Page 1 of A Little Highland Magic

Prologue

Dunvegan Castle, Isle of Skye, Scotland

Friday, January 1st, 1734

“Desperate situations call for desperate actions,” the fairy Pearl whispered to her daughter, Aria, as they emerged from the cave Pearl had used twice before to breach the veil between the human and fairy realms. Cautiously, she surveyed the area, and startled at the changes that had occurred during her absence. She and Aria had been here four years ago but had been refused help. Today, Pearl hoped for a different outcome, or she would have risked Oberon’s wrath for nothing. Aria deserved a chance at a better life.

As though sensing her distress, Aria curled her hand around her mother’s. “I’d forgotten what a glorious place the human realm is.” Aria pulled Pearl forward into a fern grove near the cave’s entrance that had not been there four years ago. The trees were taller, the landscape more refined. But the golden castle in the distance and the loch behind it looked the same: timeless and strong. Pearl’s fear was replaced with hope as she moved with her daughter down the path, over a wooden bridge, and up to the castle’s gates.

Dunvegan Castle and the clan inside were no strangers to Pearl, even though four centuries had passed since she’d last lived among the MacLeods. Her human husband and son had long since died, but their kin remained. She and Aria had risked too much to turn back now. One way or another, Pearl would find a way to leave her half-human, half-fairy daughter with the MacLeods so that she might thrive instead of suffering daily abuse from the other fairies in Fairyland.

Pearl drew a steadying breath as she stood before the massive gates, waiting for the guard to approach. She forced her lips to smile when he stood before them. “We have come to see Lady Janet MacLeod.” Lady Janet had heard Pearl and Aria’s story four years ago and had allowed them access to the laird, requesting that Aria be able to stay at Dunvegan and be raised amongst the laird’s own children.

“What nature of business do ye have with Lady Janet?” the guard asked with a furrowed brow.

“We are relatives and seek her assistance.” It was something close to the truth. “I am Pearl MacLeod, and this is Aria MacLeod.” Pearl tipped her head in her daughter’s direction.

The guard’s gaze shifted to Aria’s long white hair and ethereal features that were only slightly marred by the purple bruise on her left cheek. A physical remnant of the abuse Aria often suffered from the other fairies. The mental toll was much harder for Pearl to determine, but that last attack was what had brought them here. Aria needed to be with her father’s kind. Though the girl was only half human, Pearl’s experiences among humankind told her Aria would be better off amongst them.

The guard’s furrow deepened. “She doesn’t look like a MacLeod.”

Aria’s features were more suited to fairy kind, but she had her father’s eyes: blue as the skies on a midsummer’s day. Pearl straightened, ready to draw on her fairy magic if necessary to convince the guard to open the gate. “Nevertheless, she is. Will you allow us passage, or should we alert Lady Janet we are here ourselves?”

In the distance, a familiar dark-haired woman appeared in the doorway of the castle. She crossed the courtyard and stopped before the guard. “Is there trouble here, Edmond?”

“These women say they are relatives. They wish tae speak tae ye.”

Lady Janet’s features brightened as she recognised them from their previous visit. Pearl’s looks were unchanged, but Aria had grown into an adult over the last four years. “Let them in.” The woman signalled to the gatekeeper to open the portcullis.

“But milady . . . The laird said—”

The dark-haired woman’s features hardened. “You let me worry about the laird. Raise the gates.”

When the portcullis rose, Pearl and Aria stepped through. The woman pulled them both forward into an embrace. “’Tis happy I am to see you again, but things are no better with the laird this time than the last. His thinking is not quite right . . .”

“We had to come.” Pearl stepped out of the embrace and gestured towards Aria. “After our last attempt to leave Aria in the human realm, Oberon and the other fairies have intensified their abuse of my daughter. They are jealous of the fact that I was allowed to marry Iain Cair MacLeod, bear him a son, and then became pregnant with his daughter before being called back to Fairyland.”

Lady Janet’s features filled with sympathy as she turned to Aria. “I’m so sorry for all you have suffered, but I fear you would be no better off with the MacLeods. My husband has changed from the man I once married after he suffered a head wound in battle. It takes everything inside me to keep him from harming our own children, especially our newest infant, Keiran.”

Pearl was not about to give up. “Could you place Aria with a family in Dunvegan village, please? Anywhere is safer than Fairyland.” Pearl’s voice broke with emotion.

Lady Janet’s gaze turned to Aria and lingered on her bruised face. “If you stay in the human world, you will have to work. Are you prepared for that, Aria?”

Aria straightened. “I am not afraid of hard work.”

Lady Janet nodded. “Will you be staying with her, Pearl?”

“Nay. I must return before Oberon notices that I am gone. It is the only way to keep Aria’s absence a secret from Oberon for now.”

“Very well,” Lady Janet said. “Come with me. I must find a place for you to hide from the laird until I can either pass you off as a newly hired servant or find a place for you in the village. It will give you both a chance to say your goodbyes.”

The three of them hurried back to the open doorway and into the castle. They made it up the wide staircase and were headed towards the bedchambers on the first floor when Norman MacLeod emerged from the great hall with his men, swords drawn.

Lady Janet grabbed both women by the sleeves and turned around, only to have other men race up the staircase and block their retreat.

“Where do you think you are going, my dearest wife?”

Lady Janet’s face paled but she straightened and met the laird’s angry gaze. “These women have come to us for help. It is our Christian duty to help those in need.”