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  This was a different story altogether. Fergus wanted to slink away into the woods. Could Athol be right, and the King come to talk to him as Angus’s representative? Fergus’s fingers tightened on Hazel’s hand until she squirmed. He would have let go if she hadn’t adjusted her grip to take hold of him again.

  Fergus had no time to realize what that meant. The King surveyed the party until he spotted Athol and Fergus standing together. He murmured something to his lady, who drifted away with the other attendants. The King moved at an easy pace through the crowd. He smiled and nodded right and left until he came to stand right in front of Athol and Fergus.

  He gave Athol a curt nod. “Captain Menzies.”

  Athol closed his eyes and bowed. “Yer Majesty.”

  The King extended his hand to Fergus. “Do I ha’e the honor o’ meetin’ our esteemed friend from the Urlus?”

  Fergus didn’t dare touch that hand. He bowed low, too. “The honor’s all mine, Yer Majesty. I assure ye, I had no intention o’ presuming on Yer Royal hospitality. I simply…”

  The King interrupted him with a laugh. “You dinnae ha’e tae explain, and ye can call me James. None o’ the others kenned I was comin’, either. I heard aboot your brother ascendin’ the Phoenix Throne, and word reached me one o’ ye was hangin’ aboot. So I decided tae come alaing and extend ye my kind regards tae take back tae yer brother and the rest o’ yer family.”

  Fergus kept his head bent. “Yer Majesty is too kind. I’m sure Angus would say the same if he was ’ere himself.”

  “But Angus wouldnae be ’ere himself, would he now? No, he wouldnae,” the King replied. “Ye’re the one we want, no him.” He turned to Hazel and took her free hand. “And who is yer companion, may I ask?”

  “’Azel Green,” Fergus stammered, “of….”

  “Ah, yes,” the King mused. “I heard all aboot it. You’re the charmin’ damsel we ha’e tae thank fer dealin’ tae those rotten hellions as tried tae rob yer brother o’ the Throne. Am I right? Enchanted, me lass. I’m James Stewart, and how are ye likin’ the party so far?”

  Hazel opened her mouth and closed it again, but no sound came out. Fergus came to her rescue. “Excuse me, Yer Majesty. This is her first time tae the mound. She… weel, the fact is she comes from a strange country. She ne’er knew she was Faery until this very night. Ye mun’ understand she’s had a rough time o’ it.”

  The King’s eyes flew open. He looked back and forth between the two young people. “Ye ne’er! Is it so? My apologies, then, lass. Ye mun’ make up fer it now, I’ll venture.”

  Hazel cast a startled glance at Fergus. She couldn’t cope with this, so Fergus answered for her. “Thank ye most kindly, Yer Majesty.”

  “We’ll no talk business now, lad,” he told Fergus. “We’ll no disturb all this pleasantness wi’ any such, but ye mun’ speak tae me afore ye leave tonight. Is that a bargain?”

  Fergus bowed. “I serve Yer Majesty’s wish.”

  “No a bit o’ it, lad,” the King returned. “We ha’e a speck o’ bother that concerns us both—the Urlus and the Faery, I mean. Ye’re the ainly one I can trust tae bear a message tae yer brother aboot this, or I’d ne’er trouble ye at a time like this. Ne’er ye mind that now. Enjoy yerselves for tonight, and we’ll tend tae other matters in their own time. Will that suit ye, and dinnae tell me ye serve Yer Majesty’s wish.” He finished with a snort.

  Fergus’s heart pounded. He couldn’t enjoy the King’s joke. Athol was right. The King wanted to discuss matters concerning both realms with him, to carry a message home to Angus. What could be so important as to bring out the Royal House of Faery to a humble country party like this?

  He thought fast, and this time, he didn’t bow. The King wanted to treat him as something approaching an equal. That thought alone stunned Fergus out of his shoes. He locked his gaze on the King, whose eyes twinkled above his trimmed beard. “Aye, Yer Majesty. That’d suit me fine.”

  That answer pleased the King no end. He struggled to keep his smile under control. “Perfect. Now, if ye two dinnae mind, I think I see a slice o’ that roast mutton wi’ me name on it.”

  He turned on his heel and headed for his Queen.

