A Kind of Magic

Sixty-Eight

Alaric didn't speak to neither her nor Freddie, who led Gollum by the collar on their way down a short corridor well lit by a row of torches mounted along the walls, and Fiona respected his silence.

She almost felt sorry for the regal man, her father, or rather one of her two fathers, when he sighed upon seeing his friend Emrys waiting for them outside the open door leading to the Great Hall-- she could glimpse a long table laid with food for the company in the middle of the large hall illuminated by the dancing light of several burning fires, void of servants just as Alaric had requested.

Her heart filled with admiration for the king when he removed her arm from where it lay upon his and squeezed her hand briefly, the gesture meant as an encouragement for both of them, before he left her to speak to his wizard and walked into the Great Hall with Freddie, whose hand he took into his now, and Gollum trailing after his little master. The rest of the company followed in their wake silently, all pretending not to see Fiona and Emrys apart from Peregrine, who cast her a brief look to make sure that she was all right. Fiona smiled at him and nodded in return, her heart overflowing with love at feeling his concern for her.

The tall man called Emrys pulled her in a bone shattering embrace the moment they were alone, and Fiona returned the gesture with a few careful pats on his back. She needed to tread her way around this castle and its inhabitants carefully, Fiona decided, she knew next to nothing about this world and what she knew seemed to be growing more intricate by the minute.

She even allowed him to cup her face in his large, warm hands and make her look into his eyes which were only a shade darker than hers, framed by his ginger curls only a little brighter than her dark copper mane. Where looks were concerned, he could be her father all right...

"I'll... leave it to your mother to explain. Let me just tell you, Bells, that I love you and her, and Freddie. You didn't see me, none of you, because I hoped that Lexie... would forget and move on, eventually... but I've been watching over you from a distance. I... intervened each time it was needed, to make sure that you had a good, if not a great, life. I'm so proud of all of you."

He stared into her eyes for a while as if he was reading her mind and soul through them, her face still cupped in his hands-- he, his manners were so warm compared to Alaric's cool politeness-- before he spoke again, replying to a thought she didn't realise passed through her mind.

"No, Bells. I knew about him but I couldn't intervene. Ancalagon had been written in your stars the moment you were born; he was a tool... to make Freddie come to this world and shape you into the woman you have become. You and him both will yet play a role in Silmarea's better future. And no, I'm not allowed to tell you who really sired you, I'm not permitted to find out... It's your destiny to embrace the idea of having two fathers. If someone can accept that, it's you, Bells... And..." he added, chuckling, "sorry, but Isabella was my mother's name, just like Fiona was Alaric's. That's how your mother chose the names for you."

Fiona wanted to feel angry at him, show him that she didn't care about his blind acceptance of destiny-- she and her mother had felt lonely, unloved, and abandoned for years. But she couldn't. There was no way she could feel angry with Emrys; she felt a strong affinity with this man who might be her father, who was ready to act like one finally now that she was here.

"The mysterious parcels with toys and later books I received each birthday..." she mumbled, her ultramarine eyes burning into his cobalt blue orbs.

"Guilty as charged," he said, chuckling again. "And now I know that your mother always knew. She could always feel me watching over the two, and then three of you, even though I tried to be inconspicuous."

Fiona sighed, and he let his hands drop from her cheeks, offering her his hand instead to lead her into the Great Hall.

"All right, Father, I'll do my best to try to accept my destiny without a fight," she whispered on a sigh. "But I'd like to ask one favour of you. Unless the king knows who Freddie's father is, could you not tell him just yet? I have my selfish reasons-- I'd like Alaric to consider Freddie as his heir rather than me. Let's give him time to accept the idea of having a grandson first, without telling him that he's a Highlander tonight or in the nearest future, allow him to get used to all the other news first. I spoke about this with Peregrine, and he agrees. He'll train Freddie, and Alaric can find out that he's a dragon shifter when he starts morphing, Peregrine says it won't take long..."