Chapter 38

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

C arys sat on the edge of her bed, staring at the dim morning light that gleamed like a pearl through the milky glass of her bedroom windows.

She'd sent Duncan and Lachlan away the night before. She wanted the company of neither. She asked Bonnie to help her bathe away the blood and the dust of battle, and just before she fell asleep, Cadell came into her room wearing his human skin and held her tightly as she wept.

She could feel her dragon overhead, curled in his natural form and waiting in the half-ready state he seemed to inhabit anytime she was near.

"Cadell, I need to go home."

Her time in the Shadowland had been two weeks, but it felt like two months.

I will take you to the fae gate, Nêrys. Tell me when and I will take you.

She blinked back tears. "But if I go home, you can't come with me, can you?"

Cadell was unusually silent.

"Cadell, I don't want to leave you. "

You do not have to. His voice was resigned. I will follow you into the Brightlands, my lady.

Carys blinked. "Come here. I need to see your face."

Are you dressed? Humans feel shame in their natural form, and I don't want ? —

"I'm dressed. I have my nightdress on."

A moment later a knock sounded at her door. Carys went to open it and found Cadell on the other side.

She narrowed her eyes and looked down the hallway. "Where do you?—"

"There is a balcony not far from here that is accessible by air only." He stepped through her door and stood at attention near the cold fireplace. "Robb had it added to the castle when Seren and Lachlan married."

Cadell bent down and added a piece of wood to the fire, then gripped his hand into a fist, and Carys saw a red glow coming from his palm. Moments later he opened it and lobbed a ball of fire into the hearth. The small fire sprang to life, and heat permeated the air.

"I didn't know you could do that." Carys sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the fire, wrapped in a heavy cloak.

"There is much you do not know." He stood and walked to her. "You have been gone from your world for two weeks. That is not enough time to learn anything."

"I've learned that I can talk to a dragon." In my mind. She tried out the new feature.

"Yes, very good." He cocked his head. "Have you studied languages? Cartography? History? Basic saber fighting? Hand-to-hand combat? Military history and wing formations? Magic incantations and basic spell?—"

"Okay yes!" She raised a hand. "Obviously I'm not going to learn that much in two weeks. I didn't even get a training montage."

"I don't know what that means."

She rubbed her face. "You have a lot to learn too."

"You are nêrys ddraig. It is my responsibility as your dragon to see that you are prepared to fly into battle if necessary. That you are prepared for anything this world might confront you with."

"Why?" She crossed her legs and drew her cloak tighter. "I could go back to the Brightlands. The biggest danger I'd face there is a car accident or heart disease."

His eye twitched.

"You really don't like that idea, do you?"

"The gods do not grant magic to humans for no reason," Cadell said. "You have a purpose here."

"What?"

"That is not my place to say."

How convenient for him. "You're saying that I have some kind of… destiny?"

"You're not like the cross human. He is mundane."

She felt vaguely offended on Duncan's behalf. "I wouldn't say that. He forged a dragon-steel sword, didn't he?"

"Fine." Cadell cocked his head. "He has skills but no magic. You can speak to me. You hear the water horse. The ellyllon recognized you. The Crow Mother bargains with you."

"What are you saying? That I'm not human?"

"You are human," he insisted. "But not like the Brightkin we know. You are more."

"But if I go home, you'll come with me?"

"I must. You are my nêrys."

It was the first time that Cadell's friendship had felt like a burden. "But you'd lose your magic in the Brightlands."

"Yes."

Carys thought about it carefully. "If I stayed in Scotland?—"

"You'd be closer, but it would not be your home. And I would still need to go with you."

"Wait a minute." She tore through her memory, shifting through the deluge of information that had been dumped on her in the past few weeks. "The fae took Lachlan."

"Allies of his father, yes. Robb does not travel to the Brightlands. "

"Yeah, but they took him when he was out on a hike by my house." She looked up. "Cadell, there's a fae gate. Like, right by my house."

