A Highlander Christmas (24 page)

“Daegan, who is—”

The woman turned on her. “I am Cailleach, the Supreme Goddess of Annwyn. You, mortal, do not belong here.”

Isobel clutched Daegan’s arm. “I am his wife.”

Cailleach laughed. “He is Prince of the Sidhe. My consort. Not a human’s mate.”

Isobel started to retort when Cailleach held up her hand, and Isobel felt her mouth frozen. “Tell your mortal to hold her tongue, or I will cut it out.”

Isobel gave a strangled whimper and Daegan whispered, “Trust me, my love.”

“Now be a good girl and leave here,” Cailleach ordered.

“Do not harm her,” Daegan barked, “or you will do battle with me.”

The goddess gave him a look of pity. “Over her?” Her gaze flickered to Isobel and back. “She is nothing. She is not even pretty. You could have any female in Annwyn.”

“I want Isobel.”

“Well, you can’t have her.” Cailleach raised her hand and sent a pulse of pain through Isobel’s body. “Back to your realm, little mortal, with no memory of my prince.”

“No!”

It was Daegan’s voice and the last thing Isobel heard before awakening in her room.

It was Christmas Eve. The ball was under way, and she was late.

Out in the grove, beneath the moonlight, Daegan fell to his knees before the goddess. He was not afraid of what Cailleach would do to him. But the fear that Isobel would not remember him was a dagger to his heart.

“Why did you take her memories of me?” he asked, his voice hoarse.

“So she wouldn’t come back.”

Cailleach circled him, the athame pointed at his throat. “You have betrayed us, Daegan. All of Annwyn will now suffer because of your need to mate with this human.”

“It is much more than a need to mate,” he said, lowering his head. “I am certain she was fated to be my own.”

“She is
fated
to marry another: a human male who will not be happy to know that his bride comes to his bed sullied by another—and a Sidhe at that.”

“No!” he cried, moving to rise from his knees, but the razor-sharp point of the athame pricked his skin. “She will not wed St. Clair.
She is mine
.”

“You think so? Because you shared the sacred ritual of lanamnas with her?”

Eyes pressed shut, Daegan remembered the scene in his chamber. The binding, which he felt around his wrist. The lovemaking that had been more than magic. He had bound Isobel to him for eternity. Theirs was not a simple handfasting, but the most sacred of all unions, for lanamnas was an eternal vow taken with a soul mate. Isobel
was
his soul mate.

“Our rituals do not govern mortals,” Cailleach sneered impatiently. “To her it was a night of pleasure. It was a dream. Your bonds, your vows have no hold over her.”

“She will honor the ritual,” Daegan growled, knowing it for the truth. “We are fated. She is my wife.”

“Not in the mortal realm.”

His fingers dug deep into the earth as he struggled to maintain his submissive posture. The cloak he wore surrounded him in blackness almost indistinguishable from the ground and the black cover of night. He must bow to the laws of his world and his people. He had done wrong in their eyes, yet it had felt right. It still felt right. He felt Isobel in his heart. With every beat, he felt her presence growing stronger and stronger.

“You have broken our laws. Before I pronounce sentence, what have you to say for yourself, Daegan, Prince of the Sidhe?”

“Only this: that the soul longs for its mate just as the body does. My body longed for Isobel’s, but not as much as my soul did. There can be no regret in that.”

There was silence. Daegan was aware of the athame wavering above him. Cailleach’s hand was unsteady, as was her breathing.

“You have paid much for her. What will she pay in return?”

His eyes blazed as he looked up at Cailleach, but he kept his voice respectful. “I would ask that she be spared such payment.”

“
Why?
She has taken from us our king. My consort. There is a price to pay Annwyn.”

“I will pay it.”

“She has blinded you with her body. Now you will suffer, and for what? One night with her?”

“Better to have one than none at all.”

Swooping down, Cailleach knelt in front of him. With the tip of the athame she lifted his chin. “Do not do this, Daegan. Do not surrender yourself for her.”

