“There’s no treasure here, but we did make a great geological find,” James said later, taking Elspeth’s hand as they walked into the outermost cave. “We did accomplish that today.”
She laughed. “And a little more.”
Smiling, he hefted his leather bag on his shoulder. The Goblin Cave held only signs of smugglers, but every moment here was a treasure in itself, for he and Elspeth had found each other, and he was grateful for that gift. And he would return here to further explore the wealth of geological evidence.
“We should search through the smugglers’ things before we go,” Elspeth suggested. “Perhaps they found something and hid it away.”
James removed the blue agate from his pocket and lifted it to the light. “True. Why would Niall MacArthur leave a clue in his painting that led to this cave, if there was nothing here? This agate did lead us to a nice cache of agate in the rock. Oh very well, no more talk of geology,” he said, as his bride slid him a glance. “We can certainly look through the things in the other cave again if you like.”
“Grandda and the others will worry if we do not meet them soon. At least we have crystals and agates to show them,” she said.
“And a marriage,” he said. “Should we tell them?”
“We should talk to my grandfather first, and then—aye, we could tell them.”
James nodded. He wanted her to be happy always, to smile like sunshine. But he had not been able to help her find the treasure. The blue agate still puzzled him, its rarity here, its map-like formation resembling this very cave. He hoped that a cache of similar agate existed here, but there was much to explore yet.
“I should make some geological notes before we go. Shall we delay our departure a few minutes, Lady Struan?” He inclined his head.
She smiled and nodded. “Besides, I forgot my bonnet again.”
Rummaging for a notebook and pencil in his pack, James sat and began to jot down his thoughts. “A good deal of trap rock lies under all,” he murmured, writing. “Much of the interior walls are formed of limestone—abundant evidence of shell fossils.” He glanced up at Elspeth. “Fiona must come with us next time to look at the fossils. She is more experienced with those than I am.”
“If the smugglers are not about, it seems safe enough. The fairies are clearly not here. I wonder why Grandda believed they were.”
“Your grandfather sometimes sees fairies where there are none.” James scribbled more observations, murmuring to himself. “The second cave holds traces of granite composite, with rock quartz, feldspar, mica,” he wrote. “Basalt, other compressed rock. Flecks of crystal formations throughout. Heat once occurred beneath the limestone layers. A subterranean passage exists, pitted with niches where crystals occur. Pocket formations indicate bubbles in ancient lava or magma flow. Good green agate has formed in places there.”
“I will leave you to this, and go fetch my bonnet.” Elspeth slipped into the smaller chamber. He heard her slight footsteps along the rocky slope.
Finishing his notes, he tucked his things away a few minutes later, left his satchel and walking stick in the outer cave, and went back to fetch his bride.
At first, he did not see her, and his heart leaped. Then he noticed her kneeling in a dark corner. “What have you found?”
“Come look! I think there is another little cave here. There is a small opening, but there are a lot of rocks piled up here. It looks like a small avalanche happened here.”
“It almost looks like a cairn—placed deliberately. Let me see.” He crouched, looking over her shoulder. Several small and medium-sized rocks were stacked, cairn-like, in front of a low cleft in the wall. Elspeth was attempting to shove them aside.
“I know we should not disturb a cairn, but there is something behind it. And my grandfather would want to know,” she said as she dragged rocks off the pile.
He knelt to help her. Some were dark and lightweight, others surprisingly dense and heavy for their size. He had expected to find limestone and shale, but soon realized these were odd rocks indeed to find here.
“Mica, schist, biotite,” he muttered. “And iron ore! This is not a natural rockfall, but deliberate. Perhaps the smugglers hid something here after all by blocking off a niche. We might find their best whisky—or a stash of French gold.”
“Gold?” Elspeth looked up.
“New-minted coin, the sort smugglers sometimes carry,” he said. “No fairy treasure, I’m afraid. What in thunderation is this,” he muttered then, guiding her out of the way so he could shift some stones. “Where is the candle we had earlier?”
“We burned it through, husband,” she said, half laughing.
“Lord, we did. There’s an oil lamp on a ledge over there if you would light that and bring it here, my dear.” He handed her a flint from his pocket. She walked away, returning with the glowing lantern. Holding it high, she gave James light to work on the rock pile.
