Charming the Highlander Laird

by Verlin Underwood

  Tara grimaced. “I’m not sure if the Unseelie queen knew she was trapped to begin with. I was the one who trapped her.”

  “You imprisoned your own mother?” The queen laughed merrily, as though Tara were naught but a court jester.

  “She had desired to take over Scotia years ago an’, aye, I did imprison her. It looks like her goal hasn’t changed; only now, it is King Edward that does her biddin’. My queen, she will burn down this forest that protects the Seelie Court.”

  “Gertrude,” The queen barked. A dwarf-like fairy waddled up to the queen and bowed. “Is it true that if the human forest is destroyed, the Seelie Court would be destroyed as well?”

  The dwarf procured a book from out of nowhere and shuffled through the pages. “Aye, it’s true,” she said gravely. “We would all perish like we never existed.”

  All the mirth from the queen’s face disappeared. “Well, that is not very good news.” She turned to Tara. “Your mother is a dangerous woman.”

  “Indeed, she is,” Tara agreed, relieved that the queen finally understood. “She took my magic from me an’ now I have no means to stop her. But I believe you do. You are the queen. I would imagine that you are more powerful that her.”

  The queen laughed. “Oh, yes, I am much more powerful than a lowly leannan sith,” she snickered. “Where is she now? I will stop her immediately.”

  For a moment, Tara forgot her lack of magic and closed her eyes to try to connect to her mother. Of course, she never established the connection. “I would guess her to be near Maxwell lands, near Dunaid Castle to the south. By the Firth of Lorne.”

  “Ah, the Firth of Lorne. My sister used to live in those parts.” The queen closed her eyes and meditated for a moment before flashing her eyes open. “I saw your mother,” she said with satisfaction.

  “You did? Is she to the south?”

  “Aye, she is. She is close to your family’s lands, but worry not. I will get to her first. Gertrude, hand me my cloak.”

  “Aye, m’lady.”

  The dwarf disappeared for a moment and came back with a shimmering gray cloak. The queen tied it around her shoulders and put the hood over her head. “I will be back soon,” she said, giving Tara a mischievous smile. Quicker than a blink, she disappeared.

  Chapter 23

  “Where did she go?” Tara asked, looking around, expecting the woman to pop out from behind a tree.

  “She can transport from place to place at her own choosin’,” the dwarf explained. “Wait here.”

  So Tara waited. She waited long and impatiently. Her stomach grumbled, and she was offered delicious-looking food of the likes that she’d never seen before, but she declined it all. She’d rather not be like these fairies and be stuck in a life of servitude of the queen. The two brownies still glowered at her from behind the queen’s empty throne, but by now Tara knew they were no threat.

  After what seemed like forever, the queen appeared back again on the dais. She stood tall, with her head held high. By her feet crouched Una. She was struggling to get up on her feet, but an invisible force kept pulling her back down onto the dais.

  “Mother,” Tara began, but wasn’t sure she what she wanted to say to her. She seemed pitiful as she struggled, like the ground was made of ice as her feet slipped under her.

  You thought you were so powerful, Tara though with some sadness.

  The queen had a wry smile on her lips. “Your little tirade is over, Una,” she declared. She crouched down next to the leannan sith and pulled a necklace off her neck. She held the chain up in front of her face, staring at the two seashell amulets that hung from it. “This has your essence on it,” she said to Tara. “These must be yours.” She walked down the steps and handed the necklace to Tara.

  Tara stared at the two seashells, one a pale blue, the other white. Did these amulets enclose her magic?

  “And as for you,” The queen said, staring down at Tara’s mother with disgust, “You are to remain imprisoned in my kingdom for the rest of your life.”

  Una cackled and spat at the queen’s feet. Gertrude came up from behind and whacked Tara’s mother with her wooden staff. Una collapsed back down, wincing. Two male dwarfs then appeared to drag her away.

  “Will that be enough for her?” Tara asked the queen. “She was able to escape her last imprisonment.”

