Chapter 10

CHAPTER TEN

" Y ou're fortunate." The healer leaned down and spread ointment over the scrapes along her ankles and the palms of her hands.

Carys was sitting on a fallen log in the middle of the forest, and birdsong was a riot around her. Her clothes were still soaked, but the air was shockingly warm, which was a good thing considering the woman who was healing her looked like she was dressed for desert heat and not a northern winter.

"I'm fortunate?"

"The kelpie is angry. He knows to stay away from our foals, but you startled him. And humans have no treaty with the creatures of the loch, even those who have magic." Her long black curls were braided into multiple plaits that fell down her back and over her shoulders. Gold threaded her hair, and while she didn't have the pointed ears of the fae, there was something obviously magic about her. "That could have ended very badly for you."

"Are you a… unicorn?"

She smiled and pressed a woven bandage soaked with something green to Carys's head. "Not at the moment. "

Carys felt her skin knit together under the bandage and the pain eased. "Tha—" She bit her tongue. "I mean?—"

"It's fine. You are among the blessing." The healer glanced up. "You may thank me without creating a debt."

So unicorns didn't bank favors like the fae did. Good to know.

In the oldest stories, the fae were almost always associated with trickery. They loved to bargain with humans but always seemed to come out with a better deal than the duped person who wanted a favor. Countless human superstitions revolved around not offending the fae and not drawing their attention.

In the folk literature she'd studied, there wasn't nearly as much about unicorns and even less about unicorns who could turn human. Most of what Carys had read told her that these mythical creatures were mysterious, shy, and associated with purity and grace. Not tricks or traps for humans.

Carys felt the tightness in her chest relax a little bit when she realized that these creatures were probably the safest ones she'd meet in this strange world.

"It's nice not to have to watch every word."

"It is, isn't it?" The woman lifted the bandage and removed it. "That's better. Your body accepts magical healing. Another fortunate turn. Not all humans do, but you feel a little fae-touched."

Fae-touched? Was she talking about Dru bringing her through the forest?

It didn't matter that the unicorn spoke in riddles—Carys felt better just being in her presence. "I don't even want to think about what might have happened if you guys hadn't found me."

"You're lucky Azar has such a big voice." The woman's dark brown eyes creased at the corners in maternal mirth. "I suppose I won't be able to chide her for using it so often."

"You're her mother."

She smiled. "I am so honored and burdened."

It was the first time Carys had the urge to laugh all day. "What's your name? "

"Yasmin. And Azar tells me you are called Carys."

"It's nice to meet you, Yasmin."

The woman had light brown skin and lips that reminded Carys of Dru with their berry-red hue, but there was nothing threatening about her. She had a proud forehead and a broad, muscled chest with strong shoulders.

Yasmin bore a gold sigil on her forehead in an intricate, swirling design where Carys imagined her horn would be in unicorn form.

Carys looked around the forest meadow that the little girl called home. "And what is this place?"

"You are a guest of the Blessing of Moray," Yasmin said. "This is our current camp."

The meadow was a wildflower-and-grass-covered island in a forest of pines and cedars. It was filled with bright tents that draped from tree to tree, and the light seemed brighter, as if a glow emanated from the glorious creatures walking among the flowers and trees, a mix of multicolored unicorns and people who were clearly only temporarily in human form.

There were small unicorns and children playing in the grass within the safety of the circle of tents, laughing and jumping in both human and animal form.

"I feel very safe here." Carys hoped that her instincts were right, because if these creatures were evil, maybe she'd just give in to it.

Nothing this beautiful could be evil.

"You are safe here," Yasmin said. "The kelpie cannot leave the boundaries of the loch, and Darius will not let anything enter the forest that could bring the children harm."

"Darius?" Carys looked at the golden-brown unicorn who had attacked the kelpie. Azar was draped across his back, braiding his mane and whispering secrets into his ear as another unicorn tended to the wounds on his side.

"Yes, my mate is the one who rescued you." Yasmin's eyes glowed when she looked at the magnificent creature.

"Azar is his daughter. "

"Yes. Darius is the chief here, though our blessing grants allegiance to Lord Robb."

"The king?"

