How could she tell him who she was?
What she was?
She’d broken every rule she’d ever been taught. Fae and humans were enemies, dating back from their first encounter a millennia ago.
Of course, there’d always been rebels like her, or the humans of Scotland would’ve never have known of the Faery Folk—as Alex had attested.
Alana shook her head and her vision blurred, making the crystals in the cave of the Faery Stones waver until they were just a bright blob in her line of sight. Her teeth chattered and she sucked in one breath, then another as the shudder passed over her whole body.
She needed to open the Stones and go home, but she couldn’t make her feet move. Stood like a statue—except that she was shaking all over, so maybe she was a crumbling statue.
Her mantle swooshed as the fabric shifted against itself.
Alana needed to gather her wits, too. She was lucky to have gotten out of her rooms undetected—she’d used the secret passage way behind her hearth to get down to the numerous escape tunnels that spilled out into the forest.
She hadn’t wanted to risk blinking inside the palace, so she’d waited until she was well away from it before going to the Field of Light.
From there, she’d used an invisibility spell and had caused a small explosion in the woods at the edge of the Field. The whole wing of Fae Warriors—all six of them—had left the Stones unguarded to investigate.
Uncle Daegus would not be pleased with their carelessness, but it’d been to her advantage, and she’d made it to the Human Realm without incident.
Her plan had been to seek Alex out, but she hadn’t been confident she’d find him. She’d sat on the ridge, enjoying a genuine breeze and the scent of the waters, instead of Fae magic-induced always pleasant weather.
That he’d happened upon her had been an accident.
Or is it really fate?
What she was feeling made no sense. She didn’t know Alex MacLeod. Well, know was a relative term, was it not?
Alana knew his mouth.
His taste.
She knew his body—at least on the outside of his clothing. He was adept at kissing, and had aroused her without touching her intimately when no other had been able to do so. He’d run her desire so high her blood had boiled. She’d throbbed between her legs, and would’ve let him strip her trews down and take her innocence had he not stopped.
Although she mourned his choice, it confirmed he was a good man. Magic and Alex’s words alike solidified that the draw she felt was mutual.
He was even part Fae—if the Clan MacLeod legend was true.
So why are you leaving?
She crushed her eyes on the answer she didn’t want to even think, let alone say out loud.
I could get him killed.
Would get him killed if anyone discovered she’d seen him, let alone told him she was Fae. Or that she was the princess.
His ‘crime’ would only be considered greater if anyone discovered they’d been intimate, no matter it hadn’t gone beyond kissing.
Goddess, she could hear her father dooming Alex in her mind. His deep voice would be harsh, his violet eyes sharp slits. His broad shoulders held tight, and a glare on his handsome bearded face. Hard.
Just like this morning.
Her father had finally called her from her rooms three full days after being imprisoned, and his hours’ long lecture had involved threats—and promises—that should have her shaking in her boots for reasons other than a human laird’s kisses and caresses.
Alana had made a practice of sneaking away from the palace and disobeying the king. This time, she’d left the protection of the Fae Realm, ‘carelessly’, her father had ranted. He’d commanded she mind him this time, or he’d seal her in the tower.
It wasn’t that she didn’t believe her father’s vow; she just wasn’t afraid.
The only thing that had impacted her was when the king had reminded her she was no longer a child—funny, considering how he treated her—and that her mother would be so disappointed. She feared her father was right.
King Fillan had imparted that he would be respected. Obeyed.
What had she done instead?
She’d snuck back to the Human Realm the very morning of her admonition, partly because he’d not answered her demand of how long he planned to keep her locked up, and partly because she had been driven to see her human laird.
I’m sorry, Mother.
Even then, she didn’t regret her second trip to where she’d been forbidden. Hopefully, her mother could’ve understood—she and the laird really were fated.
Alex…he’d begged her to stay.
Her head spun and her chest ached. “Breathe, just breathe.” The whisper bounced around the low ceiling of the humid cave.
