Stone Heart (21 page)

"Tearach, if you cannot control your people I
will
. Take them to your part of the forest and stay there. I will speak with you about this
atrocious
behavior later. Now go."

"I take responsibility for my clan, Shayla. I've promised none of us will bother the outsider and it's a pledge which will be kept. But her presence is an offense beyond belief. After what her kind has done to my people, don't ask us to be considerate."

The Goblin quickly turned and stormed off. The rest of his band followed, their hateful expressions revealing similar attitudes. While Shayla felt pity for their circumstances, the world and everyone in it wasn't responsible for those humans who had almost destroyed them. Certainly, Karen Matthews was no threat to them.

Shayla turned to Angus. "Tearach will abide by his word.

The man is angry, but he isn't disloyal. He won't hurt Karen or allow anyone else to do so."

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Karen was tired of being spoken about as if she weren't present. "Please, if my being here is this disruptive, then maybe I should go. You know I won't tell anyone about this place."

Shayla turned to look at her. "You made me a promise.

The security of our computer files need to be tightened. Some of our people, who are
outside,
are depending upon you to keep their records and, therefore, their identities secret. You must do this for us, Karen. Or someone else could enter those records as you did."

"I can do that without offending anyone, Shayla. Just give me someplace to work and I'll keep my distance. It seems to me you have enough to worry about without adding my presence to your list of problems."

"You are no' the problem, little one. The Goblins are."

Angus took her hand.

Aware that the confrontation had forestalled the celebrations at hand, Shayla turned and raised her hands.

"
Blessed Be.
Resume your merriment. There is always time for anger. Little enough for sharing happiness."

Fairies, Druids and all the others present resumed their music playing and dancing as if the incident had never taken place. Shayla and Hugh sat beside Amber. Angus sat close to Pluck and Karen. He poured more heather ale for her.

"Drink and eat hearty, Karen. Ask what questions you will.

What I dunna' remember, Pluck or one of the others will,"

Angus encouraged.

She did as everyone else was doing and tried to forget Tearach Bruce and his attitude. But she wanted to know
why
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he hated outsiders so much. Clearly, there was a reason to fear the outside world. She couldn't imagine what would happen if they knew about the Order and all their magic powers. But someone in it had specifically disrupted the Goblins' lives so much that they couldn't even endure being near a human. Maybe some of her answers would be found in their computer records.

She ate and drank more than usual because Angus urged her to do so. The effect the heather ale had on her was mellowing. Soon she was enjoying the merriment as if the incident had been a dream.

Angus was determined that Karen would enjoy herself.

That anyone would confront her the way Tearach and his companions had was unconscionable. Karen was not responsible for their problems any more than the whole world had been responsible for his own parents' deaths. But it had taken him lifetimes in confined agony to learn this. If the Goblin Leader wasn't very careful, the man could find himself being cursed by Shayla. He sensed much greater power in her than in the woman who had held that position three centuries earlier. At any rate, no harm would come to Karen. None. If the Goblin Leader or his minions wanted a fight because of her, they would get one.

"Angus," Karen leaned over and placed a hand on his arm,

"is
that
who I think it is?"

His gaze followed hers and he smiled. "That depends upon who you think it is."

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A tall man approached the table. He was powerfully built, light green in color and had long silver-white hair. He stopped before Karen and grinned.

"I see you recognize me," the man spoke.

"Lore?" Karen squeaked and turned red when everyone at the table laughed.

"You should see your expression. It's priceless." The Fairy laughed.

"Incredible. It's just incredible," Karen repeated. And for a few moments, she was able to closely examine Lore's blue-green wings and was even allowed to touch them. As hateful as the Goblins had been, Lore was that much more patient and friendly. He answered questions willingly and let her ogle him like a specimen. Finally, Karen reigned in her curiosity. "I apologize for my touching you as if you were under a microscope, Lore. Please chalk up my behavior to being an ignorant outsider. I just wish the world could one day see you through my eyes and know how beautiful you are."

Lore simply bowed his head, took her hand and kissed the back of it. "Thank you. Perhaps the world will see all of us one day. And before I forget, I have a message to pass on to you.

A mutual friend, Wade, would have been here to show you his true form as well, but we have men and women who nightly serve as guards around the perimeter of the forest.

Unfortunately, he drew that duty this very night and has asked me to send you his warmest regards and apologies for his absence."

Angus watched their exchange with another bout of jealousy where Karen was concerned. But Lore was behaving 186

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like a perfect gentleman. It would not go well with Karen if he could not behave at least as well. So, he sat and smiled as if the Fairy Leader's presence was as wondrous as Karen believed it. Their conversation went on and Angus began to envy Karen's ability to talk so easily with everyone. Finally, the Sorceress stood.

"I think we've had enough merriment for one night,"

Shayla nodded to Hugh. He promptly got up and held his hands over the nearest campfire until it died. All over the clearing, other Druid men and women came forward to extinguish the blazes, ending the night's revelry.

"It's time for us all to get some rest," Shayla said as she turned to Karen. "I want you to stay at the estate home from now on. It's closer to the clearing than your cottage and our computers are there. You can begin work tomorrow if you feel up to it."

Karen nodded in agreement. "Of course. The sooner I begin, the better."

"Hugh, will you show Angus and Karen the way? Angus may not remember it, and I have business to attend with the Goblins." She turned to Lore. "Will you accompany me?"

"Of course, Sorceress." Lore turned toward the woods and took Shayla's arm at the same time.

Angus watched Shayla and the tall Fairy disappear like wraiths. He nodded toward Amber when she excused herself.