The woman smiled. "Unicorns don't recognize kings, but we feel at home here, as have our ancestors for many generations." Yasmin patted the dressing on Carys's ankle. "You'll be healed within an hour or so. Then Darius can return you to the castle."

Carys sat up, shaking her head. "I can't go back to the castle. Can one of you take me to the fae gate so I can go back to the Brightlands?"

Yasmin looked confused. "The fae gate? Why would you want to go there? The Borderlands are dangerous."

"But I'm not from here. I'm trying to get back." At this point damn her clothes. Damn Duncan. Damn Lachlan and all the rest. She had clothes in Scotland and a mobile phone and credit cards that could buy her a ticket home.

Yasmin frowned. "Aren't you of the Shadowlands? You accepted my healing." She stepped back and looked more closely at Carys, turning her head from one side to the other. "You're Brightkin." She blinked. "I know your face now. You're her Brightkin."

Nice to have another reminder that Carys didn't have her own identity in this place. She took a deep breath. "I'm from the other side of the gate, and I really just want to go home." Carys glanced at the light overhead, which seemed to be dimming as they spoke. "If it's too late now, maybe I could camp here with you and find the fae gate in the morning."

Yasmin smiled softly. "The blessing will protect you, Carys, as long as you need shelter, but we will not take you to the fae gate. We never go near them." Her eyes grew dark. "That is the place where the innocent are taken."

The innocent?

The twins who never make it to the Shadowlands. Carys pictured the hundreds of tiny lights in the forest, as abundant as fireflies. "You're really good , aren't you? "

Maybe that much goodness couldn't bear being around such a twisted place.

The sadness fell from Yasmin's eyes, and she smiled again. "You say that when you have met my daughter." Yasmin wound up a silvery gauze that looked like spiderweb and put it in a woven bag along with the ointment she'd applied to Carys's wounds. "Try standing now."

Carys rose to her feet and found that while her legs were cold and damp, the blisters and scrapes didn't hurt anymore. The burning pain around her ankles from the kelpie's binding didn't even make a twinge.

"Wow." She breathed out in relief. "So much better."

Yasmin stowed her bag in a nearby tent and led Carys toward the open meadow. "Fundamentally, our nature is wholeness. Peace." Yasmin looked at Darius with fierce pride. "But make no mistake, our blessing is lethal in battle when we need to be."

"I believe it." She leaned against a tree. "My scrapes don't even hurt anymore."

"I'm indebted to you for bringing Azar home. Her cousins will get quite a punishment for leaving her alone in the forest." Yasmin shook her head. "I'm glad she wasn't stranded for long; the foals always play too near to the old fae fort."

So there had been something magical in the forest. Carys made a mental note to avoid that dark place on the way back.

"Our children are very precious to us," Yasmin continued. "Even if they are rambunctious."

"She's a wonderful little girl." Carys looked at the small child on the unicorn's back. "Someone told me that children aren't born here. That the fae are the only ones who give the people here children. It's not the same for you?"

Yasmin shook her head. "Nothing is born in the Shadowlands except by magic, but a unicorn's fundamental nature is magic." She smiled as she watched the children and the unicorn foals playing. "The old gods bless us with young just like they bless the dragons and the wolves and other magical creatures."

"Wolves? "

Yasmin's expression grew dark. "They live in the south and owe their allegiance to the Anglian rulers." She looked at Carys. "Dread the day you meet a north wolf for they love war."

Carys shivered at the warning in Yasmin's voice until a bright voice distracted her.

"Mama!"

Yasmin's face bloomed into a beatific smile. "Azar." She nudged Carys toward the meadow. "Your new friend is feeling better."

"Did you give her a potion?" The little girl slid off her father's back and held up her ankle. "My foot feels all better from mine."

"I'm glad." Carys bent down to see the ankle the little girl stuck out. "I wanted to thank your father for saving me."

Carys stood up and watched as a golden mirage seemed to overtake the massive form of the unicorn Azar had been riding. Moments later a man appeared, dressed only in a cream-colored wrap that circled his waist. His skin was the color of gold-touched sand, and the first word that popped into her mind when she saw him was warm .

The unicorn looked warm even in the winter cold. His hair fell loose and flowing to his waist, and though the cold breeze crept down Carys's neck, the man's skin showed not a single goose bump.

