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Prologue
There were parts of Scotland that had never been fully domesticated. The Shetland Islands were one of them. The islands themselves did not even remember when they came under the banner of the lion rampant. The Shetland Islands were made up of a thousand different stories, all told in whispers, and they only responded to the gods of old.
Long ago, the islands changed hands as part of a desperate dowry, staining the wedding bed as the soil cried out for its ancestors. But as time passed, very few people remembered when they called out to the Norns—not Beira. The earth had never struggled with its identity; it knew who it belonged to.
The elves were no different.
They remembered.
It was part of their DNA, for they, too, remembered when the islands were theirs. Some took the news better than others, but no one took it harder than Princess Margaret. She was horrified that her beloved Shetland Islands, wild and bursting with magic, were part of her very own dowry. She didn't hate the Scottish king but didn't love him either. If the Shetland Islands were to come with her, she would steward them the best she could.
When she died, however, her protection lingered on…in the form of a curse that no one else knew how to break.
Centuries later, Hùisdean was the prince of his people, and that very same curse was now threatening their existence instead of protecting it. That wouldn't work for him. He set out to break the curse, no matter the personal cost.
Ever since Calum, the fae prince of Scotland and official representative for all of Scotland's magical creatures, managed to break their curse, the symptoms of the Shetland Islands’ curse worsened. It was the most challenging period of magic vulnerability that Hùisdean had ever seen. Most magic users struggled to use some of their most fundamental and ingrained powers, and the land around them was dying. Worst of all, the draugrs were out in full force, terrorizing every resident, both magical and human.
They were ancient, terrifying forces threatening all life on Shetland Islands. Hùisdean was pushed to his limits in his attempts to break the curse, and when those were exceeded, he finally made his way to Scotland to seek Calum's help. He wasn’t used to joining forces with anyone, but nothing surpassed his desire to see his people whole and healthy again.
Chapter One
Hùisdean Theodluin Aexisys was many things. He was a prince. He was an eternal student of magic. He considered himself a benevolent ruler and an overall good person, albeit with the tendency to stir the pot whenever the opportunity arose. Hùisdean was not, however, good at asking for help.
It was one of the things he hated the most in this world, second only to black pudding—it was a vile invention by the British, and no convincing could sway him to believe otherwise. The only thing pushing Hùisdean to ask for help now was the state of his country. His duties came before his ineptitudes, and he would do anything for his people.
This was how Hùisdean ended up at the University of Edinburgh, asking Emmett O'Neil for help. Hùisdean only needed to ask a few people for directions and ended up outside Emmett's current lecture. He was too antsy to wait for him in his office; Hùisdean had come from the Shetland Islands and needed to see Emmett as soon as possible. Their academic rivalry had been squashed while working together to banish Emmett's evil uncle a few weeks back. Hùisdean knew that if anyone could help, it would be Emmett and his encyclopedic knowledge.
As soon as the lecture hall cleared, Hùisdean leaned against the doorway. He waited for a few seconds before interrupting a tender moment between Emmett and Pippa, his mate. Hùisdean coughed sharply.
“Ahem? Should I come back another time?” Hùisdean smirked as the two lovers practically jumped apart. Emmett turned beet red and started to adjust his glasses while Pippa straightened her shirt and blushed deeper than Emmett. While they might have been an unlikely pair, a werewolf and a baobhan sith, Hùisdean had seen firsthand how well they worked together when battling Emmett’s uncle. Something stirred in his chest whenever he looked at them, and he shot it down before he could give it a second thought. There was no time to think about his loneliness when the health of his country and his people was on the line.
“How can I—Oh. Hùisdean. What are you doing here?”
Hùisdean took a deep breath, and his momentarily good mood again soured. He closed his eyes and sighed heavily, summoning his remaining courage to utter the words he hated most.
“I need your help. Scotland's curse isn't broken.” Hùisdean kept his eyes slightly downcast, not wanting to see the looks on Emmett’s and Pippa’s faces. It was hard enough to struggle with this at home; he didn't want to be the bearer of the bad news that their woes for Scotland and all her lands weren't yet over.
“What do you mean by that, exactly?” Emmett's voice was calm and collected, and he crossed his arms over his broad chest. Pippa made some sort of a squeaking noise and shook her head.
“Nope, I'm off the clock for this one.” Pippa tossed a loving look to Emmett. “I’ll stick to bounties. I've had enough curse-breaking for a while, but let me know if you need me to haul someone in. Good luck, Hùisdean!” Pippa kissed Emmett on the cheek and promptly marched over to Hùisdean. She shook her head with a dramatic air of formality and strolled out of the room without a care in the world.
“Is she serious?” Hùisdean's brow furrowed as he watched Pippa walk away.
“Don't watch her,” Emmett growled. Hùisdean started laughing as he turned his attention back to the lecturer.
“I forgot what it's like being around a newly mated male all the time. Lucky me.” Hùisdean clapped his hands together sarcastically. Emmett grunted in reply and started gathering his materials from the desk, shoving them into a black leather briefcase.
“She'll help if we need her to, of course,” Emmett shrugged, “but Pippa is more keen to crack skulls than curses.”
“As for now, I only need help with a curse,” Hùisdean lamented, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“Follow me to my office, and we’ll discuss more details there.” Emmett slung his briefcase strap across his shoulder, motioning for Hùisdean to follow him. They weaved through the building full of students and faculty, dodging everyone trying to get to class on time. They were nearing summer, and Hùisdean could tell from the atmosphere in the air that everyone on campus was itching for their summer holidays.
“So, about this curse…” Hùisdean started, but Emmett cut him off with a quick shake of the head while he dodged a student carrying several textbooks.
“You never know who's listening since the return of Scotland's magic was made public,” Emmett informed him as they stepped out into the sunshine. They started to cross across a great lawn dotted with students resting in the grass and on benches. Hùisdean made note of one wood fairy who was teaching a lecture underneath a great oak tree.
“I highly doubt that whoever or whatever is responsible is lurking around on the college campus that Calum runs,” Hùisdean pointed out, but Emmett only shrugged.
