A Date With Faet

"Why didn't you finish the job?!" Colm demanded angrily. "We had the advantage! We needed to press on and finish it!"

My heart was still racing from nearly being enspelled, from the slaughter I'd witnessed, and from what I'd seen in Eamon's mind. I looked at the knight and sighed, "Keenan was somewhere nearby. He was trying to use a mind control spell on me."

"So you fled?!" Colm glared. "You are scared of him after all, is that it?"

I glanced at Kelly and Keira. Both of them were to my right, along with Feichin. Colm and I had reappeared in the area where we'd left the three of them, just beyond the tree-line to the south-east of the castle.

With another sigh I stated "No, I already told you Colm. I don't want to kill their grandfather. I don't want to kill anyone. I'm not going to do that."

The knight seemed unconvinced, and he was still angry that I'd got us both out of there before he could finish his slaughter or do whatever else he meant to do.

He shook his head, "I don't know what to believe right now m'lady. Clearly you can work some magic, you can teleport and cross worlds, and you can work a shield spell. But I'm starting to think the rest of the stories really are just tall tales after all."

Before I could respond he stated, "I am the king's representative here. And by authority of King Cathal, I command you to transport all five of us back inside that castle so we can finish the job."

I started to speak, but he cut me off again.

"Obey my lawful orders Lady Tegan, or I will be forced to conclude you are a coward, a liar, and disrespectful to the crown."

By now the other three were tense. They all had their bows in hand, though none were raised. Colm still had his as well of course, all four of them were ready to fight.

I kept my eyes on the knight, as I stood my ground and looked up at him. With my voice level, I quietly and calmly stated "I will not kill. I got the information my mother needed. You executed the traitor. My priority now is to get what I've learned back to Lady Maeve, so she can act on it."

Colm opened his mouth to speak, but this time I interrupted.

"And frankly I don't care if you believe the stories or not. I'd prefer to keep what I'm capable of secret rather than parading it for all the world to see. But right now, you've put me in a position where I must either convince you or fight you. So I will give you a small demonstration."

I worked the spell in my mind as I said softly, "Sir Colm, this is what a legend can do."

To be fair it was actually a relatively simple spell. Elemental earth magic, to manipulate the ground. Modest mages could use it to dig a well, or perhaps level a field to make it suitable for farming. More skilled mages could use it to dig foundations for a building. I poured much more power into it than that. In fact I decided to see if I'd find my limit today, and poured all I could muster into it.

There was a very light shudder through the trees. A faint tremor which caused the leaves to whisper slightly. Birds took to the air. Not just near us but everywhere for hundreds of meters around.

Then it started, and we all felt the rumble before we heard it.

Men began shouting in the distance behind me, accompanied by the sound of dogs barking. I didn't turn and look, I already knew what was happening. The ground alongside the castle was shaking and heaving. The pennants atop the walls and towers were swaying back and forth, and the stonework of the eastern wall was starting to crack and crumble.

With an awesome roar, a fissure some twenty or thirty meters long opened up in the earth beneath the structure. Its foundation now compromised, part of the castle's east wall collapsed, along with the south-east tower. The noise was loud out here, it must have been almost deafening to those within the castle.

I still hadn't found my limit, but it was enough of a demonstration so I let the power fade and brought my spell to an end. I hadn't taken my eyes off Colm, I hadn't even turned back to look. I could see the colour had already drained from his face, and his eyes kept flicking back and forth between me and the scene in the distance behind me.

With my voice still low and quiet I stated, "Sir Colm Mac Cionaoith, if you wish to go and attack the castle, be my guest. I've just opened up a door for you. But I answer to Maeve Brádaigh, and my responsibility is to her and my clann. Now Kelly and Keira and Feichin and I are going to leave, and we are going back to castle Brádaigh to make our report to the countess of Cathasaigh. You may accompany us, or you may remain here."

The knight just stared past me at the castle. He looked like he was at a loss for words.

"M'lady," Feichin said quietly. "They have horses, and I can hear the dogs still barking. We'll not be able to out-pace them on foot. The dogs'll have our scent and the men'll run us down on horseback."

"Thank you Feichin," I kept my voice calm and level. "I'll teleport us back to the spot where the veil is thin, and we can wait there for dawn."

Colm frowned at me, "After all that..." He glanced at the castle then looked at me again. "After all that, you can still teleport five people?"

I looked up at him again, then shrugged slightly. "You still haven't seen all I'm capable of."

The knight stared down at me, and I'm pretty sure he gulped slightly.

I watched him for another second or two, then finally turned away. I put my hand on Feichin's shoulder and sent him first. Then Kelly, followed by Keira. Colm just stood and watched silently. He tensed slightly, almost flinched when I put my hand on his arm and teleported him.

Alone, I finally turned and looked back at the castle. The damage to the south-east corner was extensive. The tower was now an oblong pile of loose stones, spread out about ten or fifteen meters long and four or five meters high. There was a gap about five meters wide in the eastern wall, and through it I could see the pandemonium inside.

A dozen or so soldiers were readying horses, more were scrambling to shore up the hole in their wall with whatever they had at hand. I couldn't tell if anyone was injured, or worse if any had died. I realized some may have. I felt a wave of nausea as it hit me. There could have been men on the wall or the tower when it went down, and they'd be buried in the mass of rubble now.