“Someone stacked these deliberately. An effective barrier,” he said, moving another rock. “Hold the lamp there—aye, bonny girl.” He crouched and peered. The opening was still blocked, but he could see that it was wide but not high. A person could only pass through by crawling. “What the devil is this place?”
“And what is this?” Elspeth picked up an object from the pile. A crucifix, he saw. James took it, turned it in the light.
“This is very old,” he said. “The smugglers did not leave this here.”
Removing several more stones, setting them aside, he took the lamp again and leaned forward, shining the light into the opening. Craning through, crawling ahead, he suddenly felt the earth give way beneath him. He was sliding, tumbling forward, trying to keep hold of the lantern as he fell down, reaching out for solid earth again.
With a cry, Elspeth grabbed his coat, but lacked the strength to pull him back, and tumbled down with him. Sliding over rough, toothy stone, keeping a fast grip on the swinging lantern—pray God it did not extinguish—he came to a halt on some solid surface. Elspeth fell into him, and he grabbed for her with his free hand, coming upright on his knees. Holding the lantern, miraculously still alight, he stood and looked around.
“What is this place?” Elspeth asked. Her voice echoed softly.
The lantern glow filled the space, a snug pocket cave with glimmering walls and barely enough room to stand upright. Elspeth stood easily, brushing at her skirts, breathing rapidly, but he could not straighten, keeping his head bowed, hair touching the curved ceiling.
“Are you hurt?” he asked. She shook her head. He turned back to survey the slope of rubble and rock that cascaded from the opening to the little cave. “It was a bit of an avalanche—we are lucky that we did not break any bones or come to worse harm. And lucky that the opening is not entirely blocked. We need only clear some rocks away to crawl out again.”
“James,” Elspeth said, looking around.
“Very fortunate. Help me move some of these rocks, love.”
“James! Look.”
“Aye?” He lifted the lantern higher and turned. “My God!”
All around them, the place glittered and sparkled. The curving walls and ceiling caught the light in prisms of sparkling color. Embedded in the rock walls were thousands of gems and crystals.
Elspeth turned slowly, heart pounding. “What is this place?”
“A natural gem pocket. My God,” James breathed. He stood with head and shoulders hunched, then crouched along one wall to run his hand along its shining, sparkling curvature. When he handed up the lantern, Elspeth held it high.
“Tourmaline,” he was saying, half to himself. “Aquamarine. Amethyst in abundance—crystals everywhere— look at this.” He snapped off a crystal rod easily and handed it to her. A clear crystal lay pure and sparkling in her palm. “And this.” He took a small chisel from his pocket and snapped off a glowing stone of deep purple. “Amethyst. Rose quartz—smoky quartz—and more.”
“All here in one place?” she asked. “How can that be?”
“These crystals all formed in a bubble in the earth, seeded and growing here in the rock bed over eons. Crystal quartz, tourmaline, beryl…aquamarine…” he named them as he found them, running his fingers over the different colors and rainbow sheens, while Elspeth held up the light to aid his discoveries.
“Amazing,” she said. “And so beautiful.”
“Simply astonishing to find so many of them together like this, in such profusion and variety. Yet it is geologically possible.” He crouched, touching the walls. “Dear Lord, is that—emerald? I need to bring better light in here to be sure.”
“Here, is this agate?” Elspeth knelt nearby. “Blue, and green—and striped like Donal’s blue stone.”
“Dear heaven, it is. Lass, be careful of the points—crystals and precious stones break off easily and can be sharp. And best we do not break or crush more than a few if we can avoid it.”
“They are scattered all over the floor as well. The place is filled with them!”
“Aye,” James said, picking up a few variously colored crystals from the rock floor. Elspeth stepped carefully, dipping down to pluck up some pretty stones. “This whole place gleams like a royal ransom,” he went on.
A chill of realization went through her. “Like a treasure chest. James!”
“A living horde of treasure,” he said. “A subterranean chamber filled with gems, hidden in the earth.”
“Could it be—”
“It could,” he said. “Aye, it could indeed. Perhaps the treasure was never in a chest at all. Perhaps all along we were looking for a pocket mine filled with natural crystals and gems, but never knew it.”
“Grandda said the Fey have a portal to their world somewhere in these caves. If so, they would know this was here. So I do not understand how they could think it was stolen or went missing.”
