Hope Everlastin' Book 4 (46 page)

Beth placed a calming hand
on her shoulder. Looking up, Blue read understanding in the woman's
eyes and felt her insides cooling.

"I would like to
introduce—"

"Blue," Blue interjected,
realizing Beth was about to slip up and use her title. "My name is
Blue."

"How unusual," Eilionoir
commented in a dry tone.

The breakfast was going to
be more of a challenge than Blue originally thought. She was
considering excusing herself from the table when a plate was placed
in front of her.
Bacon.
Lots of thick slices of bacon. The aroma filled her nostrils,
and she found herself lulled into passivity. Dreamily, she gazed up
at the server and smiled, not caring that it was Reith who received
her silent gratitude. He filled her cup with steaming tea, set it
down, then sat to her right.

Only half of her attention
was given as Beth introduced her to the newcomers, and it was all
she could do not to ignore them entirely and delve into the food
she most cherished. But she did restrain herself until the others
began to eat. She lifted one piece to her mouth, tore it in half
with her teeth then closed her eyes as she chewed and relished the
divine flavor.

When she finished the last
slice of bacon on her plate, her stomach was comfortably full and
her craving satiated. She basked in contentment and glanced about
the table. Some had finished their meals; others were nearly
done.

To her delight, Roan was
listening to his father talk about his clothing store and the
hardship of finding trustworthy employees.

The boys were holding a
conversation with their grandparents.

Deliah and Winston were
snuggled and staring into each other's eyes as if they couldn't
wait to be alone again.

Lachlan's arm was around
Beth's shoulder as they, too, listened to Dugan Ingliss.

Reith was staring at Laura,
the sadness in his expression directing her attention back to the
woman. Sure enough, although Laura appeared outwardly at ease she
was nervous and tense, worrying how Roan's parents would take the
news of her pregnancy.

Blue felt Reith's eyes
shift to her and she swerved her gaze to him. It disturbed her that
he did care about these people. It disturbed her because she
preferred to believe him incapable of truly caring for anyone but
himself. The truth, however, was there staring back at
her.

Leaning toward her, he said
low enough for only her to hear, "Canna ye do somethin’ to ease her
mind?"

"What do you suggest?" she
asked coolly.

"If I knew, I would be
doin’ it. She told her faither, earlier. He didna say much. I think
he's concerned how this will affect his grandsons."

"Okay, okay," she said with
a scowl. "Back off. They both must do this in their own
time."

Dealing his wife a sour
look, Reith straightened in his chair and turned his profile to
her, training his attention on the couple of his
concern.

What did he expect her to
do? Announce Laura's pregnancy for them?

Blow a little fairy dust
their way to perk up their courage?

Unexpectedly, Roan smiled
and enfolded Laura's right hand with his left. He stood, coaxed her
to her feet and sucked in a breath as he glanced at the faces
around the table.

"Laura and I— Darlin’, do
you want to tell them?"

Laura looked about ready to
pass out. "Ah, no. You do it."

His smile wavered and he
nodded as if needing a moment longer to gather his courage. "We
are...." His smile bordered the ridiculous, something between
sickly and euphoric. "Laura and I are goin’ to have a
baby."

At first, stunned silence
prevailed. Blue was impressed to see the Bennetts reacting as if
only just hearing the news. Even William conjured up an admirable
glow on his lined face. The boys whooped with excitement, and
clanged their utensils loudly on the table until their grandmother
asked them nicely to please settle down. Their enthusiasm fortified
Roan, and he looked into Laura's eyes with the pride of a
peacock.

Not just any peacock,
but
Braussaw,
himself.

Of course, not everyone
shared in the couple's good fortune.

Eilionoir shakily rose to
her feet, her face pale and taut, her eyes bugging out of her head
as she stared at her son. Blue realized what was coming but
couldn't react before the woman exclaimed, "This wedding is a
farce! First she traps you with her nephews, now this!"

"Enough!" Lachlan
thundered, jumping to his feet and glowering at Eilionoir. "Womon,
is there a bloody thing you do approve o' where yer son is
concerned?"

"Oh, shut up, you fool."
Eilionoir shifted her gaze back to Roan. Oblivious to his pallid
skin and the hollowness in his eyes as he stared at her, she lifted
her chin defiantly. "Roan, this nonsense has to end. You're my son
and, whether you to choose to believe this or not, I love you. Both
your father and I love you! We want you to come home with
us."

"And where would 'home'
be?" he asked with a winter's bleakness.

"Rhode Island. Where else?"
she huffed.

William Bennett slowly rose
to his feet, his cheeks the color of a tomato. "Mrs. Ingliss, I
resent your comment about my daughter."

"Resent it all you like,"
she clipped, sparing him but a brief contemptuous glance. "My
concern is for my son."

Laura released a strangled
sob, wrenched free of Roan's hand, and began to run for the door.
Just as she would have passed Blue, the queen's hand shot out in a
plea for her to stop.

Laura slowed to a stagger
and covered her face with her hands. Then Roan was drawing her into
his arms and whispering in her ear, at the same time glaring at his
parents as though the sight of them sickened him.

"Come to your senses!"
Eilionoir cried.

The tension in the room
ignited Blue's temper. "Come to yours!" she countered, her palms
smacking down on the table at the same time.

"You stay out of this,"
Eilionoir warned, pointing a trembling finger at Blue. "I'll be
damned if I listen to someone who has the gall to sit at a table
and eat with her fingers in front of guests!"

"Och dìt,"
Reith muttered, looking askance at the fury
building in his wife's eyes. Damn.