The space wasn’t large, and opposite of the Fae Faery Stones on the dais in the Field of Light, the ones on this side looked as if they belonged here. Like their twin set, the Stones were made up of five clustered natural formations, rising from the cavern’s floor, perfectly spaced from each other, in a loose semi-circle.
The shape they sat in was perfect, as if it’d been placed there, not grown. That was probably the case, but likely they’d been created in a cave in her realm.
The main Stone called to her, brightening and humming, as if in welcome. Alana wanted to reject the call; stay in the Human Realm with Alex, but she couldn’t.
She sighed as she approached. Her fingers hesitated before first touch of the largest crystal, and the start of the pattern.
Typical to her behavior—as Xander would tout—she hadn’t contemplated how she’d get home. The wing of guards would still be in the Field of Light, and would no doubt be ready to defend the Stones and the realm from the moment the portal opened.
What would she do?
“What can I do?”
Light glinted off the largest crystal, as if it was trying to answer.
Alana could knock them out with magic, but there was no way she wouldn’t end up with more consequences for this jaunt to see Alex.
She groaned. Magic was on her side, but nothing her powers were capable of couldn’t be sensed or discovered by her father’s mages. And as her cousin had mentioned—they were a vindictive lot. Always eager to inflict pain at the king’s will.
Apprehension skidded down her spine when she made her fingers move over the Stones. Her magic wasn’t in tempo with their internal chords, so she had to breathe deeply and try again.
They hummed as if admonishing her, but soon Alana played the pattern out and the small cavern filled with artificial gales, rustling her hair and clothing.
All the history scrolls said the Human Realm had no magic and Fae powers were diminished here, but this was the first time she’d felt the like.
She stepped back when the portal opened, and her tears were already falling again. No matter how many times she swiped at her face, her eyes went blurry over and over.
I’m leaving. For good.
“I’ll never see him again.”
Alana sucked back a large sob and focused on the orange grass visible beneath the dais through the shimmering bubble. She chided herself to calm and stepped through to her realm.
She met the shocked dark gaze of an ebony-haired Fae Warrior standing next to the raised platform. She didn’t know his name.
“Princess?” He flexed his wings and the grip on his sword at the same time. His posture screamed hesitation, but her empathic powers told him he was determined, too.
Determined to what? Should I run?
She had no answer for him, and turned away. The dais only had three stairs…
A sound, like the breath rushing from someone’s lungs hit her ears, then a thud, and Alana gasped. She whirled and her eyes collided with her cousin’s.
The thick black plait of the Fae Warrior was the only movement as he now lay in the orange grass.
Lying in heaps around the dais on the ground—also unconscious—were two more soldiers. That meant three were missing, but where they were wasn’t obvious.
Xander sheathed his large weapon and stalked over to her. He grabbed her arm, and practically dragged her away from the Faery Stones.
“D-d-d-id you kill them?”
“Nay,” he growled. “But you are going to get me killed. What in Five Hells do you think you’re doing?”
Heat swirled at the back of her neck and scorched her cheeks. He wouldn’t like the answer, so Alana didn’t want to tell him. “Will they remember what happened?” she asked instead.
“I hit Braelyn with the hilt of my sword, from behind, so no. I knocked Garreth and Meninx out with magic. I also said a thought-scatter spell.”
“Xander—”
“Not a word.” This was a hard command he shouldn’t dare give her.
Before Alana could take the fortifying breath she very much needed, her cousin swung her up into his arms and pinned her to his chest. His green armor bit into her shoulder, despite its curvature. That was partially due to the breastplate and partially due to Xander’s muscled body.
“I need to get you back to your rooms, so when this mess is discovered, you can look innocent. By the Goddess, Your Highness, what were you thinking?”
“You said not to say anything.”
He narrowed his violet eyes and pumped his wings hard. Looked away from her as if he couldn’t endure otherwise.
Alana said the invisibility spell she’d used in order to gain access to open the Faery Stones. It would hide them both in flight. Her heart rebounded against her ribs.
What was she going to do?
What can I say?
Xander hadn’t forgiven her for their joint trip the Human Realm; there was no way he’d understand her drive—her desperate need—to see Alex again.