  “Aye, but she was in the Unseelie Court, where she hails from. Just being in the Seelie Court weakens the leannan sith. She is powerless here.”

  It all seemed too good to be true. A seemingly powerful woman like her mother was nothing compared to the magic of the Seelie queen. If only Tara had known this earlier, but of course Una was shrewd enough to never mention it to her daughter. “And what about King Edward? Will he stop his tirade now and head back to England?”

  The queen’s smile never wavered. “Watch this,” she said, taking out a silver looking glass.

  At first, Tara only saw her reflection, but then the scene quickly changed. She was looking out at the ocean. It was stormy, and the waves were rough. Tara could make out a fleet of ships sailing under the King of England’s flag. The ships lit up as they caught on fire and slowly started to sink down into the watery depths of the ocean.

  “Those are King Edward’s ships?” Tara asked hopefully after the vision ended.

  The Seelie queen nodded. “Aye, they are. This will be a heavy blow to King Edward. I would imagine this will force him to retreat back to his own kingdom,” she said. “And Scotia will remain safe for now.”

  “Until the next battle,” Tara said. “This kingdom has been torn by war for too long.”

  “Ah, but those warmongering men are gullible.” The queen smiled. “Perhaps I can whisper a helpful word in their ears so they can come to some sort of truce.”

  If the queen could somehow make it so that the two battling kingdoms could come into a truce, then no longer would Tara or her family have to worry about an impending war coming to the Highlands. Tara’s knees became weak with relief. She fell down in front of the queen as tears fell from her eyes.

  Her family was safe. Dunaid, Murdag, Aengus… Everyone was safe. Finally, she had ridden Scotia of her terrible mother.

  “Thank you, m’lady. I am in your debt.”

  The queen nodded toward the amulets Tara still held in her hand. “One of those talismans seems to be for a human male, if you know anything about that.”

  Does she speak of Colin? Tara thought, wiping the tears from her face. Did this talisman have something to do with him forgettin’ who I am? She knew the other amulet housed her own magic. She could feel it throbbing in her fingertips as she touched it, much like the standing stone did.

  “How do I release what is inside?” she asked the queen.

  “I would imagine you just have to break it,” the queen said, shrugging slightly. “The Unseelie Magic is not known for making sturdy artifacts.”

  Tara turned and looked behind her, where the forest sprawled for more than her eye could see. “May I leave now? I would like to see if my loved ones are safe.”

  “Of course you may. The brownies can lead you back out to the standing stone. Thank you, Tara Maxwell, for bringing this to my attention. You are welcome in the Seelie Court at any time you wish.” She looked down at Tara’s slippers. “Your feet look tired. Here.”

  She waved her hands in the air. As Tara looked down at her feet, the ornamental slippers she had been given by Sorcha turned into sturdy leather boots. The pain in her feet disappeared completely.

  Tara curtsied. “Thank you, m’lady.”

  The queen bowed her head in the slightest of nods. “This will not stop King Edward from wanting to take over Scotia,” the queen told her. “But I will still do all that I can to guide these men into making a more peaceful resolution. You have no doubt saved many lives today. If there is anything more I can do for you, just name it. Within reason, of course.”

  Tara was about to refuse the offer when she remembered her tiny pixie
friend. “Oh, there’s a little pixie that lives in the forest near my family. He’s been trapped there for ages, and he was wondering if he could be let free.”

  The queen wrinkled her nose. “A pixie, you say? What is his name?”

  “His name is Bhreac.”

  The queen’s eyes widened. “Bhreac? Do you jest? He’s still imprisoned?” She looked surprisingly embarrassed, a startling human-like look for someone so powerful. “Of course he can be let out. He’s not even trapped there to begin with! I never meant him to take it seriously.” Her last words sounded like she was speaking to herself.

  “Well, he certainly did take it seriously,” Tara said, chuckling slightly.

  The queen shook her head. “Let him know the next time you see him that he is free to do what he wants, when he wants. Poor Bhreac. I should’ve known he would take my words literally.”

  “Thank you again, your majesty,” Tara said. The queen nodded her head and left the dais.

