by Alice Wilde
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 snuck 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.”
Fiona’s large eyes bore into my own as she tries to process what I’ve just said.
“Are you trying to tell me you’re some sort of changeling?”
“What kind of madness is this?” Neil scoffs, rising and moving to stand by his wife.
“No, I assure you, I’m no changeling. I am a shifter. I was kidnapped for it and put under a curse because of an ancient magic running through my blood. I’m still not sure why or how. All I know is that I am.”
“A shifter,” Fiona says slowly, mulling the word over. “You know, brother, I had heard some wild tales about you, but never in all my years did I believe them to be true. Boys trying to scare girls and all.”
“I swear to you, it’s true.”
“Prove it.”
I look back at Li and Ero. They shrug and I take a deep breath before shifting into my beast.
“What in the names of all the saints!” Neil yells. “Guards!”
“No one m
ove! So, ‘tis true,” Fiona whispers. “Come now, shift back, you devilish bastard. You have a great deal more explaining to do.”
I link with Li. “Can you please tell Fiona to turn around?”
“I’m sure she’s seen it all before.”
“No, she hasn’t. Just do it.”
Li clears his throat. “Would you please avert your eyes. Your brother loses his clothes during the process.”
Fiona raises an eyebrow, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “Now this is funny.” She shakes her head at me but turns toward her husband, and I make the most of the situation by shifting back, pulling my clothes on as quickly as possible.
“So, why have you come back?” Fiona asks, turning back to me.
“That part is rather complicated,” I say.
“Have you come back to claim your title?” Neil asks.
“My title?”
“Yes. Have you come back to claim your inheritance and right to the lands?”
“I hadn’t thought that far. I didn’t even know what I would find upon arriving.”
“I’m the only one who stayed, if that’s what you’re wondering,” Fiona says. “All of my…our sisters have long since gone to wed their own lairds, and some have died since.”
“Ma and Da?”
“Long gone, I’m afraid. Although I doubt Da would take too kindly to knowing you really do have magic flowing through your veins,” Fiona continues. “The clan is still quite strong, but nothing like it once was. We’re slowly starving, along with the rest of Scotland.”
“Starving? What do you mean?”
“It’s the Fae folk. Tensions have been rising between them and us for a fair few decades now. But recently they’ve been barring us from entering the forests and cursing our harvests. I’m sure you’ve noticed the lack of a fire in here. So, you’ll have to forgive me when I say I’m not all too sure I can trust you.”
I can feel Ero and Li’s minds whirring in disbelief, even if they’re staying silent.
“I thought we had a pact with them,” I say.
“We did, but the truce was only good for as long as we had a male heir of the Artair line to rule this land. Thanks to the disappearance of my one and only brother, that truce was broken the day Da died.”
“What?”
“When you, or at least the man you say you are, didn’t return the next day, no one thought much of it. We assumed you had gone out whoring or gotten three sheets to the wind and fallen into some ditch to sleep through the night.”
“It’s nice to hear people thought so little of me.”
“Well, more than one lass was trying her damnedest to bed you. It wouldn’t have surprised me if they had managed it. But when you didn’t show for nearly a week, our Da started to grow uneasy. It didn’t take long for him to start blaming the Fae folk. He sent search parties out to find you, but they all came back emptyhanded.”
“You can’t be serious,” Ero says. “Fae folk?”
“I wouldn’t jest about them. They are vicious creatures, and it’s not only our lands that have been affected. Much of Scotland is having trouble with them these days.”
“What’s the point of all of this?” Li asks.
Fiona gives Li a frosty look. “The point of all of this is that we already have next to nothing to offer. I’ve believed Roan to be dead many years now, and suddenly a man shows up who knows magic and looks exactly like my lost brother and not a day older than the day he disappeared. I know a faerie trick when I see one.”
“You don’t believe me?” I ask. “Why would the Fae folk care to trick you like this?”
Fiona snorts. “I haven’t had faith in anything since the day I found out I was barren. I’m not about to start believing in anything but what I already know to be true. The Fae will do anything to take back what they believe is theirs, so when a male heir didn’t rise to rule Clan Artair, they started acting on the pact they made with our ancestors. In the event that a male heir is no longer alive to take the position of laird, and upon the death of the final Artair descendant, the lands will be granted back to the Fae folk.”
“That can’t be possible. Why didn’t anyone ever tell me this? What can I do to make you trust me?” I ask. “I’ll do anything.”
“Tell me exactly why you’re here,” Neil snaps. “We may not have an heir of our own, but we’re not going to be fooled into giving up the land to a bunch of changeling Fae folk.”
“For the last time, I’m not Fae. None of us are. But I’ll admit that I did come back to ask a favor. I hadn’t expected things to have changed so much.”
