“Watch out,” Nancy said in a low voice. “You’ll have blisters on blisters on blisters if you give her too much —”
“Blisters turn into callouses if you keep working at them, Nancy,” Anna said primly. This seemed to be an old point of contention between them. “Maybe you could come and train with Elena this afternoon —”
“I’m pregnant, I don’t have to do anything. Doctor’s orders.”
“You rode a horse to the village and back yesterday, you’re fine. Besides, I kept training right up to my third trimester with Gwyneth. No excuses,” Anna said, grinning. “Elena, I’ll come and find you after lunch.”
She was a little worried about what she’d gotten herself into… but it would be nice to spend some time doing something physical. Valuable to get her mind off everything she’d been thinking about, what with Brendan and Una and the Sidhe… she’d always enjoyed weapons training back when she was training to be a cop, too. Hopefully some of the baton skills she had would be transferrable.
But for the morning, she was at a bit of a loose end. She wandered the castle, feeling a little lost, and wound up in the library. Well, that was something she could do, at least… track down a few books of folklore, see if she could get any more insight into what the Sidhe could be. But every book she tried was impossible. All the books said about them was the same line she was getting from everyone in the castle — the Sidhe were intelligent, beautiful creatures composed of light, and though their ways were mysterious, they always meant well for humans.
“Who says?” she whispered crossly to the pages. “Who says they mean well?” She wasn’t feeling especially well, at the moment, stranded in the past with a bunch of supernatural nonsense to entangle and a profound worry that the man she was interested in wasn’t going to be able to see her as an equal, no matter how well-intentioned he may have been. But the books were stubbornly silent, and she leafed through the pages, sighing.
There were a few other listings for humanoid Fae creatures, and she read through those, vaguely interested. After all — if it had in fact been the coin that had kept Una at bay, that meant she was probably a Fae creature herself. That might have scared Elena a few weeks ago, when she’d first come to this place, but now it didn’t bother her at all. She’d been fine with Maggie, after all, and even Darter had been fine once she’d gotten used to the sight of his furry ears and scaly little form. Una was a friend first — if she was a Fae, too, then that was just something else to learn about her. She’d have preferred to just ask her what she was, rather than trying to look it up in a book… but Brendan had deprived her of that option, she thought irritably, feeling the coin where it still sat in her bodice. Well, she’d go and talk to Una tonight.
The book wasn’t helpful. She found a few listings about selkies, the creatures Maggie had mentioned, but that didn’t seem to fit. From the descriptions, selkies were shapeshifters, who could be trapped in their human forms by stealing their sealskin cloaks… but Una didn’t have a cloak, only a long green dress. Besides, the legends mostly mentioned selkie women being discovered naked, which didn’t seem at all like Una. There were a few other drawings of humanoid Unseelie Fae, but they were all rather unpleasant — sharp teeth, monstrous features, long, clawed talons… nothing like the sweet, if vaguely feral, woman that Elena had gotten to know.
It was lunch time by the time she’d finished poking through the book, and she headed down the stairs, feeling a little out of sorts from having spent so long peering at the crowded text of the books. She ate with Anna, who was very much looking forward to their sword fighting lesson — and she was again a little worried about what she’d gotten herself in for. She ate a light lunch, preparing to be struck over and over again with a wooden sword… but to her surprise, when they headed out to the courtyard, Anna was a different person altogether. She was patient, gentle, thorough — they spent most of the lesson without swords in their hands at all, simply working over the best way to stand, the importance of footwork.
“It’s a martial art,” Anna explained, her eyes aglow, and Elena realized with amusement that this was something her friend deeply loved. “It’s as much about mental discipline as it is about physical strength... and when you get good, it feels a little like dancing.”
Elena grinned. “Do you dance with Donal?”
“All the time.” Anna grinned, her eyes flashing. “I’ll beat him one of these days, too. I can knock any of Brendan’s guard flat on their asses, but Donal’s my white whale. He’s just so damned quick. Hard to predict, too.”
