Page 42 of Love Beyond Words
“Freya wouldna enter Nicol’s life for another five years. Ye see, Machara loved the child she had with Nicol, and each year she would return to lie with him again. There are many tales of faerie lying with mortal men, but more often than not, ’tis the mortal that would be ruined with unquenchable lust and yearning for what they wished they could have but couldna—the love of the fae who used them.
“As with most things, Machara was different. She has never followed the patterns of most fae. Nicol stayed indifferent to her, and slowly over the years as Machara bore more of his children—children he’s never seen nor loved—she fell in love with him.
“Despite his annual obligations to Machara, Nicol believed himself a free man. During a short journey off the isle, he met and fell in love with Freya. Unaware of the doom it would bring them both, he married her before returning home. When Machara learned of Nicol’s new wife, she went mad with jealousy.
“She confessed her love to Nicol and promised to forgive his trespass if he sent Freya away, but Nicol’s love for Freya knew no bounds. He defied Machara and fled the isle with her.
“They spent five years away. They were the only happy years of Nicol’s life. It was through his travels and his studies that he discovered a way to defeat Machara—it was how he came to form The Eight.
“Fae magic is stronger than that of any one witch or druid. Nicol learned that it would take many—the magic of eight—to cast the spell that would bind Machara for eternity. He and Freya traveled throughout Scotland gathering druid men young and old who were willing to pledge their loyalty and magic to him. I was among the first as were Harry, Maddock, Timothy, and Quinn. Ludo, Calder, and Paton joined us later after three of the original eight passed away.
“We practiced the spell for months before returning with him to the isle, for we all knew the spell would have to be cast almost immediately if we were to avoid Machara’s wrath. We all urged him to leave Freya on the mainland until Machara was safely bound in her cell below the castle, but he couldna bear to leave her. He regrets that decision every single day.”
I could no longer peel my eyes away from Nicol and Freya down below us. Their story was unlike anything I’d ever heard in my life.
“So what happened when you got here?”
“Machara saw us coming and waited on the front steps of the castle, the lifeless bodies of each child she bore with Nicol laid out beside her. She hoped their death would riddle Nicol with guilt for abandoning her, but the children were inhuman things, beings he’d never known nor wanted. He felt nothing save relief that they’d not grow up to turn into beings as evil as their mother.
“His lack of emotion sent Machara into a rage, giving us just enough time to cast the spell as she lost her mind in a fit of screams and roars unlike anything I’d ever seen in my life. The spell worked, but not before Machara had time to do one last act of violence upon Nicol’s life. She killed Freya by running her through with the sword she drew from Nicol’s sheath. Just as Freya breathed her last breath, Machara cursed her to endure the state she is in now. It was the last thing Machara was able to do before our spell was finished and bound.”
Raudrich drew in a sad, deep breath. It was clear that even telling the story exhausted him.
“For the past twenty years, Machara has remained locked away deep below this castle. As long as there are eight druids with their magic bound here, she canna escape. ’Tis why it is so urgent that we find another to replace Timothy, and why it is even more distressing that Calder has left us. Our magic is stretched until Timothy is replaced. If Calder finds a way to sever his tie with this isle, Machara may find the strength to break free.”
Just as Raudrich finished his story, the sound of laughter, dark and sinister, traveled up through the floor beneath us.
“’Tis her, lass. ’Tis her dungeon that I meant when I said I must take ye somewhere ye willna wish to go. If ye want to know the truth of all of it, ’tis time for ye to meet Machara.”
Chapter 24
Calder had been right about the smell in the storage room. I knew it the moment Raudrich opened the secret passageway in Nicol’s room and we stepped into the dimly lit stairwell. It hadn’t been the smell of rotten food. It was the smell of very angry faerie.
Lit candles lined the steps downward, but they cast an otherworldly green glow that should’ve been impossible through normal fire.
“Best ye breathe it in, lass. Ye will grow accustomed to it sooner that way. While I know ’tis foul, it willna harm ye.”
I could scarcely bring my feet to move. Terror gripped at my every limb. I couldn’t see her, and despite the fact that she was no longer laughing, I could feel her hatred in every nerve ending in my body. I grabbed at Raudrich as he stepped away and down one step.
“Wait. Raudrich, I don’t think this is a good idea. She doesn’t like women here, right? That’s what Calder told Harry when he invited Marcus and me inside. Won’t her seeing me make her even angrier?”
Raudrich’s gaze was sympathetic as he turned toward me, but I could tell by the firm set of his feet that he had no intention of returning to Nicol’s room.
“I should’ve been honest with ye, lass. I doona only wish to bring ye down here so ye might believe me. There is another reason, as well.”
“Which is?”
He leaned in to whisper into my ear so quietly, even I had to strain to hear him.
“There is a reason Machara doesna wish for another woman to enter Nicol’s home. Even in her anger, even in her rage, she pines for him still. She knows he can no longer touch Freya, no longer hold her and make love to her, so Freya is no longer a threat to her. But another woman, one that is still alive, just might be. If we can convince Machara that ye are not Nicol’s and never shall be, perhaps we can prevent her from trying to harm ye while ye are here.”
Even as frightened as I was, it hadn’t occurred to me that she could actually cause me any real harm.
“Can she do that? Doesn’t your magic keep her from doing harm to anyone?”
He took a deep breath. It did nothing to ease my worry.
“Until this morning, I would’ve said no. I would’ve been certain that she couldna do anything from her cell, but everything is different now that The Eight is no longer complete.” He hesitated and looked regretful. “Lass, Maddock told me what happened today with Calder. While I’ll make no excuses for what he said, he was right that the odor ye smelled was not from food.”
