Page 20 of Enchanted

Gwendolyn scooped helpings of oatmeal porridge into two bowls and passed them down to Rosalyn and Keiran. The cream followed.

Keiran dressed his oats and scooped them up quickly. Even so, he savoured the sweetness of the cream and the nutty flavour of the oats. Rosalyn brought the spoon to her lips, tasting the porridge tentatively.

Keiran frowned. “Have you never had oats before?”

She shook her head. “My breakfast usually consisted of toast and jam with a spot of tea.”

“Eat the oats,” Orrick advised. “You’ll need something more substantial to keep you warm as the springtime air holds a chill here in Scotland.”

At Keiran’s nod, she took another bite. “They are quite tasty.”

Gwendolyn smiled. “Break your fast, then Alastair is planning to take you, Keiran, to Knock Castle to start your training as our estate manager. The castle is turning into a ruin, but perhaps some attention from you can salvage it for the next generation of MacLeods.”

“We cannot,” Keiran replied. “There is something more urgent that must be attended to.”

Alastair pushed his bowl of porridge aside. “Of what do you speak?”

“Mother warned me that two Englishmen are near Dunvegan. They seek Rosalyn.”

Alastair tossed a look at his brothers. “Then it is up to us to find them first.” Alastair, Tormod, Orrick, and Graeme stood but Keiran waved them back to their seats.

“There is more,” he said, his fingers tightening on his spoon. “I fear it is only a matter of time before Oberon returns to challenge us.”

Tormod frowned and leaned forward. “How could you know this?”

“Mother felt his presence.”

The colour drained from Aria’s already pale face. “I felt that, too, but did not want to believe it was true.”

“How can this be?” Gwendolyn asked. “You destroyed him.”

“Fairy magic destroyed his body but now we know it did not destroy his essence. It would take time for him to regenerate.”

“How long?” Alastair asked.

Aria shrugged. “It depends on the resources available to him. A few days, weeks, months. We cannot be certain.”

Alastair’s lips set in a grim line. “Then we had best take care of the Englishmen quickly so we can turn our attention to Oberon.”

Gwendolyn left her seat and moved to a chest of drawers against the wall. Opening a drawer, she withdrew something before returning to the table where she held out an iron bracelet to Rosalyn. “Take this and wear it always. It will protect you from fairy magic.”

Rosalyn accepted the gift with a frown. “Is this necessary? How much power can one fairy possess?”

“Aye, you must wear the bracelet.” Keiran took it from her and secured it around her right wrist before pulling back his sleeve to reveal his own band clamped tight around his wrist. “We all wear them because the last time we went up against Oberon, he almost took the lives of all the MacLeods and everyone living within these castle walls.”

Rosalyn’s other hand came up to wrap around the simple iron adornment. “This will stop him from touching anyone not fae?”

“It will not stop him, but it will help minimise the control he will have over you. It will protect you from a personal assault from anyone else in the fairy realm who is not as strong as Oberon,” Keiran assured her, though his words did not ease the concern that tightened her features. He didn’t blame her. The fairy realm was difficult for most humans to understand if they had not had interactions with those beings. The two men who his mother claimed were after her were no doubt a more urgent threat. Turning to Alastair he said, “We should assemble a search party and find the Englishmen while the information we attained from the Nicolson clan about where the English were stationed is still valid.”

“My thought exactly. Tormod, Orrick, Graeme, Aria? Would you like to join Keiran and myself?”

Tormod nodded.

“Aria and I should hold back and keep watch over the castle’s defences,” Orrick said as he and Aria stood.

“Very well,” Alastair agreed. “We do not know what we are up against yet.”

Gwendolyn rose and came to stand beside Rosalyn. “I will watch over Rosalyn,” she said with a smile. “Besides, our seamstress has discovered a few lengths of fabric in a chest. I asked her to measure you for two new gowns.”