Lady Nellie: Highland Magic Series (Scottish Paranormal Romance)

by Verlin Underwood

  He flittered off for a moment, leaving Nellie and Adam to look at each other questioningly. Finally, the pixie flew back.

  “Hold out your hand,” he directed to Nellie.

  Nellie did so and Bhreac dropped something small and hard into the palm of her hand. She held it up close to her eyes to identify it. “An acorn?” she asked.

  “An acorn infused with pixie magic,” Bhreac embellished. “It’s an amulet. Keep it in on your person and it will help keep you from fallin’ for the terrible charm spells leannan sith love to do to humans.”

  “Oh, this would’ve been perfect for last night,” Nellie said, pocketing the acorn. “If I had my wits about me, perhaps I would’ve been able to escape before she blinded me.”

  Bhreac looked at her sadly. “I wish you the best, Miss Nellie,” he told her.

  “Thank you, Bhreac. I will visit again when I get the chance,” Nellie promised him.

  The pixie gave her a kiss on her fingertips again before flying away through the trees.

  Adam and Nellie continued back to Dunaid in silence. The ground was saturated with water, making the horses struggle a bit as they walked through mud. The hem of Nellie’s dressed was caked with dirt and she was shivering by the time they made it to the castle.

  Alister was waiting for them by the entrance door. “I was worried when you two didn’t make it home last night,” he told them. “But then, the storm blew in and I figured you had no choice but to stay the night. What happened?” he asked as both Adam and Nellie ignored him as they walked by.

  “Nellie is losing her vision. And I am bone tired.”

  “Why? Is she ill?”

  “Nay,” Nellie said through chattering teeth. “I’m cursed, Alister. Cursed again by Una. She took my vision from me. Now, please call Hilda to my room and tell everyone else leave me alone.”

  She knew she was taking out her frustration on the poor men, but at the moment, she cared not. Hilda was sweet to her as she helped her to wash the mud away from her body and change into warm clothes.

  “The bed has been heated, m’lady, if you would like to take a nap,” Hilda told her before leaving.

  “Thank you, Hilda.”

  When the maid left, Nellie instead sat in a chair and looked through her books that she managed to pack before leaving Burrach. The words were obscured, but she could still make them out somewhat. For how much longer, she knew not. Una knew how much she loved to read and study as she had watched her during her stay in Burrach.

  Was Una watching her now as she struggled with her new curse? If she was, Nellie would remain strong, just as her parents did at Burrach. She would never give Una the benefit of relishing in her suffering.

  A knock came suddenly on the door.

  “Who is it?” Nellie called out.

  “It’s Isla,” the voice replied.

  What would Isla want with her? “Come in,” she said.

  Isla came in, but stood a good distance away from where Nellie sat. “I heard you are not farin’ well,” she began.

  “You will not catch anything from me, unless you fear to be cursed as well.”

  “Of course,” Isla said. She came closer and sat at the foot of Nellie’s bed. She rested a hand on her belly as she considered the words. “Lady Lyall…”

  “You can call me Nellie.”

  “Nellie,” she amended. “I wanted to apologize for my actions when Mary was stayin’ in Dunaid. I was weak in disposition an’ she took advantage of me. But that is no excuse. I should have been kinder to you.”

  “Thank you,” Nellie told her and gave her a smile. “But I’ve forgiven you long ago.”

  The woman looked relieved. “I’m glad to hear that. Furthermore,” Isla continued, “Alister tells me things… about you and Adam sometimes. Nothing untoward, of course.” Nellie could hear the blush in the woman’s words. “He told me what you believed had happened to you durin’ your visit to Burrach Castle. I just wanted to tell you that I believe you. About Una. An’ I believe that she did this horrible thing to you.”

  “Oh?” Nellie was surprised by Isla’s revelation. “Why so?”

  “Well, I have known the Maxwells for a very long time,” she said. “Alister had a younger sister that I was great friends with until she took sick an’ died, so I was in Dunaid quite a bit as a wee lass an’ into womanhood. I’ve seen Una. She… she always made my skin prickle. She would be sweet toward me, but she always made me feel uneasy.