Cadell's eyes brightened. "Then I am definitely returning with you to the Brightlands. You'll smell of the Shadow now. You'll be marked. There will be creatures and beings from the Shadowlands who might seek you out."

"In Baywood?"

"Every place has a shadow, Nêrys."

"But Baywood?" A sleepy college town on the Northern California coast wasn't exactly a hotbed of myth and legend. Except…

Carys narrowed her eyes. "Oh my God, Bigfoot is real, isn't he?"

His chin jutted out and he narrowed his eyes. "I have no idea what that is. A creature with large feet? Do you mean giants?"

"Oh God, I didn't even think about the giants." Carys's mind was spinning. "Would you be able to go through the fae gate by my house if you moved to California?"

"The Shadowlands are my home." He took a breath and carefully nodded. "I should be able to cross any fae gate and return with your help since you are a native of the Brightlands."

"So you'll be able to dragon out when you need to." She released a breath and the knot in her chest loosened. "I mean, it's still not ideal, but at least you wouldn't be tied up in this human body all the time. If you come."

"That is not a question."

Carys stood up. "Cadell, I don't want you to lose your magic."

"Then I will take you to Cymru. You can attend the dragon academy there. You'll be the oldest student by far, but the children will be commanded to give you respect and the teasing should be minimal."

Not even Cadell believed the words that were coming out of his mouth.

Carys forced a smile. "Well, doesn't that sound like every childhood nightmare come to life? Absolutely not."

Cadell crossed his arms over his chest. "Then you may stay in Alba. I'm sure Lachlan has not changed his affections. His feelings are quite sincere, though recent events have brought his feelings for Seren to the forefront of his mind, and he might?—"

"Nope." She shook her head. "Definitely not that option." She let out a breath and felt her chest tighten up again. "Not… yet anyway. How do we make this work?"

"I will follow you to Baywood," Cadell said softly. "You will return to your life. We will find the fae gate, and we can cross there. Dafydd will find some way to send you trainers even in that place. Dragon kingdoms have many diplomatic relations, and I know of at least two in the Americas."

"I'm not going to avoid the PE part of this whole thing, am I?"

"I don't know what that means."

She let out a long breath. "We can make this work."

Cadell's normally severe expression softened. "Of course we can, Nêrys."

"What about your children?"

"There are others who will care for my young. Dragon lives are long, and they are never alone."

"You'll be away from them. Maybe for a long time."

"That is the way of our kind. My children will understand that as they grow."

She stared at Cadell, but the stoic expression on his face didn't waver. "Okay." She took another deep breath. "Okay."

"Then it is agreed," Cadell said. "We will take our leave here and return to the Brightlands."

"You're going to need… documents. Identity things. Paperwork. You'll have to fly on a plane."

"Of course. King Dafydd has an associate who arranges those types of things. I will speak to Mared." His lip curled slightly. "And I'll… survive the plane."

She looked him up and down. "Maybe talk to Dafydd about that private jet, because I don't know how you'd fit on a commercial airline. "

"These are details, Carys. We'll figure them out."

"Right." She took a deep breath. "I'm stalling, aren't I?"

"You need to speak to Lachlan."

"Right." She nodded and closed her eyes. "Yeah. I need to speak to Lachlan."

Lachlan was in the North Hall, holding audience with his father. Robb sent the rest of the court from the room when Cadell and Carys walked in.

She looked at Robb and Lachlan. "I'll be returning to the Brightlands shortly."

"What?" Lachlan sat forward in his chair. "No."

Carys tried to read his expression, but he was carefully masking his feelings.

"I need to go home," she said. "I've been here over two weeks. I have a life there. If I don't return to it, people are going to start raising alarms."

"You're on sabbatical from teaching," Lachlan said.

"I have friends," Carys said firmly. "If I don't return, they won't just accept it and move on. They'll come to Scotland just like I came. They'll track my phone. They'll call the police. The fae gate could be compromised."

"Nothing in your world can compromise the gate," Robb said softly. "You don't think the magic will protect itself?" He smiled a little. "Your… modern police officers are hardly the greatest challenge the Shadowlands have faced."

