Prince of Passion

by Donna Grant

  She shook her head. The wealth of flaxen hair that fell past her waist shimmered around her. Her swirling blue gaze was hard as she stared at Gwyn. “I'm not a princess, though I am a Fae. It was a Sinclair who labelled me a princess."

  Gwyn looked to the loft, wishing Keiran would wake and join her. She was uncomfortable speaking to the Fae alone.

  "He won't wake."

  Gwyn's head jerked to Saynarra. Her heart thundered in her chest and constricted, as if a steel band had wrapped around it. “Did you kill him?"

  "Nay. Not yet anyway."

  Gwyn closed her eyes in relief. She took in a steadying breath and looked at Saynarra. “What is it you want?"

  Her flaxen head tilted to the side. “Maybe it should be I who asks you that question, Gwyn of Drahcir."

  Gwyn's stomach fell to her feet in dread. “I don't understand."

  "Aye, you do. What do you want most for your mate and all of Drahcir?"

  "I want the curse lifted,” she said. If this was her one chance to remove the curse, she would take it. “Is there anything I can do to lift the curse?"

  A slow, sly smile pulled at Saynarra's pink lips. “As a matter of fact, there is. I will lift the curse immediately."

  "What would you ask of me?"

  "You must give up Keiran."

  Gwyn clutched her chest, unable to breath. The mere thought of being without Keiran made her heart feel as though it had been ripped from her chest. “You ask the impossible.

  "Not so,” Saynarra said as she rose to her feet.

  She was tall and lithe. Her blue and silver gown was made of the sheerest material that hung straight to the floor and floated around her feet.

  The Fae turned to Gwyn. “I ask you to give up Keiran in return for lifting the curse. No more would Sinclairs have a need to leave Drahcir to find their mates. No more would the Tnarg hunt you or any Sinclair."

  Gwyn swallowed and looked at Keiran sleeping soundly in the loft. She had worried so of their children having to leave Drahcir, but if she agreed, Keiran's children would be safe. She didn't think beyond that, for to think of Keiran with anyone else's children made her stomach roll.

  She swallowed and faced the Fae. “And the mark upon his arm that brands him as mine?"

  Saynarra shrugged. “It will be gone, as will any memory he has of you and your time together. He will return to Drahcir safely to live out his life."

  Gwyn gripped the back of the chair and rose on shaky legs. Every instinct inside of her screamed to tell Saynarra nay, but how could she be so selfish? She was being offered a way to end the curse, to give the Sinclairs, as well as all of Drahcir, a fresh start.

  Keiran wouldn't remember her, he wouldn't know he had already found his mate, which made her decision a little easier.

  She moved to the fire and turned to look up at Keiran again. He was on his side facing her now. A lock of his hair had fallen over his forehead, and she longed to smooth it back and feel his strong arms wrap around her.

  "Will he be happy?” she asked.

  "Aye. He will marry in a few years and have children, children I should mention who would never have to worry about fulfilling my curse."

  With a sigh, Gwyn turned to Saynarra. “If you vow that he won't remember me, then I will do it. But he must never remember anything about me or our time together, because to separate mates is to kill us both."

  Saynarra stepped towards her. “My magic is strong. As long as he lives, he will never recall you."

  "What will I do? Will I return to the village and live out my life?"

  "Nay. You cannot be anywhere near him. I will take you somewhere far, far away. Somewhere where you can rest peacefully."

  "All right,” Gwyn agreed before she changed her mind. “I agree to your conditions."

  Saynarra smiled. “A wise choice, Gwyn. You wouldn't have liked dying by the Tnarg's hand."

  A shiver raced down Gwyn's spine at the mention of the beast.

  "Now,” Saynarra said as she held out her hand palm up and a shiny red apple appeared. “All you have to do is to take a bite. It will seal our deal."

  Hesitantly, Gwyn reached for the beautiful fruit. She had never cared for apples, but for Keiran she would do anything.

  With one last glance at Keiran, Gwyn bit into the apple and began to chew. A strange sensation began to steal through her. It grew difficult, painful to breath.