“A mine like this can be scientifically explained without fairies,” he said. “What an exciting geological discovery. And we can find the perfect gem for your marriage ring.” He opened his hand to show her the gleam of amethyst, garnet, and what looked like a green emerald attached to a crust of stone.
She gasped at their raw beauty. “James—what if this place was hidden deliberately to keep anyone from finding it—including the fairies? It would take a powerful glamourie to do that, though.”
He frowned, and she expected him to point out logically that such things did not exist. Instead, he went back to the ramp down which they had fallen into the little jeweled cave, peered there, and turned. “It must have been the iron.”
“Iron?” She tilted her head.
“I thought I recognized iron ore among the rocks in the cairn that blocked the entrance. My grandmother mentions iron in her book. Iron prevents the fairies from crossing a threshold. Perhaps that MacArthur ancestor of yours placed that very deliberately, long ago.”
She realized what he meant. “Fairies cannot cross over cold iron. Oh, James!”
“Cannot cross over iron in its natural form, or cold-forged, shaped without heat, as well as the heated sort. Some of these stones are natural iron.”
“So they were unable to come in here. But they must have known it was here all the time. Why would they ask Donal MacArthur to find it?”
“If such things are possible,” he said, and his cautious tone said he would hold on to skepticism, “they would not be able to see this place with the iron there. According to my grandmother’s notes,” he added.
“The mine vanished from their sight.”
“Exactly.”
“The Fey have been angry about their missing treasure for hundreds of years. Could this be what they meant? And right here, where they could not see it?”
“Aye, if this fairy nonsense has anything to it.” A smile played at his lips.
She felt certain of it, exhilarated. “So this is the lost fairy treasure!”
James sighed, standing with his head bowed under the natural arch of the gem-studded ceiling. “I suppose anything is possible once we start talking about fairies. And marrying them,” he added.
“True.” She came toward him, wrapped her arms around him.
“Well then, if we are to give the fairies their treasure house and free you and your grandfather from their wicked spell,” he drawled, “we had best move all that iron away from the opening.”
She laughed, as did he, softly. The sound echoed in the little chamber like a harmony of bells. Then she went with him to begin to shove stones away from the little ramp.
An hour or more later, James wiped the back of his forearm along his brow and stood back to survey what they had done. The entrance to the little pocket mine was clear enough, and he had made sure to carry all the iron-bearing stones outside the cave, rolling them down the mountainside away from Coire-nan-Uriskin.
Elspeth waited by the outermost entrance, looking out. The rain had stopped, but mist clung to the slopes. Darkness was already gathering.
“We had best get back to the lochside inn, or they will be searching for us,” James said as he approached.
She sighed. “Do you think we have met the bargain?”
“If that wee cave is your fairy treasure, then it is available again, so aye. And you fell in love, so aye,” he murmured, setting his arm about her shoulders. “Your Grandda believes all that will protect you. And if not, I am here for you as well.”
She turned into his embrace. “So it is done.”
“Let the proof of it be our long and happy marriage.”
“And your new belief in fairies,” she said, muffled against his coat. He chuckled, kissed her hair. “Oh, I forgot my bonnet again!” She left him to go gather her things.
James waited briefly, watching the clouds gather and darken. “Come ahead, love. We must go.” He turned. “Elspeth?”
She was not there, nor was she in the second cave when he looked there. “Elspeth!” His voice echoed against the walls.
Eilidh... He heard it clearly in the still air, an echo and yet not. Eilidh!
Elspeth turned, bonnet in hand, and saw them standing in the inner chamber. A man and two women, slim and tall and beautiful, watched her, standing by the entrance to the pocket mine. “Who—what—” she began.
They beckoned, all three together. Despite the darkness, she could see them easily. Their eyes were like shining jewels, their skin and garments pale and shining. She felt drawn forward. As they vanished down the ramp into the gem pocket—through the very wall—she followed.
Vaguely she realized that she was not walking on rock, but somehow drifting through the rock herself, like a wraith.
You can do this because you are fairy blood, one of them said without voice.
Who are you? She thought it only, and yet they heard.
We are your kin, they said, all in unison.
Then she knew.
Pausing, she summoned her will, made herself stop, look at them.
They stood in the jeweled cavern with her, and though it was not a large place, and she was not tall, the ceiling and walls seemed to expand. There was ample room.