She magically clouded her mind so he wouldn’t hear her thoughts. It might help him understand, but when he was so angry, it wouldn’t be of any assistance.
“How did you get out?” he demanded, right above her ear.
“The winding stairwell behind the hearth in my sleeping room. Whichever mage Father used to seal my suit didn’t spell it. It was a longshot, but it worked. How did you know I was gone?”
“I brought your morning meal and you weren’t in your rooms. I assumed the rest.” The words were a low urgent growl and he gritted his teeth.
“I wasn’t gone long.”
“Through the kitchen tunnels, then?” he asked, ignoring her statement.
“Aye.”
Her cousin’s voice lost its angry edge, but it was only temporary. Her gut shouted as much.
The secret passageways that ran beneath the palace were dank and smelled of old dirt, but Xander pulled her through at such a speed they didn’t have time to offend her lungs.
The dark walls of packed earth were a blur, and soon he was pushing the ancient door behind her fireplace shut with touch and a strength spellword.
He only needed the magic because he hadn’t put her down yet, but that quickly came to an end when her cousin dumped her unceremoniously on her bed. Xander growled, glared and started to pace. “Explain. Now.”
Alana sighed and righted herself. Pulled her mantle off and tossed it on the trunk at the end of her bed. “Good thing I’m wearing trews. You would’ve made me indecent.”
He narrowed his eyes again.
Obviously her cousin didn’t appreciate her small jest or the attempt to diffuse his ire. Nor did it appear to work.
“I’m not hearing what I want to hear.”
She harrumphed. “In case you forgot, I am the princess. You’re supposed to take orders from me, not the other way around.”
Amusement darted in his eyes, but it was gone almost as soon as it was born. “Do you not remember your father’s mandate? I’m not allowed to take orders from you anymore. At least for the time being.”
Alana rolled her eyes.
“Well,” Xander prompted. His wings shifted, as if he would pump them to rise any second now. His whole form bled irritation and dark emotions rolled over her empathic powers.
She shuddered, but irritation was better than anger. Perhaps they were getting somewhere? “You know the answer, so why do you stand there and interrogate me?” she snapped.
He frowned. “The human?”
Alana lifted her chin. “His name is Alex.”
Her cousin cursed under his breath, but it was too low to make out.
“I think we’re fated, Xander.”
That shut him up, but now his mouth was a hard line. He didn’t say anything. Stopped his movements and crossed his arms over his chest, glaring.
She took a big breath and reached for the right words. “When Alex and I touch,” her cousin scowled harder, but she ignored him, “I feel something. Almost…magic. But more than that, he feels it too.”
“He’s human, Alana.”
“Not wholly so,” she retorted.
Disbelief darted across his handsome face.
“I speak the truth. His grandmother, albeit many times removed, was a princess.”
“Fae?”
Alana nodded.
Xander narrowed his eyes. “How many times removed?”
“I don’t know. But I was planning on visiting the archives.”
The vast library was in the basement of the palace, but above the dungeons. The head scribe, a lovely older woman name Eirini, adored her. Alana wouldn’t need to bribe or wheedle, or even sneak. She’d be allowed free reign to find whatever information she could about Alex’s princess great grandmother—as long as she hadn’t been erased from the histories.
Most Fae believed there was no lower lifeform than humans. To breed with one was an embarrassment—not to mention a death sentence, for mother and child. For a princess to do such a thing, banishment would be a gift. And unlikely. Whoever she was, if she left the Fae Realm, she surely never returned. She’d probably fled in secret.
“You will not leave this suite again.” Another hard command from her bodyguard.
“Xander—”
“I mean it. You caused me to harm three of my brothers today. Not to mention forced me to lie to make the guard light. It’s only a matter of time before I’m discovered. Captain Daegus will lash me more than ten times, Your Highness.”
She winced. “What did you do?”
“Memory scatter spells.”
“That’s not so bad.”
Xander gave her a long look.
“What? It’s not.”
“Easily discovered,” her cousin muttered.