  Tara looked down at the two amulets. One of them housed her magic. And the other… was it indeed for Colin?

  Will he remember who I am if I give it back to him? Will that mean that it wasn’t my leannan sith powers that attracted him to me after all?

  The very idea gave her so much hope.

  The brownies were silent as they led her back to the entrance of the forest. Luckily, she didn’t need to be tied up this time and could walk freely. She rejoiced at how her feet didn’t hurt. And, indeed, her shoulder was still no longer in pain!

  “This is it,” the male brownie finally said, stopping abruptly. “Just walk through these two boulders, and you will be on your merry way.”

  “Thank you,” Tara said to them, but when she turned around they had already disappeared into the trees. She shrugged, knowing she would not miss those gruff brownies very much, and stepped through to the other side.

  Chapter 24

  Tara found herself standing next to the standing stone. She had no time to wait so immediately made her way back to Aengus Castle. She had half thought that the queen’s magic would end once she returned to the human realm, but her feet and arms still were delightfully pain free.

  She looked down to inspect her feet and didn’t see any sign of blisters there, nor cuts on her body. Splendid! Without her feet hurting, she would make quick timing heading back to the castle. Tara decided to run.

  The same two guards were standing out front again. Is it still the same day? Tara wondered, gazing at the sun, which still hovered just above the horizon. How long was I in the Seelie Court?

  “Ach, it’s that wench again,” one guard said to the other.

  “I am a lady, and I will be treated as such,” she said smartly to the guards. “My brother is Laird Adam Maxwell, and he would have your heads if he heard the way you were talking to his sister.”

  She wasn’t sure Adam would decapitate the men’s heads for their somewhat tame insults, but their faces did pale quite a bit.

  “I’ll go speak with Laird Morrison,” one of them said, then disappeared quickly inside the castle. Tara scowled at the other man, who gazed somewhere past Tara’s shoulder, carefully ignoring her until the guard returned. This time, Colin was at his side.

  Even after her short time away from him, Tara found herself missing Colin. Her heart skipped a beat to see him once again.

  “What is it?” he asked irritably. He looked tired, as though he hadn’t slept in days.

  She tried not to let his words get to her. God, she hoped this was going to work. She took the amulet that pulsated differently from the other, the one that the Seelie queen insisted had Colin’s “essence” in it, as she put it. She crushed the amulet in her hand and held the dust out in the palm. It shimmered much like the leaves of the trees in the Seelie Court. She blew the dust onto Colin.

  “What the hell are you doing?” he shouted, stumbling away from her. The two guards drew their swords in unison.

  Tara was tempted to draw her own blade but held her ground. She waited, and her heart almost dropped with disappointment as nothing happened. Colin then blinked at her slowly, like he had just woken up from a deep sleep. He looked down at the sword in his hand and quickly sheathed it. The guards glanced at each other in confusion and sheathed their own weapons.

  “Tara, what’s going on?” Colin asked. “What are we doing out here?”

  He’d said her name and not as a name of a stranger. Tears prickled in her eyes and threatened to release. “Oh, Colin,” she cried out and embraced him. “You’re back.”

  “What do you mean? Where did I go?” he asked. Nonetheless, he kissed her on the top of her head and held her close.

  That meant that her leannan sith magic did nothing to enchant Colin!

  “It’s you,” Tara cried, hugging him closer. “I can’t believe it. I never did enchant you. This has all been real!”

  “What? Of course this is real. What happened? Are you in danger?”

  “Not anymore.” She pulled away and sniffled. “My mother is imprisoned. The Seelie queen helped me to rid her from burnin’ down any more of Scotia.”

  Colin stared at her. “When did you have the time to do something like that?”

  “I will tell you everything. First,” she said weakly. “I need water.” She collapsed into his arms, and Colin scooped her up and took her inside.

  “I will be fine in the great hall,” she murmured into his chest. “I’m just exhausted from travel.”

  “Very well.” She sensed the worry in his voice as he gently placed her in a chair.

