by Claudy Conn
“Julian?”
“Yes, I feel it. We can’t start the ritual fast enough.” His brows were drawn in a deep frown, and he was tense.
The whisper again. “DuLaine grows dangerous … and—” Princess Ete was abruptly cut off.
“A voice … Princess Ete … Julian … I think things are falling apart. She was whispering to me, warning me about DuLaine, and then something stopped her. I think she is in trouble. I know it. I sensed it. Where is the prince? It is unlike him to stay away so long.”
“Aye. There is trouble in Tir.” He stroked her face. “But you are with me, and together—here, on protected land—nothing can touch us. I rather think the prince and the queen can take care of matters on Tir. They have been doing so for eons.” He squeezed her hand. “Hush, love … We will be at the dolmans in a moment, and we will do our part.”
Right, ‘our’ part, she thought comfortably. Everything had somehow turned into ‘our’, and it felt so damn good. It was easy to shut out the world when she was with him, and lately they were scarcely apart.
She thought about the previous day. It had been glorious. It was the kind of a day every woman longed to spend with her man. She still tingled with pleasure as the memory flashed through her mind. She smiled as she recalled Uncle Kennet’s look when they entered the kitchen for their late breakfast.
He had been standing behind Tally, who was at the stove stirring something. Maxie almost choked to see his hand fly away from her rump. He inched slightly away from her as she walked in with Julian’s arm around her waist. He stared at them, and then a broad grin lit up his face.
“Yes!” His fist made a victory motion as he walked over to Julian and grabbed his hand and started shaking it vigorously. “I was beginning to give up hope. You were the very devil of a grump, and there was that sunny, charming, persistent … er … fellow going in for the kill …”
“I don’t mean to let that persistent fellow get anywhere near her again,” Julian said with a look that Uncle Kennet apparently approved of as he then slapped Julian on the back and said, “Good man!”
“If you two are finished talking about me as though I am not here, maybe we can eat?”
They laughed and began stuffing themselves. Oh wonderful food, pastries, eggs, potatoes, and coffee. Maxie couldn’t move when she sat back with a groan. But they did move. They took off hiking. Julian insisted she wear the beautiful jacket he had purchased her, and she did.
Standing at a peak overlooking the meadows and pastures, Maxie flung out her arms and exclaimed, “God … the highlands are beautiful.”
He had laughed and hugged her as he spun her around and made her dizzy. “We were meant for each other Max … and for the Highlands …”
Wild, vast, and rugged to the eye, the landscape captured and held her. The Scottish highlands opened her mind and bonded her to its earth and taught her to know and understand its mysterious vibes. Scottish soil called to Maxie, and she had the feeling that she never wanted to leave it for long. She had always thought of herself as a ‘city girl’. She had always enjoyed the country, but she thought she needed the city with its frenzy, its excitement, its pizza delivery. Oh, she thought, she could give it all up for this new, open world.
They had hiked for nearly two hours when she finally called a halt and plopped down on a bed of pine needles. She slipped off her backpack and found Julian dropping down beside her. He was stretched out on his side, with one knee up, looking like a demigod. He stared down at her as though drinking in every feature of her face, and it thrilled her. He bent to kiss her as though he had never kissed her before. Every kiss, every touch electrified her into heat, into wantonness, into a frenzy of desire. She could see it there in his eyes as well. It was a look that was overflowing with a lust born of love, and it reached inside her to take her soul and join it with his. There was no denying him. There was no denying what they were together—complete.
So in spite of the chill in the air on that wondrous day, the eve of May first, Maxie found herself throwing her jacket off. Jeans, off—all while he lay back and watched her with those blue eyes full with desire. Faith, she thought and stopped. Now there was a word from another century. Where had that come from? Was his bride somewhere inside her, she wondered? Kinky, she laughed to herself and started stroking him.
Reality always intruded; that was what it did.
They had the cold to deal with, so afterwards he quickly dressed her, hugged her to him, and told her words that lingered in her head, her ears, and her overflowing heart. But they had the long hike back, and so they started trekking.
