It took days for Sky to feel like her old self again. No pain from any injury could compare with the emptiness of Rowan’s absence. She kept wishing he could see the incredible amount of work being done on the house and grounds surrounding it. She and her aunts had thrown themselves into the work with a vengeance after Rowan left, determined to have a viable working business before his return.

As the days stretched into weeks, then months, Sky resolutely forced herself to face the fact that Rowan had probably been detained for some reason having to do with his grandmother’s edicts. As she initially feared, it appeared he was never going to be allowed entrance into her world again.

Gone were any doubts over her love. If they’d only had days together, it was more than some people got in an entire lifetime. He was kind, gentle, good, and prepared to defend those he loved. What more could anyone want in a partner.

She spent her nights yearning for his touch. As he promised, she felt great physical need for him, but sensed that yearning would diminish in time, the longer he was gone.

Time went by. As it did, Sky forbid her aunts to even mention his name or conjure anything without her express permission and presence. If Rowan loved her enough, he would return. If not, life would go on without him. She, however, would make no room in her life for another lover. There was no one who could take his place. His kind, patience and understanding would never be matched by another man.

* * *

Rowan paced in the great hall while his grandmother entertained yet another royal visitor from across the great mountains. No one knew where his parents were. If they did, they weren’t saying anything. Searches for them proved fruitless. Their disappearance, he knew, was by Grandmother’s command.

He’d been promised an audience when his full recuperation had been pronounced by the physicians. Each time he’d made an appointment, however, the meeting had been canceled. His grandmother refused to see him if the subject was about his little human. And the subject, as far as he was concerned, was always about Sky.

All the while, he felt Sky’s need and matched it with his own, sending back his own thoughts about their being together. He wasn’t sure whether his thoughts got through the division between the realities, but when she felt his physical frustration, he felt hers.

All he could think about was the child that might have been on the way by now, and how he and Sky would have created a success of the business she planned. Glacia’s terrible death weighed on him, but he’d had no choice. Even the Pixies eventually admitted that Glacia had cheated, and there was no obstacle left to his joining Sky except grandmother’s belligerence. This time, however, he wasn’t going to be put off. This time, her guards were not going to forcibly escort him away from grandmother’s great chamber.

When the doors to the great, white and pink marble throne room opened, he didn’t even wait for his grandmother’s guests to leave before barging past the guards, and into the middle of the cavernous space. He was taking a very great chance, but everything he ever wanted depended on his doing so. Grandmother would scarcely care to argue with him in front of her entourage. Coming here now might induce her wrath. Still, he was determined.

“Grandmother, tell your guards to stand down!” he demanded as he motioned toward the big men moving toward him. “I must go back to Sky! I will not leave your presence until I am heard!”

The guards slowly stepped toward him.

“If your protectors move any closer, they will suffer! I have not harmed one of them…yet. My patience, however, is at an end!”

When he stalked into the room, the queen—his grandmother—had been in the middle of reseating herself on her golden and crystal throne. Guests who had almost left the room, now stood in the background. Their eyes were wide as saucers.

His chest heaved with emotion.

Slowly lowering her tall frame on her throne, the black-haired queen of the Fairy Realm gazed down at him from her royal dais. Her dark, jewel-covered brown gown and cape seemed to match her somber mood. Her green eyes, so like his own, were fierce and penetrating.

“Is this how you approach your monarch and your grandmother? With threats?” she regally admonished.

Rowan briefly bowed, then stood. He noted how the guards were still very near.

“I’ve asked over and over for you to let me plead my case, and consider the matter of allowing Sky and me to be together. Your guards make sure I cannot even see more than a glimpse of you. I’ve sent messages, and counselors who would plead my case. They’ve been ignored. Now…I will wait no longer,” he replied. “Let me go to Sky. Were it not for Glacia’s interference, we would be happily getting on with our lives, even now. You would have no cause to regret the union.”

“Are you not at all repentant about what you did to the Pixie princess?”

