Some Enchanted Dream: A Time Travel Adventure (Seasons of Enchantment Book 2) (26 page)

The fish swirled and turned in the green gazing pool.

And the fairy maid moved closer, her eyes intent upon Tara as if she feared Tara would disappear suddenly and escape her enchantment. "Tara, Queen of the Bright and Shining Starling Mountain Clan, you must help me find their dark bower and destroy their elixir before my bright ones are all diminished and darkness covers the land."

"Artemisia," Riley's voice intruded from nearby. It was startling because his voice was always so fluid and soft, but this time, it was razor sharp with warning. "Stop seeking her aid. Tara is too  young, and untrained in the art of war. Speak to me, Lady of the Green, share your sad secrets with me, not my little sister."

Tara awakened to find Adrian still curled beside her in their wonderful new bed.

The southern light was filtered by the new sheer lace curtains that diffused the harsh sun and bathed the room in serene light.

"Good morning, my love." Adrian's lips pressed against her ear, and his arousal was pressed hard against her back. "Shall we dance once more before we leave our cocoon of silk?"

She turned in his arms so she was lying on her back. Tara smiled up at him. He had that lazy, sensual grin. His chin was shadowed with new growth, making him appear dangerous, like a highwayman lurking in the shadows.

The thought excited her. She reached beneath the covers and took hold of his hard length. "Stand and deliver."

"Aren't you the saucy wench?" he teased, and reached beneath her to pinch her bottom.

"I know what I want, Captain Midnight." Tara tugged at his cock, her eagerness apparent.

Adrian pounced on her, his legs splayed over her thighs, his hands on either side of her shoulders to support his weight. With a mischievous glint in his eye, his head dipped and his teeth circled her nipple and tugged playfully. And then with a quick movement, he put his knees between her legs and thrust her thighs open.

"Oh," Tara was taken aback, delighted, but a little startled by his swift movement. "In a hurry, my lord? Is there somewhere else you have to be in the next hour?"

"No, darlin', we've all the time in the world. And I intend to take my leisure with you." 

Later that morning, Tara watched Riley as she stirred cream into her coffee. She wondered again at his words to her that day and the power within them;
Tara, Awaken.

Riley had performed magic. His words and that simple act of blowing upon her meant much more than she realized when it occurred. His spell had stirred something within her. She felt as if she were emerging from a long, wearisome dream.

She was awakening to her talents. And she was also being sought in her dreams by another fairy woman. The fairy woman was stranded here, trapped in the land of mortals, and was desperately seeking the aid of others of her kind to be freed of her bonds. If her dream this morning were anywhere near the truth, then Riley had also been speaking with her.

Adrian was finishing the last of his pancakes provided by her brothers. Mick and Riley came across the hall each morning to share the breakfast they provided for the family.

"And how is the giant faring this mornin'," Mick was the one to ask.

Tara glanced from Riley to Mick, and realized he'd been addressing Riley on the question of Dan's well being. "What are you talking about? Was Dan hurt last night?"

"He was set upon by thieves, dear sister," Mick answered, giving Riley and Adrian a pointed look. "Came home too late last night. Or was it too early this fair morn'? And met with footpads. Has a nasty gash on his face and a bump on his head, does Dan."

"Why didn't you wake me?" She looked at Adrian. "Did you know of this?"

"Yes, my sweet," Adrian spoke in a soothing tone. "I knew of it, but he is not seriously injured according to Riley, so I didn't think it necessary to disturb your sleep."

Or that long, slow fuck you enjoyed this morning
, she thought, but didn't say aloud.

"He'll be fine, sister," Riley added. He sipped his mug of fresh milk with relish, as if it were the most delectable ambrosia. "I gave him a potion and sent him off to bed."

Again, Tara was struck by the way Riley savored his cup of milk each morning. She recalled the legends about leaving fairies a dish of milk as an offering, or of fresh curds and whey. Apparently there was some basis for the Irish ritual of offering fresh milk to the Fey on the night of the full moon, and on Beltane or Midsummer Eve.