  Chapter 3

  Hazel watched the King disappear into the crowd. Everyone wanted to bow and offer homage to the King. Fergus, Hazel, and Athol faded into the background, forgotten.

  Athol turned to Fergus. “What did I tell ye? Ye’re on your way up, lad.”

  “I dinnae want tae be on me way up,” Fergus murmured. “I ainly wish tae ken what bother he speaks on. It mun’ be summat serious tae both our Clans if he came out ’ere tae tell us aboot it.”

  “Aye,” Athol replied. “Ye can wager on that. Now come alaing, ye two. Ye’ve had naught tae eat nor drink since ye walked down that hill. I’ll call out the Watch tae break a path through that crowd tae see ye’re takin’ care o’.”

  Fergus shook his head. “Ye go on, mon. I’ll catch ye up later.”

  Athol started away. “Ye’ll live tae regret that. I can see ten Watchmen in that mob. Those hounds’ll eat all the cake afore ye get anywhere near’t.”

  He walked off toward the food and left Fergus and Hazel standing there stunned. Fergus passed his hand across his forehead. “Phew! I’m a mess!”

  Hazel broke out of her trance and rounded on him. “What in the world was that all about?”

  “I mun’ go and talk tae him,” Fergus murmured. “I dinnae ken….”

  “What does he want with you?” Hazel asked.

  “Ye heard him,” Fergus replied. “He needs a mon tae carry a message tae Angus. He couldnae send one o’ his own people.

  Hazel swallowed hard. “How did you know about me? How did you know I was…?”

  “Eh?” he asked. “That? Why, lass, any mon could see it on ye the moment ye turned up in that castle.”

  Hazel tried to shake this heavy confusion out of her head, but she couldn’t clear her thoughts. “What about you? How did you know you were…one of them?” She waved at the crowd all around her, but she couldn’t say that word.

  “Faery, ye mean?”

  “Yes,” she replied. “When did you find out you were…one of them?”

  “I’ve kenned that since I was a wee lad clingin’ tae me auld mother’s skirts,” he told her.

  “Tell me,” she urged. “Tell me the first time you knew.”

  “I remember I mun’ ha’e been aboot four seasons auld, and I happened tae step out intae me faither’s barnyard. I stumbled around behind the water trough and sat down there. This ’ere young lad came up and began talkin’ tae me, just the same as any other lad, ainly he wasnae a lad. Ye see? He was different from any lad I e’er met. He was Faery. I kenned that. Then me brother Jamie came toddlin’ around the yard and callin’ me name, and the strange lad, he up and vanished afore me eyes. That wasnae the first time, though. I kenned that when it happened. I cinnae remember anything afore that, but things o’ that sort happened any number o’ times. It allus happened when I was young, and it didnae stop happening as I got aulder. I saw Faery folk all the time—all the time. It never stopped. I kept goin’, right up until we left home tae come here.”

  She stared at him in astonishment. He was telling the truth. He must be. No one could make up a story like that, and Fergus never lied. He was too pure for that. “Did it stop when you came here?”

  “It stopped on the road, but after Angus took the Throne….” He trailed off.

  She couldn’t take her eyes off his face. He searched some distant scene far out of sight over her left shoulder. She read his meaning in that faraway stare. After Angus took the Throne, Fergus must have found this mound. He must have met more and more of these Faery people who invited him to their fancy parties.

  Hazel took another look around her. She saw it all as if for the first time. All these people around her looked like ordinary human beings if she ignored their clothes, but something deeper lingered below the surface. They wer
en’t human. They sprang out of some misty other world between light and dark, between the forest and the inhabited world of castle and keep.

  Everyone around her smiled at Hazel like they’d known her all their lives. They welcomed her in word, gesture, and expression as no other people ever had in her life. She really was one of them. Something deep inside her cried out for them. It screamed out Yes! every time they looked at her with that kindly smile.

  Their King introduced himself to her by his first name. What other gesture explained her situation better than that?

  Dozens of questions screamed to be answered, but she no longer floundered in confusion. She would find her answers in their own good time. This whole situation made sense on some hidden level. She didn’t understand it now, but she would. She would understand it just as soon as she got her questions answered.

  “How could you be one of them?” she asked. “How could you be…. Faery and Urlu at the same time?”

