Page 104 of Laird of Twilight
“You will bring much joy to each other and your families. Happiness and children and riches will bless you both. We will do our best to see to it, in gratitude.” Niall touched his daughter’s shoulder. “Eilidh, you were born to be with this man, not with us. His grandmother was right.”
“My grandmother?” James asked in surprise, as Elspeth stared at her father.
Niall nodded. “Riona and I felt from the moment you were born that your destiny was one of love and responsibility to the Struan family.”
Elspeth drew a quick breath. “But Grandda always said you would take me away to your world when I turned twenty-one.”
“If you never found love,” he amended. “We gave you to your grandfather to raise to make sure that you two found each other.” He smiled.
“But the night we saw you riding, I thought you meant to steal me away then.”
“It was not time yet, and when we saw that you were with your destined love, we knew we must let you be. Lord Struan, you have a strong soul, firmly bound to the earth. We knew you would not have understood if we had appeared to you.”
James smiled wryly. “If you had taken her, I would have gone after her wherever she was, whether I believed in all of this or not.”
“You went after her today, to keep her safe.” Niall smiled at Elspeth. “Your grandfather loves you dearly and has always protected you. He knew we could bring you back here if we so desired. But he did not know the rest of it—that your destiny was always intertwined with the young Lord Struan.”
“My grandmother,” James said suddenly. “Did you know her? She kept your painting over the mantel. It was important to her.”
“I knew her. A great lady, very kind,” Niall replied. “We met before I went over to the Fey, out in the hills, while I was painting one day, and became friends. She was interested in local fairy legends, and I told her what I knew, and introduced her to my father. She mentioned you, James. A boy, then. A twin, she said, and such an intelligent child. She was so proud of you, and wanted you to be happy, after the loss of your parents. Lady Struan would be pleased that our plan turned out so well.”
“Your plan?” Elspeth asked.
“Lady Struan confided in me that her little grandson was too serious, and deeply hurt by his parents’ deaths. She feared he would never recover from those wounds, but knew he deserved joy in life. And his siblings, the same. They were all hurt and confused, being so young. She cared so much for all of you.”
James felt a prickle of tears, a tightening in his throat. His grandmother, stern as she was, had truly loved him and his siblings. “What more did she tell you?”
“She was fascinated by fairy legends, and she wanted to find a way to renew the fairy blood in the MacCarran line, hopefully through grandchildren.”
“Did she ever speak—of her will?” James asked.
“Only a mention. She wanted her orphaned grandchildren to be happy, and to have some adventure that would change their lives for the better.”
James smiled wryly. “She chose an odd way to go about it.”
“After I had gone over to the Fey to be with Riona, I saw her in the hills once. And she saw me. The fairy blood,” he said, “showed itself in your grandmother.”
“I am not surprised.”
“I had a newborn daughter, and I wanted her to have the best possible life. Lady Struan suggested a match between my daughter and her eldest grandson, older then but still a boy. We did not scheme, exactly. We only wished it could be so.”
“And the wishing made it real?” Elspeth asked, listening with wide eyes.
“Riona and I, feeling the strong tie with Struan lands and the family of Lady Struan, decided to give you to my father to raise—in the hope that you and the new Lord Struan would indeed meet and feel the pull of love and fate. Your mother and I watched you grow from afar,” Niall told her gently.
Seeing the sheen of tears in her eyes, James touched her shoulder. He shook his head a little, trying his best to take all of this in. But Niall was right. He had to accept and allow, let the magic be what it was, without analyzing it.
“So my grandmother wanted me to marry Elspeth?” he asked.
“She did. She hoped so. I believe she spoke to my father about it, but he thought Lord Struan too high a catch for his girl. He wanted her in the Lowlands, not nearby, as you know.”
James huffed in astonishment. “What of my siblings, did she say?”
“Lady Struan wanted them to each have a chance to find a special love as well. So she could to arrange it.”
“Love makes its own magic,” James murmured. “The motto of the MacCarrans.”
“Aye. She hoped it would prove true. But there is no guarantee of the outcome. There never is, when human free will meets fairy magic. What happened between you two was up to you, not us.”