Their gazes collided. “Who better to sacrifice myself for than my soul mate?”

A crystal teardrop fell from her eyes and skated down her cheek. A shred of hope rose in his breast. “Have you never loved, Cailleach? Has your soul never yearned for another?”

She looked away, but he saw the sadness in her eyes. “Yes. But I forsook him and my love. I could not be woman, lover, and goddess. My duties as ruler came first. It is the same for you.”

“No.”

Her gaze swung back to his. “It pains me to do this, but as Supreme Goddess, I must. You bring imbalance to Annwyn. The Dark Times will come, and I cannot allow it to happen. You know what will come next?”

“Yes. I will offer you a sacrifice.”

“You will give me
adbertos
, yes, but I will choose it.”

Nodding, Daegan lowered his head until it almost touched the ground. He was at Cailleach’s feet, humbling himself. But it was for Isobel. For their love. It was right to offer
adbertos
to Cailleach. It was right to do this for Isobel.

“You have created chaos, upset the balance of our world. You have allowed darkness to creep into a place where only light should rule.”

He accepted the truth. He had done those things, but he had been helpless. The heart and soul knew what they wanted, and his wanted Isobel.

“The consequences will be far-reaching. Annywn will never be the same. You have brought sin where there was never any. Your actions will affect another. Do you realize that? Do you care?”

I will accept his actions as my own.

Bran
. Daegan looked up to see his nephew emerge from the woods. He was naked and defenseless. But his eyes, they raged. The Unseelie blood in him roiled to the surface, barely tethered. Bran had no need for weapons, not when his black blood was boiling.

“Leave us, Raven,” Cailleach ordered. “This is not your fight.”

“It is not yours, either, but you made it that way.”

“On your knees,” she spat, her eyes narrowing to angry slits. She pointed the tip of the athame to a spot on the ground. “You will pay for that insolence.”

Bran fell to his knees beside Daegan. His mismatched eyes did not betray his emotions.

Cailleach glared at Bran. “You ungrateful dog. Did I not give you what you wished for? Is Morgan not banished to the Wastelands for her crimes against your brother? Did I not give you clues to discover where he has been hidden?”

“You have.”

“Then why are you here instead of searching for Carden?”

“I made a pact with Daegan, and I will see it through.”

“And what did you barter, Raven?”

“My brother for his woman.”

“How dare you interfere in business that does not concern you?”

“He has served you well, my goddess.” Bran reminded Cailleach. “Can you not forgive him this trespass?”

“Perhaps, if he would never see the girl again. But I know, I
feel
it: He will not leave her be.”

“No,” Daegan murmured, “I will not. Even if I agreed, I could not keep my promise. It is not within my power.”

“Annwyn has no use for a king who is weakened by a mortal.”

“I accept your judgment,” Daegan answered. “I offer you an
adbertos,
Cailleach, and will abide by what you choose for this sacrifice.”

“As will I,” Bran said. “I will offer you an
adbertos
as well. With two of us offering sacrifices, you can spare the girl. Our law allows it.”

Cailleach looked momentarily surprised; then she began to circle them once more.

“So be it. Daegan, Prince of the Sidhe, you are forever banned from Annwyn. You will be cursed to live as a mortal, without your magic. Your firstborn male child will be taken from your arms so that your blood might never again rule Annwyn. You will know the pain of mortals. You will mourn. You will die. You will be forever forced to recall what you gave up for your mortal. I hope she will prove worth your sacrifice. Rise.”

Daegan got to his feet and stood to his full height, looking down into Cailleach’s face. “Go now,” she hissed, “never to return.”

His gaze turned to Bran. He felt sorrow for what he had done, but still, if he had the chance to do it all again, he would not have forsaken Isobel.

“Go,” Bran said through gritted teeth, “I will accept what she chooses for me.
Go
.”

Daegan hesitated and Bran glared at him. “I do this willingly. Go. Love your mortal. Have what I will not—a soul mate.”

