Page 10 of A Little Highland Magic

She forced the thought aside and focused on something else Alastair had said. “What did you mean when you said the flag was safer than it had ever been? It does not look safe to me, exposed as it is for all to see.”

Alastair’s anger dissipated, replaced with an amused smile. He held out his hand to Aria. “Come with me. I have something to show you.”

Aria’s gaze focused on his outstretched hand then shifted back to Graeme. “What about guarding the flag?”

“I will remain here,” Graeme offered. “Even though I doubt the MacDonalds will return tonight.”

With a nod, Aria lifted her hand and placed it inside Alastair’s.

His hand was warm and strong and confident as he curled his fingers around hers. “As a member of this family, it is time you learned one of our secrets.”

She cast a curious glance back at Graeme as they departed the chamber. His face revealed nothing except its usual gravity as he took up his position in front of the Fairy Flag.

Alastair led her down the staircase. Once they were on the ground floor, he released her hand to grip a lantern before waving her through the doorway and outside into the cool night air. “Where are we headed?”

They walked across the front courtyard until they stopped before the old keep. He opened the door and gave her a mysterious wink. “All will be revealed in a moment.”

He held the lantern high, creating pockets of light in the darkness, as they climbed the stairway to the second-floor drawing room. Alastair and members of his clan had started restoring the structure his father had let fall to ruin. A roof had been installed over the past several weeks and the debris that used to exist there had been cleared, leaving the drawing room empty. Their footsteps echoed in the silence as they made their way towards a wall. Alastair stopped before the panelling and handed her the lantern. He slid his hand over the moulding and Aria heard a soft click before the panelling popped free of the rest of the woodwork. Alastair gripped the edge and swung the door open.

“A secret passageway?” Aria blinked, searching the gaping darkness ahead of her. She was not afraid to enter the secret passageway along with Alastair because deep inside she trusted her kin in a way she never had the other fairies. Her only hesitation was from the memory of when Oberon had told her he had something to show her that had ended with her imprisoned in a dark cell for a week before he came to release her.

Her imprisonment had been a punishment for when he had overhead her talking with another fairy about finding and freeing her mother from the shadow realm. Oberon had threatened to send Aria there as well but had opted for a week in total darkness instead to give her a feel for what her mother endured daily. The punishment had worked. Never again did she talk with anyone else, except Graeme today, about saving Keiran and unbeknownst to him, also her mother and a half-sister she had never spoken about before.

At Aria’s pause in the doorway, Alastair came beside her and placed a hand on her shoulder. “What is it, Aria? We do not have to do this if you do not want to.”

Aria shook her head, breaking the spell the darkness had cast over her. “Nay. I want to go. I simply need to let go of the past and trust that you will not treat me like the fairies did.”

“Trust takes years to build, a moment to break, and a lifetime to repair,” Alastair said. “Your MacLeod family understands and will be ever beside you.”

A soft smile came to her lips. “Thank you, Alastair. That means more than you know.” She held the lantern up and stepped forward. “Shall we?”

They walked along the secret passageway for several minutes until Alastair stopped her with a hand on her arm. “Here. We will find what we are looking for right here.”

In the golden light, Aria looked around seeing nothing but the stone walls and floor. He ran his hands over the rough-cut rock until he pressed the centre of a stone at the top of the wall, another at the bottom, and one about waist high when a click sounded and a section of the wall suddenly opened like a door, revealing a secret chamber behind it.

Alastair turned to her with a smile. “After you.” He waved her inside.

She entered the small chamber that was more of an alcove than a room, but the two of them could stand together inside the space comfortably. Once inside, Alastair once again ran his hands over the rough-cut rocks inside the chamber, pressing a series of stones from left to right. This time a section of the wall that was two hand widths, by two hand widths separated from the other stones to reveal a gaping hole. Alastair reached inside and removed a small wooden box. He released the latch on the lid and opened it, turning it towards her to show her the contents.

Aria gasped. “It cannot be.” She reached into the box and withdrew a length of faded yellow silk fabric with tell-tale red “elf dots” upon it along with several small golden crosses. “The Fairy Flag?”

Alastair nodded. “The original flag your mother wrapped your brother, Ian Ciar MacLeod, in to calm him four centuries ago. The flag is perfectly safe within the walls of Dunvegan where no one can harm it, steal it, or use it against our clan.”

Aria frowned. “But if this is the original flag, then what is hanging in the drawing room of the new keep?”

“A perfect replica that our laundress created after the original Fairy Flag was returned to us from the MacDonalds.”

Aria marvelled at how every detail had been painstakingly recreated. “Why have two flags? If they are identical, will you not get them confused?”

“I thought about that and had the laundress add one more “elf dot” on the copy in the lower right corner.” Alastair pointed to an empty space on the true Fairy Flag where the copy would have another red dot. “Only my brothers and sister and their spouses know about the two flags and the way to tell them apart. I wanted you to know our secret as well since you are kin.”

Aria’s frown increased. “Why keep the other flag in the drawing room under such heavy guard if it is only a copy?”

Alastair’s lips pulled up in a smile. “What better way to fool the enemy than to protect what does not need to be protected? That way our enemies will never come looking for the real flag and our family’s most prized treasure is safe.”

“How long has the flag been hidden here?” Aria asked, savouring the feel of the ancient silk against her fingers as she carefully folded the precious artifact.

“Marcus brought back the counterfeit Fairy Flag when he returned a few weeks ago. That is when Graeme and I switched the original flag for the copy. Marcus said the replica flag did not bring him the luck he had hoped for on his seafaring adventures.”