Deliah's eyes were wide
with apprehension as she stared at the queen. Lachlan abruptly sat,
as did William, although he wasn't sure why. Roan and Laura, locked
in each other's arms, couldn't tear their gazes from Blue's
face.

The boys gaped at Blue then
in unison looked at Eilionoir. Kevin quipped in a deep voice for a
boy of eight, "You're in big trouble now."

The visual war between the
queen and Roan's outraged mother lasted but a moment longer before
Blue found her voice.

"Bacon is always eaten with
the fingers. Regardless, in my world, I do as I damn please. In
this world, I do as I damn please."

Eilionoir looked at her son.
"Do you hear her, Roan?
Her
world,
this
world. These people are certifiable!"

In a heartbeat of time
Blue's wings unfurled and she hovered above her end of the table.
From Eilionoir's standpoint, the chandelier blocked out most of
Blue, but she could see the lower part of the woman's gown, and the
bare feet dangling beneath the hemline. Her jaw slack, Eilionoir
dipped to one side. When she got a full view of the fairy queen she
sat hard on her chair, her arms limp at her sides. Her husband
blessed himself, twice.

The Bennetts merely stared
in amazement.

"Deliah," Blue said
curtly.

Instantly, Deliah
unbuttoned the front of her dress and pulled the back down enough
to accommodate her own wings. Engaged, she flew up and away from
her chair and came to hover alongside her queen. When Blue flew to
a position next to Eilionoir, Deliah dutifully followed, hovering
behind her queen.

Eilionoir could not bring
herself to look up for several seconds. There was only the soft
fluttering of wings to be heard in the room. When at last she
forced herself to look into the faces of the two creatures, her
expression was blank, her lips tightly compressed.

"Mrs. Ingliss, do you know
the penalty for a mortal pissing off a fairy queen?" Blue asked in
a deadly tone. "Especially a
certifiable
fairy queen?"

Eilionoir stiltedly shook
her head. There was fear in her eyes now, and a mist of
tears.

Blue gave a haughty flip of
her head. "Fortunately for you, Mrs. Ingliss, I haven't been a
queen long enough to have memorized the spells pertaining to
insults and injury against royal personage. So if you're a smart
woman—and I'm sure you are—you might first consider the possible
consequences before you run off at the mouth again.

"Roan, Laura," Blue went
on, her tone and demeanor calm now, "congratulations. I think the
news is wonderful. Please accept my apology for losing my
temper."

Roan managed a wan smile,
and Laura nodded.

"Mrs. Ingliss," said Blue
on a sigh, "you and I need to have a very long talk, but not
today."

Eilionoir tried to look
away from the fairy queen but could not for fear she would somehow
insult her by doing so.

"Tomorrow we need to get
down to the business of settling the wedding plans," Blue went on,
casting her gaze around the table before settling it on Roan. She
smiled warmly at the still embracing couple. "Roan, I know you want
your sister present for the ceremony, so in that, too, decisions
must be made. Not now, though. We'll gather tomorrow. Your guests
will need today to digest the fact that they will be attending a
fairy wedding."

"I agree," said Lachlan
with a fond look at Blue.

Everyone else in the room
nodded in agreement.

"I'm sure you all are
curious what a fairy ceremony entails, so this is what I propose,"
said Blue. "I will send six maidens to answer your questions and
remain to watch over the children, including the twins, through the
night," she said to Beth and Lachlan. "They will also keep the
ghosts at bay, allowing the household to sleep soundly and
undisturbed. The events of the past few days have taken a toll on
each and every one of you, so please, allow me do this. When
tomorrow we gather, our hearts as well as our minds should be given
to the planning of the wedding."

When nods were offered
again, Blue flew around the table to Roan and Laura's side. "I have
something slightly different planned for the two of you," she said,
her eyes sparkling with mischief.

"Oh?" Laura murmured
warily.

Blue grinned. "A chamber
has been readied for you in Faerie. For the remainder of this day
and all of the night, I promise you no interruptions or
distractions. All you need to bring with you is the magic of your
love. I've taken care of everything else."

His face aglow with
elation, Roan asked, "All this for a plate o' bacon?"

She winked at him. "Imagine
what a heaped platter would inspire in me."

* * *

Conversationally, Blue told
Laura and Roan they would be reduced to the four-inch height of the
fairies as they entered the invisible passage through the new oak,
to accommodate the kingdom's dimensions. Laura wished she didn't
know. It was all she could think about, although the furnishings
and everything else lent the illusion that they were normal size.
Blue gave them a brief tour of the main chambers then instructed
one of the male fairies to show them to their "special
place."

Laura clung to Roan's arm
as they followed the reticent male down several corridors. She was
a bundle of raw nerves by the time he stopped in front of a mural.
To her bewilderment he was smiling and gesturing to the artwork, as
if she and Roan should understand what it meant. She didn't. And
the puzzlement on Roan's face said he didn't, either.

The painting was of a
large, arched, double set of wooden doors, similar to the entrances
of ancient castles. Two iron rings were painted on each side, and a
thicket of green and white ivory framed the doors and crept along
sections of the aged wood. The detail was incredible, but
nonetheless it was a painting.

To break the silence, Laura
said, "Very nice. It almost looks as if we could walk—"

With a gesture of one of
the fairy’s hands, the doors began to soundlessly part inward.
Laura gripped Roan's arm with all her might, her eyes wide in
disbelief and awe. She couldn't bring herself to look into Roan's
face to see if he was as stunned by what stood before them, but
from the rigidity of his body she strongly suspected he
was.

"If you need aught mair,"
said the fairy with a gracious bow of his head, "just call ma
name."

Roan frowned.

The young being smiled
patiently. Blue must have introduced him, and yet neither Laura nor
Roan could remember his name.