Rowan sighed and briefly dipped his head. “Of course! But she did break the law, and it was a Fairy Realm law she forced on an outsider. She would have killed Sky…why am I explaining what you already know?” He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. “I need to be with her.”

“I sense your desire. But such sexual connections hardly make for good marriages, Rowan. You know this.”

“Sky and I have more in common than sex.” He watched his grandmother lift her aged chin, pat her carefully coifed silver hair, and arrange her gossamer robes before continuing. He noted how her sharp gray eyes looked him over in the brown tunic, pants and tall boots he’d donned, to cover his normal nude state before her court.

Now that he had the queen’s attention at last, he couldn’t miss this opportunity to explain his emotional and spiritual need. This was his one chance. Another wouldn’t be allowed. If his grandmother realized how much he wanted Sky on every level, she might consider allowing him to return to the human world.

“Grandmother, please… I love her. She loves me.”

“You were together but a few days at most—”

“You, of all those in my life, should understand. You and Grandfather met only two days before you bedded him, and you wedded him by the next week,” he defended. “Sometimes it happens that fast, even when one of those in the relationship is not of this realm. That’s the way it was between Sky and me.” He stepped closer. “Sometimes…it takes men and women a lifetime of being together before realizing they never knew each other at all. But Sky and I are one. She’s kind and won’t use her magic to harm others. She never intended to harm Glacia. The Pixie princess’s death was my doing. You already know this,” he said, trying to tamp down his vexation.

“But you still haven’t told me exactly why you love this woman so much, Rowan. I had very clear reasons for my love of your grandfather. Those reasons were so deeply profound that I will not justify them to anyone. As queen, I need not ever do so. However, I will put the question to you again. What is it about her particularly that warrants such passion on your part?”

He chose his words carefully, then knelt on the bottom step of the dais before replying. “Her goodness captures me. She has the courage to make her way in the world while supporting her family, and she never considers leaving them behind to make her own life easier. It says a lot about a person when they give up their pleasure for those they love, and Sky has done everything to make her aunts safe and secure. She finds joy in small things, and gives great happiness in return. I’ve seen her smile at the gift of seeing a small fawn in the woods, and cry because she fears losing her home. I’ve seen how her aunts feel about her, and know that their love has been well deserved. I have connected with her. Deep inside.” He covered his chest with one hand. “I want her to be the mother of my child, your next grandchild. Even now, I know she waits for me, and always will. She’ll live a life knowing no other man but me. I’m that certain of her loyalty. And I’ll have no other but her. How can I explain that she’s as important as the beating of my heart? How can I find words to tell you what is in her eyes when I gaze at her?”

He watched his grandmother frown, arch one brow, and clench her hands in her lap. “I suppose the fact that she’s as lovely as any Fairy in our realm makes no difference, does it?”

“Were she less attractive, her spirit would still have captured my soul. We will grow old together. Our physical attributes will fade. What we feel in our hearts won’t. That’s what I want…a woman who will stand by me regardless of how I look, but love me for the wonders of life we can share.”

“I’ve never seen you so obsessed with anything, Rowan.”

“I’ve chosen her as my life mate. She and the child we want will always come first, my queen. My obsession goes that far,” he adamantly admitted.

“You’ve say such a thing to me knowing I could deny your request to go to her, or even enter her world again? You’re actually admitting that she’s more important to you than we are?”

“She’s everything!”

As if someone had chased a cloud away, Rowan saw his grandmother flash a brilliant smile.

“I put off hearing your pleas because I wanted to give you plenty of time to consider what you’re about to do, Rowan. Your mating will be for life and can’t be undone. I wanted to be sure you’d understand that your royal ties should never come between you and those you must care for and protect. I want my grandchild safely guarded while in your world.”

“I take it that means…”

“Gather your belongings. I’ll escort you to the nearest portal leading to the human world. But I’ll expect visits from you and this woman you have chosen, or I shall make a habit of entering your world, unannounced, through the forest she has dedicated to me. If you value your privacy, I suggest you keep your word and come home regularly. Moreover, I will have a few other promises.”

He placed his hand over his heart and smiled. “Anything, Grandmother!”

