Page 70 of A Rogue in Twilight
“I thought he proposed to me out of responsibility. But the situation was my own doing. And Grandda needs me here, even if he says he does not.”
“Such things can be sorted out, especially if you love him.”
She shrugged. “I do. And I think he cares for me too.”
“What more do you need?” Margaret asked gently.
“It is more complicated than that. I feel I must stay here always.”
“Sometimes love seems so complicated, yet it is a simple, beautiful thing.” Margaret smiled. “If you love him, tell him. Give the man a chance.”
Elspeth gave her a hug. Suddenly she wanted to weep. “I am so glad you came by today. Help me pick the yarns.”
“Gladly.” While they worked together finding skeins in the colors of the MacCarran plaid, her thoughts tumbled.
She would turn twenty-one in just a few days, when her grandfather had said she would belong by fairy bargain to that realm. She still did not know whether to believe it, and Margaret knew nothing of it.
Later, after Margaret had shared tea with them, and the stable groom agreed to drive her home so she would not have to walk the distance, Elspeth set out to find her grandfather in his weaving cottage. He was there, the light of candles glowing in the window. She knocked, and Donal glanced up as she brought some yarns for his work as an excuse. Things needed to be said.
“Grandfather,” she began.
“Aye then, what is it?” He paused his work, his pace normal that evening.
“Kilcrennan is flourishing. And that depends on your ability to weave so quickly.”
He nodded. “Aye. Go on.”
“We can meet orders for tartan faster than many others, though only we know why. Otherwise, to do all this work, we would need eight or ten weavers to fill our orders. There are not that many weavers in this glen. Margaret’s Robbie is a weaver too and could merge his business with ours to help.”
“I have been meaning to speak to Margaret’s Robbie about that very thing. I will not be here forever at Kilcrennan.”
“Oh you will,” Elspeth insisted. “And I will help. You and I and Robbie could train new weavers. Margaret is a fine weaver too, but she has children that keep her busy for now. And with the tartan madness upon the city folk, Kilcrennan weavers will keep growing.”
“We do not need to fill all those requests, you know.”
“You have put your heart and soul into it. And we have relied on your magic.”
“I suppose we have,” he agreed. “I think Kilcrennan tartan cloth casts its own spell. Wearing our plaids brings happiness to people here and in the south.”
“It does. Grandda, please listen. You said yourself that if I fell in love, the magic would end. It would break the fairy spells over us. So I cannot fall in love. All this magic in the weaving would end. Kilcrennan would end.”
“Perhaps that is not so bad. You would be happy. That would be worth it. But I want to see you safely away from here. I have not changed my mind about that.”
“What makes you think I am unhappy? I love Kilcrennan. I love my work.”
“It is enough for now. But not for all your life.”
She sighed. “Do you remember the day you took me to the place where the fairy portal is hidden, and you told me about the fairies and all? I was fourteen. You said if I ever found true love, all binding agreements would be broken.”
“Is that the problem?” he asked quietly. “You are in love and it scares you.”
She nodded wordlessly.
“Love is the greatest magic humans possess,” he said. “It is more powerful than fairy magic. It can remake any spell, solve any problem, satisfy any bargain, defeat any ill of body or soul.”
Love makes its own magic.She remembered the motto of the MacCarrans. “But I cannot knowingly let Kilcrennan—and you—come to an end.”
“Your happiness is all I have ever wanted, lass. Your happiness and safety. I do not want to lose you to the fairies. But I will happily lose you to a man who loves you.”
