Page 33 of Taming the Highland Beauty

The MacLeods stood at the water’s edge. Lottie’s eyes filled with a mix of determination and trepidation. She was about to become a selkie once more, returning to her true family.

Gille, Callum, Alastair, and Gwendolyn watched as Lottie shed her human clothes and slipped into the selkie pelt she had worn as a young woman. The transformation was swift, her human form fading as her selkie form took hold. Her hands changed to flippers. Her feet into a tail. Her body now encased in the silvery-grey pelt, she waddled into the water. A heartbeat later she vanished beneath the waves.

“She is gone,” Gille whispered, her voice barely audible. With Lottie’s departure, her own chances of reclaiming the words to the song lessened, that was, unless Minerva accepted the moonstone as compensation for Lady Janet’s misdeeds.

“We have done the right thing, haven’t we?” Callum asked, his eyes filled with uncertainty.

“I hope so,” Alastair replied, his voice barely a whisper.

Gwendolyn turned to Lady Janet, who hovered at the water’s edge. “You must feel a sense of relief to see Lottie returned to her people.”

“I never meant for Lottie to stay with the MacLeods for so long. Had I not died, I hope I would have released her once I remembered where I stowed her pelt.”

Gwendolyn’s gaze shifted to Gille. “Perhaps that is why all this is happening now. So that Gille could help you remember and so that we had some way to retrieve what we need to break Gille’s curse.”

Lady Janet nodded, her ethereal form shimmering in the twilight. Instead of a reply, she lifted a ghostly arm, pointing to the water. The loch began to churn as a pod of silver-skinned seals emerged from the depths, their eyes intelligent and curious, fixed on the MacLeods.

The largest of the seals came towards them, her big body half in the surf, half out. There was no forgiveness in her wide eyes, only anger. I am grateful you sent Lottie home, but one kind deed does not undo the years of anguish you have caused.

As the seal spoke, Gille turned to glance at the MacLeods along the shore. Could they hear what Minerva said? None of them seemed to hear anything other than barking.

Gille looked back at the seal. “Will the gift of a moonstone help you to see past your feelings about the MacLeods, help Lady Janet find eternal rest, and help me to remember the lyrics of the song of the selkies?”

I cannot know until I see the moonstone and feel its power, Minerva replied, her eyes growing darker in the fading light.

The selkie was being secretive. Before they wasted time searching in vain, Gille wanted to know exactly what they could expect from such a stone. “How will this moonstone help Lady Janet pass on to her final reward?”

The selkie queen waddled closer. The ghost is already halfway there with you weaving her memories together so that she could recall where Lottie’s pelt was hidden, then returning it to her.

“Halfway does not get Lady Janet where she needs to go,” Gille argued.

Minerva’s gaze narrowed. Lady Janet’s fate is coiled with yours and mine, Gille. Finding a moonstone is the only way to help us all get what we want.

Gille bit down on her lip, trying to conceal her growing desperation from the selkie queen. “If that is the solution, then we shall bring you a stone you cannot resist.”

You can try . . . she said before waddling backwards until she was engulfed by the water and vanished.

“That seal was talking to you, was it not?” Callum asked.

“Aye,” Gille said. “She said she is not certain the moonstone will be enough compensation for her to reveal the song we need.” Gille’s vision blurred as she watched Minerva and the other seals depart. She tilted up her chin and kept her back straight, refusing to give in to her tears. She would not shed a single tear for her fate that was entirely in the hands of others.

It took only a moment for her vision to clear. When it did, her gaze connected with Callum’s, and she swallowed roughly. He saw all the emotions she struggled to hide: fear, desperation, sadness, and hopelessness. Instead of coming to her side, he turned to his brother Alastair.

“If Minerva does not accept the gift of the moonstone, I want to use the last magic of the Fairy Flag to break Gille’s curse.”

“It is up to me to decide how the Fairy Flag is used to aid our clan. Besides, the flag can only be used to call forth the fairy legions to aid the MacLeods in a time of great need,” Alastair said, his tone sympathetic. “I doubt it would work to break a curse. If we used the flag, we would be wasting the last magic the cloth contains.”

“Alastair—” Callum implored.

“Nay, Callum. We will not discuss this further. We need to place our hopes that Healabhal Mòr will provide us what we need.”

Her throat tight, Gille turned her gaze back to the water of the loch as the last vestiges of yellow and gold on the horizon vanished, giving way to the silvery grey of night. The wind ruffled through her hair, sending it into wild disarray around her face. She reached up to tuck the errant strands behind her ears. With this sunset only two more days remained. She drew a breath and let it slide out like a whisper of promise that they would succeed. And if not, then she would slow down and take time to enjoy every sensation left to her until sunrise on the third day.

Transfixed by the deepening darkness and the twinkling stars overhead, it was a moment before she realised Callum was talking to her. She shook her head, clearing her thoughts.

Callum took two steps closer, and she swayed towards him. He reached for her hand, his touch a caress. “Do not give up.”

Instead of a response, a soft whisper of breath escaped her as she stared up into his eyes. She wanted to kiss him here along the water’s edge. To let their breath mingle with the softness of the night. Yet she knew she could not kiss him here, not in front of the others no matter how desperately she longed for the comfort it might bring.