Chapter 23

A nna paced the length of the room, turned, and came back the other way. She chewed her nail and forced herself to stop. She'd already bitten them down to the quick.

She was so frightened she felt sick. And angry. Furious, in fact. Right now, she wasn't sure which emotion was winning. She was terrified that what Maria had told her about Emeric was true, furious that those bastards had dared to lay a finger on him. She would find a way to make them regret it!

She sighed, knowing this was just empty bravado. What exactly did she think she could do? She was a prisoner in the MacDonald stronghold and nobody knew she was here.

There is nobody coming for ye. Ye are alone.

Oh, Emeric , she thought. Where are you? Are you all right? Please be all right.

She reached the far wall and spun, her skirts swirling around her, and went back the other way. Since they'd put her in this room she'd not seen or heard from anyone, despite hammering on the door and bellowing until her throat was sore. That must have been hours ago. She had no way to tell how much time had passed except for the way the sunlight falling onto the floorboards gradually moved across the room.

The place was larger, more well defended, and more opulent than the Mackintosh keep. If this was ever turned into a hotel or a wedding venue, it would be of the uber-expensive kind. Be that as it may, it didn't hide the fact that this place was rotten at its core, a den of vipers who wore smiles while they bit.

She had to get out of here. She had to find a way to get free.

She strode to the window. It was covered by a wooden shutter, which only let in slivers of light through the gaps. For the umpteenth time, Anna forced her fingers into the gap between the shutter and the wall and tried to pry it off. And for the umpteenth time, it didn't budge an inch. Her fingers started bleeding again and she wiped the blood absently onto her dress.

Damnation.

Her eyes roved over the room, searching desperately for something she might have missed. It was a large chamber, with whitewashed stone walls. The bed sported a bedspread in the MacDonald colors and two chairs sat by the cold fireplace. That was it.

Exhausted, she slumped on the edge of the bed and buried her face in her hands. If she didn't do something soon...

Suddenly, there was the rattle of a lock followed by the creaking sound of the heavy wooden door opening. Anna sprang up just as Lady Maria stepped into the room. On seeing her, hot rage boiled through Anna's veins. Her fingers clenched into fists and she sprang at the woman with a cry, fist swinging for her face.

But Lady Maria merely flicked her wrist and Anna went sailing across the room, colliding with the bed. She slumped to the floor, stunned.

"I wouldnae try that again if I were ye," Maria said, her voice as pleasant as if they were chatting over afternoon tea. "Ye wouldnae enjoy the consequences."

Anna struggled up to a seated position. Her ears were ringing and dizziness made her vision swing in and out of focus. What the—? What had Maria just done to her?

"Would ye care to take a seat?" Maria said, gesturing at the chairs by the fire. "I can have some chamomile tea brought up? Or perhaps something a little stronger? There is no need for our discussion to become unpleasant."

Anna glared. "I'm fine where I am, thanks." She didn't want to go any closer to Maria than she had to.

Maria waved a hand then seated herself in a chair. "Suit yerself."

Anna grabbed the bedpost and used it to lever herself to her feet. She held onto it to keep herself steady. "What do you want?"

Maria folded her hands in her lap and smiled. "Well, first of all, I want ye to answer some questions. I was hoping ye could tell me what this is." She reached into a pouch tied at her waist and pulled out an object which she held up for Anna to see. She went cold at the sight of it.

It was her phone.

She licked her lips. "Where...where did you get that?"

"Duncan stole it from yer room at Dun Achmore. I suspected ye were more than ye seemed and whilst everyone was distracted by the games, I sent Duncan to search yer room. Look what he found."

"It's nothing," Anna said, trying to sound nonchalant. "Just a useless trinket."

"A useless trinket? Oh, I dinna think so. My guess is that it's a communication device of some sort. But not one of this century." She tapped her lip as though thinking. "I'm guessing...the twenty-first?"

Anna felt the blood drain from her face. "I...don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, I think ye do and I can tell from yer expression that I've guessed right. Ye are a time traveler are ye not?"

Anna did not reply. In truth, she doubted she could have spoken had she wanted to. Her throat had gone dry and her heart was suddenly racing so quickly she thought she might faint. She clung more tightly to the bed post.

She had been such an idiot. Emeric had told her, had warned her from the start not to draw attention to herself. Yet she'd done that anyway, through her careless decisions and her recklessness.

"Yer silence speaks volumes, lass." Maria said. "So I was right. A time traveler... Fascinating." She leaned forward suddenly. "Tell me. Was it Irene MacAskill that brought ye here?"