Elena smiled at the misty look in Anna’s eyes. It was touching, how much she loved her husband… and never more clear than when she was talking about trying to best him in combat.
“What about Brendan? Have you fought him?”
Anna laughed. “We’ve sparred a couple of times, but never a proper contest. He prefers to have me fight his men, generally. Says it keeps them on their toes. Weaponized misogyny,” she added, rolling her eyes. “Train hard, or you’ll get beaten by a woman. I’m hoping it’ll eventually get through their skulls that women are just as capable of being good fighters as men, and it’ll stop being about getting beaten by a woman… and start being about getting beaten by me.” She grinned widely. “Or you! In a few years.”
A few years, Elena thought, sighing a little as she resumed the stance Anna was teaching her. Years of training. It wasn’t that she didn’t enjoy it.. but somehow, she couldn’t shake the desire to find a way back home. Sure, everyone said there was no way home… but they also said to trust the Sidhe.
And Elena just wasn’t sure about any of that.
Chapter 36
Elena liked sword fighting, she decided as she and Anna decided to call it for the afternoon. It had been a long afternoon in the sun, but the Scottish sun was weak enough to make that pleasant, not grueling, and at any rate, Elena was in decent shape. It had been a lot more grueling to train for the police force… and Anna, for her part, had seemed pleased by her student’s level of physical fitness and commitment to the work.
“Did you ever think of going for the Army instead of the cops?” Anna asked as they dusted their hands off. They needed to return the wooden swords they’d been training with to the guard tower, then they’d head in to wash up before dinner.
“Nah. Wanted to be a cop like my dad… then fell in love with the detective side of things.”
“There’s military police, you know,” Anna said innocently. “We could’ve used a few more women like you. Kind of a sausage fest.”
“Kind of irrelevant now, isn’t it?” Elena asked, the corner of her mouth twitching as they headed back toward the castle. “The US Army’s not going to be invented for a little while yet.”
“I guess. And I guess if you’d joined the Army you probably wouldn’t have been on those steps when you were.” Anna shrugged. “Then we never would’ve met.”
“You don’t think the Sidhe would’ve conspired to bring me through some other way?” Elena joked.
But the look Anna gave her — surprised, thoughtful, a little wary — suggested that she’d never thought about the Sidhe like that.
“I mean… surely if I’d joined the Army there would’ve been some other near-death experience to save me from, right? If they’d really wanted me here, they’d have found a situation to take advantage of.”
“I guess I never thought of them as … actually playing a role in what happened on Earth,” Anna said thoughtfully.
Elena bit her lip. It hadn’t been her intention to sew seeds of doubt about the ‘good’ Fae who’d had such a huge impact on her friend’s life. After all, she didn’t know herself yet whether or not it was the Sidhe who couldn’t be trusted… or Una.
But either way, she was determined to find out. After they’d washed the dust off their faces and hands — the courtyard was surprisingly dusty if you spent enough time out there — they ate dinner together, talking and laughing about the work. If Anna was thinking abo
ut what Elena had said about the Sidhe, she didn’t bring it up — not in front of Donal and Malcolm, at any rate, who joined them halfway through their meal. Malcolm offered apologies for Nancy, who was feeling too unwell for dinner.
“I got pretty bad morning sickness at about this time, too,” Anna said sympathetically.
Elena was reminded that she’d been meaning to talk to the women about contraception — but she didn’t dare bring it up in front of the men. Being gently teased by Anna and Nancy was one thing, but she had no interest in hearing any kind of goading from the men, as much as she might like both of them.
After dinner, she slipped away from her friends, saying she felt like going down to the docks. She was known for that particular habit — it would look suspicious if she stopped once she’d learned that people had noticed it, wouldn’t it? Besides, it was beautiful down there — she honestly did enjoy just sitting in solitude at the end of the jetty. She was halfway down to the end of the dock before she remembered the iron coin nestled inside her bra. Frowning, she took her accustomed seat, cross-legged at the end of the dock, and with her back to the walls, drew the coin out.