"I am Darius, guardian of the Moray blessing." He was even taller than Yasmin and wore a gold sigil on his forehead where his horn had been. "Welcome, Carys."

His human voice was deep, resonant, and as powerful as she'd expected from the massive unicorn who had battled the kelpie.

"Thank you for saving my life," she said. "I was foolish to walk so close to the loch. I was trying to fight it off, but I'm pretty sure that monster would have dragged me under if it hadn't been for you."

"You saved my daughter's life, and our blessing owes you a favor."

"Honestly, it's my own fault," Carys said. "Azar tried to warn me, but I didn't know about the kelpie, and I've had a bit of a shock today. I wasn't thinking clearly."

"You saved our daughter before protecting yourself," Darius said. "You have our gratitude. Can we see you back to the castle? You are welcome anytime, but we don't have human beds that would make you comfortable this night."

Honestly, the thought of sleeping on the ground with unicorns in the middle of a magical meadow sounded so much better than going anywhere at the moment. The day was starting to catch up with her.

"I don't mind camping here with you, but if you could help me find Duncan Murray's cottage, that's all I need." Carys was sure she could find her way back to the fae gate if she could just get to Duncan's cottage. "I'm not going back to the castle. I don't want to bother you with my problems, but?—"

"The problems of a friend are not problems at all." Darius frowned. "Are you in need of protection?"

"Carys?"

A familiar voice calling her name made Carys turn. She saw Duncan on the edge of the clearing with the dark-haired woman from the throne room beside him.

The woman's eyes lit up. "Carys! Thank the gods you're safe."

Too late. Carys sighed. Her problems had found her.

They had brought a horse for Carys to ride, but it wasn't something she'd done since she was a kid, so she bounced awkwardly in the saddle, riding between Duncan and a woman he introduced as Aisling.

"Are you comfortable?" The woman was small and fine-boned with clear blue eyes the color of the ocean and dark hair that was braided and bound into a knot at the back of her head. "Seren hated to ride. She complained that it was so slow, but she was used to flying with Cadell, of course."

Aisling chattered in a bright Irish lilt. She wore a flowing green robe over fitted leggings, and her cloak was massive, covering her nearly to her ankles.

"Seren's personal chambers are still at the castle. No one has touched her rooms. I told the maids to clean them while we looked for you. And you're exactly your sister's size, so you can change into some of her clothes." Aisling looked at Carys's boots. "They'll be much more comfortable than Duncan's old things."

Carys appreciated Aisling's thoughtfulness, but she didn't know how to respond. She looked at Duncan with wide eyes. Help , she mouthed.

"Aisling." Duncan grunted from his tall perch on a massive brown horse. "She's not staying."

"Of course she has to stay!" Aisling's eyes went wide. "She's Seren's sister! We have to talk, we have to get to know her, and Lachlan?—"

"I don't want to see Lachlan tonight." It was the first thing Carys had said since she'd mounted the horse. "If I have to stay at the castle, I want a bedroom with a locked door. I want a warm bath" —she realized that might not be an option— "if that's possible. And I want some food. After that, all I want is sleep."

"Of course you're tired." Aisling's voice was so understanding it made Carys inexplicably irritated. "I will take care of all those things myself. And I only offer Seren's clothes because I know they'll fit you well and be comfortable, but if you'd rather we wash the clothes you have and dry them by the fire, I will take them to the laundry myself."

"No." Carys wasn't a monster. She knew the other woman was trying to be welcoming and she'd clearly had affection for her sister, but her bright cheer still rankled. "Seren's clothes will be fine."

After resigning herself to the fact that she wasn't going to escape Sgàin Castle without another conversation with the son of its king, Carys had fallen into a silent brood.

Fine. She'd go back to the castle.

Fine, she'd listen to what Lachlan had to say.

And then she'd follow Lachlan's surly twin back to Scotland before she flew back to Northern California where she belonged.

She glared at Duncan from the corner of her eye. "Why did you let them look for me?"

"You're Lachlan's… something," he sputtered. "And more im portantly, your Seren's Brightkin. Did you think they were going to leave you to fae mercies?"

"The fae aren't so bad really," Aisling added. "Well, the light fae aren't. They brought you to the Shadowlands, didn't they? They wouldn't have let you through the gate unless they wanted you here."