  “One night, I was wanderin’ around the castle when I wasn’t supposed to an’ I peeked into her bedroom. I saw… I thought I saw a monster in there. A banshee, perhaps. It frightened me so, but when I ran away, I heard voices of Laird Calum Maxwell an’ Lady Una coming from the same room. I know naught what they said. I blamed my imagination an’ thought nothin’ of it. But havin’ you come here to Dunaid had me thinkin’ again. It had me rememberin’ that night and wonderin’ if it wasn’t just my imagination.”

  “Did she have blue skin and terribly long arms and legs?”

  Isla shivered. “Aye, she did.”

  “We saw the same thing. You need to tell Adam this. I feel like the way to make this all end is for him to finally believe me.”

  Isla nodded. “I will let him know.” She turned to go, but then stopped. “Nellie?”

  “Yes?”

  “I would verra much like to be friends with you.”

  “Aye, I would like that, too, Isla.”

  Chapter 23

  Adam took comfort in logic. His first reasoning for Nellie going blind was because of the blue sickness, or perhaps some sort of sickness that had yet to be discovered. They had been out in the rain and cold, and cold weather hastens illness, no?

  He struggled to hold on to that thread of logic even though he had seen a fairy—an actual breathing, living fairy—with his own eyes.

  He had been proud for too long. He took pride in his logic and in his own stalwart beliefs. But his long-held beliefs were swiftly crumbling as he began to see what the reality was: a mixture of the mythical and the mundane. Did he hold on to such beliefs for so long because he did not want to admit to himself that a woman whom he had known and loved was a liar?

  Adam sat at his desk, struggling to focus on his bookwork. But he could only think about poor Nellie, once again trapped, this time in total darkness. What could he do to help her?

  “Adam, may I speak with you?”

  Isla was at his door and he beckoned her to come in. She looked nervous as she sat in the chair across from him. “I don’t want to sound untoward,” she began, fiddling with a lock of her auburn hair.

  “Isla, you’re like a sister to me,” Adam reassured her. “It’s all right to speak freely to me.”

  “Aye,” she said softly, although she still seemed nervous. “I’d already spoken to Nellie about this, but I wanted you to know as well. Years ago… when your father was still alive, I… I saw Una as a leannan sith. I saw her transform from a human into a… a monster.”

  Adam swallowed her words. “You are certain of this?” he asked slowly.

  “Oh, aye. I kept it a secret because I thought perhaps I had made it up, or that I had dreamed of something terrible. But I asked Nellie about what she saw at Burrach Castle.” She shook her head in wonder. “Adam, we both saw the same thing, the same person. It was Una.” She glanced down at her lap. “I’m so sorry.”

  Adam cleared his throat. “No need to be sorry,” he told the woman. “Thank you for being so honest with me.”

  She nodded and stood up from her seat and left, closing the door quietly behind her.

  When she was gone, Adam dropped his head in his hands and groaned. So, it took this long to finally believe Nellie? Nay, he had believed her for a while, but he didn’t want to admit it to himself. He didn’t want it to be true.

  But all the signs pointed to it being so.

  God, he felt terrible about it. If he had stopped being so proud long ago and admitted to himself that Nellie wa
s right, would Nellie be suffering? Once again, he needed to seek her out to apologize to her, but for tonight, he’d let her be. He knew she was upset by his stubbornness, and perhaps it was for the best to spend one evening away from each other after spending so much time together on their trip to Burrach. Instead, Adam took out a fresh sheet of paper and dipped his quill in his ink jar.

  He wrote the three letters carefully. Una.

  Aye, he would ask her why she never contacted him, why she set out to destroy the Lyalls, and why she desired so much to ruin Nellie’s life.

  It was late in the night when he finally finished the letter. And in the morning, he sent the letter off with one of his servants.

  Nellie was awake in her room, sitting up in her bed, staring off into nothingness. “Adam,” she said, hearing him stop and hesitate by her door. “You can come in.”

  “How are you?” Adam asked, although the question seemed absurd. How do you think she feels? he thought.