Carys turned her attention to Robb. "So you're fine with keeping me captive here against my will?"

"I told you I wanted answers." Robb stared at her. "I don't have them."

"Father" —Lachlan interrupted— "you cannot keep Carys here if she wants to go. "

"Why not?"

"King Dafydd for one." Cadell spoke in a firm voice. "He will not take lightly any attempt to confine his niece." Cadell seemed to grow bigger and wider in the throne room, and heat poured off his body. "And me. You will not keep my nêrys where she does not wish to be."

"Hold." Lachlan stood and ran an unsteady hand through his hair. "Everyone, please be calm."

Robb kept his eyes on Cadell. "Fine. I will let your nêrys return to Cymru."

"Okay, sure." Carys threw up her hands. "And then I'll just go through a fae gate there and cause even more questions in my world. You think that's better? You're not being logical."

Robb was clearly stumped, but he wasn't giving up. "So you found your sister's murderer, incited an international conflict, and now you are content to leave."

Carys opened her mouth, but nothing came out.

Robb narrowed his eyes. "The queen of éire will want answers . Her daughter and granddaughter have been killed. She will want an explanation. War between Cymru and éire could be on the horizon, and you want to leave?"

And she hadn't even told them about the maps yet.

"You could mention the part about her having a half-fae daughter and not telling anyone," Carys said softly. "I feel like she might want to keep that quiet."

"Rumors and innuendo are not international relations!" Robb rose to his feet. "You leave Briton teetering on the edge of war."

Well, fuck. When he put it that way, Carys definitely understood why Lachlan's dad was pissed off.

She looked at Cadell, but his face was as expressive as ever.

Fantastic.

"I…" She started slowly. "I have faith in my uncle's wisdom." Carys swallowed the lump in her throat. "And Queen Eamer's sway with her mother. Dafydd and Eamer know that breaking the Queens' Pact would have horrible consequences. And I'm sure Queen Orla does too. "

Robb persisted. "There was mention made of maps that could cause a war. These were the reason Seren was killed."

Well, shit. How did he find out about those? Was that Duncan or Lachlan? One of them must have said something. Tattletales. She was trying to make a clean break with Robb and all this mess because she was more than done being a political football. She was clearly not Seren in so many ways, and this was one of them.

Her sister's murderers were dead. Or one was dead and one had been taken by the kelpie, so she was as good as dead. She knew where Lachlan was, and she knew the truth about their relationship. And Duncan was… Duncan.

Right now all Carys wanted was to go home.

She took a deep breath and looked at Robb. "I kind of think Seren was killed because Regan was a chaos monster who liked to torment Aisling, but yes, there might have also been some maps." She plowed on. "Before you ask, Cadell and I already gave them to Mared, who is going to deliver them to Dafydd. All of Seren's journals are with her father, so if you want to know what to tell Queen Orla, talk to him." She stepped away from the throne. "I am not a queen or a king. I'm not a diplomat. This isn't even my world." She raised her hands. "I'm done ."

Carys saw from the frustrated expression on Robb's face that he was out of arguments.

She turned to leave with Cadell at her side.

"Carys."

Lachlan ran to her, grabbing her arm and spinning her around.

Cadell snarled and put a swift hand around Lachlan's neck.

"Wait!" Carys held up a hand. "Cadell, it's fine."

Lachlan's eyes drilled into her, and he spoke in a rush. "Don't go. Stay with me. Marry me. You could be a queen here. Go back to Baywood if you need to, then come back." His voice turned pleading. "And be with me."

Carys let out a harsh breath. "How could you ask me that?"

Lachlan frowned. "You know I love you. "

"The woman who murdered Seren died yesterday ." Carys closed her eyes and turned her face away. "You were grieving my sister yesterday . And you ask me this today?"

"I love you."