One woman, flaxen-haired, had beautiful features touched with angles, almost harsh. Her eyes were the violet color of the amethysts sparkling in the walls. The man was tall, handsome, dark-haired, strangely familiar. The other woman was small, delicate, her long hair an ebony gloss, eyes sheened like silver and crystal.
“Niall,” she said, knowing this was he, her heart pounding, reminding her that she was flesh and blood. “Father.”
“Daughter, my own,” he said, reaching out. His hand was warm when she touched it. He was flesh and blood, too. “This is your mother, Riona.”
The dark-haired fairy woman stretched out her hands, and her eyes filled with tears. Elspeth felt herself enfolded in an embrace filled with love.
Curiously, she felt no fear, only a sense of wonder, of relief and perfect ease in their company. “Mother,” she said, saying the word she had never used for anyone. “Mother. And…Father.”
They smiled, and she felt genuine affection. Niall was still a young man, as if he had never aged, and his wife was inexpressibly beautiful. Then Niall gestured to the pale-haired woman with them.
“This is our queen,” he said. “Queen of the Fey in this region. There are many such queens and kings, and this part of the land is under her rule and in her thrall. We are hers.”
“Eilidh,” the queen said, holding out a hand, beringed, milky pale. Her golden braids were interwoven with gems and feathers. Her gown, cream and white, embroidered with sparkling threads, seemed to glow.
Elspeth stared, entranced by such beauty and dazzle. The queen seemed to sparkle, every bit of her, as if luminous from within. “Am I—did you steal me away?”
“We brought you here, and will take you further,” Niall answered.
“I will not go with you. I cannot,” she said, stepping backward.
Her fairy-mother lifted her hands, beckoned. “Stay with us, please, dear.”
“I will not.” She took another backward step. “I am married. I will stay with my husband. I truly love him, and I will not go with you.”
Her voice sounded odd, and all seemed strange, as if she were here, and yet not. She felt like a wraith, insubstantial, fragile. She took a breath, drew strength from determination. “I will never go with you.”
“Eilidh, please,” her father said, reaching out.
Elspeth!
She turned.
“Elspeth!” James had circled both inner and outer caves and had looked in the narrow passageway. “Where are you?”
Dropping to his knees at the entrance to the pocket mine, he peered inside. It was utterly dark and silent. Afraid she could have fallen in there if she had tried to fetch another crystal, he crawled through the threshold. “Elspeth!”
Then he heard her voice, strange and faraway. James.
“Where are you?” he called.
Here.
Alarmed, wondering if she had found some unseen crevice or new pocket, he crouched and made his way down the natural ramp. He groped in the darkness, feeling the walls sharp with crystal points, rough with basalt and granite. “Elspeth!” Again he heard her voice from somewhere.
Behind him in the little mine, a light flared. He whirled.
Elspeth was there, standing with three people. They were strangely clothed, as if out of some medieval play. Their eyes caught his attention first—great, large, radiant eyes in narrow faces, glittering like jewels. Elspeth’s eyes had a strange silvery sheen, as if reflecting a glowing light that was not there. In fact, all was darkness inside, and yet light emanated from the three strangers.
“Elspeth—” he moved toward her, reaching out. What had happened to the low ceiling, he wondered vaguely, for he was standing to his full height. Lifting his arms, she ran to him, tucked her head against his chest as they turned to look at the others. He held her protectively, looking past her at the three, eerie and quiet, who watched them calmly. His heart was pounding.
“Who are you?” he asked.
“James,” Elspeth said. “This is—the queen, and this is my mother. And this is Niall MacArthur.”
Astonished—had he hit his head, or had the little bit of whisky been far stronger than he thought?—he nodded. Niall extended his hand, and James grasped it, finding it strong, firm, very human, despite the unearthly light in the man’s eyes.
The dark-haired woman—Elspeth’s mother—reached out to take his hand next, her fingers slim, cool. He was holding the hand of a fairy, James thought.
Surely he had fallen and broken his head. This could not be real.
“Elspeth,” he said cautiously, stepping back with her. “We must go. Our friends will be looking for us. Donal MacArthur will be worried,” he added, gazing at Niall.
“Donal,” his son said. “We will see him soon, when he visits next, for the seven years are nearly up again.”
“But the fairy spell is undone now,” Elspeth said. “Love dissolves it. Grandda told me what you said to him. Love’s magic is strong enough to break any spell.” She faced them, keeping an arm around James, while he kept her close. “I love this man. Your hold over me is no more, if it ever was.”