  He shook his head. “It doesnae work that way, lass. Ye’re just as human as ye e’er were, e’en bein’ Faery. Ye belaing tae yer own nation, the same as I, but ye still bear the mark on ye. Any mon can see’t, plain as day.”

  “What mark?” she asked. “Where is this mark that anyone can see? I never noticed anything.”

  “Ye’ve got’t all wrong, lass,” he replied. “It’s no a mark ye see wi’ yer eyes. It’s a mark below the skin, on the inside. I can see it. Any Faery can see it. Most humans cinnae see it. I learned that a laing time ago. I told me mother one time when I saw a strange mon near our sheepfold. I told her I saw him diggin’ under the east wall. He ga’e tae me a gold piece. She dinnae turn aroond from her washin’, and she told me there ne’er was no mon diggin’ behind the sheepfold. She told me she’d get me faither tae gi’e me the belt if she heard me tellin’ lies again. I didnae show her aboot the gold piece, as I still had it in me pocket. I just understood right then no tae tell her nor anyone else what I’d seen.”

  Hazel studied her hands. This wasn’t possible. She’d never seen any invisible people in her life. Then again, she never really understood the people she did know, and they never understood her. They gave her strange looks when she said things. She might as well be speaking a different language they couldn’t understand.

  Even after coming to Urlu, even after sensing in her heart she belonged here, she couldn’t relate to anybody. She couldn’t even relate to Carmen and Elle, the two people she should have felt closest to. They just didn’t understand. What exactly they didn’t understand, she couldn’t explain, but there it was. It sat between them so they couldn’t see or hear or understand each other, even when they occupied the same room and carried on a civil conversation in a common language.

  Now she was here, in a new and even stranger world, surrounded by Faery people.

  Fergus started forward. “I better go see what this ’ere’s all aboot.”

  Hazel grabbed him. “I’m going with you.”

  “Ye dinnae ha’e tae do, lass,” he replied. “Ye gang on home tae the castle. I’ll be alaing by’n by.”

  “I’m not going anywhere,” she shot back. “If you’re going to find out what this is all about, I’m coming with you. You can’t bring me to a place like this and drop a bomb on me saying I’m Faery, and then tell me to go along home and mind my own business. If you’re right and I am Faery, then this concerns me as much as it does you.”

  He shook his head, but his face brightened. “Awright. Just stay close. I dinnae want tae lose ye in this.”

  They moved into the crowd. The music picked up after the King rejoined the party, and people resumed dancing. “What about you?” Hazel asked Fergus. “You’ve come here before. Aren’t you worried about losing yourself out here?”

  “I allus was,” he replied. “I’s like tae split me kilt the first time I came out ’ere, but I dinnae ha’e naught but meself tae cause me concern. She’s a different matter altaegether now that ye’re here.”

  She blushed in spite of herself. He might not care about losing himself, but he didn’t want anything to happen to her. He wanted to protect her, the same way he always did.

  They waded into the celebration. A band of admirers surrounded the King and Queen. Everyone else enjoyed themselves as before the Royal party arrived and paid the King and Queen no further attention.

  Fergus led Hazel to one of the wine fountains set up on the refreshment table. He drew a glass of the sparkling liquid and handed it to her. “Drink this, lass. It’ll gi’e ye the strength and energy to go all night. If ye wish tae dance wi’ the Faeries, ye mun’ drink this, or ye’ll ne’er stay the course.”

  She tried to hand it back to him. “I don’t think I’ll do any dancing tonight. Maybe another time.”

  “Take it,” he insisted. “If ye wish tae hear the conference, ye mun’ stay awake, and this will help ye. It’s no dangerous. Take it.”

  He pressed it into her hands. While she stood there undecided, he drew a glass for himself, downed it in one gulp, and helped himself to another. It must be safe. She tasted the dark cherry wine.

  A rush of warm, comforting relaxation ran down her throat and filled her from the inside like nothing she ever experienced in her life. Normal wine made her stupid and sleepy. This gave her a sense of happy enjoyment the like of which she never knew before.

  When she next looked around the party, she hardly recognized it. The music infected her with its rapid beat. The dancers whirled in every direction with their kilts and dresses flying, their cheeks flushed, and laughter drifted on the breeze. For a fraction of a second, Hazel considered joining them, it looked such fun.