  Her gaze rose to Saynarra as the apple fell from her hand. She could feel her heart begin to slow and sleep pull at her.

  "Don't fight it, Gwyn,” the Fae urged as she wrapped an arm around her. “Let the poison take you. The more you fight, the more painful it will become."

  Keiran. Keiran, please help me!

  The last thing Gwyn saw before the darkness took her were the swirling blue eyes of Saynarra.

  * * * *

  Keiran stretched and woke slowly. He rolled onto his back and slowly sat up to look around. Molly was no where in the cottage, but a fire roared and a loaf of bread with cheese sat on the table awaiting him.

  He hurried from the loft and pulled on his now dry clothes. After a peek through the window to see that the storm had indeed passed over during the night, Keiran tore off a chunk of bread and ate it with the cheese.

  Finally, he would return home this day.

  Once he was finished with his morning meal, he called out for Molly. When she didn't answer, he put on his cloak and went outside. The day had dawned bright and clear after the storm, but still he couldn't find Molly.

  He wished to say farewell to her before he left. After another thirty minutes of looking for her, he gave up and started for the pass that would lead him home.

  By midday he was nearly to the pass. He stopped to eat the rest of the bread and cheese before continuing on. The cold didn't bother him as it had the day before, not when the warmth of Drahcir was so close.

  Two hours later, the pass came into view. Keiran quickened his pace as he wrapped his cloak tighter around him. The sheer ice and snow walls of the pass rose up around him.

  The first time he had come through here it hadn't been a place he enjoyed, but knowing that once he was out of the narrow space, he would see the gates of Drahcir, he pushed himself harder.

  He was all but running the last few hundred yards of the pass when the gates of Drahcir came into view. A laugh bubbled inside of him.

  "Mother! Father,” he yelled. “I'm home. Open the gates."

  As he neared, he saw his people begin to line the streets their cheers deafening. And then, he saw his parents running towards him. His mother had tears coursing down her pretty face, and his father's eyes swam with unshed tears. Behind his parents he saw his three brothers and their wives.

  At long last he was home!

  Keiran stepped through the gates and into his parents’ arms.

  "I thought you would never return,” his mother said through her tears.

  Keiran smiled at her before he turned to his father.

  "Son, we're so proud of you,” King Urises said.

  He stepped around his parents to be enveloped in his brothers’ arms, their hugs and pounding of his back brought laughter to everyone.

  When he could finally stand again, he looked to the women next to his brother and for just a heartbeat, felt as though something was missing.

  "Keiran, where is your mate?” Elric asked.

  Keiran shrugged. “What are you talking about?"

  "Your mate?” Sorin repeated. “Where is she? You aren't supposed to return without her."

  "And yet here I am,” Keiran replied.

  Queen Morag clasped her hands in front of her. “This cannot be happening. Urises, the curse."

  Lucian shifted feet. “Did the Tnarg attack you? Did it kill your mate?"

  "Of course not,” Keiran shouted. “I never found my mate, but it doesn't matter. I'm here."

  Sorin snorted. “Of course it matters, you dolt. Did you bang your head or something? You cannot return without y
our mate or Drahcir and all its occupants will disappear."

  Keiran crossed his arms over his chest. “Least you forget, baby brother, I am the eldest. I know more about the curse than any of you."

  "That's debatable,” Elric murmured.

  Keiran slid his gaze to his second youngest brother. “I did not hit my head, and the Tnarg did not kill my mate."

  "Keiran."

  The deep voice behind him was familiar. He turned and found Aimery standing just outside the gates.

  "The Tnarg did take your mate,” the Fae commander said softly.

  [Back to Table of Contents]

  Chapter Eight

  For several heartbeats all Keiran could do was stare at Aimery. Surely the Fae commander was wrong. Wouldn't Keiran know if he lost his mate? He would be screaming in agony over the loss, dying himself.

  All around him, the silence of Drahcir was deafening. He could feel the stares of his people, the unspoken questions of his family.

  And all Keiran could do was stand with his heart pounding in his chest.

  "There's something wrong,” he murmured.

