by Alice Wilde
I owe Annalise the rest of my life. I don’t know how I’ll ever make up for what I’ve done, but from this day forward I vow to give her my all. To fight and kill for her, to raise up an army in her name…
To give her Scotland.
Fourteen
Annalise
We rise early, packing the remainder of the food in a small bag Ero had taken the day before. Ero and Li changed places during the night, but I hadn’t noticed until Roan finally woke me and I found a blindingly white head of hair resting on my belly. To be fair, Roan woke me by accident by trying to push Ero away from me with his feet. Ero sits up and rubs his eyes, giving Roan a look of annoyance before getting up and walking a short distance out of the camp.
“Good morning, lass,” Roan says sheepishly.
“What are you doing?”
“Nothing. I just didn’t want Ero bothering your sleep.”
“Is that so?”
Roan grins awkwardly and then kisses my cheek before jumping to his feet and shaking out the arm I’d been sleeping on.
“Pretty sure this arm will be useless for a while,” he says with a wink at me.
“Hey!”
Roan laughs and goes to help Li prepare things to leave.
“Don’t forget to put your shoes on,” Roan says pointing at the shoes I’d thought I’d lost on the beach. “I’m sure you’ll need them. At least until we can find you a more sensible pair.”
Li walks over and hands me a small bit of meat and a handful of berries, which I accept gratefully. I’m much more ravenous than I was yesterday. I finish and suddenly jump to my feet.
“Don’t follow me!”
All three turn to watch as I run a little way out of the camp and behind a thicket to relieve myself. I can hear them chuckling.
“You didn’t have to announce that to the world,” Roan says, laughing when I return.
“I can never be too careful with the lot of you,” I retort. “For all I know you’d go into a panic and then stumble upon me in a less than ladylike state.”
“I’m sure I’ve seen worse,” Ero says.
I glare at him with mock anger, but he just shrugs and continues eating his breakfast.
“How far did you say you think we are from Scotland, Roan?” Li asks.
“Around a week or so, if we travel slowly,” Roan says with an unintentional glance my way.
“We’re looking at around fifty miles a day then?”
“At least.”
“Hmm.”
“I don’t know what you have to deliberate over,” Ero says. “We need to travel as leopards. It’s the only way we’ll be able to cut the time down and maintain a decent speed.”
Li looks over at me. “What do you think, Annalise? If we travel as we did in France, we can probably make it to Scotland in about a week. But, if you’re willing, as leopards we can probably make it in three or four days. We’d need you to hold onto our belongings, and it would be a relatively quiet few days for you.”
“You mean to tell me I’d get to ride you as leopards again?”
“Depends on what you mean by ride,” Ero says.
I roll my eyes at him.
“Yes,” Li says, smacking the back of Ero’s head.
“Hey!”
“I don’t suggest choosing Ero as your mount,” says Li, side-eyeing Ero.
“And I don’t suggest riding anyone but me,” Roan interjects.
“You three really are ridiculous.”
“So, who will it be?” Roan asks, raising his eyebrows just as Ero punches him in the knee.
“Li, would you mind?” I say, giving Roan and Ero a look of pretend disapproval.
“Gladly,” says Li.
He stretches and rolls his shoulders, then gives me a slight smile as I watch him shed his clothes and shift into a massive snow leopard before my eyes.
“Show off,” Ero says.
“Guess it’s our turn. Don’t purposefully forget our clothes,” Roan says with a wink at me before he too shifts into his leopard form.
Ero stands and walks over to me, and I realize this is the first time he’s been the only one who can talk to me.
“You can still choose me,” he says. “I’ll understand if you don’t want to, after what happened on the ship.”
“Don’t do that,” I say.
“Do what?” Ero says, feigning innocence.
“Try to guilt me into choosing you.”
“Well, if you feel guilty, my body is at your disposal,” Ero says, bowing and transforming into his leopard form at the same time.
“You brute,” I say, playfully swatting at him. “You didn’t even give me a chance to defend myself.”
I run my fingers through his luxuriously soft fur and wrap my arms around his neck to bury my face into it without thinking.
He lets out a vibrating purr and I pull myself away, blushing.
“Sorry,” I say. “I forgot myself.”
I bend and pick up the satchel of food and all of their clothes from the ground, tying them into bundles and then securing them together. Scanning our small campsite, I search for any missed items before turning to my violet-eyed leopard.
“Ready.”
Li dips his head in understanding and crouches so I can climb onto him. I drape the bundles of clothing across his back and then climb up behind them, twisting my fingers into Li’s fur as he gets up. I breathe in and flatten myself against him.
He leaps forward and we race off through the trees, the landscape flying past us at an ungodly speed. Li’s gait is smooth and effortless, and Roan and Ero keep pace easily.
I smile to myself. I doubt there is any better way to travel.
So far, I’ve only encountered one drawback to our current mode of travel—falling asleep. I won’t be doing that again. Thankfully Li felt me slipping soon enough to slow down, so the fall didn’t injure me too severely. I have a few scrapes on my arms and a small laceration across my brow, but nothing that shouldn’t heal within a day or so.