It was like no hike she had ever taken. There was touching and kissing and teasing, and so much laughter. It seemed when they weren’t kissing they were laughing. They were learning about each other. Things that lovers shared over time, they were learning in fast degrees and finding so much in common.
They made their way to the library to find Tally and Uncle Kennet just sitting down to high tea. That turned out to be something like a festival. Jesting and more laughter seemed to be the theme of the day. Uncle Kennet had Tally sitting neatly beside him, and he held her hand whenever he could. He touched her nose, her face, and dropped kisses on her waiting lips. The dear woman blushed like she was sixteen, but she accepted those kisses, her lashes lowering each time. Maxie knew because although Julian pinched her to stop watching, she couldn’t stop. She was fascinated.
They spent the evening together and ended up in the entertainment room viewing an old movie, entitled P.S. I Love You. That movie got hold of Maxie’s heart and made her cry. Julian made cooing sounds to her when he heard her sniffling and looked at her with something of surprise to say, “But, love, it isn’t true.” He kept repeating, “It isn’t true, it isn’t … it is just a story.” And then he glanced at Uncle Kennet and asked in some distress, “Isn’t it?” which of course made them all giggle. Later they went upstairs, and Uncle Kennet drove Tally home.
Julian and Maxie showered together, and with jets on three sides at different levels, she never wanted to leave the wonderful hot water. He took her in the shower and whispered wild words just before they climaxed. She ran her hands over him and couldn’t stop touching him as he carried her out, stood her up, and began drying her. Before she knew it, he threw the towel on the Oriental rug and lowered her gently down. She was stroking him into madness, and the words came out hoarse as he surrounded her beneath him. “Maxie love … do you know what you do to me … oh love what you do to me …”
She made sounds because words weren’t enough, and he bent to suck on her nipples. When he came up to nibble at her mouth his voice was deep. “Now, beauty … on this hard floor I am going to slam into you and make you whimper with pleasure …”
And he did.
That brought them to the next morning on the first of May. They hurriedly threw down coffee and rolls, jumped in the jeep, and made it to the Dolmans.
Standing Stones made people think of Stonehenge and the mystery around them. These were similar in shape and nature, only there were fewer, and as far as Maxie was concerned, it was obvious that they had been primarily used as a portal.
Maxie was fixated on them for a moment. They had withstood time and man, and she couldn’t help but wonder about the race that had used them and brought them to this spot where she and Julian would use them in an ancient ritual.
Druids were conducting various themes of this Beltaine in different locations throughout Ireland and Scotland, and in a few other regions as well.
Some priests and priestess had even started before them at the sacred hour of midnight. Hence it would continue until midnight that night. All would be speaking in the common ancient language. All of them had a common goal. The festival of Beltaine was still celebrated in Ireland and Scotland, but few understood its true intention. Its actual purpose had always been to keep the thin veils, the fabric of the walls intact between the Fae realms and man’s world.
The Seelie Fae of the L
ight Court did not want the walls to weaken. They did not want the walls to crack, and they certainly did not want those walls to come down.
There was great danger to all if such an epic catastrophe came to pass. The dark Unseelie Fae were a malevolent group with deep-seated hatred for mankind. It was said that they had come in tandem with the Light Seelie Fae, who were unable to detach them.
Maxie knew that the original queen and her Seelie king had fought each other for control. Their wars had finally destroyed Danu. He had given his queen a wound that ended in her death. Remorseful, he left and created a world of his own: the Dark Realm.
Morrigu followed him in, and he made her queen of his World. She had not realized that she would become forever trapped there. Dissatisfied and lonely, the Dark King began creating, but these attempts produced vicious, ugly, malcontented creatures who then multiplied. Eventually he created the four Unseelie royal houses, but these beautiful Fae were wrong. They were devoid of all feeling. They lacked empathy. Going mad with his failures, he suddenly found a human woman who made him whole again, and he created another world for them to live in.