  She smiled, though, and it lit up her face. He would give away his castle and his land to find a way to keep that smile on her face.

  “I missed you,” she said.

  “Oh, I thought you would be angry with me.”

  “Angry?”

  “Because of how I’ve been actin’ with you in such a state.”

  “Oh,” Nellie scrunched up her nose. “I’ve never been angry with you, Adam. Annoyed, yes, but angry?” She shook her head.

  “Well, I wanted to tell you that I believe you.”

  She raised an eyebrow. “Meaning?”

  “I believe everythin’ that you’ve told me about the curse at Burrach Castle an’ about the leannan sith, my stepmother. I believe it. An’ I’m sorry that I’d continually dismiss your beliefs as a mere childish fantasy. If I had believed you sooner, perhaps this would not have happened.”

  “Thank you.” Her smile was genuine as she reached her hand out. He took hers in his. “We’ll find a way to fix this,” she said to him. “Just as you said.”

  “Aye.” He hoped that was true.

  It was days before he got a response from Una, and in the meantime, he agonized over the continued deterioration of Nellie’s eyesight. She struggled, although she did well to hide it. She said she could still see shapes and forms, but at night, he would see her walk down the hall, her hands trailing the wall to guide her to where she was going.

  She still spent time out in the courtyard in pleasant weather, although she did not do much gardening. Instead, she spent her time sitting on the bench, listening to his servants rake leaves and trim branches.

  When he was handed the letter from Una, Adam tore it open where he stood. His hands shook as he read his stepmother’s words.

  My dearest Adam,

  I loved your father greatly. When he died, you reminded me of him so much that I could do nothing but run away. Yes, perhaps it wasn’t the best choice, but it was the choice I made nonetheless. You do have a sister, Tara, and I believe enough time has passed that I am ready for you two to meet. You are very much alike in many ways…

  Yes, I cursed the Lyalls, but that is because they wronged me and my family. Malcolm Lyall kidnapped me, Adam. Are you going to stay by my side? Or are you going to side with Malcolm Lyall’s daughter?

  With all of my love,

  Una

  I don’t believe her, Adam realized, and that realization brought him great relief. Well, yes, I believe that she is a leannan sith, but that Malcolm Lyall kidnapped her?

  In fairy lore, as Nellie had once told him, leannan sith were prone to enchant unsuspecting men, but it seemed as though it did not work on Malcolm.

  Another idea occurred to him: was Adam’s father cursed instead?

  He wrote back to her: I stand by Nellie. Reverse the curse at once. He didn’t bother to sign his name and gave it quickly to Bearnard’s servant boy to take back with him to his uncle’s castle.

  Chapter 24

  A week and some odd days went by and he did not receive a reply from Una. He stood, looking through windows and up at his parapet, waiting for any signs of a servant boy on a horse riding towards Dunaid with a response, but none never came.

  What am I doin’? Why am I not going to Bearnard’s castle an’ speakin’ to her myself?

  He told Nellie his plans at dinnertime.

  “I’ll come with you,” she said immediately.

  Adam shook his head. “I don’t want you to. There are a whole mess of things I need to sort out with that woman. An’ I don’t trust that she’s hospitable enough that she wouldn’t do somethin’ worse to you. It will be a quick trip,” he reassured her.

  “Oh, fine,” she relented, although he noticed how she picked at the food on her plate and how Isla and Alister glanced worriedly at each other. He didn’t have much of an appetite either.

  Adam and Nellie walked together to their respective rooms, but before Nellie went into hers, she surprised him by wrapping her arms around his middle, resting a cheek against his chest.

  “Please come back safely,” she told him.

  “I will,” he said. “My stepmother loves me. I doubt she would do anything to hurt me, leannan sith or not.”

  “Isn’t she hurting you already?” Nellie asked.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Never mind,” she muttered. “Goodnight, Adam.”

  He walked to his room, mulling over Nellie’s words, and he almost hit himself on the head as he finally understood what Nellie meant. Nay, Una hadn’t harmed him physically, but she had in other ways. She left him hurt and confused by leaving him as a boy, and even now, she was sending a rift between himself and the woman he cared for.