“Very well,” the queen said imperiously. “We do not have the power to take you with us now unless you agree. You have discovered that. But we will call Donal back to us again, and he may decide to stay.”
“He can stay with us,” Elspeth said. “He has that right now.”
“True.” Her father was handsome, regal, James noticed, and he saw a resemblance to Donal in features and in sheer pride. “Eilidh, we owe you a great deal. Both of you.”
“Owe us?” she asked.
“The treasure has been found. This treasure room.” He lifted a hand. “Now we can enter this place again. Long ago the Fey mined the riches and magic here. You found what our kind could no longer see, after the treachery of the old thief who hid it away. We thank you both for that.”
James inclined his head politely, although logic still insisted that this could not be real. He stretched out a hand, touched Niall MacArthur on the shoulder, felt solid muscle there.
Niall smiled. “I am here. I am human. It is magic that maintains me.”
“How are you here, how am I seeing you?” James asked.
Niall gathered his fairy-wife under his arm, the same way that James held Elspeth close. “When you allow your thinking to open, when you accept what seemed impossible, then everything becomes possible. Magic exists.”
“This must be an illusion—the whisky we drank, Elspeth—it must have been the fairy brew.”
“It is not that, James MacCarran,” the queen said then. “You have fairy blood.”
He looked at her, a shining, gorgeous, ageless creature. “That has been the tradition in my family, but it is just a legend.”
“Legends are born from truth. That fairy blood is why you see us now. It is not the whisky alone. The drink is simply in harmony with your ancestry.”
He sought back in his mind again, wondering if all this was due to the wild Highland brew after all. Yet he knew, just knew, that this was real.
“Both of you, take my hands.” The queen reached out. “Do not be afraid.”
“We do not want to go into your land,” Elspeth said quickly.
“Since you want to go, we will show you the way out,” Niall said.
“The way out is through that opening that leads to the outer cave,” James said.
“It is dark and the mountain is dangerous,” the queen said. “We will show you another way.”
“I give you my word no harm will come to you,” Niall said. “No spell will touch you. We will take you through our world and bring you out again. My word on it.”
“A moment in there is a day here,” James said, remembering his grandmother’s writings. “A day is more than a year.”
“Only if we cast a glamourie over you. Only if you eat or drink or partake of anything in our world,” the queen said.
“Be careful, and you will be safe,” Niall said, “and you will see what few ever see. Come, daughter. And my son—my daughter’s husband.” He beckoned.
James felt the queen’s outstretched hand touch his, cool and light. Beside him, he tightened his arm around Elspeth in one arm, protectively.
When Riona reached out, Elspeth took her mother’s hand and began to move forward with them. James went too. The air went to mist and light, and he felt himself moving—and together they all stepped into and through the glittering, gem-studded wall of rock as if it were a shimmering curtain.
Looking around, stunned, he saw the golden-colored stone, like sandstone, carved into pillars and sweeping arches that stretched to vaulted ceilings, forming lining a long corridor. Walking beside Elspeth, following the three, he looked around at a wonderland of subterranean passages, gently and luminously lit, tunneling into the heart of the earth. Awestruck, he simply stared.
And realized then that he did not need a cane. He was not limping, and his step was strong and stable.
A moment later, the queen lifted a hand in simple, silent farewell, and slipped away into a room whose wide doors opened for her. Taking Elspeth’s hand, James followed Niall and his fairy wife along the sloping, curved corridor toward a blaze of light ahead. He heard carillons of laughter, the strumming of harps, a steady drumbeat, voices raised in song, and the skirl of pipes.
Niall turned. “Do not cross any threshold here. Follow us only. You will see food and drink, but do not partake. Speak to no one but us.” He waved them onward.
He saw many doors in the long, endless hallway, some open, and James peered inside as he passed. The interiors gleamed with light and crystal, with gorgeous fabrics and polished furnishings. He saw no other people—or the Fey—though he heard voices.
Small tables in the hallway held dishes filled with fruits, small cakes, bread, cheese. Wine trickled from golden fountains into crystal goblets. James felt intensely thirsty, wished he could drink. Hungry, he wanted to pluck grapes from a silver bowl. Remembering Niall’s warning, he moved on.