* * *

Sky gazed into the distance, her heart as heavy as any stone she’d cleared from the garden. Loneliness engulfed her, and it seemed there was no reason to smile any longer. All she wanted was Rowan. She blamed herself for Glacia’s death. Had she not fought the Pixie, perhaps Rowan could have taken the fiery woman back to his Fairy Realm and convinced her to leave them alone. Though she doubted any woman so headstrong and jealous would have respected their love, that different scenario would still have been better than forcing Rowan to kill the Pixie. For that, she might well spend the rest of her life alone. But she still had a small reserve of hope.

As she had every night since he left, she went to the woods’ edge at sunset. Now, there was a bench facing the trees where she waited. When darkness finally came, she’d go into the cottage, eat her dinner, go upstairs, and get into bed. There, she imagined herself in Rowan’s strong arms, but imagination wasn’t nearly good enough these days. Only the real thing would do. It was torturous to feel sexual urges, and simultaneously know that when they ended, there was still no man to love.

As the twilight fell and nothing happened to make her suspect the evening would be any different from the others, she stood and turned toward the cottage.

“Your expression is far too sad, little witch. Would some company cheer you?”

She turned toward the sound of that low voice and gazed into the darkness. “Rowan! Where a-are you?” she shouted. He walked forward wearing only a loincloth he’d donned, likely in the event that anyone but she was present.

“Hello, my love,” he happily greeted.

She launched herself at him. He caught her and spun her around several times while she cried out his name over and over.

“If you only knew how I missed you,” he murmured against her face as he planted kisses across her forehead and cheeks.

She firmly placed both her hands on either side of his head, and slanted her mouth across his in a kiss that was hotter and deeper than any they’d ever shared. Finally, when the ardor of the moment wasn’t quite so overpowering, she spoke. “Please, tell me you won’t ever leave again!”

He placed her feet back down on the ground, looked her over and caressed her back as if he was making sure she was real and that he wasn’t dreaming.

“Just as I was leaving my realm, the queen bid me come to you with two questions. She stands at the same portal where I entered your world, and will hear your answers. Your response to those questions will be the deciding factor about my staying. I’m not to prompt your answers, in any way.”

The sincerity in his voice froze her. “Ask me anything,” she urged.

“First…will you love our child, no matter what powers it might possess, or what it might physically look like?”

“With all my heart,” she promised even as tears blurred her vision.

He grinned, knowing that would be her answer. “Second…do you have any objection to the queen’s presence in your woods, or to eventually sending our child to her for tutoring in our ways?”

These were stipulations that had been put to her before, but the queen was now listening. Sky knew she had to respond carefully, but this last promise was still a little harder to make. After all, no time limit had been placed on their offspring’s training. Still, it was in a child’s best interest to know its full heritage. She couldn’t deny any baby she and Rowan had that privilege, and knew she could make no counter terms or Rowan might very well be called back to his home for good. “Our baby should know its birthright. I agree to such training.”

He grinned and laughed out loud even as trumpets sounded from the Fairy Realm to announce the queen was pleased. He soundly kissed Sky again and gazed down into her eyes when he was finished. “There’s just one last thing.”

Sky held her breath, still reeling from his sudden appearance after having been gone so long.

“On the night when we would have tried to conceive a child, we were interrupted by events that we’ll leave behind us. The queen commands me to start immediately…where we left off. Don’t tarry with telling Eartha and Windy I’m back. They’ll find out tomorrow. I, my grandmother, and entire family, are eagerly waiting to make an announcement in the Fairy Realm…an announcement of an impending birth. If you’re still willing,” he joyfully whispered against her hair.

“Willing?” she murmured, then quickly pulled herself from his tight embrace. “I-I have to get my magic bag from my room. Swear you’ll be here when I get back. Swear it, Rowan! I want to bless this union, for our sake and the child’s! I’ll be back in a flash!”

He kissed her hard before making his promise. “Explosives won’t move me. An entire regiment from the Fairy Realm won’t budge me, nor will any known thing in your world!”