Pluck already lay asleep beneath an oak sapling, snoring like a small bear.

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"I think he's drunk too much again," Hugh grinned. "It's a habit when there's a celebration. But Elves are as sober as judges the rest of the time."

Feeling tired herself, Karen took Angus' arm as they left the great clearing behind and followed Hugh along a moonlit path. Only a short time later, they walked out of the woods and toward an open area where Karen stood still and gawked.

In front of her stood what appeared to be a restored castle.

In the moonlight, it assumed a gargantuan shape and looked like it could house hundreds of people. Its gray, stone walls appeared sturdy enough to hold off any siege.

"'Tis no' as I remember it," Angus remarked. "The grounds are better kept and the towers have been rebuilt. I remember them crumbling and too dangerous to live within. It is far more grand."

"Thank you," Hugh replied. "We refer to this place as the
estate house
or just the
estate
. While the owners are away, as they currently are, I'm the caretaker. Over the years, we've had the entire structure restored. In fact, I see to all the grounds and the forest itself. I buy land to add to the forest and keep all the accounts."

"You obviously take your duties very seriously. All of this is wonderful." Karen waved her hand in the direction of the structure. "I can't believe I'm going to spend my time in an actual castle, along with everything else I get to see and do.

I'll never be sorry for coming here.
Never
."

"Nor shall I." Angus solemnly announced.

Karen turned to look at him and smiled.

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"Come, let me show you your rooms," Hugh told them.

"Tomorrow we can have a better look at our art collection and the rest of the home itself."

A short time later, Angus closed Karen's door behind him.

He knew Karen had been much more tired than she would admit. The merriment of the evening was lost to him as he stood outside her door and rested his hand against the carved oak wood. He had never stayed in a place so fine as a castle, but she deserved to be here. Unused to being indoors, he walked until he found himself on the front lawn. His heart was in turmoil. Caring for someone so much and sharing wondrous events with her as she was dying was terrible.

Seeing her fade more and more each day, watching her face become more pale and her eyes lose their shine, would be more horrible than his own curse. Her time was short, but he would have a lifetime to remember her.

For all he had done, for all he had lost and the crimes he had committed, there was no more fearsome curse than the one he was now living. Karen's sweetness would forever haunt him. And for this one instant in time, he wished he could be someone else. Or that he could know nothing and that his mind would be a blank space, void of memory. He even wished himself dead. But if he was suffering now, how much more suffering had he caused?

Angus cursed the fates that allowed a man like him to live while a good woman died. After Karen was gone, he could end his own life and stop the pain that would always be in his heart. But that would undo everything Karen had 189

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accomplished. He was very sure she would hate him for even considering such a thoughtless, selfish act.

He stared into the blackness of the nearby forest. His heart felt just as dark.

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Chapter Nine

Angus leaned against a stone wall meant to divide one level of the lawn from another. Smells from the forest assailed him as he closed his eyes and differentiated between plants, animals, and magical creatures that fell into neither category. Then he sensed one whose presence was closer than the rest.

"Who is there?" he called as he opened his eyes and slowly turned.

"It's just me, Angus." Amber strode from behind some fir trees and walked into the moonlight. "I was walking by and saw you. Have I disturbed your thoughts?"

He frowned. "My thoughts could no' be in more chaos. I am in need of company."

She moved closer to him and leaned against the wall. "Tell me what's troubling you."

"You know the matter."

"Karen." She stated it as a fact. Then she placed her hand on his arm in a gesture of comfort.

For a time he did not speak. But his fears finally found a voice. "I dunna' want her to die. Part of the reason I did bring her to this place was in the hope of finding some curative for her ailment. In my heart, I know there is none."

"No, there isn't. And I'm so sorry. Shayla told me about why she's here, what she did to help you. She's a sweet and generous woman. And anyone who's shown the kind of loyalty her family has, deserves more."

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"Aye," he readily agreed, "she
does
."

"In fact, Shayla has told everyone the story. I can't imagine what you've been through. But you're home now and safe. And for her remaining time Karen will be safe, too."

"Unless that Goblin has his way before her illness does," he snorted.

"Don't judge Tearach too harshly. His past has been terrifying. Perhaps worse than yours."

"Tell me. I would know why he hates outsiders as much as I once did."

Amber looped her arm through his and leaned against the wall with him. "I don't know how many of his kind there were before you were judged. There are only forty-eight left in the world now."

He gasped and stared at her in amazement. "There were once as many as there were Druids. They lived in every part of the moors and hillsides from here to Scotland and Ireland.

What happened?"

"They've suffered destruction of their sacred places, war and disease. But Tearach's father was changing things for them. The population was rising after his father gained control over the Goblins. There was hope. Then, in one single night, everything ended." She paused. "During one of their water ceremonies, hundreds died drinking from a sacred pool.

Some outsiders illegally dumped toxic waste there. The Goblins who drank that water died in agony. Except for his niece, Tearach lost the rest of his family and the woman with whom he intended to handfast. I remember Shayla summoning everyone to Exmoor to retrieve the bodies. We 192

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had to burn them. The only reason some Goblins survived is because they arrived late for the ceremony, and Tearach was among that surviving group. When they saw what happened

... It was horrifying. Tearach took control of the clan and tracked down the men who poisoned the water."

"What did he do with them?" Angus didn't have to ask, but he wanted to hear it.

"They're dead," Amber told him. "I don't know exactly what he did, but their bodies were never found. I don't think they ever will be."

Angus shook his head. "I can begin to understand now. I canna' imagine what I would have done in his place."