A dream, he told himself. Surely this was.
The tunnel split then into three corridors, each path a channel into the heart of the earth. To the right, he saw a lofty room filled with light, music, laughter. To the left, the corridor walls flickered with a reflection of fire, and he heard the sound of a hammer upon metal, as if from a forge. The center pathway was dim and went straight ahead. Niall led them along its course.
Now the tunnel walls glittered with the flash-fire colors of gems and crystals, like the pocket mine far behind them. He saw the tracery of veins of gold, silver, ruby, emerald, sapphire. He touched his hand to the wall as they passed, and his fingertips came away with sparkling dust.
“Do not,” Niall reminded him. They walked on.
The floor sloped upward, and they followed its ramp. Even after the strenuous day and this long walk, his leg did not hurt at all. He walked with ease.
He glanced at Elspeth, who set her arm about his waist as they walked. Ahead, he saw light, a cave-like opening, then trees and sky beyond.
Niall stopped. “Here we will leave you. Return to your world. We have no hold over you now. Instead, we are forever in your debt.”
“Father!” Elspeth went into Niall’s arms. He held her for a long moment. Then she turned to her mother, their delicate faces and shining dark hair so much alike. James swallowed hard, watching, realizing she might never see her parents again. Strange as all this seemed, he was beginning to accept it as reality.
Elspeth stepped back, cheeks wet with tears, and Niall turned to clasp James’s hand. “Take care of her. She is precious to us.”
“To me as well,” James replied.
“You will bring much joy to each other and your families. Happiness and children and riches will bless you both. We will do our best to see to it, in gratitude.” Niall touched his daughter’s shoulder. “Eilidh, you were born to be with this man, not with us. His grandmother was right.”
“My grandmother?” James asked in surprise, as Elspeth stared at her father.
Niall nodded. “Riona and I felt from the moment you were born that your destiny was one of love and responsibility to the Struan family.”
Elspeth drew a quick breath. “But Grandda always said you would take me away to your world when I turned twenty-one.”
“If you never found love,” he amended. “We gave you to your grandfather to raise to make sure that you two found each other.” He smiled.
“But the night we saw you riding, I thought you meant to steal me away then.”
“It was not time yet, and when we saw that you were with your destined love, we knew we must let you be. Lord Struan, you have a strong soul, firmly bound to the earth. We knew you would not have understood if we had appeared to you.”
James smiled wryly. “If you had taken her, I would have gone after her wherever she was, whether I believed in all of this or not.”
“You went after her today, to keep her safe.” Niall smiled at Elspeth. “Your grandfather loves you dearly and has always protected you. He knew we could bring you back here if we so desired. But he did not know the rest of it—that your destiny was always intertwined with the young Lord Struan.”
“My grandmother,” James said suddenly. “Did you know her? She kept your painting over the mantel. It was important to her.”
“I knew her. A great lady, very kind,” Niall replied. “We met before I went over to the Fey, out in the hills, while I was painting one day, and became friends. She was interested in local fairy legends, and I told her what I knew, and introduced her to my father. She mentioned you, James. A boy, then. A twin, she said, and such an intelligent child. She was so proud of you, and wanted you to be happy, after the loss of your parents. Lady Struan would be pleased that our plan turned out so well.”
“Your plan?” Elspeth asked.
“Lady Struan confided in me that her little grandson was too serious, and deeply hurt by his parents’ deaths. She feared he would never recover from those wounds, but knew he deserved joy in life. And his siblings, the same. They were all hurt and confused, being so young. She cared so much for all of you.”
James felt a prickle of tears, a tightening in his throat. His grandmother, stern as she was, had truly loved him and his siblings. “What more did she tell you?”
“She was fascinated by fairy legends, and she wanted to find a way to renew the fairy blood in the MacCarran line, hopefully through grandchildren.”
“Did she ever speak—of her will?” James asked.
“Only a mention. She wanted her orphaned grandchildren to be happy, and to have some adventure that would change their lives for the better.”
James smiled wryly. “She chose an odd way to go about it.”
“After I had gone over to the Fey to be with Riona, I saw her in the hills once. And she saw me. The fairy blood,” he said, “showed itself in your grandmother.”
“I am not surprised.”
“I had a newborn daughter, and I wanted her to have the best possible life. Lady Struan suggested a match between my daughter and her eldest grandson, older then but still a boy. We did not scheme, exactly. We only wished it could be so.”
