Gift of the Realm

by Mackenzie Crowne

  “Where is Keely, princess?” Colin demanded.

  Cael had been following the conversation silently, his calm demeanor proven false as he turned to Brogan. “It is time you took your mate in hand, Brogan.” He ignored Fiona’s gasp of dismay. “I took your council when you insisted my daughter needed time on her own to put the hurt caused by Fitzgerald Quinn behind her. We were both wrong. It seems while we waited for her to grow up and recognize her true fate, she has spread her poisonous resentment beyond the bounds of two worlds.”

  “My resentment,” Fiona cried, “comes from having a father who took the side of a scheming human over his own daughter’s pleas.”

  “Untrue, daughter.”

  “True! You paid him the fortune he demanded and stayed my hand when I would have struck him down. You protected him!”

  “I did what I needed to do to protect you from your lust for the human’s blood! You’re no green pixie, Fiona, far beyond the age of exemption for breaking fairie law. You know full well had you managed to take his life for anything less than the survival of the People, it would have meant the loss of your soul.”

  “I don’t care,” she snapped.

  “I do!” Cael roared. “Think you I could sit back and watch the life force slowly fade from your lovely face? I couldn’t. I wouldn’t.”

  Fiona made no rejoinder, her blue eyes swimming with frustrated tears.

  “What have you done, Fiona?” Brogan asked quietly from her side.

  Fiona remained stubbornly silent. Brogan looked to Cael for his answer.

  “Somewhere in the raft, she holds captive the mate of the Halfling here,” Cael indicated Colin with a stilted jerk of his head, “along with the mate of Owein the Fine. A King of the Realm, no less! What she has done is to shame me, along with the rest of her people.”

  “Where have you stashed the human women, Fiona?” Brogan asked on a long sigh.

  “They are beyond your reach.” She spun toward Colin with a sneer. “And yours. They are safe from the men who would take their hearts and crush their souls.”

  Colin had heard enough. He took a step toward Fiona, meaning to force a location from her lips, but Brogan’s hand to his chest brought him up short. There was no humor in the eyes staring out at him from the fairie general’s proud face.

  “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 fl
oor 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.

  The fairie princess had a lot to answer for.

  Still, she couldn’t condemn Fiona completel
y. Her long held bitterness had brought Keely to Colin, after all.

  Though Colin claimed he had no interest in making contact with Michael Sterling, he had made some subtle inquiries about the man who sired him. Despite his denials, she knew he was curious about the man who walked away from his mother and him. For his sake, she hoped Colin would one day make contact, knowing he would never be truly at peace until he had his answers.

  “I’m off to the market,” Eileen said, stripping off her apron to hang it on the peg near the kitchen door. “Can I get you anything before I go,” she asked.

  Colin folded the morning paper in his hands and set it aside. His devilish gaze held Keely’s, as he said, “No, thank you, Eileen. I believe we have everything we need.”

  Keely fought the blush at his rumbling brogue, and the knowing look on the housekeeper’s face. It bloomed bright at Eileen’s “tsk” and her grumbled, “newlyweds,” as she let herself out the back door with Donovan at her heels.

  “You’re shameless, Colin Quinn,” she charged, but couldn’t help the smile curling her lips, or the softening of her body at the now familiar passion burning in his eyes.

  “I’m in love, Keely Quinn.”

  He rose to his feet and held out his hand.

  “What are you up to?” she asked, placing her hand in his.

  He led her outside, pulling her across the patio and beyond the edge of the garden. The gazebo came into view.

  “Just finishing something I started a long time ago, darlin’.”

  Keely grinned, seeing the comfortable looking bed he’d managed to arrange within the stone pillars, and her heart softened at the memory of that night so long ago.

  “Our first kiss,” she sighed, and let him guide her down to the silken coverlet. “You remembered.”

  “I’ve never forgotten,” he told her.

  He lowered himself until his body covered hers, and Keely decided the kiss he pressed to her mouth was even sweeter than that long ago one.

  Love made everything sweeter.

  He lifted his head, and his eyes twinkled with anticipation when he grinned. “And when we’re finished here, darlin’, I’ll teach you to fly.”