A Date With Faet

I watched as the four surviving mages turned and left the Duma, followed by all but two of the archers. The surviving soldiers behind us cleared the plateau as well, they went back down the west slope towards our camp where they left their horses. They'd all been dismissed and ordered back to their camp by their new queen.

Soon enough the only ones left on the Duma were me and my sept, and Queen Áine and two of her knights.

The two observers had also vanished at some point. When I looked to the north there was no sign of the druid. And to the south there was no trace of the woman in black, or her crows.

I glanced around once more and took a quick tally. Six soldiers lay dead behind us. Four died by arrow, one by crossbow bolt, and the sixth had his throat cut. In front of us, Colm and three archers had also been dispatched by my friends. Odhran and four mages died by my own hand. And for now Cathal's fate was known only to me.

Thinking about Eileen's men at the other Duma, I didn't want this one to be littered with bodies for eternity. There wasn't much left of Odhran and the mages, but the other bodies were intact. I focused on the six dead soldiers behind us, and Colm and the three fallen archers in front of us and cast another spell. The bodies all crumbled to dust.

Merryweather returned to my left shoulder, I was relieved to see they appeared unharmed. And Padraig once again held my pennant high.

Áine moved to where her father last stood and picked up the crown and the sword. She tucked her father's sword into her belt next to her own, but hesitated to put the crown on her head. She wound up just holding it for now, as she and her two knights approached to within a few paces of me then stopped.

There was one last thing I wanted to do before I let go of the world's magic. After using it to threaten and kill, I wanted to do something positive with it.

I turned to face Laoise and told her, "Just relax a moment," before I cast some divine-level healing magic on her right arm.

Both she and Siobhan gasped slightly as the spell enveloped the brunette's arm in a soft pink glow.

With that done, I glanced downwards and reversed my spell on the Duma. There was another little shudder through the air. The clouds immediately reformed overhead and the light returned to the sky. As the power rushed out of me I was left with a pounding headache and a wave of nausea passed through me, but I fought to keep my discomfort hidden for now.

Áine and her two knights along with all of my companions seemed relieved when both magic and sunlight returned to to world.

The queen bowed her head and asked, "Lady Tegan, what are your terms?"

I swallowed a few times then replied, "Queen Áine, my terms are simple. As I said to your father, I want to be left alone. I want the charges against me and my companions dropped. I want my family and my clann to be absolved of any wrongdoing. And finally, your father had agents on Earth stirring up trouble for me and my family and friends there. Please call them off."

I finished, "In short, I just want to live my life in peace. That's all I ever wanted."

Áine was quiet for a few moments as if she was considering my requests. Finally she replied, "I accept your terms Lady Tegan. All charges will be dropped. You, your friends, your family, and your clann are absolved of any wrongdoing. And I will see that any agents my father had on Earth are recalled."

"Thank you your majesty." I wasn't sure what else to say, and I might have smiled knowing the whole thing was over but I didn't want to jinx it. And I was still dealing with that headache.

The young queen glanced back at the large red stain where four of her father's mages once stood, and commented with a slight smile "I would have had a request for you, but you've already saved me the trouble."

I wasn't sure what to make of that. Áine must have seen the confusion in my expression and added "It's nothing. Just a little court intrigue, a personal vendetta."

"Ok," I said. I didn't really know what else to say about that. I added, "It seems your brother took personal offence when I refused to marry him. I hope you aren't as offended that I refused your hand as well. Where I'm from, arranged marriages simply aren't acceptable."

To my surprise Áine's eyes sort of flicked up and down over me as if she was checking me out. I couldn't decipher her expression, but I almost thought she looked amused as she replied "Not offended. Perhaps a little disappointed though. If my choices were between you and some overbearing entitled son of a duke, I think you'd have been the more interesting option."

She glanced at Kelly and Keira standing to either side of me and added, "Arranged marriages aside, I can see you're already taken."

Once again I didn't know how to respond to her, but I blamed that on the headache that was still throbbing just behind my eyes.

Queen Áine spoke up once more before I could say anything, "Before I take my leave, I have a question Lady Tegan."

"What's that?"

She asked, "What became of my father?"

I considered for a moment, but in the end I decided not to tell her. Not yet anyways.

"I promise he's still alive, and I'll try to ensure he's treated fairly. But he will never be in a position to try and reclaim the throne. The crown and the throne belong to you, your majesty."

Áine nodded slightly, "Very well. I believe that is all of our business concluded? I hope we'll meet again Lady Tegan, and I hope next time it will be under much more... Pleasant circumstances."

"Me too," I agreed.

With that, the queen and her knights turned and walked back to the east, to descend the Duma and return to their camp.

Once they were gone, it was just my sept and I atop the Duma. I moved to my pack and got out one of the skins of mead. I opened it and poured some into the cap and offered it to Merryweather then I took a swig from the skin. My head was still pounding and I was just about ready to collapse.

My companions followed my example and enjoyed a bit of wine. Kelly looked at me and asked quietly "Hey babe, what did you do with the king?"

After another mouthful of mead I replied, "He's still here. He's probably just hiding out of embarrassment or fear."

I moved towards the pile of clothes on the ground and said, "Cathal, I know you're in there. I suggest you plead with the local troop leader for asylum. Or if they won't accept you here, there's some guests visiting from other Duma, they might be persuaded to take you in."

Merryweather was still perched on my left shoulder drinking mead, but they burst into laughter. "You didn't! Did you?"