Anna could barely keep her footing. Her fingertips turned white as she gripped the bedpost tighter, her knuckles standing out in stark relief against her pale skin. Maria knew. She knew about time travel and Irene MacAskill .

"No," Anna finally managed to croak out. "I've no idea what you mean."

"Really?" Maria quirked an eyebrow, reclining back into the seat and studying Anna with an intense, hawk-like gaze. The pleasantness that adorned her face earlier was now replaced with cold determination. "Lying doesnae suit ye," she said. "It only makes things more difficult."

Anna's throat was so dry she had to swallow a few times before she could speak again. "What do you want from me?"

"Ah, now we are getting to the important questions. What do I want from ye, Anna? I want dominion. I want power over time. I want finally, to destroy the Seelie Fae and their precious Order of the Osprey. And ye, Anna, are the key to giving me all three."

Anna's legs could not hold her anymore. She sank onto the end of the bed, feeling like she was drowning. She realized now why Lady Maria had reminded her of Irene MacAskill when she'd first met her even though the two women looked nothing alike.

"Oh God," she breathed, looking at Maria. "You're not human, are you?"

"No," Maria agreed with a smile. "I'm of the Unseelie Fae. Ye might have heard of us."

Oh yes, she'd heard of them. Emeric had told her what these Unseelie were—Fae who hated human kind and wanted to lord dominion over humanity. But that image didn't fit with this demure, elegant looking woman before her right now. She'd only half-believed him, struggling to accept that these Fae were not just something out of a fairy story. Now she knew the truth. They weren't a child's fairy story. They were a nightmare.

"I won't give you anything," she said, trying to make her voice steady.

"Not me directly," Maria agreed with an amiable nod. "But ye will marry my grandson and give him children and it is them I am really interested in." She leaned forward and her eyes flashed. "I dinna have the ability to manipulate time the way Irene MacAskill does. Nor does my grandson. But we both have power, as ye have seen. Combine that power with the blood of a time traveler and it becomes something different, something exceptional. Yer children will have power over time itself. And they will be my key to finally gaining dominion for my people."

Anna stared at her, aghast. The woman was crazy.

Maria smiled. "Oh dinna look so glum. Ye should be excited! After all, it's yer wedding day! I will leave ye to prepare."

With that, she swept out of the room, leaving Anna doubled over, feeling sick to her stomach.

ANNA SAT STRAIGHT-BACKED in the chair, refusing to eat. She felt like prey surrounded by predators. Why did they insist on this charade? Why did they try to pretend she was anything but a prisoner?

She was sitting at a round polished table in a circular room in one of the keep's many towers. The room was kitted out like a private dining room, with a thick rug covering the flagstone floor and intricately carved wooden paneling covering the walls. The view through the windows was spectacular, giving a panoramic view of the landscape rolling away to the horizon, but the windows were too narrow to escape through. Besides, she was several levels up with only the unforgiving ground below.

Her dining companions carried on as though nothing was amiss, as if this was just some family dinner to celebrate an auspicious occasion. They were unhinged, the lot of them.

Laird Alexander and Lady Maria sat opposite her at the table. It was set with platters of fine delicacies: various meats in gravy, tender-cooked vegetables, rich sauces and crusty breads. Her captors partook of the dishes and chatted amiably as they ate, discussing the harvest, the guard rota, the latest gossip from the royal court, anything and everything, as though completely oblivious to Anna sitting rigid and silent amongst them.

But they were not oblivious to her, no matter the act they tried to put on. Every now and then, Maria's eyes would flick to Anna, and despite her fear of the woman, she met her eyes each time, determined not to look away. She would be damned if she would show weakness in front of these snakes.

"Not eating, Anna?" Lady Maria said. She took a sip from her crystal goblet and gestured at the food with it. "Ye should try the pheasant. It's exquisite."

"Not hungry," Anna growled, glaring at the woman.

"Tut tut. Ye need to keep up yer strength. After all, ye will need it later for the consummation."

Anna glanced to the fourth member of their little party. Duncan MacDonald slumped in the chair next to Anna, looking decidedly reluctant to be there. He'd said not a word, eaten not a thing, and seemed determined to get as drunk as possible. He was obviously looking forward to this ‘wedding' about as much as she was.

"Not hungry," Anna grated. "And I'm not going to need my strength for later because this wedding is not happening. For the last time. I. Am. Not. Marrying. Him. Understand?"

Maria merely rolled her eyes as though this was all very tiresome.

Laird Alexander snorted. "Let her have her little fantasies. She'll discover the truth soon enough."