"That's what worries me," Duncan muttered.

"They have so much knowledge, Carys. I'm a healer at the castle, so I regularly meet with fae healers and learn from them." She turned to look back at the forest. "Just as I meet with the unicorns. Magic is not our enemy."

"Is it natural to humans though?" Carys suddenly realized that in this world, Aisling was the professor. Carys had rusty book knowledge, but clearly that wasn't enough. "If you're a healer, you use magic, but the unicorn healer said not all humans accept magical healing."

"That's true." Aisling nodded. "You should come to my workroom sometime and I can give you a tour. The good thing about learning and using magic is that I can make healing potions that all humans can take even if their bodies aren't receptive to magical healing. My own teacher learned from fae potion masters, so the healing recipes are very effective."

"Aisling doesn't mind the fae as we do because she's Irish," Duncan muttered.

"Untrue, you surly beast." Aisling winked at Carys. "He's such a brute, isn't he? I am éiren—not Irish like you say in your world—and it's true we're freer with the Good People at home, but I was raised in Scotland." She let a brogue take over her voice. "So I'm a crotchety, suspicious skeptic too."

It was impossible to remain surly with the woman when she radiated so much good cheer. Even Duncan had to crack a smile.

Carys asked, "Why were you brought up here?"

"The Queens' Pact." Aisling smiled. "Centuries ago, the four queens of éire, Cymru, Alba, and Anglia grew tired of the fighting and forced their kings to make peace. As a guarantee of that peace and goodwill, they each sent one of their children or a relative like a niece or nephew to the other three courts."

Duncan added, "The idea being if you knew one of your children was in the foreign court, you'd be more hesitant to start a conflict with that country. It happened in our world too."

Carys remembered from her studies of history that hundreds of years ago, childhood fosters were not uncommon among the aristocracy. Odd to think that the practice had continued in this alternate realm, but it was just another confirmation that humans weren't all that different whether they were living with magic or science.

"My mother isn't a queen," Aisling continued, "but my grandmother is, and my mother is married to an Anglian lord." She turned to Carys. "My aunt is related to Seren. Was ." Her expression fell a little. "My Aunt Eamer is the queen consort of Cymru. She was Seren's stepmother."

Carys blinked. "Wait, what?"

"It's complicated, isn't it?" Aisling smiled. "There are family trees in the library if that would help."

Duncan quickly added, "Queen Orla was very good at making strategic marriages for her daughters. Aisling's father isn't just a lord—he's a very powerful lord in Northumberland who has the ear of the Anglian king."

"And I'm their third child," Aisling said. "So I'm a humble apprentice mage in the Alban court who still fumbles with my potion ingredients at times." Aisling's dimples softened the sharp angles of her face. "But more importantly, Seren was my best friend, closer than my sisters even." Aisling pushed her mount closer to Carys's. "I know you're not Seren, and this is all so confusing, but I do hope that we can be friends."

Carys was back in the portrait gallery in her mind, staring at the wedding portrait of Seren and Lachlan.

Nêrys Ddraig, princess of Cymru. Aisling said her aunt was the queen of Wales. Cymru. Seren's stepmother.

"Nêrys ddraig," Carys whispered.

"It's a title of a dragon lord or lady," Aisling said. "One who can bond and speak with?—"

" Princess of Cymru."

Aisling nodded. "Yes. Seren was raised here like I was, but when her ability to speak to dragons matured, she went back to Cymru with her father and trained?—"

"So Seren's father is the king of Wales." Carys's head whipped around to Duncan. " Cymru . Seren's father is the king of Cymru?"

Duncan raised a hand. "Carys, he's not the same man?—"

"Is he my father? Is he his twin?" A mad hope surged in Carys's chest. "Is my mother…" She blinked. No. In this place, Seren's father was married to an Irish—éiren—woman. That couldn't be her mother's twin. But if her father…

"King Dafydd is the Lord of Gwynedd and the high king of Cymru." Aisling's voice grew quiet. "He's a strong man of medium height with dark curly hair and a strong nose. Seren had his eyes. You… have his eyes."

Carys had her father's eyes.

She turned to Duncan. "Duncan, I think in this world my father is alive."