“And the wishing made it real?” Elspeth asked, listening with wide eyes.
“Riona and I, feeling the strong tie with Struan lands and the family of Lady Struan, decided to give you to my father to raise—in the hope that you and the new Lord Struan would indeed meet and feel the pull of love and fate. Your mother and I watched you grow from afar,” Niall told her gently.
Seeing the sheen of tears in her eyes, James touched her shoulder. He shook his head a little, trying his best to take all of this in. But Niall was right. He had to accept and allow, let the magic be what it was, without analyzing it.
“So my grandmother wanted me to marry Elspeth?” he asked.
“She did. She hoped so. I believe she spoke to my father about it, but he thought Lord Struan too high a catch for his girl. He wanted her in the Lowlands, not nearby, as you know.”
James huffed in astonishment. “What of my siblings, did she say?”
“Lady Struan wanted them to each have a chance to find a special love as well. So she could to arrange it.”
“Love makes its own magic,” James murmured. “The motto of the MacCarrans.”
“Aye. She hoped it would prove true. But there is no guarantee of the outcome. There never is, when human free will meets fairy magic. What happened between you two was up to you, not us.”
“What of the treasure?” Elspeth asked. “Grandda insisted it must be found.”
“That,” Niall said, “could have changed everything.”
“Even love?” Elspeth said.
“Without the treasure being found, we would have tried to take Elspeth. We might not have succeeded, seeing the strength of your bond. And we would have tried to take my father—and would have done it.”
Riona, so quiet and gentle, stepped forward. “Dear girl, there was no bartering or scheming where love was concerned. That you found on your own, and we honor that. But understand that the treasure is of great importance to our kind. If you had not discovered the jewel mine, we had to honor another agreement. Until it was found, we would take MacArthurs. You already belonged to us, so we would try.”
“Aye. But now we must let you go,” Niall said softly.
Riona nodded sadly. “If you stay here inside our magic too long, the glamourie will have you, no matter what we intend for you.”
“Go, now,” Niall said.
Elspeth embraced them again, while James stood back. Then Riona kissed his cheek, Niall took his hand briefly. The couple stepped back and turned to mist.
They were alone, inside a cave—one he had not seen before. Taking Elspeth’s hand, James walked with her to the entrance and stepped outside into sunlight.
They stood at the top of the garden overlooking Struan House.
Elspeth stared, astonished to see the grotto when she had expected to find herself on the mountainside far from there. Glancing back, she saw a solid rock wall behind them, with no cave opening. Whatever portal existed had closed. She glanced at James, who reached out to touch the solid rock wall behind them.
“We came rather farther than I expected,” he said. “Through the very heart of the mountain, it seems. And somewhat quickly.” He sounded bewildered.
“Magic.” Elspeth laughed. “Best grow accustomed to it.”
“I am trying,” he drawled. They began to walk downward, holding hands.
“Just here,” she said, “I slipped and fell, and landed at your feet in the rain.”
“A better day than that, my love, there never was.”
“I wonder if the others are back yet,” Elspeth said, peering toward the house.
“We will need to explain how we got here, instead of meeting them down by the loch on their tour.” He helped her down the slope.
“Your walking stick!” She had just noticed it was gone. “You don’t need it!”
“Aye. It is strange—and quite nice,” he said, and laughed ruefully. “I wonder if it will last.”
“We will do our best to make it so,” she said. Hearing the dogs bark, then hearing shouts, Elspeth saw the door at the back of the house open. Patrick and Fiona emerged, hurrying across the lawn.
“Where have you been?” Patrick asked, clapping James on the shoulder.
“We have been so worried!” Fiona embraced James and then Elspeth. “Thank God you are safe! I dreamed you were lost in a cave in the mountain, captured by the fairies—just like the fairy tales Grandmother used to tell us.”
“We waited, but you never met us by the loch,” Patrick said. “We have been frantic.”
“We must have just missed you,” Elspeth said, wondering how to explain it.
“Dream?” James asked Fiona. “So you had a nap while waiting? Good, then.”
“Nap?” Fiona blinked. “None of us have slept much, with you gone so long.”
“Just a few hours,” James said.
Patrick frowned. “You have been gone for three days.”