And with that, they went back to eating and chatting as though they had not a care in the world. Anna ground her teeth. The way the laird behaved it was clear he was under his mother-in-law's control. Did he know the truth? Did he know she was a Fae and not a human at all? She suspected he did.

She tried to think back to what Emeric had told her about MacDonald family politics. Maria was the mother of Alexander's wife, Duncan's mother. It was only after she had died that Maria had come to live with her son-in-law and grandson. What had Emeric said? That there were rumors Maria and her daughter did not get along. If that was true, could some of his mother's animosity towards his grandmother have rubbed off on Duncan? Could she somehow use that to her advantage?

She glanced at him, slumped in his chair and staring at the goblet in his hand. Did he know what his grandmother was? Anna wasn't sure. It was clear he was not happy about this forced marriage and he was also a reluctant participant in this farcical family dinner. He'd been kind to her during the games and she'd sort of...liked him. And yet he'd broken into her room at his grandmother's behest and stolen her phone. Could she trust him? She doubted it, but her list of allies was growing very thin indeed.

She took a tiny sip of wine. The four of them were alone but for Anna's guard who was stood to attention against one wall. After Maria's visit earlier, Anna had been given the freedom of the castle but she soon realized that this so-called freedom was just another lie. Her guard followed her wherever she went and had firmly but politely turned her aside if she'd gotten close to anywhere she wasn't supposed to go—such as the gates.

Lady Maria dabbed at her lips with an ivory napkin, then gracefully pushed away from the table. The emeralds at her throat glinted in the light. "A pleasant meal," she murmured noncommittally as she rose, her eyes sweeping over Anna with a look that might have been akin to satisfaction. "Now it is time. Duncan, Anna, we will see ye at the chapel shortly." She looked at Anna's guard. "Make sure she is there on time."

Anna's stomach flipped, her pulse suddenly hammering. She felt like a trapped animal with no way out. She looked around wildly, but there was nowhere to go.

Duncan grunted and took another swig of his drink. Laird Alexander took Lady Maria's arm, and they swept from the room, leaving Anna alone with Duncan and her guard. Duncan drained his goblet and stood. Without even looking her way, he walked out the door, weaving a little.

Anna had to take her chance. This might be the only one she got. She pushed back her chair and ran after Duncan. She caught up to him in the corridor outside and grabbed his arm, pulling him around to face her.

"Wait," she said. "I need to talk to you."

"Oh?" he said, raising an eyebrow. "Is that what ye call it? Ye will have to wait until our wedding night I'm afraid." He gave her that charming, cocky smile of his, but it seemed brittle and forced.

"Listen!" she hissed stepping close. "I need to talk to you about your grandmother." She glanced around. Her guard waited several paces down the hall, out of earshot. "I know she's forcing you into this just like me. You don't have to do this. You can refuse. We can both refuse. She can't force us."

Duncan gave a humorless laugh. "Oh? Is that right?"

"You don't have to do what she says!" Anna said. "You don't owe her anything! I know she's your grandmother but she's been lying to you! She's not even human, Duncan. She's a Fae and she's got you all dancing to her tune!"

Duncan studied her. His gaze was steady and she got the impression he wasn't as drunk as he was trying to make out. Finally, he gave her that humorless laugh again. "Do ye think I dinna know that? Aye, she's a Fae, and she is also the power in Clan MacDonald. She has been ever since my father was too weak to send her packing like my mother would have done. Now she's got her claws into him. Into all of us."

"What? You knew? Then how can you just—"

He put a finger against her lip to silence her. "Accept it, Anna. I have. Fighting only makes it harder."

"Accept it? Accept it? Are you insane? I'll never accept it! I won't do it, do you hear? I won't! "

She thought she saw a flicker of sympathy in Duncan's eyes. "What choice do ye have? Ye are alone, Anna. Ye are an outlander with no family and no friends. Nobody is coming for ye. This is yer only choice if ye want to survive."

His words were like daggers. That black tide of despair that had been washing at the edges of her consciousness threatened to rise up and swallow her.

You are alone. Nobody is coming for you.

Duncan was right. Only Emeric cared about what happened to her and he was...he was...

She was a friendless, clanless outlander with no ties to anyone or anything. The tide of despair crashed over her and she felt her throat close and her chest tighten. Alone. She was alone.

Then suddenly a racket sounded from the bailey outside, the harsh clanging of a bell. Duncan spun towards the window and Anna's guard stepped closer, drawing his sword. Anna heard the tramp of running feet and the ring of weapons. The bell continued clanging.

"Close the gates!" somebody shouted. "It's the Mackintosh! They've come!"