After that, the Seelie Fae lost track of the Dark King’s activities, but they believed, somehow, his beloved human died and he went completely mad.
Morrigu wanted to escape the Dark Realm’s land of shadows and fog and rule in the human world, and now she had Gaiscioch to aid her with her plans.
Until recently Queen Morrigu and Gaiscioch had not discovered a way to break the seal of the prison walls. Until now.
Thus, the Druids ever faithful to the Seelie Court of Light and the need to keep the world of Man safe had maintained the rituals and preserved the Treaty. Countless others had come to enact these very same rituals. Now Maxie understood the why of it.
They put the piles of wood on either side of the standing stones and lit them until they blazed. They laid out the vegetables and fruits, and Julian began first in English. “We believe in the Trinity of body, mind, and spirit. We believe that as complete and whole individuals we are the master of the three within ourselves.” And then in old Gaelic. “Is mise MacTalbot Drui. Cothaigh Beltaine. Shee dubh a chur isteach. Beartoidh mé …”
Maxie listened to the words and then joined in. “Is mise Reigate Drui … ballai cloiche a chaomhnu … coimeadaim …”
* * *
The prince hovered with Nuad at his side and their band of Trackers behind them—all hidden in another dimension. They were overlooking Lake Killarney, in Ireland.
The prince had remembered that some years ago, Gaiscioch had spoken to him about his great fondness for this particular area in Ireland. Was this where he meant to make his stand? His gut told him it was.
“Nuad, I could be wrong?” They had not been able to pick up Gais’s scent, as he had it disguised in Dark Magic. Nuad’s tracking powers were phenomenal and could get past any and all light magic. Getting past the Dark Magic would take a little more time.
“I am sure you are quite right, Breslyn, and in a moment, I will be able to close in on them—you will see them … just a moment longer.”
The prince knew that Nuad was working a spell specific to his position as head Tracker. He waited, and then impatiently demanded, “If you know they are there—why don’t we just go in?”
“He has her bound, my friend, and he could harm her before we kill him,” Nuad answered bluntly.
Breslyn kept quiet. Suddenly Nuad waved his hand. The dark curtain that had been hiding Gaiscioch’s movements parted, and they watched the devil from their secret dimension.
Gaiscioch was standing on a small island in the largest of the three Killarney lakes. He was standing with his arms high as he shouted, “We are gods. This Ireland is ours, and so I shall win it back. This I promise you, Queen Morrigu.”
Nuad and the prince exchanged a momentary glance, and Breslyn hissed low in his throat. “Where is Ete?”
“A moment …” Nuad was widening the scope.
And there she was. She was a prisoner of the Chain of Balor! The chain was wrapped around her dainty ankles. The magic of this chain could not be broken easily.
The Balor chain was linked to a magical U-bolt Gais had planted with his Dark Magic into the earth. For the time, Ete was securely his.
“Do you see, Aaibhe, what I have accomplished beneath your very nose?” Gais was screaming, his eyes heavenward. “Am I not worthy your attention now? Look what I have wrought.”
Again Nuad and Breslyn exchanged glances. Clearly, the madness had consumed Gaiscioch. However, they knew they must not mistake madness for stupidity. Quite the opposite, in fact, for Gais was cunning in the extreme.
The prince was staring at Ete. She lay still on the earth, but she had her eyes closed and she was concentrating on something. He could not tell what.
“Aaibhe …” Gais whispered almost lovingly, and then angrily, “Aaibhe … we could have ruled together, you and I.”
The prince could see the wildness on Gais’s anguished face. There was a well of bitter poison in him. “See me, Aaibhe? I will bring the Fae back to their former glory. I have the Spear of Lughnassa … I have … I have many things …” His voice faded, and he turned to stare at Ete. “Your queen has brought this on herself. My precious Eire will be mine. I will rule as king, and humans will serve us.”