“Three days?” Elspeth repeated. So the glamourie truly had affected them in that place. The time had not seemed like days at all. She looked at James, who frowned thoughtfully as he took her hand.
“Impossible,” he said. “We, ah, we lost our sense of time. Days?”
“You must tell us later,” Fiona said. “You must be tired now. It is such a blessed relief to see you! I am just grateful you came to no harm, and whatever compromise there might have been—well,” Fiona said, and smiled. “Donal MacArthur hinted that you might have no reason to fear compromise.”
“He told you?” James asked.
Elspeth felt her cheeks heat in a fierce blush. “We—we did make a decision while we were out on the mountain.”
“And we could not be happier, isn’t that so, Patrick?” Fiona smiled. “But we have been searching night and day. Donal MacArthur went back to the cave and said you were not there. He aged years over this, I vow. We must let him know immediately—he went home a little while ago, very dejected. He will be so relieved. Everyone will!”
“We walked the slopes, and shouted for hours,” Patrick said. “Even Eldin came out to help.”
“Eldin?” James asked.
“He said he was only interested in the rumor of fairy gold, but he was worried, I am sure of it,” Fiona said. “Though if you found anything valuable, do keep it quiet. He asked rather closely about this missing treasure chest.”
“No treasure chest,” James said. “We did find an excellent geological cache of crystals and such.” He took his hand from his pocket and opened his palm. “Along with a few beautiful gems perfect for a ring.”
“A ring?” Fiona asked. “You thought of jewelry when you were in danger?”
“We were never in danger. Just a bit lost,” Elspeth said. “We helped each other, and found a way through—the mountain.”
“Aye,” James said. “A labyrinth of caves. But we managed.”
“You must be exhausted and in need of food and rest,” Fiona said, as they all turned back toward the house.
“How did you come all the way here? I do not understand,” Patrick said.
“We found a cave that brought us out through the grotto,” Elspeth said.
“Subterranean passages,” James said. “I doubt we could find our way through again. It would be dangerous to try.” He looked down at Elspeth, who smiled faintly.
“So you settled that, er, earlier matter between you?” Patrick asked.
“We did,” James said, and took Elspeth’s hand. “We each found what we wanted. We were just lost, and now we are back. Naught to fuss over.”
“The others will surely fuss,” Fiona said. “And Donal will be relieved. I will say that he confided to Patrick and me, and made us promise not to tell anyone, that you two handfasted while on the mountain.”
“We did,” Elspeth said, feeling her heart lift with happiness. James took her hand, smiling silently at his twin. Elspeth saw a glance pass between them and felt a new burst of love. The two siblings, close as they were, did not always need words.
“Truly!” Fiona laughed. “I am delighted. But how did you—why did you decide to do that now, rather than wait for a pastor?”
“There are other ways to marry in the Highlands,” Elspeth said.
“Aunt Rankin will have a conniption,” Fiona said. “And Miss Sinclair.”
“Ah well, Miss Sinclair will realize that it was not meant to be,” James said.
“Miss Sinclair will soon find love in a most surprising way,” Elspeth said, knowing suddenly that it was true. But if she had told them the girl would fall in love with Sir Philip, she knew the others might not believe her. She only smiled.
“Handfasting cannot be fully legal, not with a title and estate involved,” Patrick grumbled. “You will need a proper wedding.”
“We will have it, and soon,” James said.
“A quiet wedding at Struan House would be lovely,” Elspeth said.
“Aye! So, Jamie, you found yourself a Highland bride after all,” Fiona said, taking her twin’s arm.
“And one with fairy blood.” James put his arm around Elspeth.
Fiona laughed. “Grandmother would be so pleased!”
“More than you know,” James said. “I think she wanted our family to discover its fairy roots again, and that is why she created the conditions in her will.”
“Come now, you do not believe in fairies any more than I do,” Patrick said.
“I am not so certain now, I confess,” James said.
“Grandmother’s book has changed your mind?” Fiona asked.
“I have learned a great deal,” James said.
“I must read this book of fairies,” Fiona said. “Come inside. Soon you will both feel quite normal again.”
“Normal sounds excellent,” James said. He laughed, and tightened his arm around Elspeth, ducking to give her brow a kiss. “Are you ready to go inside?”
Looking up at him, Elspeth felt a swift rush of happiness, of weariness, of love, mingled together. “I am, Lord Struan. I am.”