Free The Faerie Queen (The Faerie Ring #4) by Kiki Hamilton

suppose.”
    A thrill of excitement shot thr ough Tiki. “Are the MacLeod clan mortal, then?”
    “ Yes.” Larkin shook her head. “So like Finn—he so desperately wanted to blend the worlds, that he and Eridanus hid the greatest treasures of Faerie with mortal keepers. Even in death, he has pulled the two worlds together.” Larkin tapped a long finger against her chin, lost in thought. “No one would ever dream a clan of farmers could hold something of such great value.”
    Dain moved closer to Larkin, his blue eyes bright with excitement. “You know what the Fourth Treasure is, don’t you?”
    Larkin’s lips twitched as if she was trying to hold back her smile, but the corners of her mouth curved up and she sounded breathless when she answered. “I do, though it never occurred to me that it might have such significance—that it could possibly be one of the most legendary treasures of our world.”
    “ What is it?” Tiki asked, her heart skipping in anticipation.
    La rkin inhaled. “It’s a flag. The Fourth Treasure of Faerie is a flag.”
    Tiki’s shoulders sagged in disappointment. A flag didn’t sound very powerful. She looked at Dain to see if this news held any significance for him, but his face was blank.
    “ Go on,” Dain urged.
    “ I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before. The Faerie Flag of Dunvegan Castle is ancient—and one of the MacLeod’s most prized possessions. We will have to be extremely clever to get them to allow us to take it.”
    “ Faerie flag?”
    “ Yes. The flag was given as a gift by a faerie who had fallen in love with one of the MacLeod ancestors. She promised him that on three separate occasions, he could unfurl the flag and many armed men would come to the flag-bearer’s aid. So far, the flag has only been unfurled twice.”
    Dain let out a low whistle.
    Tiki sucked in her breath in a gasp.  “An army.”
    “ An army to defeat Donegal,” Dain echoed.
    Larkin’s blue-green eyes glow ed as she jerked her head in sharp assent. “Precisely.  The Four Treasures of Faerie will appear or be found when Faerie is in greatest need.”

 
    Chapter Four teen
     

     
     
    IT WAS AGREED they would leave for Scotland immediately.
    “ Best to stay together at this point,” Larkin said in an imperious tone.  “It will be up to us to stop Donegal. We’re going to need each other. I can transport us as far as the Faerie Bridge on the Isle of Skye—we’ll have to walk or garner a ride to Dunvegan from there.”
    “ What should we do with these?”   Dain pointed at the glamoured Cup of Plenty and the Faerie Queen’s mirror.
    “ We have to hide them somewhere,” Tiki said. “Should I take them back to Grosvenor Square?”
    “ No. It’s not safe there anymore.” Larkin searched the room. “We need to hide them in plain sight.  Glamour the mirror to match that one—” she pointed to a plain round mirror that hung on the wall— “and—” she swept the cup up in her grasp— “we’ll leave the cup as a green vase on this shelf right here.” She deposited the Cup on a nearby bookshelf as if it were no more than a decorative goblet.
    Tiki did as she asked and hung the glamoured mirror on a wall adjacent to the other mirror. At a glance, it was impossible to tell the difference. No one would ever suspect one was an ancient treasure.
    “There,” Larkin said with satisfaction.  “Safe for now.”
     
    AS THEY WERE leaving the underground compound a red-coated solider approached. He was armed with a curved backsword and a razor thin rapier.
    “ Majesty.” He bent to one knee in front of Tiki. “Blessings on your health.”
    “ Toran, how nice to see you,” Tiki said. The tall guard had been assigned as one of her bodyguards when she’d first been named Seelie Queen. He had been a second to Callan, an earnest guard who had made every attempt to stay constantly with Tiki to protect her. When Callan had been murdered by Donegal, Toran had taken his