Page 40 of Loched in Love

“If you ever begin to feel out of sorts or uncomfortable, you’ve only to say so and we’ll leave. We aren’t staying long, if I can help it.” He says the last bit under his breath, and I get the firm impression that we definitely aren’t staying.

“Okay,” I reply, unsure of how to take this serious side of him I’ve not seen yet.

“Right then. Take my arm and we’ll be on our way. I’ll have to use magic to get us there,” he says, smiling warmly now, his usual affable self.

I loop my arm under his careful not to jostle the coffee cup I managed to find to hold his key and hug his big forearm to me. “I’m ready.”

“Aperire,” he says, his voice cracking like thunder.

One moment I’m staring at a big lake, the next my mouth drops open at the garden oasis in front of me.

The whole place is shades of terracotta. I marvel at the mosaic tile that seems to stretch lazily around the garden that we stand inside in bold colors of reds, yellows, and blues, and let Lachlan’s arm go when he moves away. The sun pours down, lavishly brightening the area and invoking a sense of cheerfulness and relaxation.

I watch as he props the luggage up and glances around the place as if reacquainting himself while I catch my bearings.

Magic really is real. And he just magicked us here somehow.

“Alright lass?” he asks.

I nod and take in my surroundings.

The large garden looks like something out of a history book, a villa painted in different colors of reddish-brown clay with lithe cypress trees that sit still as if waiting for a soft breeze. Big marble columns are covered with intricate carvings and green ivy that twists and shapes itself around the posts, all painted in colors. Shrubs line what looks to be a courtyard with a big fountain at its center shaped like a woman holding a great sword above her. The Lady of the Lake.

“Here, hand me your coat,” he says, and starts to help me out of it.

As soon as he starts to peel it away from my shoulders, I realize how warm and balmy the air feels in contrast to Dozmary Pool where we just left, and how stifling my coat was beginning to be. He tucks it over my luggage, and then lays both bags on the ground before sliding them under a shrubbery near the base of the fountain.

After taking my hand in his, he tugs me to his side. “I’ve got to get something I left here a long time ago, and then we’ll go see if Vivian is home,” he whispers in my ear.

“Okay,” I whisper back, unsure of what else there is to say.

Prickles of alarm crawl along my arms as we tiptoe under an archway that leads inside the villa. The alcove unfolds into a large sitting room with large carved seats, benches, and a huge sunken table molded from the same clay as the floor. Tiny bronze sconces, the same I noticed outside, light up the room, but their illumination is dim, making soft shadows and muted tones dance along the walls.

The flooring here is made up of big square blocks, and it’s obvious the room is used as a gathering area with all the seating.

We pass through another doorframe, and the soft sound of lapping water greets my ears.

“Come on,” he says, and deeper into the villa we go.

We round a corner and come to an inner bathhouse this time. Stone pillars dot the room around a rectangular shaped pool of water that seems to glow a deep blue.

“What are you doing?” I ask, when he pulls away to kneel down at the edge of the pool.

But he doesn’t answer. Instead, a green light spreads from his gaze as he holds his hand out across the water, and I watch in stupefaction as the water churns and bubbles break the surface. A moment later, a chest like something a pirate would keep treasure in comes into view, floating up out of the water and then down to the floor by Lachlan’s power.

Lead weight drops into my gut and fear has my eyes going wide as I realize the Lady of the Lake probably isn’t going to like him taking things, even if they’re not hers.

“Here, take a look,” he says, and flips open the lid.

“This is yours?”

“Aye, open it.” He tugs me down beside him in front of the chest, as if unconcerned with being caught, and lifts a dark colored blanket to show me its contents.

I find a large leather pouch, a silvery colored shirt, and a huge black piece of coral inside, as Lachlan moves to sit down on the smooth floor at my side.

I open the leather pouch, finding the leather taut with disuse. It crackles and creaks as I manage to break it open, and find a handful of smooth yellow coins.

“What are these?” I ask, holding up one to the faint light.