I tried to get back on Li’s back almost immediately, but he wouldn’t allow it. Taking his bundle of clothes, he disappeared behind a tree, returning in his clothed, human form. Roan did the same, but Ero just turned away before shifting in front of me. I instinctually reacted by covering my face with my hands, but I couldn’t help peeking through my fingers at his beautiful body.
Ero’s head turns toward me, an impish grin on his face as he leisurely dresses. And by leisurely, I mean he’s not even trying to be modest.
Roan clears his throat behind me and I whip around, my face hot with shame.
“I never took you for a voyeur,” Roan says.
“I…I didn’t mean to look.”
“Yes, you did. Who wouldn’t be tempted to look when someone is asinine enough to walk around butt naked?”
I blush fiercely and Roan chuckles.
“I’m pretty sure he’d never wear clothes if you let him,” Roan says. “But then again, I doubt any of us would if that would please you.”
I drop my eyes to the ground, my thoughts running rampant and far from ladylike at the idea of them naked. I’d still been too polite to stare long enough to actually see anything…even though I secretly wanted to.
“Let’s eat and get some rest. The sooner we can start tomorrow the safer we’ll be,” Li says, preparing a small fire for us. “Ero, since you can’t seem to figure out how to put your clothes back on, perhaps you wouldn’t mind scouting the area a bit?”
Ero mumbles something but shifts back into his leopard form and darts off into the forest.
Li motions for me to hand him the satchel and I do. He divvies out a portion of the food to each of us as well as setting some aside for Ero and we sit and eat in silence as the sky grows dark and the stars come out.
Ero returns a while later, once again naked and in his human form. The firelight playfully dances across his muscles as he slips on his pants and joins us by the fire to eat. I shiver, surprised by the
chill of the evening air. Roan pulls me toward him, the warmth of his body instantly washing over me. We’re all too tired to talk, and I drift off as Roan absentmindedly plays with my hair.
I am not as stiff as I expected to be when I wake. My body is only slightly sore from falling off Li’s back the day before. The arms wrapped around me aren’t Roan’s, but Li’s.
“I hope I didn’t startle you,” Li says. “I just thought it might be better, healing-wise, if you were with me last night.”
I am a little disconcerted, but not because I mind sleeping in Li’s arms. I imagine anyone would be surprised to fall asleep with one person and wake up in the arms of another.
“Good.”
Roan offers me his back and I climb up on him as we set off once again. I half expect us to meet with misfortune at every turn, but the days melt together seamlessly. Li, Roan, and Ero take turns carrying me throughout the next three days.
The landscape slowly changes from forest to meadows, rolling hills, and seemingly endless moors. We’ve managed to keep hidden from several traveling parties as well as skirt the edges of various towns. I had hoped we’d stop at an inn along the way, but I had to be reminded we didn’t have any means to pay for one.
Toward the end of our fourth day of travel, Roan slows to a standstill at the top of a hill overlooking a vast, grassy expanse. Li and Ero stop beside him.
“Why are we stopping?” I ask, knowing full well they won’t respond while in their leopard forms. They’re probably all communicating with each other right now and aren’t paying attention to me.
Ero growls, but Li growls right back, and I suddenly find myself clinging to the shoulders of a crouched and naked Ero.
“Ahh!”
I let go in shock and fall to the soft, grassy earth below. Ero collects his clothes off the ground and puts them on, not bothering to tease me. Li takes his in his mouth and moves to a small clump of bushes where he shifts and dresses. Roan grabs his as well, but shifts nearby, his modesty covered by some very tall grass. You’d think I’d be used to their naked bodies by now, but I still haven’t seen much below the waist besides the occasional buttocks.
“What’s going on?” I ask once they draw near to me again.
“My home is just beyond, about an hour’s walk. I think it’s best we don’t startle anyone in our leopard forms.”
“I’ll carry you the first part of the way,” Roan says. “Until we’re close enough to be noticed.”
Before I can ask any more questions, or respond, Roan takes me in his arms and we set out once again. Our first destination is finally within reach. I just hope this goes as planned.
Fifteen
Roan
I recognize the landscapes from my childhood, but that’s all that’s familiar to me. None of the changes in the rest of the world bothered me, but I had barred the idea of time passing at home from entering my mind.
We are found by a group of kilted men on horseback about a mile from the castle just as the sun has started to set.
I’m walking ahead of the others, Annalise in the midst of us. I’m glad she can’t see the tears I’m choking back. We’re led into the Great Hall, which is empty aside from several long dining tables lit with candles.
“Wait here,” one of the men who escorted us says before disappearing into a dark passage.
“Is this really where you grew up?” Annalise asks.
“Yes, funny, isn’t it?”
“It’s lovely.”
“It’s cold,” says Ero.
“You’re right,” I say turning to check the large fireplace, but it’s dark and unlit. “There should be a fire started by now.”
“It is cold, now that you mention it,” Annalise says with a shiver.