  He wanted to leave early the next day, so he made sure his bags were packed and that the cooks gave him enough food to last the trek to Bearnard’s castle. He brought his bags down to the stable and set them by Cerin.

  The night was calm. Overhead, he heard a lone owl hoot. Another owl, not too far away, answered. Cerin nickered at him softly and nuzzled Adam’s shoulder.

  “No apples tonight, Cerin,” he told his horse. “But I’ll steal one out of the kitchen for you tomorrow, I promise.” Adam made sure the stable door was locked before heading back into the castle.

  Alister was sitting in the entrance hall, his hand resting idly on the hilt of his sword.

  “What are you doing out here?” Adam asked.

  Alister shrugged. “Ach, one of the guards is sick so I decided to take his shift for a while. There will be a shift change in a bit, so I don’t mind sittin’ here relaxin’ and drinkin’.” He held up his tankard of mead to Adam in a salute.

  “Will you be able to hold down the castle while I’m gone?” he asked his cousin in jest.

  Alister rubbed the back of his neck and stifled a yawn. “Aye, we’ll be fine.”

  “You look like you’re half-asleep.”

  “I’ve just haven’t been getting’ much sleep worryin’ about Isla and the baby.”

  “Why? What do you think will happen?”

  Alister sighed and took a sip of his mead. “Don’t get me wrong. I love Nellie. But havin’ her cursed here at Dunaid has made me uneasy. I know it’s not the lass’s fault. But you gotta understand, I want no harm to come to Isla and the bairn. And don’t tell Isla this, but I’m a bit frightened of the whole thing.”

  “I won’t let anythin’ of the sort happen to your family,” Adam promised him. “I will get this all sorted out.”

  “Good.” Alister smiled. “And I know you worry about Nellie as well.”

  “Does it show?”

  “I have yet to see you this distraught, man,” his cousin told him. “I’ve been with Isla long enough to know that is love.”

  “If this is love, what a tirin’ burden it is.”

  “Aye.” Alister grinned. “It’s worth it, though. Get some sleep, if you can.”

  Surprisingly, Adam fell asleep rather quickly without the aid of his usual cup of tea. He woke up once, thinking he heard
a noise outside his window—a tapping, perhaps—but as he sat and listened, he could hear naught but the whispering of the waves of the calm ocean. He settled back down on his pillow and closed his eyes, letting his mind wander off into a dream.

  Alister’s panicked yell from the entrance hall woke him up again. Reflexively, Adam swung his legs out of his bed and reached for his sword, unsheathing the blade in one breath.

  At that moment, a man burst in through the door, lunging at him with a sword in one hand and a dagger in the other. Adam parried, sending his attacker off balance and slamming his shoulder against the wall. The man grunted and fell to his knees, but before Adam could deliver a finishing blow, the attacker quickly stood up and swung his sword at him.

  Steel clashed against steel as they exchanged a few blows until finally, his attacker fell to his knees, his sword skittering underneath Adam’s bed. His breath was labored as Adam held his sword to the man’s neck.

  “Who sent you here?” he demanded.

  The man spat blood next to Adam’s feet. “Bearnard Maxwell,” he stated, glaring up at Adam.

  Adam stared at the man, stunned. His uncle did this? Why in God’s name would he attack Dunaid?

  Una. This must be her doing. Did she enchant his uncle like he assumed she enchanted his father? For what purpose would she do such a thing? He then thought of Nellie a few doors down. God, he hoped she was safe in her bed, but either way, he had to get her out of there.

  “Where is my uncle?” he asked the man.

  “He probably has that wench tied up now,” the man went on. “She’s probably already screamin’ and cryin’. Is that your woman, mate? Boy, I would love to get my hands on that sweet piece of pie.”

  Nellie. Dear God, they have Nellie.

  Adam yanked the curtains from the windows and ripped them apart with his hand and teeth, keeping an eye on his prisoner. He then wrapped the cloth tightly over the man’s wrists and ankles, a useful technique he had learned from his cellmate at the Tower of London, when they would daydream about a way to escape the dungeons.