
*
I charged through the house looking for her and found her in front of the fire, sewing. I stopped. She looked so serene and I was about to shatter her world.
“Lady McGarrick,” I said, struggling for breath from my run back to the house.
“Whatever is the matter, lass?”
“They’ve got Glen. They’ve got him tied to a post in the village.”
She placed her sewing down into her lap and frowned. “What do you mean they’ve got Glen.”
“For the ritual. They’re going to use him as the ultimate sacrifice. The Duke paid some men to capture a stag as an offering to the Dark Fairy.”
She stood, her embroidery falling to the floor. “Are you sure it’s him?”
I nodded. “How do you…?”
“Out on the moorland, Glen was in his stag from and I saved him from the hunters. Then he turned back into… Glen.”
Lady McGarrick pinched her nose between her fingers. “This isn’t good, Skye.”
“But the Duke will listen to you. He’ll let the stag go if you ask him.”
“Knowing that bastard, if I ask him to let the stag go, it will only make him want to keep it more.”
“Could you buy him off–or perhaps we could try and find a replacement? Send your men out hunting to bring back another?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know Skye. I need to think. Maybe… I have a friend who might be able to track down another stag but…”
Lady McGarrick grabbed the shawl off the back of the chair and made her way towards the door. “I’m going to go and see him. He must be terrified. Oh, my poor boy.”
I followed after her, hoping the Duke was still there so Lady McGarrick could talk with him but at the same time, dreading another horrible interaction with him. The man was…”
My hand flew out to grab Lady McGarrick’s arm and she rounded on me, clearly not used to being touched.
“Lady McGarrick…” I gulped. “The Duke… he made a pass at me whilst I was comforting Glen. He invited me for dinner—alone. He offered me anything in return for me spending a few hours with him.”
Lady McGarrick’s face fell and her mouth widened into a wide O. “No,” she said shaking her head. “Why are you even telling me this Skye? That’s not something we’re even going to discuss. Do you hear me? I don’t want you to mention that again—ever.”
“But…”
Lady McGarrick raised her hand to silence me. “I can’t ask you to do that. It’s the very last thing Glen would want you to do. He’s too fond of you. It would break him. No, there’s got to be another way. My relief was immense. I couldn’t even believe I had suggested such a thing. Panic clawed at my chest. I was going to lose my mind.
We walked towards the animals and the crowd who had gathered around the collection like people visiting a zoo. Several of the children were trying to pet the wild-eyed rabbits and one little boy was throwing stones just wide of Glen’s legs. I shooed him off and watched as Lady McGarrick approached the Duke. I watched them from a distance as she made small talk before asking him to show her the collection of animals that had been gathered. When they came to the stag, she smiled at the Duke. “By God’s grace, that is a fine specimen, Sir.”
“Yes, one of the best offerings there has ever been,” he boasted.
“Sure. Sure. He’s very fine, but you know—there’s an older, finer boy who runs a herd north of my lands. Twice as big with fine antlers. You’re very welcome to take your men up there this afternoon.
“That is most generous of you, Lady McGarrick and this generous offer of friendship shall not be forgotten, but no,” the Duke said shaking his head, “this one will do just fine. One stag in the pen is worth a hundred on the moor.”
Lady McGarrick straightened her back and looked over at me before sidling up to the Duke, using all of her womanly charms. “You know, in the past, the Dark Fairy has been more than satisfied with a few dead pheasants and a couple of live rabbits. You really don’t need to go to such lengths to appease her. I worry that she’ll get greedy in the future years.”
“It’s my son’s life at threat, Lady McGarrick, so with all due respect, I’d rather take no chances.”
Lady McGarrick nodded. The situation was hopeless. He had his prize and he wasn’t going to let it go.
“Sir,” I said, joining their intimate little circle. “I’ve been thinking about your kind offer to show me around your beautiful house, and I was thinking that now Lady McGarrick is her to give her permission, we might arrange such a visit,” I said, already playing through escape plans in my head.
I felt the Lady McGarrick’s hand clasp mine tightly between our silk skirts, hidden from the Duke’s view.
“You know I don’t agree with young ladies making
visits unchaperoned,” she said, inhaling sharply.
The Duke’s eyes were lit with flames of lascivious lust. “I’d take such good care of her,” he said. “I assure you she’d be perfectly safe.”
“No,” Lady McGarrick said. “I’m afraid being the Lady Lennox is a guest in my house, I have full responsibility for her and her making a visit is out of the question.” Her grip tightened on my hand and she began to pull me away from the gathering.
“We have to go. I have a coffee meeting in an hour,” Lady McGarrick said.
The Duke nodded and I could feel the heat of his gaze burning into me as we walked away.
“I thought I told you that wasn’t an option.”
“But we have to do something. I can’t let him die. It wasn’t as if I was going to let the Duke…”
“You wouldn’t get a choice, Skye. Don’t you understand that. The more you fought him, the more he’d like it. I can’t sacrifice you to a monster—that would make me no better than him. Glen is my one and only child, do you think I’m going to stand by and let that happen? You have to trust me. I’ll work this out—somehow.”
We spent the rest of the afternoon in separate places. There was nothing more I wanted to do then spend my time with Glen, offering him comfort and the promise we would save him but the less suspicion we drew, the better.
There was still time to make everything all right. During the course of the next several hours, I played through the possibility of giving the Duke what he wanted. Maybe he would be content with a quick touch up and a kiss, maybe I didn’t have to sacrifice my virginity to him, maybe I could just give him… I shuddered at the repulsive thoughts. The very idea of getting close to the man made me want to vomit. But this was Glen’s life at stake. His life.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
I snuck out of the house and made my way back to the village. I didn’t want to go up to the Duke’s castle and risk my bargaining position but I needed him to know I was willing to make a bargain—even if I didn’t know what the bargain was yet.