"I did," I replied with a grin. "Why don't you see if you can help him out, maybe he's stuck?"

They giggled as they flitted down from my shoulder, "My pleasure Lady Tegan!"

The others followed and were now all standing around watching as Merryweather dug through the king's clothes.

After a half minute they announced, "Found him!"

Another four-inch-tall figure slowly emerged from the clothes next to Merryweather. The former king was naked and blushing brightly. He was still recognizable as Cathal, but there were a few differences beyond his size. His eyes had become bright green, and his hair was bubble-gum pink. His wings were pink too, but a slightly darker shade than his hair.

Merryweather flew back up to settle on my shoulder again as the plateau suddenly came alive with dancing lights. Cathal stayed half hidden in his clothes. He hadn't said a word, and he looked very nervous as we were all surrounded by pixies.

Four of the dancing lights came up in front of me and resolved into Greenleaf, Paisley, Rosebud and Nettlesting. At the same time a dozen pixies encircled Cathal.

King Greenleaf was grinning widely as he said, "A most impressive display, Lady Tegan! Fae and pixies alike will be talking about that performance a thousand years from now!"

I blushed, but smiled. I fished the two remaining skins of mead out of my pack and offered them, "A parting gift for you and your troop. I won't ask you to take Cathal in, but I do ask you to consider it."

Greenleaf motioned and the skins were taken from me, while the small king replied "He will be given a fair chance to earn his place here. If he's unsuccessful, I'll send him on to another Duma, another troop."

"Thank you," I bowed my head again. "And thanks once more for your hospitality and your help. I'm sure we'll meet again, King Greenleaf."

"I hope so," he smiled back. Then he and the other pixies blurred into points of light and moments later they were gone. Cathal was gone too, vanished with the rest of them.

My friends and I were alone once more.

I looked around at them and said "I'm ready to head back to the castle now. I could use a drink, a nice meal, and a long sleep in a comfortable bed."

There were nods of agreement all round, but Siobhan asked "May I have a few minutes here Lady Tegan, before we depart?"

"Of course," I replied.

The captain quietly walked away from our group, she moved to the north part of the plateau. Laoise followed, and the two of them wound up standing together not far from where the druid had been.

I was certain now that they were both praying, and I figured that's what they'd been doing here all along. I suspected that might have been why Siobhan volunteered to accompany me in the first place. And I had a feeling she must have realized who was standing there watching earlier.

Once the two sisters were finished they returned to where the rest of us were waiting.

"Thank you m'lady," Siobhan said. "Laoise and I are ready to leave."

We gathered up our packs and got ready to go, then I looked to my shoulder again and asked "Merryweather are you coming back to castle Brádaigh with us? Or do you want to remain here with your mom?"

Keira added with a smile, "Or do you want to stay here with Princess Petunia?"

The pixie's cheeks went bright red but they shook their head, "I will return with you, Lady Tegan. I am your ambassador after all, and an honorary member of your sept like you said."

"All right," I smiled. "Everyone gather round and hold tight. I'm pretty sure this will be a smooth trip, but you never know."

My girlfriends and companions formed into a tight circle as we all held hands, and Merryweather got a firm grip on my hair. Rather than forcing my way out through a weakness in the veil, I simply opened the 'door' and we all slipped through with ease. Returning to reality wasn't as easy, but a moment later the seven of us were standing together in the meadow in the forest south of castle Brádaigh.

My companions were dizzy and disoriented again. Kelly and Keira weren't as affected as the others though, and I wondered if they were starting to get used to travelling with me like that. The travel didn't affect me, but my head was still throbbing from before and another wave of nausea passed through me.

"Babe are you ok?" Kelly asked. "You don't look so good."

Keira added, "She's right, you look a little pale."

"I'm fine," I replied. "It's just a headache. I'll be fine after some rest."

My girlfriends remained concerned as we teleported the lot of us back to the castle courtyard. Several Brádaigh soldiers and servants moved to greet us and welcome us back. They were all very jumpy though and I worried something else had gone wrong.

With another wave of nausea I decided food could wait. All I really wanted was to get to my room and collapse on my big comfy bed, but instead we all followed Captain Gaelen into the study.

"Lady Maeve is on her way," he told us. "She wishes to speak with you."

Merryweather flitted from my shoulder to the mantle over the fireplace for now, as I started pulling off my weapons and my backpack. The others followed my lead, though we all kept our swords and knives with us just incase there was more trouble awaiting.

As I dumped my quiver of arrows on the floor next to my pack and bow I heard an indignant little "Oof!" sound from inside.

We all turned to stare at my quiver, while Merryweather's cheeks went red and they quietly said "Uh-oh."

A moment later a pink-haired, pink-eyed, blue-winged pixie emerged from my quiver. She straightened her tunic then looked wide-eyed around the room. When she spotted Merryweather she grinned and flew up to join them on the mantle.

I stared at Petunia for a moment, then face-palmed. I couldn't help worry that Greenleaf was going to accuse me of kidnapping his daughter. At the same time the throbbing in my head got even worse, and I felt one more wave of nausea.

Before I could react to any of that, my mom arrived.

She shuffled in and took a seat as she demanded, "Tegan what in the world have you been up to?! All the magic vanished and the day turned to night! People thought it was the end of the world!"

I turned around to look at her, but the room continued to spin as the floor came up to greet me. There were some distant sounds of voices as the day seemed to turn to night once more, then everything went black and silent.