She surveyed the three faces of the men gathered about the table who seemed devoted to keeping troubling news from her. Did they honestly believe, as Riley had said in that dream, that she was 'too young' to be of assistance?  Setting her china cup down on the saucer so as not to mar the lovely mahogany finish of their new table, she asked, "so, who is going to tell me about Artemisia? Who is she, and why is she invading my dreams?"

The brothers glanced at one another, and then looked at Tara as if she had caught them sneaking off to a brothel.

"I have no idea, my pet." Adrian's innocence made him unusually cheerful, as if he had somehow dodged a lightning bolt, as Mick might have put it.

Mick made a face. His look was full of distaste. "The renegade is not our concern."

"I beg to differ," Riley countered, an unusual situation as he typically deferred to their eldest brother's wisdom. "Artemisia's personal circumstances may not be our concern, but the dark ones with their poison should be the concern of every Fey of the Bright and Shining Starling Clans. Their plot threatens mortals. And if they succeed, it will halt man's progress and send humans into another Dark Age. As we are allied with humans, this plot will affect us."

"What are you saying?" Adrian demanded, leaving his reverence for Mick and Riley far behind as he rose from the table to challenge them. "How can you not be concerned about this?"

"Aye," Mick retorted, his anger making his countenance grow dark and fearsome. "We should involve ourselves in war, the pair of us, with a wee Fey toddler in tow?"

Riley's eyes darted to Tara, and Adrian followed his lead. Mick's words were infuriating.

"I'm not a child, damn it!" Tara's face flamed and her blood boiled beneath her skin. "Really, Mick, what the hell kind of insult is that?"

Adrian did not speak. He paled as if he feared Mick would suddenly turn into a demon and slay them all. Mick's skin was blue, and his eyes were dark, roiling seas of cobalt. It was a terrible sight when contrasted by his silvery white hair.

"You are as a babe, barely cognizant of your true powers. A toddler, aye, or a young adolescent at best. Had you been raised with us, you would be much farther along in your abilities. As the only surviving female in our mound after the last war with the dark ones, it is our duty to protect you as your descendants will secure the future of our family line."

"That is, if she's able to conceive and carry a babe to full term," Riley added.

A hard slap across the face could not be more startling. Tara blinked, and touched her heart, fearing it had stopped dead with this abrupt news.

Adrian sat again, and took her hand. He, too, seemed stunned and refrained from speaking. His jaw was set, his lips hard and firm, and his hand was nearly crushing hers.

"When were you going to drop this bit of news on me?" She turned accusing eyes at Riley. "I thought you said I would be fine. You said it was the strenuous energy expelled at the time jump that caused me to lose the baby." Tears rose up to sting her eyes.

"I hope it is the reason. I cannot be sure, as so many of the females in our line have struggled to bring a child to full term. I did not wish to trouble you with the worry about conceiving again in the future in your present state of mind."

Not being able to have a child was a serious concern; for her, and for Adrian.

Adrian's smoky eyes pinned Riley with rancor. "You have kept this  from us? Why? Having children is our private concern, mine and Tara's, not yours."

"It's everyone's concern at this table," Mick intruded in a thunderous voice. "Riley, you may as well tell them the whole. There is no wishing for a better outcome at this point."

Riley's eyes darted about the room as he carefully avoided meeting Tara's blurring gaze. "Sister, the absence of females in our line, those of the Urgacht Stone Circle branch of the Bright and Shining Starling Mountain Clans, has brought us into a situation of near extinction. So many died in the wars. It was a blessing as well as a curse that you were hidden from us and our enemies for so long."

He sipped the last of his beloved milk and set the cup aside. At last, his eyes found Tara's and she could see the deep sorrow in them. Angry she might be at him for allowing her to believe another babe would come easily, but she realized this went much farther than just her feelings about being able to have children.

"In ancient times when the world was new, our grandmother, our mother and our aunts were prolific in childbearing and our clan thrived," Riley continued. "This is not so with successive generations. Our pairings have had difficulty conceiving at all. Even fey couples who did conceive, the mothers were not always able to bring the babe to term. This failure to produce future generations is believed to be a weakness in the royal lineage. Thus, we tried to circumvent the problem by having our females mate with humans in the hope of strengthening our lines."

