Page 27 of Enchanted

“The MacLeods will cover all the expenses,” Alastair said before she could reply, for which Keiran was grateful. He would have to thank Alastair later.

“Very well,” the solicitor said. “Then I will be in touch soon.”

Alastair rose and escorted the solicitor from the room, leaving Keiran and Rosalyn alone. Giving her time to recover from the questions the solicitor had asked, Keiran focused on the early afternoon sun as it slanted through the stained-glass window above the desk, painting the library floor in a patchwork of vibrant hues. Dust motes danced in the warm beams, and time itself seemed to slow. This space suddenly felt like a sanctuary, and he stopped trying to avoid the woman across the table from him, suddenly needing to know more about what she had admitted earlier. “Rosalyn, when you talked about your heritage, your voice tightened. Are you ashamed of being a Scot?”

As she turned, the sun caught her eyes. They weren’t simply hazel. Instead, the light danced inside them, illuminating flecks of gold that made him recall the most beautiful fairies in Fairyland. Yet it wasn’t simply her eyes that radiated beauty. A light came from within her as well, a light created from knowing defeat, suffering, struggle, and loss.

“After the death of my parents, I was taught that my Scottish heritage was something to be hidden so that others would not despise me or treat me differently. More recently, my brother warned me that to acknowledge our mother’s past would only bring me heartache.” A flash of pain darkened her eyes. “For once, my brother was right. Heartache, indeed. I am not certain anymore if I am more ashamed to be English or Scottish, and I really do not know where I belong in this world.”

“I understand.” A wave of warmth and connection washed through Keiran as he reached for Rosalyn’s hand. When she did not pull away, he wrapped his larger fingers around her smaller ones.

Diamonds were created under great pressure. The young woman before him was a diamond in the making—of that he was certain. “I have felt the same need to hide my true self from my family. That is why I am afraid to tell them about my inability to read and write. They will judge me, and treat me like the child they remember, not the man I have become in their absence.”

“What do you mean ‘child’?” she asked, her expression puzzled.

Rosalyn had asked earlier for answers about her wound and how he had healed her. Perhaps it was time to tell her the truth. “I have only just returned to my family after nine years of being away.”

She frowned. “If you were not away at school, then where were you?”

“I was kidnapped as an infant and taken to Fairyland.”

Rosalyn moved to pull her hand from his, but he held fast. “Truly, such a place does not exist.”

“I assure you it does. The fairy king adopted me as his own son and gifted me with the power to heal, mostly as a self-protective measure since I was prone to injuring myself.”

Her eyes went wide, and her other hand drifted to her abdomen. “I did not imagine . . . You did heal me.” Her voice held a sense of awe.

Keiran nodded. “A gift I was grateful to have when I came upon the ambush where you almost lost your life.”

“I am certain I died that day. And you brought me back.” She held tightly to his hand, as if he were a lifeline. “I imagine growing up in a strange place was difficult for you.”

He offered her a wry smile. “Everyone bears scars from the lives they lead. Yet every scar tells a story. Our stories proclaim that we survived. We are here at this moment, together, to either remain stuck in our pain or move ahead towards something better.”

A smile came to her lips. “I want to move ahead and be free of men controlling my life.”

Keiran nodded. “Geordie Buchannan will help you be free of the contract that binds you to another. Though we both need to heal the injured parts of ourselves by accepting them.” He met her gaze. “You are Scottish, but also English. That makes you uniquely you. And I lost fourteen years of my life when Oberon aged me. I am both child and adult in the same body, but I choose to be the adult.”

“The fairy king aged you?”

Instead of the pain the thought usually brought, Keiran felt stronger, more resilient. “He did.”

She squeezed his hand lightly. “Then I am glad of it so that you are the person before me now.” Hope shone in her eyes. “I can help you learn the things you missed.”

“And I can help you know what it means to be Scottish, and help myself in the process, for I know only what my brothers have told me about being a Scot.” At her gentle smile, Keiran felt as though a weight had been lifted from his chest.

Rosalyn released his hand with another light squeeze, then stood and moved to the bookshelf and retrieved a leather-bound book with gold lettering on the spine. “Let us not wait until tomorrow for me to start your lessons. Let us begin now.” She moved towards the door.

Keiran stood and followed her. As they left the chamber, he realised the hurts of their past had made them better equipped to face the present. He only hoped that either Oberon or her betrothed would not swoop in and destroy their tentative friendship and these moments of peace. “Do you like animals?”

Rosalyn frowned as they moved down the hallway, then down the front stairs. “If you mean wild animals who would eat or maim me, nay. If you mean smaller animals like birds or puppies, then aye.”

“Then you will like where we are going to study. Come, follow me.”