"You love… a version of me maybe?" Carys opened her eyes, and her heart broke looking at him. "And I loved a version of you." She put a hand on his cheek. "But neither of us knew the whole truth. I don't even know who I am anymore, Lachlan." She took his hand from her arm and knit their fingers together. " Don't ask me that question today."

"Not today does not mean never," he said softly.

"No." Her heart softened, and she gently kissed his cheek. "It doesn't mean never."

Lachlan opened his mouth, then closed it, pressing his lips together to hold in whatever he'd been about to say. He nodded, then let her hand go.

He was so beautiful he made her heart ache, and in the softness of his expression and the openness of his face, she saw everything she'd fallen in love with months before.

"I'll see you again." She looked at Robb, then over at Cadell. "I have a feeling this world isn't done with me yet."

"I'll see you again." His voice was firm. "And there will be no more secrets, Carys."

"We don't need them anymore." She turned and walked out the door.

"I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to explain a giant seven-foot Welshman moving into my house in Baywood when I left America to look for my missing Scottish boyfriend." Carys and Cadell were walking toward Duncan's cottage on the road that led down from Sgàin Castle.

Cadell shrugged. "Tell them we are family."

Carys looked down at herself. Barely over five feet. Dark hair. Blue eyes. Completely average figure.

And beside her was Cadell, nearly seven feet tall, golden-haired and golden-eyed, his arms as long as both of hers put together.

"Okay, sure." She nodded. "Everyone is going to buy that."

"Families come in many shapes, Nêrys."

They were passing through the village, Carys sending polite waves to the harried villagers who eyed her with suspicion.

"Not real fond of me anymore, I guess."

"The humans of the Shadowlands are suspicious by nature, and in their eyes, you caused a battle to nearly break out with the unicorns, the fae have been angered by Regan's destruction of the old fort, and Aisling—the healer who took care of the village—is dead."

"None of that is my fault though." She kept her voice low and kept her head down. The last thing she needed was a rotten apple thrown in her direction. Cadell would react and someone would get crispy.

"Things were less exciting before you arrived." He shrugged. "They will forget eventually."

"Right."

The baker and his wife eyed her with frowns before they walked back inside and shut the door soundly.

Carys tried not to whine. She really had loved their scones.

A trading cart with southern colors rumbled past them, the air behind it thick with the scent of spices and southern warmth. Behind the cart rode a couple mounted on horses who nodded as they passed.

"What is Anglia like?"

"We can visit on another trip," Cadell said. "It is lively and much more diverse than Alba. People from the continent brave the crossing with some regularity now since the Frisians have developed spells to repel the leviathan."

"Leviathans." She nodded. "Right."

"The creatures avoid the channel now" —he nodded at another tall man who passed them— "and generally keep to the northern seas. "

Carys waited until they were out of the village before she asked, "Was that big guy you nodded at another dragon?"

"No, he was obviously a wolf." Cadell looked down and sighed. "You have much to learn."

She forced a smile. "Looking forward to it?"

Carys carried a small backpack with a few mementos of her time in the Shadowlands. Her gold dragon brooch from Dafydd, the gold mirror from Eamer, a beautiful bound journal from Lachlan, and a unicorn embroidery from Elanor.

She looked at Cadell walking beside her in his leather armor. He carried one single thing—a letter from Dafydd they were going to have to show his contact in Scotland when they crossed over.

"Can you wear normal clothes?"

"If you mean Brightlands clothing, I can if I have to."

"Are you sure this guy is going to come through with papers and stuff? I mean, I'm sure you can stay at Duncan's house, but I don't want to be stuck there for weeks if I can avoid it."

"It will be fine, Nêrys. You worry too much."

"You should try using my name more. My friends will think it's weird."

"Tell them it's an affectionate nickname." Cadell glared at her. "Nêrys."

"Right." She rolled her eyes. "So affectionate."

"Your uncle has already sent emissaries to the Chahta nation, who are the closest geographic dragon nation to your home. He will coordinate your education with their permission."

"Great." She shook her head. "Can't wait."

