Page 29 of First Light

The crest at the end of the hall was a giant gold shield with two brilliant unicorns rearing, their horns touching as a purple thistle grew between them.

A throne sat under the shield where a dour man sat with a simple gold circlet banded around his forehead, and to his right…

Carys couldn’t stop her smile. “Lachlan.”

She felt her heart leap in her chest.

He was wearing a gold circlet the same as his father’s, his long hair flowing over his shoulders, longer than it had been when he left her. Their eyes met and he stood, his jaw falling open though no words came from his mouth.

Carys’s heart raced, and she let out something between a laugh and a cry.

He was alive.

She blinked back tears. Carys had almost been afraid she’d imagined him, that he’d been a dream she had conjured from loneliness and grief. But he was there, the same beautiful green eyes. The same soft smile. He was staring at her, and his eyes were full of love.

Whispered voices grew in the hall, dozens of voices whispering in Gaelic as more and more people turned to her and Duncan.

A young woman with long braided hair sitting beside Lachlan turned, looked at Carys, and cried out, a hand going to her mouth to cover the sound. Her dark eyes went wide, and she shook her head back and forth.

An older woman with silver-blond braids sat on the king’s left side, wearing a crown set with purple and green stones. She rose to her feet, and her head cocked to the side as she stared at Carys. She was the first person who spoke, and it was in a gentle English accent.

“Seren? Gods alive, is it really you?”

CHAPTER EIGHT

The hall behind them erupted in voices speaking English and Gaelic as Lachlan rushed toward them, grabbing Carys by the arm and shoving Duncan through the archway and toward a passage to the right.

“Lord Lachlan!” the guards shouted at them. “Sir!”

“No!” He threw up a hand and kept his face on the corridor in front of them. “Leave us.”

Moments later, they were in a long corridor with heavy purple curtains covering the archways, a rich brown carpet under their feet worked with silver thread, and gold-framed portraits lining the walls.

Carys’s heart was racing when Lachlan finally turned to her and threw his arms around her.

“You’re here.” His arms were like a vise. “Oh gods, you’re here.” He took her face between his hands and planted a desperate kiss on Carys’s lips.

She soaked it up like a tree dying for water. Her arms came around him, her breasts pressed to his chest, and their lips met in a desperate reunion. Lachlan kissed her over and over, like a man starving, his arms binding Carys to his body as she melted into his chest.

Duncan cleared his throat. “I’ll just…”

“No!” Lachlan pulled away, still keeping Carys locked in his arms. “You stay.” He turned back to Carys and swallowed hard. “You’re here. How are you here?” He couldn’t stop looking at her. “Gods alive, Carys, how are you here?”

“What are you talking about?” She started to cry. “You disappeared. I wasn’t even sure you were alive until I saw you a minute ago. You disappeared without a word or a note or anything, and I knew that wasn’t like you. I knew something was wrong.”

“I didn’t want to go. Trust me.” He kissed her forehead, her cheeks, her eyes. “I never wanted to leave you. I was walking in the forest, and I strayed too close to a fae gate. They took me and?—”

“Again…” Duncan tried to speak. “This is private and I’ll just?—”

“What were you thinking?” Lachlan wheeled on his brother. “You know the danger of bringing her here!”

“You didn’t leave me much choice, did you?” Duncan stalked toward Lachlan. “The way you romanced her, ye daft idiot. What was I supposed to do when she comes knocking on my door and threatening to go to the police with a passport that you know was forged withmylikeness on it?”

Lachlan shoved Carys behind his back and stood between her and Duncan. “Don’t blame this on Carys. Don’t you dare blame her.”

Duncan jabbed a finger in Lachlan’s chest. “I’m not blaming her, I’m blamingyou.”

The brothers fell into yelling at each other in a confusing mix of Gaelic and English, Lachlan speaking more in the Scottish tongue and Duncan speaking more words that Carys recognized but made no sense nonetheless.