Dawn Marie Hamilton - Highland Gardens by Just in Time for a Highland Christmas

gray dress—not to her taste—and slipped into the leather shoes
tucked beneath the chair.
    Inhaling a deep, calming breath, she descended the
stairs. After crossing through several amazing chambers, with wonders beyond
her ken, she found the kitchen. Laurie sat at a table speaking with a redheaded
woman whose back was to Isobell. She halted, hesitant to interrupt.
    “Why should the Chief of Clan MacLachlan’s
happiness matter to me? My only concern is the queen’s challenge,” the woman
said.
    “What ken you of Archibald?” Isobell marched into
the kitchen.
    The woman spun around, green eyes narrowed.
    “You!” Isobell blurted, startled to recognize the
woman.
    A furrow crossed Laurie’s brow. “You’ve met
Caitrina?”
    “Oh, aye.” Isobell fisted hands on hips. “She came
to my…cottage. Claimed to ken my destiny.”
    Caitrina frowned. “Just how exactly did you come
to be here?”
    “Isobell, please sit. Perhaps you can tell us the
whole tale now, while the men are out of the way, practicing swordplay.”
    When Isobell finished with the telling, Caitrina’s
neck and face flushed red.
    “I can hardly believe Munn told the truth. Oonagh
has interfered. She led Isobell to the faerie hill and brought her forward
through the gate. Why?”
    “Who is Oonagh?” Isobell asked.
    “The Queen of the Fae.”
    “Why would she interfere with Isobell and Archie?”
Laurie asked.
    “I dinnae ken. But she has.” Caitrina pursed her
lips. “I need to leave.”
    The woman stood and left through the door to the
garden. Isobell followed and peered out the window. Then clutched her chest.
    “Oh my!” The woman walked just beyond the garden
gate and vanished into the mist. Isobell dropped onto a chair. “She is a
faerie?”
    “She is, but this isn’t faerieland.”
    “Then why are there faeries here?”
    “Because they are everywhere.” Laurie sighed.
“Let’s forget the faeries for a moment. We should talk about you and Archie.
You’re wed. You need to work out your differences. We’ll find a way to send you
back.”
    “What if I dinnae want to go?”
    “You care for Archie. Don’t you owe it to him and
to yourself to learn the truth?”
    She wanted to, but even if her father had lied,
there was no future for her and Archibald. He’d never forgive her for the year
she’d spent raiding, seeking revenge against him and his clan.
    When he learned the extent of her betrayal, he’d
seek justice for his clan. She swallowed uneasily. He had every right to
condemn her to death by hanging.
    * * *
    Castle Lachlan, 1512
     
    Munn felt the pull of Caitrina’s summons. The darn
faerie had a lot of nerve bothering him while he attended his chief. Choosing
to ignore the compulsion, he planted his feet firmly on the straw-covered
floor. The itchy rash started on his chest then spread. He kenned better than
to scratch. It would just make the eruption worse. He squirmed, wiggled, did a
shimmy.
    “What is the matter with you?” Archibald frowned.
    Too uncomfortable to answer, Munn gritted his
teeth. Sweat prickled the folds in his forehead. Archibald, and the two lads
assisting him, took several steps back as if Munn had gone raving mad. He
couldn’t hold out much longer. The annoying faerie’s call too strong.
    Without conscious thought, he spun and disappeared
from the stable, traveling sideways through the ether. Nausea clenched his
stomach muscles. Inhaling sharply, he curled into a ball, landing as such, and
rolled across the green grass, stopping at Caitrina’s dainty feet.
    “You foolish, wee man. You thought to ignore me?”
    How dare she? Munn hissed, ready to curse her from
here to there.
    “Whist! There is nae time for theatrics.”
Caitrina’s shoulders slumped. “As much as I hate to admit it, you were right.
The queen has taken interest in Archibald and Isobell.”
    “Why?”
    “Probably naught but a whim.” The faerie’s pointed
ears twitched and her eyes flared as if listening to something