Cailleach laughed, a cruel sound that did not hide the pain she kept to herself. “No, Raven, you will not have a soul mate, but you will have something else, something you could not possibly desire.”

As he walked away into the deepest part of the forest, Daegan heard Cailleach’s husky voice chanting an incantation. It was followed by a brilliant flash of white light, then the agonizing roar of Bran’s scream.

“The Legacy Curse is upon you now, Raven,” Daegan heard. “There will be no peace for you, or within you.”

Daegan closed his eyes. He would find a way to break the curse. He would repay his nephew’s sacrifice if it was the last thing he ever did.

Isobel was restless. She could not dance, because she couldn’t concentrate on keeping time. She had no desire to sing carols, or sip a cup of wassail by the Christmas tree. Her insides were in knots and she didn’t know why.

The room was stuffy, and she was hot. Gliding over to the terrace doors, she opened them and slipped outside. The night air was cold and crisp. Snow gently fell, and the skies were black except for the moon and the bright dot that was the Christmas Star.

Inhaling deeply, Isobel brought the cold air into her lungs. It soothed her, cleared her mind, and settled her jumbled nerves. Closing her eyes, she made a silent wish for a miracle that would save her from having to marry the Earl of St. Clair.

Opening her eyes, she blinked; there was something in the distance, moving through the snow. It was not the white stag she had seen so often on these grounds, but a figure of a man walking towards her.

Rubbing her hands down her chilled arms, she watched the man’s approach. He was exceptionally tall and broad. His hair was black, and he was dressed in a kilt and white cotton shirt. A thick black belt encompassed his waist, and from a loop hung a leather pouch. A triscale was embossed in the leather, and as he steadily climbed the four stairs that led to her, Isobel realized that he was the most handsome man she had ever seen.

“Isobel.”

Daegan watched in horror as Isobel cocked her head to the side and studied him. She didn’t remember him. How was he to explain that she was his wife? That he had once been immortal, but was now mortal?

“Isobel?
Mo muirnín?
”

“Daegan?” she asked slowly, almost disbelievingly.

He ran to her and lifted her up. “You remember.”

“Shouldn’t I?”

“Cailleach said she stole from you any memory of me.”

“I made a wish,” she said, looking up at the sky. “I asked for a miracle so I wouldn’t have to marry St. Clair, and then you arrived.”

“And here I am. In the flesh. Literally.”

“Come with me,” she commanded, taking his hand and pulling him behind her. “We can be alone in my room.”

Together they slipped unseen through the servants’ door at the side of the house. Quietly they climbed the stairs and entered the family’s private wing without being seen.

When they reached Isobel’s chamber she turned and kissed him. “You are a miracle—you know that?”

He smiled and lifted his hand to her cheek. He was still wearing the white scrap of fabric around his wrist. “Together forever,” he said huskily, following her gaze.
“Anam a Anam.”

“Soul to soul,” she whispered, opening the door and pulling him inside. “I love you, Daegan. You must know how much I do.”

“I am no longer a Sidhe, Isobel,” he murmured as she cupped his face in her hands. “Your great white hart will never be again.”

She looked at him quizzically, and Daegan hung his head, not knowing what ruled him, shame or the fear she would reject him. “I am mortal now.”

She rained kisses upon his cheeks before whispering, “I don’t care. It’s only you I want, Daegan. The man who makes me feel whole. The man who made love to me.”

He closed his eyes, love overpowering him. “I do not deserve you.” She laughed and kissed him. “I do not deserve the sacrifices you have made for me. But I am human, and I’m too selfish to wish I had never seen you or given my body to you. I wanted you, from that first moment in the woods when you smiled at me.”

“I enchanted the pin so you would come back to me. I used magic to entice you.”

“Do you think some spell held me enthralled?” she laughed, lying back on her bed and pulling him atop her. “It was you, Daegan. Your eyes, your voice. It wasn’t the magic in the pin that had me returning to you. But you.”