Ero grabs her and draws her against him, rubbing her arms to warm her. He’s beginning to touch her too much for my liking.
“Are you sure this is safe?” Li asks, standing even straighter than his usual rigid posture.
“This is my home, or at least it was,” I say. “If I can just speak to someone I know, I’m sure things will be fine.”
Footsteps turn our attention to the front of the hall, where a man seats himself in the laird’s chair. I cock my head to the side, something about him is familiar, and I step forward.
He raises a hand to stop me. “Who are you?” he asks.
“My name is Roan, son and heir to Clan Artair. The only one of his name.”
“Do you believe me an imbecile?” the man asks, his voice hard.
I don’t know what I expected, but it wasn’t this.
“Of course not, but I have no idea who the hell you are,” I say.
The man looks at me for a long moment before he lets out a rolling laugh.
“I don’t remember the last time someone spoke to me so bluntly, aside from my wife. I am the laird of Clan Artair. I thought that was pretty clear by my position in the room.”
“Forgive me for being frank, my laird,” I say with a bow, “but I thought I was familiar with most of the Artair clan. Perhaps I was wrong.”
“That makes two of us,” he says. “Perhaps my wife can shed more light on this strange set of circumstances. She has deeper roots in these parts.”
The laird motions for one of his men to go retrieve his wife and we wait patiently for her arrival.
“You really don’t know who this man is?” Li asks, his voice low.
“There’s a familiarity about him, but I just can’t put my finger on it.”
The sun is starting to dip below the horizon, casting long, warm sunbeams across the cool, dark room through the large glass windows. It would be beautiful if it weren’t so eerie.
A woman steps into the hall, following the man who had been sent to fetch her.
“What is it, my laird?” the woman asks. “And someone light the candles before we’re standing in complete darkness.”
One of the men near her rushes out and returns a moment later with several servants, who proceed to light the candles set out on the long dining tables.
“Dear, do you know who this man is?” the laird asks, pointing toward me.
The woman turns, her long braids spinning through the air as she does. We both stare at each other for a long moment.
“Roan?” the woman asks, stepping toward me. “But how is this possible?”
I cautiously move forward before it dawns on me who this is.
“Fiona?” I say. “It can’t be true.” My mouth opens and closes in shock. The woman standing before me is the spitting image of my youngest sibling, but she’s a good thirty to forty years older than I remember her, her black hair graying and her face lined with age.
“You haven’t aged a day,” Fiona says.
“So, you do know this man?” the laird asks.
“Well, he looks exactly like my brother. I thought him dead many years ago…We all did.”
“Your brother? How is that possible? He was at least fifteen years older than you when he disappeared, but this man is barely in his mid-twenties.”
Fiona frowns, scrutinizing me. “I don’t know. How is that possible?” she asks, directing the question at me.
My mind is reeling from confusion. It hadn’t felt like so much time had passed, but perhaps that was another trick of the curse. We’d been swept out of time, out of place, and out of our lives, never fully able to return to our beginnings.
“Let me try to explain,” I say, once again stepping forward.
“Don’t come any closer,” the laird warns.
“I want to hear what he has to say, Neil.”
“Neil?” I ask. “You aren’t related to the McNamara family by chance?”
“How could you know that?” the laird asks. “Fiona, I don’t like where this is going.”
“I used to train with your brother, James,” I say. “He would often speak of you.”
“You knew James?”
“He was a close friend of mine until the night I was captured. We had s
nuck out to one of the taverns, hoping to get a few pints and perhaps spy on a lady or two,” I say, glancing nervously at Annalise.
“That certainly sounds like something Roan would do, but that was common knowledge among many,” Fiona says. “Whatever happened next?”
“We did make it to a tavern, one I’d never been to before, but the night didn’t go as planned,” I say. “I told James I didn’t want anyone to know who I was, and for the first part of the night, everything was fine. We had a few pints and I went to chat up one of the barmaids. But just as I was getting to know her, I heard my name mentioned from across the room. I spun around and made my way back to our table. James was laughing and pointing toward me. Beside him sat a man I’d never seen before. He was tall. The only man I’d ever met taller than myself, and he had the darkest hair and eyes I’d ever seen.”
“That’s saying something,” Fiona interrupts. “Seeing how all your sisters have hair darker than a moonless night.”
“Trust me, I was surprised myself. The next thing I knew, there was a blow to the back of my head and I woke up inside a heavy, metal cage jolting down a road to god knows where.”
“Why didn’t you call for help?”
I bite my lip nervously, sweat starting to bead on my brow even as the room grows colder with the setting sun. I hadn’t expected telling a family member that I was a shifter to be so difficult.
“Fiona, this part is going to sound far more cracked than all the rest.”
“Go on.”
Neil is sitting on the edge of his seat, listening intently as though I’m telling a tale far stranger than any he’s ever heard before.
“I wasn’t a young man anymore.”
“What do you mean you weren’t a young man? Are you castrated, then?”
My face reddens at the thought. “No. I wasn’t castrated.”
“What then?”
“I was a beast, a snow leopard.”