  Fergus touched her elbow. “There’s the signal.”

  Hazel followed his gaze, but she didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. Athol and the King murmured with their heads together. A third man in moss-green kilt decorated with grey stripes joined them. A full black beard covered his face, and a shiny star of gleaming gold rested on his plaid above his heart.

  In front of Hazel’s eyes, the three men left of the party for the dark woods. Fergus hung back until the men disappeared into the dark. Then he followed them. No one at the celebration noticed them leave.

  Hazel’s pulse thumped in her neck hurrying after Fergus into the night. The Faeries’ swinging lamps created a bubble of harmony and protection. All of that vaporized in the chill night air. She kept close to Fergus’s side. She didn’t want to get lost in the woods in the middle of the night.

  Fergus walked fast, but he made sure not to catch up with the other three men. They moved through the woods at a fast clip they entered a clearing by the river. A dozen burning torches cast a circle of light where two more men waited. Each wore a different tartan with different decorations.

  The five men formed a ring, and Fergus and Hazel completed it. The King nodded at him. “Good lad. Ye’re ’ere, so we can start straight away. Ye ken Captain Menzies. This is Alasdair Sinclair.” He indicated the big man from the party. “And these two are Faing Douglas and Errol Buchanan. Douglas is Sergeant at Arms o’ me Personal Guard, and Buchanan is Laird o’ the West Country Regiment responsible fer patrolling our border wi’ the Zukbab Imps tae the South.”

  Fergus gasped. “The Zukbab! Dinnae tell me this concerns them crossing intae our territory.”

  “No, lad,” Buchanan replied. “The Zukbab are peaceful—fer the moment, at least. We’ve defeated ’em enough times, they ha’e learned their lesson fer now. No, this concerns summat else that happened in the West Country. That’s why I’m ‘ere.”

  “Since we’re all ’ere,” the King went on, “we might as weel get on wi’ it and explain tae our Urlu friend ’ere what’s goin’ on. Ye see, lad, a few months ago, a certain curious phenomenon occurred in the West Country. It struck withoot warning and wreaked havoc the likes o’ which ha’e no been seen in many a year. It struck near Scone Abbey, if ye’ve e’er heard o’ that.”

  Fergus frowned. “Scone Abbey? But that’s…”<
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  The King nodded. “The Abbey’s the home tae the famed Stone o’ Scone, the Stone o’ Kings, the Stone o’ Destiny, the Crownin’ Stone. This curious phenomenon, shall we call’t, struck there and….”

  “Ye’d better call a spade a spade and be done wi’t,” interrupted Sinclair. “Ye see, lad, a sort of magic appeared outside the Abbey. It ripped a hole in the world and created a huge sucking funnel draggin’ everythin’ intae it, only these massive thick tentacles like summat enormous sea monster came lashin’ out o’t at the same time. The tentacles snatched up e’erythin’ in sight. They uprooted tall trees, they grabbed houses and people and cattle. All the while, the great sucking force ripped e’erythin’ off the ground and drew it intae the hole.”

  Fergus and Hazel stared at the men in stunned amazement. What could you say to something like that?

  “This sucking hole appeared outside Scone Abbey,” the King went on. “The sucking force broke a hole in the Abbey wall, and the force sucked the Crownin’ Stone intae it.”

  “If that’s true,” Fergus began, “what can the Urlus do aboot it? The Faery would be better armed tae deal wi’ a force like that.”

  The King held up his hand. “That’s no all, lad. Ye see, the hole appeared in other places as weel. It’s appeared eleven times all over the country. It appeared three times outside Loch Nagar castle. Do ye ken that name?”

  “I ken the name of the Loch Nagar witch, but Loch Nagar isnae anywhere near the West Country. Did the witch cause this thing tae attack the Abbey?”

  “No, lad,” the King murmured. The Loch Nagar witch is a good witch. She uses her magic tae protect the people o’ her land, and she used her power tae close the hole when it appeared outside her castle.”

  “But what can the Urlus do?” Fergus asked. “We ha’e no magic tae deal wi’ a force like that. If the Loch Nagar witch closed the hole, perhaps she can stop whate’er’s causing the…the phenomenon in the first place.”