* * *

He watched as she turned and fled toward the cottage.

Then, he paced, discarded his loincloth and waited. All he could think about was having Sky again and hopefully producing a child that would bear his grandmother’s name. More importantly, he wanted to see Sky carrying his baby. Something about the idea thrilled him.

She’d make a beautiful mother. The side benefit to him was that he’d have an heir to call his own, perhaps many heirs in the years to come.

For the rest of their lives, they would love each other until parted only by death. He’d have her by his side, growing old together.

When he saw her flying through the garden wearing a white witch-like robe, he ran forward to meet her.

“I’ve got everything in this bag,” Sky breathlessly confirmed as she lifted her sack of magic goods.

“Then, we’re to begin our life. No more delays!”

She laughed gaily as he briefly swung her and her bag of Wiccan paraphernalia up into his arms.

“Where shall we go, Sky? You name the spot, and it will forever be a sacred place for us. Just for you and me.”

“When I was little, I remember my parents taking me to an old stone altar deep in the woods. I don’t know why I’ve never gone back there, but it’s as good a place as any to handfast. We can try for our baby there.”

Rowan sighed. “Our baby. I like the sound of that.”

“Tarry not, my Faun,” she joked.

She pointed south and Rowan went where she directed.

Eventually, they reached the spot. It was deep in a darkened glen, with a canopy of branches overhead.

This is a place of ancient power,” she quietly whispered.

Rowan gazed about and saw the fireflies swarming over a large recumbent stone. “I-I never knew this was on your property. I’d have probably found it when I cleared the debris from the forest floor in late summer. But it is a protected place. Protected even from my senses. Even now, I can feel its power. And I know this is the perfect place for us to pledge ourselves to one another.”

The stone altar they gazed upon sat about two feet high by seven feet long. It was surrounded by soft grass, vines and small flowers.

Sky searched her bag. She located a small white candle, put it on a rock, and lit it with some matches.

Rowan cleared away any remaining vines from the altar stone. After working under the light of the fireflies for several minutes, he discovered there were four small, column-like stones that were equally high as the main altar stone. These columns were situated at each corner of the larger stone. They likely represented the elements of air, earth, fire and water.

“I’ve heard of the ancient Pagan ways,” Sky explained. “I hope the old gods and goddesses favor us.”

“I believe they will,” he responded.

From her large bag, Sky sifted for other magical devices.

“What are you searching for now?” he impatiently asked.

“Silver charms. Particular ones.” She leaned toward the light of the small white candle to find the exact charms she wanted. Once done, she placed them near the bottom of the candle. The rest of the silver tokens went back into her bag. She stepped back and spoke worshipfully.

“The illumination of a white candle represents the spirit of the universe, and enlightenment for our journey through life. With these charms, I bless this union: a small silver acorn represents growth; the small, silver apple represents joy and a wholeness with life; a small silver arrow symbolizes love’s true course; and the little silver Green Man represents—”

“Nature, and her bounty and balance,” Rowan finished.

She smiled at him, pulled a rolled-up blanket from her bag, tossed the bag aside, and handed Rowan the covering.

“Place the blanket over the stone, so we can make love comfortably,” she instructed.

He quickly did as she asked and noted a subtle change in her. With each word she spoke, she drew power from the earth and the elements. He felt it all around them. Such energy was clean and pure. It was like having a cool breeze blow through a window, on a warm day.

After he placed the cover over the stone, he turned and held out his hand. “Come to me…join with me. We shall be as one with each other…and all of creation.”

“Together we go forth as one, from this night on. Blessed be,” she whispered.

He watched her walk across the short distance that separated them, her tiny feet making no sound on the soft, clean moss. But when she was in his embrace, and he would have kissed her soundly, she placed her fingertips over his lips.

“Come to me as you appear in your realm, Rowan. I love both parts of you, and so you’ll make love and consecrate our vows in both forms. If tonight brings a child, no matter what powers it might or might not have, I’ll always love it and you for giving it to me,” she promised.