"And how is that little ploy working out for you?" Tara's mouth was far ahead of her brain. She knew she was being irreverent, as both men were her elders by several centuries, but her heart was involved in this issue. Her heart was close to breaking. And perhaps her marriage.

"So, that is the reason," Adrian intruded upon the conversation at last in a thoughtful tone that was far less emotional than Tara's had been. "That is the basis for the legend I learned as a boy, that at certain seasons of the year Fairy Queens leave their mountain lairs to seek mortal lovers, and sometimes they kidnap them and take them to the fairy realms?"

"Aye, part of it." Mick conceded. "There is also the call of the heart, as many of our females fall in love with their consorts. They find your kind
exotic
and
enthralling
." He said the last with derision. "A fact I find bewildering as your kind cannot hope to compete with the fey male's alluring charms."

Tara smiled. Mick was lovely, almost angelic in appearance when he wasn't angry. He was exotic and alluring from a human standpoint. Social historians liked to claim that people were sexually attracted to those most like themselves, be it the same race, nationality or religion, but sometimes people were tempted by something different.

"So, you've never fallen for a human woman?" Adrian's question was serious, and it took Tara off guard. She thought he'd be more concerned with the prospect of not obtaining an heir through her instead of Mick's sexual proclivities.

"I find human women rather bland and boring. And they weep too much. They are so sensitive and fragile. I prefer a hearty fey lass."

"As do I." Adrian squeezed Tara's hand firmly. "As do I, Mick."

"And here we were discussing poison," Tara reminded the men with annoyance. "And some dark plot to harm mankind." She looked at each one of them with severity before continuing, "you men really do think of only one thing most of the time, don't you?"

"It is a necessary distraction," Riley countered. "It is in our nature, as it is in all creatures of the earth--the need to ensure the survival of the species."

"If one of you chose to mate with a female, wouldn't it solve the problem?" Tara found their limited reasoning, their willingness to relegate all females to being breeding factories, demeaning. Then again, Mick and Riley were of another age, ancient in comparison to her.

"It is possible, but difficult. A human female would have a hard time carrying a half fey child to full term. Our seed is potent, and the child's magical inclinations, even in the womb, might prove fatal to a human mother who carries that child."

Riley's explanation brought silence to the table.

"A few have tried," he continued. "There have been very few live births with a fey male-human female bonding. Mostly they are male children, which does not help our cause."

"And so, the continued survival of our illustrious lineage lies with a child." Mick looked at Tara as he spoke. "An emotionally charged adolescent fey who is unschooled in our ways."

Tara's face grew hot. "I am not a child, or an exasperating teenage girl." It was difficult enough being with humans in a time period where men treated the opposite sex like children. It was beyond insulting to have her fey brother consider her a child needing to be managed.

"
Indeed
?" Mick's arched white brow's lowered into a dangerous frown. "I was born when King Alaric of the Visigoths was busy driving the Romans from Hadrian's Wall in Briton. You were born in what humans refer to as the dark ages, just a few years after the Vikings invaded the northern shores of Ireland. The Darkling Fey and the northern elves helped the Norse conquer the northern clans. We struggled alongside mortals to push the Vikings and their enchanted benefactors from our shores. That is also the time when you were abducted."

She looked at Adrian, who was pointedly examining his cup as if it were the most fascinating china pattern he had ever seen. Apparently he was not about to interfere in this debate. Taking a few deep breaths, Tara rose and walked to the window to gaze out at the city below the hill. "So, I'm roughly, what, eleven centuries in age? And you are an adolescent of sixteen centuries?"

"You are nine hundred and ninety six years old, if we go by human chronology. I'm using 1798 as an end date in my calculations. I've not traveled through time before this, and you've jumped from the dark ages into the late twentieth century as a fey lass of merely 4
years
. Jumping through time is not a mathematically correct way to calculate your true age."

It was beyond her, this useless arguing over how old they both were. Referencing centuries and time jumps just blurred the notion all the more. A tactic Tara suspected Mick was using to advantage to confuse her and drive home his point of being much older than she was. "So, has mom given you the keys to the car yet? Or do you still skateboard everywhere you go?"