  She leaned her head back against the chair. “It sure feels good to sit,” she said gratefully. She met Colin’s expected gaze.

  “Are you going to tell me what happened?” he demanded.

  So she did.

  After she told her tale, he collapsed into the chair next to her and shook his head slowly. “So you’re saying I didn’t remember you at all?” Colin asked.

  “Aye, that’s right.”

  “There seems to be a lapse in my memory during that time. I remember you leaving to find Baldric, and then you coming home. There is nothing in between. Tara, I’m so sorry.”

  “It’s not your fault,” Tara insisted. “My mother was the one who did it.” She was still holding on to the amulet that held her magic. She looked down at it. “Part of me doesn’t want to break this amulet. Part of me wants to live a life completely free of magic.”

  “But now that you know it wasn’t your magic that made me utterly in love with you, don’t you want it back? I, for one, would find it really exciting to turn into an animal whenever I chose.”

  Tara didn’t hear the last thing he said. She opened her mouth slowly. “You love me?” Tara finally asked.

  “Aye, I do.”

  Tara smiled and scooted her chair closer to Colin, resting her head on his shoulder. “I love you, too,” she said and kissed him on his cheek. She then tied the amulet around her neck. “I won’t destroy it,” she told him. “Not yet, at least. Perhaps I never will. Rhona was right. I am able to control my leannan sith magic. This is how I want to control it, with no possibility of it bringing harm others.”

  Colin blinked at her. “I’m sorry. Who are you?” he asked.

  Tara’s jaw dropped open. Realizing that he was jesting, she gave him a light push with her hand. “Ach, you’re terrible,” she said, laughing. Colin chuckled and lowered his head to meet Tara’s lips with his own.

  When they finally parted, Tara went back to resting her head against him. “Are you going home, then?” he asked her.

  “Aye,” she said. “I am.”

  “I want to come with you, as well.”

  “Really?”

  “Of course. I want to see what family I’m marrying into.”

  Tara looked at him in shock but didn’t have time to reply because Colin was already kissing her again.

  Aye, she could very well get used to feeling happy.

  Chapter 25

  Colin, Tara,
and Baldric left a few days later for Castle Dunaid. During that time, word spread quickly about King Edward’s fleet sinking to the bottom of the ocean. It was enough of a defeat for the King to retreat back to his own lands.

  For now, Scotia seemed to be finally getting back to normal, although many people were still displaced. Colin’s mother kept her promise and was already making arrangements to build housing on her land for the refugees. Tara told Sorcha that her brother would perhaps be interested in doing the same and promised her that she would speak to Adam about it.

  They had been on the road for several days and were trekking through a birch forest near Maxwell lands when Tara suddenly stopped her horse.

  “What is it?” Colin asked.

  Tara cupped her hands to her mouth. “Bhreac!” she called out. “Bhreac, where are you?”

  Bhreac?

  Colin jumped as a tiny insect flew in front of him. That insect, he realized, was a miniature person with wings like a dragonfly.

  “Tara!” the pixie cried. “You survived!”

  “Did you think otherwise?” Tara asked, sounding mockingly shocked. “Oh, ye of little faith.”

  “Well, I mean, there’s a lot goin’ on out there,” Bhreac said conspiratorially. “I heard from travelers goin’ through my forest that most of the Lowlands burnt to a crisp. An’ then there were so many refugees comin’ through this forest that they wore down a trail. Now I can’t trick them into gettin’ lost. Where will I find my amusement now?”

  “Well, Bhreac, there’s no more need for you to find amusement in other people’s turmoil,” Tara remarked, giving Colin a raised eyebrow.

  Bhreac shrugged, then finally noticed Colin and the sleeping Baldric. “Who are you?” he asked Colin.

  “That’s Colin Morrison,” Tara explained. “We are to be married soon.” Colin couldn’t help but see the blush rising in her cheeks as she said this. “And that is his son, Baldric.”

  “Married?” Bhreac repeated. He flew over to hover in front of Colin’s face. “I pray that you will treat Miss Tara well.”