Alana swallowed. “I can’t explain it to you. I can only tell you how I feel here.” She placed her palm over her heart.
He scoffed. “You do not know him. He’s human.” Her cousin spat the last word as insult.
“I know.” Heat suffused her cheeks when she remembered Alex’s mouth moving over hers. It didn’t matter that they’d just met.
It should—even setting all the forbiddeness aside.
She’d been truthful with him—Alana wanted him. After all these years, she’d finally found the only man she’d wanted to give herself to—completely. And she couldn’t. If Alex had been willing, she would’ve given him her innocence right there on the ridge, in view of anyone who cared to see.
That desire shouldn’t be floating in her head. It was wrong. Not just because he was human. She’d never been loose with her favors. The dalliances she’d had, had only been after getting to know each man.
How could she be so drawn to a human?
A voice whispered that it would do no good—she couldn’t have him, but she ignored it and told her best friend what was in her heart. “He’s for me, cousin. I can’t tell you how or why I know. It’s…fate.” Alana shrugged.
Alarm was stamped all over his expression. “Goddess, you really believe this.”
“Aye.”
Xander restarted his pacing. “Oh, Goddess.” He shook his head, making his thick plait bounce around him like a moving aura. “Fated mates are rare enough amongst our people. This has to be nonsense, Alana.”
She ignored him and pushed on. Wanted to convince him, as impossible as it seemed. “It’s not nonsense. Maybe this is why I could never entertain a betrothal…”
He wrenched his head around, and his braid followed like a whip. “Don’t you dare start trying to…justify this foolishness.”
Alana sighed. “I’m just saying. No Fae man drew me. Ever.”
“You’re not so old that you’ve met all your choices. Don’t judge by that useless Irish Prince, Seamus.”
She quirked a small smile. “I wouldn’t dare; I agree. I’m not judging all Fae men by him, of course. But you should take care not to speak as such about royalty, even if everyone agrees, and he’s not from our Court.”
Xander paused. “Why? Are not your rooms magically soundproofed?”
“Oh, aye. I reinforced the spells before I left so Rannick wouldn’t catch me. I’m just saying.”
He tugged his plait, something he only did when he was agitated.
“What can I say to make you know I speak true, cousin? I speak of what I feel inside,” she whispered.
“How do you know about his supposed Fae blood?” he shot back, stopping at her bedside.
Alana flushed to her toes and wanted to avert her eyes, but didn’t look away from the gaze that matched her own. Xander wasn’t going to like her answer. At. All. But she wouldn’t lie to him. “I told him who I am.”
After an audible intake of the obviously shocked breath, her cousin smashed his eyes shut and stood very still. His wings vibrated. When he finally spoke, it was a string of curses in Fae. Low. Deadly.
“There’s nothing you can say to me that I do not know, cousin,” she said.
“Then do not be a fool.” He started pacing again. His wide shoulders shook as hard as his wings and he wore a path on her shiny marbled floor. Xander started ranting, repeating everything she’d assured him she was aware of.
Every caution, every black promise that wasn’t far from the truth. Things he didn’t have the power to keep her from. Things that made them both shake in fear.
The more he talked, the more doom settled over Alana. She couldn’t have Alex. Hearing her cousin confirm it just made her feel worse.
“You don’t have to worry, anyway.” She pushed the words out, low but clear. Misery settled over her and she wanted to sink into her bed.
The look on Alex’s face when she’d said goodbye had just about obliterated her. Made her want to take the words back immediately, vow she’d come back to him. Be with him.
Stay with him.
Alana’s head and gut agreed with everything her cousin was raving about.
Too bad her heart refused.
Concern crossed Xander’s expression, but it was much preferred to anger. “What happened? Did he hurt you?”
She shook her head. “Nay.” Tears burned, were born and spilled. She couldn’t help it, and she didn’t bother trying to wipe them away, there would only be more.
“Alana?”
“I hurt him, Xander. I hurt myself, too.”
“What d’you mean?”
“I said goodbye.” Alana hated that there was relief in her cousin’s eyes. Her chest was so tight every breath was a dagger to her soul.