  Aimery took a step towards him, the Fae's swirling blue eyes intense as they regarded him. “More than you know, Keiran. You've had a spell cast upon you. You did find your mate. You were both on your way to Drahcir when you encountered trouble."

  "Impossible.” Is it?

  "Listen to your heart,” Elric said from behind him.

  Keiran ignored his brother and pushed his cloak away from him. He would be able to know who was lying if the tattoo was on his arm. With one vicious jerk, he yanked the sleeve of his tunic off.

  To find his arm bare of any tattoo.

  He raised his gaze to Aimery. “See? I never found her."

  "Then how were you able to return to Drahcir?” Aimery asked softly.

  Keiran raked a hand through his hair, his frustration and confusion growing by the moment. He began to pace. “This doesn't make sense,” he ground out.

  Every time he tried to think of the day before, his head began to pound. He gripped his head between his hands.

  "That's the spell keeping you from remembering,” Aimery said.

  This couldn't be happening. This isn't happening. Keiran had waited too long to return home to discover he had failed.

  He dropped his hands and turned to Aimery. “How am I able to step through the gates? If my mate isn't with me, why is Drahcir still here?"

  Aimery sighed and shook his head. “Your mate ended the curse."

  Keiran's knees threatened to buckle as Aimery's words penetrated his mind. He felt as if someone had just kicked him in the bollocks.

  A flash of a woman's beautiful smile rushed through his brain. He closed his eyes as he saw another image, this one of long curls of honey gold wrapped around his fingers.

  And then he knew.

  By the gods!

  "Gwyn,” he threw back his head and bellowed as he fell to his knees.

  A pain so intense, so violent ripped through him that he thought his chest had been torn apart. He put his hand on his chest and closed his eyes as the ache tore through him.

  "Keiran, your arm,” Sorin said from beside him.

  He glanced to find the tattoo was once again visible. Where was Gwyn, and who had done this to him?

  "Aimery?” he asked.

  The Fae held up a hand. “Before you demand revenge, understand what your mate did."

  "I do,” Keiran said. All too well. “Where is Gwyn?"

  Aimery closed his head, his body stiff. “Saynarra. Show yourself."

  Almost instantly there was a flash of light and another Fae, this one a stunning female, appeared. She glanced at Aimery, but her attention remained on Keiran.

  "How does it feel?” she asked. “Do you enjoy knowing you will have to live your life without the one you love? Had Aimery not interfered, you would have married in a few years to a nice Drahcir girl and had many babies."

  "I. Want. Gwyn,” Keiran ground out as he rose to his feet.

  Saynarra shrugged a slim shoulder. “She made a deal with me. It cannot be broken, nor will I relinquish her unless you would like the curse to once more enthral Drahcir."

  Keiran could no more do that than he could forget Gwyn.

  "You forget something, Saynarra,” Aimery said. “The deal you made with Gwyn is broken."

  The Fae woman rolled her eyes. “Nothing could break that pact."

  "You went back your word to Gwyn,” Aimery continued as if she hadn't spoken. “You swore to her that Keiran would never remember a single thing about her."

  Keiran clenched his hands into fists. “I remember everything about her."

  Saynarra's swirling blue eyes moved from Keiran to Aimery and back again. “You did this, Aimery,” she screamed.

  "You've had your revenge,” the Fae commander said. “For centuries you put the Sinclairs and their mates in danger. Gwyn willingly gave her life for the curse to be broken."

  Keiran could hear the murmurs of his people as well as his brothers pulling their blades from their scabbards. Humans couldn't win a battle with a Fae, but the Sinclairs weren't going to stand idly by while one held Keiran's mate.

  "Give me Gwyn,” he demanded.

  Aimery smiled, his lips peeled menacingly over his teeth. “She has no choice but to. Saynarra. Return Gwyn. Now."

  Keiran waited with bated breath for his beloved to return. Yet nothing happened. He glanced at Saynarra to find her beginning to laugh. She threw back her flaxen head and cackled.

  "You want Gwyn returned?” she asked Keiran. “Then you can have her."

  There was a blinding flash. Keiran looked at his feet to find Gwyn laying half on the snow and half on the blue stones of Drahcir.