“Is this what kept you away?” she whispered to the dark waters of the Loch, the coin clutched in her fingers. Annoyance flared up again at Brendan for stashing it on her person without even asking her first, at thinking she was too silly to make the decision for herself. What had Una said about men? If you waited long enough, they revealed their true selves… was this an indication of who Brendan truly was? He’d seemed so apologetic when she’d confronted him over it… had apologized sincerely, made amends as best he could, but could she truly trust that? What if she’d never figured out the coin was on her — would he have continued to make decisions for her, without even getting her insight?
The anger boiled to a point — and before she could think about it anymore, she flung the coin out across the water, watching it skip across the choppy waves before sinking without a trace. A pang of guilt hit her hard — it had been a gift from Brendan, after all, no matter the manner in which he’d given it to her — but it was quickly replaced by a sense of smug satisfaction. If she decided she needed protection from the Fae, she’d organize it herself. It wasn’t his choice, one way or another.
She was a little worried that Una wouldn’t come — was the smell of the iron coin too strong, even from beneath the waves? She heaved a sigh, climbing to her feet and heading back toward the castle. Maybe she’d come down at dawn again — hopefully Una would be able to come and see her then. But to her surprise, as she turned she saw a familiar figure, standing in the shadow of the castle wall — in the exact same place Elena had been waiting in vain the night before. A brilliant smile broke out across Elena’s face — but Una raised one long finger to her lips, and she carefully schooled the expression, her eyes flicking up to the walls. Sure enough, there were men walking back and forth along the top — one of them raised an arm to wave to her, and she waved back, heart pounding. Good thing she hadn’t run to Una — that might have raised suspicion.
“Una,” she said in a low voice when she reached the wall. “It’s so good to see you.”
“I’ve been busy, I’m afraid, my dear, my darling,” Una murmured to her, reaching out with one icy hand to stroke her face. These odd, intimate little gestures were becoming familiar to her now — but she couldn’t help but remember how Brendan had brushed her face in much the same way. “I’m here now.”
“I waited for you last night, but I didn’t realize — the coin.”
Una’s dark eyes didn’t move — her face stayed blank. “Busy last night, my dear, I’m sorry. I couldn’t come to you. Business to attend to, you know how it is.”
Elena blinked. Had that been the problem — had Una simply had other places to be? But what about the coin? Hadn’t it been the cold iron that had kept her away? Maybe she’d assumed too much. “What kind of business?” she asked curiously.
“Oh, people to see, in the village, in the surroundings. Keeping myself strong, keeping myself safe.” She turned those dark eyes toward the Loch. “They’ll be after me, the Sidhe, I’m sure. They’ll want me back.”
“Why?” Elena said curiously. “If you escaped… I thought the Sidhe couldn’t come out beyond the Burgh…”
“They have those who’ll do their bidding,” Una said darkly. “I can’t risk it… can’t risk being captured, being dragged back in there…”
“Should I be worried, too?” Elena wanted to know, frowning. Una’s dark eyes were back on her suddenly. “I mean — if they were holding me prisoner, too, surely they’ll want to catch me again?”
“Perhaps, perhaps,” Una murmured, but she didn’t seem convinced. “They could come for you too. But I’ll protect you —”
“Una, why would they want to capture you?” Elena bit her tongue on the question she really wanted to ask — are you a Fae creature, or a human? “Why you, and not me?”
“Elena,” Una breathed, reaching out one long, slender finger. “So clever, my Elena, so clever and thoughtful. Can I trust you? Can I trust you with the truth?”
Elena was holding her breath. “Of course you can.” Those dark eyes, so hypnotic — she felt like she could almost lurch forward and tip into them like a child falling over the lip of a dark well. But a strange sound caught her attention — an odd alteration to the rhythm of the gently lapping waters of the Loch, as though the wind had picked up, or something. Una’s eyes flicked to the Loch, breaking the spell Elena felt like she’d fallen under — and when she looked out to the end of the jetty, her jaw dropped.