Ete said nothing to this, but she lowered her gaze. This seemed to annoy him, and he took a threatening step towards her. “You will pay the price for your part in this. You sought to bring me low. Now what do you have, Ete? I will use you until I tire of you, and then, I will kill you with the sacred Hallow and return your body to your queen. That will be your very near future, my dear.”
Listening to this, the prince took a hasty, angry step forward. He was ready to pounce and kill, but Nuad stayed him with a hand on his arm. Angrily he shrugged it off.
Nuad put a finger to his lips. “Timing, Breslyn …”
“Indeed,” Gais said darkly to Ete, “when I finish preparing the portal to the Dark Realm, you and I will really get to know one another …” He turned away from her and began chanting in ancient Danu.
The prince could see that Ete was frightened. She was looking at evil in its true form. She was looking at a madness that although ordered was also vile. She was listening to a Fae using their native tongue to break all the covenants her queen had installed. She was ashamed that a Fae could have evolved into this. Breslyn bit at his fist and growled with frustration.
~ Twenty-five ~
Maxie knew—sensed that the ritual they performed at the Standing Stones was an experience that would forever change who she was in ways that would become a part of who and what she was destined to become. She understood the changes would help her in the future—and that the future would see the world dip into madness.
She felt the melding of magick, science, and earth’s natural forces. There was a harmony that flowed from her to the Portal of the Dolman. There was a sudden understanding that the universe was constantly creating, shifting, changing, and one had to bend to that might, and that power.
They didn’t get home until after four o’clock in the afternoon, as after the ritual they rode the jeep to all the extremes of MacTalbot land. They gazed hand in hand over the valley and walked through his piney woods. They watched in silent awe as a lone buck grazed until he got wind of them and leaped off.
They entered the house to find high tea hot and ready in the kitchen and sat for an hour with Uncle Kennet, Bess, and Tally, eating and laughing and sipping tea. It was just a perfect day.
At a little after five Bess got up to leave for the day, and Tally smiled to say goodnight and remind Maxie that she had left dinner for them all wrapped up and ready to heat. Uncle Kennet stood up with her.
Tally’s car was in the shop for repairs, and he had been picking her up in the morning and driving her home at night. Maxie beamed because she could see the two were obviously in love.
“Don’t wait for me for dinner … I
am taking Tally to a little pub in Beauly for a pint and a meal.”
Maxie laughed out loud. He was trying so hard to be nonchalant about it. He realized at once that both Julian and Maxie had his number.
“Aw, hell!” he responded as he grabbed his coat from the wall hook and took his Tally by the hand.
They had no sooner left than Julian got up from the table and said, “Stay there … don’t move. I have something I want to show you.” He rushed out and returned a moment later with a roll of architectural paper.
She laughed, for he was so excited he looked like a boy about to show off his first major toy. He spread out the blueprints on the table and said, “This is what Mary Newton brought me the other day.”
“Yeah … soooo?” She eyed him, and her eyebrow was as high as it would go. She could feel her whole body tense. She told herself she was crazy. Since when was she jealous? Jealousy was a waste of time, but there it was—green foam taking over her brain.
“Blueprints of my town house in London. It needs renovating. I had told her to hold off. Now I know why. I want you to have a look. Is there a wall you want torn down? Is there a wall you want installed? Our bedroom—does its style and location suit you? Kitchen—you will have to choose the cabinets, the tile … the everything. Carpet for the rooms … you, Maxie, so that when we get back from our honeymoon … it will be ready for you.” Suddenly he went down on one knee and took her hand. He looked up at her with those bright blues. “I have been carrying this around with me all day. I wanted to ask you when we were at the Dolman, but that wasn’t the time. Then I thought I would at the piney woods … but that wasn’t the time. Now is the time!” He took out a black velvet flip box and opened it. Inside was an antique ring set with rosette diamonds of many shapes surrounding a glinting, beautiful, large, center-round diamond.
Maxie couldn’t breathe—couldn’t speak. She couldn’t answer. A tear fell down her cheek.