"I am hoping to see a thunderbird." The corner of his mouth inched up. "Mared has seen them, and the rumors of their power are intimidating."

"You're actually excited about this, aren't you?"

He looked down at Carys, then returned his eyes forward. "Briton is cold. "

"Okay, so not a fan of cold weather." She grimaced. "I have unfortunate news about Northern California, my friend."

"I am adaptable." He veered to the left and paused. "You should wait here."

"Why?"

Cadell kept his eyes on something in the distance. "Have you spoken to Duncan?"

"Since we rummaged around the ruins of his house yesterday? No."

"But he knows you are returning to the Brightlands?"

"You said he was coming with us."

"Yes." Cadell looked up. "He said he'd be ready at midday."

She looked up at the sky, which told her… absolutely nothing. There was no sun. "What is going on?"

"I feel very strong magic." Cadell pushed Carys behind him and walked through the hedges that led to Duncan's cottage.

"Hey, at least there's not an evil mage making a giant hill that we have to climb, right?"

Cadell kept a hand on her, forcing her to stay at his back as he walked through the alley of trees that guarded the house. The lane was narrower than it had been, and Carys noticed there were thorns on either side of the path, mixed in with the flowering bulbs and wildflowers.

"I think Auld Mags has been at work," Cadell said.

They walked under the green archway and into the small meadow in front of Duncan's home.

"Yeah." Carys tried not to gape. "I think so."

The cottage that had been ruins two days before was nearly rebuilt. The thatch on the roof needed to be trimmed and the stone was fresh and bare of moss, but the garden around the cottage was as verdant as ever, the wattle-and-daub walls were freshly painted, and a pile of old house timbers was neatly stacked along the side of the garden shed to use as firewood.

"Oh my God." Carys blinked. " How did he?—"

"Not Duncan. Auld Mags." He looked down. "I told you bwbach have strong magic."

"But…" Her head swung from right to left, taking in the house, which looked brand-new. "How?"

"Angus helped." Duncan stepped out the front door and leaned against the log holding up the front porch. "Hello, Carys Morgan."

"Duncan." She suddenly felt… shy. "Hi." She was unsure of herself. She'd said goodbye to Lachlan but had no idea how she was going to bid farewell to his brother. "Cadell said you're coming with us."

"Angus and Auld Mags are keen to get me out of their way." He hoisted a backpack over his arm. He was already dressed in his Brightlands clothing. "I've your clothes in here if you want to change."

Carys looked down at her comfy wool leggings, long tunic, and cloak. She suddenly realized how much she was going to miss the clothes here. They were warm and comfortable.

"But not the shoes," she muttered.

"What's that?"

Carys walked over and sat on a stone bench. "Maybe just my hiking boots."

"Done." He took the pack from his shoulder and dug around. "I woke up in the shed this morning, walked out the door, and saw all this."

"In one night?" Cadell leaned against the cottage wall. "She's very powerful."

"She finished the bones of the cottage yesterday after you left. Said she'd been healing well enough and didn't want to ‘let that hairy-eyeballed witch win.'" He glanced at Carys. "That's a quote."

"You'll need to bring her a cow for all this." Carys took the hiking boots Duncan held out. "A bowl of milk isn't going to cut it."

"She's already put in an order for a ‘nice wee coo with ruddy hair' for the garden."

Carys couldn't stop her smile. "Am I ever going to meet Auld Mags? "

Duncan raised an eyebrow. "Do you want to spend a night or two? I'm sure Cadell could make himself scarce."

Carys felt her cheeks warm. Duncan wasn't acting like a cross human anymore. None of his rough edges had worn off, so maybe she was just getting used to him.

"I think we better get back to Scotland," she said. "I don't even want to think about my email inbox."

"The fae gate it is." Duncan hoisted his pack over his shoulder again and held his hand out. "Back to home."

"Whatever that means anymore," Carys whispered.

The corner of Duncan's mouth inched up. "You'll figure that out, Carys Morgan. I have faith."

They started walking down the path leading to the fae forest, and Carys didn't look back.