There was another wave of emotions for the building itself. I knew castle Griofa had been here a long time. Centuries at least, maybe even a millennium. Taralynn herself might have had a hand in building the place, or at least ordering its construction. And now I'd come along and broken it.

I sighed as I thought about the injuries or deaths I might have inadvertently caused with my display of power. And I thought about the men Colm killed, the men I allowed him to kill as I held my shield up to protect us without protecting them. I might not have just stepped over another of my lines, but I certainly moved right up to the edge. Perhaps I even let my toes slip across.

I wasn't really a spiritual person, but it felt like maybe a little prayer was in order.

I dropped down to one knee and put my hands on the ground so I could feel the cold dirt beneath my fingers, and I whispered an apology. I asked the earth for forgiveness, for using it in such a violent and destructive way. I apologized to whatever gods might be listening and to the memory of Taralynn, for using my gift to hurt people. And I asked that anyone I might have harmed with my display of power would be ok.

Finally I stood up again. I closed my eyes and teleported myself to the waypoint to join the others.

"There you are!"

"What took you so long!"

There were two sets of arms around me before I could even open my eyes. Kelly on my left, Keira on my right, both were hugging me tightly.

"Sorry," I sighed as I opened my eyes.

Keira asked "What happened? Were you attacked?"

I shook my head, "No. I just got a little lost in thought."

Kelly gave me a worried look and held me tighter.

Feichin and Colm were both a few meters away. The huntsman said quietly, "It's too exposed right here. We'll be safer settling down elsewhere, then returning to this spot for sunrise."

Keira asked, "You figure they'll come here? Will they know where to look?"

"Aye lass. Even though the scent will be a few days old, if their dogs find our trail they'll be able to follow it back this way."

"How long until they get here, Feichin?" There wasn't any emotion in my voice. I didn't want them to hear the weariness I felt and mistake it for exhaustion. I was tired, but not from using magic. I just didn't want any more conflict, I didn't want to see anyone else get hurt or killed right now.

He replied, "If they're willing to ride through the night, the dogs will find us before sunrise."

After a brief pause he added, "If they already know of this place and have reason to suspect we're here, they could reach us by nightfall."

I nodded slowly, then came to another decision. "Then we leave at dusk. We won't wait for dawn."

I spread out my arms and my senses and moved around till I found the spot. Then I just sat down right there in the clearing to wait. I figured it was only a couple hours.

Kelly and Keira looked surprised, and slightly worried, but they both at down beside me.

"M'lady?" Feichin sounded uneasy. "As I said, it's too exposed here to..."

His voice trailed off when he saw the look in my eyes. I wasn't going to budge from this spot till dusk.

The twins seemed to sense it too, and Colm was just sort of avoiding my gaze at this point.

Feichin and the knight took up positions on opposite sides of the small clearing, to stand guard and watch for trouble. I had Kelly and Keira both leaning up against either side of me, each with an arm around me. And there we sat, until the sun finally reached the horizon.

As soon as I felt the veil start to weaken I was on my feet, with my arms looped through the twins' arms.

I stated softly, "Feichin, Colm. It's time."

They both moved closer and took hold of Kelly's and Keira's hands. When everyone was ready I cast the spell and brought all five of us through and across. It was noticeably harder crossing over at dusk rather than dawn, but I was able to force my way through.

When it was over, the other four were all stunned and disoriented as usual, but this time I was fine. I don't know if it was my mood, my resolve, or if I'd just hit some magic number where I was used to it. Whatever it was I didn't dwell on it. I set off across the little glade and started climbing up out of the ravine towards my backyard, with Kelly and Keira close on my heels.

"Why'd you bring us home?" Kelly asked, sounding confused.

"Is everything ok Tegan?" Keira sounded worried.

I stayed quiet as we crossed the yard. When we reached the kitchen door I looked at them both and sighed.

"I'm done. This was supposed to be a vacation. It was supposed to be relaxing. We were supposed to be having fun, enjoying ourselves. And I thought being in Otherworld was where I was meant to be, I thought I'd be happier there. Instead we've gone from one crisis to another to another. People there want to use me, manipulate me. I've been forced to break my own rules. First for Maeve, then again today with Colm. We've spent the past two nights sleeping on the ground eating salted shoe leather and drinking vinegar. And this afternoon I stood by and watched mister McKnight there slaughter eight men. And I may have killed a few more myself when I brought down the castle wall."

I shook my head and sighed once more. "I need a break. I need a vacation from our vacation."

Kelly and Keira both gave me a sad, compassionate look. Colm and Feichin were a few meters back, they'd both heard what I said of course. The huntsman looked uneasy, the knight looked worried.

The house was locked up tight and we'd left our keys at Maeve's castle, but I unlocked it with a spell. The twins and I entered, then I looked at the other two.

"Feichin, you have permission to enter my home." I fixed my eyes on the other one. "Colm, before I allow you in I want you to understand something. This is my property. You have no rank here, no authority. Neither as a knight or as a cop. You may enter if you promise to obey my rules, otherwise you can spend the night outside."

He watched me a moment longer then nodded, "I understand Lady Tegan, and I will obey your rules."