There, for all the world like the periscope of some enormous submarine — a long, slender shape was sticking up out of the black waters of the Loch, illuminated just enough by the moonlight for Elena to make out what it was. It was a neck, she realized with a shock — a long, graceful neck about the thickness of a tree trunk. And atop it perched a sleek head, for all the world like the head of a dinosaur, like the ones she’d seen on a trip to the Museum of Natural History when her family had visited New York. A plesiosaur, she remembered vaguely — had that been the name of the creature? But here was one now, staring straight at her.
“Nessie,” she breathed, her heart filling with wonder. The Loch Ness Monster. Though she’d been told about it, she realized she hadn’t quite believed that it really existed — but here it was, staring straight at her. She took a few steps toward it, wonder on her face — but then she felt Una’s icy hand catch her wrist, and the woman whispered a low warning.
The monster wasn’t looking at Elena, she realized suddenly. Its dark little eyes were fixed on Una, beside her, and though she was hardly an expert in the facial expressions of monsters, it didn’t look happy. Suddenly, its jaw hinged wide, revealing rows of serrated teeth — well, Elena thought dizzily, that solved the mystery of what it ate. Definitely a carnivore, with sharp teeth like that. There must be a lot of fish in the Loch… or did it find other things to dine on…? And just as she was wondering about the chilling connotations of that assumption, the beast roared, a low, terrifying sound that seemed to roll out across the waters of the lake.
Una made a strange, feral sound beside her — something like a hiss, or maybe more of a snarl. Suddenly, her hand was gone from Elena’s wrist. “I must go,” she breathed, her voice low — and sure enough, Elena could hear the men high up on the wall shouting to each other, summoned by the roar of the monster. It had roared to alert them, Elena realized — to tell them that Una was there. She started after the woman — then realized, with a dizzy shock, that she was gone, as quickly as she’d arrived. Had she vanished into the mist?
But the men were still shouting. Elena realized she didn’t have much time — she had to get back inside the castle before they started asking questions about just what it was she was doing out here that had gotten the Monster so upset.
Because those weren’t the kinds of questions she had any answers for.
Chapter 37
&
nbsp; Elena took a deep breath, trying to keep herself calm. It felt a little odd, to be in the position of avoiding the guards… instead of being one of the ones hunting down the wrongdoers. But she wasn’t a wrongdoer, was she? She was just someone who didn’t much feel like answering a bunch of questions just yet. Not until she’d had time to think, time to process… god, the monster had chosen an inconvenient time to interrupt them. Una had been just about to tell her something important, she could sense it. Now she’d have to wait until she saw her again.
First things first, she had to get away from the guards. She knew she couldn’t go up the same stairs she’d come down — the men would be on their way down them already. But she knew there were other stairwells. Brendan had mentioned them — unused ones, around the side of the castle, that led to places in between the castle and the walls… hopefully, she could try one of those and hope that it wasn’t in such bad disrepair that she couldn’t get up there. Worst case, maybe she could hide out in one of the stairwells until the guards were gone. She set off down the wall, hugging it closely in case the guards were looking down over the wall, her heart pounding even as she leaned on the tactics she’d learned as a cop to keep herself calm. It was important to keep your wits about you in situations like this.
Sure enough, further around the castle she found an unused stairwell — it was dusty, and she wrinkled her nose as a cobweb brushed against her cheek as she stepped through the doorway, but she could tell from the silence in the space that nobody had used it in a long time. Good. That meant she’d be safe there. She paused for a second, listening to the sounds of the men’s voices out on the docks — and to her surprise, heard Brendan’s voice among them. Of course — he’d still be on shift. She hardened her heart, trying not to think about what she felt about him — for now, he was the enemy. The lights from their torches were flickering across the ground, and she smiled in satisfaction, realizing that none of them had any idea what they were looking for out there. Una had gotten away in time — and so had Elena.
Swept By The Highlander: A Scottish Time Travel Romance-Highlander Forever Book 3 Page 22