“What favor?” Fiona asks warily.
“I need help raising an army to take down the man who captured me so many years ago,” I say. “Li and Ero were also taken by him. And this woman is Annalise.”
I hold my hand out to Annalise, and she steps forward beside me.
“She is, or at least should be, the rightful heir to the throne of her kingdom. She was forced to wed Damien, the man I grew to know as my master for so many years. We helped her escape on her wedding night and now we have to help her take back her kingdom before her husband can build up his own army and conquer the surrounding lands.”
“Foolishness,” Fiona says after a long silence. “What makes you think Scotland would ever send an army abroad for any reason? Much less to save some kingdom from a man we’ve only just heard of?”
“It wouldn’t just be Scotland,” I say hurriedly. “Ero is a Viking descendant, and Li is part of a powerful Chinese family. We’re going to build up a Nordic and Chinese army as well. Together, we should be able to defeat him.”
“You’re mad. Truly mad,” Neil says, turning back to sit on his chair.
Fiona shakes her head.
“Please, you have to believe me,” I say. “Just tell me what I need to do to make you believe.”
“First, you need to get out of my home,” Neil says. “How dare you bring a Viking here with the intent to raise an army. I won’t stand to have Fae folk, let alone a Viking murder me and my own in our sleep. Out now!”
The men who escorted us into the castle surround us, drawing their swords and crossbows, forcing us to step backward toward the main hall’s exit.
“Wait,” Fiona says. The men stop pushing us toward the door but don’t lower their weapons. “Lock all of them up except the one who calls himself Roan.”
“Are you sure that’s wise, dear?” Neil asks.
“If you really are you who you say you are,” Fiona continues, “then you should be able to survive a night among the Fae folk. They can’t kill a male heir to Clan Artair. Survive the night and return to us tomorrow. If you can do this, perhaps we’ll trust you enough to discuss what to do next. In the meantime, your companions will remain here, with us. As assurance.”
“But what if he’s Fae himself?” Neil says.
Fiona turns to face her husband. “If you hadn’t noticed, my laird. They arrived at sunset. Fae folk cannot leave the safety of the forest in broad daylight. If he really is Fae, he won’t be able to return until sunset.”
“Brilliant, my dear.”
“Thank you.”
As ridiculous as the situation is, I can’t help but admire the apparent love and appreciation my sister and her husband have for one another.
“Don’t touch her.”
Li’s words cause me to spin around, the guards having grabbed each of my three companions in an effort to haul them off to the dungeons.
“Wait,” I say, hoping Li and Ero will forgive me for what I say next. “Let me take the girl with me.”
“You want to endanger her as well?” Fiona asks with a laugh. “Whatever happens, you’re certainly just as reckless as I remember my brother being. I won’t be one to stand between a man or Fae and his loved one. Let him take the girl.”
The guard holding Annalise shoves her toward me and I catch her in my arms.
“But remember, return tomorrow, two hours after midday when
the sun has reached its apex and begun to decline, or these two companions won’t last through the night.”
“You better know what you’re doing,” Ero growls at me as his arms are yanked behind him and clasped in chains by several men.
Li’s mouth is almost a straight line as he looks at me. “Keep her safe. Whatever the cost, keep Annalise safe.”
I watch as they’re forced down the passageway that leads to the castle’s dungeons.
“You, you, and you,” Fiona says pointing to several of the remaining men. “Go with them and make sure they enter the Fae forest through the Tree in the North. Don’t leave until they are out of sight, then ride to the Southern Portal and make camp. I expect you to wait for them to exit, or not, and then report back here.” Fiona walks over and takes the seat next to her husband. “There’s only one entry point to the north. The Southern Portal will require you to traverse the most dangerous parts of the Fae territory on Clan Artair land. If you are truly who you say you are, the Fae will have no choice but to help guide you through their lands. If not, then I can’t say it was a pleasure getting to know you.”
“You are truly something else, my love,” Neil says.
I take Annalise’s hand as we’re shepherded from the Great Hall, looking back one last time as the doors are shut behind us at my sister and her laird.
Sixteen
Annalise
Roan mounts the large, black mare we’ve been given to ride and reaches for my hand to pull me up behind him.
“Hold on tight,” he says.
“Why did you insist on taking me with you? I’m of no relation to you or your family. Won’t it be far more dangerous for me among the Fae than in the dungeon with Li and Ero?”
“Dinna fash, lass. If what they say is true, then I’m certain I’ll be able to negotiate your safe passage as well. Besides, if tonight is going to be my last night on earth, I’d rather it was spent with you. If anything goes wrong, we’ll both be dead either way, right? Might as well die having an adventure instead of cooped up in a dungeon.”
