Page 101 of Laird of Twilight

“And your new belief in fairies,” she said, muffled against his coat. He chuckled, kissed her hair. “Oh, I forgot my bonnet again!” She left him to go gather her things.

James waited briefly, watching the clouds gather and darken. “Come ahead, love. We must go.” He turned. “Elspeth?”

She was not there, nor was she in the second cave when he looked there. “Elspeth!” His voice echoed against the walls.

Eilidh...He heard it clearly in the still air, an echo and yet not.Eilidh!

* * *

Elspeth turned, bonnet in hand, and saw them standing in the inner chamber. A man and two women, slim and tall and beautiful, watched her, standing by the entrance to the pocket mine. “Who—what—” she began.

They beckoned, all three together. Despite the darkness, she could see them easily. Their eyes were like shining jewels, their skin and garments pale and shining. She felt drawn forward. As they vanished down the ramp into the gem pocket—through the very wall—she followed.

Vaguely she realized that she was not walking on rock, but somehow drifting through the rock herself, like a wraith.

You can do this because you are fairy blood,one of them said without voice.

Who are you?She thought it only, and yet they heard.

We are your kin,they said, all in unison.

Then she knew.

Pausing, she summoned her will, made herself stop, look at them.

They stood in the jeweled cavern with her, and though it was not a large place, and she was not tall, the ceiling and walls seemed to expand. There was ample room.

One woman, flaxen-haired, had beautiful features touched with angles, almost harsh. Her eyes were the violet color of the amethysts sparkling in the walls. The man was tall, handsome, dark-haired, strangely familiar. The other woman was small, delicate, her long hair an ebony gloss, eyes sheened like silver and crystal.

“Niall,” she said, knowing this was he, her heart pounding, reminding her that she was flesh and blood. “Father.”

“Daughter, my own,” he said, reaching out. His hand was warm when she touched it. He was flesh and blood, too. “This is your mother, Riona.”

The dark-haired fairy woman stretched out her hands, and her eyes filled with tears. Elspeth felt herself enfolded in an embrace filled with love.

Curiously, she felt no fear, only a sense of wonder, of relief and perfect ease in their company. “Mother,” she said, saying the word she had never used for anyone. “Mother. And…Father.”

They smiled, and she felt genuine affection. Niall was still a young man, as if he had never aged, and his wife was inexpressibly beautiful. Then Niall gestured to the pale-haired woman with them.

“This is our queen,” he said. “Queen of the Fey in this region. There are many such queens and kings, and this part of the land is under her rule and in her thrall. We are hers.”

“Eilidh,” the queen said, holding out a hand, beringed, milky pale. Her golden braids were interwoven with gems and feathers. Her gown, cream and white, embroidered with sparkling threads, seemed to glow.

Elspeth stared, entranced by such beauty and dazzle. The queen seemed to sparkle, every bit of her, as if luminous from within. “Am I—did you steal me away?”

“We brought you here, and will take you further,” Niall answered.

“I will not go with you. I cannot,” she said, stepping backward.

Her fairy-mother lifted her hands, beckoned. “Stay with us, please, dear.”

“I will not.” She took another backward step. “I am married. I will stay with my husband. I truly love him, and I will not go with you.”

Her voice sounded odd, and all seemed strange, as if she were here, and yet not. She felt like a wraith, insubstantial, fragile. She took a breath, drew strength from determination. “I will never go with you.”

“Eilidh, please,” her father said, reaching out.

Elspeth!