Page 18 of The Shadow Path
The tall Scotsman stalked past Dru and marched over to the cutlery stand, leaning over the counter-height table and looking at someone on the other side. “Who the fuck let you two out of Alba?”
From behind the counter, Duncan’s mirror image stood up, and Carys’s heart started to race when she saw her former boyfriend for the first time in over six months. “Lachlan?”
The russet-haired prince shot her a beaming smile and happiness lit his eyes. “Carys!”
“Well,” a growly voice came from behind a curtain before it swung to the side and a grey-haired, stony-faced creature emerged. “This should make things more interesting.”
Duncan, Cadell, and Carys spoke at once. “Angus.”
CHAPTER FIVE
Carys walked along the wide, stone-lined path that cut through a large wood on the other side of the Cye Bourne with Duncan on one side and Lachlan on the other.
“This is Hyde Forest,” Duncan said. “Once we pass through it, your uncle’s estate is on the other side.”
“Are we still in the city?” Carys didn’t know London well, but she was pretty sure that in the Brightlands, Hyde Park was right in the middle of town, and they looked like they were heading away from the city, not into it.
“In the Shadowlands,” Lachlan said, “London has spread farther toward the mouth of the river. Most of the traffic goes by boat, so that’s where the majority of people have settled. This area here” —Lachlan gestured to the dense woods around them— “Hyde Forest and Kingswood, is primarily occupied by the lords of Anglia and the wolves.”
Wolves. Carys tried not to shiver, because she’d only seen the legendary shifting wolves from a distance. From what she’d heard though, they were magical creatures that were fierce, warlike, and owed their allegiance to the Anglian throne.
Cadell and Laura were walking behind them with Dru in the lead. A heavy cloak covered most of Dru’s face, hiding the deep blue sigils that marked his cheeks and forehead. As he walked through the drifting fog, small sprites and zipping wisps danced around him, alighting on his shoulders and swirling around his head.
Sometimes he appeared to whisper to the tiny fae creatures, and Carys would swear she heard more than one sparkling laugh before a sprite or a wisp flew away into the trees.
A laugh bubbled from Laura, and Carys looked over her shoulder. “What’s so funny?”
“Oh, little halfling,” Laura said in a very bad English accent, “have you had your second breakfast yet?”
She looked at Duncan on one side and Lachlan on the other. “Ha ha.”
Dru glanced over his shoulder with a smile. “You do resemble the good people of your homeland a bit, Carys Morgan.”
“I look like an ellyll?” Carys couldn’t stop her smile. “My hair isn’t curly enough.”
“Nevertheless,” Dru murmured, “you should take honor at the compliment.”
The fae people of Cymru, the ellyllon, were shorter than the fae in the rest of Briton, and myths and legends said they were some of the oldest magical creatures on the island. They had curly hair, darker skin, and mostly walked barefoot.
Carys had only met one, a fae woman named Naida who resided in Alba for mysterious reasons. Unlike the rest of the fae Carys had met, Naida was less conniving and more helpful.
But walking between two much taller Scotsmen and led by a mysterious fae escort, Carys realized they probably did look more than a little bit like a very lopsided fellowship.
“You’re one to talk.” She glanced over her shoulder at Laura. “Is Cadell two feet taller than you? Three?”
Cadell said, “I’m one foot and seven inches taller than Laura in the imperial measuring system.”
Laura raised an eyebrow. “I’m not contesting my halfling status. Not as long as it gets me a second breakfast.”
Cadell immediately took the pack from his back and handed Carys, then Laura, an apple. “Eat. Both of you.”
Carys grabbed the apple and bit into it, only to see Lachlan staring at her with smiling eyes. “What?” She grinned. She couldn’t help herself. When Lachlan looked at her like that, it felt like sunshine on her face. “Do you think I look like a hobbit too?”
“Your hair isn’t curly enough.” He glanced down at her shoes. “Your toes are a little bit hairy though, so maybe?—”
“Hey.” She smacked his arm, but she couldn’t be mad at him.
Lachlan laughed. “You know, I jumped at the chance to come to Harold’s coronation,” he said. “Even though he’s not my favorite person.”