  He went to his knees instantly and dragged her to his chest. “Gwyn,” he called.

  But she didn't stir.

  Nay! I cannot lose her. I will not lose her.

  Keiran shook her. “Gwyn. Wake up, love. We're home."

  "You'll never wake her,” Saynarra said, the glee evident on her lovely, evil face.

  "Aimery,” Keiran called to the Fae.

  There was movement behind Keiran as his family gathered around. Their comfort helped him, but it wasn't him in need, it was Gwyn.

  "Help her,” he begged the Fae commander when Aimery knelt in front of him.

  Aimery pressed his lips together in a flat line and ran his hand over Gwyn. He inhaled deeply and sat back. “Saynarra has put her into a deep sleep where she will stay for eternity."

  "Nay,” Keiran said with a shake of his head.

  Anger consumed him. “How? You said the pact was broken."

  "It is, which is why you have her with you now. The other, wasn't part of the pact."

  Keiran caressed her cheek, silently begging her to wake so he could look into her gray eyes and see her beautiful smile. He refused to live without her. A Sinclair never lasted long once his mate was gone.

  A hand grasped his shoulder. He turned his head to find his father above him. “Bring her to the palace, son. We'll figure out what to do, but you cannot stay here."

  He knew his father was right, but Keiran wasn't done with Saynarra. “What will happen to Saynarra,” he asked Aimery.

  "I'm taking her back to the Realm of the Fae. She'll be punished for what she's done to your family and Gwyn."

  Keiran turned his gaze to Saynarra and lost his breath as he watched her turn into the Tnarg. The once beautiful Fae was now the hideous beast every Sinclair had tried to kill.

  "Gods,” Sorin exclaimed behind him.

  Lucian took a step towards the creature. “I want a piece of her hide."

  "Lucian,” Keiran said in a flat tone he knew would halt his brother. When Lucian stopped, Keiran lowered Gwyn to the ground and rose to his feet.

  He longed to plunge his sword into the creature, but instead, he kept the weapon in the scabbard at his hip and walked to the Tnarg. “'Tis been you all along. You not only curse
d us and moved our mates to different times, you also hunted them."

  "And nearly succeeded in killing us and our mates,” Sorin called out.

  Keiran took in a steadying breath. “Why? Just because my ancestor didn't return your love? Are you really that petty?"

  "I'm Fae,” the beast ground out in a voice unrecognisable as Saynarra. “No one chooses a mortal over a Fae. No one."

  "Not without consequences, aye?” Keiran asked. “After all these centuries when we've beaten the odds and returned to Drahcir with our mates, even escaping you, you won in the end. Gwyn did the most courageous thing a person could do. She sacrificed herself for the happiness of the people of Drahcir."

  "Exactly,” the Tnarg shouted. “She wanted the curse lifted for the people, and she didn't care that she left you."

  Keiran didn't believe her for a moment. “She wouldn't have made you promise to wipe all my memories of her if that was the case. Right now she could be carrying the future heir to the throne, but you don't care. Now you've gotten your final revenge and hurt the Sinclairs like never before."

  He raked his gaze over the ugly beast. “This form you take, this is what you truly are, not the Fae you claim to be. You want to know why my ancestor toyed with you? Because he saw this inside of you, he saw what you really were. And you paled in comparison to the women we are bound to."

  Without another word he turned and walked back to Gwyn. He gently lifted her in his arms and stepped past his brothers to his parents.

  "Gwyn is from Drahcir,” he said to them. “Aimery bade her leave days after I did to await me in the world beyond our gates. Her family is here."

  His father gave a nod. “I'll send for them immediately."

  Keiran looked at his mother to see her beautiful eyes full of sadness. “I had hoped to be celebrating this day and planning our wedding, not to be mourning her loss."

  "Oh, son,” she whispered as more tears spilled down her face.

  Keiran let her shed the tears he was unable to. He and Gwyn had only had precious few hours together, but in that short time, he had experienced the most joy in his entire life.

  He glanced down at her as he started down the long, winding road to the palace high in the cliffs. He could almost imagine she was simply sleeping and would wake at any moment, embarrassed that he was carrying her.