Page 50 of A Little Highland Magic

Chapter Eighteen

The sun overhead was starting to dip towards the horizon as Aria continued to search for Graeme and Gille. The fear that something had happened to them crept into her thoughts, but she rallied and forced the negativity away with a quick release of breath. Nay, they were safe, and she would find them.

She continued through the trees when, suddenly, a rustling sound came to her. She stopped and clasped her sword, searching for a sign of someone’s presence, for she could sense that someone was there. “Graeme?” she asked hopefully.

Another rustle sounded to her right. She widened her stance, preparing for battle as the sound of a blade escaping its sheath came to her. “Not Graeme.” A man stepped from behind a tree with his sword at the ready, coming towards her.

“Keiran?” A momentary pang of disappointment gripped her followed by a thrill to see the other man she sought. “Why are you here?”

“I sensed you had returned, and I wanted to be the one to greet you. After all, you are my very own betrothed.” The afternoon sun revealed his tall, muscular body. He was not dressed in the plaid of his countrymen as he should be, but in short green breeches, boots, and a sleeveless leather tunic with silver bands at his wrists.

The sunlight through the trees brought out streaks of red in his dark hair and cast his skin in a honeyed glow. Keiran was handsome, there was no denying it, but he was not for her. “We are not betrothed. How can we be? You and I are both MacLeods.”

Keiran shrugged. “If Father wants us to join our lives, then that is what we shall do.”

“Oberon is not your father. And I will never marry you, no matter what the fairy king demands.”

He raised his sword, his body instantly tense. “Then you shall die by my sword as is my right.”

“Are you so certain I will be the one who dies?” Aria kept her body loose, preparing to absorb the blow she could see coming.

His blade came down. A thunderous clang resounded as she blocked his assault, sending the birds in the trees into flight.

Keiran scowled and his gaze grew dark. His wrath shifted to his sword, and he came at her again with a heavy stroke. He was not here to banter. He had come to kill her, no doubt at Oberon’s command.

She had brought this on herself. She should have controlled her grief, not let it get the better of her.

Keiran’s expression became foreboding as his sword poised to strike again. “Why did you come back here after you finally achieved what you had always wanted?” He swung his sword.

She feinted to the right. “I came back for you.”

He stumbled but caught himself. “Why would you do something so senseless?”

“Because you belong with your family.”

Keiran slashed at her once more. Aria caught the blade with her own, trapped it at the hilt and shoved Keiran back, knocking him off balance.

With a growl, Keiran regained his footing and charged forward.

Aria stood her ground, blocking his strike, but she did not follow through. He might want to kill her, but she had no desire to do the same to him. “Your family, the MacLeods, miss you, Keiran. Your mother misses you.”

“Nay!” he said as though the words caused him great pain. “You lie. I was abandoned. No one loves me except my father—Oberon.”

“That is what he would have you believe. It is not the truth. There is an entire clan of people who long to know you, who love you, who want you back.”

He lunged at her with a slash of his weapon. She twisted away, but not fast enough. He clipped her below her collarbone, slicing through her white chemise and to the delicate flesh beneath. Blood blossomed across the fabric like a morbid flower.

Keiran raised a brow, and pride glittered in his eyes.

Aria did not flinch at the pain. This was not the first time she had been injured, and it was not severe enough to stop her from advancing on him again.

His sword came down. She kept coming forward as she blocked the stroke, and met Keiran’s blade with a forceful blow that again locked with his sword at the hilt. She schooled her features to remain expressionless as she turned her sword to the left once, twice, causing Keiran to gasp in pain. His wrist rolled, forcing the sword from his grasp. The weapon flew from his hand and landed with a thud against the soft earth at their feet.

“You need to return to the human realm with me, Keiran. I will not leave Fairyland until you agree that this is the right course of action. You do not belong here.”

Keiran stared at her with a predatory light in his eyes as he came closer. “I do belong here. And nothing you say or do will change my mind.”

He reached into his tunic and pulled something out. Before she could react, he slipped an iron chain about her neck. Instantly, her skin burned, and Aria felt as though a lead weight pressed on her soul. She dropped her sword and fell to her knees.

Keiran smiled. “Father said the metal would slow you down. Guess he was right.” He leaned forward and pushed her backwards until her back hit the ground, and she could do nothing to defend herself.

“Now what were you saying about me going with you?” He laughed. “Looks like you’ll be spending the rest of your short life right here on your back, wondering why you refused to marry me.” He leaned down to kiss her, but she turned her head away.

“Suit yourself,” he said and stood, towering over her.

Aria could shift her head slightly to see him. With the iron around her neck, she could move hardly anything except her fingers and the slight shift of her head. But even those abilities she felt fading from her.

Keiran’s dark eyes connected with hers. In their depths she saw no satisfaction that he had bested her. But what she did see sent a shiver down her spine. Magic swirled in his dark brown eyes. Keiran was under a spell. He probably had been since he first arrived in Fairyland, but before now she had not wanted to see that his actions were not his own.

“Keiran, come back,” she pleaded as he backed away. “I can help you.”

“Help me?” He laughed. “You are the one who needs help. Once I leave, there will be no one to save you. Fairyland and probably even the human realm will be better off without you in them.”

Tears fell from the corners of Aria’s eyes and streaked into her hair as she remained frozen against the grass. For a heartbeat when she had looked into Keiran’s eyes, she had seen Oberon staring back at her. Fear clawed at her chest, scraped at her throat. In those eyes, she saw her own death written there.

Then he was gone. And she was alone. Left to die as the iron seeped into her body, robbing her of strength, breath, and life. Her heartbeat slowed and numbness came to her hands and feet, slowly working its way to the core of her body. When the numbness came to her heart, she would die.

As Aria stared up at the sky, she realised she had but one regret—that she had not told Graeme that she loved him. Love. The word filled her with a sense of wonder, power, and satisfaction all at the same time. She did love him, had loved him since the moment they waited together in the courtyard for the MacDonalds to arrive. Joy cascaded through her, momentarily dulling the pain. She should have told him, and now she would never get the chance. Instead, she would die alone and be lost to the human and fairy realms forever.