“As I shall love you for carrying it. And for being the strong woman you are,” he softly murmured. “I’ll never again be parted from you. Not for any reason.”

* * *

In the morning, Sky awoke to the warmth of the sun seeping through the canopy of the great oak trees. It seemed to surround the stone altar like a blanket, but its warmth was no compensation for the absence of Rowan’s strong body. She sat up quickly, and had to blink several times at the beauty surrounding her.

Rowan was kneeling near the altar stone in Faun form. Around the stone, about twenty feet in all directions, grew the most beautiful flowers she had ever seen. Bluebells, irises, lilies, wild trillium, moonflowers, and dozens of assorted other flowering plants and vines surrounding them. Their colors and scents were amassed in such profusion that no words for such beauty came to mind. She reverently knelt beside Rowan.

“These flowers weren’t here before. I know they weren’t,” she confirmed.

“We have the queen’s blessing. She was so overcome with our gift of shared love that she bestowed upon us a growth of flowers. I don’t think your land or your gardens will ever find their produce lacking. She means to help us.”

Swallowing hard, Sky moved into his embrace. “But how did she know? Was she still watching or listening from the portal between our worlds? I thought we might have to send some kind of message to tell her we’d consummated our relationship.”

“She respected our privacy, I’m quite sure. But it’s not necessary to send any message. Look over there,” Rowan said as he pointed into the deepest part of the woods.

Sky saw small lights twinkling where the sun’s rays didn’t reach. She knew the lights weren’t fireflies as the colors were too vibrant, and spanned the spectrum from blue to silver and gold. “They told the queen?”

Rowan nodded. “To make up for Glacia’s wrath, I think it was the intention of others from my world to go back through the barrier, and tell my grandmother how we fared this past night. Like my queen, they heard our promises and will honor them. The queen already looks forward to our first visit to the Fairy Realm. With her grandchild, of course,” he smilingly announced.

Sky pointed toward the lights in the woods as Rowan had. “Those Pixies don’t look like the others. Their light isn’t the same.”

“They’re Sprites,” he corrected. “The difference is subtle, but you’ll learn soon enough. And you’ll never have to worry about your home again, Sky. As long as the forest is protected, the queen will not see it go to anyone to whom you and your aunts don’t will it. Our heirs will live here in peace.”

Sky placed her cheek against his chest. “Then I am to have a child?”

“The Sprites say it’s already done. You’re carrying a little girl,” he gently told her.

“But how do they know?” she asked as she put her hand over her abdomen.

“The members of the Fae race, including the Sprites, are very protective of children. The smaller the child is, the more protective a Sprite becomes. And though I think they initially came here to watch over us, when they sensed that you and I had created a new life, I believe the message was sent to the queen at once. The little beggars wouldn’t be able to keep such a happy announcement to themselves,” he laughingly explained.

“Ariana,” Sky whispered as she looked down at her navel. Then she gazed into Rowan’s eyes. “We have to tell Windy and Eartha right away.”

“If humans would learn to tolerate magic, I’d like to tell the whole world,” he murmured, then kissed her deeply.

When the kiss finally ended, Sky wrapped her arms around him and leaned into his embrace. “The whole world can hear about my new husband, my daughter, and that I’m starting a new life. But they don’t need to know who and what you really are. I’ll forge whatever paperwork I need, to keep you and our lives protected.”

“No one will ever bother about who I am or where I’m from. By the queen’s command, the magic now protecting us will never allow anyone to find out that I’m a Faun, that you’re a witch, or that our daughter may have both our powers. As long as we keep our word about visiting her often, we’re safe.”

She sighed and took a long look at the lovely flowers surrounding them. “And this place will stay sacred forever. Our daughter will bring her mate here, and so on and so forth.”

Rowan frowned. “That mate had better do well by her, or that person will answer to me!”

“Maybe, when our daughter is much older, her chosen mate will be another beautiful Faun, just like you.”

“Come on, little witch. Let’s get to the cottage, tell your aunts that I’m back, and tell them what we’ve been up to. Let’s begin our new life.”

“I can’t wait!” Sky smilingly agreed.